Radio New Zealand - All Programmes

It's Friday night - so it's time now to take a look at what New Zealanders have planned for the weekend. Let's head to Manawatu where the Palmy Drag Fest is underway. Producer Ricky Beirao is with me. Kia Ora!

On this day 75 years ago, the first-ever international flight took off from Wellington. The Tasman Empire Airlines Ltd Solent flying boat left for Sydney on October 3rd 1950, in what would have been a very different experience from flying today. To talk about this more, aviation historian Richard Waugh joins Mark Leishman

The latest RNZ Pacific news.

Driven by a desire to find a pure New Zealand wool coat, and to find more use for the bales of wool sitting idle in the shearing shed, Charlotte Bell started her fashion business The Clip. She and husband Hamish farm in Hakataramea Valley in Canterbury.

A growing taste for pastries, cakes and dairy-topped drinks in China and southeast Asia is fuelling demand for New Zealand-made cream cheese. Country Life takes a tour of Fonterra's high-tech factory at Darfield to see how it's made.

Feilding livestock agent and saleyards auctioneer Alex Stewart on breaking into an old man's game, human calculators and conducting the sale.

A wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country.

This week Country Life is inside one of Fonterra's large dairy plants and meets a Canterbury farming couple tailoring woollen coats from their family's flock.

In Focus on Politics, the government struggled to convince with its big energy announcement this week, auguring a stormy election season ahead.

In part two, a breast milk bank in Whangarei has been so inundated with donations that they had to get a new freezer. Then, it's been a busy week at the partially restored Christ Church Cathedral, which has opened it's doors to pets and their owners for the first time since the earthquakes.

Tonight, on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Alan McElroy and Sally Wenley. First up, is it okay to protest outside someone's lawn? That's a question being wreslted with on multiple levels right now, with a proposed law preventing it and Winston Peters being subject to this very thing on Thursday night. Law professor Kris Gledhill unpacks the issue. Then, business owners in the West Coast town of Ross are disappointed to be cut off from the West Coast Wilderness Cycle Trail for a second summer in a row.

United Kingdom correspondent Lucy Thomson spoke to Lisa Owen about how the government and public have responded to the fatal attack on a Manchester Synagogue which occured overnight.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

The first crop of kiwis to represent Aotearoa at next year's Olympic Winter Games have been named. Eight athletes were announced today for Milano Cortina 2026, led by the country's most decorated Winter Olympian. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen.

Officials are investigating complaints about dogs certified by a Manawatu disability assistance dog trainer that's had its accreditation removed. K9 Search Medical Detection was dropped from the list of organisations allowed to train such assistance dogs, which have access rights to public places under the Dog Control Act, on 20 December last year. The dogs can support people with physical disabilities or medical conditions, and have the right to enter spaces such as schools, hospitals, public transport and shops. Reporter Jimmy Ellingham spoke to Lisa Owen.

Te Pāti Māori is trying to contain internal ructions - after a key ally and protest group severed ties - and critics from in-and-outside the party pile on.The leadership is rejecting the claims - but admits a reset is on the way. A former co-leader says it's needed. Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira reports. 

The Minister for medicines has revealed he is pushing for hundreds of millions of dollars of more funding for drugs in the next year's budget. Associate Health Minister, who is responsible for Pharmac, David Seymour believes medicines should be viewed as an investment and there needs to be a different approach assessing the cost benefits of drugs. It comes as a new report shows the medicine gap between Australia and New Zealand is getting wider and deeper. David Seymour spoke to Lisa Owen.

"Made in New Zealand" - Defence Minister Judith Collins hopes to put that label on more drones and weapons around the world. The new Defence Industry Strategy, announced today, aims to boost local defence businesses and encourage tech companies to branch out into military technology. Felix Walton reports.

The government has announced it will put five million dollars into a roof fund for Auckland's Manuka Doctor tennis arena; the total cost is expected to be $15 million. It is the first project to get money from the government's $70 million Major Event & Tourism Package, that was announced just last month. Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston spoke to Lisa Owen.

Auckland businesses and city leaders are renewing calls for a bed tax on the city's tourist accommodation to fund major events. Despite the government's $70 million boost for tourism announced last month, businesses hit by the highly disruptive construction of the City Rail Link and Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck are calling for a long-term funding model. Could a bed tax be the answer? Louise Ternouth reports.