Presenter and journalist Rebecca Wright will join Simon Shepherd as co-host of Three's political current affairs show Newshub Nation, Warner Bros Discovery has announced.
Oriini Kaipara has chosen to step back after tomorrow's show to focus her commitment on delivering general news and stories from a Māori perspective across the suite of Newshub bulletins - which includes reporting from the field and presenting Newshub Live at 4.30pm.
Executive Producer of Newshub Nation Hannah Brown said: "It's been a privilege to work with Oriini and she'll remain a part of the Nation whānau as a guest interviewer and ongoing contributor of stories."
"Rebecca brings high energy, and a wealth of experience after stints as a foreign correspondent, political reporter, current affairs journalist and of course presenter of Newshub Live at 8pm on eden," Brown continued.
"I'm delighted to be welcoming such a fearless journalist and interviewer onto the Nation team ahead of election year."
Wright said: "I'm thrilled to be joining the team at Newshub Nation. It's a fascinating time with the political landscape changing so much and I'm looking forward to diving into the issues on behalf of our audience."
With over 15 years of experience in television reporting, Wright has covered major news events including the Christchurch earthquake and three New Zealand election campaigns, global breaking news, and red carpet premieres.
Her political expertise is expansive - starting as a political reporter in the Parliamentary Press Gallery; working at CNN in Hong Kong and as a correspondent in the United States where she spent three years reporting on every major political event of the Trump Presidency and the White House.
She's interviewed high profile subjects ranging from Joe Biden as he launched his campaign for President, to Scarlett Johansson on the red carpet. She's reported on the US border crisis; the Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein trials, and the Mandalay Bay mass shooting; provided live coverage of Hurricane Harvey in Houston; was the America's Cup Correspondent; has reported from the Oscars in LA, and from the United Nations.
Shepherd has co-hosted Newshub Nation since 2018, drawing on 25 years of journalism experience, including at BBC World News and across two decades of current affairs and politics with Three.
Newshub Nation airs live on Saturdays at 9.30am, with repeats on Sundays at 10am and Tuesdays at 11pm, and is funded by New Zealand On Air through the Public Interest Journalism Fund.
Wright will continue to present Newshub Live at 8pm weekdays on eden.
