While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. Once it came into power, the coalition Government signalled “everything’s on the table” when it comes to a major shake-up of New Zealand’s gun laws. The world praised us when we took swift action following the Christchurch terror attack – banning semi-automatic firearms and assault rifles.&nbs...
Jan 07, 2025•18 min
While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. For over 50 years, the secretive Christian community of Gloriavale has fascinated New Zealanders. While the community has long been discussed by former members who have left Gloriavale behind, in the last few years, multiple official investigations and Employment Court proceedings have shone more light on what's happening...
Jan 06, 2025•20 min
While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. It’s safe to say that in recent years, Boeing has gone through a patch of turbulence. In 2024 alone, we saw a door plug blow off mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 in January – while closer to home, a LATAM Airlines flight from Sydney to Auckland plunged mid-air, injuring at least 50 passengers....
Jan 05, 2025•18 min
While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. This year, Tipene Funerals, best known for the television show 'The Casketeers', came 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...
Jan 02, 2025•20 min
While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. Major earthquakes may not be a regular occurrence in New Zealand, but the threat of them is often in the back of our minds. With a major faultline running through the middle of the country, you only have to look to the events in Christchurch and Kaikoura to know the risk they pose. In May, new modelling was publish...
Jan 01, 2025•17 min
While The Front Page is taking its summer break, we will be shining a spotlight on some of the biggest podcasts from the New Zealand Herald network over the last year. In 2011, then Herald on Sunday journalist David Fisher reported on what the paper dubbed ‘the Facebook Predator’, an adult woman who had been caught catfishing dozens of teenage boys in the South Island. She would be named as Natalia Burgess. Fisher covered the Burgess case for months, before she ev...
Dec 31, 2024•27 min
While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. The disappearances of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope on New Year’s Day 1998 remain one of New Zealand’s infamous cases. Scott Watson has spent the last 25 years behind bars after being convicted of murdering them, despite no bodies ever being found. In June, Watson headed back to the courtroom four years aft...
Dec 30, 2024•29 min
While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. Kiwis have departed New Zealand in record numbers this year. News reports covering monthly migration data have repeatedly announced new records of net migration loss, with the latest stats from the year to September showing 79,700 migrant departures. Just over half of those leaving the country moved to Australia, wh...
Dec 29, 2024•14 min
While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. On July 26th 1984, David Lange was sworn in as the 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand. His ascension into the country’s top job came after Robert Muldoon’s infamous 'Schnapps Election' ended his nine years in power. Best remembered for enshrining New Zealand’s nuclear free status, Lange also overs...
Dec 26, 2024•20 min
While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. June 20 this year marked 30 years since five members of the Bain family in Dunedin were found dead in their family home. The one survivor, David, would be convicted of murdering his parents and three siblings. He served 13 years in prison before the Privy Council quashed his convictions, and he was found not guilty ...
Dec 25, 2024•26 min
While The Front Page is taking its summer break, we will be shining a spotlight on some of the biggest podcasts from the New Zealand Herald network over the last year. In 2022, BusinessDesk journalist Murray Jones investigated the finances of the New Zealand branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – better known as the Mormons. That investigation sparked a lot of feedback on social media, including a number of posts that suggested there was more to the Churc...
Dec 24, 2024•23 min
While The Front Page is on summer break, we’re taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast in 2024. Travelling is often a stressful experience, particularly over the Christmas break and summer holidays when it seems we’re all rushing to get away. Those trips aren’t made easy when violent turbulence or technical errors have an impact. In 2024, stories of extreme turbulence popped up around the world, in...
Dec 23, 2024•20 min
While we’re on our summer break, The Front Page is taking a look back at some of the biggest news stories and top-rated episodes from the podcast this year. Losing a loved one is one of the worst things a family can go through. But it can get a lot worse if people start fighting over the will before the body’s even cold. In June, we spoke to NZ Herald senior journalist Jane Phare about the dos and don'ts when it comes to inheritance – including how you...
Dec 22, 2024•15 min
The year in politics has been a bumpy road for many. The coalition Government dived in quickly to reverse previous Labour policy, and pushed numerous bills through Parliament to reach quarterly deadlines and targets – with a mixed response from voters around some policies. Labour meanwhile has spent much of the last year recovering from their election wipeout in 2023, leaving Te Pati Maori to lead the pushback against the Treaty Principles Bill. At a local level, huge rates increases were ...
Dec 19, 2024•42 min
It’s been a huge year for sport here in New Zealand. In one weekend in October, Team New Zealand took to the water in Barcelona and took home the America’s Cup for the third time in a row, while the White Ferns won the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup final. There were major wins across the board for the Black Caps, the Silver Ferns, and our latest football team, Auckland FC. But in this major year, there was perhaps no bigger cause for celebration than the Paris Olympics, when Kiwi a...
Dec 18, 2024•41 min
The economy has been in an uncertain place for quite some time, and 2024 was no different. Over the last year, we’ve seen some improvement. In October, the annual rate for inflation had fallen from 3.3 percent to 2.2 percent. The official cash rate ended the year on 4 point 25 percent. Elsewhere, the news hasn’t been so positive. The country’s gross domestic product contracted 0.2 percent in the June quarter, only just missing out on a technical recession. Job cuts across multi...
Dec 17, 2024•41 min
While 2024 has been a big year of news in New Zealand, there’s been plenty happening around the world over the last 12 months. From wars and conflicts to extreme-weather events -- new pandemic threats to cancer coming to Buckingham Palace -- we’ve seen it all over the last 12 months. Today on The Front Page, we’ll be revisiting the many conversations we’ve had about the biggest stories from around the world in 2024, including the impacts of Donald Trump's re-election on N...
