Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

There's positive movement in the club rugby refereeing stand-down in the capital. Referees will still boycott all club matches this weekend, after 19 reported incidents of verbal abuse towards Wellington whistlers, but they are working with Wellington Rugby to be back officiating the following weekend. Wellington Rugby Referees Association president Ben van Berkel says things won't change complete...

Both National and Labour are rolling out new solar power proposals ahead of the election, and it's clear there's mood for change.  Current WorkSafe rules prohibit the use of certain plug-in solar systems because connecting solar panels directly to standard household plugs is considered a safety risk. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey says most political parties are getting behind new proposed...

Everybody's into the solar energy now. National announced its solar energy policy last week and most people thought it was a sound idea, good common-sense idea. The party, if elected, would launch the Home Energy Fund by tweaking the Local Government Act and committing a one-off $7 million equity investment to secure a 20% shareholding in the new entity with the balance funded by participating cou...

What makes a city liveable? The Economist Intelligence Unit, which is such a grand name, has released its latest list of the most liveable cities. There are 173. Three Australian cities are in the top 10 – Melbourne third, Sydney fourth, and Adelaide eighth. For all the bad press Melbourne gets for its crime, it's doing pretty jolly well to be there in the top three. Auckland came in at 12th place...

What would you rather? Would you rather toll roads and shiny new roads, or would you rather waiting for NZTA to put you on the list of priorities and potholes up your ying yang?   New Zealand has just three toll roads right now throughout the country, and two of them are in Tauranga. There are also two more planned on Bay of Plenty roads – not surprisingly, residents are up in arms. Yes, ther...

Yes, it's election year. How can you tell? They're all coming up with policies now, aren't they, designed to appeal to their core constituency. Winston Peters played a blinder by announcing to the party faithful at a campaign meeting in Warkworth over the weekend that he wants to see voting rights reserved for citizens of this country only. If his party is returned to Parliament, he will move to r...

ACT wants to grant security guards more powers, with industry concerns not many would want the extra abilities The Party says police are overstretched and security staff can fill the gap - protecting retailers, transport hubs and businesses. They'd like them allowed to detain and remove people, issue exclusion notices, and use force. Security Association chief executive Gary Morrison says he doubt...

Security guards will be given the power to detain people and use force under a sweeping ACT Party proposal that makes the very fair point that police are overstretched, and businesses can no longer wait for officers to respond. Some of them would see tectonic plates drift as they waited for the Police to respond to shoplifters who are slowly but surely causing their business to buckle under the pr...

From Michelin stars to school lunches, sublime, ridiculous. I think it's safe to say none of the school lunches on offer will be getting Michelin stars. Then the last lot probably wouldn't have either. A scathing report has been issued by the Auditor General, which says only 50% percent of the meals delivered by the new school lunch programme in 2025 complied with the Ministry of Education's nutri...

Multiple hospitals are dealing with failing infrastructure.   Episodes of heavy rain are causing leaks and water damage at Middlemore Hospital’s aging maternity block.   And conditions at Hutt Hospital are being described as “disgraceful”, with water getting into wards, collapsing ceilings, and potential electrical hazards.  Nurses say they’re juggling patient care with buckets and...

Yesterday, I was talking about the amount of aid we're sending to places like Vietnam and Indonesia. Places I would venture to suggest that are showing more go ahead, more investment in infrastructure than we are. When you're looking at Vietnam, they're building one of the largest stadiums in the world, they've got fast rail underway, they're building a huge city to house much of its population –...

Nobody loves a tradie more than a politician in election year. Labour announced it would reset the apprenticeship boost scheme back to two years from 2028 if come the glorious day they became the next government. Labour leader Chris Hipkins announced the election policy to the party faithful at Labour's congress as they call it in election year in Wellington over the weekend. There are so many you...

A Kiwi doctor who’s lived in Australia for decades was arrested at Wellington Airport over about $180,000 in unpaid student loan debt. Police stopped him as he tried to leave the country, his passport’s been seized, and he’s now stuck in New Zealand until it’s sorted. It’s part of a tougher crackdown, with billions still owed by borrowers living offshore. IRD Customer Segment Leader Rebecca Baker...

