On the Tiles

This week has seen the Building Nations conference hosted by Infrastructure NZ take place in Auckland, with Ministers, Mayors and a range of experts speaking about the state of the country's infrastructure.

New Zealand is believed to have an infrastructure deficit in the billions, if not trillions - so how can we go about fixing it?

BusinessDesk Infrastructure Editor Oliver Lewis joins Thomas this week to dig into the issue. 

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Council leaders from around the country have met in a convention centre that the Prime Minister thinks is an example of wasteful spending and is just down the road from a burst water main that has turned a street into a paddling pool.

The Local Government New Zealand conference was held in Wellington this week at the city’s new $180 million convention centre Takina, and Georgina this week takes us through the highlights - most nota...

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has unveiled changes to allow new council-owned water companies to be able to access more cheap borrowing from the Local Government Funding Agency. 

To discuss what these changes mean, in the wake of years of public debate over the previous Government's 'Three Waters' proposal, this week Georgina is joined by the Minister to get the explanation on how this will work. 

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Over the last few weeks, Tauranga residents have been able to vote in their first local election since the city council was replaced with commissioners at the end of 2020.  

Preliminary results are in, and in a landslide result, former Olympic rower Mahé Drysdale is expected to become the city’s new Mayor.  

For this bonus episode of On the Tiles: Local Edition, he catches up with Georgina ahead of the final results to discuss what...

It has been a tumultuous week in US politics, with former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump nearly assassinated in a shooting days out from the Republican National Convention. This happened as US President Joe Biden remains defiant over his future, despite growing calls for him to drop out.

To discuss what might happen next with both parties, and the November election, Thomas is joined by former National Party leader ...

WARNING: This episode discusses mental health, depression and suicide.

In May, Brody Cameron, the son of Act MP Mark Cameron, died as the result of a suspected suicide.

Mark has not spoken publicly about this tragedy since it happened, but joins Thomas for his first in-depth interview on Brody's death and his own mental health struggles.

Suicide and depression help services:

If it is an emergency and you or someone else is at risk,...

As councils struggle with rising rates, failing infrastructure and blown out budgets, one of the solutions proposed to keep these institutions afloat has been city deals to improve the relationship between central and local government.

To explain how these could work and what progress is being made on them, Georgina this week talks with Local Government NZ President Sam Broughton. 

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It has been nearly five years since the Tauranga City Council was sacked by the Government and replaced with Commissioners, after infighting and dysfunction between councillors and the Mayor. 

Now, the council is going to return to "full democracy", and a new Mayor and councillors will vote them in next month. Georgina is joined by Bay of Plenty Times senior journalist Kiri Gillespie to discuss what went wrong in 2020, who is runni...

Green MP and MP for Rongotai, Julie Anne Genter, made headlines at the start of May after she crossed the debating chamber and yelled at Minister Matt Doocey during a Parliamentary debate. She is now facing disciplinary action by the Greens and has been referred to the Privileges Committee. 

Now, in her first sit-down interview since this incident, Genter talks to Georgina about the incident, the aftermath and feedback from the pub...

We are well and truly in Budget Month - while it's not delivered until May 30th, the Government has started their pre-Budget funding announcements, while Finance Minister Nicola Willis has delivered her first preview speech.

This week, Thomas is joined by Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny and Interest.co.nz's Dan Brunskill to discuss what we could expect from a Budget that's promised low-spending and tax cuts for a...

After years in Parliament, former Green Party co-leader James Shaw this week exits politics. Shaw's careers has seen many highs - particularly around passing world-leading climate change legislation - as well as coalition struggles and internal party strife, which became an issue once again this week.

As he leaves the Beehive, Shaw joins Thomas to reflect on his time in politics, his friendships across the aisle, farmer's fractured...

Diplomat Terence O’Brien was at the centre of New Zealand’s foreign relations for nearly half a century, forging new ties with Asia, negotiating New Zealand’s market access to what became the European Union, or running the first successful campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

His new post-humous memoir, Consolations of Insignificance, comes out next month. His son, Diplosphere co-founder Dan O'Brien, joins Th...

The Coalition Government has seen its first cabinet reshuffle. 

Melissa Lee has lost her Broadcasting Minister portfolio and has been demoted out of Cabinet. 

Meanwhile, Penny Simmonds has lost her Disability Commission portfolio.  

To discuss this, The Front Page's Chelsea Daniels is joined by the host of the On the Tiles podcast, and NZ Herald deputy political editor, Thomas Coughlan. .

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