Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

The learners licensing system is under the spotlight, with calls for New Zealand to adopt Australia's stricter approach. It comes after figures show young kiwis are responsible for a disproportionate number of road deaths.   The AA wants to double the learners licence period, implement supervised driving hours, and have tougher penalties for young drivers.   Road Safety Campaigner Greg Murphy told...

To use a Love Island-ism, it looks like Chris Luxon appears to have been a slow burn on the nation since being sworn in as our Prime Minister in late November – but if the latest 1News-Verian poll is anything to go by, we appear to be warming to the man and his leadership.     The poll shows numbers for the governing parties remained largely unchanged, National remains steady on 38%, ACT remained...

The New Zealand Blood Service is calling out for desperately needed plasma.   The demand for so called 'liquid gold' grows by 10 percent each year, with supply not keeping up.   Based on the demand, they’ll need at least 150 more people to start donating regularly.   Transfusion Medicine Specialist Richard Charlewood told Francesca Rudkin the problem is that they’re reliant on other countries.   H...

The Commerce Commission's final report into New Zealand's banking sector is out.     It says competition isn't working as it should be in the banking sector, and consumers are missing out as a result.   The Commission says in a well-functioning market with strong competition, they'd expect to see more aggressive strategies to win customers from other banks.   Part of its answer is giving Kiwibank...

Thanks to another announcement from the Transport Minister Simeon Brown over the weekend, the police have a new target to add to their 'To Do' list. The government has announced a crackdown on drunk and drugged drivers, setting the police a target of performing 3.3 million roadside alcohol tests a year and 50,000 roadside drug tests a year. Anything we can do to get impaired people off our roads a...

Tougher alcohol laws for Auckland, including banning sales in supermarkets and liquor stores after 9pm, could be in place by December.   The council designed Local Alcohol Policy is aiming to reduce alcohol harm, and will come up for a council vote at the end of the month.   The policy would also see a two-year ban on new bottle stores in the central city and 23 other areas, unless they meet a ver...

We spend a lot of time talking about alcohol harm, and yet we tend to do very little about it. Therefore, it is good to see Auckland Council has stuck to its guns and persisted in what they believe is a game changer for some communities.     After an 8-year court battle with supermarkets, Auckland Council looks set to place a ban on selling booze after 9pm in supermarkets and bottle stores in Auck...

So if you get good news, does it matter how the news is delivered?     When it comes to running the economy, and making decisions about refixing your mortgage, you could argue it does.     But let’s focus on the surprising, good news yesterday.  For the first time since March 2020, the  Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%.  The reasoning for the cut is that New Zeal...

The All Blacks have responded to last week’s 38-30 defeat to Argentina at Sky Stadium by making major changes to their squad for the rematch at Eden Park.   Four changes in the starting XV see Tamaiti Williams start in the front row with Ethan de Groot (neck) out injured, Rieko Ioane returns at centre and a new wing combination sees Caleb Clarke and Will Jordan move into the starting roles.   Form...

During the 2002 election campaign, New Zealand was having a major debate about the safety of genetically modified food. One memory you might have from this time is a televised interview between 3 News’s John Campbell, and Prime Minister Helen Clark. Campbell, fired up and informed by Nicky Hager's yet-to-be-published book Seeds of Distrust, alleged there had been a cover-up over the suspected rele...

Yesterday the Prime Minister said that the vast amount of people on Jobseeker Benefits were trying hard to find a job and meet their obligations, and before we have a conversation about changes to the Jobseeker Benefit, that is important to remember.     But we do have a problem with the number of people on the Jobseeker Benefit, and how long they are on it.     According to the current government...

Some good news and some not-so-good news for retail crime.   Let’s start with the good news – it’s Monday after all.   Police data reveals that the figures are down for burglaries in Auckland.   They are also down for abductions.   Ram raids have continued to trend down to the lowest number of 15  percent in April this year compared to a high of 86 percent in 2022.  Maybe those bollards and interv...

Anger from transport operators who say something needs to change with the Interislander's Cook Strait ferry service.   The provider is only operating one ferry currently after the Aratere suffered damage hitting a linkspan when docking in Wellington yesterday.   The issue is under investigation by Interislander.   KAM Transport manager Bill Bamber told Kerre Woodham it's not good enough.   He says...

