/on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/rss 九一星空无限 KERRE WOODHAM MORNINGS Audio Opinion This is the show that delivers a little bit of everything. 九一星空无限, opinion, analysis, lifestyle and e Tue, 16 Sept 2025 02:15:18 Z en /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-right-to-free-speech-and-its-consequences/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-right-to-free-speech-and-its-consequences/ When US conservative activist and media personality Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on Wednesday, a lot of people had an awful lot to say.   Those on the right of the spectrum mourned the senseless violence and deplored the actions of the left. Many of those on the left rejoiced, were gleeful. And there's no other word for it when you look at some of the posts on social media.   For others of us, it was a deep dive into why Charlie Kirk was so well-regarded by conservatives in the US. I was aware of him, but I certainly wasn't aware of the breadth of his reach in the US. So, for me it was an information-finding exercise. And what I saw was a lot of grieving, a lot of mourning on the right, and rejoicing and jokes on the left.   Some took a righteous tone, like New Zealand investment manager and Kiwi Saver fund provider boss Sam Stubbs. He posted on LinkedIn on Saturday saying, "We should mourn the violence but not the man, and we certainly cannot eulogise a racist, sexist and bigot. RIP Charlie Kirk, I wish your ideas had died with you."   It certainly wasn't the worst thing I'd seen posted about Charlie Kirk's death, not particularly charitable, probably unnecessary.   Now, the Simplicity boss has apologised on LinkedIn and deleted the post. Stubbs said his first post on Kirk's death was sent in haste. Odd, given he wrote it on Saturday and Kirk was murdered on Wednesday. Three days should give you enough time to consider what you want to say.    Anyway, he went on, "It did not come across as I intended, and I apologise to anyone who took offence." Well, of course they're going to take offence. "Here's what I intended to say," he said. "Murder is murder, anyone celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk is celebrating acts of wilful vengeance. That is wrong, full stop."   He said he found much of what Kirk believed as sexist, racist and profoundly objectionable, but in a democracy, he said, he has the right to speak and to live to say what he thought. And let's hope his supporters feel the same way about those who disagreed with him, he added. Probably unnecessarily. Fairly grudging, and you'd wonder why he bothered. Why on earth would you bother?   Is he going to lose enough business to see a dent in his company? I wouldn't have thought so. Possibly he might be concerned about not getting a visa into the US. In the wake of the rejoicing from opponents of the ultra-conservatives, there's been a backlash in the US. Numerous workers have been fired for their comments on Kirk's death. Teachers, firefighters, journalists, nurses, politicians, a worker for a prominent NFL team. And the Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, posted on X, "In light of yesterday's horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country. I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalising or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action. Please feel free to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention so that the State Department can protect the American people." Well, in they came. People have been more than willing to dob in their fellow countrymen, including the hosts of Breakfast TV. A poster put up the clip of the crew shooting a Trump doll with Bug-A-Salt back in 2023. You can imagine the reaction to that. "Never let these people into the country," and on it went. It's not the first-time people have lost jobs over things they say publicly, but in the US, the speed of the firings has raised questions about free speech rights. And it does seem odd that a passionate proponent of free speech, like Charlie Kirk, should see people sacked in his name because they're exercising their right to free speech. It seems a bit incongruous, but there it is. Are you aware that if you do post, and especially in this day an... Mon, 15 Sept 2025 23:16:46 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-allowing-247-hospital-visitor-hours-is-bonkers/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-allowing-247-hospital-visitor-hours-is-bonkers/ Of the many, many insane, ideologically driven policies I have heard come from government departments over the years, this has got to be one of the most bonkers.  There have been times over the years, when I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, when I've fantasised about ending up in hospital. Nothing life-changing or dramatic, just a nice routine operation, five days in a lovely quiet ward. Crisp white sheets, view out to Cornwall Park, the scent of lush green grass carried by the gentle zephyrs of spring through the open window. Matron running the ward with a firm, but benevolent gloved hand. I can sleep and rest and be protected from the rigours of reality in a nurturing, safe environment. Oh, how those days have gone. If they ever existed, I think they may well be some kind of Enid Blyton-esque type fantasy I got through reading old-fashioned books. I am really, really struggling to see how 24/7 visitors' access to hospitals is going to benefit anyone. Anyone. Not the patients, not the security staff, certainly not the nursing staff. On the face of it, it looks like a desperate attempt to shore up staff deficiencies in the wards. They say it's not. Health New Zealand says the implementation of the new patient and whānau family support policy is not driven by staffing levels, but is about giving patients the choice of having whānau support when they needed it. National Chief Nurse Nadine Gray says the policy is patient-centred and driven by whānau voice. That's what the official party line is.   New Zealand Nurses Organisation says the union supports full access for families to be involved in patients' care, which can be very important in some cultures, but they reckon the current push is more a response to the increasing need for patient watches and the lack of staff to do them, and I think they're probably on the money. Patient watches are needed if a vulnerable patient needs monitoring to ensure they don't hurt themselves or interfere with treatment, and are usually carried out by trained healthcare assistants. But because there's a chronic shortage of healthcare assistants, family members, say the Nurses Organisation, are being expected to take up the role. Now, decision-makers might think that the general public will understand that the 24/7 access is ideally for those with children in hospital or family members with dementia or patients who have specific needs. But that is not what the general public will hear. You'll get 20 people camped around a bed with takeaways for five days, while an adult son waits for an operation for his leg fracture. It'll be hoots-wah-hey and off. Party central. The Health New Zealand Chief Executive says under the policy, whānau will be supported to be with patients 24/7 (24/7! have we even asked the patients if they want the whānau there for 24/7?) where appropriate, working alongside nursing and maternity teams to make this possible. And here's the absolute banger for me - while respecting the privacy and recovery of others. How? Unless you're in a Portacabin 20 miles away from me on the hospital grounds, how is my privacy going to be respected? How, when the only thing preventing me from becoming a member of my neighbour's extended family is a flimsy nylon curtain? The nursing staff and security can't be expected to manage the number of visitors, supposed to be one or two per person. That doesn't work now. How are they going to be expected to manage the behaviour of the visitors, the transgressions of the visitors? We are living in a culture of self, where individuals prioritise their own needs. Their own wants and desires over the need of the collective good of others. Bloody hell, if there was ever an incentive to lace up the walking shoes and say no to the doughnut, it's this. The thought of ending up in a hospital ward now, my vision has long been shattered. In an ward with three other people is bad enough. The thought of ending up in a ward with three other people and... Mon, 15 Sept 2025 00:45:32 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/nadine-gray-health-nz-national-chief-nurse-on-247-visiting-hours-in-hospitals/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/nadine-gray-health-nz-national-chief-nurse-on-247-visiting-hours-in-hospitals/ Health NZ is planning to remove restrictions on visiting hours at hospitals.   The change would allow family members to visit patients at any hour of the day, a move that has led to mixed responses.   Health NZ National Chief Nurse Nadine Gray told Kerre Woodham that the change is part of a patient support policy.  ‘It’s part of the code of patients’ rights to have support.’  LISTEN ABOVE  Sun, 14 Sept 2025 23:10:57 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-consequences-of-stuart-nashs-ill-advised-one-liner/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-consequences-of-stuart-nashs-ill-advised-one-liner/ Now, long-time listeners will know that I have said, I do say, and I will undoubtedly in the future say stupid things. In a career spanning decades, we are talking live on stage or live on air, television or radio. When you're going for the snappy one-liner and you're pushing the language out and you're trying to be clever and you're trying to be funny, a lot of the time you're operating on instinct. You have to speak without thinking. I know you're not supposed to, but when you're doing live radio, live television, live on stage, you have to speak without thinking. So the potential for saying something offensive or stupid or both is very real.  That does not excuse you from the consequences of saying something out of line. I've had to suffer them before. It just explains how it happens. So, while I can see how Stuart Nash came to make his ill-advised one-liner on what defines a woman, I can also see and understand the repercussions. Especially for someone who works in executive recruitment for a company that presumably sees women as more than being how Stuart Nash described them. And also, for someone who wants to run for public office. Yesterday, Nash resigned from his job at Robert Walters after he gave his definition of a woman to The Platform media outlet earlier this week.  For those who don't know what he said, text Nash to 9292 and we'll text it back to you. No, that's not what will happen, but you must know what he said! Anyway, as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew he'd gone too far. He asked his wife, "Was this a really stupid thing to say?" And she went, "Yeah, it really, really, really was, you complete and utter numpty." I'm putting words into Mrs. Nash's mouth, but I imagine it was that or somewhat stronger. He phoned The Platform back asking for the clip of what he'd said to be taken down. As if. It was all over social media in a matter of minutes.  The matter's been bubbling away for a few days now and then Nash's employers, Robert Walters, the executive recruitment firm, took decisive action yesterday by encouraging, no doubt, Nash's resignation.  Now Nash's potential employer, New Zealand First, is in a bit of a conundrum really, because Winston Peters is old school. He holds decorum and standards and ways of doing things, he holds fast to those old principles. He might swear – I've been at private parties where he's been. I've never heard him, but I'm not saying he doesn't, I've just never heard him swear. And I cannot imagine him ever using the words Nash used to describe women.  Peters spoke to my colleague Nick Mills earlier in the week about the values pledge needed for new migrants, because too many people were coming to New Zealand without the requisite respect for equality and respect for women. Awkward. Winston doesn't like coarseness, and he doesn't like vulgarity. So that's against Nash. But he hates the media, and the media is who got his golden boy into trouble. What to do, what to do if you're the leader of NZ First?  After some consideration, Winston Peters issued a statement saying the words used by Nash were not acceptable, and on that point, we agree with Mrs. Nash. End of statement. The irony is that Nash's definition of a woman, here it comes, for all of you who are texting 9292, he described a woman as a person with a "p***y and a pair of t**s", which is a rather crude reduction of what an individual might be, but nonetheless, that's what he said.  But the irony is that definition of a woman could equally describe a trans woman. "P***y and a pair of t**s". Or a trans man. Nash has lost quite a lot without getting any further ahead. We are no further ahead in the definition.  Peters has previously described Nash's transition from sacked Labour minister to NZ First party member as seamless. Well, there might be a few wrinkles in that seam now. But where do you stand on this one? Should he have resigned? He would have been shoved... Fri, 12 Sept 2025 00:21:09 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-whos-going-to-pay-a-fine-for-shoplifting/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-whos-going-to-pay-a-fine-for-shoplifting/ Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has released a cabinet paper proposing a raft of changes to the Crimes Act. This is part of the coalition agreement with NZ First. It introduces new offences and strengthens existing ones. The proposals include a new strict liability offence for shoplifting, with a $500 infringement fee, doubling to $1,000 if the value of the stolen goods is more than $500.   It would be proven simply by evidence that people, or the person, left the store with the goods, so CCTV footage, but with a reasonable excuse defence to mitigate against catching people who genuinely make a mistake, according to Goldsmith's paper. A strict liability offence means there's no requirement to prove a guilty mind. So, the offence removes the requirement to prove intent and introduces reverse onus. The burden of proof is shifted to the defendant for the ‘reasonable excuse’ defence.   Paul Goldsmith explained how he thought the new law would work on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning.   “It's more akin to a traffic offence. So you know, you're speeding, you get a ticket. There's no sort of debate about it really, unless you've got a reasonable excuse, and you pay the fine. And the whole purpose of it is to come up with a quick and swift way to deal with shoplifting, other than the alternative, which is to go through the whole court process.   “I mean, we've got to remember we've got a real issue with retail crime with this big increase in people going around stealing stuff. We've got to do something different. Currently, you've got to go off to court, that's a very high threshold and doesn't happen enough. And so what we're introducing is a swift and effective fine as an intermediate step to deal with things and so that there is a real consequence for that level of shoplifting.”  Swift and effective fine? Who the hell is going to pay it?   There are concerns the new shoplifting law would come up against the Bill of Rights, which says we have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Also, within the New Zealand Herald story on this that's online, there's a whole subheading saying, what it could mean for Māori, the disabled, the neurodiverse. Paul Goldsmith says in his paper, a strict liability offence increases the risk that misinterpreting the behaviour of deaf people, or people with an intellectual or neurodisability, could result in disproportionate impacts on this group.   I get if you have an intellectual disability, you might not know it's wrong. Since when were deaf people shoplifters just because they were deaf? Since when were Māori shoplifters just because they were Māori? Sure, if you have an intellectual disability, absolutely. What it could mean for Māori, the disabled, the neurodiverse... the disabled and Māori and the neurodiverse aren't typically criminal? Honestly, how is how is being deaf going to make you a shoplifter? That it's going to increase the chances of you being pinged?    