Holiday Breakfast

The Electoral Commission hopes its efforts to get voters ready for election day will help lift turnout this year. The deadline to enrol ticked over at midnight, with just over 92-percent of eligible voters enrolled as of Saturday. Advance voting has now opened, with people able to look up polling stations by suburb. Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne told Andrew Dickens they've worked hard to get almost all EasyVote cards delivered before voting begins. He says they've been emailed to people that gave their email address, otherwise they've been posted.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After weeks of leave, Fire and Emergency CEO Kerry Gregory resigned on Friday, saying it'd become untenable for him to stay in the job. It follows Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden accusing him of withholding significant information from her for over a year.  Board Chair Raveen Jaduram told Andrew Dickens they're bringing in several new initiatives. He says it includes having more clear and transparent reports, having strong accountability and the board having better oversight. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The gang saga could expose political hypocrisy to voters, with photos coming out of multiple parties meeting with gang members. Labour's Kerrin Leoni resigned after footage emerged of her campaigning at a Mongrel Mob event, while Green and Te Pati Maori politicians have also had contact. Photos have since surfaced of National MPs, including Chris Luxon, posing with gang members Political Commentator Bryce Edwards told Andrew Dickens context matters as campaigning with gangs is very different from running into them. He says Luxon said there was no room for nuance in the debate but is now finding there is, so there's integrity issues seen across the board. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new energy rating system could help thousands more New Zealand businesses cut their bills. The NABERS rating system measures how efficiently a building uses energy, allowing owners and tenants to compare performance with similar properties, and track improvements. The assessment was only available for offices, but has now expanded to shops, warehouses and cold stores. NZ Green Building Council Chief Executive Andrew Eagles told Andrew Dickens it's shown significant savings across the ditch. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Police Minister is dismissing Retail NZ's scepticism on the new move-on orders. Police can now issue 24-hour orders to move on beggars, rough sleepers or people acting disorderly from a public place.  Retail NZ raised concerns it could just result in relocating the problem behaviour from one retailer to another. Mark Mitchell told Andrew Dickens the industry group is quick to criticize, but this is an issue impacting many of its members. He says he did a meeting with Wellington retailers at the request of a Green MP, because rough sleeping was disrupting business. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.