Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

A road safety advocate says we can't simply toll our way to a better transport network. The ACT party's promising to replace fuel excise taxes with road tolls, and invite foreign investment in infrastructure projects. AA Road Safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen told Tim Dower that we don't have anywhere near the same volume of traffic as overseas, so some form of tax will still be needed. He says tolls can't cover all the cost of the project and they might help, but we will still need a fuel tax or road user charges. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thousands of tourists and locals on the Greek island of Rhodes are sheltering in schools and stadiums, after being forced to flee a raging wildfire. Europe correspondent Gavin Grey told Tim Dower that it's the largest evacuation in Greek history. The tourist coaches weren't ready to take anyone anywhere, so those who didn't have hire cars were left stranded. Some people managed to make it to beaches to be taken away on boats. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It seems the Government's spending far less than promised on a highly effective methamphetamine programme. It promised to spend $38-million this Parliamentary term to expand the Te Ara Oranga programme to another four thousand people. But figures released to RNZ show it’s spent less than a fifth of that. The programme has a 34% harm reduction rate. Drug Detection Agency chief executive Glenn Dobson told Tim Dower that that's significant for any rehabilitation programme - particularly for meth. He says it's an incredibly difficult drug to rehabilitate, as there's both a physical and psychological dependency, and results indicate the programme’s been successful across the community. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I can't imagine a lot of people are excited about the idea of more of New Zealand's roads being tolled. You'll be aware the ACT Party sees this as the way to go if we want to get those big infrastructure projects we need so badly moving more quickly. ACT would have road development and maintenance funded through a system of tolls. Both domestic and foreign companies would be able to fund projects instead. And as the money wouldn't be coming from fuel excise tax, that would be reduced. So what you'd end up with is, first of all, a much more targeted way of paying for those big schemes, much more of a user-pays system. And for people who don't use the newer roads —the tolled ones— in theory... cheaper petrol. Slight catch: some existing roads would also be tolled as long as another viable free route is available. On the face of it, not bad, if it actually got things done more quickly. Like a new harbour crossing for Auckland perhaps. Problem for ACT is that public-private partnerships don't exactly have a good

After yesterday’s shooting in Auckland, those words are still hard to believe - 'shooting in Auckland', a lot of debate’s been thrown up around law and order, crime, people on home detention, discounts given to offenders and so on. There are those saying this was only a matter of time given the state of law and order in this country these days. I know the state of our country right now is enough to drive people out, I know many who are doing just that - upping sticks and leaving. I don't know him personally, but Marc Ellis is another of them. The former All Black, and iconic Kiwi personality, is leaving for Italy. And who can blame him? His reason is, we’ve lost our mojo. As in the country - and he’s not wrong. He’s trading us in for Mediterranean coastal paradise, pasta, property ‘as cheap as chips’ as he put it, happy people, and ‘gorgeous food at reasonable prices’ he said. Sounds alluring. What’s wrong with NZ? He said our finest days are behind us. “We’re not at our peak, you don’t feel the same vibe or

National wants to know why the 24-year-old Auckland CBD shooter wasn't in prison. Matu Tangi Matua Reid was on home detention for domestic violence,  and had approval to work at the construction site. National party leader, Chris Luxon, told Kate Hawkesby the perpetrator had committed some pretty violent crimes. He says the issue of not sending our violent offenders to prison has filtered down through the judiciary system, and we've ended up with soft sentencing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The shooting in Auckland's CBD may have prolonged psychological impacts on Kiwis. Clinical Psychologist Dougal Sutherland told Kate Hawkesby people could feel heightened anxiety from this for up to six weeks. “The public nature of it, it’s such a big impact on people. Watching it on TV, certainly a similar thing happened after the Twin Towers.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new Westpac report has revealed our tourism is doing well - but could do better. The latest Westpac Economic Tourism bulletin shows while the sector has seen some recovery, businesses will need to adapt to the changing market. Industry Economist Paul Clark told Kate Hawkesby the industry is going to find it increasingly challenging to make a profit. He says while the trajectory of international passenger arrivals has started to taper off - the sector is still hopeful. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inflation has finally fallen to six percent but how are we looking in the domestic front? Businesses are continuing to struggle with less demand and less spending. But with China's market back open the pressure may start lifting. Business NZ CEO Kirk Hope joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss the topic. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For everyone in Auckland who bemoans our Mayor, and actually I’m not sure there are many of them left anymore or maybe they’ve just gone quiet, it could be worse. We could have Wellington’s Mayor. Now Tory Whanau has had her fair share of headlines and bad press since her arrival. There was the infamous “don’t you know who I am” alleged drunken incident at a Wellington restaurant, as well as leaving without paying the bill. She also made headlines back in June when she faced criticism for not attending meetings or events. In other words, claiming to be a busy Mayor but having a very empty diary. Apparently the events she did attend, she only stayed very briefly, or cancelled at the last minute. Then there’s her council. It has had issues with data breaches - two in fact: breaching the privacy of submitters to the Golden Mile proposal, and inadvertently releasing the names of more than 4000 people involved in road crashes. Now this is not a seasoned politician. We are talking about someone who completed