My concerns are far more pragmatic. Whatever your reason for stealing stuff, whether you're a kid on a dare, you're desperate and starving, you're a low-life lazy thief – who's going to pay the fine? Maybe if you're a shoplifting former Green MP with PTSD and a fine taste in clothing, you'll pay the fine. But those sorts of people are still in the minority at the moment.   I know they're trying to stop the courts getting cluttered up with shoplifters and that some shoplifters are getting away scot-free because the amount they stole doesn't meet the threshold for going to court. How many shoplifters, can you imagine, are going to sit down, oh, goodness me, I've got to pay that fine before I incur any extra costs. Must sit down and process the payment. There we go, job done. Or wander down to their nearest post shop with their $500 infringement fee clutched in their hot little hand and stand in the queue and go to the counter and say, sorry, I've got to pay my... Thu, 11 Sept 2025 00:46:17 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-do-we-need-to-adjust-our-alcohol-policies/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-do-we-need-to-adjust-our-alcohol-policies/ The cost of alcohol abuse in this country is absolutely phenomenal. Worldwide, I can't even imagine what it would be, but here in this country it's bad enough. A report that came out last year from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, the first of its kind since 2009, found that:  The cost of alcohol abuse in terms of alcohol harm based on disability adjusted life years is $9.1 billion.  $4.8b associated with disability-adjusted life years from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)  $1.2 b associated with disability-adjusted life years from alcohol use disorder  $281m - intimate partner violence (for alcohol use disorder alone)  $74m - child maltreatment (for hazardous drinking alone),  $2.1b in societal cost of road crashes where alcohol was a factor  $4b in lost productivity associated with alcohol use, including FASD, crimes and workplace absenteeism  $810m, predominantly in health and ACC spending.  Peter Dunne, in an article in 九一星空无限room this week, argues that these costs are a result of a decades-long failure in policy. He says when he was working for the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council way back in the late 70s, they undertook the first national survey of New Zealanders' alcohol consumption and drinking patterns. The most dramatic finding, he says, was that 9% of drinkers were responsible for two-thirds of the alcohol drunk.  Of all the alcohol consumed in the country, 9% of drinkers drink two-thirds of it. He says that told you there were binge drinkers, problem drinkers, who made up a minority of the population, and a minority of the drinking population, but consumed the most, and that's where education and policy should have been directed. However, around the same time that survey came out, the World Health Organisation came up with its own policy and advised that government interventions should focus on reducing alcohol consumption levels overall to reduce the number of alcohol-related problems, rather than focus on specific groups.  So you've had broad-brush, once over lightly programmes, you know, general, ‘hey guys, you know, it's not what you drink, it's how you're drinking’, the general programs. And that, he says, has failed. Most people do know how to drink sensibly. They'll enjoy a glass or two of wine occasionally, and that'll be that. A couple of beers on a hot day after a surf. Fantastic.  Then there are those of us who board a sky-sailing pirate ship to whiskey Valhalla and it's hoots way hay and off as Caitlin Moran put it. And sometimes that's fine, and sometimes that's not. When you set out to lose control, chuck everything in the air and see where it all lands, sometimes it lands you in a police cell, or hospital, or in the bed of someone you shouldn't be with. And that's when the trouble starts.  Peter Dunne argues that we need to do away with the broad-brush approach and focus on the binge drinkers, the problem drinkers. Targeted policies for that 9 to 10% of the population who cannot drink sensibly, who do not drink moderately, and who are causing all of the harm.  Do you need to be told how much you should drink, when you should drink it, like not when you're pregnant? Do you need to be told that? Do you just switch off when you drink and think, oh for heaven's sake, who on earth are they talking to? I know all of this stuff. Do we need to be focusing on the people who need to hear the message, all that money going into general education, redirected to those groups who need to hear the message most, and putting more of the money into the rehabilitation and the turning around and the changing of dangerous drinking behaviours? That is a hell of a lot of money to spend on disordered drinking, on problem drinking. And it's not you, probably, or you. But over there in the corner, it's us. And we're the ones that need to hear the message, not them.  Wed, 10 Sept 2025 01:31:25 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/peter-dunne-political-commentator-on-the-need-for-alcohol-laws-to-target-binge-drinkers/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/peter-dunne-political-commentator-on-the-need-for-alcohol-laws-to-target-binge-drinkers/ New Zealand has long had a problem with alcohol abuse.   A report last year from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research found that the total estimated harm from alcohol use costs $9.1 billion in a single year.  Peter Dunne argues the costs are a result of a decades-long failure in policy – saying that we need to do away with broad stroke approaches and target those prone to binge drinking.  He told Kerre Woodham that we should be targeting the response to those who are most affected by alcohol harm, and therefore making interventions early as opposed to a broad sweep that hasn’t worked.   Dunne says our cost of alcohol abuse is as high as it ever was.  LISTEN ABOVE  Wed, 10 Sept 2025 01:24:13 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/antonia-watson-anz-new-zealand-ceo-on-the-job-cuts-in-australia-capital-gains-tax-mortgages/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/antonia-watson-anz-new-zealand-ceo-on-the-job-cuts-in-australia-capital-gains-tax-mortgages/ ANZ's New Zealand boss says the bank has no major restructure plans on this side of the Tasman.  The Australian banking group has announced plans to axe about 3,500 in-house roles and 1000 contractors.  Its New Zealand arm says about 20-30 mostly head-office roles might be cut here.  But Chief Executive Antonia Watson told Kerre Woodham it's part of a normal review of efficiencies, which they do every year.  She says times of change always generate nervousness, but they've been clear that what's driving the change in Australia isn't a factor here.  She says staff will have a lot of empathy for their Australian colleagues who are going through a tough time at the moment.  LISTEN ABOVE  Tue, 09 Sept 2025 21:43:40 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-sewage-and-filth-that-fills-social-media-after-a-tragedy/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-sewage-and-filth-that-fills-social-media-after-a-tragedy/ I said yesterday when I left you at midday that I thought I'd brought you one of the nicest stories that we'd done all year, which you clearly loved, and one of the saddest. The nicest: the interview with the musical director of the Auckland Pasifika Secondary Schools Choir, the choir who sang the national anthems for New Zealand and South Africa at Eden Park. The saddest: the shooting of a police officer, the fatal shooting of Tom Phillips, and the recovery of three children who had spent four years being force marched through rugged bush by their father.   What made it sadder still was the bile and the sewage that filled the text machine and social media and is still doing so. You probably never see this sort of thing, and I'm glad for you. You don't know the inner workings of some of your fellow New Zealanders' minds. People that you might work with or play sport with, or heaven forfend live with, because you can choose to disengage. And you should, you absolutely should. It chips away at your soul when you read some of the stuff. Just how much some men loathe women. How much some men loathe authority. Who think shooting a police officer is justified. Who think the old “if I can't have her, nobody else can” trope that sees so many ex-partners end up dead, and in this case, “if I can't have them, nobody else can have the children, they can't see anybody else but me” - who think that's justified. Maybe in the fullness of time, when all the details come out, the angry men might think differently. I would hope so.    And you always get the superheroes after every tragedy. Pike River, the Rena, Whakaari-White Island. Every single time, you get the superheroes who would have put their underpants on over their trousers and would have solved the situation earlier, and quicker, and more expediently, and they knew what to do and they'd have saved more lives. This case is no different. There are so many people who think they would have found Phillips and the children with just their knowledge of the stars, a bit of beef jerky and a good dog. And possibly they could have. But there was so much more at play here, as the Police Commissioner told Mike Hosking this morning.   RC: We have always been very, very concerned, Mike. We knew that we were dealing with an armed, a dangerous, and a very motivated individual in Mr. Phillips. And we had to be very, very cautious about the approach that we have taken. You know, that played out yesterday morning in a way that we suspected it could, which is not something that any of us wanted, but our assessment of the situation over the last four years has been spot on. And, and that was shown yesterday morning when we confronted, Mr. Phillips, he shot one of my staff and, and we, we had to return fire. And, we have always been concerned that may be exactly what occurred, and of course that may also involve, the children.   MH: The thing that's bugged me the whole time is this community thing whereby somehow this guy's a hero, or he's allowed to do what he wants to do, or he's, I don't understand that. Do you deal with that? Is that common in rural New Zealand?   RC: You mean in respect of Mr. Phillips?   MH: Yeah.   RC: He's not a hero.   There will be inquiries. There'll be reviews of processes, of how things could have been done differently and possibly better, and that says it should be. But I don't know how you speak to, connect with the men who are so angry, so alienated, so self-pitying, that they think the shooting of a police officer is justified, and taking three children hostage in the bush for four years is the action of a loving father. I mean, already here it is. “How can you defend the cops? They shot a father dead in front of his child. That child will be screwed up for life”, says Ben. You don't think that perhaps four years on the run in the bush might have done something to them? God knows what he was telling them. You don't think... Tue, 09 Sept 2025 01:04:33 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/dougal-sutherland-umbrella-wellbeing-clinical-psychologist-on-hate-and-negativity-in-texts-social-media-comments/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/dougal-sutherland-umbrella-wellbeing-clinical-psychologist-on-hate-and-negativity-in-texts-social-media-comments/ Everyone has an opinion and as technology has progressed, it’s become easier and easier for people to make their opinions known.  And while this has allowed for greater communication and debate around various topics, it’s also allowed for people to share waves of vitriol, hatred, and unhelpful commentary.  Clinical Psychologist Dr Dougal Sutherland told Kerre Woodham that with social media, it’s very easy for us to be an “expert” in everything.  “We have a whole lot of information fed to us – we don’t necessarily digest it, but we can say very quickly what we think is right or wrong.”  In comparison to calling into something like talkback radio, social media and texting is instant, allowing people to fire off their five cents and move on.  “Then you’ve got this personal investment,” Sutherland told Woodham.  “Your adrenaline’s going, you’re part of the story ... then someone says something, and you’re already riled up.”  “I think we’re being shaped by social media to react strongly, because that’s the thing that gets likes, and that’s the thing that gets ratings, and that’s the things that get, y’know, the algorithm working.”  LISTEN ABOVE  Tue, 09 Sept 2025 00:36:27 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/nainz-tupai-music-director-for-eden-park-choir-on-saturdays-national-anthem-performance/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/nainz-tupai-music-director-for-eden-park-choir-on-saturdays-national-anthem-performance/ One of the highlights from Saturday night's rugby test were the anthems sung by the Auckland Pasifika Secondary Schools Choir. Students from Auckland Girls Grammar, Avondale College, De La Salle, Kelston Boys, Kelston Girls, Glen Eden Intermediate, Marcellin College, Marist College, Mt Albert Grammar, Southern Cross, St Marys, St Paul’s College and St Peter's College.  Music director Nainz Tupa'i told Kerre Woodham that it was an amazing feeling to hear the whole stadium singing along. 'It's a real honor and a privilege to have been given that opportunity and for our kids to experience that in that moment' LISTEN ABOVE Mon, 08 Sept 2025 01:15:16 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-whats-ahead-for-winston-peters-and-nz-first/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-whats-ahead-for-winston-peters-and-nz-first/ The New Zealand First convention took place at the Distinction Hotel in Palmerston North over the weekend. And all these silver fern, pin-wearing NZ First faithful gathered, along with a few wannabes, like Stuart Nash, he spoke. Just a few formalities to go through and it looks like Stuart Nash will be a signed-up member of NZ First and one of their high-profile names going forward at the next election. I don't know how the coalition government decided who would go first in the Deputy Prime Minister's role. If they said how they did it, it's escaped me, I'm sorry. They might have tossed a coin. They might have played paper scissors rock. They might have put their names in a hat and Christopher Luxon drew out one. Might have been done on seniority - oldest and most experience goes first. You just know that Winston Peters, leader of NZ First, would have totally gamed the system to ensure he served first as Deputy Prime Minister because after a good stint of being Foreign Affairs Minister, which he still is and which he still works hard at, and a good stint of standing in for the Prime Minister when he was out of the country and fulfilling his obligations admirably,   it free’s him up now, now that David Seymour's in the role, to really get the campaigning underway for NZ First well before 2026 rolls around. To be fair, ACT are not far behind. David Seymour's State of the Nation speech at the beginning of the year was a rallying cry to the party faithful. But at NZ First's convention over the weekend, you heard speeches that sounded more like promises. Promises that would normally be made on the hustings. It wasn't a convention per se, it was more of a, "Let's get going, brothers. Let's start promising," the kind of glorious kind of promises that NZ First voters are looking for when it comes to political parties. Things like making KiwiSaver compulsory, contributions being raised to 10%, offsetting that raise with tax cuts.  What's happened here is you've got thousands and thousands of people, hundreds of thousands have signed up, but they're not contributing. They're not saving. And so it's not as easy as some of the journalists thought, just to work out what's going on. But we're going to make it compulsory and we're going to ensure this is phased in at a level which you'll see comprehensively is followed overseas. We need to turn this into a super, super saving fund and a super investment fund at the same time, but not in the control of politicians.  