An employment expert says the Public Service Commission must undergo due process in its handling of Andrew Coster.

A scathing IPCA report's found the former Police Commissioner was among those in senior police leadership who failed to properly address sex allegations against the then Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

McSkimming last week admitted to possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material.

Coster is now head of the Social Investment Agency and being investigated by his employer, the Public Service Commissioner.

Max Whitehead told Ryan Bridge there must be just cause for termination.

He says bringing the organisation into disrepute is a sackable offence.

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North Auckland oyster farmers believe a million dollar payout from Watercare isn't enough to cover their reputational loss.

A power surge at the Warkworth pump station caused a massive sewage spill in the Mahurangi River, meaning an almost month-long halt to harvesting.

Watercare's payout to Aquaculture New Zealand will be distributed across 10 impacted oyster farmers.

Mahurangi Oyster Farmers' Association Chair Lynette Dunn told Ryan Bridge you can't put a price on not being able to harvest good quality oysters.

She says stories about the wastewater issues mean all oyster farmers in the area have had their reputations damaged.

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It's feared Fire and Emergency's proposed restructure will leave New Zealanders less safe.

It's expected to impact about 700 roles, with a net loss of 140.

No frontline firefighter positions will be affected but some supporting functions may change.

PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons told Ryan Bridge the jobs under threat work on prevention, operational response, and wildfires.

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The White House says released emails claiming Donald Trump spent hours with a victim of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein create a fake narrative.

The House Oversight Committee has released a tranche of emails and documents from Epstein's estate - another referencing the now US President as 'the dog that hasn't barked'.

The White House says the victim referenced in the emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said Trump wasn't involved in any wrongdoing.

US correspondent Mitch McCann told Ryan Bridge Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

He says the White House says these are nothing more than bad faith efforts to distract from Trump's historic accomplishments.

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I've seen a lot of commentary in the past few days about our government debt position.

We're up over 40% of GDP. That's doubled on pre-covid.

There are those on the left who say that's too little. We should borrow more. Forget a debt ceiling, borrow more and throw it at the public service and create some jobs. Any jobs.

This is what Carney is doing Canada.

His budget would double Ottawa's debt to 80-odd billion.

They've got Trump tariffs and weak domestic demand.

So, he's getting out the deficit and trying to revive it.

Make no mistake, if a Labour-led government were to get in. That is the approach we'd have taken here.

Chris Hipkins has made that very clear. TPM and the Greens would make sure of it, too.

What we haven't heard from them yet is how much more they're wanting to borrow.

Remember Robertson has a debt ceiling of 30% of GDP. Well, didn't that go well?

The fact is it's popular to spend more. It sounds like you're doing something. The more you spend, the more you care, goes the theory.

Average public debt ratio to GDP for advanced economies is roughly 110 percent.

So, we're well under that. But we're a small, isolated and trading-exposed country in the middle of trade war.

What we need is headroom. morning star, who've just given the government AAA credit rating, said as much.

And as for those banks making massive profits?

Well, turns out that's actually quote important, too. Morningstar said we weathered the housing market correction so well because well-capitalised banks that are also very liquid, and they have strong buffers to absorb losses.

So not all is as it seems. Bank profits and seemingly stingy insistence on returning books to surplus, not only keep our interest costs down, but also keep us afloat during touch times.

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On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Thursday 13th of November 2025, Sir Brian Roche is investigating Andrew Coster over the IPCA report.

Watercare is set to pay a $1 million settlement to 10 oyster farmers affected by a sewage spill.

FENZ is proposing to cut more than a hundred jobs, PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons explains how it will impact firefighters.

Plus US Correspondent Mitch McCann has the latest on new allegations from House Democrats that Donald Trump knew about Mr Epstein's illegal behaviour and the latest on the US government shutdown.

Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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AA believes it'll be difficult to conduct the new roadside drug tests at the same volume as alcohol tests.

From December, Police across Wellington can do random roadside saliva tests – screening for cannabis, methamphetamine, MDMA, and cocaine.

The rollout will begin throughout the rest of the country from April.

Drivers testing positive will need to do a second test that checks for 25 substances.

AA Road Safety Spokesperson Dylan Thomsen told Ryan Bridge the test takes three to five minutes to complete.

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Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster is "on leave" from the Social Investment Agency following a damning report into the handling of the Jevon McSkimming case.

The former Deputy Police Commissioner is awaiting sentence after last week pleading guilty to having child sexual exploitation and bestiality material on his work devices.

The IPCA's report reveals senior leadership ignored anonymous allegations McSkimming was a sexual predator, and instead the woman was prosecuted for digital harassment.

Survivors' advocate Louise Nicholas told Ryan Bridge Coster's role in this really makes her angry.

She says he has a lot to answer for around this and he needs to front up.

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