Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

There seems to be bit of a grey area when it comes to whether we should make young children wear masks.  While parents and officials want to protect kids against Covid, they also don't want to get in the way of a child's development.  Each country is doing it differently, countries like France and Italy are masking kids six and over, but in the US, they want kids as young as two masked up.  Develo...

Well the climate change summit we all know the name of now COP26 is underway in Glasgow.  Apart from a stoush between France and Australia, the main takeaway has been world leaders giving pretty grim outlooks on the future.  The UN Secretary General says "we're digging our own grave" "either we stop it, or it stops us" and the UK Prmie Minister Boris Johnson says the world is at "one minute to mid...

In the corporate world, they call it avoiding death by a thousand cuts. It’s a smart marketing strategy and one I think the Government's currently employing. Get all your bad news out at once - more crudely referred to in some sectors as “flushing all the turds in one go”.  When Steven Joyce wrote at the weekend about the wheels coming off this Government, he wasn’t wrong.  Ramming through Three W...

A crucial U.N. climate summit opened Sunday amid papal appeals for prayers and activists' demands for action, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries aimed at slowing intensifying global warming and adapting to the climate damage already underway.  As U.N. officials gaveled the climate summit to its formal opening in Glasgow, the heads of the world's leadin...

The message to young kiwis who don't want to head overseas on their OE, is go to rural New Zealand instead.  Think Rural, launched today, is a local government campaign, aiming to attract young people to rural areas for work.  Otorohanga Mayor Max Baxter says told Kate Hawkesby we should treat an OE in New Zealand, like an OE overseas.  “Certainly while we’ve been in Level 3, I mean the opportunit...

So it seems the vocal minority of anti-vaxers and anti-lockdown protesters, otherwise known as 'freedom fighters' has got louder over the weekend.  At least 5000 people gathered in Auckland domain on Saturday for the third major protest in six weeks.  Protesters also targeted Dominion road yesterday grinding it a halt, and vandalised a vaccination centre in Panmure.  So how do we deal with these p...

Hawkes Bay's water park Splash Planet is closing over summer for the first time since opening in 1998.  Although Hawkes Bay isn’t reporting any Covid cases, there are concerns around low vaccination rates and how they would manage social distancing.  Nigel Bickle, Hastings’ District Council CEO - who are in charge of Splash Planet – told Kate Hawkesby it’s become too complicated to open the park. ...

UK and Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney was aboard Sir David Attenborough's research vessel today to hear Sir David talk about the upcoming Climate Change Summit.  He joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss this and how France has detained a U.K. fishing boat as the battle for fishing in the channel heats up.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I feel for the South Island, with their gradual waking up to the fact that Delta is real.  A couple of weeks ago I said to my sister, who lives in Christchurch, when she called me en-route from her pilates class to her café lunch, before probably going on to the hairdresser, that she was living in a parallel universe. I told her I figured the South Island was where the whole of NZ was 11 weeks ago...

The latest MIQ change is more about reconnecting families, rather than tourism.  From the 14th of November, MIQ stays will be halved to seven days.   People must then self-isolate at home for about three days until their day nine test comes back.   Rosann Connolly George from Vincent George Travel told Kate Hawkesby the focus will be on the repatriation of Kiwis and the education sector before we...

The United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation, marking a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who do not identify as male or female, and expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year, the State Department said Wednesday.  The department did not identify the passport recipient, but Dana Zzyym of Fort Collins, Colorado, told The Associ...

I joked this time yesterday that I hoped the big day of announcements we were awaiting wouldn’t just be announcements of announcements. I mean I thought we were past that. Hence, I joked about it.   Sadly, clearly, we’re not past it.   This Government is still taking the piss at 1 o’clock. How much leeway do they actually want? How much rope? Are they joking? Yesterday’s press conference was one o...

ACC is being told it needs to urgently change how it operates.  It's been sent an open letter from the Green party and 27 other organisations.  It comes after it was revealed more than a dozen employees were sharing and mocking people's injury details on a Snapchat group.   It also outlines huge work backlog issues and client battles.  It cites major privacy breaches, massive workloads and long-st...

