Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

A former department store owner is said to have raped and sexually assaulted a string of women who worked for the chain. 

More than 20 women have claimed they were sexually assaulted by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, five of whom have said they were raped. 

The women say the assaults were carried out at the company’s offices, in Al-Fayed’s apartment in London, or on trips overseas.  

UK Correspondent Gavin Grey told Ryan Bridge that Harrods not only failed to intervene, but also helped cover up abuse allegations when Al-Fayed was in charge. 

The department store’s current owners say they’re “utterly appalled” by the allegations, and the store sincerely apologises. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All Blacks are coming up to a big test this weekend, facing off against Australia in the first match of the Bledisloe Cup.  

It’s been almost two weeks since their back-to-back losses against South Africa, so what went wrong and do they have the time to fix it? 

Former All Blacks captain Ian Fitzpatrick told Ryan Bridge that if the All Blacks can start like they did against the Springboks in Johannesburg, then they’ve got a good chance. 

He said you can say what you like about the previous games, but this is a different beast altogether. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are expectations that cuts to the Official Cash Rate are now going to keep on coming. 

Yesterday's Stats NZ figures show our GDP contracted 0.2% in the three months to June. 

In the March quarter, 0.1% growth was recorded. 

ASB Chief Economist Nick Tuffley says the numbers show inflation's falling within the Reserve Banks expectations. 

He told Ryan Bridge they're now going to continue cutting the OCR to get it from 5.25% to around 3%. 

Tuffley says if they cut a quarter every meeting, we'll reach that target by October next year. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A barrister has doubts about increasing the threshold for the right to a jury trial.  

Currently a defendant can choose between a jury or a judge-alone trial in cases where the maximum penalty is two or more years in jail.  

The Government's seeking feedback on increasing this to three, five, or seven years, in a bid to address court delays.  

Philip Morgan KC told Ryan Bridge he questions the number of jury trials that will drop because of the threshold change. 

He says that's because he thinks the number of jury trials where the maximum penalty of the offence is two or three years in jail, is very small. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I've not seen Luxon this tetchy and brassed off before. 

"Guys, no disrespect, but it's not about the frickin targets, it's actually about the outcomes, and the outcomes here are actually reducing violent crime." 

He was being asked about the national gang list which the cops have been sanitising. Hygienically cleaning it apparently to remove the dead and those who've said goodbye to thug life. 

The reason he's worked up is the targets: they're off track and he's being peppered, or assaulted, depending on how you look at it, with questions. 

This morning in the Herald, beneficiary numbers are projected up, not down. The Jobseeker target is a reduction of 50,000 people, but the forecast is an extra 11,000, which is set to peak in January 2025. 

So the question for the government, and all of us, is whether the targets are worth it? 

Politically for Luxon they're clearly causing some frustration. Is the political cost of constant updates and inquisition worth the end result? The answer is of course yes. 

Ask anyone who's successful how they got there and they'll usually say small, intentional planned steps in a particular direction. 

Things don't just happen in life - you make them happen. 

We all have targets in our own lives. Where do you want to be in ten years? I want to run a marathon by the time I'm 40, I want to retire at 55, whatever. If you don't set a target, it'll likely never happen – that's what happened with the last lot. 

Make no mistake, these targets will be the making or breaking of Luxon. The key issue that will unseat him 2029. 

He's set the goals, now he needs to meet them, and perhaps be a little more relaxed about the questions along the way. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Friday 20th of September. New Zealand's GDP has dropped, but it's not quite as bad as the forecasts. So where to from here and when will we start to see growth? ASB's Chief Economist Nick Tuffley joins the show. 

A new solution to tackle backlog in the count system - the Government wants to reduce the number of jury trials to save time. KC Phillip Morgan speaks to Ryan about the proposed changes. 

Former All Blacks Captain Ian Kirkpatrick speaks to Ryan about NZ's chances of winning against the Wallabies this weekend, following two back-to-back losses against South Africa. 

Christopher Luxon's getting a bit tetchy and brassed off by questions about his targets - he's set the goals, now he needs to meet them, and perhaps be a little more relaxed about the questions along the way. 

Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Technology is at the forefront of priorities for the new Retail Crime Advisory Group.  

The group will offer the Government ideas on law and order legislation.  

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has appointed four sector leaders alongside dairy and business owner group leader, Sunny Kaushal.  

They include Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young. 

She says enabling facial recognition technology is of particular interest to the sector.  

She hopes it can be implemented with robust privacy safeguards. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An economist says another GDP contraction today would be in-line with the idea we've been in a rolling recession for almost two years.  

The March 2024 quarter showed just 0.2% growth.  

BNZ is picking a 0.4% contraction in the second quarter.  

Chief Economist Mike Jones told Ryan Bridge the Reserve Bank's anticipating a 0.5% contraction, so it would take a real clanger to throw it off course.  

He says the bigger piece of news for interest rates in New Zealand and the Reserve Bank might be what the US Federal reserve does with interest rates. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The White House says it wasn't aware of the simultaneous pager explosions across Lebanon before the attacks. 

Thousands were injured and at least 12 killed when pagers, used by political group Hezbollah, detonated yesterday.  

Today —a day later— at least nine people are dead and 300 injured after walkie talkies exploded.  

Hezbollah believes Israel is responsible  

US correspondent Benji Hyer told Ryan Bridge there was a quick phone call between the defence secretaries of Israel and the US minutes before pagers started exploding. 

He says Israel told the United States they would be conducting an operation in Lebanon, but no further details were shared. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The eight week murder trial of Philip Polkinghorne is nearing a verdict, with the jury beginning deliberations this morning. 

The judge summed up the case yesterday. 

The Auckland eye surgeon's accused of killing his wife, Pauline Hanna; his defence argues she took her own life.  

Herald reporter Craig Kapitan told Ryan Bridge the jury only has two decisions - if it was murder or suicide. 

He says it likely won't be a quick decision, and if the jury need to deliberate past today, court won't sit tomorrow. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.