Midday Edition: 18 November 2025

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 18 November 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 Malcolm Jordan and this is your midday
news fix for Tuesday, the eighteenth of November. The Prime
ministers expressing confidence in Chris Bishop. The Post reports that Bishop,
whose Minister for Housing and Transport, diverted Coyunga Autra money
to fund a bridge in his Hut South electorate, going
against official advice. Funding was originally intended for a stormwater project,

(00:26):
but instead went towards a bridge between Maling Station and
Lower Heart CBD. The bridge had lost to government funding.
Chris Luxen says Bishop made a very pragmatic funding decision,
but also he took advice from the Cabinet Office and
the acted accordingly with that advice. A medical expert says
several factors decrease the risk from colored sand products that

(00:48):
are potentially contaminated with asbestos. EC Rainbow sand one point
three kilos, creatistics colored sand one kilo and four kmart
New Zealand magic sand products were recalled last week. Dozens
of schools and early learning centers closed their doors out
of caution. College of GP's medical director Prabani Wood says

(01:09):
it's likely the sand contains only trace elements experture to
asbestos is that it's worst when you're breathing in particles,
which is also very much harder to do if it's inside.
Police can see their communication with corrections and the public
could have been better. After a prisoner escaped day hospital escort,
Paul Kyle p que Rehu has been recaptured after ten

(01:32):
days on the run. His escape wasn't announced for four
days and his name and photo weren't released for another
two days. Waiti Matar Police District Commander Nila Hassan says
they usually speak with corrections early in these situations. That
doesn't appear that that conversation took place between corrections and
points in terms of this offender, so we probably could

(01:54):
have gone out to the media earlier. Shane Jones is
pushing back at a Green Party plan to pull the
permits of seven mining projects approved under fast Track. The
Resources Minister says we can't continue to rely on coal
from Indonesia. We have coal fields in and around Huntly
and without coal is affirming fuel, who won't keep the
lights on? The Police Union is confident health workers can

(02:17):
deal with their share of mental health call outs. New
guidance is easing police out of the picture in situations
requiring non emergency assistance or when people go missing from
health facilities. The government's slashing charges until now levied on
car importers not meeting carbon targets under the Clean Car
Standard that aimed to reduce emissions, but the Transport Minister

(02:40):
says complexities of the scheme make it hard to just
dump it all together. Britain's Home Secretary says it's time
to restore control over immigration. Shabana Muchmood has confirmed plans
to make it harder for refugees and asylum seekers to
permanently settle and easier to deport them. She said there
is no excuse for racism and violence, but the British

(03:03):
public rightly feels things are out of control. The pace
and scale of change has destabilized communities. It is making
our country a more divided place to sport. Darryl Mitchell
has been ruled out of the New Zealand West Indies
One Day International Cricket Series where a left groin muscle tear.
Henry Nichols stays on as cover. Alexander Ussik's second reign

(03:26):
as undisputed heavyweight boxing champion has ended after vacating his
WBO title Fabio Wardley is paused to inherit the spoils
after beating Joseph Parker last month. I'm Malcolm Jordan. That's
your latest news fix. We'll be back with the next
update at five pm from the newstalk zb newsroom