Yet another announcement from Labour in a bid to put a stop to crime. The party has announced 12 and 13 year old ram raiders will be charged in youth court, while adult offenders could face up to ten years in prison. Act Party Leader David Seymour joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss the policy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of our greatest footballers believes New Zealand has dropped the ball when it comes to supporting the FIFA Women's World Cup. Thousands are set to flock to tonight's opening match at Auckland's Eden Park, where our team will verse Norway. Political leaders including Chris Hipkins, Carmel Sepuloni, and Grant Robertson will all be in attendance. Maia Jackman told Kate Hawkesby it's a different feel here than in Australia where the tournament is being heavily embraced. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No one is more beside themselves about the Puhoi Motorway schemozzle than me. Well, to be fair there are probably people more upset than me, but I’m pretty upset. I mean, finally, finally after so long, such an interminable wait, finally we got our glorious smooth new road North. The gateway to the winterless North, bypassing all the windy roads and single lane hills and crappy old tar seal. A new perfect, smooth, pothole free, scenic and lush drive North, shaving big time savings off the journey, making everything feel easier and safer. And then, wham. The headlines yesterday sent a shudder down my spine, because you just know our brand new highway is going to be for the high jump if they don’t secure this and fix it. This ’slow moving landslide’ we now know about alongside it. Oh no biggie. Just a SLOW MOVING LANDSLIDE. This new motorway was an $880 million build. It took a painstaking six years to finish. They finally opened it, we’ve driven it every single week since it’s opened. It’s only been open a mon

Most economists are tipping the Consumer Price Index will fall below six percent. It would be for the first time since December 2021. ANZ Economist Henry Russell joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's thought Countdown's $400 million rebrand is a waste of time, money and poor timing as many Kiwis struggle to pay for their groceries. The supermarket chain will revert back to Woolworths early next year, 12 years after changing to Countdown. Sign changes start next month, along with store upgrades. Massey University Marketing expert, Bodo Lang, told Kate Hawkesby there's a danger the Australian ownership becomes more noticeable in the rebrand, and puts New Zealanders off. He says there's also a risk the rebrand's costs will be passed onto consumers, at a time food prices are already at record highs. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Police Association's questioning how much difference the Government's latest crackdown on youth crime will make. New measures have been announced — including coercing young people to commit crime an aggravating factor in sentencing. Posting criminal behaviour online will also be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing. President Chris Cahill told Kate Hawkesby that it's great that there's a focus, but we'll have to wait and see what actually becomes a reality. He suggests judges will continue to bend over backwards to give as many discounts to offenders as they can. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taking your electric vehicle on holiday may be about to get easier. ChargeNet, Z Energy, and Openloop have come together to launch a charging roaming trial, which would allow drivers to charge at any of the three networks. Currently New Zealand drivers need individual memberships with each charging provider. ChargeNet Chief Operating Officer Martin Miles says this move will help to attract more people to this sustainable mode of travel. He says they want to make charging point access as simple as possible. The trial starts early next year. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Investing platform, Sharesies, isn't a fan of National's new Kiwisaver policy. National's pledging to let under-30s dip into their fund for a tenancy bond. Money would transfer directly from their savings to Tenancy Services, returned at the end, or transferred to the next rental arrangement. Sharesies Co-Chief Executive, Leighton Roberts, told Kate Hawkesby that Kiwisaver's main goal is to save for retirement, and secondary purpose is for first-home buying. He says at the moment we aren't achieving good outcomes on either, so adding additional factors that could compromise either isn't the right move. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So another poll out last night showing a right block government —just— and slipping support for Labour. What's interesting though, is it's the second poll in a row to show Christopher Luxon edging up in the preferred PM stakes... so, is he turning a corner in terms of likeability? Because he's seemingly been a hard sell. Though people are sick of the direction the country’s going in, they’ve been unconvinced he’s the saviour. And let’s be honest, personality politics dictates that we have to love or hate the person who fronts the party. It’s not the reality of course. The Party is a whole team, but we seem to be obsessed with the front person. No better example of that than Jacindamania, which then turned to so much vitriol against her that she ended up stepping down to save the party’s chances. Chippy came in as the great hope; he had boy next door vibes, he loved a sausage roll, people were enamoured with the prospect of fresh blood. But he too has gradually eroded that popularity. Which leaves us with the

Extreme weather is causing problems in several parts of the world. Southern Europe is bracing for a second heatwave in a week, with record temperatures expected to be broken in places like Italy, Greece, and Spain. Europe Correspondent, Gavin Grey, says one of Spain's Canary islands has been hit hard. He says in La Palma, troops are evacuating more than four-thousand people and four and a half thousand hectares of woodlands have been destroyed by wildfires. Almost a third of Americans are under extreme heat advisories, while at least four people have been killed by severe floods in Pennsylvania. In South Korea, the death toll has risen to at least 37 after flooding across much of the country. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.