And when you talked about yesterday tax cuts, that's literally a tax cut for a person who's contributing to KiwiSaver, or is it a rebate or how would it work?  That's a tax cut for the person contributing to Kiwi Saver and also for the employer. Right, so I would pay less tax if I'm contributing to Kiwi Saver. You still with us? Yes, I said exactly, yeah. I think there must have been a drop out on the line. That was Winston Peters talking to Mike Hosking this morning. There was more preaching to the converted. Winston Peters called for new migrants having to sign a Kiwi values document, incorporating respect for the flag, respect for democracy, one person, one vote, that sort of thing. I imagine it'd be much like the Australian values statement that migrants to Australia must sign. And Peters said the party was responsible for getting cabinet to agree to bring legislation to the House very shortly, making English an official language of New Zealand. As is generally the case with election campaign promises, there wasn't a great deal of specific detail. No costings from Peters on how much the Kiwi Saver policy would cost or how it would be implemented, other than to say the rise in contributions would be staggered, first 8% then 10%. But let him be perfectly clear, there is life in the old boy yet and he is determined to get himself and NZ First back into Parliament and back into government with even more sway than he had this time around. As far as W... Mon, 08 Sept 2025 01:01:24 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-overstayers-and-fudged-immigration-promises/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-overstayers-and-fudged-immigration-promises/ The Government is cracking down on serious immigration breaches. It's announced it will strengthen deportation settings on the same day that Immigration New Zealand revealed there are more than 20,000 people who have overstayed their visa. Immigration Minister Erica Stanford says there are gaps in the current system. For example, under the current rules, someone who commits a serious crime can't be liable for deportation if they've held a residence visa for more than 10 years. Stanford says they're fixing that. Where migrants don't follow the conditions of their visa, she says, I've made it clear to Immigration New Zealand compliance and enforcement actions are a priority.   Immigration New Zealand said on Thursday that as of July 1, there were around 20,980 people, call it 21,000 people, in New Zealand who have overstayed their visa. This is the first estimate to be carried out using a new methodology, which the agency believes has better accuracy than the previous one used in 2017. From what I understand, Immigration, New Zealand was going through a major overhaul of its computer systems, so there will be new methodology and more accurate numbers. So in terms of nationalities, there are 2,599 individuals from Tonga who are believed to be overstayers. Remember the Tongan under 21 rugby team who were on tour here in 2003? Almost half the team failed to show when the 30 strong squad checked in for their flight home. And I don't think many of them were found. So for 22 years, these young men have grown into middle-aged men and have been living and working in New Zealand. There were 2,577 from China, 2,213 from the US, which was a bit of a head scratcher for most of us.   The Greens have called for an amnesty for overstayers. They've long called for amnesties – they think there should be one every year just to sort of tidy things up, if you will. And better residency pathways for migrants, and they really want the Government to announce on this time. And do you know what, I think they should. Because if you look back to what a mess immigration New Zealand was, let me take you back to the bad old days. Iain Lees-Galloway was Minister for Immigration and was failing miserably in that job. It was a mess. Labour and New Zealand First had campaigned, saying we're going to restrict the number of migrants coming to New Zealand. It's going to be a New Zealand first, kind of a country, and we're going to cut the number of migrants. But when they came in, they realised just how important overseas labour is, globally and in New Zealand. If you turned off the flow of migrants coming into the country there'd be a big hit to Kiwi businesses, the profit margins of employers, to New Zealand's economic performance overall.   So once they formed their coalition government, they thought, oh bloody hell no, we can't really make good on that. What are we going to do? So they decided to pull the handbrake on the number of residency applications that could be approved, but they increased the number of people on temporary visas. People on temporary visas can apply to become residents, so there were more and more people joining the residency queue, and it got bigger and bigger and bigger. In 2020, there were 38,787 skilled migrant applications stuck in the residency queue. When Labour took office with New Zealand First, there was just 10,000.  So that you had people coming in who were on temporary visas and then got stuck because they couldn't apply for residency. You had skilled migrants and with people on the low wage all applying, none of them given priority. Then they created two queues, the priority and the non-priority, because they realised that doctors and skilled engineers were leaving the country because it was just taking too long. All politicians do this. You make a promise, you get in and you realise that it's unsustainable, so you just have to try and fudge it.   So when you have been waiting and waiting and... Fri, 05 Sept 2025 00:13:54 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-housing-intensification-battle-reaches-cabinet-level/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-housing-intensification-battle-reaches-cabinet-level/ The battle over intensification of housing has reached cabinet level, with the Deputy Prime Minister and the Housing Minister at odds over Chris Bishop's plan to get hundreds of thousands of houses built in the super city.   “It's 2 million,” I hear you say. “They want to build two million houses.” Well, the Housing Minister addresses this in his column in this morning's Herald. There will be the ability for the council to consent two million homes. That doesn't mean they will all be built, as he says, the Auckland unitary plan enabled around a million homes. Ten years later, only around 10% of that enabled capacity has actually turned into new housing. The idea that a plan change that enables two million homes is suddenly going to result in two million homes being built in the short term is nuts, he says. Housing capacity does not immediately mean construction. It means the ability to do it, and it means infrastructure can be sequenced and coordinated to support it.   He said, "I expect that the housing capacity the Auckland Council is enabling through this new plan change will support Auckland's growth over the next 30 to 50 years."   Chris Bishop says in the past week or so we've seen an almost unprecedented level of misinformation spread about the new draft plan change. He says Auckland is not about to be overrun with sky-riser apartments. The tree-lined streets of the suburbs are not about to be destroyed. Raw sewage will not be bubbling up onto the footpaths or into the Waitematā.   The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the MP for a suburb of tree-lined streets, says the new plan is flawed and he will lobby for changes. He told a public meeting last week that he and supporters must impress on Chris Bishop that this plan is not necessary and it will have negative unintended consequences, as he told Mike Hosking on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning.   “The plan that has been produced by Auckland Council, as Chris Bishop noted in his column this morning, that requires almost no greenfield development, all intensification. It requires half of Parnell to have 50-metre buildings. Now, I just make the point that, you know, it's only two years ago that we had a building fall into a sinkhole because a 120-year-old brick sewer underneath Parnell imploded and everything fell down into it and we had two years of fixing that up. So, the idea you're going to intensify at that rate there, doesn't make sense.   “So, we've got an improvement, but now we've got, an obligation, I think, to make sure that we really go through this from an Auckland perspective and make sure that the plan actually makes sense.”  I think, David Seymour, as the MP for Epsom, makes a very good point. There was a great big sinkhole in Parnell because the pipes imploded. Their necessary infrastructure wasn't there. And I wish every single time the government or the council or developers talked about houses, they added the words ‘and the supporting infrastructure’.   I can see where both ministers are coming from. We need more housing and supporting infrastructure in all of New Zealand cities. Chris Bishop is passionate about this. He wants to get housing affordability down, the best way to do that is to increase the supply of houses and the supporting infrastructure. But I'm wary of his comment in his column that cities aren't museums, that our streets should not be shrines to the past. Chris Bishop was only a baby when the wholesale destruction of Auckland's Victorian and Edwardian buildings took place. He didn't experience the horror of seeing beautiful old buildings torn down and replaced with priapic smoked glass monstrosities erected in the name of men's egos. Hideous. Not all old buildings are created equal. Not every single building born and erected before 1900 should be saved and preserved in aspic, but we need to keep some links with our past. To know where we're going, we need to know where we've bee... Thu, 04 Sept 2025 00:40:02 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-realities-of-leaving-the-paris-agreement/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-the-realities-of-leaving-the-paris-agreement/ ACT Party Leader David Seymour has set the cat among the pigeons, or the Huntaway among the cattle, by calling for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is a pact that’s part of the UN's framework convention on climate change, which started in 1992 with the Rio Earth Summit. The main goal of the Paris Agreement is to keep long-term global temperatures from warming 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, and if not that, then well below 2 degrees Celsius by slashing planet-warming emissions from coal, oil, and gas. It's not working, the numbers are still too high, but who knows what they would have been had the Paris Agreement not been in place.   It works as a binding but voluntary programme for the member countries. Every five years, countries are required to submit a goal or a plan for what it will do about heat-trapping emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases. And these goals are supposed to get more ambitious every five years – you're supposed to improve on what you did last time. The countries themselves decide what's in those goals, and there is no punishment for countries who miss the goals.   Despite this, despite the fact that there are no teeth and no punitive measures if you don't meet the self-imposed targets, ACT says that the Paris Agreement needs to change, or New Zealand needs to leave. David Seymour says it demands targets that are disconnected from science and blind to New Zealand’s realities. Net zero targets have been set without regard for the real cost to firms, farms, and families, they say, so they want New Zealand out, like the US.   “At the moment, we face being punished for being a methane-heavy economy. I think it's about time that we, perhaps along with like-minded nations, I'm thinking South American nations like Uruguay that have a lot of livestock, also a lot of Southeast Asian nations which produce a lot of rice, which it turns out actually produces a lot of methane – we should be going to Paris saying, "hang on a minute’, instead of our government officials making representations to the public that pay them on behalf of these global institutions, maybe they should actually be going on our behalf overseas to say, ‘you guys need to give a fair deal to methane-heavy economies,’ because methane's a very different gas. It has a much different effect on climate because it breaks down over time, and therefore that scientific reality needs to be recognised.”  So that was David Seymour talking to Heather du Plessis-Allan last night. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says it's not going to happen; we're not going to leave. It would only hurt and punish and damage our farmers. He says our competitor countries would like nothing more than to see New Zealand products off the shelves, and he added that, having worked in multinationals, the companies would just move to another supplier, a more public-friendly, a more agreeable, a more green-friendly supplier.   He does have a point. Well, both men have points, really. David Seymour is quite right in that methane is a different sort of a gas, that New Zealand does it the best in the world. New Zealand produces food better than anybody else in terms of accounting for climate change targets and goals. But Christopher Luxon has a point too, because green and social accounting is part of global financial reporting. We're seeing it right down to the smallest business in New Zealand. Your bank wants to see you committing to various environmental targets, goals, achievements. If you don't, the money comes at a higher rate. And it's the same for them. Their masters, their overlords, want to see that the banks themselves have required their clients to commit to environmental goals. It's absolutely entwined within the way the world does business. I don't know how you can separate one from the other.   It would be very easy for New Zealand to be made an example of, far harder for... Wed, 03 Sept 2025 00:58:20 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/tim-groser-former-climate-change-minister-on-acts-call-to-withdraw-from-the-paris-agreement/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/tim-groser-former-climate-change-minister-on-acts-call-to-withdraw-from-the-paris-agreement/ A former Climate Change Minister believes New Zealand should stay in the Paris Climate Agreement.  ACT leader David Seymour's announced a policy to leave the global pact unless rules are loosened for our farmers.  New Zealand First has also floated the idea of withdrawing, as some larger nations have ditched it.  Tim Groser told Kerre Woodham this goes against public sentiment.  He says polls indicate a large majority of Kiwis believe we should do our share on climate change.  LISTEN ABOVE   Wed, 03 Sept 2025 00:43:47 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/sir-lockwood-smith-former-mp-and-diplomat-on-acts-call-to-withdraw-from-the-paris-agreement/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/sir-lockwood-smith-former-mp-and-diplomat-on-acts-call-to-withdraw-from-the-paris-agreement/ Pulling out of the Paris Agreement could cause more problems than it solves.  Act and New Zealand First have expressed interest in pulling New Zealand out of the agreement unless more realistic emissions targets are produced.  Sir Lockwood Smith, former MP and Diplomat, says he sympathises with famers and Seymour on the subject, but we just pull out of the accord.  He told Kerre Woodham that there are clauses in free trade agreements, such as the one with the UK, that would enable them to take action or to seek remedies if New Zealand were to withdraw from any international agreement around climate change.  He says we do have to be careful, however, that doesn’t mean we don’t do anything.  LISTEN ABOVE   Wed, 03 Sept 2025 00:32:34 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/tama-potaka-associate-housing-minister-on-the-number-of-emergency-housing-applications-being-declined-homelessness/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/tama-potaka-associate-housing-minister-on-the-number-of-emergency-housing-applications-being-declined-homelessness/ The number of emergency housing applications being declined has soared as the Government tightens restrictions.  Data obtained by our newsroom under the Official Information Act shows applications have dropped significantly to the end of June, but the number being declined continues to rise.  