NZ news explained in Chinese cover art

NZ news explained in Chinese

A bilingual podcast about New Zealand news for Chinese listeners learning English.

RSS feed: https://nznews.pages.dev/feed.xml

2026-10-01 - Businesses warned over North Korean workers posing as freelancers and 9 more stories

2026-10-01 12:00 UTC | 19:49 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. North Korea has reportedly deployed thousands of highly skilled IT workers who posed as remote freelancers, using false identities. Several new rules tomorrow may change how you drive. Here’s the scoop. RNZ looks through 16 documents that led up to Nicola Willis’s announcement that 8700 jobs would go. International relations experts are warning the case claiming New Zealand is not meeting EU trade agreement climate commitments could seriously impact the cou…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-10-01_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-23 - Middlemore Hospital staff declare healthcare 'crisis' and 9 more stories

2026-09-23 12:00 UTC | 19:39 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. Health New Zealand is reviewing concerns raised by Middlemore Hospital employees about chronic understaffing, overcrowding and staff being asked to work while sick. The Privacy Commissioner has given Health NZ and patient portal Manage My Health until next year to comply with health privacy rules after a massive data breach last year. The chief ombudsman says he has significant concerns about allegations ministry staff tried to circumvent the Official Infor…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-23_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-20 - New Zealand First reveals plan for 'bold shift' in healthcare and 2 more stories

2026-09-20 12:00 UTC | 05:58 | 5 segments

This episode includes 3 news blocks. Party pledges to "make NZ healthy" with illness prevention policies designed to help overwhelmed hospitals. On one day in September, the 15-bed department reached 253 percent capacity - equivalent to about 50 patients in the department at one time. Singer-songwriter Moana Maniapoto will write a waiata for this year's winner, which will be announced on Monday.

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-20_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-19 - Thousands of NZ buildings no longer require earthquake strengthening and 9 more stories

2026-09-19 12:00 UTC | 19:18 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown welcomes the legislation, saying "common sense has prevailed" for building owners in the city. A public inquiry identified opportunities that were missed to keep the children safe. Now OT's chief executive says she is "seeking answers". The environmental group claims 35,000 attended the march, but police report somewhat less. Numbers have dropped with a level of herd immunity from both vaccinations and people who have had the viru…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-19_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-16 - Splitting up Foodstuffs: Would it actually drive down grocery prices? and 9 more stories

2026-09-16 12:00 UTC | 18:33 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. Multiple experts are welcoming the idea, but the business community is warning of unintended consequences. The children's charity says far too many kids continue to be challenged by poverty, violence, mental distress, and barriers to opportunity. One of the East Cape’s most famous beach towns has virtually ground to a halt as locals continue to grapple with the aftermath of destructive flooding from January. The government has confirmed it will clear the wa…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-16_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-15 - 'We are deeply sorry': Government apologises to Tom Phillips' children after damning inquiry and 9 more stories

2026-09-15 12:00 UTC | 19:30 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. A damning report into the children’s case is "difficult and, at times, harrowing reading". Vanuatu's Prime Minister Jotham Napat has cancelled his trip to the United Nations General Assembly this week, as the search for survivors from the ferry disaster continues. They say a patient collapsing in the wait room toilet is a stark warning as overcrowding becomes normal. Riders from Hawke's Bay iwi Ngāti Kahungunu travelled from Waimārama with the petition - wh…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-15_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-14 - 'Horrendously high' number of HIV infections in Fiji babies - health researcher and 9 more stories

2026-09-14 12:00 UTC | 18:44 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. About one baby per month is dying of HIV related complications, and one baby is being born with HIV every week. An estimated 72,500 passengers were counted on trains across the Auckland Transport network by 5pm today. Westpac warns developing El Niño conditions could hit pasture-based farming hard, especially dairy, sheep and beef. An advisor says clients are not getting by and every day someone seeks help with hardship withdrawals to cover the basics. Offi…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-14_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-13 - 'We could have saved more': Vanuatu MP criticises 30-hour search delay after ferry sinking and 9 more stories

