Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

We may have to get used to paying more for butter. 

Kiwi consumers are now consistently paying more than twice as much for butter as they were a decade ago, according to latest Stats NZ figures. 

Supermarkets and suppliers have been under pressure to lower prices. 

Federated Farmers Dairy Chair Karl Dean told Andrew Dickens there’s been a global trend towards consuming more butter, especially in the last five years, ...

The UK's Labour Party believes allowing the younger generation to vote could have positive ripple effects. 

It's lowering the country's voting age to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to have their say.  

The change will take effect at the next general election and brings the electorate into line with Scotland and Wales. 

UK Correspondent Vincent McAviney told Andrew Dickens youth want to feel catered for, and Labour's keepi...

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Friday the 18th of July 2025, jobseeker benefit numbers are continuing to climb, former welfare advisory group member Phil O'Reily shares why. 

It's final All Blacks test against the french tomorrow night at FMG stadium in Hamilton, Rugby commentator Tony Johnson shares his thoughts on the line up. 

Dairy prices around the globe are soaring and Kiwi's are footing ...

A welfare expert's pointing to the lack of jobs being the main reason more people are ending up on the benefit.

Ministry of Social Development statistics show almost 8 thousand more were receiving a main benefit in June compared to March. 

It follows the Government instating new requirements for beneficiaries in hopes of getting more into the workforce. 

Former Welfare Advisory Group member Phil O'Reilly told Andrew Dicke...

We all know the Covid Inquiry is looking at MIQ, amongst other things. 

And we all know that MIQ had noble aims and notable successes. But we also know the execution was far from perfect, and many people ended up feeling ostracized from the rest of New Zealand. 

The idea of the Inquiry is to find out what went wrong so we do better next time. 

And yesterday, Les Morgan, the Chief Operating Manager of Sudima Hotels, w...

News the Government's set to shred half a million books from the National Library is being described as standard management. 

Books including religious texts, Shakespeare, and Virginia Woolf are among them, with the cull expected to save about a million dollars in storage costs.  

Library and Information Association Executive Director Laura Marshall told Andrew Dickens books are destroyed to make room as part of collectio...

It's being suggested we need to generate more power if we want to fix our electricity market. 

Major power companies will soon be required to charge less for power during off-peak periods and pay more for solar and battery power during peak periods. 

The Electricity Authority hopes the measures will drive down power prices over time. 

But Paul Fuge —the manager of Consumer NZ's Powerswitch website— told Andrew Dicken...

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Thursday the 17th of July 2025, the Government's ditching open-plan classrooms, May Road Primary principal Lynda Stewart shares her thoughts on whether the classrooms work. 

New deals will soon become available to bring down your power bill, Consumer NZ Powerswitch manager Paul Fuge tells Andrew Dickens the difference it'll make. 

Multiple major religious texts wi...

There's concerns the Government's being too black and white with its decision to pull the plug on open plan classrooms.

The idea was introduced by John Key's Government in 2011.
 
The Education Minister Erica Stanford says now all new builds will have more traditional layouts.

Auckland's May Road Primary School Principal Lynda Stuart told Andrew Dickens it shouldn't be a binary discussion.

She says it works well when you...

So the Local Government Conference is underway and the Government took advantage of it to talk down to councils like a stepdad telling off their stepson. 

They’ve been told to reign in wasteful spending to keep their rates increase down. It'd be good if the government that is currently spending more than any other ever practiced what they preached. 

But anyway, the Government is talking about bringing in rate caps.  

Should your job provide health insurance coverage? 

There are calls for a fringe benefit tax break as a Council report reveals people are twice as likely to have car insurance than life or health. 

It says 78% of Kiwis pay for their own insurance, rather than employers footing the bill. 

Enriched Retirement Founder Liz Koh told Andrew Dickens that New Zealanders tend to think they’re bulletproof, and they don’t tend ...

The future of the latest BBC MasterChef UK series is up in the air.  

John Torode is leaving after a report upheld allegations he used an "extremely offensive racist term". 

It comes after an independent report substantiated 45 of 83 allegations about the behaviour of former co-judge Gregg Wallace. 

UK correspondent, Gavin Grey told Andrew Dickens there are calls to scrap the already filmed series.   

But h...

Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones is floating the idea of special economic zones as an answer to New Zealand’s energy security.  

The Government's asking for feedback on its new long-term fuel strategy.  

The special economic zones are areas where businesses can get tailored policies on regulation, financial support, and access to infrastructure. 

Major Electricity Users' Group Chair John Harbord told Andrew Dick...

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Wednesday 16th of July 2025, The Government’s cracking down on councils -  forcing them stick to their core business, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell shares her thoughts.

There's calls for fringe benefit tax breaks to help kiwis pay for the rising cost of health insurance, Enrich Retirement founder Liz Koh tells Andrew Dickens the difference it would make. 

Shane Jone...

The Government wants to scrap local councils' four well-being provisions. 

A amendment bill has been introduced to remove the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing provisions from the Local Government Act, to refocus councils on their core services. 

The Government wants councils to give more value to ratepayers. 

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell told Andrew Dickens she's looking forward to the removal of...

I’m always amazed at how much credence the United Nations is given in domestic New Zealand politics. 

The left loves the UN pronouncements on New Zealand’s stances because if reinforces their view that we’ve got much to feel guilty about. 

Meanwhile the right somehow believes that the UN can supersede our sovereignty and is an enemy to be repelled at all costs. 

But the UN is actually an ineffectual bureaucracy. &nbs...

A turning point for Auckland. 

The third annual State of the City report has been released, showing how we compare on a global scale. 

It highlights strengths in sustainability, resilience, and culture, but says we lag behind in prosperity, skills, and innovation development. 

Deloitte’s Future of Auckland Lead Kate Sutton told Andrew Dickens that Auckland’s at 40% of GDP while the productivity per capita is about 20...

Here we go again. 

The polytechs that were centralised by the last government are going to be de-centralised by the current mob. 

It's not quite back to the future because it won't be the same as we had before the politicians started tinkering.

There will now be ten polytechs run locally, six others will have to prove their financial viability, but it still feels like we're going back to where we started from.

And this id...

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Tuesday 15th of July 2025, Secondary Principals Council Chair and Aotea College Principal Kate Gainsford joins Andrew Dickens to discuss the number of students passing the NCEA literacy and numeracy co-requisite tests slowly on the rise.

Dr Sandra Grey, National Secretary of the Tertiary Education Union, shares her thoughts on the Government’s plan to replace Te Pūkenga and...