Holiday Breakfast

A trans-Tasman bubble loophole is Australia's problem - not ours. Since March last year, Australian citizens and permanent residents have needed an exemption to travel overseas. But it appears an Australian art teacher used the bubble last week to fly to Auckland and then onwards to a job in Moscow without the need for exemption. Waikato University law professor Al Gillespie told Tim Dower this is...

More school leavers are training to become builders, electricians and plumbers: apprenticeships in traditional trades have nearly doubled in the past year. Data from the Ministry of Education shows the number of new apprentices under the age of 18 jumped from 460 in the six months from August 2019 to 810 for the same period in 2020. This is supported by Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) data for...

The West Australian Premier’s demand the federal government use its own facilities for Covid-19 quarantine has been harshly dismissed, but it has agreed to slash the number of Australians returning to Perth. Mark McGowan has previously taken aim at the Commonwealth over the issue, saying it had abrogated its responsibility to take care of quarantine, leaving the states to bear the burden, includin...

An Oscars unlike any before will get underway today, with history on the line in major categories and a telecast retooled for the Covid-19 pandemic. Here's everything you need to know about this year's ceremony. When to watch The 93rd Academy Awards will begin at 12pm NZ time today. Live red carpet coverage will begin from 10.30am. Where to watch Thanks to the Mondayised public holiday, you get to...

Covid-19 hit the media industry hard, but among the hardest hit was Bauer New Zealand. It abruptly closed its doors just days into the country's level 4 lockdown, taking around three hundred jobs with it and iconic titles like The Listener, New Zealand Woman's Weekly, Metro and Woman's Day. 12 months on, not only have most of the magazines returned,  but we actually have more magazines than before...

Residents of a Whangarei suburb want their noisy neighbour gone. Northland's emergency rescue helicopter service is being forced to move from its base in Kensington, due to noise complaints. Roger de Bray, one of the founders of the helicopter trust, is among those complaining about the noise. He told Tim Dower the service had far fewer call-outs when the base was set up. Mr de Bray says it's now...

A New Zealand company's working to develop a Covid-19 vaccine to help protect people against variants of the virus. Callaghan Innovation has put $400,000 towards developing it, and $5 million has been raised all up. Covid-19 Vaccine Corporation chief executive Dr Robert Feldman told Tim Dower the vaccine would be administered using dissolvable beads and would only target the cells infected with th...

Reassurances new drone technology won't be used against the public. Dotterel Technologies has found a way to block out background noise, so drones can record aerial audio. Its chief executive says up until now drones have essentially been flying binoculars. Shaun Edlin told Tim Dower it'll help emergency rescuers, because a lot of people are found by voice. "We will  be able to listen to people ye...

A staggering number of sexual violence crimes may be sliding by without repercussion. Only 31-percent of people charged with rape last year were convicted, the lowest rate of conviction ever recorded. Women's Refuge says many more cases don't even end up in court. Chief executive Ang Jury told Tim Dower the whole justice system needs an overhaul. She says courts, judges and juries are still buying...

As New Zealanders prepares for a four-day working week, more businesses and governments are getting on board with making it permanent. The Spanish Government is offering to cover the cost of four-day weeks at some businesses. It follows trials of a 32-hour working week here in New Zealand, by Perpetual Guardian and Unilever. Four-Day Week Campaign spokesman Joe Ryle told Tim Dower workers on four-...

A warning from the Government that everyone needs to play by the rules, when it comes to closing on public holidays. Two New World stores in Wanaka face $1000 fines for opening over Easter. Workplace relations minister Michael Wood admits the current fines aren't a major deterrent, to stop businesses breaching Easter trading laws. But told Tim Dower he's disappointed the supermarkets deliberately...

A patient infected with a mutant strain of COVID-19 who was hospitalised in Adelaide is now in a critical condition, health authorities have confirmed. The man, in his 40s, is one of 12 people in South Australia with COVID-19, all of whom acquired the virus overseas. SA Health moved the man, who has the South African variant of the virus, from a dedicated quarantine hotel for positive cases to the...