More applications are being declined than granted in Auckland.  Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka told Kerre Woodham they have a range of measures either in place, or that they’re putting in place, to deal with housing insecurity and homelessness.  He says that building a house or just having housing isn’t necessarily an enduring solution, as homelessness has a number of fathers and mothers, such as poverty or substance abuse issues.   LISTEN ABOVE  Tue, 02 Sept 2025 01:25:34 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-did-it-cost-to-get-the-foreign-buyers-clarification/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-did-it-cost-to-get-the-foreign-buyers-clarification/ You might remember, those of you who were listening around about a month ago when the Prime Minister was in the studio, taking your calls. Steve rang in and gave the PM a bit of ginger over the economy. He said, "I know you're between a rock and a hard place, Prime Minister, with the economy. Not really any more levers you can pull to do much, and you guys are just treading water. It's a PR machine to gloss over while you pray that somehow the economy's going to pick up."   He said to the Prime Minister, "There's one lever you have yet to pull, and I think you know that for the short-term sugar that will bring something into this economy, that's a foreign buyers' ban. If that comes off, you know that will bring a bit of money in, and that will have a proper, tangible effect rather than just being all talk, talk." But of course, that's not going to happen with Winston.   CL: On foreign buyers, that is a conversation that Winston and I are having, so watch this space. Let's see whether we can make some progress through that one.   KW: Interesting. How will you get him to change his mind? What bauble are you able to offer?   CL: No, no, no. I think actually both of us recognise that if people are going to come to this country and make an investment and partner with a New Zealand company, you know, think about a technology person in San Francisco wanting to come out here. They don't want to rent a house in Auckland. They want to be able to buy a house, and you think about what's happening in places like Tara Iti up the road from Auckland. You've got massive investment, 140 Americans here building, you know, $20 million plus homes, all that sort of stuff. So there has to be a way through that. So, you know, watch this space. It might be a bit more positive than Steve thinks.   And what do you know? That was on the 7th of August. We watched the space, and on the 1st of September, the announcement came. Foreigners spending $5 million on approved investments in exchange for residency visas will be able to buy homes. But not just any old tat. They will only be able to buy homes that are $5 million plus.   The Prime Minister said the changes aim to attract rich immigrants who find the thought of having a home in New Zealand attractive, without opening the market to widespread foreign property ownership. And he's right. I mean, there are some Kiwis looking at the $5 million plus homes, but it's not me. Is it you, Helen? No. No, she's not in the market for a $5 million home. Young Olivia, who's just joined us, no. No, she has yet to buy her first home, so it won't be in the $5 million plus category. It is not the majority of us, I would venture to suggest. And apparently, offshore buyers have responded immediately. High-end real estate agents say the word has gone out that New Zealand is welcoming people back into the country – but then you become a high-end real estate agent by talking up the market, don't you? So, you know, but you take them at their word.   The word goes out from the Prime Minister that if you want to come to New Zealand and you want residency, guess what? You can buy a house, which makes sense. But it's got to be $5 mil plus, which for some people is what they would spend on a bach. You know, these kinds of high-end investors, it's the sort of money you'd spend on a bach in New Zealand.   The Labour-New Zealand First coalition banned most foreign buyers in 2017 out of a belief they were contributing to skyrocketing house prices. The New Zealand First of that coalition is now the New Zealand First of this coalition that has reversed that ban. But Winston Peters is adamant that the ban actually remains. He says, "We have ensured that there are tight restrictions on eligibility and on what these current residence visa holders can purchase," including that existing restrictions, excluding the sale of rural farm and sensitive land, will still apply, as well as ensuring we don... Tue, 02 Sept 2025 00:57:44 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/billy-moore-new-zealand-airports-association-chief-executive-discusses-30million-government-loan-offer-to-small-airlines/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/billy-moore-new-zealand-airports-association-chief-executive-discusses-30million-government-loan-offer-to-small-airlines/ The Government's offering up to 30-million dollars in loans from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to smaller airlines.  It's also approved funding for a digital development that will allow regional transport bookings to be integrated with the platforms of major carriers.  Associate Transport Minister James Meager says most regional airlines couldn't opt to charge more as a solution to tough times.  New Zealand Airports Association Chief Executive Billy Moore says this is a ‘smart strategy’ from the government to improve regional airlines.  LISTEN ABOVE  Mon, 01 Sept 2025 00:21:21 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/hamish-firth-mt-hobson-group-urban-planning-expert-on-the-meeting-around-housing-intensification-in-auckland/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/hamish-firth-mt-hobson-group-urban-planning-expert-on-the-meeting-around-housing-intensification-in-auckland/ There's confidence the right balance can be found when it comes to housing intensification in Auckland.  A public meeting was held in Mt Eden last night, over proposals to allow 10 to 15-storey developments near transport hubs and town centres.  Most of the meeting was civil, but things got tense when a young planning student suggested older people were standing in the way of change.  Mt Hobson Group urban planning expert Hamish Firth told Kerre Woodham he thinks the city have high-rise buildings and keep the character.  He says Auckland has six months to a year to discuss this like adults, to get it right.  LISTEN ABOVE  Fri, 29 Aug 2025 01:50:08 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-im-not-convinced-we-can-do-housing-intensification-properly/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-im-not-convinced-we-can-do-housing-intensification-properly/ Around 200 people packed out the Mt Eden Village Centre in Auckland last night, and they were pretty riled up. In fact, many were furious over plans for high rise apartments and the loss of special character status for hundreds of villas and bungalows in the wider neighbourhood. And this is the kind of feeling that is being felt across many different Auckland suburbs, and it will be coming to a city or town near you.   As we were discussing last week, draft plans for Auckland City would see Auckland's skyline in for a major makeover, increasing the city's capacity for new builds from 900,000 under the 2016 unitary plan to accommodating two million new homes. That's a lot. And it might be easy to dismiss the concerns of residents as being those of Boomer NIMBYs just worried about the house prices, but there are very real concerns that intensification on that level could be disastrous if there isn't careful planning. Communities aren't just about putting a roof over a head – you need infrastructure that can support those homes, like stormwater, like wastewater, like schools.   It's estimated that if you want two million further dwellings, you'll need 56 more primary schools, 23 more secondary schools – good luck with that. I would argue you'd need loads of green spaces as well – lungs for the city. And I am not convinced that we have learned lessons from the past. Chucking up shoe boxes is not good for anyone, any neighbourhood, any city. Thoughtful, well-designed, high-density developments can be built and can live alongside those established character homes. I'm just not entirely convinced that we can do it in New Zealand. I would love to see evidence of it. I mean the closest I can get to is Stonefields and possibly Hobsonville Point. Perhaps some of the developments around Tauranga, they look to be reasonably well done, although there have been issues with the amount of traffic that suddenly appeared on the roads and the congestion that is caused.   Give me an example of where thoughtful high-density development has taken place and I'd love to hear it. I'm just not convinced that when we go up, we know how to do it properly. We need more homes for more people. Absolutely we do. We need a variety of different homes, we need them to be near public transport and cycleways, hence the suburbs that are under question. We cannot simply keep up swallowing arable land. We need to go up. And I think the communities who are close to public transport hubs close to the city know this, they just want to know that the developments will be well planned and well supported by the necessary infrastructure. Who can blame them for being sceptical that this will happen?    Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:56:43 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/erica-stanford-education-minister-talks-ncea-reform-curriculum-updates/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/erica-stanford-education-minister-talks-ncea-reform-curriculum-updates/ The Education Minister says there was no option to do nothing when it came to changing NCEA. The proposed changes include replacing the qualification with a system emphasising literacy and numeracy more. Erica Stanford told Kerre Woodham changes were already underway with Labour updating the Level 1 curriculum, so there was no option to do nothing. She says they either had to continue rolling out Labour's plan, or look at what a better plan could be, and that's what they've done.  Labour's education spokesperson has only just been briefed on changes to NCEA.  Willow-Jean Prime initially ignored, then later declined repeated offers from Stanford to give feedback on the changes.   Labour leader Chris Hipkins later said Prime was wrong to decline the offers.   Those offers were made as far back as March, but Stanford told Woodham Prime first met with officials last week.  She says she’s asked lots of questions, but has yet to come back with any feedback, so they’ll see where that goes.  WATCH ABOVE  Thu, 28 Aug 2025 21:18:21 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-more-can-be-done-to-sort-the-supermarkets/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-more-can-be-done-to-sort-the-supermarkets/ Well, Mike Hosking did a Kim Kardashian this morning and broke the Internet with his interview with Nicola Willis. Well, not actually the internet, but they're back and forward on the need to increase competition in the supermarket sector – 10 minutes and 17 seconds that interview went on for. Unheard of on breakfast radio! Put Mike Hosking in a print frock and sensible shoes and call him Kathryn Ryan. 10:17 on something that might or might not happen, and might or might not be needed. I really don't understand the passion, and the fervour, and the ‘I will die on this hill’ attitude that our Finance Minister is taking towards getting another competitor into the country. Nicola Willis seems to think her reforms are the answer to the prayers of beleaguered New Zealanders, and she will not rest until she's provided competition in every main centre in New Zealand.   MH: When is this reform going to materially change my supermarket shop?   NW: When you've got nationwide a competitor in all of the major urban centres, that is making the big guys change their behaviour. Now this is a problem that built up over 20 to 30 years and I have never promised they'll be an overnight solution. But the alternative point of view is to say, well, because it will take a while, just don't bother. And I think that is a reprehensible way to approach government.   Right. And then she went on and she wasn't going to rest, and if it took 25 years, and she didn't care about votes, and on and on it went. But competitors have looked at the New Zealand market – the big internationals have taken one look at us and dismissed us as total minnows. We're not worth getting out of bed for, far less crossing an ocean and setting up shop for. When you look at our ALDI, who's often mentioned, ALDI has 20 million shoppers in the UK and that's 10% of the market. They have four New Zealand's worth of shoppers and that's 10% of the UK market. They've looked at us, other supermarkets and huge international brands have looked at us and thought you've got to be joking.   And when it comes to the unfair practises within New Zealand, the Commerce Commission looked at unfair practises within the sector under the last government and they recommended things that could be changed, and changes were made. If you look at the land banking that used to go on of valuable sites to shut out competitors, that wasn't fair and that wasn't right, so that's been changed. They also looked at the complex pricing strategies, promotions, and customer loyalty programmes and said, well, makes it very complex, makes it difficult for consumers. They looked at the imbalance of power in the retail supplier relationships. Many suppliers like your lettuce suppliers, your tomato suppliers, your peanut butter suppliers are reliant on both Foodstuffs and Woolworths, the two big players, so the two retailers can transfer certain costs and risk and uncertainty onto suppliers and if they complain, they face the risk of their products being taken off store shelves. I think there's still room for improvement on that. I don't know because the suppliers won't talk because they again run the risk of having their products taken off the shelves.   So, yes, some improvements have been made. A Grocery Commission has been appointed, and in the main centres, we do have some form of competition. I heard Chris Quin this morning talking to Mike, saying that in Auckland, 30% of grocery retailers are independents. They are “other”. You’ve got Foodstuffs and Woolworths, but 30% is other. And you know, we've heard around the country that other little suppliers set up and they're never going to take on the big two head on, but they're making inroads. I just don't understand and clearly, it's me, I'm the problem, it's me, as that great poet Taylor Swift once said. I'm the problem, it's me, because successive governments have decided this is so important that they've set up review, after review, af... Thu, 28 Aug 2025 01:11:28 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-surely-this-visa-can-only-be-good-for-new-zealand/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-surely-this-visa-can-only-be-good-for-new-zealand/ A new visa to attract businesspeople to New Zealand has been established by the Government, and really, it's only a matter of days, perhaps weeks, before a loosening on restrictions for foreigners being able to purchase residential property here is announced. Christopher Luxon, the Prime Minister, when he was last in-studio with me, said we’ll be announcing that shortly. I said you’ll never get that past Winston Peters, but he said watch this space. So, he's been dropping very heavy hints for some time now that the restrictions on foreigners being able to buy property here were about to be lifted.   In the meantime, the Government’s announced the Business Investor Visa, and that will give foreign businesspeople investing $2 million into an existing business here a fast track to residency in New Zealand. A $1 million investment comes with a three-year work to residency pathway. It also comes with conditions, as Immigration Minister Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking this morning.   “This is more about people who have got business experience of running businesses –we will check that. Investing in a business, that they have to be here at least 184 days a year, be a tax resident, and actively run the business. They have to be able to speak English, there's an age limit. Whereas the Active Investor Plus is more about their capital and their business connections and they only have to spend a week a year here in order to get their residence – so very, very different. We're not talking huge numbers. This is not like an Oprah-style everyone gets a visa as I think you mentioned this morning, we're thinking probably in the first year between sort of 100 and 150 potentially.”  So there are conditions associated with this particular visa such as requiring applicants to speak English, and that's something that I know concerned a number of you when we were talking about schools and the changes to the curriculum in education. When we've had discussions about that, a number of you have been really concerned about the number of young kids arriving here who don't speak English and the challenges that puts on a classroom, and more specifically, a teacher. So hopefully they are policing that English language criteria quite strictly. There are also conditions to meet alongside of health, character, and business experience, and certain businesses are excluded, such as adult entertainment, convenience stores, and fast-food outlets.   Now I know that a number of people are dead against having more people coming into the country. You've told me that, and you've certainly sent me plenty of text messages about having more people coming into the country. We haven't got enough houses for the existing people. We've got wait lists up the wazoo. It's just going to put more pressure on our health system. It's going to drive house prices up. I think we have seen that the biggest driver of house prices was locking people inside their own country, lowering interest rates, and allowing speculation to boom. That did more damage to the housing and the property market than any migrant businessperson could ever do.   So, we're building more houses, we’re opening up pathways for consent so that even more houses can be built. To clear up the waiting lists, we do need to bring in doctors, nurses. We didn't have enough at the time. We didn't have enough workers at the time, and even in a time of high unemployment, businesses still aren't finding the people that they need to make their businesses more productive.   I'm for it. I mean $1 million, as we heard yesterday when we were talking about how much you need to retire, $1 million to become a Kiwi doesn't sound like a lot of money, does it? Especially when you open it up to the global market. But if there are conditions there, it they're required to live in New Zealand for much of the year, to pay their taxes to be working in the business, to be growing the business, if certain busines... Wed, 27 Aug 2025 01:02:53 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/chris-small-abc-business-sales-managing-director-on-the-new-business-investor-visa/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/chris-small-abc-business-sales-managing-director-on-the-new-business-investor-visa/ More money could soon circulate through the economy as the Government opens up the country to more overseas businesspeople.    Under its new Business Investor Visa, foreign investors who put at least $2 million into a Kiwi business will be granted a 12-month fast-track to residence pathway.  People who invest $1 million will be given a three-year work-to-residence option.  ABC Business Sales Managing Director Chris Small told Kerre Woodham more capital needs to be brought in.   He says when it starts going towards business owners, it'll be recycled back into our economy.   LISTEN ABOVE  Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:19:13 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-we-need-to-get-ships-in-and-out-more-quickly/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-we-need-to-get-ships-in-and-out-more-quickly/ We all know that New Zealand is a trading nation. We need to sell stuff to make the money we need to build hospitals, pay our teachers and police officers, pay for benefits and Super, pay for roads and cycleways, and the like. To maintain our standard of living we have to earn our keep, and that's what our exporters do. We need good exporters, and we need to be able to get our stuff to market.   However, port inefficiencies around the country could undermine New Zealand's goals to double its export earnings. I think there have been polite snorts of derision when that bold claim has been stated, especially given what's been happening in recent times. The Cargo Owners Council says there's been a 30% drop in productivity since 2019. Chair Brent Falvey says there needs to be a comprehensive reset of our ports and a strategy for the whole supply chain. The International Container Alliance Committee (ICLC), representing international container shipping lines in New Zealand, has got in on the act too, calling for a lifting of productivity across all ports in the country. They say, “we note that overall the ship rate is reduced from 68 moves per hour in the first quarter of 2019 to 55 moves per hour during a similar period in 2025, across the four largest ports.” That's close to a 20% reduction in productivity and is very concerning, says the ICLC. Brent Falvey told Mike Hosking this morning that we just aren't keeping up with the rest of the world.   “As you probably know, there's more than 400 ports around the world and New Zealand, from a productivity point of view, is in the bottom 20%. The majority of our ports are congested and poor productivity. Since 2019, productivity declined by up to 30%, and costs have gone up, and things are a mess.   “What we think we need to do is actually have a reset. We're talking to the government, we're saying we need to have a hub and spoke model around the ports, the hub is actually big, deep-sea ports that are really efficient, and the spoke with small ports moving cargo to those large ports and that would be done by coastal shipping, it would have to be hand in hand with rail and road. I mean you've probably noticed that there's been some good work done at rail. They've had a bit of a reset, but to go to the next level for rail, they need volume that will drive efficiencies and cost.”  We have, according to the industry, a five year window to get the supply chain back on track or we risk being serviced out of Australia. The shipping companies just won't bother coming here. It's not worth their while and that would add costs to exports and increased time to market. Some shipping lines say it's already too late, with shipping companies scaling back direct New Zealand services and hubbing out of Australia.   Port companies say health and safety changes, as well as ships not arriving when they're supposed to, as contributing to the productivity question. But you can't really blame unions taking a long, hard look at health and safety processes, given the number of deaths on ports around the country. Sure, increase our productivity, but not at any cost, not at the cost of lives, because you haven't got things right. People don't have to die to make the ports more efficient.   In the Blue Highway series that Business Desk produced, the shipping lines and the New Zealand Cargo Owners Council supported a move to that hub and feeder network that Brent Falvey talked about. A small number of ports would serve as the main ports of call for larger international vessels, and the remaining regional ports would play a feeder role. And again, that use of coastal shipping would transport cargo to and from the international hub ports. Now there may need to be regulatory changes to allow foreign operators to play a greater role in the coastal network, there may not be enough domestic flagships to do that, but that's tinkering around the edges. Right now, we have a very small wi... Tue, 26 Aug 2025 02:14:57 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/robbie-paul-icehouse-ventures-ceo-on-the-number-of-young-kiwi-start-ups-and-investors/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/robbie-paul-icehouse-ventures-ceo-on-the-number-of-young-kiwi-start-ups-and-investors/ Do younger Kiwis still have that No.8 wire mentality?  While some are concerned the younger generation is settling as opposed to striving and investing in their ideas and futures, others believe the worry is unfounded.  Icehouse Ventures, a venture capital company that backs Kiwi startups, hosted their 15th Annual Showcase last week, in which nine Kiwi founders presented to over 1,500 investors.  CEO Robbie Paul told Kerre Woodham young founders are coming in droves.  He says that founders tend to be inspired by looking at other success stories, and there’s more of those now, which is creating more start-ups.   LISTEN ABOVE  Tue, 26 Aug 2025 02:02:35 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/sherelle-kennelly-nz-customs-brokers-and-freight-forwarders-federation-ceo-on-the-lack-of-efficiency-in-our-ports-and-supply-chains/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/sherelle-kennelly-nz-customs-brokers-and-freight-forwarders-federation-ceo-on-the-lack-of-efficiency-in-our-ports-and-supply-chains/ There’s a call to completely reset our supply chains.   The Cargo Owners Council says there's been a 30% drop in productivity since 2019.  Chair Brent Flavey says New Zealand is in the bottom 20% for port efficiency, and we aren’t keeping up with the rest of the world.  NZ Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation CEO Sherelle Kennelly told Kerre Woodham without some hard conversations, we aren’t going to get to a point where we can support our export goals going forward.  She says if we don’t improve our efficiencies, New Zealand won’t be able to meet the global market.  LISTEN ABOVE  Tue, 26 Aug 2025 01:13:36 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-fatal-dui-crashes-need-to-carry-strong-sentences/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-fatal-dui-crashes-need-to-carry-strong-sentences/ I don't know about you, but I was truly surprised to hear Judge Russell Collins send a young drug driver to jail on Friday. In the Napier District Court, Judge Collins heard Alexander Kerr had dope in his system when he crashed his car - killing his mate and leaving another in a wheelchair for life. Kerr had no previous convictions.   His mate, the one in the wheelchair, the one he didn't kill, had forgiven him, but Judge Collins sent Kerr to jail for two years and three months. In sentencing, Judge Collins said if people asked the question, “What would happen if I killed someone through driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol?” The answer should be “expect to go to jail.” Criminal lawyer Steve Cullen on Early Edition this morning said a sentence of imprisonment is not unusual.  If people are being killed due to drug drivers or drink drivers being on the road, then a harsh penalty has to be imposed to send the message to everybody.   Really?! Steve Cullen, I can give you many, many, many, many instances of people who have killed innocents on the road and have not been sent to jail.   A repeat drunk driver who killed another motorist has successfully appealed her prison sentence and got home detention. Samantha Allen was described as weaving on the road, SH3 in the King Country, crossing the centre line multiple times before the head on collision in March 2022. The crash killed Abigail Johns. It was Allen's fourth drink driving conviction. She successfully appealed her sentence of two years and seven months imprisonment, and it was replaced with a sentence of 9 1/2 months home detention.    Ten weeks after he hit and killed an Irish national, Declan Curley, while drunk driving, Callum Wither was again on the road and drunk. He's now been sentenced to home detention to the disappointed murmurs of Curley's friends and family. Wither, 23, who had hit Declan at the intersection of Taranaki and Dixon streets in central Wellington in 2022, was drunk enough to have a friend tell him he should not be driving. But after killing Declan on April 21, Wither was again in Wellington CBD drink driving and he got home detention.    Samuel Paterson killed surfer, builder and cyclist Andrew Milne. It was an avoidable killing, and Paterson simply had no business getting behind the wheel when he was fatigued, drunk and with cannabis in his system. Paterson's car was unwarranted and unregistered at the time of the fatal collision. The judge gave Paterson credit for his early guilty pleas, his engagement with the restorative justice, his remorse, his efforts at rehabilitation and his offer of significant reparation that reduced his sentence from a starting point of three years and six months imprisonment to 11 months home detention and 200 hours community work.    And in 2023, I mean there are so many more, but this is my last one. Jake Hamlin finished work at 4pm and drove from Ruawai to a house near the Sherwood Golf Club in Whangarei and began consuming a box of Maverick bourbon, ready-to- drink-mixes. He left the house, began driving towards Managawhai, still consuming drinks, was captured on CCTV crossing the centre line. A driver called police, observing Jake Hamlin drifting across the road and almost colliding into three other vehicles. The driver said he followed him for a period but gave up when he hit a speed of around 130kms. Fifteen minutes later, Hamlin came along the Uretiti straights, crossing the centre line and ploughing straight into Samantha Williams. She was killed on impact and suffered injuries she would find hard to be able to survive. After listening to the lengthy submissions, Judge Davis accepted that Hamlin was among many young men in New Zealand caught up in the peer pressure of an excessive drinking culture. He acknowledged his rehabilitative efforts, offers for restorative justice, which were declined, and his remorse. The end sentence was 12 months home deten... Mon, 25 Aug 2025 00:46:07 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-good-would-repealing-the-gang-patch-ban-do/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-good-would-repealing-the-gang-patch-ban-do/ Labour's Tāmaki Makaurau candidate Peeni Heare is standing by a comment that he’d repeal the gang patch ban. He agreed with the notion at an event on Wednesday night. Now, this is despite Chris Hipkins saying no, no, that's not true, we're not going to repeal the gang patch law. Peeni Henare told RNZ he was asked his personal view on the issue, which is informed by whanau experience. He understands that differs from the Party's view, but when an audience member at the Waatea-hosted debate at Favona asked the Tāmaki Makaurau candidates, will you repeal the gang patch law if you come into government, yes or no? The Te Pati Maori candidate said yes. Henare could also be heard saying aye.   No wonder Labour is staying schtum and not releasing any policy yet. They don't have any. Individual Labour MPs have reckons, but they all seem to have different divergent reckons. For the record, Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins told me they would not be repealing the gang patch ban when he was in studio a couple of months ago.    KW: Are you going to bring back gang patches?   CH: No. And y'know, I think it's one of those things where it hasn't ultimately y'know, changed the nature of gang activity. Gang business is still booming. They're still selling more methamphetamine than ever. But what it has done is people feel a bit safer with not seeing patched gang members walking down the street. So no, absolutely not.   But Peeni Heare says he personally wants to see the law repealed. Presumably he wants to see the gang patches back out on the streets and the roads and in our neighbourhoods. And that would surely, surely be a backward step. Remember what the Police Commissioner, Richard Chambers, had to say about the banning of gang patches when he was in having a chat last week:  "I'm very, very proud of my staff across the country who have embraced the new legislation, the wearing of gang insignia, and I'm not sure how many it is now, but I think it may be over 700 prosecutions for the wearing of insignia that has helped us to address the gang issues. And in fact, whilst the gang insignia is one aspect, the reality is that gangs are responsible for a very high and disproportionate number of other serious criminal offending. So we're addressing that too, and we have thousands of additional charges that have been presented to the court because as we go about our police work, and we may well be policing things like patches, then we inevitably are dealing with other things as well. And I look at that.   “So I know that there's been a lot of commentary about gang numbers and stuff like that, but the reality is my teams across the country are focused on holding gang members to account. And I'm very, very proud of their hard work. And I think we would all agree that that legislation has definitely gone extremely well, and the compliance level is something that I'm very, very pleased with.”  Chambers says the gang patch ban has actually helped police to do their job, and I simply do not see how wearing patches enhances the lives of the gang members. Anecdotally, we've heard from people who say that without the patches, they feel safer. You don't have to staunch up, live up to the branding on your back. You don't, quite literally, have a target on your back. Rival gang members kill each other. Not all of them, but you are at risk. If you're wearing a colour or a gang patch that a rival gang member does not like, then you're at risk. Without that target on your back, you can just be you. A father, a son, a footy player, a worker.   What possible good can come of repealing the gang patch ban? How is it going to help anybody? If this is an example of where Labour's at policy wise, then you'd have to say that the coalition government, with all its faults and missteps and imperfections, definitely deserves another three years.  Fri, 22 Aug 2025 01:14:11 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-will-it-take-to-bring-nz-out-of-its-funk/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-will-it-take-to-bring-nz-out-of-its-funk/ Finance Minister Nicola Willis all but invoked the old adage ‘the beatings will continue until morale improves’, when commenting on the state of the economy yesterday. In a stand up with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon after the Reserve Bank cut the OCR by 25 basis points to 3%, she blamed the sluggish economy on doomsayers from the opposition benches who were talking the economy down, and all but instructed Kiwi households to be more jolly.   “I'm always conscious that households listen to merchants of misery everyday, most of whom sit on the opposition benches, who like to be doomsayers and talk down the New Zealand economy. I think it's been a really tough time for Kiwi families, there's absolutely no denying that, but we kind of have a choice – do we talk ourselves into an ongoing funk? Or do we look ahead and recognise that things will get better?”  “People need to feel it, and I fully appreciate that. You know, some parts of New Zealand are feeling it, and other parts are not.”   So that was Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon. All well and good, but on the same day she told us to pull up our socks and perk up, Fletcher Building announced a $419 million loss. Kitchen Things, a premium appliance store that goes back to 1986, announced it was closing 12 stores (there is a Kitchen Things in Hamilton that's trading by itself and doing very well and would appreciate the support) and they asked ASB to appoint receivers. And Carter Holt Harvey is proposing to close its Nelson sawmill with the loss of 142 jobs.   Willis and the rest of her government are exasperated and frustrated that things have not got better faster. When you're elected on your promise to turn things around, voters, not unreasonably, expect to see results. And yes, it was always going to be a big job, but they said they were up to the task, that they could do it. I don't think it is the opposition benches being doomsayers. They've done their damage. They're not saying much of anything at all. Labour knows all it has to do is stay schtum – the moment it opens its mouth and gets into trouble. So all they're doing is watching the Government trying to put its shoulder behind the big, sluggish beast that is the economy, and they're shoving it, and they're pushing it, and you've got the Finance Minister out the front dangling her carrots saying come on, up you get New Zealand economy, let's get cracking. And it's hibernating. It's in hibernation and it's not moving. And that must be very frustrating.   There's a very good piece by Danyl McLauchlan in the New Zealand Listener, where he says at the moment the Coalition Government really only has itself to blame. I put that same question to Christopher Luxon when he was in. You're just waiting for the economic cycle. You're not doing anything magical or brilliant or wonderful. Yes, I like what you're doing with education very much. I like what you're doing with law and order very much. But when it comes to the economy, so far all I can see is that you're waiting for the natural cycle. There's not a lot going on. The Reserve Bank is confident lower interest rates will eventually help that inert, sluggish economy get off the front porch and start moving. It's identified numerous reasons why the cuts it's delivered in a year haven't spurred as much growth as some expected. That said, the Chief Economist Paul Conway said yesterday it's not our job to grow the economy. We're here for price stability. He said if you want to get growth going in the long run, it's about improving productivity in the economy. Monetary policy is not the instrument for that. We're about controlling demand to keep inflation low and stable. Don't look at us, he was basically saying, there is only so much that we can do. And sure, by lowering interest rates, by lowering the cash rate, thereby allowing banks to lower mortgage interest rates, that will leave some people who are coming up to setting mortgages with a b... Thu, 21 Aug 2025 01:05:49 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/david-seymour-associate-education-minister-on-rising-attendance-rates/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/david-seymour-associate-education-minister-on-rising-attendance-rates/ More students are attending school regularly.   Figures released today show 58.4% of students regularly attended school in Term 2 - the highest since 2021.   It's a drop from Term 1 where 66% of students showed up regularly, but this is partially explained by winter illness.   Associate Education Minister David Seymour says messaging from the government has changed to remind parents school is important.  However no prosecutions have been launched against parents of truant kids.  Seymour told Kerre Woodham 15 prosecutions were explored but later dropped.   He says it's clear the threat of prosecution is changing parents' behaviour.  LISTEN ABOVE  Thu, 21 Aug 2025 00:38:11 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-how-can-teachers-justify-the-continued-disruption/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-how-can-teachers-justify-the-continued-disruption/ The secondary teachers are out again.   They're appalled and insulted by the Government's latest pay offer. For the record, the Governments offered a 1% pay rise every year for three years in collective agreement negotiations. PPTA President Chris Abercrombie says the offer is the lowest increase in a generation and 18-19,000 teachers will be out protesting today. Chris Abercrombie said the Government's offer was appalling, and argued that it failed to help efforts to recruit and retain teachers within the workforce. The Government's also failing, he says, to address other PPTA claims – more pastoral care staffing, professional development for curriculum and assessment, more support for curriculum leaders who will be working on upcoming NCEA changes. If no progress is made, we have been warned, the PPTA says they will roster students home and not teach certain year levels on specific days from September 15th.  If this all sounds familiar, it is. Here's a press release from Jan Tinetti in 2023, basically two years ago, when she was Minister for Education. The Government has agreed to support the independent arbitration panel's recommendation to increase secondary teachers' base salaries by 14.5% by December 2024. The increase will see beginner teachers receive an annual increase of almost $10,000 in addition to their $7,210 lump sum payment. The offer provides an increase of 36% for teachers at the top of the pay scale. She acknowledges the disruption to students, young people, and their parents who were kept out of the classroom. The panel's recommendation adds an extra cost of approximately $680 million to the $3.76 billion already set aside in the budget to settle teachers’ and principals’ agreements. That money includes an increase to other education collective agreements which will flow on from the decision.  So where are we at? Surely the PPTA doesn't expect 14% increases every bloody year. I mean, that's farcical. And if the strike and the promise of more strikes and rostering students home and not teaching certain year levels sounds familiar it’s because in 2023, that's what happened from March, all through the school yea —never the holidays— there were strikes. Year levels were rostered home. There were national strikes. As the teacher said, we haven't received enough from past governments and this Labour government, so it went to independent arbitration and the panel recommended that the base salaries be increased by 14.5%. Which came in in December 2024. Eight months later, they're striking again?   Does this happen every year? Every year we get this. Surely if you're striking and the deal is set that you get pay increases and they come in in December 2024, wouldn't you be factoring in that this will last you for a bit? That that this will do you for the next couple of years? Or parents and teachers going to be seeing kids locked out every year over months and months and months. This kind of disruption is completely, I would have thought, utterly unacceptable. If there hadn't been a pay settlement in 2023, which came into effect in December 24, fill your boots. I'd be out there with a bloody placard with you. But how can you justify going out again and closing the classrooms again after the enormous disruption of Covid? And then the enormous disruption of 2023 with national strikes and rolling strikes. How can it be in the best interests of young people and the profession to disrupt the schools in this way? You know, for $3.76 billion for teachers’ and principals’ salary and package agreements, maybe we could spend that a different way. You know, with AI here now, the PPTA has to be very, very careful that they don't strike themselves out of existence.    Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:29:47 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/maurice-williamson-former-mp-and-former-diplomat-on-trevor-mallards-ousting-from-ambassador-to-ireland/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/maurice-williamson-former-mp-and-former-diplomat-on-trevor-mallards-ousting-from-ambassador-to-ireland/ Former Speaker Trevor Mallard is returning early from Ireland, ending his job as Ambassador.  Winston Peters has appointed senior foreign affairs staffer Angela Hassan-Sharp as his replacement, saying his behaviour during the anti-mandate occupation at Parliament should've disqualified him from the role.  Peters says only experienced diplomats, not former politicians, should be posted overseas.  Former MP and former diplomat Maurice Williamson told Kerre Woodham the idea that politicians should never be appointed as diplomats is too black and white.  He says that often those with political weight behind their name have advantages regular diplomats don't, such as with former Trade Minister Tim Grosser, who became the Ambassador to Washington.  However, Williamson says, they do need to be diplomats first and foremost and understand how diplomatic processes and channels work.   LISTEN ABOVE  Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:21:20 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-can-you-have-confidence-in-buying-a-new-build-with-partial-liability/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-can-you-have-confidence-in-buying-a-new-build-with-partial-liability/ Two stories in the Herald today - one about the announcement from Christopher Luxon and Chris Penk yesterday, changing the building liability settings so ratepayers aren't burdened with picking up the tab that shonky developers, builders, or architects are responsible for. In the Herald story, they cite a case in Queenstown: the Oaks Shores body corporate filed a $160 million claim for weather type defects. The developer had been placed into voluntary liquidation and was not sued, so that meant every ratepayer in the Queenstown District was liable for the bill. If the case hadn't been settled privately, ratepayers could have faced rates increases of $300 a year for 30 years. I hate to think of what it's cost the Auckland Council when it comes to remediation of weather type defects, and it's still going on.   Under the new rules, described as the biggest change to the building consent regime since it came into force in 2004, there'll be partial liability amongst the various parties involved in the development. At the moment, not only is it the cost, but councils have become increasingly risk averse because they don't want to sign off building consents and inspections if it means that they are liable if anything goes wrong and then ratepayers will have to pay.   There's a real blockage in the system, Chris Penk says, and by having everybody share in the liability then that will help (they hope) clear blockages in the current system. Currently building owners can claim full compensation from any responsible party if there's something wrong with the home. If one of the parties can't pay because they've gone into voluntary liquidation, you can go to the other two, and usually that's the Council – deepest pockets, no option to walk away. The government's going to scrap the current framework and replace it with proportionate liability. Under this new model each party will only be responsible for the share of the work they carried out, which is great for ratepayers, great for councils, great for builders. Is it great for the homeowner? I wouldn't have thought so – you can only get the money back if the company is still there to sue. And if they've gone bust and if the Council's only liable for its bit, then you're not going to ever get anywhere near what you paid for a shonky building.   This comes into the spotlight because we're looking at intensification and higher density of houses, which means throwing up more houses quickly. Chris Bishop, the RMA Reform Minister, has already told councils in our larger cities that they can opt out of the medium density residential standards that were introduced by the last government, that allowed for three storey developments on almost every residential property. But you can only abandon that if you adopt new planning rules to allow for an equivalent number of homes.   In Auckland, that will mean the Council has to come up with two million homes over the coming decades. And how are they going to do that? Well, they've decided that they will build them along the transport lines, which makes sense. The suburb of Kingsland, for example, will see the removal of around 70 to 80% of the special character designation that preserves the cottages and villas, and 15 story apartment buildings will be thrown up in their instead because the suburb is close to the station on the Western line. Ten storey and 15 storey developments will be allowed within a 10 minute walk of some train stations, rapid bus stations, the edge of town centres. In Auckland, there's 44 walkable catchments. Height limits will be raised to six stories along more major transport corridors. And 12,000 properties will be down zoned, meaning it'll be harder to put new developments on them, or they won't be permitted at all because of natural hazards like flooding. If adopted, the plan will be open for public submission —this is specifically for Auckland— before the Council makes a final decision later this year... Tue, 19 Aug 2025 00:36:35 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-can-kiwis-be-swayed-to-support-nuclear-power/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-can-kiwis-be-swayed-to-support-nuclear-power/ It seems hard to believe, but the Maxim Institute reckons New Zealand can lead the world in sustainable AI infrastructure. They warn, however, that the window of opportunity is closing quickly because everybody wants to be in on it.   