Winston Peters is accusing Don Brash and Helen Clark of "relevance deprivation syndrome", after their criticism of his approach to China.

The former National and Labour leaders are warning the Government that it could be putting our largest trading relationship at risk by aligning too closely with the US.

Brash believes that it is unwise to shift priority from China to the US given the current tension between the two superpowers.

Peters says he stands by the government's independent foreign policy, and he sees no value in indulging in tired arguments from former politicians.

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UK and Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney spoke to Ryan Bridge about German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to the White House.

The chancellor presented President Donald Trump with a gift: The birth certificate of President Trump’s German grandfather, which seemed to go down well with the President.

Despite the positivity on the outside, McAviney said that the difference between the two nations’ approach to the war in Ukraine has led negotiations to continue behind closed doors.

McAviney also said that Germany is likely aiming to secure a deal with the US that will reduce the effects of Trump’s tariffs.

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Rugby commentator Tony Johnson joined Ryan Bridge to discussthethree upcoming qualifying finalsgames this weekend.

The first match taking place tonight sees the Crusaders take on the Reds. The odds seem to be stacked against the Reds, as an Australian team is still yet to win a Super Rugby playoff game against a Kiwi team on Kiwi soil.

The Chiefs and the Blues are also due to face off this weekend. Johnson told Ryan Bridge that the Chiefs will be out for revenge after their crushing defeat in last year’s finals.

The Hurricanes are taking a trip over the ditch to face the Brumbies. Johnson said that the Hurricanes’excellent form could win it for them – but it won’t be easy.

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Misleading vape labelling is a worry for youth vaping.

A study in the medical journal shows more than half of vape juices have incorrectly labelled how much nicotine they contain.

Most of the mislabelled products had significantly less nicotine than advertised—some by over 50%.

Vape Free Kids Co-Founder Charyl Robinson told Ryan Bridge there's no funded support for youth quitting vaping and families are paying the price.

She says it's hard enough on families trying to support their children, let alone with no confidence in how much nicotine is actually in the product they're using.

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On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Friday 6th of June 2025, there's pressure on the Prime Minister to separate New Zealand's foreign policy from America's Former National Party Leader Don Brash shares his open letter with Ryan.

It's the Super Rugby quarter finals this weekend, rugby commentator Tony Johnson tells Ryan who he thinks the favourites will be.

There's been a new study in the Medical Journal which has found more than half of vape juices have been labelled with the wrong concentration of nicotine, Co-founder of Vape Free Kids Charyl Robinson shares her thoughts on how harmful this can be.

Plus, UK/ Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney has the latest on Friedrich Merz meeting with Trump in the Oval office.

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

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Well that was as chaotic as you'd expect.

I caught the first half of Parliament's debate on the haka-gate.

Winston Peters went full attack dog.

Willie Jackson fought back.

Waititi brought a noose into the chamber.

And Adrian Rurawhe, former Speaker and Labour MP, had the most sensible and respectable take of the debate.

I've had the pleasure of interviewing him a few times. He's a humble, quiet and observant sort of guy.

He's quick to a smile and enjoys a good argument.

Not that you could hear it in the House yesterday. Loads of interjecting. Lots of noise.

Adrian gets respect because he shushed his own Labour colleagues while he was up on his feet.

He made two decent points.

1. The Privileges Committee is meant to be bipartisan. The fact this punishment was not is a bad thing. Why? Because now it's open season for governments - of any persuasion, can weaponise its punishments against their political opponents. This is not a good thing. As he points out, this was the government punishing MPs, not the Parliament. Which it ought to be.

Herein lies the problem with Parliament these days - there is no agreed standard of behaviours that's universal to all MPs. Getting physically up in somebody's grill is considered OK by some. The House is meant to be about what comes out of your mouth, not how close another MP is to it.

2. Rurawhe scolded the Māori Party for not apologising for their bad behaviour. He spoke of his cousin Dame Tariana Turia. She never skipped a vote, worked hard for her people and spoke on every bill before the House. The question really is whether Te Pati Māori actually wants to be in Parliament or whether it wants a separate one.
If it wants the latter, which its website says it does, and doesn't turn up half the time or gets suspended for breaking rules, you've got to ask yourself why they're there in the first place.

All in all, aside from Adrian's wise words, there's a few hours wasted the House won't get back.

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Fighting in Trump’s cabinet after Elon Musk lashed out at Trump’s “Big, beautiful bill”.

US Correspondent Mitchell McCann told Ryan Bridge that Elon Musk’s comments earlier in the week have gone unaddressed by the President so far.

Musk took to X and called the President’s new bill a “disgusting abomination.” Later adding that the bill would increase the budget deficit to $2.5trillion.

President Trump wanted the bill on his desk by the 4th of July, but the opposition from one of his closest allies could drastically slow down the process.

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The Commerce Commission is ramping up efforts to disrupt the supermarket monopoly.

It says supplier charges and promotional pricing are reinforcing the dominance of Foodstuffs and Woolworths.

It's proposing a simplified grocery code, reducing the range of payments that supermarkets can charge suppliers.

Grocery expert Ernie Newman told Ryan Bridge that supermarkets are receiving billions of dollars in discounts - which largely aren't being passed on to consumers.

He says there's more money floating around in the sector than the Commerce Commission had previously identified.

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