If it wasn't so vitally important, so serious, and so expensive, you would have to laugh, wouldn't you? Interislander’s Aratere ferry will be out of action today after it hit a linkspan coming into a berth in Wellington, damaging its hull.   This is not their first rodeo when it comes to making mistakes. A string of incidents, if you will. Aratere suffered a reported staring failure on June 21st a...

I'm not drinking at the moment, but that doesn't mean I think everybody should give it up. People can go to hell in their own way, and while there are a small number of people who cause disproportionate, dreadful harm because they don't know how to drink, the majority of New Zealanders can enjoy a tipple and go about their business without smashing up people, property, or themselves. So, if you li...

We're talking energy today, or rather the lack of it. New Zealand seems to have sleepwalked into an energy crisis, according to the Chairman of Open Country Dairy, the second biggest player in New Zealand's dairy export industry. Laurie Margrain said in a story the crisis is not coming, it's here. He said an example of its arrival is that the factory has had to incorporate standby coal-fired boile...

New Zealand seems to have “sleepwalked” its way into an energy crisis.   Both Winstone's Ohakune pulp and timber mills could shut, putting 300 jobs in the small central North Island town on the line.   This is due to their energy bills have increased significantly for the company in recent years.   John Harbord, Chair of the Major Electricity Users Group, told Kerre Woodham that if you go back six...

New unemployment figures make a change in the Official Cash Rate now less likely.   Stats NZ numbers out today show unemployment hit 4.6% in the June quarter, up from 4.3% in the March quarter.   It's what the Reserve Bank predicted, although economists were forecasting 4.7%.   Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham any number above expectations would've made a cut more likel...

Energy Minister Shane Jones believes the situation of two potential mill closures is 'hideous.'   Winstone's Ohakune pulp and timber mills could shut - putting 300 jobs in the small central North Island town on the line, as energy bills have increased significantly for the company in recent years.   Open Country Dairy, the second-biggest player in New Zealand’s $26 billion dairy export industry, s...

Let me take you back to the halcyon days pre-Covid. The biggest story around was Shane Jones and New Zealand First promising to make Northport the port of the future that New Zealand not only needed, but deserved. The port in Auckland was no longer fit for purpose. Northport would be the biggest infrastructure spend in New Zealand's history. It would revolutionise and revitalise Northland. There w...

Yes, the maths. You know, I know we've been talking about this, that we have been failing our children for decades now. This is not a previous Government issue, this is not of their making. This has been a long time coming. Where New Zealanders used to assume a world class education as their birth right, where anybody who was educated in New Zealand could stand amongst the brightest minds in the w...

A maths expert says a new Government action plan is a good step. It's bringing forward a new curriculum to Term One next year, with twice yearly assessments - and a $20 million boost for teachers' professional development. Massey University maths professor Gaven Martin chaired an expert panel asked in 2021 to improve student maths results. He says the devil will be in the detail. LISTEN ABOVE See...

Mistakes happen. We get that, we've all made them. Some are more serious than others. Some are fixable, some are not. But as old Mr. Martin said in the LV Martin and TV ads, it's the putting right that counts.   There was no doubt, almost from the time the Transpower pylon tower hit the ground, that somebody within that crew had made a fundamental error. We had callers in, the morning of the tower...

Dave Letele is a former rugby league player, retired professional boxer, and community and social activist.   He’s retracing his personal and confronting journey with gangs, addiction, and alcohol in his documentary series ‘ Heavyweight’, uncovering rarely told stories and doing a “vital reality check” on life in Aotearoa.   Tonight’s episode focuses on the rise of gangs and associated criminal ac...

Bloody hell. If there is anyone who is entitled to go on a little light trauma induced shoplifting spree, it would be ACT MP Karen Chhour. For those who don't know her background, Karen grew up in the state care system. She was elected to parliament as an ACT Party MP in 2020 with the goal of reforming Oranga Tamariki, having seen rather more of it than most of us have. Before politics, she was se...