2026-09-13 12:00 UTC | 18:30 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. More than 30 people still missing and one body found, Vanuatu’s government says Passengers are now able to stop at Waitematā Station following the fire, which was started by an electrical cable A flare-up in tensions could yet affect NZ’s fuel stocks, the ministry says, but Iran and the US both have good reasons to avoid full-scale war. Waitlists from June 2025 to June 2025 have fallen 9 percent for colposcopy and echocardiography. Armed men are alleged to…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-13_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-11 - What will and won't change with the CRL opening and 9 more stories

2026-09-11 12:00 UTC | 19:41 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. While timetables and lines will change the length and variety of trips, fares will be the same. At the annual Immigration Conference, New Zealand First's Winston Peters launched more than a dozen proposals - almost all of which restricted migration. The foreign affairs, defence, and trade committee recommended by majority to implement the India Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill - with some amendments. The Taxation Bill, which contains legislat…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-11_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-10 - ACT sets out plan to wind up Waitangi Tribunal and 9 more stories

2026-09-10 12:00 UTC | 18:43 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. The party is campaigning on four reforms that it says will end the tribunal’s contemporary jurisdiction, and move the country on. Health Minister Simeon Brown has been briefed and police are investigating the incident in which a large number of files, including sensitive health information, may have been stolen. It could see petrol prices rise again in New Zealand, Westpac's chief economist says. A particularly virulent strain of influenza A has spread acro…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-10_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-09 - Water regulator tells Canterbury Regional Council long-term nitrate limits being considered and 9 more stories

2026-09-09 12:00 UTC | 20:21 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. Almost a year on from the previous Canterbury Regional Council declaring a nitrate emergency, a new report pointing to high nitrate levels across the region has been presented to councillors. Heart doctors are urging anyone with chest pains or heart attack symptoms to get urgent medical help despite the current strain on the health system. A review found too many people who tried to call the telehealth service for mental health didn't get through. The figur…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-09_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-06 - ACT unveils election climate policy, vows to scrap net zero target and repeal Zero Carbon Act and 9 more stories

2026-09-06 12:00 UTC | 22:37 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. Party vows to scrap net zero target, repeal the Zero Carbon Act, seek a "better deal" under the Paris Agreement and more if elected in November . The party's 'Affordable Kai' policy would also expand free school lunches and set up a publicly owned KiwiMart supermarket. More than 30 ED nurses from Gisborne Hospital will strike for an hour on Wednesday over unsafe staffing levels. National wants to lift the income cap on the First Home Loan scheme to $300,000…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-06_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-05 - NZ First to campaign for conservation land to be open for economic development and 9 more stories

2026-09-05 12:00 UTC | 24:15 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. Deputy leader Shane Jones wants economic activities like mining and quarrying on conservation land - apart from in national parks. In her second national address, Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po carried her father's call for kotahitanga. Hardship withdrawal numbers have increased rapidly in recent years. Pharmac is considering wider access to meningitis vaccines, as the Meningitis Foundation warns the $450 cost is preventing some families from access…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-05_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-03 - Waitangi Tribunal finds disability system breaches Te Tiriti and 9 more stories

2026-09-03 12:00 UTC | 23:39 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. The voices of tāngata whaikaha Māori have been "made invisible" within the system, the tribunal says. A doctor at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital says 103 patients were queuing at 11.15pm on Wednesday, waiting to be seen by just seven doctors. The State Department says the Trump Administration is reorienting Pacific relationships towards "championing US enterprise and investments", mirroring its approach to much of the developing world. Solomon Islands Prime…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-03_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio

2026-09-02 - Global warming will inevitably overshoot 1.5°C Paris Agreement target - UN report and 9 more stories

2026-09-02 12:00 UTC | 23:19 | 12 segments

This episode includes 10 news blocks. A UN report says the world must keep the 'overshoot' as small as possible to limit irreversible damage. All eyes will now turn to what the central bank thinks will happen next. The plant flooded, sending 14 billion litres of raw sewage into Wellington’s south coast. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers "strongly rejected" the claims when they were first made public. Syphilis rates have had the biggest drop - about a quarter - and have fallen everywhere exce…

Transcript: https://nznews.pages.dev/episodes/2026-09-02_news/transcript.vtt

Download audio