Across the Ditch: Australian radio FiveAA.com.au‘s Peter Godfrey and EveningReport.nz‘s Selwyn Manning deliver this week’s bulletin and discuss: First up: Weather comparison + Headlines round up. ITEM ONE Defence/Security: New Zealand Government commits to extend defence deployment to Iraq for another two years. Announced a week after revealing a $20 billion defence spend up over the next two decades. ITEM TWO New Tech Plan for Road Tolls The government and Auckland Council are considering applying a toll for drivers on Auckland’s motorways. It’s a bid to help pay for the city’s huge infrastructure upgrades, including an underground rail loop in the inner city and interconnecting the city’s numerous motorways and arterial routes. The burden of paying for the construction is something the government is loathed to meet, and the city’s ratepayers have already faced significant rate increases since the region amalgamated into a fairly expansive single city. SPORT All Blacks V Wales: Thankfully Selwyn does not have to eat his hat on air as the All Blacks did beat Wales last Saturday night. The third and final test is played this weekend in the cold deep south of the South Island in the city of Dunedin. Julian Savea is back in the side and there’s been some tweaking by the coach Steve Hansen.
Across the Ditch broadcasts live on Australia’s FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.
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