Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

The Government's not here to shag spiders, is it? It's planning to turbocharge its fast-track regime, speeding up the process to acquire private land for major infrastructure projects, and they intend to do that in part by offering cold, hard cash. Sweeteners or “premium payments” will be offered to private landowners, whose land is acquired under this new accelerated process. Changes to the Publi...

Crikey, I barely stepped away from the microphone yesterday and we had a double whammy news-wise. Phil Goff sacked as High Commissioner to London for an intemperate comment and question, Greg Foran resigning as Air New Zealand CEO. I heard someone on The Huddle with Ryan Bridge last night saying Greg Foran can now become the High Commissioner, Adrian Orr would become Air New Zealand CEO, and Phil...

A former Foreign Minister says Winston Peters was right to fire Phil Goff.  Goff made comments at a public event questioning US President Donald Trump's understanding of history.  The remarks have cost him his job as High Commissioner to the UK.  Foreign Affairs was one of a number of portfolios held by Sir Don McKinnon under National.  He told Kerre Woodham it's unacceptable f...

Well, the announcement yesterday was on a par with John Key’s resignation. The Reserve Bank Governor, Adrian Orr, pulled the plug on his career yesterday with no real explanation as to why – although it's no secret that there is friction between the Governor and the Finance Minister. You know, I know and certainly Adrian Orr knows that if she could have sacked him, she would, rather than inherit h...

There's confusion around the Reserve Bank Governor's resignation.  Adrian Orr's announced he's quitting, two years into his second five-year tenure.  Neither the Prime Minister nor Finance Minister are giving any details of why he's abruptly quit.  University of Auckland Business School Professor Robert MacCulloch told Kerre Woodham that while we don’t know for certain, the criticis...

As promised, Donald Trump has launched a trade war against America's largest trading partners, with huge tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China kicking in yesterday, sparking angry retaliation from all three. 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%.   Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed the tariffs as “a very dumb thing to do” and said that it wi...

Divisions are deepening between the US and other western countries over Ukraine, and now trade.  The US President's slapped a 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican imports, and 20% on some from China.  Canada's responded by imposing the same amount back, which Donald Trump says he'll match again.  Former Trade Minister and Ambassador to the US Tim Groser told Kerre Woodham countrie...

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a health system in possession of physically and mentally unwell people must be in want of billions (with apologies to Jane Austen). It is also a truth universally acknowledged that a health system can never have enough of those billions. Look at the $1.96 billion Labour invested into the mental health budget back in 2019. We now know some years later w...

I headed up to Hokianga for the last official weekend of summer - take a load off, relax, a few swims, not even think about anything newsy - well, you can't be doing that now, can you? Not in Trump land. The meeting with Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky was an unmitigated disaster for the Ukrainian president, who walked out of the meeting after being berated for not being grateful enough for th...

In terms of sports stories, it really doesn't get much better than this. Ryan Peake has won the 104th New Zealand Open by a stroke, finishing at 23 under par after a thriller down the stretch. Newstalk ZB's Andrew Alderson was at Millbrook and said:  “In one of the tournament’s most captivating denouements, the Australian sank a three-metre putt under the lens of a buzzing amphitheatre a...

Well, after a spirited discussion yesterday on the potential changes to the laws around citizen’s arrests, the press conference announced the actual changes. They are amending the Crimes Act so that citizens can intervene to stop any crimes act events at any time of the day, requiring that a person making an arrest contact police and follow police instructions. Clarifying that restraint can be use...

There are two camps when it comes to the Government’s proposal to loosen citizen’s arrest laws.  The measure is being pitched as a remedy for retail crime, by allowing workers and the public to detain suspected thieves with "reasonable force".  However, concerns have been raised about the risks involved and what constitutes “reasonable force”.  Otago University Law Professor Andrew...

