Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

New Zealand's sharemarket is in a steady decline, having dropped 20 percent from its January 2021 peak.

The selloffs are accelerated, with a reported 10 percent fall over the past 3 months.

Milford Asset Management's Mark Riggall explains why the market is in decline- and the role geopolitics has played in these figures.

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The Reserve Bank warns that mortgage stress is set to increase, with more households expected to default on payments.

The banking regulator forecasts the portion of banks’ housing lending deemed “non-performing” will almost double by early 2025.

NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says portions are predicted to increase- but it won't reach the figures from the 2009 Global Financial Crisis.

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Chris Luxon's attempted to rein in a top MP, after the leak of an email Chris Bishop sent a to a constituent, likening Hamas's attacks on Israel to the Holocaust.

In the email leaked to social media, Bishop was critical of the murders of woman and children at the hands of Hamas.

He said such barbarity has not been seen since the Holocaust.

ZB political editor Jason Walls says activist groups against antisemitism have claimed Hamas' attacks on Israeli civilians saw the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust- so Bishop technically isn't wrong.

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As fireworks go up for sale ahead of Guy Fawkes Day, a survey has revealed a majority of Kiwis support a ban on their use.

According to data released by AA Insurance, 53 percent of those surveyed supported a ban on recreational use and a further 20 percent wanted fireworks banned outright.

Adrian Nacey from FENZ agrees with a potential ban, saying fireworks can cause property damage, injuries and harm to the environment.

"That's not a decision for us to make, obviously, that's up to the Government. But we would support a ban on the public having access to fireworks."

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The construction companies behind Transmission Gully are suing Waka Kotahi over the roading project, which remains unfinished.

While the road is open, the project is still incomplete after missing multiple opening dates and has exceeded its initial $850 million budget. 

Waka Kotahi claimed there's a clear disagreement about the outstanding work and standards that need to be met to complete the project- aligning with the contract.

Infrastructure NZ CEO Nick Leggett says problems and miscommunications were present throughout all the stages of this project.

"This is the lesson from Transmission Gully- we need to build more, we've got a massive $200 billion infrastructure deficit. We've got to be better at renewing the assets we've got."

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An Oamaru school's under fire for barring students from calling their parents when a group of pupils and staff went missing on a camp.

Two students and two staff from St Kevin's College went missing overnight last month at Mount Somers.

Search and Rescue teams found them the next morning.

Parenting commentator, Nathan Wallis says if it's school policy, it'd be okay.

"If it was imposed on them and there's nowhere written down that they're allowed to do that and the parents could have a reasonable expectation that they could contact their kids at any time- then it's not acceptable."

The school says it's ordered a full review.

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A marketing professor thinks New World's latest pots and pans promo let customers down.

Customers have been collecting stickers to claim MasterChef branded cookware.

A Wellington customer claims some pans have run out across the city.

Auckland University Marketing Professor Mike Lee says you would think the supermarket would have enough stock.

"The customers thought they were going to get something, and that's why they spent that money at New World rather than any other retailer."

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The Chair of General Practice New Zealand says GP capacity issues are becoming a crisis.

Te Whatu Ora Health NZ says an overloaded primary healthcare system is to blame for more children turning up at hospital.

Bryan Betty says a third of GPs have closed their books, but most are trying to accommodate their base with acute on-the-day appointments, where parents of sick kids can try first.

"If capacity is reached or something happens where you can't get in, then you'd need to go to an after-hours medical centre or you'd need to go to an ED if you are concerned, because the prime thing is the child."

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Experts claim rising unemployment is necessary medicine to get inflation under control.

Stats NZ says unemployment rose to 3.9 percent for the three months to September, up from 3.6 last quarter- and 3.2 a year ago.

Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says those figures are still a lot better than they've been in recent history.

"Some of the underlying figures suggest that more people coming in from migration, fewer jobs on offer and more people looking for them means there might not be as much additional pressure on prices as we head into next year."

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Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley is gaining more traction in the polls, as Trump holds a steady lead. 

53 percent of Republican voters overwhelmingly favour Trump, according to the latest stats- while Haley holds 22 percent of the vote, overtaking Ron DeSantis.

US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says it's still anyone's race, but Donald Trump is still likely to lead ahead of February's Republican primary.

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