Midday Edition: 23 September 2025

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 23 September 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 facts for Tuesday, the twenty third of September. Our
government says it's listening carefully as countries way up and
discuss their position on formal recognition of a Palestinian state.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in New York for the
United Nations Leaders week ahead of the UN General Assembly. Australia,

(00:24):
France and the UK have all agreed to support formal
recognition of Palestine on condition of no governance roles for
Hamas Peters says, they will finalize their decision once they
have all the information. We're here to listen, hear all
the arguments, all the facts. The judge in Hakyung Lee's
murder trial has given his final instructions to the jury

(00:46):
and sent them to deliberate. Lee's on trial at the
High Court at Auckland, charged with murdering her two children,
Yuna and Minu Joe in twenty eighteen. The forty five
year old excepts she caused their deaths after giveing them
antidepressants and hid their bodies in suitcases, but she's raised
an insanity defense, just as Venning says jurors must dismiss

(01:08):
evidence implying Lee was insane initially so they can focus
on elements of the murder charges first. If the Crown
fails to prove the elements of murder beyond reasonable doubt,
then you must find Mislee not guilty and the issue
of insanity is irrelevant. All the immigration ministers, responding to
New zealand First concerns about migrant visa changes, two new

(01:30):
pathways to residents have been announced for skilled migrants under
a work Experience or Trades and Technicians route. New Zealand
firsts invoked a rare agree to disagree clause and calls
the immigration policy unfocused, but Erica Stanford says some exclusions
will apply and this has been done carefully. This does
not represent a flood of people being able to apply

(01:52):
for citizenship. It is a very small, targeted number of
very highly skilled people. Almost thirteen thousand patients will have
their healthcare delayed due to doctors' strikes today. Members of
the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists are protesting outside public
hospitals and MP's offices over the next two days. Health
New Zealand's Richard Sullivan says it's a pretty frustrating outcome. Unfortunately,

(02:15):
you had nothing to work with no counter off. Their
hope was we could withdraw the strike and continue on
through bargaining, an expectation that coal will become more popular
as gas supplies Diminish Genesis Energy signed a two year
agreement with BT Mining to supply two hundred and forty
thousand tons of local coal to Huntly POWERstation amidst electricity shortages.

(02:39):
It's expected to boost the local economy and reduce reliance
on Indonesian exports. CEO Malcolm John's says the focus is
on energy security. We now have a supply that around
ten thousand tons a month and is economically competitive with
Indonesian coal, so we've gone ahead and signed an agreement.
This afternoon's shakeup of the Holidays Act is expected to

(03:00):
make the rules around leave simpler. Employers and Manufacturers Associations
Alan McDonald told Mike Hosking the overhaul is a long
time coming. It will be some political trade off, but
actually both employees and employers benefit from this. To sport,
Ouzman Dombali and Itana bon Marty have been anointed with
the respective men's and women's footballer of the Year awards

(03:23):
at the annual Ballon Door ceremony in Paris. American President
Donald Trump is expected to delay his arrival at Golf's
Ryder Cup on Friday in a bid to ease fears
over security driven congestion at New York State's Bethpage Black
Course and Warrior's Locke Erin Clark has been named in
the NRL's Dream Team for the season, as voted by

(03:44):
the players. 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.