Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

The secondary teachers are out again.   They're appalled and insulted by the Government's latest pay offer. For the record, the Governments offered a 1% pay rise every year for three years in collective agreement negotiations. PPTA President Chris Abercrombie says the offer is the lowest increase in a generation and 18-19,000 teachers will be out protesting today. Chris Abercrombie said the G...

Two stories in the Herald today - one about the announcement from Christopher Luxon and Chris Penk yesterday, changing the building liability settings so ratepayers aren't burdened with picking up the tab that shonky developers, builders, or architects are responsible for. In the Herald story, they cite a case in Queenstown: the Oaks Shores body corporate filed a $160 million claim for weather typ...

It seems hard to believe, but the Maxim Institute reckons New Zealand can lead the world in sustainable AI infrastructure. They warn, however, that the window of opportunity is closing quickly because everybody wants to be in on it.   Every other country wants the rewards that come from hooking their carriages to the AI machine, the choices we make now will determine whether New Zealand becom...

It was our gorgeous night last night, absolutely beautiful. The kids were training for football up at the local park, and while I waited to pick up my daughter and grandson, I went for a lovely walk along the estuary – there were Tui and Kereru, families and joggers were out, and it was just glorious.   But at the same time, as I was thoroughly appreciating just how lucky we are to have such...

Auckland Council's cracking down on dog owners in a bid to lower a surge in attacks.  It's made more than 611 prosecutions since 2020, targeting owners with dogs that have seriously injured people or other animals.  Nearly three thousand dog attacks and more than 15 thousand cases of roaming dogs have been reported in Auckland over the last financial year.  Jo Clough, Director of Th...

Foodstuffs North Island says it's working hard to re-employ staff from an Auckland New World that caught fire in June. CEO Chris Quin says of 183 people, 121 are working at other stores, 12 have found roles elsewhere, and 10 are taking a break. He told Kerre Woodham that leaves about 40 staff they still need to place. Quinn says they're trying to match employees to about 50 positions in Auckland s...

There's an old saying, one generally used by mothers: I’m not angry, I'm just disappointed.   Yesterday, hearing that the unholy Triumvirate of Ardern, Robertson, and Hipkins —Ayesha Verrall doesn't count— were choosing not to appear publicly at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 Response, I was both angry and disappointed. The second set of public hearings for the Royal Commis...

Chlöe Swarbrick's back in Auckland – thrown out of Parliament this week for refusing to apologise for comments in the House.  The Greens co-leader said if six of 68 Government MPs with a spine back her bill to sanction Israel, New Zealand can stand on the right side of history.   Former Speaker, Sir Lockwood Smith told Kerre Woodham that impugned the Government's integrity and warranted...

So as you will have heard, Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has been barred from Parliament's debating chamber for the rest of the week, unless she apologises for a comment made during a debate over Palestine and the granting of statehood to it. During her speech, Swarbrick called on government MPs to back a Green Party bill that would allow New Zealand to sanction Israel for its war crimes....

The Police Commissioner says he feels for his staff as a top cop faces the courts.   Former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming is facing eight charges of possessing child exploitation and bestiality material.  He resigned after a period of suspension on full pay since December, during a separate investigation.  Richard Chambers told Kerre Woodham he is angry, disappointed,...

Commentators are telling us that the tide is turning, that we've reached the bottom of the cycle. ANZ has lowered its mortgage interest rates, so other banks will surely follow suit, bringing relief to many households. Spring is almost here. And then the rates bill arrives in the mail. Any financial gains are immediately lost, any lift of the spirits plummets.   The Government is well aware t...

The speed of decline of our gas supply could be hampering the transition to alternative energy.   A Business NZ survey of commercial and industrial users shows average price rises have topped 100% in the past five years.  Nearly half made various cuts to their business.  Energy innovation centre Ara Ake's Jonathan Young told Kerre Woodham supply's fallen a lot quicker than anyone ex...

