Heather du Plessis-Allan DriveOn the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 12 March 2025, with a Ukraine ceasefire deal now on the table - is Russia going to agree? Ryan Bridge speaks to Russia expert Alexey Muraviev.
CTU president Richard Wagstaff tells Ryan why he wants the government to hold on to its living wage rules for procurements.
Why is Briscoes boss Rod Duke telling the Government to get its A into G to help the economy?
Plus, Ryan really really hates his food scraps bin - so much he's considering moving to Whanganui!
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Digging through the spin spins to find the real story or HiT's Ryan Bridge on Heather Duper c Ellen Drive with one New Zealand let's get connected and news talks they'd be good afternoon.
It is seven after four news talks, they'd be the balls and rushes caught on the ceasefire. So what exactly do they want? We look at that? After five the Unions are up for a fight with Nikola Willis on the living wage, food scrap bins are heading for the scrap heap, Shane Jones on the new gas Well and Taranak he's been visiting today and quite excited about I'll add too, Rod Juke from Briscoe's here as well. Ryan Bridge, Welcome to your Wednesday. The dust has settled, finally settled on that hysterical reaction to the Pole result earlier in the week, and after all the hype and all the media coverage and all the excitement from the opposition, I'm left wondering what exactly is it we want from a prime minister these days. In the old days, it was a steady and predictable hand, someone who represented a certain end of the spectrum for you, your phrases, your holy oaks, more recently, your clerk's and your keys. Look at what America is dealing with it the moment. It's pretty much the antithesis of the type of political leadership that you would expect here in New Zealand. It's chaotic, it's unpredictable, it's all over the place. The markets are kicking off like a frog and a sock. And today we've got reports the CEOs, the executives, the guys who bankroll some of these Republican campaigns, the donors, they are all picking up the blower and asking what the hell is going on in the Oval office right now? What is the indgame here? The tariffs are on and off like a light switch. And then there's the countryes responding. Canada has tried the tough, took the stand up to the bully routine, and now they're backing down. Australia has gone the other way. They did the softly back door diplomacy approach, while that door today has been slam shut in their face. And here where our leaders don't really have that much influence on the world stage. We're turning away from our Prime minister and the polls. But what exactly are we turning towards what exactly is the problem with him? Is it because he says grip it up and well, what I'd say to you is and that's annoying? Is that a good reason to change a government? Everybody will have a different answer to these questions. Of course, the team of five million does not speak with one voice. The state of the economy, which is not all Luxeon's making, of course, and the fact that he shares power with Winston and Seymour in the first proper full coalition three way coalition, surely they are part of the problem for him. But what exactly are we wanting from our prime minister, be it Luxeon or someone else? Strength, compassion, competence, a better plan. And once we know the answer to that qui question and those questions, how long are we prepared to give them to show us a result? Nine minutes after four nine two was the number to text. Rod Duke might have an answer to some of these questions. Actually, he is the boss of Briscoes and they have announced the company results today. Revenue largely flat, but profit down because margins were squeezed. Of course, the state of the economy, partly to blame for this. Rod Duke is with me. Good afternoon.
Hi, right, how are you doing?
You're really good? Thank you, given I mean it's been well traversed how bad retail has been for you know, the struggles over the past year. You must be pretty reasonably happy with this.
Yeah, we're pretty toughed with the result. Got the sales did cost a bit of margin, costs within one percent of last year in trees back about five million dollars and stock turns up. So a lot of the metrics that we measure have come through and we're pretty pleased.
What is it that you do to make sure you know, I mean, obviously profit was down, but it's still profit right, What are you doing to make sure of that and keeping revenue flat?
Look, we're doing a lot of the basics that all retailers know about. You're refreshing the rangers, You're improving the quality of service in stores, the stores look better, the online presence and presentation, and the platform is easy to maneuver, just all the regular things that all retailers want to do all the time.
Looking ahead, do you think, well, how long before you think things get better? And are you worried about Trump or you don't have much exposure to the tariffs and the trade wars.
Look, I have to worry about in this country with my business rather than worry about mainly the ex elsewhere. But look, at the end of the day, Look it is what it is. We'll have some effect in this country. But basically all I've got to do where there's as a customer that's been hurting and we think in the near term it will improve a little and then towards the back end of the year or the second half of this year, we should be able to see some improvement given that we've got a government that want to be re elected.
Yeah, we'll get to that in a second. Does that mean for the first half of this year? Does that mean more sales potentially?
Look, Look, it means doing a lot of other clever things, you know, better rangers, as I said, better service. It's it's all of those things. Just doing things better than my competitor set. That's that's the criteria.
Now you've said today you want the government to get their their arson to gear. What exactly do you mean and what do you want them to do?
Well, I think it's about time something happened. I understand they probably inherited something that didn't didn't anticipate, and getting to understand how bad the situation and looking at solving some of those problems. But there's just about time that they started, I think to put into place some really innovative and some problem solving situation the solutions. That would be my assessment, and I think time is probably about right now.
They would argue they have been doing exactly that, you know, and there's only so much spind there you can cut if you want to go out and do fancy corporate tax council whatever, then you've got to balance the books. I mean, they're in a tight spot, I think, would be their argument.
Yeah, and look, i'd agree with that too. I agree it is a very very very difficult situation. But you know, we need to see in the suburbs a bit of imagination and a bit of forward thinking.
You haven't got any bright ideas for us, Rod, Oh.
My god, look for bright ideas of improving my profit next year. They've the come them.
We'll leave that to them. Hey, thanks very much for coming on the show. I really appreciate it.
Pleasure.
Rod Duke, Managing Director Brisco's Group. Fourteen minutes after four news Talks HEREB nine ninety two is the number to text Ryan. We want action, we want to stop the wasteful spending. I want the Prime Minister to take over the councils. Is that what you mean by out of the box thinking. Darcy's next.
It's the Heather to Bussy Al and Drive Full Show podcast on iHeartRadio powered by News TALKSB.
News Talks HEB seventeen minutes after Paul Ryan. The problem is everyone wants the government to do something, but no one can say what the something is. Rod is a case in point. That's Rod Duke, who's the brisco's boss. Just on the program, he said the government needs to get its a enter g. That's the polite ways saying it paraphrasing. But what exactly that means? No one's really certain of, are they? And the IMF actually has some thoughts on this. I'll tell you what they think. Caution, it's boring, but I'll tell you what they think and predictable later on in the program right now, never boring, never predictable. Darcy water graves with us. Hey, Darcy, minds you that's great saying from back in the day. Don't just do something. Stand there.
That's what we've got. Hey, I'm here to talk about sport, nothing else.
Let's stick to that, shall we?
Yes?
Ends it up. I saw this story yesterday and I was intrigued. So they're looking at making some changes to junior rugby. Year eight will go from fifteen to thirteen a side, year seven to ten aside.
And they're going to have sometimes smaller fields. They're basically trying to simplify the grassroots.
Of the game.
We're going to be joined by Mike Hester tonight a participation at NZ talking about what they're trying to put a place.
Now.
These are proposals and they're running them through the clubs and they're running the past everybody concerns as parents, school kids, coaches, the whole lot, because they want to retain players and they want players to enjoy the game from a younger age because once you get your hooks in them when they're young, you keep them for a long time.
So hasn't it sort of worked with ripper rugby.
Yeah, but you've got to progress through the stages till he become full blown adult players with full tackle, full scrums, full lineouts. And part of the issue with this here is that players at a younger age get pigeonholed into roles that they probably don't need to be, and like this short fat kid becomes a prop at eight. What they want to do is have all of the young players experience the full gamut of rugby and what it means. So you run and you pass, and your kick and you tackle, and you have fun with your mates, and then you start solidifying your role as you get older and you start understanding the game a lot.
So you make the team smaller so that everyone gets to do a bit more of everything.
Everybody can do a way a bit more.
I'm not against that, of you against it, I think there'll be people who have an allergic reaction to that, or there.
Will be I think the elephant in the room around participation though, was concussion, and that's something that has to be addressed. And we'll talk to Mike about that, because there's something they're acutely aware of. His mums and dads not one of their kids playing the game because they're afraid of that.
So do you get injured?
What about the safety that comes into this as well? And I suppose with less players, bigger I don't know, we talk about it anyway.
You get injured in golf, though, don't you look at Tiger Woods?
Was that golf, Tiger?
What happened?
It could have been a car accident. I mean, you could have slipped on a sock as he climbed out of his bed.
I don't know.
In a hurry, I'm getting out of here. Well, I don't know. He's got an r Kelly's he hit a pop apparently hit and on the goal. No, no, no, no, it's just cruising. Wasn't on the golfop something? So might not come to the Masters. I suppose it's sorry an issue because everybody you can decide when they want to retire. But you look at the way Tiger is saying it on for grim Dead.
I'm not going anywhere.
I'm not going anywhere. Why Kah, your body's falling apart. Mate, Maybe you should just like cut yourself some slack and maybe turn up the Masters every now and then. I mean, it's got nothing left to prove, bro. But again, that's his decision. It's his life, and if he wants to keep all hell, you can get to the Seniors if he wants and get beaten by Steven Elkert.
He Sir Jim Redcliffe very quickly says he's got no money and then he's spent How much has he spent on the stadium.
The stadium is proposed to cost two billion pounds, so about four point five billion New Zealand dollars. Let's not forget that Manchester Knight is where this new stadium is going to be, next to Old Trafford.
