Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

I’m feeling the itchy feet, the urge to travel is back.   Now that we can, it’s tantalising isn’t it? I’m worried that once everybody does start bouncing out the door, I’m going to get wicked FOMO.   But here’s the problem, with all this time locked up at home and locked down, I’ve become too attached to the dog and vice versa.   I’m serious. I don’t know how I leave her now. She didn’t cope well...

It was a busy day in the capital yesterday as the convoy protesters continued their stay on the lawns of Parliament.   Three people were taken into custody after attempting to breach police lines, while an official trespassing notice was issued.  Chester Burrows is a former police officer and joined Kate Hawkesby.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday in parliament, New Zealand's relationship with the monarchy was once again debated.  This was after a motion was set to congratulate Queen Elizabeth on her platinum jubilee, a 70-year reign.  But the Māori Party voted against the motion, and the Greens say our head of state should be from Aotearoa New Zealand.  Questions have therefore been raised as to how the monarchy and the UK would...

The Tinder Swindler is now one of the most popular films on Netflix.  It shows the dangers of online dating, with a fraudster scamming several women for a total of $10m.  NortonLifeLock have a report out this morning, saying more than half of Kiwis vet their matches online, and nearly 2/5 un-match as a result.  Senior director at NortonLifeLock Mark Gorrie joined Kate Hawkesby from Australia.  LIS...

Kiwi director Jane Campion is leading the Oscar nominations this year with 12 nods for her film The Power of the Dog.  But as always, the list of nominations was full of surprises, announced this week by comedy actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross.  From Dune to House of Gucci, several of the biggest films released over the past year have missed out in the major categories.  Here are the mos...

As our Omicron daily case numbers started to trend down instead of the much promised up, I wondered if my theory last week is in fact more than just a theory.   People aren’t testing. They’re not scanning in, they’ve turned off their Bluetooth on the app, they’re not reporting symptoms, or maybe they’re just asymptomatic.  Either way, our Omicron surge that the doomsayers keep warning us about, th...

There is concern vaccine fatigue could be setting in.  The campaign for people to get their Covid-19 booster is ongoing, and now there's a push for them to get their seasonal flu jab, ahead of the country's border opening.  Auckland University public health expert Colin Tukuitonga told Kate Hawkesby both vaccinations are necessary,  but people are tiring of having to have yet another jab.  He says...

More pain at the pump is on its way, as petrol prices continue to climb.  It's thought 91 could reach $3 a litre soon, and stay there this year.  The National Party is calling on Auckland's regional fuel tax to be scrapped.  Consumer New Zealand Chief Executive Jon Duffy told Kate Hawkesby $3 a litre will hurt everyone, but particularly those on low or fixed incomes.  “Bear in mind this is in comb...

Construction costs are continuing to skyrocket and there are no signs of slowing down.   The CoreLogic Cordell Construction Cost Index for the last quarter of 2021 shows a 6.2 percent increase.  That's the highest in four years.   But experts are warning that figure could hit double digits.   CoreLogic chief economist Kelvin Davidson told Kate Hawkesby costs could easily rise to 10 per cent or mor...

Well the latest Newshub Reid Research poll has the Labour / Green government still the most popular, yet if ever we needed confirmation of the spin and PR machine that this Government really is, we got it at the weekend from Sir Ian Taylor.  In a series of columns for the NZ Herald documenting his dealings with this Government, Taylor has become increasingly disillusioned. He admits he voted for t...

History making Zoi Sadowski-Synnott believes momentum can take her to a second Winter Olympic gold medal, but only if she can come down from winning the first.  New Zealand's first Winter Olympics gold-medal winner said she will need to regather herself for the big air competition, the event she won bronze in at the 2018 Games.  But she sounded confident of landing another gold medal early next we...

Businesses are angry about the Ministry of Health requisitioning Rapid Antigen Tests for its own stocks.   When news broke that the Ministry was requisitioning the tests, Dr Ashley Bloomfield said they were from forward orders from overseas - not tests already in the country.   But the Ministry has backtracked - acknowledging it took the full February allocation from one manufacturer, along with i...