Every other country wants the rewards that come from hooking their carriages to the AI machine, the choices we make now will determine whether New Zealand becomes a leader in the AI economy or is stuck in competing for the rats and mice that are left.   Much hinges on being able to generate the electricity needed to power the massive warehouse sized computers driving the AI economy. Right now, those data centres use 2% of global electricity - more than 10 times New Zealand's annual generation capacity and demand is only going to get greater.  The institute argues that New Zealand has nearly 90% renewable electricity, a temperate climate that reduces cooling costs and strict privacy laws, and thus that makes us an attractive destination for global tech firms. ‘But we haven't got any electricity’ I hear you cry. We're having to burn coal to keep the lights on. Nanas going to bed at 6pm because her power bill is so high. And here is where the Maxim Institute makes its recommendations.    We need to double geothermal generation, explore emerging energy sources such as supercritical geothermal. Small modular reactors, which are next generation nuclear technology that offer safe, scalable zero carbon power. We need to streamline, consent and incentivise investment.    Speaking to the Mike Hosking Breakfast, Thomas Scrimgeour, researcher at the Maxim Institute, is all for exploring the nuclear energy option.   ‘Small nuclear reactors are an excellent source of energy that we should be exploring. The International Energy Agency's report earlier this year was titled A New Era for Nuclear Energy. The world is heavily, heavily investing in nuclear power.   Over 30 countries have signed a pledge to triple nuclear power production by 2050. The world is returning to nuclear power because it is clean, because it is reliable, because it is always there for you.  Nuclear power is something we should be looking at. New Zealand's opposition to nuclear power is quite recent. In the 1970s, so not that long ago, we had a Royal Commission on Nuclear Power, and it released a report in 1978 that was expecting a significant nuclear power programmes in New Zealand by the early 21st century.   It's only since the 1980s that we became a country that reacted against nuclear power because of its associations with weapons testing in the Pacific. But nuclear energy is not the same thing as a nuclear bomb, and New Zealand hasn't always been opposed to nuclear energy. Once upon a time, we were expecting to get nuclear power, and we can talk people back into that.’   Can we though? That was Thomas Scrimgeour, one of the researchers at the Maxim Institute, talking to Mike Hosking this morning.   He says, basically, that the David Lange ‘no nukes’ identity around which we wrap ourselves, it's an anachronism, a thing of the past, it was a blip in history. One moment we were all for nuclear power, next thing we decided it was absolutely abhorrent.   We were never going to have anything to do with nuclear power ever again, even though we have X-rays, and even though our hospitals leak more radiation than the most efficient nuclear-powered vessels, he thinks that we can forget about those Lange years.   He thinks that we can forget about the fact that much of how New Zealand sees itself – pragmatic, humble, innovators, #8 wire mentality, no nukes, no nonsense, give everyone a fair go - he thinks that we can differentiate between no nuclear weapons and the need for nuclear power.   On the surface, it would solve all of our problems. If we can make ourselves an attractive market to global tech firms and being able to store all this massive amount of dat... Mon, 18 Aug 2025 00:55:57 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-dog-owners-have-a-duty-to-ensure-the-communitys-safety/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-dog-owners-have-a-duty-to-ensure-the-communitys-safety/ It was our gorgeous night last night, absolutely beautiful. The kids were training for football up at the local park, and while I waited to pick up my daughter and grandson, I went for a lovely walk along the estuary – there were Tui and Kereru, families and joggers were out, and it was just glorious.   But at the same time, as I was thoroughly appreciating just how lucky we are to have such a gorgeous amenity close by, I was keeping a wary eye out for any off leash dogs, because in our neighbourhood community group there had been a warning about a dangerous dog owner at the local park. And it only takes that one bad apple, doesn't it? To just put a slight tinge on the enjoyment. People who have no business owning dogs, taking them to the local park, completely letting them run wild with no control over them. A woman's dog was attacked and she was bitten badly when she tried to intervene to save the dog.   There are far, far more good dog owners. At our local there are dogs of all breeds of all sizes, they all socialise together quite happily and although money might be a little bit tight for some families in our neighbourhood, we are not what you'd call a high socio economic area, we all rub along together. The dogs that I see at the park are always beautifully looked after, glossy coats, great condition, whatever breed they might be.   Auckland Council’s cracking down on dog owners in a bid to lower a surge in attacks. They prosecuted the owner of a Rottweiler whose teenage son was walking the dog when it mauled a passer-by. The dog owner was very apologetic and the dog was euthanised at the owner's request. Four days later, she offered assistance to the victim immediately, but nonetheless the courts still gave her a 70 hours community service and fined her $500 – which is almost more than you get for taking a life, but there you go. Auckland is taking a tough stance because on the 24/25 financial year alone, nearly 3000 dog attacks and more than 15,000 cases of roaming dogs were reported, and that's an increase from 2020, when there were just under 2000 attacks logged. It's attributed to a surge in dog ownership after the lockdowns, a decline in desexing, and a growing number of unregistered and untrained animals.   And it's not just Auckland. I mean, basically pick any area of the country. Last year, locals staged a protest in Kaikohe outside the local council headquarters, demanding tougher action against roaming and dangerous dogs. They wanted to see better conditions in the Council's pounds and a reduced euthanasia. And the demonstration followed a surge in dog attacks across the region, with double the rate of attacks recorded nationwide. Two people were killed by dogs in the space of a year. The message from local authorities is clear.   Yet again, it's the dog owners, it generally always is – too many dog owners failing to take responsibility. The Auckland compliance manager said we're seeing a rise in serious attacks and it's clear that many owners do not care and don't believe they should be held responsible. Let us be clear, they will be held responsible. Owning a dog comes with a duty to ensure the safety of the community. If you can't meet that duty, you should not own a dog. There won't be any dog lovers, surely, who would disagree with that? Fri, 15 Aug 2025 01:42:49 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/jo-clough-the-dog-safe-workplace-director-on-the-rising-number-of-dog-attacks/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/jo-clough-the-dog-safe-workplace-director-on-the-rising-number-of-dog-attacks/ Auckland Council's cracking down on dog owners in a bid to lower a surge in attacks.  It's made more than 611 prosecutions since 2020, targeting owners with dogs that have seriously injured people or other animals.  Nearly three thousand dog attacks and more than 15 thousand cases of roaming dogs have been reported in Auckland over the last financial year.  Jo Clough, Director of The Dog Safe Workplace, told Kerre Woodham New Zealand needs a mandatory dog bite reporting system, as without one the true cost and extent of injuries won’t be known.  She says that education is the best way to mitigate damage, ensuring that people who have no choice but to go into spaces with dogs have the processes to keep themselves safe.  LISTEN ABOVE  Thu, 14 Aug 2025 23:55:11 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/chris-quin-foodstuffs-north-island-ceo-on-the-re-employing-of-staff-after-the-victoria-park-new-world-burned-down/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/chris-quin-foodstuffs-north-island-ceo-on-the-re-employing-of-staff-after-the-victoria-park-new-world-burned-down/ Foodstuffs North Island says it's working hard to re-employ staff from an Auckland New World that caught fire in June. CEO Chris Quin says of 183 people, 121 are working at other stores, 12 have found roles elsewhere, and 10 are taking a break. He told Kerre Woodham that leaves about 40 staff they still need to place. Quinn says they're trying to match employees to about 50 positions in Auckland stores. LISTEN ABOVE  Thu, 14 Aug 2025 23:36:53 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-fronting-publicly-is-the-least-ardern-hipkins-and-robertson-could-do/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-fronting-publicly-is-the-least-ardern-hipkins-and-robertson-could-do/ There's an old saying, one generally used by mothers: I’m not angry, I'm just disappointed.   Yesterday, hearing that the unholy Triumvirate of Ardern, Robertson, and Hipkins —Ayesha Verrall doesn't count— were choosing not to appear publicly at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 Response, I was both angry and disappointed. The second set of public hearings for the Royal Commission has been axed after key witnesses, including the aforementioned, refused to appear. Chairman Grant Illingworth has the power to summon people to appear before the Inquiry, those living in New Zealand, but said he would not use it. On balance, he said “we are of the view that a summons is undesirable given that the former ministers continue to cooperate with the evidence gathering of the Inquiry”. The writing was on the wall back in early July that Hipkins would not be showing his face publicly, when I asked him about attending to give his evidence in person. You could hear on the 8th of July that there was no way he was going to show his face.  It may be true that government ministers have in the past given their evidence privately to Royal Commissioners. The Covid-19 response, I would argue, is different. The “most honest and transparent government ever” relied hugely on the trust and faith of the public to implement the nationwide wholesale measures that they did. We all sacrificed to varying degrees, and with varying degrees of willingness, personal freedoms, livelihoods, children's schooling, mental wellbeing, because the government engaged with us, talked at us, cajoled us, threatened us, reassured us it was a relationship. Every single day those people were up in our grills, in public, telling us what we needed to do, how we had to do it, and giving their reasons for why we had to do it. Enormous sacrifices were made by many, many people, and many of them are still counting the emotional toll.   Ardern, Hipkins, and Robertson used their public profiles to ensure compliance with the decisions they were making, which grew ever more ridiculous and unworkable as time went on. I believe they have a moral obligation to front the public and answer the Commissioners questions publicly. Without manipulating the public trust, for better and worse, they couldn't have got away with what they did. Their objections to appearing appear to be Dentons’, the law firm’s, objections to appearing, but their objections include the convention that ministers and former ministers are interviewed by inquiries in private, and departing from that convention would undermine confidence. In what exactly?   I hope I've put up a case that they do have an obligation to answer publicly because the Covid-19 response was unlike any other event where there's been a Commission of Inquiry.  They were also concerned that the live streaming and publication of recordings of the hearing creates a risk of those recordings being tampered with, manipulated, or otherwise misused. For heavens sake, any time you open your mouth in public your words and image can be manipulated and misused. Look at Neil Finn's erections for heavens sake. Anytime you appear talking about anything, AI can use your image, your words – it's not exclusive to the Commission of Inquiry.   They have form, these people, as spineless decision makers, so it should be no real surprise they haven't showed publicly. They never once ventured to Auckland during the pointless, unreasonable lockdowns of 2021. So no huge surprise that they're not willing to stand by the decisions they made then, now. Ardern and Robertson have moved on. They don't need the New Zealand public. They don't need the New Zealand public to have confidence in them, Hipkins does. He wants to be Prime Minister again. He wants another bash at it. He'll point to the polls and say he's a third of the way there, that most New Zealanders have got over Covid, moved on. Some of us haven't. We are living with t... Thu, 14 Aug 2025 01:11:51 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/sir-lockwood-smith-former-speaker-of-the-house-on-chloee-swarbrick-being-barred-from-parliament-refusing-to-apologise/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/sir-lockwood-smith-former-speaker-of-the-house-on-chloee-swarbrick-being-barred-from-parliament-refusing-to-apologise/ Chlöe Swarbrick's back in Auckland – thrown out of Parliament this week for refusing to apologise for comments in the House.  The Greens co-leader said if six of 68 Government MPs with a spine back her bill to sanction Israel, New Zealand can stand on the right side of history.   Former Speaker, Sir Lockwood Smith told Kerre Woodham that impugned the Government's integrity and warranted an apology.   He says that all Swarbrick needed to do was withdraw and apologise and that would be the end of the matter, but she chose not to.  Sir John Key made a similar comment without repercussions in 2015, but Smith says he expects he'd have apologised if he'd been asked.  LISTEN ABOVE  Thu, 14 Aug 2025 01:03:02 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-is-spineless-really-unparliamentary-language/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-is-spineless-really-unparliamentary-language/ So as you will have heard, Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has been barred from Parliament's debating chamber for the rest of the week, unless she apologises for a comment made during a debate over Palestine and the granting of statehood to it. During her speech, Swarbrick called on government MPs to back a Green Party bill that would allow New Zealand to sanction Israel for its war crimes.   CS: If we find 6 of 68 government MPs with a spine, we can stand on the right side of history.   GB: No, that is completely unacceptable to make that statement, withdraw it and apologise.   CS: No.   GB: Then leave the house for the rest of the week.   CS: Happily.   Gerry Brownlee, the Speaker of the House, said the spine comment was completely unacceptable, ordered her to withdraw it, and told her to leave the House when she refused. Parliamentary debates can be heated, but there are rules about what members can and cannot say. Unbecoming language, insults and accusations of dishonesty are banned.   Now obviously unparliamentary language is constantly evolving and changing over time. Going into Parliaments records, you'll find that in 1933 an MP calling another member a shrewd old bird was considered unparliamentary language. In 1936, fungus farmer and pipsqueak were considered unacceptable. In 1946 things got a bit heated ... “I would cut the honourable gentleman's throat if I had the chance”, understandably, the Speaker ruled on that one unparliamentary language. But skite was also considered unparliamentary in 1946. I mean, nobody likes a skite, but unbecoming language and having to apologise to the House?   