More than 104.2 million people, or 31.4% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 59.8 million people, or 18% of the population, have completed their vaccination. The seven-day rolling average for daily new cases in the U.S. increased over the past two weeks from 54,471 on March 19 to 64,616...

It's "highly likely" vaccination certificates will be required for international travel, Australia's Federal Minister for Government Services said Sunday. "There is still a range of decisions for governments to make, it's highly likely that a certificate will be required for international visitors to Australia and we will continue to work with our international counterparts on our framework for va...

Surcharges will be appearing on some hospitality bills today as we observe the Monday-ised Waitangi Day. Waitangi Day fell on Saturday, but it is being recognised as a public holiday today. CEO of Hospitality New Zealand Julie White told Tim Dower that the public holiday rules kick in on the day itself - so there were surcharges on Saturday. And the Monday-isation means that there is a double-up....

The Queenstown-Lakes District is expected to be New Zealand's worst-hit region when it comes to the economic cost of Covid-19. Newly released figures show the region is expected to have 9000 fewer jobs by 2022 and its economy is forecast to take a $785 million hit. This is according to data from Infometrics - just publicly released by Treasury, which commissioned the economic forecasting agency to...

Tens of thousands of people have hit the streets in Myanmar to protest the military coup there. Leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained by the country's military, over claims last year's election was fraudulent. In Auckland, hundreds marched in solidarity on Friday urging our Government to take a stronger stance on the issue. New Zealand Myanmar Ethnic Council Chair Christalin Thangpawl told Tim...

Fluff up your favourite recliner and get ready to drown the piercing shriek of reality in a warm bowl of nacho cheese: It's Super Bowl time again! Yes, you cannot get rid of the Super Bowl. It's scientifically impossible. When the world as we know it is reduced to ashes, all that's left will be cockroaches and the Lombardi Trophy. And Tom Brady, of course. Here's everything you need to know about...

Novak Djokovic was about to respond to a question about Australian Open crowds when he paused, thought for a moment, and then asked an official if fans were still allowed into Melbourne Park for the year's first major. That was still the plan on the eve of the tournament: up to 30,000 daily — about 50% of capacity. But it's been such a crazy 12 months since Djokovic won his eighth Australian Open...

Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are getting better across much of the United States. But that progress could quickly reverse if people celebrate the Superbowl with people who don't live with them, according to health experts. "When people get together in private residences in close proximity, that is one of the single most effective ways to spread this disease," Kentucky Public Health Commissi...

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has asked officials for advice on potential law changes that could address lingering privacy worries with the NZ Covid Tracer app. It comes after a leading data expert and Privacy Commissioner John Edwards suggested legal tweaks that would ensure agencies couldn't use tracer data for spying or criminal investigations. New Zealand's app remains a critical to...

Seafarers are finding they are caught in a snag when it comes to booking space in the managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities and want change. They are subject to the Managed Isolation Allocation System like the vast majority of people coming across New Zealand's borders. Its is currently booked up until June. But Nathan Schumacher and Geiri Petursson say the job of a seafarer, where the...

A shark expert believes more people being in the water is the likely reason behind the number of shark sightings this summer. Swimmers at an East Auckland beach today were warned to take care after sharks were spotted, and another shark warning is in place at a west coast beach. Last month, 19-year-old Kaelah Marlow died after apparently being attacked by a shark at Waihī Beach in the Bay of Plent...

Nearly half of women who gave birth during lockdown at a major DHB left hospital sooner than they wanted - fuelling a rise in those readmitted with complications. "I felt alienated. Depressed and stressed," one new mother told Waitematā DHB, after the health board surveyed women who gave birth during lockdown restrictions. "I cried the whole night. Alone in the ward. Felt like I was a prisoner. No...

Most people are back at work now, while the return to school is fast approaching for many children. And the adjustment to get back on your regular body clock has been made worse by the scorching weather covering most of the country right now. Sleep expert Dr Alex Bartle joined Tim Beveridge to discuss tips for getting back to your normal sleep routine, how to sleep during this heat, and to answer...