Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Excitement in Northland, as the Transport Minister gives the green light to a prioritised regional expressway. Simeon Brown's agreed to accelerate delivery — letting NZTA move at pace on the route between Auckland and Whangarei. Locals have been growing irritated following repetitive road closures on the Brynderwyns. Northland Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Darryn Fisher told Ryan Bridge the projected opening date is unknown. “I think there’s still some work to go on there as far as consents and obtaining land and business cases go, but as a community, we’re here to make sure we accelerate that as quickly as we can.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The press conference yesterday for Health New Zealand - Boy, Oh boy, what a doozy. So they've appointed Lester Levy as the commissioner, the CEO Margie Apa was there alongside him. She's been in the job two years, that's how long the organisation's been set up for. They're overspending $130 million a month. We know that — that can be nothing more than mismanagement if you take Levy's word for it. He says they don't need more money. They basically just don't know how to spend efficiently within the organisation as it stands. So, that's mismanagement short and simple start to finish. And the whole thing for me was a farce. They said we need to push into the regions, that's where the decision making is made. What? Isn't that what we said we didn't need? We needed more centralisation, we needed a national service and now we're going out to the regions again. Why did we spend all this money to set this organisation up? It's so frustrating to listen to. They also said we're never going to achieve the proper transit

The head of Retail NZ has stopped short of saying consumers are being ripped off by fees for PayWave and online card payments. The Commerce Commission's consulting on fee capping regulation that could save Kiwis $250 million a year. Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young told Ryan Bridge fees passed to consumers are not always as accurately reflected as they could be, but that's not necessarily the intent. “Part of that from the conversations we’ve had with people is through lack of knowledge through a really complicated system, so we want the system to be a lot more simple and straightforward so that everyone can follow it.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The final report into the inquiry in abuse in care and faith-based institutions will be tabled in Parliament later today. A Royal Commission of Inquiry has been conducting hearings for almost six years - about people's experiences in the system from 1950 to 1999. The Prime Minister is due to make a formal public apology in November. Abuse in care survivor Karl Tauri told Ryan Bridge the most important part is an acknowledgement of the crimes committed. “A lot of that has not actually just been acknowledged and perpetrators haven’t been named or brought to account to the public eye really.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An election analyst says Kamala Harris' nomination is probably a done deal.   The process will be formally open for challengers, and none of the delegates at the Democratic National Convention are required to vote for her.  Election analyst Henry Olsen told Ryan Bridge it's likely any possible contenders would be feeling it's not worth taking on Kamala Harris.   He says some could privately think she isn't the strongest candidate and personally want the job, but have decided it’s better to choose discretion.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maritime experts are still cautious after a report into KiwiRail.   Interislander ferries have been deemed safe and well maintained, and will stick around for years to come.   Aratere ran aground last month when the autopilot was mistakenly turned on according to a leaked document.        Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Carl Findlay says workers are still anxious because of historical technical problems.   He says there's real safety concerns for the staff manning the deteriorating ships.  Findlay told Ryan Bridge that with the given history, they need to have a very, very clear, well thought out rescue plan.   He says he’d rather be prepared than the old story of the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some health workers say they want the priority to be the workforce rather than the budget.  The Health New Zealand board has been sacked and replaced with a commissioner - Lester Levy.  Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the agency is overspending by $130 million a month.  Resident Doctors' Association National Secretary Deborah Powell told Ryan Bridge it is underfunded.  She says the money they get is always in catch-up mode, and they need to get into an investment phase.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the Herald this morning, the boss of traffic management firm Traffix laid into the Transport Minister, saying he and Wayne Brown don't understand how the industry works.  He says they don't charge per road cone for work, but rather per worker and truck.  He says the public's abusing his staff on site because of misinformation being spread.  The problem here is an independent report, which we spoke about yesterday, from EY.  It was pretty damning, finding said rules incentivise contractors to cause maximum disruption to maximise profits. NZTA looked at 800 maintenance work sites on highway network and found 145 of them were not needed.  Doesn't that make your blood boil?  And Auckland council alone spends $145m a year on road cones and temporary traffic management.  There was a contractor around the corner from my place who had to dig a small hole on side of road, I couldn't believe they had to actually close the road.  Small, quiet suburban street, down to one lane with stop go signs.  Madness.  I'd never

