Its Politics Thursday and this week Nick is joined by National MP Tim Costley and Labour MP Camilla Belich to discuss the top political issues of the week.

Labour's new policy $20 cap for public transport - is it too good to be true? The panel look at the viability of the $65 million cost and is it fair to rural taxpayers? 

Then onto the investigation launched by the police commissioner into conduct of superintendent Rakesh Naidoo whilst announcing his candidacy for the Labour Party.

The panel discuss the labour list rankings, and Greg O'Connor's departure from politics. Also charter schools - a mixed bag of results, are they worth it? Would Labour keep them?

LISTEN ABOVE

Its Politics Thursday and this week Nick is joined by National MP Tim Costley and Labour MP Camilla Belich to discuss the top political issues of the week.
Labour's new policy $20 cap for public transport - is it too good to be true? The panel look at the viability of the $65 million cost and is it fair to rural taxpayers?&nbsp;
Then onto the investigation launched by the police commissioner into conduct of superintendent Rakesh Naidoo whilst announcing his candidacy for the Labour Party.
The panel discuss the labour list rankings, and Greg O'Connor's departure from politics. Also charter schools - a mixed bag of results, are they worth it? Would Labour keep them?
LISTEN ABOVE

Wellingtonians now have the chance to discuss the issues of the day one-on-one with proud local Nick Mills and have a forum to share their ideas, passions and outrages on a daily basis.

You don't find many people more passionate about the capital than Nick, and he comes to Wellington Mornings after decades of success as the man behind some of the city's leading hospitality and entertainment offerings - Spruce Goose, Hummingbird and the Wellington Saints basketball team just to name a few.

Nick's proud of his city but also knows much can be improved on to make Wellington an even better place, and brings an honest, edgy, fun and engaging show to Wellingtonians each weekday from 9 'til midday.

Wellingtonians now have the chance to discuss the issues of the day one-on-one with proud local Nick Mills and have a forum to share their ideas, passions and outrages on a daily basis. You don't find many people more passionate about the capital than Nick, and he comes to Wellington Mornings after decades of success as the man behind some of the city's leading hospitality and entertainment offerings - Spruce Goose, Hummingbird and the Wellington Saints basketball team just to name a few. Nick's proud of his city but also knows much can be improved on to make Wellington an even better place, and brings an honest, edgy, fun and engaging show to Wellingtonians each weekday from 9 'til midday.

Wellingtonians now have the chance to discuss the issues of the day one-on-one with proud local Nick Mills and have a forum to share their ideas, passions and outrages on a daily basis.

Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills

Politics Thursday with Tim Costley and Camilla Belich

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/5bbc7215-cb85-4c5f-a6c6-b466000978ff/transcript

'Julia' at Circa Theatre is earning rave reviews, star Lara Macgregor graces the studio this morning to chat with Nick Mills.

Julia centres around former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, diving into her life and legacy leading up to her landmark 2012 "misogyny speech". The play examines gender, power and the pressures of political leadership through Julia's lens. 

Lara talks about her research and experience stepping into the shoes of Julia, but also the sexism she has experienced herself in the theatre world. 

Lara says, "Women deserve a better standard than this."

Nick and Lara discuss if pressure eased for women in politics or is it still just as brutal now as it was for Julia Gillard?

Check out the hit play 'Julia' on at Circa Theatre till Saturday 27th June. Buy tickets at circa.co.nz.

LISTEN ABOVE

'Julia' at Circa Theatre is earning rave reviews, star Lara Macgregor graces the studio this morning to chat with Nick Mills.
Julia centres around former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, diving into her life and legacy leading up to her landmark 2012 "misogyny speech". The play examines gender, power and the pressures of political leadership through Julia's lens.&nbsp;
Lara talks about her research and experience stepping into the shoes of Julia, but also the sexism she has experienced herself in the theatre world.&nbsp;
Lara says, "Women deserve a better standard than this."
Nick and Lara discuss if pressure eased for women in politics or is it still just as brutal now as it was for Julia Gillard?
Check out the hit play 'Julia' on at Circa Theatre till Saturday 27th June. Buy tickets at <a href="https://www.circa.co.nz/package/julia/">circa.co.nz.</a>
LISTEN ABOVE

Star of Julia, Lara Macgregor joins Nick Mills in the studio

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/23d90dac-5516-40aa-ac6e-b46600086b43/transcript

Dire Straits saxophonist Chris White makes his return to NZ with 'The Dire Straits Experience'.

