Larry Williams Drive

Recent figures from TradeMe indicate that demand for jobs has gone up for the first time in two years. Sales Director at TradeMe Jobs, Matt Tolich, is here to explain why this is the case.  "The last couple of years, Kiwis have been a little bit hesitant to move roles. We went into lockdown, and they kind of wanted to stay put. But on the back of lifting restrictions, hopefully people are moving on." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland Transport has recently revealed that sections of their rail lines will be shut down over the next three years. This news has been viewed as negative in the eyes of public transport advocates and enthusiasts.  John Reeves, member of Public Transport Users Association, is here to explain why this will ruin the appeal of public transport and inconvenience the general public on a massive scale. "It's kind of like, if you closed down Auckland Harbour Bridge for nine months and said- just go around it. It's kind of like that when you close the Eastern line, for example. It's a major thing, and it's stupid, it makes no sense." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Free parking in Tauranga's city centre will be coming to an end in a matter of weeks.  The Tauranga City Council has unanimously voted to remove free on street parking come the first day of December. It says it's to encourage a high turnover customer base. The Commission Chair, Anne Tolley is here to explain the council’s decision now. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctors who choose to train as GP's will now get the same pay as their hospital counterparts. Health Minister Andrew Little says the lower pay is the main cause of GP clinics being understaffed. The College of GP's say there are currently wait times of up to six weeks to get an appointment.  NZ Resident Doctors Association member, Deborah Powell is here to discuss the impact of this decision and what else can be done to boost GP staff numbers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National has recently promised that if elected into Government, they will increase the age for free breast cancer screenings to 74. The current maximum age for free screenings is 69.  Barry Soper, political editor, is here now to explain how this will measure up with other countries and why National has chosen to make this promise ahead of 2023. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has released information about their latest increase- the cash rate has now risen to 2.6 percent.  Australian correspondent Murray Olds is here to explain what this new increase explains for Australians, especially middle-class income earners, who will be hit the hardest. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All Black Jordie Barrett's newest contract will keep him in New Zealand rugby until 2025, but the contract also gives him the option of taking a sabbatical.  D'Arcy Waldegrave, host of Sportstalk, explains what sabbaticals mean in a rugby context, and how players can use them. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to the latest OECD data, the number of young adults in the developed world with tertiary qualifications is too high. The OECD has noted that the number of young people with university qualifications has increased from 31 percent to 45 percent in the last couple of decades.  Frog Recruitment's managing director, Shannon Barlow, is with us to explain what this means for employers and whether or not this increase will encourage them to only look at candidates with degrees.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than a third of young people in the UK feel like their lives are spiralling out of control, according to new data. The survey was conducted among 16 to 25 year olds, and it found that a majority of them were concerned about the future.  Between living through Covid-19 and an ongoing cost of living crisis, UK correspondent Gavin Grey has a clear explanation for why these people have such a pessimistic outlook. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A residents group in South Auckland has threatened to occupy Mount Richmond, Otahuhu in order to protect the mountain's exotic trees. Auckland Council has issued a resource consent to the Tupuna Maunga Authority, the protest organisers, to fell 278 of the mountain's non-native trees, but the group has chosen to occupy the Maunga as soon as the chainsaws come out. Shirley Waru, activist and movement leader, is here with us now. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Based on the latest Mood of the Boardroom survey results, confidence in the Labour Party is going down in the business community- and that may impact their chances in next year's general election.  Fran O'Sullivan, NZME business commentator, gives her insight on whether or not Labour can bounce back in time for 2023's election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson took a big dive in The Herald's Mood of the Boardroom survey. As we've discussed - the highest ranked minister was James Shaw - a Green climate change Minister. Grant Robertson is with us to explain his thoughts on what caused Labour's results to dip over the past few months, and how Covid-19 played a part in his and Jacinda Ardern's ratings going down from an economic perspective. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The case of a young, visibly pregnant woman waiting in a Palmerston North hospital for hours until she died the following evening has gotten a lot of media attention. This occurrence was brought up at Jacinda Ardern's latest post-cabinet press meeting, where the response got handed over to Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall. Barry Soper, our political editor is here to discuss what this story means for the state of our healthcare system and any unfortunate implications it drew him to conclude. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on The Huddle, David Farrar, Kiwiblog writer and Cuira pollster and David Cormack, current member Draper Cormack Group and former Greens Communication Director join us to talk about the following: Senior NZ Herald writer Simon Wilson says the low voter turnout in the current local body elections is because people are happy with current councils. Agree? 31 cars hit potholes in the Kaimai's this weekend - Waka Kotahi say delay travel around the Waikato / Bay of Plenty area today if you want to avoid potholes. How did our roads get to this point? Visa delays for 35,000 tourists trying to get into New Zealand, our tourism industry is taking one hit after the other. Uni staff everywhere are striking to combat the cost of living, how disruptive could this be? All of these and more will be discussed here on The Huddle! LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The local body election is in full swing, and plenty of people have observed that the voter turnout is lower than the previous elections, despite campaigns attempting to fix these numbers. Senior writer at the NZ Herald, Simon Wilson is saying the low voter turnout is a sign people are happy with our councils. Simon Wilson joins us now to explain his thought process and why he has come to this conclusion. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The $23 million dollar Lotto prize has been claimed by a syndicate of 24 people who will split the money amongst themselves.  This has been framed as a life changing positive event for the group, but financial advisor Martin Hawes is here to help answer the question- if you were involved in something like this, would you take the money and run? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Staff across all eight of New Zealand's major universities are striking this week, as they don't feel that their pay matches up with the rising costs of living. The Tertiary Education Union says that at least 7000 staff members are involved in a collective bargaining agreement. National Secretary of the Tertiary Education Union, Sandra Grey, is here to talk us through the strike and what university staff want out of the protest in terms of pay. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waka Kotahi has issued a statement to Waikato drivers everywhere: Avoid non-essential driving today if you want to avoid the potholes. This is because severe weather has made it hard for contractors to clear up any new potholes that may have formed, as they are occupied with fixing the slips.  Dylan Thompson, AA Road Safety Spokesperson is here to explain what's going on with the Waikato weather and why fixing the potholes is a consistent issue. "It's more the fact that we haven't been putting enough investment into the road maintenance budget for quite some time, and then we end up with potholes as a symptom of that." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over in Australia, their Government has made the decision to rescue the families of known Islamic State terrorists. These people will be repatriated back to Melbourne and Sydney, and significant work will need to be done to help them readjust to society. This has been viewed as a u-turn on the former Government's previous decision to disallow people back into Australia if they followed family members over to the Middle East to fight on behalf of the Islamic State.  Oliver Peterson, our Australian correspondent, is here to explain this course of action and the divided public response. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last Sunday, at least 125 football match attendees were killed following a mass stampede.  This was caused by supporters of the losing team swarming the pitch at the end of the match. Police fired tear gas into the crowd and in an attempt to get away, hundreds of people were stampeding towards the exit gate. The end result of this concluded with people being crushed or suffocated. Jason Pine, our sports contributor, is here to put this event in context. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.