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The election season is well underway, and employment is a key issue for many voters. National has pledged more drug testing for beneficiaries, to ensure more Kiwis are ready to get into work, and Labour has voiced opposition to this idea. National Social Development Minister Louise Upston says she's confident the Government's measures to reduce unemployment are working - but there's more to be done. "We've seen 84,000 people leave welfare into work in the last year, so we're really confident that the measures that we are making are working." Meanwhile, Labour social development and employment spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime has pushed back on this scheme.  "Labour has a plan, where we are talking about expanding apprenticeship boost, introducing trades training and expanding that - and a new work package, where we're going to create a whole lot of jobs."  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump has made a new diesel deal with Russia, and it's sparked concerns in Europe. Under the agreement, 300,000 tonnes of Russian diesel will be released to the US immediately, followed by a further 500,000 next month. Business correspondent Vicky Pryce says some people are worried about the optics of this arrangement - especially in terms of what it could mean for Ukraine. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Monday 12 October. Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A view it's clearly time our political parties come together to tackle the issue of superannuation. National and Labour have agreed they'll support a cross-party political accord on the retirement system. Act and National are both campaigning on gradually raising the super age to 67. Labour and New Zealand First are both campaigning to keep it at 65. Superannuation expert Jonathan Eriksen told Andrew Dickens some cross-party consensus on this is overdue. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s been a concerted campaign by Don Brash and Nick Mowbray to get National voters to split their vote and engineer an overhang. A move John Key has said would be the opposite of clever. Over the weekend, Don Brash went to print again to explain why it’s a good idea. The upshot is that National’s strength in the electorates could mean a loss of list seats, which would affect several senior ministers, including Nicola Willis. In the piece, he argues that National voters are smart enough to work out split voting for themselves and don’t need John Key telling them how to vote. The irony is that Mr Brash and Mr Mowbray have been telling people how to vote all along. Mr Brash believes it’s the only way for National to save a centre-right coalition, but there is another way: be more popular. The other disconnect is that many on the right already believe New Zealand has too many MPs, and yet here are Mr Brash and Mr Mowbray wanting even more, perhaps as many as 124. Another irony is that many on the right can’t stand it when Helen Clark butts in with her tuppence-worth, yet here is a former leader of National and ACT doing exactly the same thing at the age of 85. What’s sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander. I would prefer Mr Brash to zip it, sweetie. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Greens are condemning National's plans to drug-test people on welfare and reduce payments.  National's promising to randomly drug test ten thousand beneficiaries next year.  From April 2028, it would also cut Jobseeker payments for people on the scheme for two of the previous three years, claiming it'll push people into work.  Greens' Social Development Spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March told Andrew Dickens drug testing beneficiaries does not create jobs, and the reason unemployment is high is not because they may or may not be using substances.  He says the only thing this will create is jobs in the drug testing industry, and it won't address the unemployment crisis that currently exists.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eden Park's CEO is looking forward to welcoming the All Blacks back to the Fortress.  The stadium is hosting the first Bledisloe Cup clash this weekend, the All Blacks taking on the Wallabies for the first time since they returned from South Africa.  Nick Sautner told Andrew Dickens the All Blacks have a phenomenal record at the stadium, as they haven't lost to Australia there since 1986, and they want to make sure that streak continues.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast 2026, the Green Party is not happy with National's benefit policy, Green Party Social Development Spokesperson Ricardo Menedez March explains why.  The trans-tasman rivalry’s back at Eden Park, CEO Nick Sautner tells Andrew what to look out for.  Labour say they have a plan to tackle unfair plane ticket costs, NZ Herald Aviation Journalist John Weekes tells Andrew if the plan is viable.  Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on UK Police accept warrants used to search the home of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor were unlawful and Germany will face threats together, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said as he announced a series of defence and security partnerships.  Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.           LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour's making big promises in aviation if re-elected.   The Party would require airlines to publish airfares including every fee upfront - making the full cost clear.  It would mandate automatic refunds when big airlines like Air New Zealand and Jetstar cancel or significantly change flights, and for them to publish data on cancellations and delays.  New Zealand Herald Aviation Journalist John Weekes joined Andrew Dickens to break down the policy.