In 1966 the insults flew and the Speaker was kept very busy. Shut up yourself, you great ape – withdraw and apologise. Snotty nosed little boy, cheap little twerp, and ridiculous mouse were all considered unacceptable. In 1977 John Boy was considered unacceptable. Silly old moo, racist, and sober up, which could have applied to any one of a number of MPs in 1977 I imagine, and so on and so forth. We probably don't think many of those insults were unparliamentary or unacceptable. I would say spineless fits in alongside twerp or stupid as Chris Bishop is supposed to have called members of the Opposition. I think stupid is worse than spineless. There are many things I have criticised and would criticise Chlöe Swarbrick for – calling her colleagues across the House spineless is not one of them.  Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:33:01 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/richard-chambers-police-commissioner-talks-recruitment-gang-numbers-jevon-mcskimming/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/richard-chambers-police-commissioner-talks-recruitment-gang-numbers-jevon-mcskimming/ The Police Commissioner says he feels for his staff as a top cop faces the courts.   Former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming is facing eight charges of possessing child exploitation and bestiality material.  He resigned after a period of suspension on full pay since December, during a separate investigation.  Richard Chambers told Kerre Woodham he is angry, disappointed, and let-down – and knows staff feel the same. But he says it also shows nobody is above the law, no matter their rank.  In terms of police recruits, he hopes work will begin on a second police college wing for Auckland early next year.   An Auckland Campus opened last month as an alternative to the Porirua facility.  Forty recruits will graduate in coming months.   Chambers says it's going exceptionally well, and he's committed to expanding the operation.  He told Woodham it gives aspiring officers more flexibility on training.  LISTEN ABOVE  Tue, 12 Aug 2025 21:50:24 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-can-we-do-about-rate-rises/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-what-can-we-do-about-rate-rises/ Commentators are telling us that the tide is turning, that we've reached the bottom of the cycle. ANZ has lowered its mortgage interest rates, so other banks will surely follow suit, bringing relief to many households. Spring is almost here. And then the rates bill arrives in the mail. Any financial gains are immediately lost, any lift of the spirits plummets.   The Government is well aware that rising rates are adding to the economic doom and gloom. They put councils on notice last year to deliver value for money and promised to name and shame councils who were profligate spenders. They called it a table of spending, we call it naming and shaming. The report is designed to hold councils accountable on six metrics:   Rates – the change in rates since the previous year and the forecast change in rates over the next 10 years.  Council debt   Capital expenditure, including a breakdown by activity class such as roading and water services.    Balanced budget – to show whether the Council is actually coping with the rates that come in with the money it has or having to borrow to sustain itself.    Road conditions – so ratepayers can compare the state of their local roads with councils across the country. Local Government Minister Simon Watts says communities can now compare how much their council spends on core essentials like infrastructure and see whether their rates are going up more than average. We have been clear, says Simon Watts, that we want to see councils get back to basics, focusing on delivering essential services and infrastructure, improving local decision making, and supporting their communities through the cost of living, not adding to it.   He's also introducing a bill to remove four well-being provisions: social, economic, environmental, and cultural. They were reintroduced by Labour in 2019 after being removed by the previous National government in 2012, who removed them after Labour introduced them in 2002. So there's been a bit of political ping pong going on there. It will also impose a requirement on councils to prioritise core services when managing finances and setting rates. The threat of a rates cap too is ever present. If you don't stop increasing rates, then we will put a cap on you, the central government has said to local, so that you can't just hoick up the rates to pay your bills. Simon Watts points to rates caps in NSW and Victoria and says the same could happen here. I’m not sure that is the answer, not without accepting a massive loss in services, but how on Earth do you manage to budget when your rates rise well beyond inflation? What options do you have?   There's a story in today's New Zealand Herald of a rates rise of 72% for one family in Orewa. That's because they're living on land that's ripe for development, except, of course it's not, because WaterCare is not issuing any resource consents, because there simply isn't the infrastructure to sustain any more development. So they're facing a huge hike in their rates because of the value of the land, but the value of the land can't be realised. So how on Earth do you cope with the 72% rise in rates? How do you manage? Do you sell the property because you simply can't afford the rates? Do you apply for rates relief? Do you just not pay it?   For a long time, those who have bothered to vote in local body elections have voted for councillors who promise there'll be no rates rises, which means that a lot of the work that councils are doing has been delayed. They haven't had the money because homeowners, ratepayers, have elected councillors that have promised there will be no rates rises. But all that's doing is delaying the inevitable. In part, we have brought this on ourselves. You vote for people who aren't going to increase rates, you don't bother to vote. You don't bother to stand for council. When I say you, I mean we. So in part, we've brought this on ourselves. And because the... Tue, 12 Aug 2025 01:08:43 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/jonathan-young-ara-ake-head-of-industry-and-government-engagement-on-the-impact-of-the-rapidly-declining-gas-supply/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/jonathan-young-ara-ake-head-of-industry-and-government-engagement-on-the-impact-of-the-rapidly-declining-gas-supply/ The speed of decline of our gas supply could be hampering the transition to alternative energy.   A Business NZ survey of commercial and industrial users shows average price rises have topped 100% in the past five years.  Nearly half made various cuts to their business.  Energy innovation centre Ara Ake's Jonathan Young told Kerre Woodham supply's fallen a lot quicker than anyone expected.  He says it's hurting as companies try to transition.  Young says it's like a relay runner falling short ahead of the baton exchange, and it's leading to de-industrialisation.  LISTEN ABOVE  Tue, 12 Aug 2025 00:58:57 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/sam-warren-taxpayers-union-local-government-campaigns-manager-on-rising-property-rates/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/sam-warren-taxpayers-union-local-government-campaigns-manager-on-rising-property-rates/ The economic doom and gloom continues with rising property rates.  Some rural areas are even facing increases substantially higher than the average council rate.  One Orewa family is facing a 72% rates rise on their rural property, as it was zoned for new development – development that can’t be done for several years.  Taxpayers' Union Local Government Campaigns Manager Sam Warren told Kerre Woodham they’re strongly pushing for rates capping laws that would stop any rates increases above the level of inflation.  He says it would keep the councils focused on the important things, and ensure you can’t be costed out of your own home.  LISTEN ABOVE  Tue, 12 Aug 2025 00:43:13 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-will-we-soon-see-the-greens-leading-the-government/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-will-we-soon-see-the-greens-leading-the-government/ I asked on Friday how anyone could vote for Labour given the latest Treasury report into their irresponsible spending of taxpayer money that came out last week. That irresponsible spending that contributed greatly to the recession, the high mortgage interest rates to unemployment - when so many of the same people, those people who made so many stupid decisions are still there, how could anyone, I asked, think that Labour should get another crack at government?   The answer is quite a few of you think they should. The latest Taxpayers Union Curia poll that came out yesterday shows that if an election were held on Sunday, the result would be a hung parliament with the centre right bloc gaining 61 seats and the centre left block getting exactly the same - 61 for National, for ACT, for NZ First, 61 for Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Maori.   Labour’s up two points, National’s down 2 points. It's only a poll - and we all know the Winston Peters dictum, the only poll that counts is the one that counts on election day. But it is a clear indication that when you campaign on fixing the economy, ‘hang on, help is on the way, we're here now, the grown-ups are in charge,’ then you have to actually fix it.  Things have to change. Cost of living remains voters’ most important issue. Closely followed by the economy, then health and employment. All of those hang around the economy, hang around pulling the right levers to get things cracking again. Your average hard-working Kiwi is exhausted and tired of being told that things are coming right, that the ship is slowly turning around and heading in the right direction.   So, this latest poll may be an expression of exhaustion and dissatisfaction. It may just be an indication that more people are starting to agree with Greens Co-leader Chloe Swarbrick that capitalism’s cooked. The Greens held their AGM over the weekend and Swarbrick urged the party faithful to build the parties fan base. She wants them to be talking to miners and factory workers and farmers to people who are fed up with politics and the two main parties and who are looking for alternatives, alternatives to the main parties and alternatives to capitalism. She also says she wants to have more say in the next government, she and Marama Davidson want to be the ones calling the shots, forming the government and deciding the policies.   Chloe's put herself up as finance minister in the next coalition government. And if you want to see what that looks like the Greens, unlike Labour, have put up their economic policies to be scrutinised. They have put up an alternate budget. What this latest poll says is that Green supporters should take heart.   People are tired, they are fed up, they can't see the status quo helping them. National, Labour, whatever, they're interchangeable. They're hard workers, they're good citizens, and they're still not getting ahead. The only way they can see a future for themselves and their families is by leaving the country. Does that mean they're ready to put the Greens in the driver's seat? Well, according to this latest poll, they're willing to put Labour there, so surely it's not such a great stretch of the imagination to see the Greens getting the votes they need to call the shots in 2026.    Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:36:30 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/david-birkett-federated-farmers-arable-chairperson-on-the-gas-shortage-potentially-temporarily-shutting-down-kapuni-fertiliser-plant/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/david-birkett-federated-farmers-arable-chairperson-on-the-gas-shortage-potentially-temporarily-shutting-down-kapuni-fertiliser-plant/ A hit for the Taranaki region, with dwindling gas supply forcing a potential short-term shutdown of a local fertiliser plant.   Ballance Agri-Nutrients may have to cease operations at Kapuni for up to four months if it can't secure more gas before its contract expires next month.   The company manufactures about a third of the country's urea fertiliser each year.  Federated Farmers Arable Chairperson David Birkett told Kerre Woodham it’s been an ongoing issue that has just been getting worse and worse.  He says that plants like that in Kapuni was built around the gas supplies nearby, and to convert it to another fuel source would be a huge and expensive process.  LISTEN ABOVE  Fri, 08 Aug 2025 01:51:34 Z /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-how-can-anyone-not-be-critical-of-labour/ /on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/opinion/kerre-woodham-how-can-anyone-not-be-critical-of-labour/ I get texts on the daily from people saying “you're so negative about Labour”.  “You never have anything good to say about the last government. You're so critical of Labour.” And I say to them, how can anyone with a brain not be critical of Labour?! The gut feeling I had at the time that the previous administration was out of their depth and hopelessly incompetent has been proved with hard data, time and time and time again. The failure to deliver any kind of transformational reform, the failure to deliver on the absolute basics, the arrogance around co-governance, the breathtaking and utterly tragic waste of taxpayer money, more on that later, Treasury's report that came out yesterday slamming the governments spending during the pandemic just confirms everything we knew – but now this.   Labour's absolute refusal to even acknowledge changes taking place within NCEA. The Herald has the story and its a good one. The Government offered Labour multiple opportunities to be briefed on the NCEA change process, but the party’s education spokeswoman Willow-Jean Prime initially didn’t respond to these invitations and then flat-out declined them. This after Hipkins said to the Herald last month that the Labour Government consulted with the then-Opposition to ensure changes were “going to be enduring” and expressed a desire for the current Government to do the same. A text message appears to show Stanford reached out to Prime about NCEA after the Labour MP took over the education portfolio from Jan Tinetti in March.  “Hey Willow-Jean, congrats on the new role! Will need to get you up to speed with the NCEA change process. Jan and I had started working cross-party on this given the importance of our national qualification,” Stanford wrote, according to a screenshot provided.  “Would be good if we could meet first and I can run you through where we are at and what the process is. There is a policy advisory group of principals who are working on the details and you can have access to them when they meet as well as my officials and also NZQA.”  The Minister said her office would get in touch with Prime’s “if that’s ok?”. Nothing.  Tumbleweeds. Now I get that she doesn't have to like the changes. She doesn't have to agree with the change. But a letter along the lines of 'Thanks Minister, but I am philosophically and intellectually opposed to the changes you intend to make and I will be rolling them back once I am Minister. Nga mihi, Willow Jean' would have let everybody know where they stood. Nothing? No response at all?!   Stanford's office reached out again in May. Again, nothing. In mid June, Stanford reached out personally and then when again, there was no response, Stanford emailed Chris Hipkins office on July 1. “I’ve sought on multiple occasions to get input from your education spokesperson on NCEA curriculum reform, with no response,” Stanford wrote to Hipkins on July 1.  “It is important to have cross-party collaboration regarding a national qualification, and the offer remains open to arrange a briefing from officials or from the Professional Advisory Group.”  The next day, an adviser for Prime emailed Stanford: “I acknowledge your email regarding NCEA curriculum reform." “Willow-Jean has considered your email and declines the invitation."  That is Labour's education spokesperson. Some one who is so rude, so out of touch, so out of her depth she refused to be part of transformational change. But no, this is not just Labour's education spokesperson, this is Labour. Out of touch, out of their depth, and while Chris Hipkins remains as leader, they should never be allowed anywhere near the levers of power ever again.  Thu, 07 Aug 2025 21:35:43 Z