We have started a new segment here on Afternoons, that we call Political Group Chat - a chance for interesting people to say what they're thinking out loud on topics that have been in the news in the last week. Tim Batt and Dane Giraud are our guests and today we're looking a range of issues from the Government's proposed public service job cuts, MP allowances, homeschooling rules and a social media ban for under 16s.

It's a day of talking numbers .. we wanted to get our personal finance whizz Mary Holm's take on KiwiSaver announcements in today's Budget, but there weren't any that we could see .. do with that what you will. 

Fortunately Mary has spent some of her week at the Retirement Commission conference which has given her lots of things to discuss with Jesse.

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The latest RNZ Pacific news and sport.

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The latest RNZ Pacific news and sport.

Auckland parents Emma and Travis Lehman welcomed baby Lila into their family a year ago, but their journey to parenthood was far from conventional. Unable to carry a child herself, Travis's sister offered to become their surrogate. She lives in the United States where it seems surrogacy is more commonplace. Here in New Zealand there are calls for reform of our surrogacy laws, with the Law Commission saying they are not fit for purpose. Emma shares her experience through her podcast 'Surro tales' which aims to support others navigating surrogacy.

To a success story now, Belfast Reserve is located in the Auckland suburb of Hillsborough and it has had a challenging time of late. The reserve was shut in 2019 after damage caused by heavy rain, and then again in 2023 after the Anniversary Weekend storm. That could have been the end of the reserve, but locals came together to bring it back to life. Janet Vaughan is the founder of Friends of Belfast Reserve and speaks to Jesse.

All eyes will be on Parliament this afternoon as Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers the Budget. At 2pm we'll pass the mic to Guyon Espiner for RNZ's one-hour Budget Special. But before then we wanted to look at where today's announcement sits in the history of Government Budgets. Historian Dr Grant Morris is with Jesse.

On Tuesday, new legislation came into effect to make stalking and harassment a crime ... punishable by up to five years in prison. Yesterday, the day after it was signed into law, an Auckland man was arrested and charged with stalking and harassing a woman. University of Auckland Associate Professor of Law Carrie Leonetti co-authored the original draft of this legislation for Government, she joins Jesse to explain what it is and why we need it.

The latest RNZ Pacific news and sport.