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Tuesday 23rd of July, Joe Biden is no longer seeking re-election and has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the top job. U.S. election analyst Henry Olsen joins Ryan from the States to provide his thoughts.  Health NZ's board has been scrapped by the Government, replaced by a commissioner for the next year. Ryan speaks to the Residents Doctors Association.  A lifeline for the Interislander? A new report has found the 3 ships can run up until 2029, longer than expected. But the Maritime Union aren't happy with the results.  Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Monday the 22nd of July, the fallout continues from the global CrowdStrike IT outage. Ryan speaks to a tech expert on the continued fallout.  Tauranga has elected it's first council after four years of commissioners. The local Business Chamber talks to Ryan about what they want to see. Andrew Alderson wraps the weekend's sport stories - including a major player moving from the Hurricanes to Moana Pasifika. Plus, Ryan breaks the news of Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 Presidential race.  Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An IT expert believes there'll be a flurry of lawsuits on the back of Friday's global IT outage.  Microsoft estimated 8.5 million computers were disabled with a blue screen of death, and experts predict it'll be weeks before all systems fully recover.   It is believed the outage was triggered by an update from global cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.  IT expert Danu Abeysuirya told Ryan Bridge CrowdStrike failed in its responsibilities.  He says the company's in for a world of hurt via lawsuits.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

German police have reportedly foiled a planned terror attack just hours before last week's UEFA Euro 2024 final in Berlin. Three suspects were reportedly detained during a series of raids of addresses in nearby Potsdam, after they were taking pictures of a fanzone and a church. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says the suspects were known ISIS supporters. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oscar Piastri has become the fifth Australian to win a Formula 1 race, after his victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix. But the triumph didn't come without controversy, with McLaren teammate Lando Norris forced to give the victory to his teammate. Newstalk ZB sports reader Andrew Alderson joined Ryan Bridge to discuss further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hamish Kerr - you might recall the name.  He's a high jumper, winning gold at the Commonwealth Games, but so far no Olympic medal.  He's apparently looking very good for Paris - the opening ceremony kicks off this Saturday morning.  I'm getting quite excited about it.  So Kerr is peaking at just the right time - he's just taken out the men’s high jump title at the London Diamond League Athletics meet.  He cleared 2.3m - incredible stuff.  He also won in Monaco earlier this month, where he cleared 2.33m and equalled his personal best in an outdoor event.  The men’s high jump begins on August 8th for us. The opening ceremony is this Saturday morning 5:30am our time, with its peak at 7:30am for their sunset.  Anyway, I just love this. Our biggest ever athletics team heading to Paris.  There's nothing like sitting down on the couch, for hours on end, with some bikkies and a cup of tea watching these incredibly disciplined, unbelievably skilled and fit athletes perform for the world.  It's almost like because what

Concern in Tauranga about the city election's low voter turnout.   Olympic rower Mahe Drysdale has an almost 6000 vote lead in the mayoral race, with just the specials left to count.   Voter turnout's shaping up to be one of the city's lowest in a decade, with around 30 percent of residents casting their vote.   Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley told Ryan Bridge the process is struggling to engage people.  “Raises questions around is this really the full democracy that our so-called community has wanted.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

European leaders met in Britain for the 4th meeting of the European political community. The meeting hopes to unite Europe in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, beyond just the nations in the EU and NATO. UK correspondent Vincent McAviney told Ryan Bridge that newly elected UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, used this is as a chance to reset the country's relationship with the EU. He says this will be helpful in addressing the issues of illegal migration across the continent. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The number of people on a benefit has reached a new record and could keep rising, despite an uptick in sanctions.  June quarter data shows 11.9% of working-age people are receiving a benefit - the highest since December 2020.  It's an annual increase of 8.3%.  Council of Trade Unions economist Craig Rennie told Ryan Bridge the number of people on Jobseeker will keep rising.  He said unemployment is always a bad thing, as the more people working means there are more households with money in their pockets, and poverty starts to fall.   Rennie said that unemployment is never a thing you should be aiming for, it’s always something you should be avoiding.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joe Biden's under increasing pressure to stand aside as the Democratic presidential candidate as Donald Trump prepares to formally accept the Republican nomination.  Sources have told the Associated Press that both Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi have privately called for Biden to step aside.  It comes as the US President continues to isolate with Covid.  Meanwhile, Marco Rubio's former Chief of Staff Matt Terrill told Ryan Bridge Trump will address the Republican National Convention this afternoon, calling for unity six days after he survived an assassination attempt.  He says a big theme for tonight's speech will be about unity not only for the Republican Party, but for the whole country.  That speech is expected to start about 2pm.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are concerns tax cuts on heated tobacco will make the product much easier for young people to access.  Customs quietly cut 50% from the excise tax at the start of the month.  Customs Minister Casey Costello says it's a trial, aiming to give smokers a cheaper alternative.  Health Coalition Aotearoa spokesperson Chris Bullen told Ryan Bridge it comes with a risk.  He says once the price drops, a new product becomes a lot more accessible for young people with disposable incomes.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Friday 19th of July, it's the last day of the Republican National Convention - we cross live to the US and speak to Marco Rubio's former Chief of Staff.  The Government has quietly cut the excise tax on heated tobacco products by 50%, Ryan gets the thoughts of Health Coalition Aotearoa’s Chris Bullen.  Benefit numbers for the June quarter are in and the number of people on it is on the rise. Craig Rennie from the Council of Trade Unions speaks to Ryan.  Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.