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I had to chuckle after yesterday's interview with Mr Abercrombie from the PPTA who grudgingly accepted that improvements to the education sector by the government is a factor in teacher registrations being up 40 per cent this year  Mr Abercrombie, other industry advocates and the Labour led opposition have been dead set against the changes but now they’re slowly admitting that things are better  It makes you wonder why they were so negative from the get-go, and I can only put it down to tribalism  If it’s an idea from the right, it has to be evil and wrong and bad for the kids and the vulnerable  Now this is also a weakness on the right. The Coalition spent the first year merrily throwing out any initiatives from the previous government whether it had good aspects or not.  The us good, them bad narrative is childish. And expensive and slowing us down 3 Waters was thrown out and replaced with the same thing, the only difference being it’s voluntary with no governance.  The upshot is that we’re even further behind in finding funds to fix our water supply  I could go on.  The cancelled ferries when the problem was actually the gold-plated ports  Chris Hipkins big mistake in the leader's debate was to threaten to throw out an hour of tuition of the basics if they get in.  A policy that is popular with parents and Mr Abercrombie even said works  These flip flops from all sides are exhausting When National won the last election, they said the adults are back. Well, when is that actually going to happen.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The lawyers of US death row inmate Christa Pike have asked for evidence to be preserved from her botched execution.  The 50-year-old survived two lethal injections in Tennessee last week – a death sentence imposed for murder in 1996.  A statement from her lawyers yesterday stated she's now conscious and speaking, still handcuffed in hospital, and receiving critical care.  US Correspondent Nick Harper told Andrew Dickens Pike's lawyers argue there were problems with the IV lines involved.  They claim at least seven needles were used to try to get the doses into her system, one even bent at a 90-degree angle.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A warning there are drawbacks to instant payments as Labour vows to make it possible 24/7 by 2030.  The party wants to bring more competition to the sector helping fintech companies take on the big four banks.  Part of Labour's plan to achieve this is by introducing e-money licences for businesses offering services like digital wallets and payments.   Massey University Financial Professor Claire Matthews told Andrew Dickens that currently, if you're subject to scams there's a small window to get the money back.  However, she says, when you have real-time payments, that's gone.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The country's teacher pipeline is showing signs of recovery.  Education Minister Erica Stanford is crediting the School Onsite Training Programme for a 40% jump in the number of Kiwis training to be teachers between 2023 and now.  But the current figure of 4,500 is still well below the 6,800 training in 2010.  PPTA President Chris Abercrombie told Andrew Dickens there are jobs waiting for those entering the profession.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A tick of approval for National's small business plan.   The party's released a 47 point plan to cut red tape around things like employment disputes and health and safety.   Small Business New Zealand founder Phil Wicks says it creates a fairly cohesive plan.   He told Andrew Dickens while any help is appreciated, what businesses really want is a growing economy.   Wicks says that gives businesses the confidence to hire more staff or invest in more equipment.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Andrew Dickens and I'm the fill in guy and I'm filling in for Ryan Bridge and I'm filling in all week and I'm doing three days next week and three days the week after and the reason for that is that Ryan is preparing to do telly stuff with Herald now. And last night he was doing the first of the big ones and it was a 90-minute thing called The Future of New Zealand.  Now it had politicians, it had seven politicians, yeah we had some politicians, but the big thing about this, the difference was all the other people, all the business leaders, all the entrepreneurs, all the tech bros were all having their say about the future of New Zealand.  There was even a dancing robot!  And to see Ryan Bridge dancing with a dancing robot on telly was actually quite some sight.  So here are some highlights if you haven't seen it.  Of course after Jack Tame sucked us into the are billionaires' immoral debate, Tamatha Paul, the Green, had some ideas. She reckons obviously that billionaires are immoral. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Meanwhile Sir John Key was there as well, and he thought it was nuts. Okay, so I talked about the dancing robot, right? Well, there was a futurist there by the name of Frances Valentine who said that Kiwis are going to have to get used to robots living amongst us, we're going to have to get used to Ryan Bridge dancing with the robot. Somebody's got to stop those humanoids from breeding, hello. Meanwhile we had some more of that crazy, that crazy word heavy crazy nutsness from Matua Shane. The Shakespeare of New Zealand. And the pollies laid out their vision for New Zealand. Okay. Well, the reaction online was super positive.  There was an old socialist down in the South Island who used to be a talkback star with the first name Alan and he wrote: "What a future! Wow! At a time when New Zealand is spiritually bankrupt, along comes a program like this, the Future of New Zealand, a bland title for the most uplifting thing I have ever experienced, featuring a bunch of people I had mostly never heard of before."  Vicky wrote: "This is the stuff we need to hear, inspiring stuff, not personality that we normally have with our leaders' debate."  So congratulations, Ryan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.