I don't know if it's going to be called New Trafford or not.
I won't take that was Matt Heath from previously. Apparently their in the hole for a billion I s.
The difference is this is this would be capital expenditure, wouldn't it as opposed to just you know, throwing money at some some sponsorship rights.
So that million dollars and you're talking about billions and billions, mate, just stick your hand on the bag of the couch, give us that money, will go away.
Goes with his nut. Seven o'clock on news talks, there'd be twenty one minutes after four, lots of your feedback to come on exactly what it is you want from a prime minister. Also, after five we're going to speak to an expert, a Russian expert, Russian defense expert. What exactly did they want? You know, the Ukrainians have come to the table. They said we're willing to do a seats fire, that Americans are on board with it. So now the ball is in Russia's court. What will it take for them to get across the line. We look at that after five, checking the point of the story.
It's Ryan Bridge on here the duples Ellen drive with one New Zealand.
Let's get connected and news talks they'd be after five.
We'll also talk to the CTU president, Richard Wagg's stuff. He's having a go at Nikola Willis over her procurement changes that she's made in the last twenty four hours. We'll look at that at five p ten. Today, we've got a couple of reports out. One is the im IMF and don't roll your eyes, but the IMF report. They do this every year and they take a look at the state of our economy and tell us how things how we're fearing. They are saying growth for twenty twenty five one point four percent two point seven four twenty twenty six, they say monetary policy easing to a neutral level is warranted. What does that mean basically what Adrian All said to three percent by the end of the year. They say that despite the fact that we are buying less from the rest of the world and selling more and more expensive stuff to the rest of the world, I dairy and our beef, we still have a problem with our current account deficit. It remains high and there is a structural component to it, so that's not great. Where are we getting the growth from? Now Here is the very predictable part of the report. I promised you. We are getting the growth dominantly in the short term from migration, while productivity growth is expected to remain modest if there is no significant structural reform. So surprise surprise there. The risks are also not that surprising. Donald Trump and the trade wars. Also an earthquake, so pray for us. They recommend, as they have in all other reports that I've read from the IMF, a comprehensive capital gains tax, so no one seems to actually do one. And they also say that the ocr should hit three point two five percent by midway through this year. So that's the world according to the our world according to the IMF twenty six after four Bridge show the retail card spinning data we've had out today. This is for February. It was up zero point three percent, so an increase, but it's not massive and it's nothing to write home about. Hospitality was down point one, consumables up, apparel up. December, you'll remember, was a strong month for US, and then we dipped in January. We were down one point six you take away the petrel in the vehicles, and the spending was up point five. We're still not seeing people going out in kitchen Kichen swiping the cars to make Rod Drury happy at Brisco's, and that doesn't like it's going to happen anytime soon. If you look at the number for February and compare it to February last year, we're actually down four point two percent. So you know, you can read all the surveys about consumer confidence that you want, but it's not at this stage translating into anything tangible. Dan Mitchison out of the US.
Next after making the news, the news makers talk to Ryan first. It's Ryan Bridge on Hither Dupercy Elan Drive with one New Zealand, let's get connected news talks.
They'd be good.
Afternoon twenty five minutes away from five that big investment summit kicking off in Auckland in Earnest this afternoon. There's going to be a speech by the Prime minister today. I mean, if you like speeches by prime ministers, then you're going to love this investment conference because there's three of them, apparently, one this afternoon, one tomorrow morning, and then one tomorrow night if I got that right, or to Friday, so it's spread over three to three days, which is right?
If it's three speeches by prime ministers? Is that three speeches from the same prime minister, same guy? I mean he's going to have to hold some material back for number three, isn't it.
That's the thing. How many speeches can you do before you actually lose the room? And it's the same room of people, and there's only one hundred, so you can't exactly go to the toilet, you know what I mean? People will notice, it's going to be obvious. So anyway, we'll be across that this afternoon. And there are some changes they've already announced, because obviously the government will want to be announcing something during this conference. They've annow some changes that will affect tech gurus highly skilled people and start up entrepreneurs. And if you're not one of those people, there's still reason you should care. I'll tell you about that later on in the show twenty four Away from five, it's.
The world wires on news Talks, they'd be drive, well, what.
Do you know?
Ukraine cowtawels to the US and the taps are turned back on. Zelenski has said yes to a thirty day ceasefire and the military aid is back on. Here's Marco Rubio now hopefully, well we'll take this offer and out of the Russians and we hope that they'll say yes't say yes to piece the balls now in our court. The big, burly, tough talking Ontario premiere has also bound down to Trump. Trump threatened a twenty five plus twenty five so tariff's of fifty percent on Canadian steel and aluminium, and the backdown from doug Ford has been met with glee from Trump.
As you know, there's a very strong man in Canada who said he was going to charge a shirt charge. You're a tariff and electricity come again to Ocochim. He has called and he said he's not going to do that. Okay, he's not going to do that, and it would have been a very bad thing if he did. And he's not going to do this, so I respect that.
Finally, this afternoon, a Pennsylvania man has been caught trying to board a flight with a small turtle in his pants. I should have pre read this ants, because I thought there was going somewhere completely different. You've put you fast, you read forward to pants and you think small? What ants? What have you given me? The body scanner alarm went off and a TSA agent did a pat down determined there was something concealed in the man's growing area. The man then revealed and surrendered the turtle. It was wrapped in a towel. The TSA says the animal appears, thank goodness to be unharmed.
International correspondence with ends and eye Insurance Peace of mind for New Zealand business.
Damn Metrosin is a US correspondent. Dan, good afternoon to you.
Well, you know what kind of photo a turtle loves to take? Right shelfy? Nothing?
Okay?
Thanks, thanks Dan, Thank you. I don't know if anyone's better off for you telling that, Jope, but I appreciate the sentiment. This is some quiet, very unfunny news. Actually some night breaking news out of the US. The Education Department is going to lay off half its stuff.
Yeah, I mean this is this is just a huge sweeping layoff that has begun tonight. They're going to cut about fifty percent of the workforce right now.
They began this evening.
They employ about four thousand, maybe forty five hundred people or so. And what was interesting earlier today, they just sent out this email to all the employees saying the offices are going to be closed tonight and tomorrow for unspecified security reasons. They didn't say what it was going to be, but they told everybody to take their laptops. So I think most people could see the riding on the wall. And you know, there have been reporters that have been saying that they can't remember a time that all the offices were closed like this, even for VIPs that are going to be on the site. So the layoffs looks like I'll take effect in about ninety days, and I think this is going to affect and impact just a lot of day to day operations with the department.
The Trump wants to get rid of that department altogether, though right some of they just buttering it up for the end.
Well, yeah, that's I think that's what you're I think you're right between him and Elon Musk. I mean, his whole goal is to get rid of this department completely. I don't know whether they'll be able to do that, but I mean at this point in time, with the number of cuts they've been going through with the government so far in the last ninety days, I mean, anything seems possible.
Yeah, because presumably you would need someone left standing to run the education department, wouldn't you or do?
I mean, yeah, unless you get unless you get Trump, who says I'm going to take this over like he's taken so over so many other agencies.
All Right, How Ukraine is on board with this proposal for a sea spy. What's Trump saying about him?
Well, I think they're happy that things are moving forward, like you were talking about in the World wires there. I mean, Marco Rubio said that after all this this meeting, right now, the ball is in Russia's court to take steps to end the war. The president has said he's going to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a plan potentially this week, and they've also agreed that, you know, this minerals deal, which was kind of what blew up in the Oval Office a week and a half ago or so or so, is going to be done as soon as possible. And you know, Trump is saying this is going to expand Ukraine's economy and at the same time it's going to guarantee their long term security, which is you know, something that the President of Ukraine had been adamant about.
Dan We are five years on from the pandemic, but here in New Zealand, we still have big problems with their education, with school attendance, all that kind of stuff. How are you guys fearing over there.
Yeah, it's kind of the same way.
I mean, it's hard to believe it's been five years this month since this kind of first hit and our kids were kind of caught up. In my kids, i say, or were caught up in their first year of high school and they had to do remote learning here and as a parent it was challenging, and then as a reporter it was challenging too. And what we've learned from studies that have just come out is basically kids got behind over the next couple of years, you know, math and English and science scores dropped, and unfortunately they still have not caught up five years later. And what they're seeing is and a lot of this is stuff that we've heard before, but a number of kids didn't have the adequate tools and they didn't have the right spaces to learn, and as a result, students are seeing their levels of learning compared to the predecessor's fall. Now, the one good thing real quick I will say, Ryan, is that, Okay, we know we can make remote learning work if we have to, but most importantly, we know that the kids are actually learning things in school and the environment is better than trying to separate them. And you know a lot of socioeconomic hurdles that we had to face, you know, during the last few years of the pandemic.
Dan, thank you very much for that. Dan Mitchton, our US correspondent. It's nineteen minutes away from five Ryan Bridge. So Nicola Willis has come up with a plan for procurement and it's upsetting the unions. So here are the things she wants to do. If you've got a government contract, This is for smaller ones. You no longer need to have a five star building rating. If you're doing a new building, you know, not no longer if you're a business that wants a government contract, you no longer need to have evs or hybrid vehicles. You no longer need to purchase office supplies that produce low amounts of waste or are recyclable, and you no longer need to pay the living wage in contracts to cleaning, catering and security guards, which is what the unions are all miffed about today. They're on the show after five o'clock. But if you go through that list, I mean, do you do you care whether someone who the government contracts to has an EV or not? I don't. Do you care whether they're using staples or paper or are just I don't care. I guess the bigger question in light of the whole that issue we shall not mention to do with the thing you eat between breakfast and dinner, which they are currently serving to young people.
