There was an outbreak of the virus – formerly known as Monkeypox – back in 2022, but a new variant that originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo has proved fatal, with dozens of deaths from thousands of cases. The new variant has also been found beyond the borders of Africa, sparking warnings by the World Health Organisation, and calls for international support to stem this outbreak. Today on The Front Page, University of Auckland associate professor and co-director of the Global Vaccine D...
Aug 25, 2024•15 min
The end of the shortened fourth week in the trial of Philip Polkinghorne traverses a range of topics He’s accused of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna, in April 2021 – but maintains, she took her own life. More on the couple’s finances, the dark sides of meth use, a sex tape, Google searches about infidelity, and a series of intimate letters between a husband and a wife were all revealed and discussed by witnesses. You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front P...
Aug 23, 2024•41 min•Season 1Ep. 13
The Government's stepped in on Auckland apartment developer the Du Val Group, placing it in statutory management. This follows Du Val Capital Partners and related companies being placed into interim receivership by the High Court earlier this month, with a police raid on the home of company founders Kenyon and Charlotte Clarke. About 120 investors have put money into the entities. So what do these moves mean for those investors, and how unprecedented is this level of response? Today on The Front...
Aug 22, 2024•16 min
The first stage of the 37th America’s Cup is about to begin. The world’s longest continuous sporting competition, Team New Zealand will be looking to defend their title in October – their challenger is due to be decided over the coming weeks, as the Louis Vuitton Cup gets underway in Barcelona. But in amongst all the intrigue about which team will come out on top, there’s a lot of background as to why this is all happening on the other side of the world, rather than in our backyard. NZ Herald sp...
Aug 21, 2024•14 min
The trial of Philip Polkinghorne has, in theory, hit the halfway mark – with Justice Graham Lang telling the jury it’s “broadly on schedule”. Polkinghorne’s accused of strangling his wife, Pauline Hanna, at the couple’s Remuera home in April 2021 – before allegedly staging the scene to look like she’d taken her own life. His defence maintains she committed suicide. Day 16 focused on Auckland Eye, Polkinghorne's workplace, and how his colleagues found a meth pipe and lighter in one of the consult...
Aug 21, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Ukrainian troops have strengthened positions and expanded territory in Russia's Kursk region, nearly two weeks into their incursion. Ukraine says it has seized more than 80 settlements since August 6 in the biggest invasion of Russia since World War II. Coming two and a half years into Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, why has Ukraine decided to return the favour, and what does this incursion mean on a wider scale? Today on The Front Page, University of Waikato international law professor Alexander...
Aug 20, 2024•14 min
It’s tough out there for New Zealand’s hospitality industry. The rising cost of living in the past few years has seen everyone tightening their belts, and the skyrocketing cost of food in particular has been cutting into people’s disposable income. With overheads increasing at the same time as patrons cutting back on their spending, it’s no wonder we’ve seen a series of beloved bars and restaurants closing their doors for good. So what’s next for the industry, and how can these businesses adapt ...
Aug 19, 2024•19 min
Whistleblowers at the Civil Aviation Authority have issued a dire warning about aviation safety in New Zealand. Staff describe a toxic culture, with the CAA’s director “asleep at the wheel”. Data obtained by the Herald has revealed over six hundred thousand dollars has been spent on legal fees related to employment issues, complaints and investigations. And it has prompted warnings that the agency’s investigative approach could mean ‘more people will die’. Today on The Front Page, NZ Herald seni...
Aug 18, 2024•19 min
Questions around a certain dinner at a Havelock North restaurant, more on what prescription drugs Pauline Hanna was taking – and unravelling the issues at Auckland Eye. Friends and colleagues have weighed in at the end of the third week of Philip Polkinghorne’s trial. You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. This series is presented and produced by, Chelsea Daniels, with produce...
Aug 16, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 11
This week the Reserve Bank cut the Official Cash Rate, now it's down to 5.25 percent. This is the first time it has been cut in four years – since March 2020, when the country first went into lockdown to combat the Covid pandemic. Politicians have celebrated the news, and banks have started cutting interest rates already. But in amongst all that joy – there's also a grim warning for the state of the country’s economy. Today on The Front Page, we’re joined by NZ Herald business editor at large Li...
