Afternoon Edition: 18 December 2025

The Afternoon Edition of News Fix for 18 December 2025, 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 (00:04):
Good afternoon, I'm railing Ramsay. This is your afternoon news
fix for Thursday, the eighteenth of December. Gloria Vale's private
school has been ordered to close after failing to convince
officials it's a safe space for students. The Education Review
Office highlighted ongoing safety concerns at the remote Christian Community

(00:24):
school in July, and the Ministry put the school on
notice in October. Emily Ansel reports.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Ministry Education Secretary Alan McGregor Reid says despite considerable support,
the school hasn't provided evidence its addressed concerns about emotional
and physical safety. The school teaches fewer than one hundred
children through a Ministry approved homeschooling program.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Searchers have determined two climbers missing on aura Qui Mount
Cook were caught in a large ice avalanche and have
called off rescue attempts. The pair set off to summit
New Zealand's highest peak on Friday, taking the Linda Glacier Route.
Rosie Leishman reports.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
The search mission was launched on Monday when the climbers
didn't return, hampered by bad weather. Police say there's evidence
of an unsurvivable avalanche on the upper Linda Glacier. The
Department of Conservation says the area's too unstable to attempt
a recovery operation. Alraqi Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker says
for now, the bodies lie at rest on the Mona.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
A reminder long term economic forecasts aren't a crystal ball.
Latest GDP data shows the economy grew more than expected
in the September quarter, up one point one percent, but
revised data shows a shrank more than previously thought in
the June quarter, down one percent. The Reserve Bank had
been forecasting zero point four percent growth in the September quarter,

(01:49):
but The Herald's Liam Dan says forecasts are always based
on assumptions up.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Till about one quarter out. They can pick the direction.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
The more specific they have to be, the worse they are.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
You get out much further than half a year and
they're absolutely useless.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Police say they're concern for Mitchell Cole, who they are
hunting in relation to a double homicide discovered on Saturday
in the Rue Titi. Officers are focusing on a very
remote area containing huts, lodges and camps. They're asking owners
of sites to call them on ten to five and
also want any information about a quad bike and trailer

(02:24):
left on Muru Muru Road. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has
revealed three new provisional Assistant Commissioner appointments for next year,
Eastern District's Genet Park, Wellington's Correy Parnell and Bay of
Plenties to Manerson will step on from February, almost a
year into a second term. The US President can't seem

(02:47):
to shake his predecessor. Donald Trump has delivered a presidential
address to the nation, much of it's spent on claiming
he inherited a mess from Joe Biden. He says he's
fixed disasters including open borders, transgender men and women's sports, crime, trade,
and corrupt government. Trump claims destroying cartels and closing the

(03:07):
border has made the US the envy of the world.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
We are respected again like we have never been respected before.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
To sport and high jumper Hamish Kerr is the Lonsdale
Cup recipient for twenty twenty five, which the New Zealand
Olympic Committee awards annually to the biggest contributor in an
Olympic or Commonwealth sport. Coach Giancarlo Italiano is positive the
Wellington Phoenix can turn their season around, and says the
vibe and output at the club is top not despite

(03:38):
being second from bottom on the A League Ladder. Netborn
New Zealand will start the search for a replacement CEO
in the new year, following Jenny Wiley's resignation after nine
years in the role. That is your latest news fix.
We'll be back with the next update tomorrow morning from
the newstalk SEDB newsroom.