Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Increased train frequency in Auckland's Mt Albert could mean crossings will close for 45 minutes each hour during peak times.

That's on top of Auckland Transport's plans to put barrier arms and flashing lights on all city rail crossings over coming decades.

Many need to be done before the City Rail Link is completed, scheduled for 2025.

Auckland City Councillor Christine Fletcher says it's not good enough.

"The CRL will not work unless we invest in comprehensive-grade separation, because every 10-15 minutes, these trains are going to be coming along, and you're going to have the barriers down."

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Labour’s paternity leave policy is a good one. Finally.

They’ll be relieved commentators like it- they’re clearly trying to change the subject from the GST off fruit and veges policy only two days ago, because it's gone very badly for them.

But I'll happily play the game and change the subject for a bit.

So what they’ve announced is that they’ll fund four weeks paternity leave for the second parent, which in most cases is a dad.

They'll roll it out in stages, two weeks leave from next year, and then a third week in 2025, and the fourth week in 2026.

The truth is that our paid parental leave in New Zealand is actually pretty miserable compared to other developed countries. 

We get 26 weeks at the moment, which sounds not bad- but the amount we get paid is rubbish. And when you add the two together, there are only five countries in the OECD more miserable than us.

Take what we get, triple it, and the Germans still get more than that.

We can do better, and we have to, because we need Kiwis having kids.

We need to lift our birth rate. We’re not even replacing ourselves at the moment and we’re not going to be doing that unless parents can actually afford to be parents.

Having said that, the policy falls into one of the same traps the GST policy did two days ago.

Which is that it sounds like a great idea- and then you see you’re only getting $4 a week. Same here with this, you’re only getting four weeks. That’s very little.

Also, it doesn’t undo the damage that Labour did to itself by killing Nicola Willis’ bill that would've let parents take up to three months parental leave together. You still can’t do that, you can only have a month together.

And finally, as long as Labour is losing in the polls, everything they do will be judged by whether it will win them the election or not.

And this one, again, will not.

Not enough people are affected by this, and you can tell by the fact that it only costs $35 million in the first year. Again, it's not generous enough.

But on principle, it’s hard to argue against giving the dad or second mum a month paid at home with the family. 

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A study by Resolution Foundation says 3.9 million working days to industrial action in the past year.

Nurses, junior doctors, teachers, railway workers, and postal workers have all taken strike action over real-terms pay declines.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says industrial action has been confined to the public sector, and these workers have been responsible for 96 percent of the days lost.

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Tonight on The Huddle, Phil O'Reilly from Iron Duke Partners and current affairs commentator Josie Pagani joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!

Labour have officially confirmed that they plan to scrap the 15 percent GST from fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables. Will the regret this policy as the election draws closer? 

NZ First is gaining popularity in the polls, but their Bay of Plenty candidate Kirsten Murfitt is in hot water for her documented views on Covid-19, vaccines, and 9/11. Is this a bad look for NZ First?

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The Government has announced a raft of tax policies designed to address the cost of living crisis ahead of the election.

Hipkins has announced a boost to the In-Work Tax Credit, which will benefit about 160,000 families.

The GST on fruit and vegetables will be scrapped, a cut to take effect come April 2024.

NZME business commentator Fran O'Sullivan says there's room for other parties to introduce more optimistic, pro-business policies ahead of the election.

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The Prime Minister has labelled New Zealand's scrapping of all remaining Covid-19 restrictions a 'significant milestone'.

Mandatory seven-day isolation periods are no more, as are masking requirements in health facilities.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says the Government needed a distraction from the GST debacle 8 weeks out from the election- as evidenced by the post-Cabinet press conference.

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One NZ, formerly known as Vodafone, has been handed a record $3.675 million fine for breaching the Fair Trading Act.

The telecommunications company has reportedly mislead consumers in their marketing of their FibreX broadband service.

Commerce Commission chair John Small says One NZ had the substantial financial resources to handle a fine of that size- as misleading consumers can't be a cost of doing business. 

"We think it's important that all businesses appreciate the seriousness of the Fair Trading Act, because it's so important for consumer protection and for promotion of competition."

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Migrant arrivals have continued to soar in the year to June 2023- but these gains are being offset as more Kiwis depart. 

Annual net migration rose again in the year to June to 86,000, a figure made up of a net gain of 121,600 non-New Zealand citizens and a net loss of 34,800 New Zealand citizens.

ASB senior economist Mark Smith says pent-up demand post-Covid is driving Kiwi departures, but the uptick in migrants adds to the nation's labour force.

"What we're really seeing now is a lot of people coming in. Numbers on work visas hit a record high in the June year of around 74,000 people- a lot more coming in are linked to the labour force."

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The Finance Minister is defending the Government's scheme to take GST off fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables.

It's faced criticism from economists and opposition politicians, including a mistake on when the policy would come in- throwing the cost out by $235 million.

There's also questions about exactly what will be left and left out under the system.

Grant Robertson says that shouldn't be a barrier.

"These kinds of decisions about what's in and out in a regime get made all over the world."

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From midnight, there will be no legal barrier to someone going to work infected with Covid-19.

The Government is dropping all isolation and mask-wearing requirements from midnight tonight.

Health Minister Ayesha Verrall says they continue to recommend people with the virus stay home for five days.

Verrall says it's a lesson the pandemic can teach us.

"Maybe some of our behaviour in the past wasn't as considerate of everyone else as it needs to be, it is still good to stay home when you're sick and not go to work coughing and spluttering."

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