Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills

It's Friday Faceoff and this week Nick is joined in the studio by Infrastructure NZ CEO Nick Leggett and Wellington's Chamber of Commerce CEO Hayley Horan.
It's a post-budget day special. Yesterday Nicola Willis released her much anticipated budget, the panel dissect the winners, the losers and what they think is missing from this year's "sugar-free" budget.
We hear what Horan has heard from businesses, does the budget lack vision? And what does it do for Wellington?
Then onto Wellington City Council who had a week of ups and downs. A lower-than-expected rates rise was announced at 5.9%, yet a day later it was released they spent 600 thousand on a promotional website for the new library.
They share their thoughts on the 600k pay cheque and sending the job out to Auckland. And what is hoing on with the spending culture on the council?
Horan and Leggett also talk Takina - are we getting the best use out of it?
And the panel share their hots and a not of the week.
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It's time for Friday Sports Kick-off with Jason Pine and Adam Cooper joining Nick on the show.
Starting with The Hurricanes game tonight against the Crusaders in Christchurch.
With many injuries in the team, are the panel concerned about a loss of the game and momentum towards the final?
And the incredible story of Tim Payne who yesterday had under 5,000 followers, has gone viral and just cracked 1 million. The power of social media hit Payne when an Argentinean influencer called him the least known player at the upcoming FIFA world cup - a statement certainly not true today.
And what is happening with the Pulse?
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It's Politics Thursday and it's Budget Day, Nick is joined by Labour MP Ginny Andersen and National MP for Otaki Tim Costley.
The panel talk the political issues of the week - starting with the budget due for release at 2pm today.
Costley says it's certainly no lolly scramble, but it is a budget for real Kiwis. Andersen shares her worries for the people who need support most - particularly from what we have already seen from pre-budget announcements.
How has collaboration and compromise been with the coalition partners while crafting the budget?
And onto the Ipsos survey, where Kiwis trust Labour to deal with 7 out of the top 10. What do our politicians think have caused these results? Are people voting on hope?
Then, the government's new loan scheme to transition large companies off gas, should this be expanded?
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The New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa (NZPAA) opened earlier this year out in Upper Hutt, and yesterday Nick was able to tour around the new sports charter school.
Follow Nick as he goes through the facilities and classes and speaks with CEO Karen van Gemeren, Principal Ryan Clark and some of the students.
Students Emily and Ben share how their experience has been here, compared to their old schools. And tell Nick what the school has been able to do for their budding sports careers.
NZPAA has around 85 students and is the country's first dedicated elite sports charter school.
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Labour Leader Chris Hipkins joins Nick Mills in the studio, on the eve of one of the biggest days in the political year: Budget Day.
With the budget looming, Nick asks if we can finally expect policy from Labour for this coming election.
Hipkins shares his predictions for the budget, Labour's priorities and his thoughts on the pre-budget announcements so far.
With the 8700 jobs cut announcement, we find out if Labour would reinstate some of these and what difference he thinks AI can make in the public sector.
Hipkins says Labour will look into regulation and the future of AI, and he wants to focus on growing productivity of employees, not replacing them.
Also, does Hipkins think that New Zealand is ready to trust a Labour government and he gives his thoughts on the leaked "duck faced horse" audio from the Labour conference.
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