You know that thing?
Yeah, if you go for the cheapest option, is that necessarily the best fun either? You know, it gets a hard one. What you want really a good smart people doing the procuring. That's really what it comes down to. You need good smart people in government departments who are doing this stuff otherwise, I mean, it doesn't matter how many rules you set, you'll end up with an exploding lunch seventeen away from five Barrisoper next.
Politics with Centrics, Credit, check your customers and get payments certainty.
New talks here b Barri soapis he has senior political correspondent. Good afternoon, Barry, afternoon, Ryan, good to see you. Now you've been having a look at two at this KPMG report on our banking sector, the margins that we pay, the margins that our banks earn here versus Australia.
Well not only Australia, other countries as well. We're in the middle to upper end in terms of the bank's profitability if you look at because we've got four big Australian banks operating in this country. Of course, they last year made a net profit of seven point two two billion dollars.
Which is extraordinary.
But they're big outfut well no, no, but they keep telling us they're tens of thousands of employees.
Yes they have all that, yes, I know, and the chief executives that are back before the Select Committee at Parliament this week they're crying poor on their three million dollar salaries. I mean, it's a really tough area out there. But if you look at the banks, the margin is two point three four percent. Now that's the difference. The ocr is three point seventy five percent, So that's what they buy their money at, and their margin is two point three four percent, which would give you an interest rate of around I guess six percent, And that's what we should be paying in our mortgages. But you know, I don't think everybody's paying. Well, we're probably getting closer to six percent.
It depends what sort of It depends on your situation, isn't it how much you're borrowing and.
What you will well, yeah, right. The biggest problem here if you listen to the banks, and it's been reflected by some political circles as well, is the capital that they have to retain to make sure that if times do get tough, that the depositors funds will be looked after and the like. So when you look at other countries, it's pretty high in New Zealand, mainly because our economy is in a pretty risky state at the moment.
That's right, and we're a small country and we're one earthquake away from everything going to hell. In a handbasket. So you know, yes, they might be making a little bit more money here, but they in theory, we are safer here because they've got the capital.
But no bank has fallen over here either. And the thing is that with the new governor of the Reserve Bank coming in, because the Reserve Bank sets those capital requirements, maybe they'll be a bit more liberal and certainly that would appease some of the political circles.
Now, speaking of political circles, Ginny Anderson, she did it again. This is on with on Breakfast on Hosking this morning. Her foot firmly buried in her mouth.
Was what a I couldn't believe it when I heard it. It was like regular slot on Wednesday, Mark Mitchell with Mark Mitchell. She was moaning about what a waste some time the eighty hours were for hearing submissions on the Treaties principal Bill when it was going to be voted down. Well, it was a great, great piece of radio in my view. The woman Chris Hopkins rates promoting Ginny Anderson to Labour's finance team last week and making her responsible for treaty negotiations, made a full of herself when taking issue with Mitchell over the Treaties bill.
Ever, listen, Labour took some of the bills through themselves when they're in Parliament. They got killed off as well. But I think that it.
Was a treaty Principal's Bill that Labor brought into.
The House as well through the process.
Making it.
Check your history.
You don't know, you don't even know that.
The treaties negotiated.
Didn't support.
I was right.
Labor does not support it, honestly.
That was her coming back after the break, So I was right all along. Well, in fact, Jenny, go back and have a listen, as all our listeners have heard, you were wrong.
Hey, just finally the Maori Party staying on the on a similar vein heir, the Malori Party goes into bat for funer order agencies. These are the ones who've lost their contracts. We've heard about it in the last couple of days. One of them of course, belongs to or is run by John Timmerhead of their president.
It's a big it's a big contract and the person firing the questions today was the Maori Parties co leaded every rewa Packer. She was accused in Parliament today of asking questions on behalf of her party's president, John Tamma Harry, who had one of the big contracts, but Louise Upston, standing in for the minister, says the transition to the new providers will be very carefully managed.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Public Service Commission are working closely with Tapuny Corkerdy to manage the transition and to ensure a smooth continuity of service for the final receiving services.
Does a provider that has banked over one hundred million dollars in profit not suggest that the taxpayers money has not gone for the purpose which was given in the first place.
This is a process that Puny Corcuerdy have run, as recommended by MB that every contract that the government has should go to market every four to five years to test the market to see if there are other providers available.
We've got a member asking pointed questions about a process in which one of the major losers appears to be a prominent member of our own political party. I just wonder if there's any need to declare such a conflict of interest before asking such questions.
Well, when speaking decided there wasn't any need to do it. And I didn't planny of not Rewhitpackers' questions because they are all superficial, really and they didn't elicit anything but the fact that she's clearly upset about the contract being lost. And there is certainly, in my view, something of a conflict there when you consider she's asking about a contract that or one of the contracts that was held by the party president John Tammick, A.
Bit of distinct you reckon, Verry, Thank you for that. Verry Soper, Senior political correspondent here at News Talks. Here be eight away from five after five. Of course, we're going to talk about what Russia wants from a potential sex fire deal with Ukraine. And this council bin issue has read its head again. This is the food scrap bin, this time in Huanganui where they are throwing. You know, they've got nineteen thousand food scrap bins they are literally going to have to put in the bin.
Digging into the issues that affect you the my casting.
Breakfast, I thought it might be fun to talk about school lunches because the media has ignored the subject for far too long. Of course, if you went and hired mister Chief Hos, who you knew was a problem, and that problems come back to bite you in the bum that's on you.
Isn't it, Well, well it actually it hasn't. What we've done is overcome problems as they've arisen.
When one.
Problems because you went with the cheapest person in town who was always going to cause you problems, because that's what cheaf people go back tomorrow at six am, the mic asking breakfast with the rain driver of the last newstalks, z' be.
Five away from five on news talks. They'd be good to have you with me this evening. And now the Prime Minister has just released a statement with that sounds more serious than it needed to needed to. It's just a statement outlining what he's going to speak to the summit about in Auckland, which there is a lot of interest in. He says, a growing New Zealand economy translate to more jobs, high wages, better infrastructure and it makes all New Zealanders better off. My message to these companies and individuals attending the summer over the next two days is that New Zealand is open for business. He's going to touch on the Overseas Investment Act changes that they've made fast track. He's going to talk about the Foreign Investment Fund changes, which we're talking about later on in the show. Invest in z Remember they've set up that vehicle for chrying to encourage investment into New Zealand, the banking sector. Shape up all of those and getting infation down. All of those things make us a destination that's right for your investment. So hopefully they're listening. It is four minutes away from five ran Bridge. After five, we're going, of course, going to talk about Russia and what they want potentially from a ceasefire. Ukraine and America have agreed to one. But my favorite story of the day, just because it's a pet interest of mine, is the council scrappins for your food waste. It just bugs me that you have to pay for it. You've got no option. It's eighty dollars per year. If you're a pension on a fixed income, that's a lot of money. If you're a pension on a fixed income who does his or her own composting, at the moment, you still have to pay for it. How is that fair? Anyway? Hoangan Nui has done a good thing. We'll talk about that after five. News talks at be.
Hell Questions, answers, facts, analysis, the drive show you trust for the full picture. Brian Bridge on Heather Duplicy allan drive with one New Zealand let's get connected news talks.
They'd be good evening seven after five So the ballers and Russia's caught this evening on the ceasefire deal. The US has managed to get Ukraine to the table. They've agreed to thirty days of no fighting. Then hopefully they can start to have talks about actually ending the war. This all goes to the Kremlin before it goes anywhere else. Alexei Moravrev is with Curtain University. He's the associate professor of National Secure the in Strategic Studies is with me. Good evening, good afternoon, and good evening to you. Thank you for being with us. Do you think Russia will like this deal? Will? But will they like and take the terms for a thirty day seis fine?
Well I don't think they do. They will and and this is what they were trying to manifest over and over and over a suddain period of time, and a number of forums saying they're not interested in the temporary seist fire that may provide the Ukrainians an advantage in terms of recovering, regrouping, regenerating their strength and then obviously regaining their will to fight on uh. The Russians are currently moving the advancing. They made significant progress in liberating the course cregion and emphasizing on the word liberation. Obviously, it's different from what the Russians are doing in in Ukraine, and in this sense, the Russians come into these talks from the position strength because one of the I mean, the problem that we have in trying to understand this whole rapid change concern in the conflict is we have been subjected to certain types of narratives over the past three years, and certainly one of the narratives that we're trying to battle ourselves against is the fact that this is an unwinnable war and the Russians don't really see that this is an unwiennable war. Yes, they're making very slow progress, but they're grabbing territory, their inflicking damage on the military and that's why they have no interest in stopping it.
So you think, Alexi, that the Russian people genuinely believe even though Potin said this is going to be a couple of weeks of a war, here we are three years later. They genuinely believe that they can actually win it. And what does winning mean? Does that mean actually taking over all of Ukraine?
See this is where it also gets very interesting. We continue to run with this narrative that for some reason, the Russians won the whole of Ukraine. It was never stated in any of of Russia's official communications or declarations than they want the whole of Ukraine. They want Ukraine as a buffer. That's certainly the endgame in terms of answering you. And that doesn't mean that Russia wants to control the whole of the country, which I don't think they want or can do.
