Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

ACT and National are on track to govern while Labour slumps to a new low, according to a new poll.

The latest Roy Morgan survey shows ACT has surged by 4 points to 18 percent, catching up to National's 31, down 2.5 percent.

Labour's taken a fall- their support dropped a further 2 percent to 24.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the Roy Morgan poll is often dismissed in the lead-up to election night- but it's an accurate indicator.

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Controversial Qantas boss Alan Joyce resigned today- retiring two months earlier than planned.

This comes as the airline faces allegations of misleading conduct over airline ticket sales.

His replacement, Vanessa Hudson, will take over from tomorrow.

Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says it's unlikely this change in management will clear the airline's reputation- but fast-tracking Alan Joyce's retirement was a smart move.

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All Blacks midfielder David Havili is vowing to be ready if called upon for the World Cup opener against France this weekend.

Jordie Barrett is in doubt for Saturday's match with a knee issue, and could become the fourth All Black to be sidelined.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further.

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There's renewed debate over whether an Independent Costings Watchdog is needed to verify election promises.

Labour, National and the Greens have all shown support for the idea.

The Taxpayers' Union's Jordan Williams says an office separated from the Government of the time is needed to verify each party's election promises for the sake of democracy.

"So we don't end up like the situation where we used to have, where even with the big parties, there was just no questioning of costs."

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ACT says it isn't taking anything for granted, despite a staggering leap in a new political poll.

The Roy Morgan survey puts it up 4 points to 18 percent - their highest result since December 2021.

National is down 2.5 points to 31 percent, but can govern with ACT - while Labour has slumped to a historic low of 24 percent.

ACT leader David Seymour says Roy Morgan was the most accurate in the last election, but one of the least before that.

"But what we do know is that people do actually want some real change. They don't want to swap red for blue, Chris for Chris- and basically say business as usual, but show up in a blue tie."

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Auckland Zoo is dealing with the harsh reality of wild animals.

Sumatran tiger Zayana gave birth to her first two cubs on Friday.

But when the first was stillborn, she followed a natural instinct and killed the live second cub.

Carnivore team lead Lauren Booth says a tiger needs two to three cubs to make it worth raising them.

"The mortality rate within the first two years is about 50 to 70 percent. So there's a bit of maths that goes on there in terms of the resources they're going to put into those animals."

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The union for SkyCity Casino workers says it raised concerns years ago when it restructured.

SkyCity's casino operator licenses could be temporarily suspended - over complaints about host responsibility.

Unite Union says the casino slashed supervisor numbers by nearly 40 percent in 2016.

National Director Mike Treen says it was up to them to ensure people didn't play too long.

"I think it's led directly to the problems they're facing today."

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National's promising shovels in the ground in its first term for a second Mount Vic tunnel- if it gets the top job after the election.

Infrastructure spokesperson Chris Bishop says they'll get consents fast tracked.

He says it's good for buses, cars, walking, cycling, and it will decongest Wellington.

National says alongside upgrades to the Basin Reserve, it'll cost $2.2 billion dollars.

The proposal differs to Let's Get Wellington Moving, which would use one tunnel just for walking and cycling.

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A view extra safety measures could reduce the need for mountain rescues.

Two walkers were rescued from the top of Mount Ngauruhoe on Saturday - wearing light clothes and unsuitable footwear.

They reportedly had limited English and mightn't have realised the climb's dangers.

Adrift Tongariro tour guide Stewart Barclay says it would be useful to issue safety information in other languages.

"As much information as we can get out there in the appropriate way- absolutely. Because we're all about safety."

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Do you know what? I'm actually cross at Health NZ Te Whatu Ora for playing silly buggers with senior doctors and their pay.

Things are serious right now. It is a serious thing for senior doctors to go on strike today, they've never done this before.

And I can totally understand why- they must be at their wits end with the silly games Te Whatu Ora are playing to avoid paying doctors properly. 

For a start, the health bosses misrepresented what the senior doctors actually get paid already. They said these doctors get, on average, $318,000 per year. But that is clearly not true.

Check out the collective agreement online, the top pay is $250,000 and the median is $220,000.  

Either way, it’s a lot of money, but Te Whatu Ora Health NZ can let us make up our own minds with the honest facts instead of being dishonest.

As well as that, they’ve misrepresented what they’re offering the doctors. They said up to 12.9 percent, which sounds like a lot- but we found out that they dicked around with that number too, and it's not nearly that much.

It’s more like 5 percent, say the doctors. 

The reason I'm cross about this is that we don’t get the luxury of paying our doctors poorly in this country. Doctors can move, and if you pay them poorly- they’re just going to go off to Australia.

Particularly Victoria, where the lowest they can earn there is more than the highest they can earn here. My brother-in-law, a doctor, just left for Victoria. My neighbour, also a doctor, left a couple of years back.

If the health bosses continue to play these games with our doctors and try to dick them around on pay, we will lose more. And we can’t afford to, because we’re already 1700 doctors short in this country.

That means you and I will not get the healthcare we actually deserve because we pay our taxes for it.

So instead of Health NZ using their 200 communications staff to figure out clever ways to make doctors look greedy, how about they find some money to pay doctors properly.

And if they need to cut some of those back-office spin doctors who play slippery games to find the dollars, so be it. I'd rather have the doctors anyway.

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