New Zealand Police continue to monitor knife crime trends worldwide while other jurisdictions introduce tough new laws, getting ahead of the curve before it’s too late. What they’re monitoring is reported offending involving knife crime – the likes of serious assaults and aggravated robberies. Between December 2023 and December 2024, there were 1,639 incidents involving a stabbing or cutting weapon – a 1.7% decrease from the year before. But, while New Zealand has not see...
Mar 11, 2025•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Government’s focus on economic growth and foreign investment is back in the spotlight this week. Later this week, the much-anticipated Investment Summit will take place in Auckland. Businesses from over 14 countries, with six trillion dollars of capital, will be in attendance across Thursday and Friday, with Government Ministers and Labour representatives in attendance. It comes at a critical time for the Government, with mixed poll results suggesting a difficult path to re-election ne...
Mar 10, 2025•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast It may not have felt like we had much of a summer this year – but a cold snap in Auckland has signalled that the seasons are changing. Temperatures dropped in our biggest city, as a cold front passed over much of New Zealand last week. It comes as cyclone season continues in the Pacific, with Cyclone Alfred last week on Australia’s east coast. With those hot summer nights fading into memory, today on The Front Page we’re looking ahead to what autumn and the rest of the year cou...
Mar 09, 2025•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast French exchange student, Eloi Rolland, was last seen five years ago, today. The then-18-year-old's disappearance has baffled authorities ever since... Was it a murder, kidnapping, an accident, did he get lost in the bush, commit suicide or plan an escape. Is he still alive, does he want to be found? He searches Google Maps for directions to Piha about 5am the morning he vanished. He catches a train. He walks for nearly two hours. He turned on to Piha Road at 9.16am. At 9.48 the battery on his ph...
Mar 06, 2025•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the new science fiction film Mickey 17, Robert Pattinson’s character Mickey Barnes is killed and each time he dies, a new copy of his body is printed out. It’s a classic far-flung sci-fi premise -- but the technology it’s based on is far more science than fiction. 3D bioprinting is a technology that uses 3D printing to create tissues and organs from living cells and biomaterials. The technology has been evolving rapidly over the last couple of decades. So how far away a...
Mar 05, 2025•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Anybody watching the Oscars would have noticed a common theme... It was probably about when host Conan O'Brien mocked streaming culture with a sketch introducing the idea of a 'building for movies' and getting people to 'stream movies in a theatre.' And it wasn’t the first, or the last, reference to brick-and-mortar cinemas... Anora director Sean Baker used his acceptance speech for Best Director as a battle cry for movie theatres – saying they’re under threat. An...
Mar 04, 2025•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Government plans to change laws to allow victims the right to choose whether a convicted sex offender gets permanent name suppression or not. Now, automatic name suppression applies to protect witnesses and complainants under the age of 18 and those where certain sexual offences are alleged. It’s a law that garners a lot of criticism from the general public – there is constant commentary on the perceived reasons why someone gets to keep their name a secret. Herald senior reporter...
Mar 03, 2025•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’ll come as no surprise to anyone that meth is a serious problem in New Zealand. Wastewater Testing results show the consumption of the drug in New Zealand more than doubled in the second half of 2024 to the highest levels ever recorded. At the same time, the New Zealand Drug Trends Survey (NZDTS) 2024 showed the average price of a gram of meth declined from $563 in 2017/18 to $360 in 2024. Meanwhile, Wastewater testing in Ōpōtiki shows meth use there has halved after police raids on an ...
Mar 02, 2025•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast March Madness is upon us – which means it’s the busiest time of year for anyone trying to get anywhere. It usually marks the end of the summer holiday period – school and university is back in session, and most people are back at work. So whether you’re biking, driving, or taking a train or bus – it's nightmarish. But it does lead back to that age old question – how do we solve our traffic problems? Today on The Front Page, we’re joined by Matt Lowrie fr...
Feb 27, 2025•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Government’s announced it’s giving businesses more power to make ‘citizen’s arrests’. Up until now, citizen’s arrests could only happen between 9pm and 6am, for crimes with a maximum punishment of at least three years in prison. But the changes mean people can intervene and stop any offence at any time of the day, by using restraints and ‘reasonable’ force. Retail crime costs New Zealand retailers $2.6 billion each year. Just...