They just want some space. They want some space between them and your space, and they.
Want buffer, and they want buffer between themselves and Nita. And to answer your question about Russia's will to fight, initially, yes they were. They were kind of very slow and they didn't expect that it would be such a prolonged conflict. But the Kremlin managed to weaponize their minds and militarize them. So the Russians are currently feeling like they don't want to stop. I think the greatest disappointment for them if they would be given orders to hold their assault, and that may actually cause more a backlash for Putting than having some sort of negotiation.
And LEXI very quickly because we are really tight on time here, but just just to give us an idea, what would it take for Russia to go through the ceasefire?
If the United States would bring on the table some significant concessions to the Russians, whether it's lifting of sanctions or some sanctions or something else, then Putin would be able to go back to his people and sell the idea. If it's going to be just, you know, show a case of goodwill, well, I think Putin would actually be damaging his own reputation in the eyes of the people he was trying to sell this war to, including the fact that Russia will fight until the end, until victory. So without some sort of compromise on the US side, I don't think it's going to be visible.
Alex I really appreciate your time. That's Alexei Moraviev. He's with Kurtin University Associate Professor of National Security and Strategic Studies, saying basically patient needs something from the Americans to get the ceasefire across the across the line living.
After five Bryan Bridge.
The unions in the opposition not happy with the government's new rules for contracting companies that procure US work to Companies will no longer have to pay the living wage for cleaning, catering and security guard services, amongst a raft of other changes that was announced this morning. Richard wagg starts with the Council of Trade Unions. Good evening, Good evening, right, So what is it? I mean, obviously you guys are for the living wage, but some companies, it's argued they're too small to pay it, so shouldn't they get a bite of the government procurement pie too.
Well, this is a huge part. As you know, it's a billion ent every year of procure excuss. Well, this is the something is a people on cleaning, catering and security. When they put an a tender for business they have to pay. They didn't have to pay a living wage. Now the game don't have to pay them.
Richard. I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but your line is terrible. Would you mind moving for us slightly?
Oh, I'm in a pretty good place, I think, but I would probably How does that sound? I mean, I are a normal place here. How does that sound?
Do you know what?
We might come back to you in just a second, I think, Richard the line, and we will return to you. Caller twelve minutes after five on news talks. He'd be interestingly also today to do with the Oval office, Trump has obviously spoke the horses and spooke not just the horses and the paddock, but the horses in his own stable. This is a report from the Wall Street Journal. Business leaders, his own advisors are freaking out about how much the markets are freaking out about what he's doing with the tariffs, and they're all picking up the phone and ringing capital Hell. They're all recalling their Republican lawmakers. Hey mate, I bankrolled your election. What the hell is going on at the White House right now? It's chaos. The tariffs are on and off. You know, there's a last minute carve out to the auto industry because they've been on the blower. So it's all a little bit confusing for the markets, as you can see, and the results of the last couple of days, but also a bit confusing for the business leaders and for the donors that got Trump into power. Thirteen minutes after five five. We'll be back in just a moment with Richard wegstaff. Now, this would have to be one of the bargain buy Rose deals of the year so far, and it's available exclusively online at the Good Wine Cot. Now you'll have to be quick. They've been selling the deal for the last week or so, offering it to their database person. It's just been flying out the door. The wine is called Yellen's Reserve Mulbra Rose. This is twenty twenty three. The long and the short of it is that the winery has deleted this wine from their portfolio and offered a one off sharp price to clear the last of the stocks. And they didn't mark around on the price. Remember this is their reserve label Rose and it's up for grabs at ten ninety nine per bottle, a pale, pink and deliciously dry rose for ten ninety nine per bottle, and if you order now, you'll pay just one dollar per case delivery to your door anywhere in New Zealand, conditions apply. Honestly, this will likely sell out tonight, so you'll need to act fast. Order online right now at the Goodwine dot co dot Nz or call eight hundred double six to two double six too. Bred Shane Jones on the show after six tonight, he's fired up about gas right now. Seventeen after five, the government's procurement rules companies no longer have to consider the living wage for cleaning, catering and security guard services. This is upset the CTU. Richard Wagg starts back with us. Richard, welcome back, Thank you, Ryan, good to be back now. The argument is some small businesses companies can't afford to pay the living wage, so why should they miss out on government contracts?
Yeah, I don't think that makes a lot of sense. You see, what it is basically as a standard, and everyone bidding for government contracts has to just basically meet the same standard. So whatever the wage minimums are, or indeed any other minimums, everyone has to has to meet them. So there's no disadvantage to small, medium, or large businesses. They're all on the same playing thought. What this does, though, is basically enable all of those providers, you know, contractors too, basically bid on minimum wages. And this is without standards it or drive wages down.
But the thing is that the standard, the legal standard, is the minimum wage, not the living wage. Right, So now there are perfectly legitimate businesses out there paying the minimum wage who at the moment can't get government contracts.
But as I said to you, when they go for government contracts, they need to pay the same rates as everybody else. They shouldn't be able to undercut them.
And that's the problem.
But when these when these tenders, when the things go to tender, what we'll see is that the wage rates for cleaners, for caterers, for security services will all drop because of the competitive tendering process.
Governments. Not every company can afford to pay the living wage. They don't. They're set up like that. Smaller businesses can't afford to do that. You'll end up with large companies taking all the government contracts.
I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think small businesses can be competitive. But basically what you're saying is that they by allowing them to drop their wages, so will larger businesses drop their wages. To everybody will drop their wages. The only winners will be you know, whoever's paying for the overall cost. But it certainly won't be the workers. The workers will be the losers in that program, so exactly the same as the bus drivers. And that's why we wanted to have fair pay agreements. Every time councils put out bus services for tender, everyone who tended on the minimum wage except the companies that had proper agreements with their stuff, and they couldn't win tenders because they were stuck on higher wages. And that's the problem. You keep driving wages and conditions down with tendering.
Richard, appreciate your time this evening, Richard Wagstaff, the Council of Trade Union's president. Time is nineteen minutes after five. Ryan Bred Now I have an announcement, a very exciting announcement for you this evening. I'm moving to Huanganui. Do you know why it's all to do with their bins? Living in Auckland, you're supposed to separate your food scraps from the general trash then put them in a separate bin. And who can be bothered with that? The answer is not many, if any, well not Inhanganui district, where the council has just canceled plans to introduce food scrap bins because they're expensive and unpopular, who would have thought. Unfortunately for them, they've already purchased nineteen thousand bins, so they are going to have to throw the bins in the bin. Now in Auckland, Hamilton and Totong and a bunch of other councils around the country, they're still doing this. Of course. Tanya Herman is Hamilton City Council's Operate and Maintain Unit director and she's with me this evening. Hi Tanya, Hi.
Ryan, how are you good?
Thank you? So you guys have got is this? What do people paying their rates in Hamilton for this?
So our general rubbish is rated differently, so it's part of our general rates, so we don't have its targeted. So we budget thirty three dollars per in in per household for our food scrap service.
Right, and how many households use the food scrap bin.
We've got about sixty three thousand households and we have about forty percent of our households to use the bin regularly.
And does all do all of the households have to pay the thirty three dollars even if they don't use the bin.
Yes, that's correct, because it's all part of our suite of services for rubbishing recycling.
But is that fear if you're not using the suite?
Well, it's an option to give to our households. What we're aiming to do is reduce rubbish going to.
Lengthal but option implies, sorry, Tana, just to stop you. But option implies that you have the option to say no, which they don't.
They don't know because it's part of our general rate, and that rate covers a whole raft of our rubbishing recycling services. That it's not broken down like a targeted rate where you can opt in or opt out of a targeted rate. This is a general rate, so it covers the whole range of services available for rubbishing recycling.
Okay, fair enough, all right, So since you brought this in, because the whole idea is that it'll reduce carbon emissions from landfills, So since this has been brought in, what has the reduction being in carbon emissions from landfills?
So it's hard to quantify exactly how much that is, but as an example, what we do know is that we're debuting four hundred tons of food scraps per month and that Hemilton normally from going to landfolds, so does in itself will have a positive impact.
But you must measure the carbon emissions that are coming from landfills. Surely have they gone up or down?
We do, and as a region we do. It's hard to calculate it specifically on food scraps alone because there's a number of factors that have to be taken into play in that calculation. But like I said, by having four hundred tonnels of food scraps being diverted from landfill, which creates methane, if it goes to landfill, that's having an impact or will be having an impact.
But surely you would know. I mean, okay, here's a question. Regardless of what's happening with the food scraps, has carbon emissions from landfills increased or decreased since you made this change?
It's our landfall specifically goes to Hampton down, so it's calculated across the Auckland and why Cuttle regions. So the emissions are so that we are starting to see a decrease across the board as a specific to Hamilton, I don't I couldn't give you those exact figures.
All right, interesting, Tanna, Thank you very much.
For that.
Keep up the good work. I'm sure there'll be people who won't agree, but that's that's the life of being in council, isn't it. Tarnier Herman, who was the Hamilton City Council Operate and Maintain Unit director here on the show this afternoon. The problem I have with it is that if you're a pension on a fixed income, that is a lot of money to you. In Auckland. I think it's eighty dollars per year. That is, you know, that's five six seven bucks a week. It's a lot of money. And if you're already somebody who composts in your own backyard, you can't opt out of it, which doesn't seem very fair to me. Twenty three minutes half for five News Talks Hebb.
