Morning Edition: 18 August 2025

The Morning Edition of News Fix for 18 August 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 morning. I never ready Manu, and this is your
morning news fix from Monday, eighteenth of August. In this update,
we are well on our way to a collector one
trillion dollars in debt. In the year to the end
of May, New Zealand hit just over eight hundred and
seventy billion in gross debt, up five point four percent
from almost eight hundred and thirty billion last year. It

(00:26):
represents an average of just over one hundred and sixty
thousand dollars in raw debt for every person in the country.
At the current rate of growth, New Zealand will hit
the trillion dollar landmark inside the next three years. That
rate is eased in the past two years as the
government has sought to curb borrowing and the housing market
has been flat. Correction staff say gangs are making prison

(00:48):
violence worse and harder to deal with. On Saturday afternoon,
eleven inmates in Wincuttles spring Hill Prison refuse to leave
an exercise yard, setting several small fires on the property.
It took two hours with staff to secure the prisoners
and extinguish the fires. Corrections Association president Floud Duplass is
asking the government for equipment like launchers for handling violence.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Both are the types of things that we could use
at distance to bring these things to close very quickly
and controlled and without risk of any injury to both
staff and prisoners.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
A Far North police officer is claiming racism and poor
culture within the force is leading many Northland cops to leave.
Ninety extra police officers have traveled to the region to
help relief pressure. An anonymous officer has revealed an example
of what they call systemic racism in the force. An
email accidentally sent to all Northland staff by another cop

(01:45):
describes an alleged offender in derogatory terms. District Commander Superintendent
Matthew Surhoy says the email was highly unprofessional, but maintains
culture has never been better. Five unions are attempting to
take the government to court over the pay equity changes.
The Nurses Organization, Public Service Association and three education unions

(02:07):
are lodging a High Court challenge later this month over
the Government raising the threshold to launch pay equity claims.
PSA National Secretary flur fitz Simon says they're asking for
a declaration of inconsistency with the Bill of Rights Act
as we.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Are successful in gaining that, then there will be a
report to Parliament and Select Committee consideration. It should never
have come to this, a.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Foreign affairs experts says Donald Trump played into Vladimir Putin's
hands at an Alaska summit over the weekend. The US
and Russian presidents had a three hour discussion Saturday morning,
but it did not result in a seisfire. In Ukraine,
Ukrainian president vollowed to Muzeleinski is now scheduled to meet
Trump in Washington, d C. In the coming days. Otaga

(02:50):
University's professor of international relations, Robert Padman says the pair
will make little progress on their own. He says Trump
must come to terms with the fact Putin will not
stop the invasion unless he's forced too. In sport, Chris
Wood has scored twice in Nottingham Forest's opening game of
the Premier League football season, helping them to a three

(03:10):
to one home victory over Brentford. Golfer Ryan Fox's PGA
Tour season is over. He's carded a final round one
under pass sixty nine at the penultimate event in Maryland,
but will remain outside the top thirty to contest the
tour Championship in Georgia this week, and the toll Blacks
have finished fourth at basketball's Asia Cup, losing the bronze

(03:32):
medal playoff seventy nine to seventy three to a run
in Saudi Arabia. I'm never ready, man who And that
your latest news fix. We'll be back with the next
update at midday from the news Talk ZB newsroom.