Dec 16, 2024•39 min
Law and order is always a hot topic of debate amongst politicians. The coalition government was elected in part on the back of years of ram raids and violent robberies post-Covid. The last 12 months has seen delivery on promises to bring back boot camps for young offenders, a crackdown on gangs, and the return of Three Strikes legislation. Today on The Front Page, we’ll be revisiting the many conversations we’ve had about crime and the justice system in 2024, looking at how eff...
Dec 15, 2024•30 min
While 2024 may not have brought the shocks of cyclones, Prime Ministerial resignations or election campaigns, there’s a lot to digest from the last year. The Government delivered tax relief, gang crackdowns and a Fast Track bill, while dealing with controversy over Māori relations, smoking laws and apartment entitlements. Te Pāti Māori led the fight back against the Treaty Principles Bill, while Labour rebuilt from its election loss, and the Greens contended with rogue MPs and ...
Dec 12, 2024•24 min
A terrorism charge has been laid against a New Zealander who allegedly travelled overseas to join Islamic State a decade ago. Mark John Taylor, also known as Mohammed Daniel, was charged under the Terrorism Suppression Act this morning. Charging documents filed in the Wellington District Court state he’s being accused of participating in a group in Syria, namely the Islamic State and the Levant (ISIL) between 29 November 2014 and 24 December 2018. It said he’s...
Dec 12, 2024•14 min
Christopher Luxon believes his so-called ‘coalition of chaos’ has defied the critics. The Prime Minister is spending the remainder of 2024 lauding his government’s achievements – inflation is under 3%, a 30% increase of cops on the beat, 26 new cancer treatments, tax relief just to name a few. But he’s ending the year facing criticism over his handling of the Treaty Principles Bill, and for his corporate way of talking – and poll results show a deadlock betwee...
Dec 11, 2024•17 min
Communities around the country are waiting with bated breath for news about major infrastructure projects – ones that are set to cost a lot of money. The government’s expected to announce the future of Interislander’s Cook Strait ferries this week – after the $3 billion mega ferry contract was canned last year due to ‘significant cost blowouts’. Meanwhile, a report has revealed a ‘lack of confidence’ in a French contractor’s forecasts for the...
Dec 10, 2024•20 min
After decades years of tyrannical rule, and 13 years of civil war, the Assad regime in Syria has fallen. After rebels rapidly closed in on the capital of Damascus, President Bashar al-Assad and his family fled the country and reportedly are now in Moscow. It has cleared the way for rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to take control of the country. Global powers have welcomed the end of the dictatorship, but concerns are now turning towards keeping Syria a united nation. Today on The Front Page, Un...
Dec 09, 2024•20 min
Over the coming weeks, many Kiwis will be heading to our national parks and great walks for their summer holidays. But if you're doing so for a cheap summer break, enjoy the free ride while it lasts. The Department of Conservation is $1.65 billion short every year on what it needs to cover its responsibilities - and the Government is looking at a number of ways to swell DoC’s coffers. Environmental advocates say an overhaul is needed, but they’re nervous about what squeezing money out of public ...
Dec 08, 2024•19 min
When strippers arrive at work and don’t know how much money they’re taking home at the end of the shift. Their employer might decide to take a higher percentage of their wages that week, or they could’ve been fined for something inconsequential – with no way of rebutting. They can’t unionise, negotiate better contract terms, or complain to the likes of WorkSafe or the Commerce Commission. Fired Up Stilettos is an organisation and social movement working to improve the lives of strippers and sex ...
Dec 05, 2024•20 min
There are continued calls to tighten alcohol laws in New Zealand. The growing trend of online deliveries has made advocates worried, with a study finding a large portion of alcohol deliveries bypassed ID checks. Meanwhile, Auckland's new alcohol policy, starting December 9, will reduce sales hours and tighten regulations on new liquor licenses. Across the ditch, New South Wales is looking to introduce new rules to regulate pre-mixed alcoholic beverages, especially those with candy-like flavours ...
Dec 04, 2024•24 min
New Zealand’s summer is shaping up to be hotter and drier than average. The country’s forecast has shrugged off the rainy start to summer with temperatures soaring into the 30s in some parts in the coming week. But, moving through January and February, the weather patterns are predicted to become more La Nina-like, which would bring increased chances of more rain events. So as the country gears up for a summer break, today on The Front Page, we’re looking at what is on the cards weather-wise for...
Dec 03, 2024•15 min
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins has told the party it must change if it wants to re-gain the trust it's lost. The party held its annual conference in Christchurch at the weekend, the first time its members have met since the 2023 election defeat. The party has inched closer to campaigning on a wealth tax or a capital gains tax, at the next election - after members passed a proposal to move the idea forward. And it’s made three major promises – a full Dunedin Hospital rebuild, rail-enabled ferr...
Dec 02, 2024•20 min
Pharmac is now funding a new medicine and has removed renewal criteria for ADHD treatments. Advocates are welcoming the move – saying it’s a game-changer that will save the health system tens of millions of dollars. But, there are warnings it could lead to over-diagnosing and over-prescribing. Today on The Front Page, co-founder of DivergenThinking and registered psychologist, Anton Ashcroft joins us to discuss. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get yo...
Dec 01, 2024•19 min
It’s Black Friday and many Kiwi shoppers have already begun the hunt for some great deals. While some retailers promise big discounts – sometimes, all is not what it seems. Claims of retailers hiking prices before discounting them to make them look like a better deal are becoming more common – making us wonder, are the specials really that special? So, during a time when Kiwis are counting their pennies – how can we make sure we are getting the most bang for our buck. Today on The Front Page, pr...
Nov 28, 2024•15 min