Moving the big stories of the day forward. It's Ryan Bridge on Heather Duper see Ellen Drive with One New Zealand Let's Get Connected News.
Talks B five twenty six on News Talk said, be sometimes you just have to sit back and think, Wow, what an incredible man made miracle that's happened in Sydney in Australia. Over the last couple of months, I've spoken about this story before, as many of the news have, but a titanium heart was inserted into the chest of a man in his forties. He doesn't want to be named over in Australia. So he had heart failure. He was going to die, that was a certainty. He needed a heart transplant. They didn't have the heart to transplant into him. So in the meantime, scientists and doctors and medical professionals over the last twenty years have been working to perfect this titanium heart, a levitating titanium heart, and they managed to put this artificial heart into the man and he lasted on this artificial heart long enough for the heart transplant to take place, which it did earlier this month, and it's just been made public over in Australia. The design of this titanium heart was originally done by young Queenslander twenty years ago. Daniel Tims is his name. He invented it and what an incredible story. The man apparently could not feel the heart inside of his chest, the artificial heart inside of his chest. He was able to walk down the street. He got an uber home from the hospital. He went shopping in the month before he received his donated heart what an incredible achievement. He basically survived from November to February with a fake heart, or really with no heart, with no real heart, and now he has a transplant and he is alive to tell the story to his kids. Twenty eight minutes after five, Bryan Bridge, Now we're going to go to Australia after the News because despite Turnbulls, well, Turnbull's been poking the bear over in the Oval office in Washington and the bear is bitten back. There's no exemption for the Aussies. So we've got a political strategist, Bruce Hawker on the program right after news, recamping.
The day's big news and making tomorrow's headlines. It's Ryan Bridge on Heather du for see Ellen Drive with one New Zealand let's get connected News talks.
That'd be I just love be Sohungle and Martin Sarbib Songle and Brown Ram Martin, You're just like Maviv game.
Twenty four minutes away from six News Talks, he'd be. Shane Jones is very excited today. He's a happy boy because he's been in Taranaki at the opening of a well. It's an existing gas field, but they are doing some more drilling, getting some more gas out of it, Squeezing some more gas out of the poor Hookuda gas field. It's fascinating how it works as well. His going to explain it to us, But basically this is an offshore field, but they access it from the onshore. They drill down three kilometers and then across under the ocean for eight kilometers and to actually tap into the field and get the gas out. Fascinating stuff. He's with us after six twenty three or way two now, the Ossie PM, Anthony Alberonizi, he's head out at Donald Trump. This after the US declined today to make an exception on tarifs for Ossie steel in aluminium.
Such a decision, Ya, the Trump administration is entirely unjustified. This is against the spirit of our two nations enduring friendship and fundamentally at odds with the benefits that our economic partnership has delivered over more than seventy years.
And here is Trump's spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt.
The President is unweavering in his commitment to restore American manufacturing and global dominance.
Australian political strategist Bruce Walker is with me tonight, Bruce, good evening. You know, Ryan, how are you good? Thank you? Any surprises on your side of the testment to this.
Look, I don't think so. Really, I think people were preparing for the worst. There didn't really seem to be any indication that President Trump was going to give any exemption for any countries. Obviously the government was hopeful and they had a lot of representations being made, but at the end of the day, the tariff program that Trump's putting in place is going to apply to Australia as well.
Do you reckon Turnbull had anything to do with this?
Well?
I wondered about that.
I mean, it was unfortunate that those comments were made at the time, and Trump is such a unique character when it comes to personalizing his responses and the way in which he plays his politics. It's not beyond doubt that that could have been the case.
But who knows.
How's it playing domestically. I know Albanese is also saying they're not going to hit back with any counter teriffs. I mean, do people want strength from their AUSSI PM at the moment to stand up against Trump? Or was everybody happy to be but more softly softly.
Well, I think they've seen what's happened in places like Canada, where the response by the Canadians in putting tariffs on the America led to doubling of the tariffs on the Canadians. So I think the similar sanguine view in Australia as well. Maybe we just got to ride this one out for a while. It's clear that there are going to be very significant impacts on America with their tariff policy and causing inflation and having effects on their stock market right now. So who knows what Trump's next move or move down the street you know a few months is going to be. So I think that probably most Australians would be saying, look, let's let this thing ride. It's not good. It's an act of bassardry, I guess I would think by some by a country that's been very only and loyal to Australia as it has been to New Zealand largely. But we live in these very strange times. The opposition obviously has come out and said that more should have been done and so forth, so it's running down pretty predictable lines. So I suspect that most people would think let's just wait and see how this event unfold in the coming months.
Bruce, thank you very much for that. Bruce Walker, Australian political strategist with US. It's interesting to note, and I supposed to put it in some context, the US only takes zero point two percent of Australia's still and aluminium.
It is twenty six the Huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty find you are one of a kind.
Jack Tame, host of Saturday mornings here on News Talks. He'd be and Q and A on TV one as with us. Hey Jack, Hey, right, good have you on? And David Pharaoh's with Us Curier Poster and Kiwi Blog. Hey David, Now let's start with the Russia situation, well, the Ukraine Russia situation. We had an expert from Curtain University on Sathanon. He reckoned David that the Russians are going to need some kind of give from the Americans before they'll sign a ceasefire for thirty days. I mean that seems pretty reasonable.
Look, I think after thirty day CEASEPA will happen because that doesn't strategically weaken Russia.
In fact, it's probably helpful to them.
It gives some time to resupply, get.
Supply routes through, So thirty days CEASEPA will probably happen, But much much, much harder is the permanent SEASEPA, because the one thing that Ukraine needs is the security guarantee, and it's the one thing Russia is dead see against, because then they wouldn't be able to just resume the war in a few years.
Sign. Yeah, and that's where this whole backstop in. Europe's trying to step up, and there's a meeting in Paris tonight to try and create some coalition of the willing jack Yeah.
Yeah, Well, I mean I think I think Europe will have to coalesce in a way that perhaps they couldn't have imagined the European leaders couldn't have imagined just six months ago, and perhaps in a way that has been overdue for some time. But I think David's assessment is quite right. I think the thirty day cease fire at least seems like maybe slightly more likely than not at the moment. I mean, we've seen the kind of behavior from both sides that you would usually expect before a cease fire, which is to say they're both launched withering attacks on each other. But it's curious, right because so far, at least under the Trump administration, that the Vladimir Putin and the Russians haven't had to give much, right, They've kind of been observers and all of this so far, they haven't to give anything. Really, all of the priest has been on Zelenski. And in a way, I suppose the Ukrainians have called the Russian bluff. But David's quite right, da cease fire is by no means a commitment to end the conflict right now, and I'm sure that the Russians will be using that time to entrench their position even further, if not strength in it. And yeah, yeah, the real question comes down to whether or not the Ukrainians can expect any sort of security guarantee. I think it's inevitable that Russia is going to be keeping large swaths of territory, But it's whether or not a lot of Messolinski can get anything out of this negotiation that will make Ukrainians feel safe for going forward.
Yeah.
It is funny, though, isn't it, David? Would we be sitting here talking about even the potential of a thirty day ceasefire. If Biden was still in office, we.
Probably wouldn't be.
But YEA, getching a stop to the war is easy if one side surrenders, you know, stopping the war's easy. Stopping a war with the right outcome is much harder.
Yeah, And Perma guess the question is would we be sitting here imagining a future where Ukraine had zero security guarantees and the war was coming to an end? I guess that's the other way to flip around that question. And perhaps we would have seen the ceasefire. I suspect it would have taken a whole lot longer. And there'll be people who think that Trump's quite right and hastening the process. But I suppose it all depends on the outcome. And if the long term outcome is one that makes Ukraine less secure, less safe, potentially less democratic, then there'll be many who argue that actually we shouldn't be.
Ending the conflict. And on top of that, you've got this issue that you've got the US on one side and now seemingly Europe on the other. And while the US might get people to agree to things wild Europe, you know, so it's very complicated. Jack Tame, host of Saturday Mornings on Q and a David Farrah, Curia poster and Kivi blogger with us. It's quarder to six. We're back with the Huddle in just a second.
The Huddle with New Zealand Southeby's International Realty, the ones with local and global.
Reach, thee on News Talks. Jack tam and David Farrell with me for the huddle tonight. Now, this investment summit is well, it should be getting on the way very shortly. Actually the Prime Minister is going to speak today, tomorrow and Friday. Jack, what does what does success look like?
Or?
Yeah, how do you even measure success for something like this? Or is it just the fact that it's happening that's that's good.
I mean, I think it certainly started off as a kind of symbolic exercise, right, and I suppose one of the measures will be how many projects and the PPP opportunities the government is actually able to put up that might you know, tangibly attract international investment. I mean, there's going to be a fair bit of rah rah about the whole.
Thing, you know.
I think it's going to be really interesting to see whether or not the Prime Minister and his cabinet make any comments about the previous government. I think I think it's in all New Zealander's interests to have a kind of bipartisan approach and and it's good to see that, you know, Barbara Evans and some laboring peace are going.
To be there.
But yeah, yeah, I suppose the real test comes from what projects they can can put up. And already Chris Bishop has kind of suggested.
That this is a bit of a.
You know, in a Movese boosh when it comes to attracting foreign investment. I don't think we're going to see trillions of dollars of projects put up tomorrow. But really this is an effort to signal to the world that New Zealand's are for business.
