Afternoon Edition: 05 May 2026

The Afternoon Edition of News Fix for 05 May 2026, straight from the Newstalk ZB newsroom - bringing you everything you need to know in news, politics, business, entertainment and sport.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good afternoon. I'mraelan Ramsay. This is your afternoon news fixed
for Tuesday, the fifth of May. The government's confident councils
are well positioned to put together amalgamation proposals in time.
They've been given three months to plan merging with neighbors
and to larger unitary authorities. Those not submitting will be
put through a compulsory reform process after the next local elections.

(00:26):
Rima Minister Chris Bishop says they've been considering it since
November and of just completed body up processes through water reform.
Is says proposals can be worked up in three months.
In fact, I would strongly encourage them to not go
out in higher hoardes of expensive consultants. The Prime Minister
says details of the government's four phase fuel response plan

(00:48):
will be made clear shortly. It was announced last month,
but the government hasn't finalized what industries or fuel users
will be prioritized, promising to consult with them first. From Singapore,
Chris Luxon says they'll have more to say soon. We've
got four phases. We said that we've put more thought
and definition as we've been talking to industry. We'll put

(01:09):
more definition to that the next week or so. A
global health expert says New Zealand has enough doctors, but
they need to be pushed to be more productive. Former
World Health Organization and White House advisor doctor Ezekiel Emanuel
has told the Health Innovators Summit in Auckland there's no
reason for high anxiety over the state of the sector.

(01:31):
During the event, he has recommended changes such as increasing
and fixing the health budget and improving infrastructure. As for
our doctors, Emmanuel says, the goal is keeping them here.
You need to pay them more and work them more
and give them big bonuses for reaching optimal outcome. A
case against a fire safety operator has escalated and a

(01:52):
warning has been issued over equipment. Aero Fire Enz Sales
and Service Limited owner Medicine and his wife were fined
sixty thousand dollars in twenty twenty for misleading customers about
fire extinguisher servicing. They agreed to stop operating, but non
compliance continued, which Singh has admitted proceedings have been delayed.

(02:14):
Any Auckland and Waikato businesses that dealt with him, also
under the name of Safety Plus, should urgently check their
fire equipment the High Courts ruled in favor of about
seventeen thousand a n Z customers after finding the bank
breach disclosure obligations. The case relates to borrowers who underpaid
mortgages between twenty fifteen and twenty sixteen due to mistakes

(02:38):
in loan variation letters. The bank has been ordered to
repay up to one hundred and twenty five million dollars.
Russell van Hout director Scott Russell says the judgment's important
for enforcing consumer protections. It's very hard to do that
cost of money and takes all the time when you're
up against sic alive and aimsed banks, so we're really
happy to take on that mental to sporting headlines and

(03:02):
the Hurricanes are hoping to suffer on Mooa's latest stint
on the sidelines is a brief one. Or Moois suffered
a shoulder injury against the Crusaders, but assistant coach Jason
Holland says scanned results are better than expected. A moted
switch to VA to Engines from twenty thirty in Formula
one has got the backing of Ex Williams team manager

(03:23):
Peter Windsor. A statement one thirty seven ninety eight win
by the New York Knicks to open their NBA Eastern
Conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia seventy sixers. That is
the latest news fix. We'll be back with the next
update tomorrow morning from the News Talk z B newsroom