Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Our exporters are bracing to be hit with hiked US tariffs but the red meat sector is in the firing line for even more.  

Trade experts suggest New Zealand could face a blanket 12.5% tariff – up from the current 10%. 

The US International Trade Commission has also launched an investigation into lamb imports.  

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Chair Kate Acland told Ryan Bridge it can submit evidence into the four-month i...

Gisborne's mayor believes Rhythm and Vines’ organisers will struggle to get a venue as good as it has currently. 

This year's festival will be the last held at the Waiohika Estate before it relocates to a new undisclosed site. 

Organisers say the move will support the festival’s long-term future and will let it keep growing. 

Mayor Rehette Stoltz told Ryan Bridge it's a tough loss for the region, but it'l...

Chris Hipkins is floating the idea of an effective tariff on imported cement. 

He reckons it could be a better way of dealing with our cement problem than $60 million in corporate welfare. 

The reason Golden Bay Cement needs a bailout is the cost of buying carbon credits from 2030 onwards. The cost of carbon credits is because of the ETS. 

When your builder goes to lay cement, they will buy imported stuff because it'...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Wednesday 22nd of July 2026, Co-Operative Bank CEO Mark Wilkshire shares his thoughts on inflation hitting the highest level in two years. 

Rhythm and Vines is ditching Gisborne, Mayor Rehette Stoltz tells Ryan how big of a loss this will be for the local economy. 

Exporters are staring down a hike to our tariffs sometime this week, Beef and Lamb Chair Kate Acland te...

Critics are questioning Andy Burnham's first major pledge as UK Prime Minister. 

Burnham has become Britain's seventh Prime Minister in a decade. 

His first announcement was committing an extra £340 million over three years to tackle homelessness. 

Financial Times Whitehall Editor Lucy Fisher told Ryan Bridge questions are already being raised over how he'll fund his wider agenda as he hints at possible tax changes.&...

The Government says some council-iwi agreements have gone beyond the initial intention of the law allowing them.  

Existing iwi partnerships will be tossed out with new planning laws, despite the Government initially planning to allow councils to keep existing agreements.  

RMA Reform Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court says the agreements were initially supposed to be about planning matters.  

He told Ryan Bri...

An economist says digging into today's inflation figures will reveal the real picture.

Stats NZ is releasing Consumers Price Index figures later this morning, comparing prices between April and June against the same period last year.

Economists expect it surge to somewhere around 4%.

Independent Economist Cameron Bagrie told Ryan Bridge he's more interested in core inflation, which strips out food and energy.

He says it's been stub...

A $60 million corporate welfare cheque for Golden Bay Cement is fixing a symptom but not the disease. 

It's taxpayer money. It's not a loan – it's free money. Owner Fletcher Building has agreed, in return, to keep the thing open till 2040 and invest $150 million, phased over time. 

No doubt cement is important for building the country, but so was refined oil. We offshored that. So is milled timber, which we let go. ...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Tuesday 21st of July 2026, Inflation figures are out today, Independent Economist and Founder of Bagrie Economics, Cameron Bagrie tells Ryan what we can expect. 

Andy Burnham's been sworn in as the 7th UK Prime Minister in a decade, Financial Times Whitehall Editor, Lucy Fisher has the latest on who will be in his cabinet. 

The way Iwi talk to councils about their Tr...

Labour says it's a shame the Government isn't pushing through new consent laws right now. 

National has announced if re-elected, it'll ensure consent has to be actively given, meaning there must be a "yes" rather than the absence of a "no".

It says it brings us in line with other jurisdictions like the UK and parts of Australia. 

Labour Justice Spokesperson Camilla Belich told Ryan Bridge she agrees with the policy and sa...

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Monday 20th of July 2026, National's planned change to sex consent laws is getting very political, Labour Justice Spokesperson Camilla Belich shares her thoughts.

Business Correspondent Vicky Pryce has the latest on 

Fifa's giving the Spain and Argentina World Cup Final the full super bowl treatment with its first-ever halftime show featuring Madonna and Justin Bieber, Sk...