Afternoon Edition: 18 March 2025

The Afternoon 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 railing Ramsey. This is your afternoon news
for Tuesday, the eighteenth of March. The Department of Internal
Affairs is proposing cutting more jobs by disestablishing one hundred
and eighty rolls and creating one hundred and sixteen. It's
expected to be the last restructure of this scale. DIA

(00:24):
is asking staff for feedback before final decisions in June.
Internal Affairs Secretary Paul James says he wants to improve
efficiency and reduce costs. He says he's cutting back management
layers and minimizing duplication. A reprieve for Auckland's local boards
on bearing the brunt of a multimillion dollar deficit, All

(00:45):
twenty one board chairs jointly wrote to Mayor Wayne Brown
rejecting cost cutting proposals. They would have forced board savings
at the expense of community services and events. Emily Ansell reports.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Council Group Chief financial Officer Ross Tucker says after discussions
with the mayor, they'll now treat the coming financial year
as transitional and board funding won't change. Tucker says staff
will continue to work with boards on enduring solutions From
twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
A move to streamline goods transportation with India, our respective
customs agencies have signed a mutual recognition arrangement in New Delhi,
where the Prime Minister is leading a trade delegation. Claudia
O'Neill has more.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
The arrangement gives Board a priority to authorized exporters meeting
supply chain security measures, allowing them to clear goods faster.
Customs and Z chief executive Christine Stevenson says it supports
the government's goal of doubling export values within the next decade.
She says it also boosts access to one of the
world's biggest markets.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
The Takeover's Panel is investigating whether nz ME, the media
company shareholders are acting above board. The government watchdog has
told Business Desk the matter is under active consideration.

Speaker 4 (02:02):
Lachland Rennie reports the Takeover Panel is looking into whether
shareholders are working in concert to remove the media companies bought.
Expatriate businessman Jim Grennan has put forward a proposal to
replace Enzemy's board, nominating himself in three others to join
it next month's AGM. Separately, shareholder Osmian Partners has put

(02:23):
up two director nominations in.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Zedmy owns among other things. The Herald Business Desk and
News Talk zed b an Auckland man has been charged
with mishandling burials at Awaichumette Cemetery on top of an
earlier charge. The funeral director was arrested last Friday and
originally accused of obtaining by deception. The man has now

(02:46):
been hit with another deception charge and account of interfering
with human remains. They emerged after a second complaint to police.
He will appear in the Auckland District Court on Thursday. Catherine,
Princess of Wales is get back into the swing of
public formalities. She's joined the Irish Guards in Saint Patrick's
Day celebrations, sipping guinness and putting some money on the bar.

(03:09):
Cake missed last year's celebrations during treatment for cancer. Hello
Magazine reports the Princess told an Australian reservists there she'd
liked to take her children on a holiday to New
Zealand and Australia to sport and rain has led to
the abandonment of the White Ferns third T twenty International
against Sri Lanka in Dunedin. The three match series has

(03:31):
finished one all. The Black Fern seven stolen equipment trailer
has been found and returned in mart Manganiui with no
items missing. Ryan Fox has relieved her services weren't required
on the fifth day of Golf's Players Championship due to
nasty wins. Fox finish tied for twentieth, but watched on

(03:51):
as Rory McElroy batted American JJ Spahn in a three
hole playoff. I'm railing Ramsey. That is your latest new fix.
We'll be back with the next update tomorrow morning from
the News Talk seed B Newsroom. M mm hmm.