Midday Edition: 13 August 2026

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 13 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 Fax four Thursday, the thirteenth of August. Chris Luxon
lives to fight another day. Chris Bishop's washing his hands
of the leadership challenge, while Chris Penk's been sent packing
from cabinet three different outcomes for men bearing the same name.
Within the National Party. Penk's lost his ministerial portfolios for

(00:24):
his role in the challenge to Luckson's leadership and announced
that he won't seek re election in November. Chris Bishop
says there was no involvement in the challenge from his end.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
I want to reject that suggestion absolutely, pretty annoyed that
some of the rumors going around around that is the
completely unfounded. Chris Penk was acting on his own.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Meanwhile, a former MP turned political commentator thinks the National
Party will be on eggshells until the election. Former United
Future leader Peter Dunn says this pre election period will
be the most dangerous for the party's contenders. One loose
comment or one sort of pill defined sort of mo
called synctom. They've got to be really tight and really
disciplined from now on, and labor is drawing a line

(01:05):
in the sand on tax saying it won't budge on
its policy even if that costs it the chance to
form a government. The latest One News variant Pole puts
Opportunity on eight percent, potentially making it the king maker
after the election, Nationals already ruled out working with the
party over its push for a new land tax. Labour's
pledged to introduce a capital gains tax, but leader Chris

(01:29):
Hipkins says it won't give left block parties any policy
concessions to government.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
I'll be clear when Labour sets a bottom line, and
one of our bottom lines is that we won't support
the introduction of significant new taxes like a land tax
or a wealth tax. We won't breach there. We won't
cross that.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
An apology from a top cop, but he admits false
information as he admits false information about officer and Labor
candidate Rakesh Naido was allowed to spread political reporter Ethan
Griffiths as more.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Rakesh Naid as Superintendent was announced as a Labour candidate
on June eighth, but faced criticism from Commissioner Richard Chambers,
who says he only found out forty eight hours prior,
but documents released under the Official Information Act show Nido
told his manager, Assistant Commissioner Tim Anderson, that he was
talking with Labour a week earlier. Anderson's apologized to both

(02:20):
Nido and Chambers for the confusion. A retired major general
says New Zealanders need to be aware the threat of
terrorism is real. A Security Intelligence Service report shows the
national terrorism threat level remains at possible, with the most
likely scenario caused by a lone actor. It says violent
extremism is being influenced by a broad range of ideologies,

(02:43):
a mix of domestic and international events and extremist online rhetoric.
New Zealand Initiative Senior Fellow John Howard says, if you
see something that concerns you, discuss it with someone.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
These things are becoming more real for everybody every day,
so start a course for panic.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
It's a call to community in my mind, for us
to be able to be aware of our neighbors and
help your neighbors.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
To sport swimmer Erica Fairweather has qualified second fastest for
the two hundred meters freestyle final at the Pan Pacific
Championships in California. Russell Westbrook has retired from basketball after
an eighteen year NBA career and Rooster's captain. James Tedesco's
ankle injury has seen him ruled out of tonight's top

(03:25):
of the table NRL League match against the Panthers. 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.