There is excitement in Australia following confirmation its border is reopening to the world.  International border restrictions will be lifted for anyone who's fully vaccinated in two weeks on February the 21st.  However, states and territories will be able to keep their own cap and quarantine requirements in place.  Australian correspondent Donna Demaio told Kate Hawkesby the news is being well...

New data from the Beach and Coastal Safety Report - shows 30 per cent of New Zealanders cannot swim or float in the ocean for more than a few minutes.  Our holiday drowning figures over summer were the worst in 40 years.  Swimtastic swim coach, Mark Bone told Kate Hawkesby that's due to a lack of swimming lessons, the lockdown and the fantastic weather we've had.  “I think we’re going to have a ge...

Thoughts and prayers this morning to all the panickers who wanted the border shut forever and all the hermits who were loving Hermit Kingdom. It’s over. Thank goodness.  Congrats to the Government for waking up to the fact that life actually does go on. That you can’t actually lock your citizens out forever, that you can’t keep Kiwis isolated from the rest of the world ad nauseum.  There’ll be som...

There are fear airlines may start losing interest in coming to New Zealand.  A phased reopening of the border begins at the end of this month, without MIQ.  But Board of Airline Representatives executive director, Justin Tighe Umbers told Kate Hawkesby, airlines won't be able to fill planes, because of the self-isolation requirement.  He says airlines want to know by the end of the month if New Ze...

Health Minister Andrew Little is being urged to wake up and smell the coffee over the state of our health workforce.  A recruitment campaign to bring in intensive care nurses from overseas begins this week - two years after the start of the pandemic.  In a radio interview speaking to Newstalk ZB's Heather Du Plessis-Allan yesterday, Little refused to admit there's an urgent need for doctors and nu...

Leehane Stowers was just 35 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and felt scared and in the dark as to what her best option was.  "I had all these questions and was just being told no for everything, I didn't really have much understanding of what was going on."  The Auckland woman, who is part Māori and part Samoan, is part of a group of people a new report shows are most at risk of dying fr...

Like a lot of people confined to NZ and unable to travel anywhere at the moment, we’re spending more time at home, and therefore spending more money on home. Collectively, this little country is spending phenomenal amounts of money on boats, renovations or adding a pool to the backyard. Anything to make being confined to home more enjoyable. We were stoked to not have a pool at our current place t...

The tourism industry will be hoping for a clearer timeline on when New Zealand's border will fully reopen to everyone. Tourism Industry Aotearoa spokesperson Ann-Marie Johnson says it would be great for New Zealanders to be able to come back, and isolate at home. But she told Kate Hawkesby the tourism recovery won't begin until all holidaymakers can come here, with no self-isolation or MIQ. “Obvio...

A union is welcoming the proposed income insurance scheme - but wants minimum wage increases alongside it. The new scheme would mean someone who's made redundant or stopping work because of health issues could claim 80 percent of their income, for up to seven months. It would be funded by a 1.39 percent levy on both employers, and workers. E tū's Annie Newman told Kate Hawkesby there's a concern l...

The Government is reducing the wait time to get the Covid vaccination booster shot. From Friday, people will be able to get their shot three months after getting their second. Reducing the interval by one month means an extra one million people will now be eligible. University of Auckland modeller Dr Dion O'Neale joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...

So how awkward was the RAT kit announcement yesterday – that the Goverment’s bought up 29 million more RATs from private company Kudu Spectrum.   I mean great, don’t get me wrong, always great when much needed RATs are coming our way .. but super awkward when you’ve only got them because a private citizen (Sir Ian Taylor) hooked you up with the company who supplies them, and even then you waited t...

The push for pregnant women to get emergency places in managed isolation continues.   Journalist Charlotte Bellis has now accepted an emergency MIQ spot.   The offer was granted based on the risk factor of Bellis and her partner being in Afghanistan - rather than the need for time-critical scheduled treatment.   College of Midwives chief Alison Eddy told Kate Hawkesby pregnancy should be a conditi...

Most first home buyers would probably be knocked off the property ladder, if they couldn't use their KiwiSaver for a deposit.  The OECD has recommended blocking access to KiwiSaver for first time buyers, looking to raise a deposit.  It says this would help cool the property market.  First Home Buyers' Club director, Lesley Harris, told Kate Hawkesby well over 90 percent of first home buyers need t...