Aug 15, 2024•17 min
The Government has announced new restrictions for beneficiaries. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week announced a new traffic light system, that comes with harsher penalties for those who don’t meet their obligations to attend meetings and look for work. But what exactly do those sanctions mean, and why is National making this a priority now? Today on The Front Page, NZ Herald political journalist Julia Gabel joins us to explain this new traffi...
Aug 14, 2024•13 min
Warning: This episode contains disturbing material and some explicit language. How did Pauline Hanna die? That’s the question for the jury, who, for weeks will consider evidence and ultimately decide – was it murder, or suicide? It’s also a question put to two different pathologists, tasked with exploring how the 63-year-old died in her Remuera home in April 2021. Philip Polkinghorne is accused of murdering his wife – but maintains she took her own life. We also hear from a long-time friend of P...
Aug 14, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Concerns have been raised on opposite ends of the planet this week on foreign interference from Iran. Donald Trump’s election campaign has claimed that Iran has hacked its internal messages, leaking election campaign documents to US media. At the same time, Austrlaia’s spy boss has claimed that Iran is one of ‘at least three of four’ countries involved in foreign interference. This may seem like an issue happening beyond our shores, but academics and officials have been warning for years that fo...
Aug 13, 2024•19 min
The 2024 Paris Olympics have come to an end – and what a fortnight it has been for the New Zealand Team. With ten golds, seven silver and three bronze, our athletes are bringing home the most Gold medals ever won in a single Olympics, and have equalled our record set in Tokyo. With the likes of Dame Lisa Carrington and Lydia Ko ensuring their place in the history books, to rising stars like Hamish Kerr, Ellesse Andrews and Finn Butcher, there were plenty of Kiwi sporting stars in action. With th...
Aug 12, 2024•21 min
Day 10 saw the jury visit to the home of Pauline Hanna and Phllip Polkinghorne to see where Pauline had died. That was before a parade of ex-colleagues took to the stand to shed light on their relationship with Pauline, and what she told them about her concern for her marriage and her finances. Plus, an explanation as to why Pauline Hanna’s niece recorded a family conversation. You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHeart...
Aug 12, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 9
A new report has suggested that the country’s biggest city is going backwards. The second annual State of the City report, which compares Auckland’s progress against nine major cities around the globe, has shown that things are on the backwards trend. While outside factors like the Anniversary weekend floods, inflation and post-Covid recovery contributed to the worse than expected outcomes, the report highlights a number of longer-term problem areas that the city needs to address. Today on The F...
Aug 11, 2024•18 min
Tipene Funerals, of television show The Casketeers fame, is under fire because one of its funeral directors allegedly swindled her grieving clients and put their dead relatives in plastic rubbish bags instead of the coffins they had paid for. It was only revealed when bodies in a public mausoleum were disinterred, and grieving families discovered what had happened. Funerals and the loss of a loved ones are already an emotional time for families, and this case has highlighted not only the high le...
Aug 08, 2024•20 min
Pauline Hanna’s voice echoed throughout the courtroom on Day 9 of the trial of her husband, Philip Polkinghorne, who is accused of murdering her. It came in the form of a covert recording of a family dinner – providing Hanna a chance to explain their relationship in her own words to the jury, who’ll decide whether she died of foul play, or, whether she took her own life. That was before a bombshell was dropped by the defence, as they revealed new information about the state of her mental health ...
Aug 08, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 8
The 2024 Olympics has seen plenty of sporting highs as well as heartbreak for competitors around the world. But no competition has sparked more debate and controversy than the woman’s boxing. The inclusion of Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting has sparked a firestorm, after they were both banned from International Boxing Association competitions last year, citing negative gender tests. The issue has blown up during the Olympics after Italy’s Angela Carini called off her match agains...
Aug 07, 2024•19 min
The court has gotten its first glimpse of evidence from those closest to Philip Polkinghorne and Paulina Hanna – and some insight into his infidelity. And we have heard directly from Polkinghorne, with the court hearing his interview with Police for the first time. The former Auckland eye surgeon is accused of murdering his DHB boss wife in April 2021 - but he says, she took her own life. Day 7 heard from a friend of the couple who owned the bach next to them, before the court heard from a power...
