Midday Edition: 06 August 2026

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 06 August 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 Malcolm Jordan and this is your midday
news facts for Thursday. The sixth of August, Labors launched
its small Business policy, raising the GST threshold, lifting asset
write offs and requiring faster payments from big businesses. It
would lift the GST threshold from sixty to eighty thousand
dollars by July twenty twenty eight, meaning around thirty five

(00:25):
thousand operators won't need to register. He is senior political
reporter Azaria House.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
The change would cost the government an average of seventy
million dollars a year. Labour's also proposing allowing up to
ten thousand dollars of assets to be written off for
small firms from next year, up from one thousand dollars.
It would also require big businesses to pay small suppliers
within fifteen days on invoices of twenty five thousand or less.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
All aboard Auckland's City rail link. On September thirteen, the
Transport Ministers just confirmed the opening date, despite a billboard
bungle revealing the date earlier. Today. Chris Bishop says the
opening has been a long time coming of all the
Orphanders who will come to rely on this every day.
Not one of them will be thinking about the consenting challenges,
the funding agreements, the arguments. Uncertainty over the US war

(01:15):
with Iran has left a dent in business hiring intentions.
Unemployment climbed to an eleven year high of five point
six percent in the three months to June. That's up
from five point three percent in the previous quarter. The
Employers and Manufacturers Association says the results not good but
also not surprising. Head of advocacy Allen McDonald says the

(01:36):
fuel crisis hit at exactly the wrong time and confidences brittle.
As a result.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
People were starting to look more positively at hiring you people, and.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Of course that just got crushed when things kicked off
on the Gulf. The Wellington City Council will today vote
on a super city proposal to send to the government.
The region's local councils face a Sunday deadline to submit
their head Start amalgamation outline to be as Macintosh is
in Wellington.

Speaker 4 (02:03):
Councilors are considering a plan that will combine at least
five authorities or risk Central Government taking the driver's seat,
upper hut and carpety of stations. They aren't interested, while
Pottydoor and Hut City are all in two of the
three Wide Upper Councils want to go at it alone
and South Wild Upper is eyeing up this central supercity
change will potentially be implemented by the twenty twenty eight

(02:25):
election and see the region have roughly thirty elected members.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
New Zealand's aerospace sector is reaching new heights with a
major new facility officially opened in christ Church KEYA Aerospace
is Manufacturing and operations building will support the company's mission
to build and to operate high altitude, long endurance aircraft.
Jmie cunninghams at the opening.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
The purpose built complex has been customized to develop the
company's first thirty five meter wingspan aircraft designed to operate
in the stratosphere. It also includes a dedicated mission control
center CEO Mark rockets It's a major milestone giving the
company the infrastructure needed to build and operate its aircraft
at scale.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
To sport, FIFA football governing body president Gianni Infantino has
issued an apology over plans to privatize elements of the
World Cup and appears to have saved his job for now.
Willie Rickards is the new Zealand men's sevens team coach,
replacing Tomasi Thumer on a deal through until the twenty
twenty eight Los Angeles Olympics. A New Zealand cricketer sending

(03:28):
an emerging player squad featuring thirteen Black Caps to Australia
to feature in a Northern Territory Invitational T twenty series
starting August twenty two. I'm Malcolm Jordan. That's your latest
news fix. We'll be back with the next update at
five pm from the news Talk ZB newsroom.