Yeah, David, I'm interested to see because you know they've said, oh, this fund is coming, and that fund is coming. Actually how high up the food chain the people are representing those companies, Like are we getting day from accouncilor Susy from HR or just you know, any old Joe blogs who worked for their businesses coming, or are we getting the head on shows well day.
Through accounts for some of these companies probably still has a fusty.
Billion dollar budget.
Day from accounts, actually makes the decisions, but lot success is hard to make it.
There's two things, which is quality and quantity of who's turned up. The second one we won't know for two or three years, which is do we actually then see a significant increase in investment leading to more jobs, et cetera. The first one's easy to calculate, and we'll know that within a week. The second one, you know, is going to take more time and you're never going to know. Is this because of the investment summit, etc.
Yeah? Hey, just finally, before we go the bin's issues read its head again. In huangan Nui, the council has decided to ditch their plans for a food scrap bin, even though they already brought nineteen thousand of them and apparently slap the council logo on the side. They're going to have to throw those in the bin now because they're just really unpopular. And also they add you know, to your rate spell, which is obviously not what people want at this time. Jack, are you are you at home composter?
Do you know I'm an at home composter and I'm an at home worm Binner. But I'm also a user of the little green bins because you can't I can't put like meat and bread in my compost and my word bin and my wombin, so I put that in the green bin. And the one thing I actually really like about the green bins is I think having consistency nationwide about what you can throw out, recycle, put in food bins and stuff, I think that is really good. But yeah, if anyone's got a bright idea with what Wanganoi Distant Council can do with's nineteen thousand of these things, I'm sure.
They're all is well in Auckland. I know because we did this on Telly a few years ago, where I think only forty percent of people use them in Auckland, And a lot of people are emailing and saying they're perfect for the kid's lego. So if you've got lego around the house or toys, yeah, it's a great one.
That's a great suggestion. So that's a really good suggestion.
Yeah, David, what about you? Are you like Jack? Are you a co poster?
I used three when I lived on the Lifestyle Block, etc.
But not at the moment, But Funnily enough, the more people the fact we already have so many people who already compose there is an argument against a varist curbside food scraps program because you've already got those who are motivated doing it. And there was research done by Ministry for the Environment on why more people where there are food scrap services don't use them, because only one in four use them on a regular basis. And the biggest thing is people just don't like the smell. They don't want smelly food scraps sitting around the house all week, and that's perfectly natural. So I think it was a dark policy, to be honest to start with.
It's just a pussy.
They waited until they.
Ordered nineteen thousand months before they changed their mind.
Cletainly is they're all now going in the bin themselves, of course. Thank you, Thank you guys. David Ferrer and Jack Tame on the Huddle tonight, eight minutes away from six. Don't forget We've got the Energy Resources Minister with Shane Jones here after the news at six o'clock.
It's the Heather dupas Allen Drive Full Show podcast on My Radio, powered by News talksb.
News talks b it is five minutes away from six Chane Jones after six, Ryan, I totally agree with Jack who was on the huddle before. Green bins are very successful in our total Is streets. I use composts, but all meat scraps go into the curb. This is from a pensioner, so that you go, Ryan, people should put their meat scraps in the freezer. That way, you are not going to stink out your rubbish or your compost. When you get enough, make a stock or put it on the rubbish collection date. Cheers Gary. Honestly, who has the time to be putting their scraps in a freezer? Is anyone? Is no one busy? What is everyone doing? I mean, I'm assuming that a lot of people are retired. My grandma's spends a lot of time sorting her bins, you know, but she's got time on her hands. Some of us don't. And I don't want to have to pay eighty dollars a year for a bin that I don't use. But you've got no choice.
The boss won't be happy to hear that you're moving to one and Eli, Ryan.
Well, I'm sure they can. There's got to be a studio on Ponganui. I would have thought, and it's a long way to move just to save eighty dollars a year or whatever it might be. I didn't even know what they were going to In fact, it was one and a half percent extra on their rates, a targeted rate in Poganui. And they're not going ahead with the bins. But it's interesting apparently that part of the reason that they were going to go ahead with it and to begin with, was that under the previous government they brought in a mandate that all councils had to come up to the standard, so all councils had to offer the recycling, the food scrap recycling. So that's why a lot of the councils are going ahead with it. Now the national government came in and reversed that, and therefore Poganui goes, well, do we actually need to introduce them? They'd already bought the bins, but do we actually need to introduce them? Had the meeting and bang no, they don't. There you go, we'll hear more from what's going on at this investment summit. After six o'clock. We'll also get a market wrap find out what's going on over in Wall Street with Milford and Shane Jones. He's been just like a pig in mud down in Tartanaki today visiting a gas field. He's next.
Where Business meets inside the Business Hour with Ryan Bridge and Ma's Insurance and Investments, Grow Your.
Wealth, Protect Your Future News Talks MB Good.
Evening at a seven after six donative training on the IMF for fort Coming up in just a second. Milford's market update. We'll look at the tech stocks in particular that have taken quite a tumble and the investments Summitt plus Gavin Gray in the UK. All ahead right now, Shane Jones is celebrating a new natural gas well in Tartanaki. This is from an existing field, the poor hoor Kuda production well should deliver four petidules into New Zealand's energy grid each year. The Minister for Resources with me tonight, High Minister Georder, Greetings, folks, So you've been in Taranaki today. Can you just describe for us how they're getting at this gas because it's quite interesting.
Yeah. The sitees called pajor Kuda, near the township of Whitepata, seven and a half kilometers both out and down into the bed of the sea, extracting from different cabinist areas usable gas. I today actually stood next to the seven and a half kilometers of coiled up steel pipe that has been used and it's exit.
There's an offshore field, but you actually access it from on shore using this big rig.
Yeah, so they had an infrastructure set up. The main rig was called Big Ben. Big Ben's done the deal. Big Ben's moved on, hopefully to a new site with even better prospects. The infrastructure links the onshore apparatus to seven and a half kilometers off the coastfine and down on a some of doubt diagonal course. Quite extraordinary engineering into pockets of gas that are feasible to extract, which.
Is good and great. And this is an existing field we're getting, you know, we're sucking more out of it. But it's only four petiitoles that they're going to get right, and our production is down what more than twenty five percent? So is this going to make a difference.
Well, there's about three hundred odd thousand households who rely on gas. One hundred and forty six thousand households would be serviced by the all meant to supply that omb announced today. So yes, it's not inordinately large, but if you live in one of those one hundred and forty six thousand households, it's not to be sneezed at.
What about the companies that are turning gas off to households and saying no, we're not going to supply it anymore.
Well, let's not hide from the fact. Ever since just end the sort of can the order gas industry, it's had a very negative effect on the sentiment and gas industry, and we are in trying togorate, we invigorate that and turn it around. We see how gas works in New Zealand is we need one foundation major user and that major user is a Canadian company called Methodics, and they make methanol and they supply it to various spots around the world. And that's why the CEO was here recently ensuring that I am senior ministers and including the Prime Minister understand the gravity of the situation with the New Zealand gas industry, and he was testing what will the government do itself to de risk further exploration. So I'm working on various proposals as to how we can accelerate both money into the industry and genuine economic activity.
The big hold up is what you do after that you've finished drilling.
Right, Yeah, So there's a piece of legislation wending its way through parliament, and one of the testy pieces of the legislation is called decommissioning. I after the gas field is exhausted, what process do you take to remove the infrastructure that's the pipes and the various other parts of apparatus that have been sunk into the bed of the sea to take out this natural resources.
And so who's holding that up?
Well, you may or may not recall there was of crowd called tamar And who walked away from their decommissioning obligations four or five years ago. That left a bill of three or four hundred million in rough figures. So the industry, you want to make sure that the provisions in the statute don't disincentivize them from looking for more gass. At the same time, I've been saying to them, I don't want to undermine the Crown's balance sheet by leaving too much of a bill of things go wrong with the tax fairs.
So this is not about a negotiation between coalition partners. This is basically between you and the industry.
Yeah.
Well, obviously I'm a proxy for our group of cabinet ministers, the entire chroka of three parties. We all campaigned hard to re establish gas as a firming contingency field, and I except there are other elements in the broader political community who don't believe gas or coal should be used, but they belong to the juvenile work tribe, so I have no time for their thinking.
Still believe it. There, Thanks for your time, Shane Jones, who's the Minister for Resources with us tonight twelve minutes after six. Now, just on gas because obviously four peeda duels. When you're talking about production, I think this year is just over one hundred peta jewels, but it has been and regularly was around one hundred and eighty five peta jewels a year mark, so four peta jewls is kind of a drop in the ocean. But if you look at what the demand is going to be for gas going forward, I mean, it still makes up more than twenty percent of all the elect of all of the energy that we use in New Zealand right now, So it's not insignificant, but it is dwindling. Our production of it is dwindling. And we spoke to the Genesis boss, Malcolm John's about exactly this a couple of weeks ago and what do they do, particularly at Huntley when it comes to reliance on gas. Here's what he told us.
We as a company have pivoted to move gas out of our generation, our baseload generation profile, simply because we don't see any new activity happening at the moment. So we've got no proof points to say that gas will be there in the future, and it's declining at a rapid rate at the moment.
Yeah, interesting, isn't it. So the demand is the production is falling, but also the demand at least from some quarters of the economy is also falling. Just gone thirteen minutes after.
Six Brian Bridge.
