Pacific Waves for 17 October 2026

Australian comedian Heath Franklin has spent 20 years in the iconic Aviators, fake horseshoe moustache and Sharpie tattoos that transform him into his stand-up comedy version of infamous Aussie jailbird Chopper Read. Ahead of returning to New Zealand next month to roll out some of his greatest hits…

On any given Saturday, before much of Auckland is stirring the Ōtara Markets are already humming. For 50 years they've been a fixture of South Auckland life - rich in Pacific culture and vibrancy, offering food, music, crafts and art.  One stallholder has spent 30 of those years turning up week aft…

ESNZ releases its Tropical Cyclone outlook; The Kiwi cost of living forces hard choices; Mangere's voters grill political candidates; Pacific people struggle with the highest rates of respiratory illness in Aotearoa.

The Kiwi-born best-selling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz is back with another work of historical fiction, this time detailing the story of a young Jewish woman in World War Two era Paris who is protected by her piano teacher at great personal risk. Heather Morris joins Saturday Morning to ta…