Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

New Zealand's netball ecosystem is breathing a sigh of relief after confirmation of a privatised domestic league for next season and beyond. 

Rich-lister couple Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams are set to take the licence for the competition and its teams via an initial agreement with the sport's national body. 

Former Silver Fern Marg Foster told Ryan Bridge this is a really good thing, but they can't just rely on philanthropy.  

She says there's a lot of things they'll need to be able to get out of this deal, such as making it commercially attractive so investors can get a genuine return. 

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Another OCR hike is widely expected today and the Reserve Bank could signal more are coming. 

It announces its decision at 2pm, with the Official Cash Rate expected to rise from 2.5%. 

Economists are picking one or two further hikes. 

Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold told Ryan Bridge the Reserve Bank's view has shifted sharply since the start of the year. 

He says they're pretty locked in for 3% between now and Christmas. 

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On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Wednesday 2nd of September 2026 another OCR hike is looking likely from the Reserve Bank, Westpac chief Economist Kelly Eckhold tells Ryan what we can expect.

New Zealand and America are teaming up to build a port for the Cook Islands; international relations professor Robert Patman shares his thoughts.

Netball New Zealand have made the decision to privatise the domestic league; former Silver Fern Marg Foster reacts to the news.

Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on laundry rooms being turned into prison cells to combat overcrowding in UK jails and an investigation underway after a man died near Notting Hill Carnival in London following a police pursuit. 

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The US appears to be re-engaging with the Pacific as it invests in Cook Islands infrastructure.

New Zealand's pledged to co-invest with the US to build a port on the Penrhyn atoll in the Cooks, a former military base.

China had been interested in seabed mining in the area.

Otago University International Relations expert Robert Patman told Ryan Bridge the Trump administration hasn't shown a lot of interest in the Pacific until now.

He says what it is interested in is combatting China, so this is an incentive for them to get back to being much more active in the region.

PM Christopher Luxon is travelling to Palau for the Pacific Islands Forum today.

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IP lawyers will be licking their lips with all these AI cases landing on their desks.  

The latest, we spoke about it yesterday, was Sony and Warner going after Anthropic.  

Their argument is basically that Anthropic's AI models, the ones we use to get answers to questions, scrape and bottom trawl the internet for information.  

That information, including song lyrics, is often IP owned and produced by humans or companies. So, scraping it and using it to sell as a product is theft.  

Media companies in New Zealand take a similar view.  

If the robot is scraping content produced, at cost, by a news business, then how is that not also theft? 

But if you think about it, humans do this all the time. I do it every day. It's actually what I'm paid to do. I ingest large amounts of information and then use it to inform interviews and content.  

Lawyers do it for legal cases. Politicians do it. Businesses do it. We all do it in one way or another.  

And we all use the information the internet provides for our own purposes. Usually, to make money.  

Knowledge is power and content is king.  

So, the question then becomes, what is the difference between us doing this and using this information and an AI model doing the same? 

Surely Claude is committing no greater crime than the rest of us.  

Of course, how they get their hands on the information is key.  

If you're ripping it off bit torrent, then you might have other problems. But if you're getting it from a paid subscription, isn't that what we do?  

In the news business you credit your sources. But not always. There's a point where the collective weight of the information you've consumed becomes your own thoughts and your own IP.  

Are robots any different? 

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The Government's being criticised for giving the country the run-around with next year's fuel tax.  

It's cancelled the 12 cent per litre hike and equivalent lift to road user charges that were set to take effect in January.  

The next rise of five cents a litre now kicks in from January 2028.  

AA Fuel Spokesperson Terry Collins told Ryan Bridge the Land Transport Fund has been under stress because it's unable to get enough money to do the work that's needed. 

He says any time there's funding uncertainty or money is removed from it, it adds to the problem, kicking it down the road and making it bigger in the future. 

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ACT's proposing changes to Permanent Resident Visa requirements to make sure holders are actually living here.  

The party wants to increase the initial two-year travel condition for Resident Visa holders to five. 

Residents would be able to travel freely in and out of the country after this period, but would need to spend at least 730 days here during any rolling five-year period. 

Immigration Spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar told Ryan Bridge they want people to be living, working, and contributing in New Zealand. 

She says they're welcoming all migrants who genuinely want to be here, but her job is to fix the system if it's being exploited. 

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There are concerns Labour's graduate nurse policy could simply shift staffing pressures from hospitals to aged care.

Labour's promising $525 million to give every graduate nurse a job offer after they pass their exams.

But the Aged Care Association says while that could ease pressure on hospitals, it could leave aged care struggling to recruit.

Chief Executive Tracey Martin told Ryan Bridge that's what's happened historically. 

She says generally when the hospitals stop hiring, their workforce is stable.

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On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Tuesday the 1st of September 2026, the Government has agreed not to raise the fuel excise tax next year, AA fuel spokesperson Terry Collins shares his thoughts. 

Act says it wants permanent residents to actually reside in New Zealand, Act Party MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar explains.

Labour’s promising every graduate nurse a job in the public health system if re-elected, Aged Care Association Chief Executive explains more of the nurses are needed in aged care to keep up with demand. 

Plus Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio has the latest on massive fines and new rules for e-scooter riders in Queensland and a baby’s body found in a rubbish bin in Sydney.

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You know how New Zealanders love it when foreign countries, or media, or even tourists talk about us?  

They're always the most read stories on news sites – it's like a national pastime.  

Oh look! Brad Pitt says New Zealand is beautiful! Oh look, Jason Mamoa did a bungee and Queenstown is beautiful! 

Well, have I got news for you, New Zealand.  

S&P, the global ratings agency, has just done a bungee on our country's finances.  

It's mostly good news: low net debt, growth of 2.5% a year, good Government. Safe, sound, stable outlook.  

The equivalent of a 4-star Tripadvisor review.  

But there's one number that should be making headlines – it's on page 4.  

10%. 

Our country has been borrowing more money to fund stuff, including everyday spending and election promises. 

They issue bonds, or debt, to investors and pay them interest for the pleasure.  

Those interest costs are going up because of the bond market sell-off we've been talking about on this show.  

S&P says the amount we're paying interest will reach 9% of government revenue (i.e. tax) in 2029.  

That means for every million bucks the Government earns in tax, it pays almost $100k just on interest on its debt.  

Interest is our fourth most expensive item on the Government's books – more than we spend schooling our kids through primary and secondary.  

S&P says interest costs of more than 10% of revenue could result in 'weaker debt metrics'. 

That's not a good thing. It means we're stretching ourselves. We could get a credit downgrade.  

People start looking at us sideways asking, can those guys pay back what they owe us or are they taking the Mickey?  

That's not the sort of reputation this country can afford. 

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