Morning Edition: 25 February 2025

The Morning Edition of News Fix for 25 February 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 (00:05):
Good morning, I never ready Manu and this is your
morning news fix for Tuesday, twenty fifth of February. In
this update, uncertainty over the future of Andrew Bailey's Commerce
portfolio as he stands down his departure follows a complaint
over the events during what he calls an animated discussion
in which he placed his hand on a staff as

(00:25):
upper arm. Last week. Bailey will stay on as an
MP and Scott Simpson will puck up his acc and
Commerce and Consumer of his portfolios, but political commentator Ben
Thomas says Bailey had impressed the Prime Minister by doing
well in his roles.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Commerce portfolio was at the center of the government's growth agenda.
He had a really important role to play there, which
makes this crazy mishap all the more inexplicable.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
The cost of keeping government owned assets could be more
than the return it's getting from them are reported by
The New Zealand Initiative says the government owns five hundred
and seventy one billion dollars an air sets, yet the
returns from them don't even cover the interest on loans
used to buy them. Author Bryce Wilkinson is calling for
a review to identify if asset should be sold and
if so, which ones. More children are attending early childhood services,

(01:14):
but there are fewer centers around the country. The Ministry
of Education's twenty twenty four CENTSUS data shows one hundred
and ninety four thousand children were attending licensed centers, a
two percent increase on the year prior. Jamie Cunningham has more.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
In the same period, the number of teaching staff and
easy centers decreased by one percent. Just over half of
teachers were between thirty one to fifty years old, forty
percent were unqualified. Home based services saw a forty five
percent decrease on twenty nineteen, while the number of kindergartens
rose three percent.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
A ministerial advisory group wants the government to strengthen the
power of citizens arrest and use of force powers to
protect retailers. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is set to unvai
well whether the government will progress any of the group's
first proposals. Group chairman Sonny Causial says outdated laws need
to be looked at a new beginning for Germany. Friedrich

(02:10):
Meritz is most likely to become the country's next chancellor,
has sent to write Christian Democratic Unions top votes at
just under twenty nine percent, with far right Alternative for
Germany AfD inching more than twenty percent. Merits must now
form a coalition, but has ruled out working with AfD.
Director of Berlin's Global Public Policy Institute, Torsten Benner told

(02:32):
Andrew Dickens the only option is for the CDU to
govern with the outgoing Social Democrats.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Which is one of the better outcomes because it's only
a two party coalition that's necessary.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Questions linger over the ongoing leadership of the Catholic churches.
Pope France's battle sickness. The eighty eight year old's being
given oxygen and transfusions, but had a good night, remaining
in a critical condition in a Rome hospital. And Sport
New Zealand have reached the Champions Trophy Cricket semi finals
after beats Bangladesh by five wickets and Rawul Pindi. They
chase two hundred and thirty seven with twenty three balls

(03:05):
to spare, and the White Fans will be without Melly
Kerr for next month's home series again Sri Lanka due
to her commitments with Mumbai Raiders. Hudson Young and Morgan
Smithys have been evicted briefly from the Las Vegas Hotel
ahead of the NRL League season opener against the Warriors.
Hotel security mistook an inflatable baseball bat for a weapon

(03:26):
during a scrap in an elevator and I'm neva ready, Manu.
That's your latest news fix. We'll be backed with the
next update at midday from the newstalk ZB newsroom.