Holiday Breakfast

Around 70 Kiwis turning 18 from August will become the first cohort legally allowed to seek details about their donor parent from Births, Deaths and Marriages. 

As officials prepare for requests about donor-biological parents, a team of University of Auckland researchers are asking their own questions in a new nationwide survey. 

Since the Human Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Hart) register be...

In 1999, Theresa Gattung became the first female chief executive of a major New Zealand company at Telecom (now Spark). 

She broke through a major glass ceiling – paving the way for a prolific corporate career - co-founding My Food Bag, sitting on the board of healthcare start-up Tend, as well as the dating website Compatico.   

The construction of new builds is coming to a halt. 

About 35,000 new builds were given consent in the last year – more than a 20% drop from the period ending April 2023. 

This is being chalked up to inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.  

Chief Executive of Building Industry Federation, Julien Leys, told Tim Beveridge “The Covid b...

Prime Minister Chris Luxon will visit Niue and Fiji this week to develop and reaffirm New Zealand's cooperation with the region. 

This will be Luxon’s first visit to the Pacific as Prime Minister.  

Political Editor Jason Walls told Tim Beveridge “He’s expecting to be received warmly and get a good welco...

Award-winning NZ businesswoman Joan Withers has been made a Dame Companion of the NZ Order of Merit for services to business, government and women. 

She’s led many prominent companies, including: The Warehouse, Mercury Energy, Auckland International Airport and TVNZ. 

Dame Joan Withers told Tim Beveridge...

Australian Defence Minister, Richard Marles, was critical of China's military build-up during his speech at a security conference in Singapore. 

Marles later met with his Chinese counterpart to raise his concerns face-to-face. 

The Shangri-La Dialogue has continued over the weekend, with Ukrainian Presid...

American Public opinion on former US President Donald Trump's guilty verdict has remained mostly unchanged.  

The Presidential candidate's been convicted of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the New York hush money trial. 

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Tim Beveridge “A poll has revea...

The Government's Budget centrepiece has been passed in the House, meaning tax cuts will become law.  

Income tax brackets have been shifted, giving most earners an extra $4-40 take-home pay each fortnight. 

Infometrics Principal Economist and CEO Brad Olsen told Tim Beveridge “The IRD estimates there’s a...

The working class man and one of Australia's most beloved musicians, Jimmy Barnes, is heading back to our shores for his 'Hell of a Time' tour.   

Over the length of his career Barnes has achieved 15 solo number-one albums in Australia, becoming 21 when combined with the five earned as the lead singer of ‘Cold Chisel’, resulting in him having the highest number of any artist, including the Beatles and Taylor Swi...

Dawn services have been held around the country this morning. On ANZAC Day, thousands of soldiers who fought for New Zealand in the great World Wars are remembered. 

Winston Peters and the Kiwi Defence Force contingent are at the Gallipoli Dawn Service. The Defence Force had a rocky start to the visit, with lost bags amid the chaos of Dubai’s floods meaning they will now play a reduced role in the service.

Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins says yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle shows “the wheels are falling off already”.  

Paul Goldsmith will take over Melissa Lee’s role as Broadcasting Minister and Louise Upston will take over from Penny Simmonds as Disability Issues Minister. 

Hipkins tells Roman Travers Lee didn’t come up with a single new idea on how to deal with the changing media landscape in her s...

The Warriors are dusting themselves off from last week’s shocking loss to the Dragons. The team are looking to hit back hard in today’s ANZAC Day clash against the Gold Coast Titans.  

Former Warriors player and commentator Adam Blair tells Roman Travers the Warriors need to bounce back after letting themselves down defensively last week.  

The Warriors have lost their past eight ANZAC Day games bu...

Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced a cabinet reshuffle, dropping Melissa Lee from the Media and Communications portfolio. Paul Goldsmith will take over the role. 

Former Newshub Head of News Mark Jennings tells Roman Travers when it came to the crunch, Lee didn’t deliver. A major factor in Lee’s removal was her failure to present a coherent plan or solution for problems currently facing the me...

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon dropped a shocking cabinet reshuffle yesterday, stripping two ministers of their portfolios.  

Melissa Lee is out of cabinet and lost the Media and Communications portfolio and Penny Simmonds has been dropped as Disability Issues Minister. 

Luxon tells Roman Travers the complexity of the two portfolios has increased dramatically over the last few months and he wants...

Britain will boost its defence spending to 2.5 percent of national output by the end of the decade. 

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made the pledge when meeting with secretary general of NATO Jens Stoltenberg. The rise in spending will equate to £78 billion and dwarfs NATO contributions from countries like Germany, France, Italy and Spain.  

UK correspondent Rod Liddle tell...

Venice, Italy will introduce a tax for day trippers to enter the city.  

Italian correspondent Jo McKenna tells Roman Travers the tax’s introduction could cause chaos due to the lack of awareness about it. Day trippers can register online, stating their intention to go to Venice. The tax will cost New Zealand visitors €10 per person.  

Meanwhile, a 13 month old baby boy has been killed...

As interest rates globally have risen significantly in recent weeks, many investors are pushing back the timing for interest rate cuts. 

Yesterday, Australia saw a falling annual inflation rate. Annual inflation in the year to March was 3.6 percent – less than the hoped-for 3.4 percent, which the Reserve Bank had indicated would be the level needed to cut interest rates later in the year. 

Meanwhil...

Big changes for the Reserve Bank, as it appoints new members to its Monetary Policy Committee.

University of Auckland macroeconomics professor Prasanna Gai and former Electricity Authority chief executive Carl Hansen will take up their posts later in the year.

Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold explains what these new changes could mean for the future of the OCR.

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