Sky’s free-to-air channel Prime is getting a makeover in less than a week’s time. It will become Sky Open from next Wednesday at 6am, bringing with it a new logo, colour scheme and “a wide range of exciting content”.

“Sky Open enables Sky to create a bold and distinctive channel identity, connected to our family of Sky platforms and channels,” said Sky’s Lauren Quaintance. “This new look encourages existing and new audiences to open themselves up to a world of sport and entertainment, both local and international. Sky Open is a key part of Sky’s strategy to deliver superb content to New Zealanders in ways that work for them.”

The new channel will replace Prime on Sky channel four and Freeview 15, and viewers who prefer to stream or watch on demand will be able to access it for free via Sky Go.

The government’s unveiled its draft Government Policy Statement on land transport, which includes a plan to increase petrol tax in order to pay for major roading projects.

Announced by prime minister Chris Hipkins and transport minister David Parker in Auckland this afternoon, the proposal includes 14 “nation-building” transport projects, including a Warkworth to Whangārei motorway, an Avondale to Onehunga rail link, a second Mount Victoria tunnel and a mass transit corridor from Wellington CBD to Island Bay. There are also new bypasses and motorway extensions in the South Island.

“These routes include a balanced mix of public transport and roads, which require work as a priority to reduce congestion, manage emissions, improve safety, grow the economy and open up areas for housing,” said Hipkins.

It’s standard business for a government to set out a draft statement on transport in order to set priorities for the years ahead. While this does come ahead of the October election, today’s announcement is technically separate from Labour’s own transport priorities for the campaign.

National has labelled the announcement “cynical” and said it plucked from its own previously announced transport policy.

“It’s great to see that Labour has finally accepted that they have been wrong about roads and that they are endorsing National’s transport plan – but no one believes they will actually, finally deliver,” Simeon Brown said.

Also as part of the announcement today was the revelation that petrol will become more expensive in order to fund the projects. Parker said that some of the additional funding will come from fuel tax and road user charges. “These sources fund the core of our transport networks. Past governments have regularly increased these charges, and this will commence again,” he said.

“The increase in the first year is proposed to be split into an initial two cent increase, with another two cents six months later. This is to be followed by a four-cent annual increase in 2025 and again in 2026 – a total increase of 12 cents over three years.”

The $1.4 billion expected to be raised from fuel taxes was only a small amount compared with the overall $5.3 billion increase to transport funding as part of the proposal, said Parker.

National’s Christopher Luxon wouldn’t be drawn on comments made by Winston Peters about single sex bathrooms, saying the New Zealand First leader was on another planet.

But, he still won’t rule out entering into a coalition with the party come October 14.

Fronting to media after a policy announcement in Auckland this morning, Luxon was asked whether he supported Peters’ policy that would enforce unisex and single-sex public bathrooms which couldn’t be used by the opposite sex.

“You are on another planet if you want to talk about bathrooms and make that an election issue,” Luxon told reporters. “It is the wrong issue at a time when New Zealanders are dealing with an economic crisis.”

Luxon maintained that the only way people could change the government was to vote for National, brushing away questions about potential coalition arrangements that may include New Zealand First. A handful of recent polls show the Peters-led party would make it back into parliament.

National has proposed allowing people to split their KiwiSaver funds between different investment providers, suggesting it would allow for more choice and possible returns.

Party leader Christopher Luxon is set to address the Financial Services Council at Auckland’s Cordis Hotel, alongside his consumer affairs spokesperson Andrew Bayly.

In a statement, Bayly said the current rules mean New Zealanders were forced have to have all their KiwiSaver savings with just one provider.

“KiwiSaver plays an increasingly important role in the New Zealand investment environment, as generations of savers continue to accumulate assets. But restrictions on savers and fund managers are pushing up fees and limiting investment opportunities,” he said.

“Increasing flexibility and choice for KiwiSavers to allocate their savings across multiple providers will encourage innovation, and higher potential returns over their lifetime.”

The party has also pledged to “roll back” the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act which was introduced by the current government. “[It’s] stifled access to credit and resulted in borrowers being subjected to highly intrusive questioning from their bank, with every purchase, membership, or subscription up for scrutiny,” Bayly said. “Someone looking to start a business by extending their mortgage shouldn’t have to tell their bank which brand of cat food they buy or justify their Netflix subscription.”

Luxon will front media after his speech this morning. Along with questions on this newly announced policy, expert further questions over the party’s rumoured plan to scrap the foreign buyers ban. We’ll bring you more from the Cordis as it unfolds.

It’s not quite a kettle of hawks but the Reserve Bank’s (RBNZ) tone yesterday was described as “mildly hawkish”. The RBNZ held the OCR at 5.5% but advised that the peak might be closer to 5.59% and that another hike could be possible. It also pushed its first projected OCR cut out to the first half of 2025. New forecasts from the central bank indicate New Zealand’s economy would enter recession in the third quarter this year. That’s the three-month period ending in September, which we find out about in December, once again potentially positioning RBNZ governor Adrian Orr in a most unseasonable light.

As Liam Dann writes (paywalled), the picture painted by the central bank was one of New Zealand walking “an economic tightrope”. “To one side, and dominating recent headlines, there is the risk that a slowing Chinese economy and falling prices for New Zealand exports might drag us down into recession. To the other side is the ongoing risk that inflation may prove to be more deeply embedded and persistent than hoped”, Dann writes. Dairy prices fell by 7.4% at yesterday morning’s Global Dairy Trade auction. The RBNZ’s website also took a brief technical tumble and was down after the announcement at 2pm yesterday. I can only assume it was due to demand akin to trying to buy Taylor Swift tickets.

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The government’s set to lay down its priorities for transport today, with reports across three newspapers this morning suggesting major projects in our main centres will be committed to.

Wellington’s The Post has reported that the Government Policy Statement on Transport, set to be revealed this afternoon by prime minister Chris Hipkins and transport minister David Parker, will include a step forward for the long-stagnating Let’s Get Wellington Moving project.

According to Stuff’s political editor Luke Malpass, that will involve the government asking Waka Kotahi to fast track select projects including highway extensions and a rapid transit corridor, potentially meaning the current central government-local council partnership will be scrapped.

Earlier this month, Hipkins wouldn’t confirm whether or not the Let’s Get Wellington Moving plan would move ahead under his leadership, but admitted it had been taking too long to get up and running. It has been reported that the “key pillars and projects” of the multibillion-dollar plan appear to remain unchanged.

Meanwhile, the Herald has reported that today’s policy statement will also detail plans for a new northwestern busway in Auckland, extending the popular northern busway track on the city’s North Shore. And in Christchurch, a new bypass aimed at cutting congestion will also be announced.

In contrast to recent policy announcements made by Hipkins, this policy statement is made in his capacity as prime minister and not Labour Party leader, signalling transport priorities for the next few years should the party win this October’s election.