We've had a lot of texts coming in about Huanganui and the bins there. It's been a very, very hot topic on the text machine this afternoon and I think this is a fair one to We'll get to the text from the Laura who's the executive producers, had a text from the MP. We'll get to that after the break. But this is one from Rob Vinson, who is a Whanganui District councilor, and he says, Wuanganui District Council have not got nineteen thousand food waste bins to dispose of. They haven't been delivered yet most won't be. There is a market for any that do become available to councils that have introduced the service, as they need around five to ten percent as each year. So basically what Rob is saying is, even though they've paid for the bins, they might not get all of them delivered, and the ones they do get delivered they hope to on sell to other councils. Well, good luck with that, Rob. I'm hoping that there is a high demand for these bins, but I fear that some of them may end the bins may end up in the bin. Fourteen minutes after six, Newstalk Zbach an Antip trainee on the IMF Report.
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At eighteen after six from Carl Bates NP four Hoangan Nui on the Bins issue. Please tell Ryan that if he wants to come and host the show from hoangan Nui for a couple of days, Mayor Andrew, and I would ensure he got to see why wangan Nui. The annoying thing about pong now is no one knows how to pronounce it anymore. So if you could fix that problem, you'd be halfway there anyway, he says Mayor Andrew, and I would ensure he got to see why pogan Nui is both a cost effective place but also the best place in New Zealand to live. That's fantastic. I can see that on a billboard. Quangan Nui simultaneously cost effective and the best nineteen after six, Ryan Bridge. Now, the International Monetary Fund, the IMF is today released its yearly report on the state of our economy, and it's not too keen on the government deregulating banks to spur more competition in the sector. Jane chip Trainee is the herold's Willington Business Editor. She's been breaking a looking into this for USA Good Evening. Hey, Ryan, so why are they worried about less regulation?
Well, the IMF is basically just cautioning the government. It's saying, hey, make sure that these rules that the Reserve Bank puts in place that require banks to have strong balance sheets, make sure that those rules are actually focused on the main thing, which is maintaining financial stability, don't you know. It's not saying it quite so explicitly, but it's saying in the IMF was the primary objective of prudential regulation should be to safeguard financial stability. So it's making this warning. And the relevance of this is that Nikola Willis is looking at whether she should override the way the Reserve Bank regulates banks because she thinks that potentially, if some of these rules are watered down a bit, banks might leand more freely. Their interest rates might be a bit lower, and big and small banks might be able to compete more freely. So there's definitely a trade off here. On the one hand, you've got, you know, making sure the banks are super strong, they've got lots of capital. But you know, on the other hand, it's like, well, are we overdoing it? The IMF is saying, make sure that the main goal of the rules is actually to maintain financial stability.
Yeah, especially but with a country like ours, where you know, we're an earthquake away from it all being over. It's funny you say they didn't say this explicitly. The IMF doesn't say anything explicitly this report. It's so hard to it's like you need a telescope, a dictionary in another language.
Yeah, yeah, you know, it's like prudential regulation. You know, it's not that radio friendly.
What else did the IMF have to say about the economy, Well.
They also said that the Reserve Bank should be ready to use it has another you know, long word macro macro prudential tools. That's it should be ready to tighten those loan to value ratio restrictions and it's debt to income restrictions if low interest rates see the housing market take off, and see banks do lots of risky lending. So those are those rules that mean you need to have that you generally need a twenty percent deposit. If you're an owner occupier, then you need to have you know, enough income relative to the size of the loan that you want. There are those rules in place, and it's it's set a warning that actually the Reserve Bank should be ready to tighten those if necessary.
Interesting, and now I noticed in that IMEF report they said, yeah, get your o CR backed to new In fact, they said three point twenty five percent by mid year. They reckon. But there's an economist warning that because Adrian Or has left the Reserve Bank that we might see a slightly higher track because of his departure.
Yes, now this is where it gets interesting with these bank capital rules. Again, Adrian Or was a fierce defender of these rules, so they're still being phased and they'll be fully phased in by twenty twenty eight. If what the banks say is correct, then that mean interest rates will be higher because of these rules. So if banks need to hold more capital, that costs them, so they pass that cost onto us. But if Nichola Willis comes in and overrides the Reserve Bank or appoints a new governor that is happy to loosen the rules, then that means interest rates could be a bit lower. So that means, you know, banks might have charge us slightly less for our mortgages. If that happens, and this is now taking us five steps down the line. If that happens, interest rates might end up being a bit lower than what the Reserve Bank deems desirable to keep inflation and check. So then it might mean that it might need to lift the o CR a little bit more than might otherwise be the case. So I know I'm taking us like a million steps down the road here, but but this be and Z economists Stephen Topliss has said, well, if the if the capital rules are watered down, that might mean the o CR might need to be a little bit higher to prevent the mortgage rates that that banks charge from falling too low. You know, if they fall too low, that can stimulate the economy and that could be inflationary. So that could mean that the o CR needs to go up a bit. So I suppose the big takeaway here, it's all very complicated, but these capital rules are worth are worth a lot. You know, these the way that banks are regulated, you know, that has a really big impact through the economy. And I think the IMF is also warning we need we can't tinkle with these things willing. You know that there needs to be a pretty you know, a good effort to make sure they are well calibrated because the flow on effects are.
Extensive, massive, and it's basically a battle between stability and I guess cost effectiveness too, isn't it. Janet, thank you very much for that. There's always genative training with US from the Herald. She's the Marlington Business editor. Twenty four minutes after six, we'll get a Milford updates on the market's next whether.
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Six twenty seven Stephanie Bachelor, Milford Asset Management with US. Tonight's Steph, Hello, Hi Ryan. Now there's been a big sell off in the US markets this week. Of course, we're getting close now to correction territory, which is ten percent off the peak. What's the latestier, Yeah.
So the US market, the S and P five hundred index is down nine point three percent from its peak, so it is very close to that ten percent mark. And it's really due to invest a concern around a slowing in US economic growth. So as the Trump administration has settled in, they've announced a bunch of policies or potential policies that could dampen growth. These are things like trade tariffs and cuts to government spending. Over the weekend, Trump didn't rule out potential recession, so he said there's going to be a period of transition with what they're doing, and that led to another almost three percent pullback on Monday. Then overnight he actually reversed course of it. He downplayed that, saying he didn't foresee the US going into a recession and he thinks the country is going to boom, which did help to cushion a further fall that had started after he threatened more tariffs on Canada. So it's a little bit all over the place at the moment.
It certainly is now the tech companies, the Magnificent Seven, which are Kream Della cream of the tech companies, they have actually been hit harder than most than the broader Is this a sign that you are they leading the market here or is there tech specific things going on?
Yeah, there are some tech specific things happening. So it's the concern is primarily around the amount that these companies are spending on things like artificial intelligence, and there are questions around whether they're actually going to be able to generate a sufficient return on that spend. So we had the emergence of deep Seek, which raised concerns on this front back at the end of jan and more recently there have been rumors around Microsoft postponing and canceling data center leases, so that's added to some of those concerns. And if you think about the very strong run that some of these companies have had, you know, some of the valuations were elevated, and they're also more sensitive to growth and momentum, So as you would expect, they have sold off more than the broader market. The Nasdaq is down about twelve and a half percent and the Mags seven are down even more from the It's.
Interesting if you look at the Magnificent seven and you look at Meta, they're the only one so far this year who's actually managed to managed to get a positive return. What's with that?
Yeah, So that one really comes down to the fact that Meta is viewed as having one of the most compelling early AI monetization opportunities. So if you think about how Meta actually makes money, it's through advertising, and it was already a leader in targeted advertising, and its investments in AI are really just helping to extend that lead. So they're helping advertisers create better ads, better target the right users, and then that in turn helps to improve user engagement. It keeps us all scrolling on those apps, and then it's able to better measure how well the ads are doing, which gives advertisers the confidence to keep coming back and using metas advertising platform. And you know, given I think it's around half the world's population uses a meta app each month, it's got a huge base of customers to roll those initiatives out to. So it's starting in a pretty good spot.
And we had a lot of change in the Nvidia stock over the feares of deep seek over in China. But now there's news that's come out that hit their stock. News out of Singapore.
Yeah, so that was out last week. It sent the stock down eight percent on the day, and it was news that Singapore is investigating three people that are thought to be involved in smuggling in video chips. So the buyers appeared to be officially buying them from Singapore, but it looks like they might have actually ended up in China, which would have been in violation of US sanctions. And so the reason in Video stock fell so much is that Singapore accounted for almost twenty percent of in Video's revenue last year, So depending on what the investigation finds, there's a risk that a portion of those sales are illegal and would then fall away going forward. So for a stock that depends on constant upgrades and growing revenue, it's it's not a good outcome.
Interesting, Stephanie, Thank you, Stephanie Batcheler. Milford Asset Management and Investments Summit underway in Auckland's Jason Walls Live.
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V twenty one minutes away from seven News Talks ZB. If you're just joining us, I'll running through the cards spending, retail cards spending, because we had numbers out for February today. They were up, but they're still not where we need them to be. We've had consumer confidence going up, but confidence is one thing, and then actually swiping your card is another. So for February, this is from jan to feb up point three percent. That as an increase, but not massive. Hospitality was down point one. Consumables and apparel were both up. December was strong for US. January we dipped and then zero point three not great. And if you look at that February number compared to February last year, it's actually down four point two percent, it's twenty away from seven ran. The government's much talked about Infrastructure Investment Summit begins tomorrow. Chris Luxen obviously has been hyping this up, the possibility for overseas investors to help pay for some of our infrastructure. Jason Walls is News Talks political editor. He's going to be at the conference. Jason, Good evening, Good evening, Rain, Now run me through what what's the rundown tomorrow? What's actually happening?
