Midday Edition: 10 March 2025

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 10 March 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 (00:04):
Good afternoon. I'm Malcolm Jordan and this is your midday
news fix for Monday, the tenth of March. Farmac's being
told to improve its relationship with patients and tackle supply
are report's been released today looking into the Government drug
buying agency. Political reporter Azariah Hawe has more.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
The reviews found the agency is seen as defensive, slow
to respond and lacking in respect for patient advocates. FARMAC
has been urged to speak with advocates who will select
people to work alongside. The Agency's board chair Paula Bennett says,
they've heard very clearly they need to make sure interactions
are respectful and people's voices are valued.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Banking chief executives are in front of Parliament again around
the inquiry into competition. The government's aiming to let Kiwi
Bank access more capital to help it compete against the
Australian owned banks. A and Z chief executive Antnia Watson says,
they're band bank has to strike a fine balance on
affordability and return on equity.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
It's fair and it's driven by competition, and you see
that competition sort of drive us towards that fair cost
of capital.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
A new set of amendments looks to turbo charge major
infrastructure projects. The government's proposing changes to the Public Works
Act to speed up acquiring land, including premium payments to
private landowners. The Environment Court will be sidelined from the
objections process. Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop to my Costing, a
lot of these are NZTA roading projects.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
No one likes taking land. We don't do it with
a great degree of passion. But the reality is if
we want to build stuff in this country and get
those roads going that we need, in public transport projects
that we need, it will require taking land.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
And the government may only be putting up four projects
for public private partnerships. At its Infrastructure Investment summit later
this week, it's invited large companies from fourteen countries to
drive foreign capital into New Zealand. Northern Infrastructure Forum Executive
Director Barney Irvine Todd Mike Costking there's a positive glow
around the New Zealand market and investors are liking this

(02:08):
signal so far, but we need to retain this interest.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
They need to see a pipeline of high quality funded
projects and if they don't see that, their globe will
very likely fade.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
President Donald Trump's raising doubts about Ukraine's future. Officials from
the two countries will meet four fresh talks in Saudi
Arabia this week. Other world leaders have ramped up their
efforts to back Ukraine in the absence of US military
aid and intelligence sharing. Trump's accused Ukraine of being ungrateful

(02:41):
of usaid during an interview with Fox News. Are you
comfortable with that the fact that you walked away and
Ukraine may not survive? Well, may not anywhere? Fon Terror
has increased its full year earnings guidance from forty to
sixty cents per year to fifty five to seventy five cents.
It comes as the dairy co op is starting meetings

(03:03):
with potential investor groups in New Zealand, Australia and Asia
as it looks to sell off its consumer arm including
Mainland and Anchor to Sport. Arsenal have earned a point
at Manchester United with a one all draw in Football's
Premier League, but remain fifteen points behind leaders Liverpool with
a game in hand. Shane van Gisbergen has been involved

(03:25):
in a shimmozzle of an accident at the latest NASCAR
event at Phoenix, ending his race. New Zealand Rugby is
introducing a standalone national under eighteen team to the men's
High Performance Pathway program. They will play two away fixtures
against their Australian counterparts in September and October. I'm Malcolm Jordan.

(03:46):
That's your latest news fix. We'll be back with the
next update at five pm from the newstalk zb newsroom.