Midday Edition: 21 February 2025

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 21 February 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
NEWSFACS for Friday, the twenty first of February. The Prime
Minister is keen to reach across the political aisle and
a bid to secure a bipartisan approach to infrastructure. Speaking
to Kirie Woodham on News Talk sad B this morning,
Chris Luxon revealed he's been in conversation with Labour's finance
spokesperson Barbara Edmonds, who's supportive of elements of the government's

(00:28):
infrastructure pipeline plan.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
And she's come forward and said, right, I support what
the government's doing on public private partnerships and I've got
an investor summer and i really want them to be
to be involved in that as well.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Luxon says for the government to actually get things done
when it comes to the country's infrastructure problems, a bipartisan
solution must be found. Four people are injured, three seriously,
after becoming trapped in a tank on a ship at
Littleton Port's dry dock. Emergency services were called to the
scene just before ten am. Police say two people were

(01:03):
found unconscious in the tank on board the Australian flagged
Antarctic discovery fishing vessel Saint John has described it as
a chemical incident and says four people have been transported
to christ Church Hospital in moderate to serious conditions. An
admission from a New Zealand's boss that it isn't performing

(01:24):
as well as it should be. The National Carriers seeing
profits slide again as it stares down the barrel of
another two to three years of fleet issues. Chief Executive
Greg four And told Mike Hosking every flight cancelation is disappointing.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
I get as frustrated as anyone.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
I see every single cancelation that comes through in this business.
And only seventy four percent of Air New Zealand's domestic
flights in December ran on time, something for And says
isn't good enough. They may be better than some others,
but we want that number to be about eighty three percent.
The discovery of a fruit fly on Auckland's north shore

(02:00):
has caused concern among horticulturalists. Biosecurity in New Zealand says
the male oriental fruit fly was trapped in a Birkdale
backyard yesterday morning. Horticulture New Zealand says its larvae is
capable of feeding on more than three hundred types of
fruit and vegetables, with apples, guavas, and pears among the
preferred hosts. Chief Executive Kate Scott says it also carries

(02:23):
a huge financial impact. Many of the markets to which
we export fruit have requirements.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
That they won't accept fruit where there is fruit fly
because that's a risk to their country.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
The White House says Donald Trump is very frustrated with
Ukrainian counterpart Voladimir Zelensky. Tensions between the two escalated when
the US President falsely called Zelensky a dictator after the
latter accused Trump of repeating Russian disinformation. US National Security
Advisor Mike Waltz says the rhetoric coming out of Kiev

(02:57):
is unacceptable. There needs to be a he appreciation for
what the American people, what the American taxpayer, what President
Trump did in his first term, and what we've done since. Meanwhile,
Zelenski says he had a good discussion with US Envoy
Keith Kellogg despite their press conference being canceled to sport.
Joseph Parker will face Congolese boxer Martin Barcoli in Saudi

(03:22):
Arabia on Sunday in a replacement non titled bout after
IBF belt holder Daniel Dubois was forced out with illness.
Victor wm Banyama will sit out the rest of the
NBA basketball season over blood clot fears. The San Antonio
Spurs all star is dealing with deep vein thrombosis in

(03:43):
his right shoulder, and Du Bay police have detained a
man who caused Emma Radikanu distress by exhibiting stalker like
behavior towards her at a tennis tournament. 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
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