On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Wednesday the 27th of May 2026, Co-operative Bank CEO Mark Wilkshire tells Ryan what we can expect from the OCR ahead of Thursday's Budget. 

Remand numbers dropped in 2025 as prisoner numbers reached record high and no one knows why, criminal lawyer Steve Cullen shares his thoughts. 

The Privacy Commissioner says Health NZ and Manage My Health failed to protect out data, Health NZ Chief Financial Officer Bevan McKenzie tells Ryan what Health NZ will do moving forward.

Plus UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on four people killed in a collision between a train and a school minibus in Belgium and two aid workers have brought suspected cases of Ebola to Europe.

Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.          

LISTEN ABOVE  

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Wednesday the 27th of May 2026, Co-operative Bank CEO Mark Wilkshire tells Ryan what we can expect from the OCR ahead of Thursday's Budget.&nbsp;
Remand numbers dropped in 2025 as prisoner numbers reached record high and no one knows why, criminal lawyer Steve Cullen shares his thoughts.&nbsp;
The Privacy Commissioner says Health NZ and Manage My Health failed to protect out data, Health NZ Chief Financial Officer Bevan McKenzie tells Ryan what Health NZ will do moving forward.
Plus UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on four people killed in a collision between a train and a school minibus in Belgium and two aid workers have brought suspected cases of Ebola to Europe.
Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE &nbsp;

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Full Show Podcast: 27 May 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/74171937-fd07-48a2-b112-b456012abd23/transcript

Belief we'll have to wait and see to understand why remand numbers are shifting.

The numbers of remand prisoners fell for three consecutive quarters last year.

It peaked last March at just over 45 hundred, before falling by the end of the year. 

Over the same period, the total prison population grew by 275.

Criminal lawyer Steve Cullen told Ryan Bridge it could be previous delays in the courts, that led more on remand. 

He says you can have generational cohorts coming through or a population wave which changes the types of offending.

Belief we'll have to wait and see to understand why remand numbers are shifting.
The numbers of remand prisoners fell for three consecutive quarters last year.
It peaked last March at just over 45 hundred, before falling by the end of the year.&nbsp;
Over the same period, the total prison population grew by 275.
Criminal lawyer Steve Cullen told Ryan Bridge it could be previous delays in the courts, that led more on remand.&nbsp;
He says you can have generational cohorts coming through or a population wave which changes the types of offending.

Steve Cullen: Criminal Lawyer on 2025 remand numbers dropping as prisoner numbers reach record highs

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/f2f2b194-f4d7-48e6-8ef1-b456012f7528/transcript

Steve Cullen: Criminal Lawyer on 2025 remand numbers dropping as prisoner numbers reach record highs (1)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/ed702b4d-fe7a-470e-85d5-b456012ec4cc/transcript

If the Post is to believed this morning, the Government is considering a business growth fund whereby some crown agency would pick winners and probably a few losers with financial backing. 

Chalmers did this in Australia. 

There was apparently a meeting in April between Willis and Chalmers to talk about us joining his fund. 

We're talking about minnows with revenue between one and ten million. 

Unless the gas transition guarantor was the start of some kind of paradigm shift in the way this government thinks about private enterprise, then investment decisions in the private sector would be left to, well, the private sector. 

Capital funds and even KiwiSaver.

We have about 5% of KiwiSaver funds invested in private equities. The Aussies are apparently more like 15 to 20%. 

Fund managers have been making noises about changes needed to help encourage such investments. 

So why don't we? If needs be. 

The other unusual one this week was the Golden Visa. Apparently, there aren't enough investment opportunities out there to soak up the billions these guys want to pump in to score bunker in Queenstown with mountain views. 

So now you can donate to charity or even help fund a DOC walking trail upgrade.

Erica Stanford told me yesterday they're looking at broadening out the types of investments that qualify. 

We ether have too many investment opportunities and not enough capital, or not enough capital and too many opportunities. 

Or we have regulatory settings that are stopping one from feeding the other, in which case, government ought cut through them before picking its own winners.

If the Post is to believed this morning, the Government is considering a business growth fund whereby some crown agency would pick winners and probably a few losers with financial backing.&nbsp;
Chalmers did this in Australia.&nbsp;
There was apparently a meeting in April between Willis and Chalmers to talk about us joining his fund.&nbsp;
We're talking about minnows with revenue between one and ten million.&nbsp;
Unless the gas transition guarantor was the start of some kind of paradigm shift in the way this government thinks about private enterprise, then investment decisions in the private sector would be left to, well, the private sector.&nbsp;
Capital funds and even KiwiSaver.
We have about 5% of KiwiSaver funds invested in private equities. The Aussies are apparently more like 15 to 20%.&nbsp;
Fund managers have been making noises about changes needed to help encourage such investments.&nbsp;
So why don't we? If needs be.&nbsp;
The other unusual one this week was the Golden Visa. Apparently, there aren't enough investment opportunities out there to soak up the billions these guys want to pump in to score bunker in Queenstown with mountain views.&nbsp;
So now you can donate to charity or even help fund a DOC walking trail upgrade.
Erica Stanford told me yesterday they're looking at broadening out the types of investments that qualify.&nbsp;
We ether have too many investment opportunities and not enough capital, or not enough capital and too many opportunities.&nbsp;
Or we have regulatory settings that are stopping one from feeding the other, in which case, government ought cut through them before picking its own winners.

Ryan Bridge: Something's not adding up with business investment in this country

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/32a1657a-7167-4635-aa15-b456012d0755/transcript

Full Show Podcast: 27 May 2026

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