Midday Edition: 18 March 2025

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 18 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 Tuesday, the eighteenth of March. Prime Minister
Chris Luckson's adamant he won't be walking away from trade
negotiations with India even if they prove difficult. Luckson's met
with Prime Minister Narendra Mody to explore avenues for deeper
bilateral ties and make more headway towards a free trade agreement.

(00:26):
Trade negotiations will commence next month. Luckson says there's sensitivity
from the Indian side about dairy as it makes up
about fifteen percent of its GDP. We want to make
sure that we do everything we can to advance dairy
with India. We're not going to give up and have
a mentality so we can't even try, and so that's
been part of the conversation leading into the kickoff of
these The Foreign Affairs Minister is sure New Zealand's concerns

(00:49):
about Pacific AID have been heard in Washington, DC. Winston
Peters has met the Foreign Assistant's Office Director Peter Morocco
this morning. Peters says they discuss the Trump administration's views
and our respective country's roles in the region. Final USA
decisions won't be made until next month, but Peters says
he's communicated the importance of supporting the Pacific regard their

(01:13):
assurances that they were keen to hear our views and
to hear us out. I'm that's more confident now than
I was if I arrived yes. A teen accused of
attacking a woman at a christ Church park last month,
giving her a significant head injury, now faces serious sex charges.
A sixteen year old was charged with wounding with intent,

(01:33):
assault of a second victim and an earlier theft. Police
have now revealed he's facing charges of violent sexual offending.
Fiscal services are being urged to reach out to younger
generations struggling with money. The Financial Services Council's Resilience Index
from last March has found more than half fifty six

(01:54):
percent of people worry about money daily or weekly. More
than thirty five percent of a Generation Z respondents reported
financial issues impact their well being daily. Chief Executive Kirk
Hope says services could help struggling young people. It's probably
more the providers andselves can do to pack themselves to

(02:15):
Gen Z and as, so that's really developing financial education
that ris in these Deportation could be on the cards
for a fourteen year old found guilty of manslaughter after
stabbing a fellow team at a Dunedin bus hub last May.
He'll be sentenced in July. Police are working to identify
a person killed after being hit by a train and

(02:35):
in Vicargo yesterday evening at the Ellis Road level crossing.
ACT isn't rolling out endorsing Merrill candidates on council, using
the example of Christ's Second Coming. The party's announced plans
to run local government candidates on a platform of reducing
wasteful spending. It won't run candidates for Maori wards. Leader

(02:56):
David Cymore says Acts not looking to endorse Merrial candidates,
but never say never. In case Jesus came back and
wanted to be mayor, he reckons the man himself would
favor his campaign. You know what, I believe that Jesus
very well might support Acts from what I know about him.
To Sport, All Blacks coach Scott Robinson is considering adopting

(03:18):
the spring box bomb squad seven to one Ford's Backs
reserve bench concept this season. A plea from the Blackfern
sevens for the return of an equipment trailer to their
Mount Monganuy base ahead of their World Series tournament in
Hong Kong next weekend. I'm Malcolm Jordan. That's your latest
news fix. We'll be back with the next update at

(03:39):
five pm from the news Talk zb newsroom.