Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

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A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

  1. -8 H

    David Smith: Guardian Washington Bureau Chief says Trump wants help opening the Strait of Hormuz

    In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump called on the UK, China, France, Japan, South Korea and others to send ships to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open - but his request has been met with little response.  Washington Bureau Chief for the Guardian, David Smith, told Ryan Bridge, "there's been some reporting suggesting that Donald Trump was warned this is a possibility by his military planners, and his response was it'll be okay." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    4 min
  2. Full Show Podcast: 16 March 2026

    -10 H

    Full Show Podcast: 16 March 2026

    On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Monday 16th of March 2025, we get the latest on the Iran War as it enters its third week. Donald Trump has requested allies help open the Strait of Hormuz - UK Correspondent Gavin Grey tells Ryan whether Europe is likely to help.  Ryan has some advice for the Labour Party - don't automatically agree with the unions.  And Andrew Alderson celebrates Liam Lawson's brilliant weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    34 min

  3. -10 H

    Ryan Bridge: Labour shouldn't automatically back the Unions

    Last week ended with a bizarre situation where Labour effectively came out against a pay rise for teachers. They did this because that’s what the unions wanted. And what the unions want, the unions usually get. Union strategy 101 is getting everyone who’s not a member to become one. The tactic is peer pressure. If you can deprive non‑union members of a pay rise while dragging out pay negotiations, that’s leverage. Labour last week got rid of Willow‑Jean Prime, who scored an F in the portfolio. Ginny Anderson has been lumped with it at a time when National is seen, across a bunch of polls this term, to be either better or at least as good as Labour on education. Which is saying something. Like health, it’s usually the purview of the left. But something’s shifted, and Ginny probably needs to take a good, hard look at which battles she blindly follows her comrades into. Charter schools are another example. I was reading at the weekend about the breadth of subjects and students these schools cater to: seven Māori schools, a Pasifika girls’ school (which we’ve featured on the show), autism‑focused schools, French, sport, Cambridge. Last week the principals’ union said all those schools — there are 19 applicants so far — should be closed.The money, they said, should be put back into the mainstream system. They don’t believe schools are failing certain cohorts of young people, which is the very reason charter schools exist. To an average parent, an average person, but most importantly, an average voter, this looks political, not practical.I think most Kiwis accept that mainstream schooling doesn’t work for everyone. Most also accept that teaching needs to be better paid, regardless of union affiliation. To rail against these things just because your union mates demand you do so is hardly going to win back public support in an area where ground has clearly been lost. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    2 min

  4. -10 H

    Brad Olsen: Infometrics Principal Economist on food price growth, and whether Iran war will have an impact

    Concerns the Middle East conflict will make rising grocery prices worse. The Infometrics-Foodstuffs New Zealand Grocery Supplier Cost Index finds suppliers charged 2.3 percent more on average in February, compared to a year earlier. Annual average produce department costs rose 2.9 percent, the fastest in two years. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Ryan Bridge this doesn't capture rising fuel prices. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    3 min

  5. -3 DIAS

    Andrew Tuck: Homegrown CEO on the festival's return to Hamilton, this year's lineup

    Hamilton's welcoming the Homegrown Music Festival back to the city where it all began.  Organisers announced last year the festival would leave Wellington after being held on the capital's waterfront for 18 years.  Homegrown Chief Executive Andrew Tuck says Hamilton's Claudelands Oval will offer two-and-a-half times as much space, with acts like SIX60 and LAB set to take the stage.  He says the lineup for this year’s festival is the strongest they’ve ever put together.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    3 min

  6. -3 DIAS

    Mike Casey: Rewiring Aotearoa CEO says declining gas supplies could accelerate the shift to cleaner and cheaper energy

    An electrification advocate says the rising price and falling supply of gas may not be a bad thing in the long-term.  PwC research —commissioned by Gas Industry Co— has found New Zealand's gas market will need to shrink sharply as domestic supply declines.   It warns this could mean business closures, job losses, and higher energy costs.  Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey told Ryan Bridge it's going to be a tough transition, but we need to move away from gas anyway.  He says gas is an expensive and inefficient technology, especially in homes, and the more people get off it, the better it will be for them in the long run.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    4 min

  7. -3 DIAS

    Terry Collins: AA Fuel Spokesperson weighs in on rationing fuel as oil prices spike

    New Zealand is still a long way off from car-less days, AA fuel spokesman Terry Collins predicts.  Government ministers yesterday were receiving advice on emergency fuel measures that could be taken if fuel stocks got too low as a knock-on effect of Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.  But Collins told Ryan Bridge Early Edition the Petroleum Demand Restraint Act, which allows for carless days and other options like fuel rationing, is very old fashioned.  “In those days we didn't have things like working from home and all the types of IT that we do today that makes us maintain productivity in another way.”  New Zealand also has a fuel security plan which was updated last year. “We hope it never has to be implemented, but at least we've got a plan and we've got legislation that if it's needed, we can implement.”  There have been reports South Korea could ban exports of refined fuel products to ensure they had sufficient supply at home. That would have major impacts here as New Zealand receives 48% of its refined fuel from the east Asian nation.  In that event, New Zealand would have to look for different markets including Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, Collins said.  “We get a tiny bit out of places like India and the US, but basically we'd be in the same scramble as many other countries.”  Oil prices are “so unpredictable”, he said. “One thing history's taught me is America tends to underestimate how long they stay in conflict. So I'm very concerned when they talk about weeks when it looks like it could be months.”  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    3 min

  8. -3 DIAS

    Ryan Bridge: You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone

    We're learning a few hard truths this week and the old saying rings true - you don't know what you've got 'til its gone. Parties on the left and the right all crying out for more oil. Turns out, it's actually still quite important. A decent supply of it at a stable price. And we're a long way off from that strait opening and running at full capacity again. Trump's talking victory. Winston told me this week the war will be over before people think. But there are sea mines and rocket launchers and drones hitting that strait. No shipping company, or insurer, is going near there for a while yet. The uprising we were told would happen hasn't happened. We've go the old boss' son in charge, and they've just killed his mum, dad and most of his family. He's not giving up anytime soon, is he? More important than oil is food. We've got the Wattie's plant closures. The frozen vegetables are grown here. Peas and beans. Like peaches before them, there'll be some cheaper imported alternative filling the shelves. The farmer's complaints? Regulation. They're drowning in it. Paperwork up the wazoo. It was the same story with pork. Again, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. So once this crisis is over, perhaps we remember how important food and oil are to our daily lives and stop demonising the very people trying to keep our tummies and gas tanks full. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    3 min
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A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

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