Aug 07, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Fears of a war in the Middle East are growing – after a senior Hamas leader was killed in Tehran last week. It’s prompted Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters to urge New Zealanders in Lebanon and Iran to leave now while options remain available. Those in Israel are also being asked to consider ‘whether they need to remain in the country’. It comes as the war between Israel and Hamas nears the 10 month mark, with no sign of abating, despite multiple efforts from the US and Middle Eastern lead...
Aug 06, 2024•18 min
On January 29, 2019, 3-year-old Gore toddler Lachie Jones was found dead in an oxidation pond, a little over a kilometre away from his mother’s home. Two police investigations concluded Lachie drowned, but his father, Paul Jones, does not accept these findings, and believes he was murdered. Ahead of the second phase of a coronial inquest into Lachie’s death, his mother, Michelle Officer, has spoken for the first time to the Herald’s Ben Tomsett about her side of the story. Today on The Front Pag...
Aug 05, 2024•12 min
As the trial begins its second week, Day 6 began with a cross-examination of ESR forensic scientist, Fiona Matheson, and later the court heard from ESR forensic scientist Nicholas Curno, to discuss DNA evidence. Last week, the jury heard how police and forensic scientists spent 11 days at the scene. We already know the Crown isn’t relying too much on forensics done at the scene – but, it’s important for ESR to walk the jury through what they didn’t find, just as much as what they may have. You c...
Aug 05, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Does it seem like people are a bit sicker than usual this winter? It’s been the talk of offices around the country, as people seem to be falling sick and staying sick for longer than usual. And it’s not just Covid that is continuing to claim lives, with the Herald reporting on two cases in the last month of people dying suddenly after developing flu symptoms. So how bad are the bugs and diseases going around Aotearoa this winter, and what do we need to know to be vigilant about our health? Today...
Aug 04, 2024•18 min
The first week of the trial of Philip Polkinghorne has come to an end. While we’re in the early stages of evidence, the topics that will be covered in the case have been made clear. Infidelity, threesomes, sex workers, a meth habit, financial concerns, depression, stress, and a Covid vaccine rollout: All this will be traversed over the next six weeks to answer the ultimate question of murder or suicide? Day 4 focused on the rope found at the scene and analysis of it from a Canadian expert, befor...
Aug 02, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 5
The National Party will be gathering for its Annual General Meeting this weekend. It comes as the party recently marked eight months in power, and as key campaign promises of tax cuts and youth boot camps take effect, giving them plenty to celebrate. But it’s not been an easy ride for the biggest party in Parliament, caught in the middle of a coalition it would rather not be in, and facing continued pushback over its handling of Māori relations and the environment. Today on The Front Page, we di...
Aug 01, 2024•18 min
Police have found remains in the search for missing Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao. It comes just a few weeks after the one year anniversary of her disappearance. A process has been underway to formally identify the remains, but Police believe they’ve finally solved this part of a case that’s shocked the country. For more details and how police got here, we’re joined on The Front Page by Newstalk ZB Christchurch reporter, Emily Ansell. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podca...
Jul 31, 2024•14 min
Day three of the trial of Philip Polkinghorne centred around a bright orange rope hanging from a balustrade, and a detailed walk-through of the scene examination of the couple’s Remuera home. The former Auckland eye surgeon maintains his wife took her own life on the morning of April 5, 2021 - an Easter Monday. But, the Crown claims he staged the scene to look like suicide. You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHeartRadi...
Jul 31, 2024•13 min•Season 1Ep. 4
The Government’s long-awaited tax cuts are finally coming into effect from today. National campaigned strongly on the cuts, and on Budget Day announced a $14 billion tax package for the next four years. The average Kiwi should soon receive an extra $40 a fortnight to spend how they wish, with more benefits coming for parents, but the lowest income earners are only set to gain $9. So, is this tax package fair for all – and will it provide the cost of living relief the Government promised? Today o...
Jul 30, 2024•20 min
Warning: This podcast contains disturbing content. The second day of the trial focused on those who first attended the scene where Pauline Hanna's body was found. Was Philip Polkinghorne reasonably calm on the morning of his wife’s death or just composed and trying to help? Was the injury on his forehead a scratch, graze, scrape, or cut? How was Pauline Hanna’s body found - and what injuries did she have? And why, by late morning, before a statement was even given, did Police deem the scene susp...
Jul 30, 2024•13 min•Season 1Ep. 3
