Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

What do you do if you want to leave a gang?  A coroner has found that Napier Mongrel Mob leader Neil Angus Benson, otherwise known as Heil Dogg, felt trapped in his position in the gang in the months leading up to his suicide in December 2024.  In his report, Coroner Wilton said Benson appeared to be under "psychological strain of his leadership position in the Mongrel Mob gang".  “...

Another option to go alongside fees free study.  The Labour Government introduced First Year Fees Free in 2018, providing tertiary students with up to $12,000 in tuition cover for the first year of provider-based study, or the first two years of work-based learning.    The Coalition Government has changed the scheme from this year, applying it to the final year of study instead. &nb...

I love the fact that New Zealand Education Minister Erica Stanford and the Prime Minister presented improved reading stats to the nation yesterday. Erica Stanford was very quick to praise teachers for the much-improved results in phonics reading. She said this is an incredible improvement in reading scores in less than half a year and reflects the brilliant work teachers are doing, and it does.&nb...

Well, better late than not at all. On Saturday morning, I went upstairs and said to my daughter, "Have you seen the orange envelopes that had all the voting?" "Oh, hell. Today, isn't it?" she said. "Yes." So we scrambled around and found it in that drawer that has everything, where they'd been since they arrived in the mail. And we had until midday to vote, so both got down to it, and I took hers...

The government has changed methane targets, aiming to make the changes easier for farmers.  The Government's slashed the 2050 targets to 14% to 24% below 2017 levels, it was previously 24% to 47% lower than previously. Former Speaker of the House Sir Lockwood Smith told Kerre Woodham that this change is the right decision.  He said that it would be a bad idea to impede New Zealand's...

This year’s local government elections have seen the lowest voter turnout in 36 years, with less than a third - or 32% - bothering to have their say. Of those who did, the contrast between the urban rural divide was stark. In metro areas, only 28.8% cast their votes, provincial people made up 38.3% while rural turnout was 43.6% Local Government New Zealand says it is clear local elections have to...

Dame Wendy Pye is one of the most successful businesspeople in New Zealand. She’s a rich-lister, her publishing company Sunshine Books has sold over 300 million books worldwide, she's met countless more world leaders, and she was the first living woman to be inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.   But it hasn’t all been easy. Dame Wendy has gone through a life chang...

Orini Kaipara gave her maiden speech in Parliament yesterday, and she's just the sort of person you want to see entering politics – she's young, she's smart, she's passionate. And I don't know about you, but I love seeing an electorate MP, somebody who has been overwhelmingly selected by voters, given a mandate by voters to be their person in Parliament, as opposed to sliding in on the list. &nbsp...

A former Speaker of the House is reiterating the importance of the rules of Parliament after a haka disrupted proceedings.  The House was suspended last night, after a haka broke out in the public gallery, following Te Pati Māori MP Oriini Kaipara's maiden speech.  Speaker Gerry Brownlee said the agreement was that a haka was not to take place.  Former speaker Sir Lockwood Smith tol...

The Reserve Bank's continuing to walk a fine line, with its move to cut the OCR 50-basis points to 2.5%.  Economic data suggests inflation has now hit 3%.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis is blaming rising rates, saying they’re having a disproportionate impact on overall inflation, whereas other sectors are stabilising.  NZ Herald Business Editor Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham we almos...

Hopes for an economic recovery have been given a significant boost by yesterday's decision from the Reserve Bank to frontload cuts to the official cash rate. The RBNZ delivered a 50 basis point cut to the OCR and indicated it was prepared to cut again in November if required. After that, they're kind of starting to run out of ammo.    Dropping mortgage interest rates though is not the pa...

A new report from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says the health of New Zealanders is declining.  It showed working age people reporting excellent health almost halved between 2011 and 2024, while psychological distress had increased among all adults.  The report called on the government to address and reverse the decline by investing in housing, poverty reduction, educa...

