Kelvin Davidson: Cotality Chief Property Economist on first home buyers making up 30% of purchases in the third quarter

New Zealand Rugby Players' Association boss Rob Nichol has reflected on a needs-must moment for the sport. That follows the move for the five Super Rugby city hubs to consolidate franchise operations with their respective NPC teams from 2028, in a bid to reduce overhead costs. The governing body are also aiming to have more school leavers attending academies, something Nichol says is paramount in the current landscape. He told Ryan Bridge when kids are coming out of school, they really want to know what they're committing to. Nichol says the sporting landscape is competitive – it's not like 15, 20 years ago, people have options. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Possible overhangs, high voter turnout, lower enrolment, and the Opportunity Party all mean the outcome of the election is too close to call, former Labour leader Phil Goff says. “Come Election Night, by midnight we may well not know who is going to govern New Zealand and that may take a couple of weeks after that, probably up to the edge of Christmas,” Goff told Ryan Bridge. While National could get a “huge overhang” if people split their candidate and party votes, it wasn’t clear if that campaign was working, Goff said. He also believed turnout this year would be better than in 2023, based on early voting levels. However enrolment was down, Goff said, claiming up to 100,000 people had been "disenfranchised" by the enrolment cutoff changing. The fate of Opportunity was also key, with leader Qiulae Wong saying she would find it very hard to work with NZ First. "If the Opportunity Party gets in then there is...a chance that there'll be a change of government. If they don't get in, that makes it much harder for the left-of-centre coalition." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Halloween is the new fireworks for kids in New Zealand, and it's a hell of a lot less controversial. New Zealand First wants to ban backyard fireworks. Winston loves his horses and they get spooked. The Greens back a ban. They love adopted Greyhounds. And cats. When I was young, this time of year was all about shooting each other with Godzilla's. Smokebombs. Scraping all the powder off 50 sparklers to make a sparkler bomb. But these days Halloween is where it's at. The old English tradition has been overtaken by its American competitor. Well, it's not really American but the Americans have made it popular. That means it's a growth industry. If you're going to get Dracula teeth, you need Dracula blood. If you're getting the blood, why not get the whole costume? Australians are expected to spend half a billion dollars on Halloween this year. That's up on last year. If this trend continues, there'll probably be no point banning backyard fireworks, they'll just fizzle out on their own. And on the whole, that's probably not a bad thing. Better for kids to be scared witless than horses and dogs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Friday 30 October. Get the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast every weekday morning on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A gin distillery at the bottom of the country is earning top-shelf recognition. Bluff Distillery's been inducted into the prestigious Gin Guild – one of the first in New Zealand to receive the honour. Co-founder Chris Fraser was installed as Warden Rectifier at the Lord Mayor of London's mansion earlier this month, just two years since launching the distillery. Fraser told Ryan Bridge there's no secret formula behind their success. He says it's gin that tastes like gin, as they just stick to the basics. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.