Retailers and members of the public will soon have more ability to detain shoplifters and thieves under beefed up citizen's arrest powers. At 2pm today, the government's expected to announce a range of measures aimed at curbing rising retail theft, which have been proposed by a Ministerial Advisory Group formed to address retail crime.   It's pretty clear what the advisory group is looking fo...

The Security Association is weighing in on speculation citizen's arrest and security guard powers are about to open up.  The Government is making an announcement this afternoon on its response to a ministerial advisory group's recommendations on retail crime.  Association CEO Gary Morrison says they've been advocating for additional security powers with training, which wouldn't apply to...

Yesterday Andrew Bayly, the former Commerce and ACC Minister, revealed he had resigned from his ministerial portfolios on Friday night after grabbing a staffers upper arm during a discussion that’s been described as “lively”. It comes after a messy public relations failure in October, when it was revealed Bayly had repeatedly called a worker a loser during a visit to a South Island business. He ap...

As Chinese naval ships are firing live rounds in Pacific waters, sending far reaching ripples of consternation around the Asia Pacific region, Defence Minister Judith Collins hinted that defence would see a significant boost in spending come the next budget, which is a matter of months away. This was the Defence Minister on with Mike Hosking this morning:   It is simply not credible for...

Hints from the Prime Minister around upcoming changes to charities and taxes.  Christopher Luxon told Kerre Woodham the Goverment's speaking about whether people are "rorting the system" and taking advantage of charities registration.  He says he spoke with Finance and Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis, about the matter just yesterday.  Luxon told Woodham some organisations pr...

Before I came upstairs to work, I called into the coffee shop downstairs, as is my want. Coffee Theory is run by a husband and wife family team and is a small business.  We were talking about the fact that Christopher Luxon will be in tomorrow, and I said “have you got a question?” And Penny said “When will things get better? I know they're supposed to be, but when will things get better? I j...

I don't think this counts as breaking news, does it?   An inquiry ordered by the Prime Minister has identified significant failures with public agencies’ protection of New Zealanders’ personal information and management of conflict of interests. The investigation, which focused on public agencies actions, was sparked by allegations last year that data provided to health and social services pr...

Remember late last year we were talking about the proposal to move Westport. The West Coast town has been repeatedly inundated by flooding since European settlement, but that's escalated in recent years. The Buller River flooded the town regularly - July 2021's Flood was particularly devastating.   A draft master plan proposed relocating the town to farmland southwest of its current location,...

Kumeū wants to move.  Auckland Council's laid out its plan for Kumeū to try to mitigate the impacts of flooding.   Although they had three ideas for mitigation, the council's found no viable solution to the town's history of floods, as none of the options would drop the flood levels by 1 meter as needed.  About 200 people attended a public meeting in Auckland's northwest l...

Well after a wonderful weekend, a fabulous weekend, the incidents on Saturday afternoon and Saturday night were really disappointing.  Increasingly, New Zealand is starting to feel like 1970’s New Zealand, but without the good bits. We've got the racism, we've got the homophobia, but we don't have the housing affordability and the excellent education system. It's the 70s gone wrong. What is i...

The Prime Minister says anti-LGBTQ protestors linked to Destiny Church, went too far in disruptions yesterday. Members of the church's Man Up and Legacy groups, stormed a children's drag event at a west Auckland library - where about 30 people had to be barricaded inside. Later, police intervened, when the the same group also disrupted Pride Parade festivities, on Ponsonby Road, with a haka. The T...

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says he's aware there's strong interest in the outcomes of his China visit, and will share details in the coming days.   Foreign Minister Winston Peters has expressed concern the Cook Islands didn't properly consult New Zealand on its proposed agreements with China.    Brown says he's engaged in critical discussions over the past days, opening...

It may be Valentine's Day but not everything in love is chocolates and roses.  Romance scams are affecting an increasing number of Kiwis, fraudsters crafting elaborate fake relationships and emotional connections in order to convince their victims to send money.   Last week the Herald reported on a woman who wasted two years and more than $375,000 on what turned out to be a romance scam...