On the Early Edition with Andrew Dickens Full Show Podcast Monday 19th of October 2026, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Labour's health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall joins Andrew to discuss health policy ahead of the election.

National wants to scrap the right to silence in child murder cases if re-elected, Victims advocate Ruth Money shares her thoughts.

Business Correspondent Vicky Pryce has the latest on Germany and France agree on EU car policy, with easing of vehicle emissions targets for the sector and more protection for their car industry and the UK's growth better than expected in August.

Plus, UK/Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on riots and looting in France and demonstrators and riot police fighting pitched battles in the centre of Tirana, Albania for the fifth day in a row.

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

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A suggestion National's promise to remove the right to remain silent could be expanded beyond cases involving children.

If re-elected, the party wants to remove the right, when a child under 12 is killed.

The party admits the policy may breach the Bill of Rights Act, but says bringing accountability to unresolved cases outweighs the potential harms.

Chief Victims Advisor Ruth Money told Andrew Dickens the right to remain silent is also an issue in adult murders.

She says for example if there's two people in a house where someone's been killed, they can both remain silent and refuse justice for the victims family.

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The split voting thing.

In the weekend papers were full of full-page ads paid for by RCR.

This appears to be the vessel for Don Brash and Nick Mowbray to promote their tactical voting tactic to create an overhang that benefits the centre right.

I don't like it the same way Don Brash doesn't like John Key telling people how to vote and of course their platform benefits in that they have money to buy the ads.

People have accused me of not liking it because it benefits the centre right.

No, I don't like how Te Pati Māori do it either.

If the left were to do it, I wouldn't like it.

If Jim Anderton, the multi-millionaire socialist, had tried it I would have called it out too.

And now national has said the sweetheart deal with ACT in Epsom is over.

Again, people telling people how to vote.

They're all as bad as each other.

The problem is 2 votes.

So, I looked at what might happen if we had just one vote that counted for both the electorate MP and towards a national total that could create a proportional parliament.

And yes, it could.

It could still cause an overhang if parties win more electorates than their national voting share entitles them to.

But it would certainly stop all this jiggery pokery and attempts to game the system which just seems undemocratic to me.

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After a decisive victory over the Wallabies last week, it's time for round two.

The All Blacks secured the Bledisloe Cup, but pride is still on the line as the two teams clash at Sydney's Accord Stadium.

Newstalk ZB's Elliott Smith told Andrew Dickens the Kiwi side will be wanting to go our and deliver a similar performance to what we saw at Eden Park, given they got back on track after three losses in South Africa.

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A solar advocate agrees National's six-month timeframe to get plug-in solar in shops is doable.

New Zealand doesn't yet have regulations to permit the trade of plug-in systems.

National's pledging to prioritise finishing work already under way in getting them into shops if re-elected.

Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey told Andrew Dickens it's a simple process, which many countries including the US, UK, and places across Europe have made the most of.

Labour's policy is similar but says changes to enable plug-in solar would be within 12 months of a government it leads taking office.

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A patients advocate says the news of Starship treatment delays isn't about making anyone look bad, but keeping families informed.

The Auckland children's hospital's confirmed about 20 chemotherapy cycles have been delayed by a few days, due to staffing shortages.

Health NZ says it had to make adjustments amid high demand and high staff sickness.

Patient Voice Aotearoa Chair Malcolm Mulholland told Andrew Dickens he's thankful for the whistleblower who revealed this, because no one knew.

He says the way it's been handled and the messaging from Health NZ leaders has been deplorable.

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Yesterday's talkback outrage was all about the MPs and the gangs.

A meeting that was condemned by both the Chris's in the Leaders debate.

But despite this weight of opinion Marama Davidson doubled down on the visit.

And then she promised more funding for gang run social programmes.

Well, I don't think Marama quite understands the issue.

I actually don't mind MPs talking with criminals to better understand where they're at.

And I don't mind them talking with gangs.

There are 11.000 gang members now with tens of thousands of related whanau, many of whom need intervention by the State.

Whether it's support for single mothers, or rescuing of children from abusive homes, or housing.

It's good to see these issues first hand with your own eyes.

However the real problem was the social media posting of the photos.

They legitimised the gangs and even celebrated their existence to the wider public.

To not see that was silly and naive of Marama particularly in a week where the Greens are polling better than ever.

The fact that it was done so close to the election means it's been weaponised and once again it casts doubts around The Greens being equipped to have their hand on the tiller of this country.

And it's interesting that Chloe Swarbrick has been silent.

Asked if the event was acceptable Ms Swarbrick did not give a definitive yes or no.

Instead, she stated that she needed to “understand more of the context as to what has played out here.

She's learnt a lot over the years and knows better.

Unlike Marama Davidson. The reason the right attack Ms Swarbrick and not Marama is that they know one is a threat and the other is an irrelevancy.

You get the feeling that the co-leadership thing is a thing of the past.

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