A group representing working parents want more assurances their children will be safe at school.  Primary and intermediate schools in level three areas are being told to prepare to re-open on November 15, but that date's not set in stone.  Children would attend on different days and there would be outdoor classes.  Working parent advocate Emma McLean told Kate Hawkesby parents are already trying t...

Widespread reaction to the Government's decision to go ahead with its controversial three water reforms.  Water New Zealand says there are big challenges facing the sector, and these reforms address that.   Chief Executive Gillian Blythe told Kate Hawkesby about 30 options were considered.  “This one is going to enable the unlocking of barriers that have contributed to this infrastructure deficit....

A senior marketing lecturer sees mandatory vaccinations as a good P.R move.  The Government is requiring 40 per cent of our workforce to be vaccinated.  Staff will have to be vaccinated at any business that requires vaccine certificates.  Auckland University marketing expert Bodo Lang told Kate Hawkesby the vast majority of Kiwis have done the right thing and got the jab.  He says now they're just...

I’m not sure the return to school yesterday for seniors in level three will be the super spreader event people like Rod Jackson were ‘freaking out’ about. I guess time will tell on that one.  But what I do know from talking to some students who went back yesterday, was that it was stressful for all concerned.  I’m not sure what’s more stressful at this point: online at-home-learning, or heading ba...

The Queen will no longer attend the Cop 26 climate summit in Glasgow next week, following her visit to hospital last week.  Buckingham Palace says she's been advised to rest and carry out light duties.  The 95-year-old will still contribute to the summit, delivering an address to the assembled delegates via a recorded message from Windsor Castle.  UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby it...

A glimmer of hope for Kiwis stranded overseas because they can't get a spot in managed isolation.  The Government's making a major announcement about changes to the MIQ system today.  Shorter MIQ stays for returnees, home quarantine, and possibly no quarantine from safe countries could be in the mix.  Travel technology consultant Mike Moore told Kate Hawkesby home quarantine has been used successf...

Confusion continues on vaccination rules for players at the Australian Open.  Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio told Kate Hawkesby a leaked email from the Women's Tennis Association said that unvaccinated players would be allowed to enter Australia and asked the information to be kept private until the government makes a public announcement.  This comes after Victoria state Premier Daniel Andre...

It’s hard not to feel disillusioned this week - struggling to understand this new traffic light system. It feels like we’re being asked to reach an unrealistic goal by an ambitious PM who wants to score some points.  And in achieving that goal, what do we get for it? A red light.    As we’ve been told many times by this government, Delta didn’t come with a roadmap.  That’s actually not true in our...

New research suggests three quarters of Kiwis have used video games to connect with their children during the pandemic.  That's according to a new report by the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association and Bond University in Australia.  Nearly 60 percent of parents say their children’s schools are using video games as another way to teach.  Let's Play Live director Duane Mutu told Kate Hawkes...

The Government is keeping a close eye on vaccination rates in every DHB, as it prepares to transition the country to a new "traffic light" system of covid restrictions.  Auckland will move to the new system once all three of its DHBs have hit the 90-percent vaccination target.  The rest of the country is also set to move to the system, once 90-percent of the eligible population in each DHB area ha...

We got a strong sense yesterday of the reaction to school going back for seniors currently languishing in Level 3, and how it’s gone down with teachers.   The PPTA, as we know, was furious - they didn’t mince their words.  They said the government had abandoned it’s ‘abundance of caution’ approach and moved to a “reckless disregard for consequences in the blink of an eyelid.”  Teachers themselves...

Human rights activists have disrupted the flame lighting ceremony for the Winter Olympics.  This was in protest to China hosting the games.   The activists are calling for countries and athletes to boycott the games due to human rights abuses in China.  At the same time, British diver Tom Daly is asking IOC to ban countries from competing where being gay is punishable by death.  Deputy Head of Spo...