Feb 26, 2025•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast A few years ago, commentators and analysts often raised the idea of a ‘youthquake’ - young, first-time voters coming in and shaking up the political landscape. It was after events like the School Strikes 4 Climate showed the power of youth mobilising around a common goal. Yet those youthquakes never happened – at least, not for left-leaning politicians. Instead, there’s been a shift to more conservative views among our youngest voters – and a yearning for the quote ...
Feb 25, 2025•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast The appearance of three Chinese warships so close to our borders has surprised and confused Australian and New Zealand officials. The ships issued a live-fire warning off Australia’s east coast – forcing commercial flights to change course. Then, on Saturday afternoon, sailors on a New Zealand Navy frigate saw live rounds being fired from a Chinese vessel's main gun. Beijing’s now under scrutiny for not warning Australia or New Zealand of drills being performed in the Tasman Se...
Feb 24, 2025•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Warnings of a ‘city killer’ asteroid hurtling towards earth have been filling news feeds over the last month. The space rock, dubbed ‘2024 YR4', had a 3.1 percent chance of hitting earth in the year 2032. That made it one of the riskiest asteroids ever, according to NASA, but they have since lowered their assessment again – to 0.28%. That hasn’t stopped news of this asteroid sparking a social media and news obsession, just the latest thing for people to worry about ...
Feb 23, 2025•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast It has been three years since Russia invaded eastern Ukraine, a dramatic escalation in the conflict between the two countries that has been raging for over a decade. And for three years, Ukraine has fought hard to defend itself. Over 12,000 civilians are believed to have died, a similar number captured or detained, while estimates on the military deaths range from the tens to hundreds of thousands. During this war, most of the Western world has sided with Ukraine, and supported the country...
Feb 20, 2025•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s well known that New Zealand has a huge problem with keeping our children safe, fed, and housed. Reports over the years show how low New Zealand ranks for child wellbeing outcomes compared to other developed countries. Government stats show 23.5% of children born in 1998 had been the subject of a report of concern to Oranga Tamariki by the age of 17. That’s more than one in five kids. One Police study into 63 young people involved in ram-raids in 2022, s...
Feb 19, 2025•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you ever feel like you’re always being asked to donate money to some cause or another, you probably aren’t wrong. In New Zealand, there are more than 28,000 registered charities – with an annual income of more than $21 billion – on top of over 110,000 not for profit organisations. Legislation leaves the definition of a charity pretty broad – if you say you’re tackling poverty, advancing education or religion, or beneficial to the community in any way, you c...
Feb 18, 2025•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast ‘Chaos’, ‘overstretched’, ‘a bloodbath’ -- these are just a few descriptions of New Zealand’s health sector in recent days. It’s as the sector faces its third resignation of its top brass... Director-General of Health Diana Sarfati will finish up Friday – ending her term two years earlier than expected. Her resignation came soon after Health New Zealand chief executive Margie Apa -- followed by Public Health Director, Nicholas Jones, who quit...
Feb 17, 2025•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Homelessness is one of the most visible signs of poverty in this country. Walk through the CBD of any of our major cities, and you are likely to come across someone living rough. But often what we may see on our streets is the tip of the iceberg for a much larger issue. This week, HomeGround in Auckland, one of the initiatives trying to tackle this crisis, turns three –but that’s just one location in one city trying to get on top of a national problem. Today on The Front Page, we tal...
Feb 16, 2025•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast A Bill which would give New Zealanders just one avenue to bet on racing and sports online is under the microscope. The amendments to the Racing Industry Act would make TAB New Zealand the sole legal domestic operator of online racing and sports betting. The TAB estimates Kiwis lose $185 million a year to offshore operators, with the changes expected to retain this money. It’s all while the TAB’s operator, Entain, faces allegations of not doing enough to combat money laundering and co...
Feb 13, 2025•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast It is Pride Month in New Zealand, with the LGBTQ plus community making the most of the summer sun to celebrate. But, at the same time it’s a celebration that feels increasingly under threat. The return of the Trump administration has seen a rise in laws attacking the trans community and limiting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. It’s even seen one US state look at trying to overturn gay marriage. And while the US may be thousands of k's away, our connected world means att...
