Holiday Breakfast

Don Brash says everyone should be concerned about political interference regarding matters at America's central bank. 

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says he's now embroiled in a criminal investigation because he didn't cut interest rates as much as Donald Trump wanted. 

Trump denies involvement but is standing by calls for Powell to be replaced. 

RBNZ Governor Anna Breman signed a joint statement in support of Powell, saying he's highly respected, with an unwavering commitment to the public interest. 

But Winston Peters rebuked her for it, saying she needs to stay in her New Zealand lane and stick to domestic monetary policy. 

But Brash, a former New Zealand Reserve Bank Governor, strongly backs Breman, saying that Peters is in the wrong in this situation.  

He told Andrew Dickens it's in everyone's interests for the Federal Reserve to be able to make its own independent decisions, free from interference. 

Brash says the US dollar is the backbone of the world economy and the world monetary policy system, and anything that jeopardises that affects everyone. 

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The UK will be deciding this week whether or not to allow the construction of a Chinese ‘mega’ embassy in London.  

The project has been debated for years, with concerns over the potential security risks it could pose for the UK. 

Critics fear the embassy, which would be located close to London’s financial district and crucial data cables, would be used as a base for espionage.  

UK Correspondent Rod Liddle told Andrew Dickens he doesn’t think the embassy will get the go ahead in the end. 

The argument in favour, he says, is that the UK needs a good relationship with China to get money and investment, but this is a bridge too far. 

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At least 500 buildings have been destroyed as wildfires continue to tear through Victoria.  

Multiple fires have ravaged 404,000 hectares of land – an area more than five times the size of Singapore.  

Thousands of properties remain without power, and television and radio services to areas like Bendigo and Castlemaine have been knocked out.  

Australian Correspondent Murray Olds told Andrew Dickens it’s unknown how long transmission services will be down, and how big the damage bill will be. 

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Winston Peters says sticking to the basics has led to NZ First’s position in the polls. 

Based on current polling, the party is set for another term in government, one of the first times it will have a consecutive run.  

Peters told Andrew Dickens that there’s a whole lot of things going on in New Zealand that New Zealanders do not like, and they’ve sought a voice to express their concerns – NZ First.   

He their position has been on the rise in other parties’ internal polls is because they’ve stuck to the basics and the essentials. 

Peters says they’re focusing on trying to get the economy turned around while still remembering that the country is comprised of all sorts of workers, all of whom need to have a future in New Zealand. 

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The UK is introducing a law making it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images following growing concern over Elon Musk's AI chatbot. 

Officials in countless countries are condemning the lack of regulation of sexualised content on the app X, formerly known as Twitter, including depictions of children. 

ACT MP Laura McClure, author of the Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill, told Andrew Dickens she’s glad to see some action being taken, but the problem is far wider than X and Grok.  

She says there’s hundreds of websites that can do this, so the first thing we need to do as a government or society is make this behaviour illegal.  

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Donald Trump is risking further inflaming matters in Iran, urging anti-government demonstrators to keep protesting, adding "help is on its way". 

The US President has raised the possibility of intervention in Iran, and his national security team meets today to discuss its options. 

Thousands are feared dead, as the country's regime violently cracks down on anti-government protests. 

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Andrew Dickens military operations are being considered, including a strike on Iran’s missile programme, or strikes against security services or directly against Iranian leadership. 

He says Iran is publicly threatening retaliation for any military action, which the White House has called laughable. 

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Tougher penalties for energy companies caught breaking the rules.  

From next year the Electricity Authority will be able to order fines of up to $10 million, or 10% of a company's turnover – up from the current $2 million. 

The fines can be issued if companies distort the market or take advantage of customers. 

Octopus Energy CEO Margaret Cooney told Andrew Dickens one of the issues with lower fines is that players decide whether or not to comply since they could meet the low-level fine. 

She says it's a high value sector, so it’s totally appropriate that fines have increased. 

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'Deliberately absurd' is how a Christchurch mountain biker describes his idea to cycle around a McDonald's drive-thru for 24 hours. 

21-year-old Matthew Fairbrother clocked up 500 kilometres on the ride on Christmas Day. 

Fairbrother told Andrew Dickens it may be a world record of some sort, as he's not aware of anyone doing something similar. 

He concedes the idea was a bit pointless, but was to put himself to the test and see what he could achieve when his mind was put to something. 

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A spotlight on student achievement, with NCEA results now available nationwide. 

About 158 thousand Year 11 to 13 students can access their exam results, including Course Endorsements and University Entrance. 

PPTA President Chris Abercrombie told Andrew Dickens literacy and numeracy co-requisites are now incredibly important. 

He says students can't get NCEA without those, which has changed how schools operate. 

Students can also request a review or reconsideration from next month. 

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Another Tory has joined the ranks of Reform UK. 

Nadhim Zahawi is the highest profile member of the UK’s Conservative Party to defect, having served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for Liz Truss and as the Party Chair under Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.  

However, UK Correspondent Rod Liddle told Andrew Dickens, there is a caveat.  

He says Zahawi was asked to resign from his position as Party Chair due to considerable doubt over his income tax returns.  

Liddle says that while Nigel Farage will be pleased there’s another defection, he doesn’t think the Tories will be terribly troubled over their loss. 

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