The tribute group brings back the hits from the iconic 80s band to Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre this August.

Chris joins Nick on the show today to reminisce on the old days with the original band and frontman Mark Knopfler.

Chris and Nick talk his return to NZ, the success of tribute bands, bringing the music back to the stage and his favourite songs to play live.

Get tickets for the Dire Straits Experience at Michael Fowler Centre August 20th on Ticketmaster.co.nz

LISTEN ABOVE

Dire Straits saxophonist Chris White makes his return to NZ with 'The Dire Straits Experience'.
The tribute group brings back the hits from the iconic 80s band to Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre this August.
Chris joins Nick on the show today to reminisce on the old days with the original band and frontman Mark Knopfler.
Chris and Nick talk his return to NZ, the success of tribute bands, bringing the music back to the stage and his favourite songs to play live.
Get tickets for the Dire Straits Experience at Michael Fowler Centre August 20th on <a href="https://www.ticketmaster.co.nz/artist/2013033?utm_source=TM-google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=co:NZ+%7C+cpn:Genre+%7C+chl:Gn+%7C+cat:CONCERTS+%7C+bud:TM+%7C+tp:TMNZ+%7C+catID:8194&amp;utm_content=an:The+Dire+Straits+Experience+%7C+ed:20-08-2026+%7C+vn:Michael+Fowler+Centre+%7C+a:2013033+%7C+v:295635&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=20258280213&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw857RBhAgEiwAI-1yKKyNHfQjkFcnqgxI6FiHRfG0QxNCe9ojWfh4_KYBoKWp37rE2K5keRoC-0EQAvD_BwE" data-anchor="?utm_source=TM-google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=co:NZ+%7C+cpn:Genre+%7C+chl:Gn+%7C+cat:CONCERTS+%7C+bud:TM+%7C+tp:TMNZ+%7C+catID:8194&amp;utm_content=an:The+Dire+Straits+Experience+%7C+ed:20-08-2026+%7C+vn:Michael+Fowler+Centre+%7C+a:2013033+%7C+v:295635&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=20258280213&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw857RBhAgEiwAI-1yKKyNHfQjkFcnqgxI6FiHRfG0QxNCe9ojWfh4_KYBoKWp37rE2K5keRoC-0EQAvD_BwE">Ticketmaster.co.nz</a>
LISTEN ABOVE

Dire Strait's Chris White joins Nick Mills on the show

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/13c762b0-c7bc-4159-b230-b465000f19ac/transcript

EDITORIAL:

Can I ask a simple question this morning? At what point does being prepared become being overprotective? 

Now before anyone jumps on me and has a crack at me, let me make one thing crystal clear. Safety comes first.  

If lives are genuinely at risk, authorities should act.  

Nobody wants to see people injured or killed because someone was too slow to make a decision. 

And I'm certainly not suggesting we ignore severe weather.  

In fact, the latest figures show between March 2025 and the end of February this year, we had a damaging storm every eight days on average.  

More than 33,000 insurance claims were lodged for flooding, wind and storm damage. 

The risks are real. 

But Wellington has now been through another state of emergency over predicted waves and high winds, and the reality is that what was forecast simply did not eventuate.  

Mayor Andrew Little himself acknowledged that the predicted conditions "hadn't materialised.” 

There had been no reports of major damage. The state of emergency has now been lifted. 

So, my concern now is: are we becoming too quick to shut the city down? 

I did some rough calculations this morning, because this whole thing concerns me greatly. Wellington's economy is worth around $56 billion a year.  

Spread that across a normal working year and you're talking about roughly $200 million of economic activity every weekday.  

Even if only 10 or 20 percent of that is disrupted because people stay home, businesses close, customers disappear and workers can't get into the city, that's potentially tens of millions of dollars affected. 

Yesterday I walked into a well-known clothing store in the CBD and asked how it was going, didn’t even think about the state of emergency. 

The answer? They hadn't had a single customer all morning. 

Is that because of the weather? Maybe partly. The weather was fine in the city. 

Is it because the city was under a state of emergency? I'd bet dollars to donuts that played a major role.  

If you're told your city is in a state of emergency, you're probably not heading into town to buy a new jacket. 

Then think about the ripple effects— 

Parents scrambling with childcare, employees worried about getting home and small businesses, already battered by years of economic hardship, losing yet another trading day. 