Feb 12, 2025•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast The latest Taxpayers Union-Curia poll and 1News Verian poll show the coalition Government is losing ground. Both show the left bloc of Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori would have enough support to form the next government. It’s all while Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s first post-cab of the year was marred by questions about Act’s David Seymour – the man set to become Deputy PM in May. Opposition leader, Chris Hipkins, has gone as far to call for Seymour to be rem...
Feb 11, 2025•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tensions have emerged in recent weeks between New Zealand and several Pacific Island nations. Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has been accused of ‘not properly consulting’ New Zealand on the country’s upcoming China deal – which is expected to be penned in Beijing this week. Meanwhile, NZ aid to Kiribati is under review – and Samoa has sought help from China in the aftermath of the Manawanui sinking last year. This all comes as the Trump administration has fr...
Feb 10, 2025•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the past, overseas investment in New Zealand has been seen as a privilege – rather than a right. But – could that all be about to change with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s latest push for economic growth? He kicked off 2025 by announcing the establishment of a foreign investment agency – similar to those seen in Ireland and Singapore. The Government’s holding a ‘global investment summit’ next month – with sovereign wealth and major asset ma...
Feb 09, 2025•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast For better or worse, house prices have been a cornerstone of our economy for decades. But a rise in prices now put home ownership out of reach for many Kiwis. Things could be changing though. Wellington City’s new rateable valuations show that, on average, house values have plummeted 24.4% since 2021. It comes as the city -- which once made headlines for its hotly contested rental market -- now sees landlords fighting to fill their homes. So, is this a nationwide phenomenon, and is the dre...
Feb 06, 2025•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast National has kicked off 2025 by diving headfirst into plans for economic growth – and it wasn’t long until Act threw in their two cents. Party leader David Seymour made privatisation a key focus of his State of the Nation speech. And while Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he doesn’t want to sell anything off this term – he's suggested it could be campaigned on in next year’s election. It’s a road that New Zealand has gone down before, with the likes of Bo...
Feb 05, 2025•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Government wants to see tourism numbers increase as part of its economic growth push. As part of that push, the existing visitor visa scheme will be tweaked to include welcoming ‘digital nomads’. That will allow tourists from visa waiver countries up to nine months to travel around New Zealand while still working for their overseas employer. The scheme has already been greeted with expressions of interest from overseas, but the introduction of digital nomad visas in some countrie...
Feb 04, 2025•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mining has become a key part of the Government’s plans for economic growth. Resources Minister – and self-appointed ‘Matua of Mining’ - Shane Jones has unveiled a plan to double exports to $3 billion by 2035, alongside a list of 37-strong Critical Minerals List and a national minerals strategy. While the plan has been met with criticism from environmentalists and the opposition, there has been some positive feedback from academics, praising the plan for its commitment to ...
Feb 03, 2025•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast If the theme of 2024 was ‘cutting back’, then 2025 is all about ‘growth’. The word appears 31 times in Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech – and for good reason. Luxon said it’s the “key to brighter days ahead” after experiencing the “biggest recession since the early 1990s.” Finance Minister Nicola Willis has been handed a revised Economic Growth portfolio as part of that planning, working on thing...
Feb 02, 2025•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Silicon Valley’s been rattled by a low-cost Chinese AI – with the startup claiming their DeepSeek technology can emulate the performance of ChatGPT, at a fraction of the cost. Its launch shook share markets and spawned allegations from OpenAI that their Chinese rivals used its work and models to make their own artificial intelligence. This is all happening while the new US administration appoints an ‘AI and crypto czar’ so the online currency can ‘thrive’. So,...
Jan 30, 2025•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Students across the country are starting to head back to school, and there are some big changes coming from our youngest pupils. As well as 2025 marking the return of charter schools, primary school students will start to be taught structured literacy and maths this year, as part of a curriculum refresh instituted by Education Minister Erica Stanford. It comes as test results continue to show declines in achievement across all age groups. But are these changes enough to reverse falling standards...
Jan 29, 2025•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