The economic doom and gloom continues with rising property rates.  Some rural areas are even facing increases substantially higher than the average council rate.  One Orewa family is facing a 72% rates rise on their rural property, as it was zoned for new development – development that can’t be done for several years.  Taxpayers' Union Local Government Campaigns Manager Sam Warren t...

I asked on Friday how anyone could vote for Labour given the latest Treasury report into their irresponsible spending of taxpayer money that came out last week. That irresponsible spending that contributed greatly to the recession, the high mortgage interest rates to unemployment - when so many of the same people, those people who made so many stupid decisions are still there, how could anyone, I...

A hit for the Taranaki region, with dwindling gas supply forcing a potential short-term shutdown of a local fertiliser plant.   Ballance Agri-Nutrients may have to cease operations at Kapuni for up to four months if it can't secure more gas before its contract expires next month.   The company manufactures about a third of the country's urea fertiliser each year.  Federated Farmers...

I get texts on the daily from people saying “you're so negative about Labour”.  “You never have anything good to say about the last government. You're so critical of Labour.” And I say to them, how can anyone with a brain not be critical of Labour?! The gut feeling I had at the time that the previous administration was out of their depth and hopelessly incompetent has been proved with hard da...

On the face of it, the announcement from Transport Minister Chris Bishop yesterday makes good sense. It's been signalled; it was National Party election policy to move away from a fuel excise duty to road user charges (RUC). Simeon Brown, who was the transport spokesman at the time, said it would be a fairer way to charge for the distance people drive rather than the amount of fuel they use, given...

The Prime Minister's blaming New Zealand's rising unemployment on the last Government's economic management.   The rate's hit a five-year high of 5.2%, just shy of Treasury’s predicted 5.4%.    Christopher Luxon told Kerre Woodham when inflation rises, interest rates go up, the economy shrinks, and people lose their jobs.  He says Labour had a lovely big spend-up party, but it'...

An artificial intelligence expert says the tech will always need human input for marking school exams.   Education Minister Erica Stanford says AI's already partly used to grade assessments, and it could do most of them by 2028.   It's alongside Government plans to replace NCEA with entirely new qualifications.   New Zealand AI Founder, Justin Flitter, told Kerre Woodham the tool sh...

You might remember a month or so ago we had Justin Flitter, an AI expert, in the studio for an hour talking about the fact that AI is here, it's already being used by numerous early adopters, it's not going away, and you'll have to get on board or you'll be left behind. And as you can imagine, the calls were a mix of oh no, it's a disaster, stop it now and King Canute trying to turn back the tide,...

Economic recovery is taking longer than many hoped.  Unemployment's risen to a five-year high of 5.2%, up from 5.1% in the March quarter.  New Zealand officially moved out of recession last year.  The Herald's Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham the job market is taking longer to catch up, so many people may not be feeling better off.  He says economists can tell us numbers are improv...

In the wake of the changes to NCEA, you would have to ask whether the Knowledge Economy is the biggest political bust of recent times?   Back in 2001, then Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the Knowledge Wave project. Like many ideas, it came from a good place. Helen Clark had a vision for a nation which was confident, progressive, more prosperous, tolerant and which cared for its people. S...

Big players in the energy space are putting forward a new 10-year deal they say will secure supply at Huntly Power Station.   Genesis, Mercury, Meridian and Contact have agreed to co-invest in a strategic energy reserve – pending Commerce Commission approval.   It includes adding up to 600-thousand tonnes of coal to current stocks.  Meridian Energy CEO Mike Roan told Kerre Woodham t...

The Government's proposing to entirely phase out NCEA within five years, saying New Zealand needs a schooling system that sets students up for success.  Within the overhauled system would be improved vocational pathways for students planning on entering the workforce as opposed to further education.  In 2001, then Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the Knowledge Wave Project – a vision...

I was struck by a story from Radio New Zealand.   North Shore Hospital, it has revealed, has an entire ward of people who are stuck in hospital, but they have no medical reason to be there. The 20-bed ward was created in May for patients who were effectively medically discharged but didn't have anywhere to go, such as an aged care facility.   This shouldn't be happening. The chain of hea...