The Front Page

The Government has announced new restrictions for beneficiaries.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week announced a new traffic light system, that comes with harsher penalties for those who don’t meet their obligations to attend meetings and look for work.

But what exactly do those sanctions mean, and why is National making this a priority now?

Today on The Front Page, NZ Herald political journalist Julia Gabel joins us to explain this new traffic light system.

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Paddy Fox
Producer: Ethan Sills

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Warning: This episode contains disturbing material and some explicit language. 

How did Pauline Hanna die? That’s the question for the jury, who, for weeks will consider evidence and ultimately decide – was it murder, or suicide?  

It’s also a question put to two different pathologists, tasked with exploring how the 63-year-old died in her Remuera home in April 2021.  

Philip Polkinghorne is accused of murdering his wife – but maintains she took her own life.  

We also hear from a long-time friend of Pauline and about an incident that worried her and her husband, and we get the first glimpse into Philip’s work life – what were the issues at Auckland Eye we’ve heard so much about?  

You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

This series is presented and produced by, Chelsea Daniels, with producer Ethan Sills and sound engineer Paddy Fox. Additional reporting by Craig Kapitan and George Block. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerns have been raised on opposite ends of the planet this week on foreign interference from Iran.

Donald Trump’s election campaign has claimed that Iran has hacked its internal messages, leaking election campaign documents to US media.

At the same time, Austrlaia’s spy boss has claimed that Iran is one of ‘at least three of four’ countries involved in foreign interference.

This may seem like an issue happening beyond our shores, but academics and officials have been warning for years that foreign interference is happening here.

Today on The Front Page, University of Otago Professor of Politics Robert Patman joins us to discuss how worried New Zealand should be.

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Paddy Fox
Producer: Ethan Sills

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2024 Paris Olympics have come to an end – and what a fortnight it has been for the New Zealand Team. 

With ten golds, seven silver and three bronze, our athletes are bringing home the most Gold medals ever won in a single Olympics, and have equalled our record set in Tokyo.  

With the likes of Dame Lisa Carrington and Lydia Ko ensuring their place in the history books, to rising stars like Hamish Kerr, Ellesse Andrews and Finn Butcher, there were plenty of Kiwi sporting stars in action. 

With the games now over, and the four year journey to Los Angeles 2028 already beginning for some, we’re recapping the Olympic highs and lows today on The Front Page with Newstalk ZB sports reporter and Gold Sport commentator, Elliott Smith.  

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Paddy Fox
Producer: Ethan Sills

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day 10 saw the jury visit to the home of Pauline Hanna and Phllip Polkinghorne to see where Pauline had died.

That was before a parade of ex-colleagues took to the stand to shed light on their relationship with Pauline, and what she told them about her concern for her marriage and her finances.

Plus, an explanation as to why Pauline Hanna’s niece recorded a family conversation. 

You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

This series is presented and produced by, Chelsea Daniels, with producer Ethan Sills and sound engineer Paddy Fox. Additional reporting by Craig Kapitan and George Block. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new report has suggested that the country’s biggest city is going backwards.

The second annual State of the City report, which compares Auckland’s progress against nine major cities around the globe, has shown that things are on the backwards trend.

While outside factors like the Anniversary weekend floods, inflation and post-Covid recovery contributed to the worse than expected outcomes, the report highlights a number of longer-term problem areas that the city needs to address.

Today on The Front Page, NZ Herald senior writer Simon Wilson joins us to analyse the state of Auckland, and how the city can improve.

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Paddy Fox
Producer: Ethan Sills

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tipene Funerals, of television show The Casketeers fame, is under fire because one of its funeral directors allegedly swindled her grieving clients and put their dead relatives in plastic rubbish bags instead of the coffins they had paid for. 

It was only revealed when bodies in a public mausoleum were disinterred, and grieving families discovered what had happened.  

Funerals and the loss of a loved ones are already an emotional time for families, and this case has highlighted not only the high level of trust involved, but also the growing cost of funerals - with recent information highlighting the rising cost of burials and cremations across the country. 

Today on The Front Page, we’re joined by NZ Herald journalist Raphael Franks, who started the investigation into Tipene Funerals, before hearing from Funeral Directors Association of NZ Chief Executive, Gillian Boyes, about the costs and trust involved in dealing with our loved ones. 

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Paddy Fox
Producer: Ethan Sills

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pauline Hanna’s voice echoed throughout the courtroom on Day 9 of the trial of her husband, Philip Polkinghorne, who is accused of murdering her.  

It came in the form of a covert recording of a family dinner – providing Hanna a chance to explain their relationship in her own words to the jury, who’ll decide whether she died of foul play, or, whether she took her own life.  

That was before a bombshell was dropped by the defence, as they revealed new information about the state of her mental health in the decades before her death. 

You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

This series is presented and produced by, Chelsea Daniels, with producer Ethan Sills and sound engineer Paddy Fox. Additional reporting by Craig Kapitan and George Block. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2024 Olympics has seen plenty of sporting highs as well as heartbreak for competitors around the world. 

But no competition has sparked more debate and controversy than the woman’s boxing.  

The inclusion of Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting has sparked a firestorm, after they were both banned from International Boxing Association competitions last year, citing negative gender tests. 

The issue has blown up during the Olympics after Italy’s Angela Carini called off her match against Khelif after only a few seconds, prompting outrage from a diverse list of politicians and celebrities, including Donald Trump, JK Rowling, Elon Musk, Logan Paul, and our own Winston Peters and Israel Adesanya. 

But as new information has shone light on the complexities of the case, it’s once again ignited a debate around women in sport. 

With both boxers now guaranteed medals at the Olympics, today on The Front Page, we’re joined by University of Waikato professor of sociology in sport and gender, Holly Thorpe, to discuss the facts behind the outrage.

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Paddy Fox
Producer: Ethan Sills

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The court has gotten its first glimpse of evidence from those closest to Philip Polkinghorne and Paulina Hanna – and some insight into his infidelity. And we have heard directly from Polkinghorne, with the court hearing his interview with Police for the first time.  

The former Auckland eye surgeon is accused of murdering his DHB boss wife in April 2021 - but he says, she took her own life.  

Day 7 heard from a friend of the couple who owned the bach next to them, before the court heard from a power expert to analyse Polkinghorne's version of events from the morning Hanna died.

On Day 8, more people who had come into contact with the couple, including a personal trainer due to see Hanna the morning she died. Police also detailed a raid on a chalet where Polkinghorne was staying with a sex worker in the weeks after his wife's death, before his Police interview was played. 

For the transcripts from Polkinghorne's interview, go here:https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/philip-polkinghorne-murder-trial-jurors-hear-defendant-in-his-own-words-as-police-interview-played/U7YXHIMVBRBO3NDL2BJRGO5NZI/ 

You can listen to episodes of Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial through The Front Page podcast feed, or find it on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

This series is presented and produced by, Chelsea Daniels, with producer Ethan Sills and sound engineer Paddy Fox.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.