A new report says the health of New Zealanders is declining, and that it's costing us dearly- in the billions of dollars with more billions to come. The report, released by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists showed working-age people who reported they were in excellent health almost halved between 2011 and 2024, while psychological distress had increased amongst all adults. The report...

When I heard the Green Party co-leaders were holding a press conference yesterday, I thought fleetingly, ever the optimist, "Oh, they might be holding a press conference calling for the cessation of protests outside the home of a fellow parliamentarian."   Undoubtedly they'd couch it in greeny language – they would call out the Foreign Affairs Minister for his lack of courage at the UN, etc,...

On the face of it, it seems tough. Telling young people to get out there and get a job when the economy is tanked and unemployment is high, is you'd think, unrealistic. From November of next year, young people wanting to get job seeker support or the equivalent emergency benefit will have to take a parental income test to see whether their parents can support them instead of the taxpayer.  Ab...

I've always thought that if you want to change the system, if you feel that the system, whatever it might be, doesn't work for you, the best way is to change it from within. When you live in a democracy, that is one of the beauties of a democracy. You don't have to riot in the streets, you don't have to depose tyrannical dictators, you can use the ballot box to effect change.   You can also e...

Kiwi businesses have been navigating the biggest economic turmoil in decades. Wherever you look, business leaders are making tough calls: staff cuts, putting payroll on the credit card, or worst case… closing the business altogether.   They thought they had it all: a great idea, solid marketing, and a healthy amount of capital.  So where did it all go wrong?  And can they ever turn...

The firefighters union says workers don't want to strike, but Fire and Emergency needs to take their concerns seriously.   Professional firefighters will walk off the job for an hour at midday on October 17th –protesting pay, staffing, and ageing equipment.  The previous offer from Fire and Emergency was 5.1% over three years, made in June.  Further bargaining is set for the end of...

More than 11,500 allied health staff —the physios, the social workers, the health assistants— will strike on the 23rd of October, later this month. The same day as tens of thousands of primary school teachers and workers go on strike. And a week before, well, six days before, firefighters across New Zealand are set to strike over a dispute about pay and conditions (tell me there's a centre-right g...

The state of central cities is a big issue as local body elections loom.  Both Wellington and Auckland’s CBDs are suffering, with the percentage of empty retail spaces jumping.   In Auckland, major retailers such as DFS Galleria and Smith & Caughey have left or closed their doors.  So how do you rejuvenate a city?   Leeann Watson, CEO of Business Canterbury, and Viv Beck, C...

Well, a great deal of expectation and excitement. We all gathered around the wireless to listen to the 8am announcement about reform of our electricity and power sector and, wow, a lot of hullabaloo and hype over a meh kind of announcement.   This government has announced there is money to invest in critical energy infrastructure. Woot. Good to know. We used to criticise the previous governme...

The Government's opted against a significant energy shake-up -- rejecting calls to re-nationalise or split up the big gentailers.   Instead, it'll offer the Crown-controlled companies more capital to invest in generation projects.  It will also establish a Liquified Natural Gas import facility, give the Electricity Authority greater power, and speed up consenting renewable energy project...

At last, a triumph of common sense over well-meaning legislation designed to protect every life, everywhere, no matter how much the cost. The “every sperm is sacred” approach to lawmaking has been in place for about eight years, where every life matters, no matter the cost to business, to taxpayers, to everybody else.   The Government announced yesterday that earthquake strengthening legislat...

While it looks to be a solid plan at first glance, there’s at least one major flaw in Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan for Gaza.  If agreed to by Hamas, the war would end immediately, with Israeli troops withdrawing and Hamas releasing all hostages.  No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and Israel won't occupy or annex the territory.  The US President would lead a new transitional...

A significant slash to the number of quake-prone buildings.  The Government's introducing an Amendment Bill to scrap and replace the New Building Standard – estimated to save building owners more than eight billion dollars.  It'll see Auckland, Northland, and the Chatham Islands removed from the regime.  Mt Hobson Group Director Hamish Firth told Kerre Woodham the review has come up...