Oh listen, mate, You take a diet, you throw it at a corkboard that has a photo of a minister on it, and likely you hit somebody that's speaking tomorrow. There is just all of them that are taking to the stage to talk to the investors about various different.
Parts of their portfolio.
Obviously it's the Prime Minister who's opening the conference, and then you've got Nikola will and then afterwards, as I said, it's a bit of a shmorgasport really of the who's who's every minister and their dogs, Simeon Brown, Tama Portaka, You've got Ericus Stanford just to name a few. So I don't actually know who's going to be left in Parliament tomorrow. I mean, my colleagues are going to be keeping an eye on the house, but there's going to be nobody there.
It sounds like it. Do we know whether any of the e we are presenting, for example, or any other New Zealand businesses or outfits or is it just government like? Is it exclusively government ministers?
Well, I mean we only get.
The sort of what's happening with the government, the ministerial agenda here. There may well be various different presentations from others, but the agenda or the number of companies, I mean, there's one hundred that are coming. Forty seven of them are from New Zealand. So I talked to Chris Bishop today and I said, well, hang on a second, this doesn't really sound like an international conference. And he said, well, the point is you want to get about half New Zealand half overseas in the room to be able to have these conversations. So it's the government that's facilitating it. They're the one that's up there talking about the various different projects that they want funding for. But there's ore the delegates in the room that could be talking to each other, and the government wants to facilitate some of that capital flow.
Now, obviously we can't, we shouldn't say where it's been held, but the government did say that it was oversubscribed. Remember when they came out and said it's oversubscribed and there's one hundred people. I'd like to know how many people the venue holds, you know, how oversubscribed was it?
Yeah, well I talked to it, as I said, I talked to Chris Bishop again today and he said it was the hottest ticket in town and he had quite a few people actually lining up four tickets. I don't mean think he meant literally lining up, but it's yeah, it's somewhere in Auckland, right.
I wish I could tell you.
I'm going along tomorrow and I'm just going to look at an email and type that into the uber address and hopefully I get there. It is somewhere in Auckland, and I'm pretty sure they'll be able to handle. I think it's about one hundred people or one hundred companies that are represented. There'll be more people than that there. I would say that pro be closer to five hundred to seven hundred and fifty.
All up, Okay, interesting stuff, Jason, Thank you, very much for that. I'm sure we'll hear more from you on News Talks b tomorrow Jason Law's News Talks be Political Editor. It is seventeen away from seven Bryan Bridge. As part of this today, the government has made a couple of announcements already. One is tax changes. This is for incoming talent or returning talent. So Kiwis have moved overseas. We're talking tech gurus, really highly skilled people, startups, entrepreneurs, those types people who you want to be living in New Zealand and paying tax in New Zealand. Crucially, so both foreigners but also Keywi's returning here. They own shares. Often they will own shares if particularly if it's a startup in foreign listed companies or non listed foreign companies as well. So the government is changing foreign investment fund rules for them. Basically they're moving to a realization method where they'll only tax dividends that are actually received, which is going to be a benefit to them. And they're also going to loosen some rules around double taxing so you don't get taxed twice on some of your investments, basically making it easier and cheaper for talented people to move here or Keiwis to return home and bring their money with them, which is obviously two things that we desperately need in this country. So you've got to say that's good. And it sounds like they've had ice house ventures. A couple of others comment on it, saying this is a great thing. So they've announced something already. Sixteen away from seven News TALKSB. Gavin Gray in the UK next.
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Newstalks EDB thirteen to five. Sorry, thirteen to seven on News TALKSB. A little slow now. Over in Paris overnight tonight they're going to be discussing this so called Coalition of the Will. This is to provide a backstop in Europe to stop Putting from reinvading Ukraine, and New Zealand is going to be sending a defense force attached to this meeting that is happening in Paris there just to observe the Minister Judith Collins will apparently be zooming into this meeting overnight to find out what's going on. We're sort of on the sidelines of it. Right now, we're going to Gavin Gray, who's our UK correspondent, Gavin good evening either right now, this is on the ceasefire between the deal that apparently the Americans have been trying to broke it between the Ukraine and Russia. The UK has also been working behind the scenes in this.
That's what the government here has now revealed. It's saying it's been really instrumental in trying to get the Americans and the Ukrainians back in good favor with one another after that disastrous press conference at the White House with President Zelenski, jd Vance and Donald and certainly relations do appear to be better. The BBC is reporting that one of its sources has said that over the past week there's been a concerted European effort led by Sekia Starma to get America and Ukraine back in good favor. So that potentially has been the background to what we're now seeing with very much the focus and particularly the advice coming out of Europe that it's time to put Russia on the back foot, and in effect, that is what this announcement about a ceasefar has done. Because now what's Russia going to say, because if it refuses it, then might that jeopardize its growing friendship as it were with Donald Trump Mighty be so angry with them that all his previous good words will be burnt. Or are they going to sort of feel that they have to accept it, in which case, at least we've got this piece for thirty days, and in which case perhaps the negotiations might continue afoot. No news from Russia yet. We do know that on Saturday this week Kirstarmer, Prime Minister will host of phone call of leaders. He's dubbed it the Coalition of the Willing, and that is all about this thought about peacekeeping efforts once peace is given in Ukraine, and those efforts aimed at deterring the Russian president from launching further incursions into Ukraine.
Okay, Gevin, what more do we know about the man who's been arrested over this ship collision.
Well, we know he's a fifty nine year old man. Police are saying very little, but it's been reported that he is the captain of the cargo ship that was one of the two ships involved in the collision. The Portuguese flagged So Long cargo ship collided with the US registered tanker Stena Immaculate in the North Sea early Monday morning our time, and the US registered Stena Immaculate was anchored at the time in other words, stationary, and the cargo ship plowed into it at quite high speed and it was, as I mentioned, ten in the morning, there were pretty good conditions in terms of visibility. So the question is how come and the captain we are hearing has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, and that is because there is one person still missing from both crews. More than thirty were rescued, but one still missing, and that person is now presumed dead. So the questioning continues. The captain has been detained in custody and no doubt still being questioned about what's been going on. Plus of course the analysis I dare say, of the various sort of devices and black box type recordings that will be on both ships at that time. But suffice to stay still really concerning that one of the ships or both the ships may sink. It is thought they are going to try and slowly tug them using tugboats tow them back into land. But yeah, big concern over what are very very good fishing grounds and shellfish stocks and of course all the BirdLife that uses that for breathing at this particular time of year, so very very great dangers of the environment at the moment.
Absolutely now, no one would need really around the world wouldbed an island at Greenland's election, But we are all paying attention. We've got results due out soon.
Yeah, we have.
So the voting finished about eight hours ago, eleven hours in total of voting at seventy two polling stations and as you say, forty four thousand people eligitible vote, and frankly it rarely gets to the news. It's like I said of local council election in terms of size. But because of Donald Trump's repeated interest in acquiring Greenland is very much now in the spotlight. We do expect the results soon and this could be really pivotal towards the future direction for the Arctic territory. And the reason is this, five out of the six parties in this general election are all suggesting that basically Greenland becomes independent from Denmark. Denmark has controlled Greenland for about three centuries, and yet there is a distance of nearly three thousand kilometers apart, and really, although it governs its own domestic affairs, Greenland's decisions on foreign defense policies are made in Copenhagen at Denmark, and the five of those six parties that want independence only really differ on how quickly that independence should come about. So a great deal at stake here and as I said, being watched around the world and theres particularly by a certain mister d Trump.
Absolutely, Gevin, thank you very much for that. Devin Gray, our UK correspondent. Seven away from seven it's.
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News Talk Zibby. It is five minutes away from seven o'clock. So what have we learned today? Today? We've learned that it doesn't matter with the you talk tough is Canada did with Donald Trump, or whether you talk soft as Australia did. Your answer is no, isn't it? I mean, that's what we've learned. This guy means business. He does not give an s about anything or anyone about America, and he did say that going into the campaign. So I suppose you can't blame the guy News Talk said b what are we going out to tonight?
Ants stop by the Spice Girls to play us out tonight. I almost called you Tim there because I was thinking of Tim Brown Ryan, because yeah, it's related to All Birds. The reason I'm playing this. All Birds has put out its full year result for twenty twenty four wasn't very good. They had made a loss of ninety three million US dollars, which is bad, but not quite as bad as twenty twenty three. So part of the problems they had was obviously that Wall Street Journal article that pointed out that they're not cool with this, you know, Silicon Valley see anymos that's right, So they're doing something to combat that. They've released a vid cast. So Stanley Tucci hosts a four episode vid cast where he sits with famous people and they like have interesting conversations based on these little conversation cards that a psychologist has drawn up for them. So presumably this sort of thing Silicon Valley's into anyway. Guest on the first episode, which you watch on YouTube, Melanie Ce. So there you go, Spice Girls stop. If you want to hear more from Melanie C, you can go listen to a talk to Stanley Tucci about all birds and the people.
Used to just make good shoes, you know, whatever happened to that. Thanks for all of your feedback and for listening today. We'll see you tomorrow
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