I read the Stuff story this morning and thought, "Oh, cry me a river!" Do the student loan evaders who finally get nabbed really expect sympathy when they bleat to the media? Stuff this morning has the story of Vic, not his real name. He was at Wellington Airport last month heading home to Australia where he's lived and worked as a medical specialist for three, how many Kerry? Three decades, 30 ye...

The harm social media is causing young people is being explored in ‘Under the Influence’, a new series from the NZ Herald.  The second episode, ‘Manosphere v Boy’, explores the network of online influencers pushing extreme, and often misogynistic, ideas about masculinity to boys and young men.  The messaging sets unrealistic expectations around success, wealth, relationships, and dominan...

Far North Police say they're being met with a wall of silence nearly two months on from a hit and run that killed an 18 year old dirt bike rider. Jahkani Hamilton was found dead about 10pm between Kaikohe and Moerewa on May 1st. Police say an associate of his was found seriously injured nearby – he'd also been knocked off a dirt bike. Police are being stymied by witnesses and their supporters choo...

National is accusing Labour of having a “hidden bill”, worth $18 billion, in its spending plans.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis says they promised to outline how it would fund its election commitments after the Budget, but no credible plan has been provided.  But Labour disputes this, promising everything will become clear in the party’s fiscal plan, which will be released later this ye...

Separating couples are being trapped by falling house prices.  The drop in prices are leaving them stuck – unable to sell or split finances cleanly, and in many cases keeping them living under the same roof.  Property values are down roughly 17% nationwide from the peak, with larger drops in Auckland and Wellington.  Equal Exes Founder and Divorce Coach Bridgette Jackson told Kerre...

Do you know what's real and what's not when you're scrolling through your news feeds? When you're scrolling through your social media? AI generated “news” pages and political deepfake ads are swamping social media feeds. They've been around for a while, but there's more and more and more of them and they're becoming harder to detect as the technology gets more sophisticated, as people understand h...

More Aucklanders are hopping on bikes.  According to Auckland Transport, the city is quickly becoming the cycling mecca of the South Pacific, with a huge surge in cyclists - May the busiest month in decades.  They say trips are up more than 14% on last year – driven by new cycleways, high fuel costs, and growing demand for cheaper, healthier travel.  AT's Head of Active Modes Tania...

Now I mentioned Thomas Coughlan's excellent piece in the Herald yesterday. He looked at the costings for Labour's policies so far. He got the Treasury costings for them, got Nicola Willis, the Finance Minister's accusations about lack of detail, crunched it right down to give us the best possible chance of getting a real world look at the numbers and whether Labour will be able to afford the polic...

The Financial Services Council is backing National’s KiwiSaver overhaul, saying it’ll boost long-term savings. Plans include lifting contribution rates to 12%, making the scheme compulsory, and enrolling Kiwis at birth with a $1500 kickstart — plus extending support for parents and over-65s. Financial Services Council Chief Executive Kirk Hope joins Kerre Woodham to discuss the changes, and the ef...

Very shortly public voting will be underway for the Spark Retail NZ's People's Choice award. The People’s Choice Award recognises a retailer that has made a genuine, positive impact on its customers. Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young said it's important to allow Kiwis to have a say in who they think deserves the award. Voting is open from Friday the 26th, and the awards ceremony will be on t...

As the election gets closer, parties are starting to release their policies. And after a slow start, keeping their cards close to their chest, Labour's building up steam. We already had the three free doctors visits for all, now we've got free maternity scans and a promise to scrap the $5 fee on prescriptions and make them universally free. Add that to the free public transport, well, up to a poin...

Work ethics – where do we stand on those? Is it a generational thing? Do you continue to soldier on despite Covid changing the way we see coming to work while sick? Do you still soldier on? Do you pause and take a break if you can feel a sniffle coming on because you want to A) ensure you don't infect your colleagues and B) ensure that you've got the best possible chance of getting better by stayi...