Preparation and resilience are good things. Panic is not. 

And here's the other thing. We are Wellingtonians.  

We are proud to be Wellingtonians. 

We live in one of the windiest capitals in the world.  

Windy Wellington.  

We know what a southerly look like, and some of us actually love southerlies. 

We know what big seas look like. We live on a coast. 

Storms are part of living here.  

Meanwhile, Wellington Airport remained open and aircraft continued landing. State of emergency and our major international airport was open. 

Life carried on, in many respects. But in the back of everyone of everyone's minds: state of emergency. Panic, panic, panic.  

Of course, authorities acted on the advice they had, and Mayor Little has defended the decision by pointing to the destructive 2020 storms and the uncertainty of forecasting.  

I’m not saying what we did was wrong, I’m saying do we need to be more careful. 

There will also be a review of the declaration, and that's exactly as it should be. 

But perhaps we need a wider conversation.  

LISTEN ABOVE

EDITORIAL:
Can I ask a simple question this morning? At what point does being prepared become being overprotective?&nbsp;
Now before anyone jumps on me and has a crack at me, let me make one thing crystal clear. Safety comes first. &nbsp;
If lives are genuinely at risk, authorities should act. &nbsp;
Nobody wants to see people injured or killed because someone was too slow to make a decision.&nbsp;
And I'm certainly not suggesting we ignore severe weather. &nbsp;
In fact, the latest figures show between March 2025 and the end of February this year, we had a damaging storm every eight days on average. &nbsp;
More than 33,000 insurance claims were lodged for flooding, wind and storm damage.&nbsp;
The risks are real.&nbsp;
But Wellington has now been through another state of emergency over predicted waves and high winds, and the reality is that what was forecast simply did not eventuate. &nbsp;
Mayor Andrew Little himself acknowledged that the predicted conditions "hadn't materialised.”&nbsp;
There had been no reports of major damage. The state of emergency has now been lifted.&nbsp;
So, my concern now is: are we becoming too quick to shut the city down?&nbsp;
I did some rough calculations this morning, because this whole thing concerns me greatly. Wellington's economy is worth around $56 billion a year. &nbsp;
Spread that across a normal working year and you're talking about roughly $200 million of economic activity every weekday. &nbsp;
Even if only 10 or 20 percent of that is disrupted because people stay home, businesses close, customers disappear and workers can't get into the city, that's potentially tens of millions of dollars affected.&nbsp;
Yesterday I walked into a well-known clothing store in the CBD and asked how it was going, didn’t even think about the state of emergency.&nbsp;
The answer? They hadn't had a single customer all morning.&nbsp;
Is that because of the weather? Maybe partly. The weather was fine in the city.&nbsp;
Is it because the city was under a state of emergency? I'd bet dollars to donuts that played a major role. &nbsp;
If you're told your city is in a state of emergency, you're probably not heading into town to buy a new jacket.&nbsp;
Then think about the ripple effects—&nbsp;
Parents scrambling with childcare, employees worried about getting home and small businesses, already battered by years of economic hardship, losing yet another trading day.&nbsp;
Preparation and resilience are good things. Panic is not.&nbsp;
And here's the other thing. We are Wellingtonians. &nbsp;
We are proud to be Wellingtonians.&nbsp;
We live in one of the windiest capitals in the world. &nbsp;
Windy Wellington. &nbsp;
We know what a southerly look like, and some of us actually love southerlies.&nbsp;
We know what big seas look like. We live on a coast.&nbsp;
Storms are part of living here. &nbsp;
Meanwhile, Wellington Airport remained open and aircraft continued landing. State of emergency and our major international airport was open.&nbsp;
Life carried on, in many respects. But in the back of everyone of everyone's minds: state of emergency. Panic, panic, panic. &nbsp;
Of course, authorities acted on the advice they had, and Mayor Little has defended the decision by pointing to the destructive 2020 storms and the uncertainty of forecasting. &nbsp;
I’m not saying what we did was wrong, I’m saying do we need to be more careful.&nbsp;
There will also be a review of the declaration, and that's exactly as it should be.&nbsp;
But perhaps we need a wider conversation. &nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

Nick Mills: Does Windy Wellington need to toughen up?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/13f35652-f660-45bf-84bc-b465000a9c54/transcript

Politics Thursday with Tim Costley and Camilla Belich

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