Afternoon Edition: 19 May 2026

The Afternoon Edition of News Fix for 19 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'm Raelen Ramsey. This says your afternoon news
fix for Tuesday, the nineteenth of May. Another sway of
government agency job cuts and public sector reform, Finance Minister
Nikola Willis has announced plans to return the public servant
headcount to one percent of the population by mid twenty

(00:22):
twenty nine, culling about eighty seven hundred jobs. Agency operating
budgets will again be reduced two percent, now increasing over
following years. Willis says they'll also thin out the ministries,
pointing to savings it'll bring. We fully expect that with
good budgeting we will be hiring more nurses, police officers

(00:46):
and others and critical frontline roles. Public Service Commissioner Sir
Brian Roach says it'll take sustained effort and disciplined execution
to become smaller and more efficient. He says her work
with agency chief heads to respond to government expectations, which
will be challenging, but the focus is straightforward. Fear's last

(01:07):
minute changes to education law will strip the teaching Council's
and dependence. The government's working on the Education and Training
Amendment Bill, including plans to limit the Council chief executive's
term and removing teacher elected members. It's expected to be
fast tracked through Parliament today. Nsity I President at Epeka
Lessels says dumping teacher elected seats effectively hands full control

(01:32):
to the minister. The PPTA says this shows a lack
of respect for the teaching profession. The Financial Services Council's
weighed in on ways to lift key WE Savior contributions.
Member contributions reach the second highest total on record in
the three months to March, at almost two billion dollars.
Here We Save and now has more than three point

(01:54):
one million members. Council CEO Kirkhope says it's worth having
a conversation about end Z first proposal of compulsory enrollment
from birth a one thousand dollars government contribution. That's a
great way to ensure that people already have a pool
of savings from the time that they are zero to
when they're eighteen, when they take more control over their
own lives. We continue to trim our cloth in the

(02:18):
face of a tough economy. Stats and Z data shows
retail electronic card purchases fell one point three percent last month.
Yes Business reporter Michael's circle.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Spending dropped across the board, particularly for vehicles and food.
People appear to be driving less, with fuel spending dropping
even as petrol and diesel prices continue to surge compared
to this time last year. Kiwis are spending more overall,
but buying less or cheaper food and continuing to cut
back on their clothing budget.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
A desperate need for development in Queenstown southern infrastructures, Ross
Copeland says there's currently a calf for every citizen and
the roads will be full by the end of the decade.
He says development has to double over the next fifteen
years to keep pace with the rapid growth infrastructure. New
Zealand's Nick Legate says it would be money well spent.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
It's a great gateway to our country and it's something
we should be investing in so visitors have the kind
of experience that's going to enhance their view of New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
And sporting headlines, the San Antonio Spurs have finally broken
the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second period of overtime
to take Game one of the NBA's Western Conference Finals
one twenty two to one fifteen full time premiership winning
half back Cooper Kronk's confident Luke Metcalf can slot back
into the Warriors if required, even if he's leaving the

(03:42):
club on an early release after this season. A lack
of SERF has seen organizers put the New Zealand Pro
at Ragland's Money May on hold for three days. Organizers
hope to resume competition on Friday. That is your latest
news fix. We'll be back with the next update to
tomorrow morning from the news Talk zb news room.