Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Those suffering from Long Covid are afraid of what will happen to them under the Government’s benefit reset.   Social Development Minister Louise Upston announced that sanctions for those on the benefit will begin to ramp up from June.   Long Covid has left some suffering from symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, cognitive impairment, and severe pain, forcing them to leave work where they subseque...

As police in NSW work to establish the motives behind the knife attack at Sydney's Westfield Mall, that left six people dead, 12 in hospital, spare a thought for the families of the victims who were receiving texts up to minutes before all of a sudden, randomly, without any warning or notice their lives were gone. And spare thought too for the family of Joel Cauchi - because they have been left re...

New Zealand’s unions are up in arms over the major cuts to the public sector.   Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters that if the PSA and Council of Trade Unions actually cared about low and middle income workers, they’d support the Government’s planned tax cuts.   PSA National Secretary Dunane Leo said they’re standing firm in defending their jobs, claiming services are being sacrificed...

You don't really need to watch or read the news at the moment, at least not for the first couple of stories, because all we're really getting at the moment is a union campaign from the PSA and the CTU dressed up as news, with stories about how cuts to the civil service are going to bring the country to ruin.   #Newsalert, the country is already on the brink of ruin and the bloated civil service wo...

Yesterday saw the cancellation of New Zealand’s second longest running television shows: TVNZ’s Fair Go.   The consumer affairs show has been airing since 1977, featuring a roster of well-known hosts including Newstalk ZB’s Kerre Woodham and Kevin Milne.   Kevin Milne was the longest serving host on the show, appearing from 1983 until 2010.   He told Kerre that what disappoints him about TVNZ is t...

Love a target, love a list, and yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon released a new list of to-dos, this time in the form of targets. And while some on the left have roundly criticized him for having the temerity to set targets, what on Earth have they got against realistic goals? I didn't hear them shouting and jeering when Jacinda Ardern announced that her government was going to build 10...

Two researchers are arguing that the decision to cut longitudinal studies will worsen inequities and increase costs in the long term.   In the past two weeks, funding has ceased for two of New Zealand's foremost longitudinal studies.   The Ministry of Social Development did not renew the contract for the ‘Growing Up in New Zealand’ project at the end of February, the study that has tracked more th...

First up, the changes to immigration.   Guess what? High-trust models don't work when it comes to work visas. A stunning revelation to start the week. Credit where it's due, Radio New Zealand have been on to the story. They applied for information around the new immigration visas under the Official Information Act and found out that even after Immigration New Zealand was told of concerns over lax...

Police stats supplied to the Dairy and Business owners group showed that in 2023, 148,599 crimes were reported at retail locations.   Kotahi te Whakaaro brings together government, non-government, and iwi daily to review cases of young people involved with Police in the preceding 24 hours.   The approach is designed to prevent escalation into or through the youth justice system.   Senior Sergeant...

The government is restoring the ability to hold referenda on Māori wards as part of its coalition agreement with ACT and NZ First. It's highly unlikely that National would have acted alone, but as part of the Coalition agreement, as part of the horse trading, they committed to holding referenda on the Māori wards.   Local government Minister Simeon Brown announced the move yesterday, saying a bill...

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government had put “hundreds of millions [of dollars] more” onto the table for a “much more enhanced offer” to police last week. That offer was going out for voting by police in the next few days. Luxon took questions for an hour on Kerre Woodham’s Newstalk ZB show today. He said he disagreed that National had used law and order issues as a marketing tool...

Didn't Erica Stanford sound impressive talking to Mike on the Mike Hosking breakfast this morning? This is a woman who has clearly been working on her passion portfolio while in opposition, who has come into government ready to go.   I remember Chris Hipkins when he was in a couple of weeks ago saying we weren't really ready to come into government. What the hell were you doing for the past nine y...

The Government is changing the Building Act to address a shortage of building supplies and long wait-times for new products to be approved.   That includes signing-off on products with a reputable overseas certification and recognising approval schemes used in countries like Australia.   Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says it will ease building costs and make our building products b...

The Government is bulldozing barriers for bringing in new building products to New Zealand.   Minister for Building and Construction, Chris Penk, has unveiled changes to the Building Act in a bid to increase the availability of products and cool down costs.   That includes approving products with a reputable overseas certification and recognising product standards from trusted overseas jurisdictio...

The Education Review Office has found teachers are overwhelmed by the scale of change in teaching the new history curriculum.   Teaching New Zealand’s histories became a requirement for students in years one to ten at the start of last year.   The report found schools are finding it challenging and time consuming, often struggling to understand what's required.   Kay is a former head of Social Sci...

A couple of weeks ago I took a call. I didn't recognise the number, but I took the call anyway and I very quickly regretted that I had done so.   The caller was a very nicely spoken man who, after pleasantries were exchanged, wanted to know why I had stopped giving to a charity I had previously supported. I agreed that yes, I had supported the charity for a very long time, and yes, I understood th...

Well, you know, I'm an old-fashioned girl, let's face it, but I do love a list. They're especially helpful if you have much to do and you feel slightly overwhelmed. Writing things down, and I'm a Luddite and I use pen and paper (if your list is on an app, I'm not going to judge), it's the writing down that counts.   Writing down what you need to do helps you understand that it's manageable. If you...

Well, it's news, but it's not really, is it?   An OECD report has found that New Zealand's students are among the worst behaved kids in the world and that bad behaviour has worsened in the last two years. Shock me. A report released this morning by the Education Review Office has called for classroom behaviour to become a priority, and to nationalise the approach to dealing with bad behaviour.   A...

When it comes to second chances for people, do you put caveats on those second chances?   So you're allowed a second chance, but you must refrain from being in the public eye. Or you're allowed a second chance, but you must always present a subdued demeanour and never look as though you're enjoying life ever again.   When you have done something dreadful, absolutely appalling, when you have done s...

The independent review of Hawke’s Bay’s Civil Defence response to Cyclone Gabriel has been completed and it is damning. Former Police Commissioner Mike Bush conducted the investigation and released the findings yesterday.     MB: You know, there's a lot of experts out there, a lot of people who do know how this should be done, and I think all those people stand ready to provide advice and support....

The independent review into the response to Cyclone Gabrielle has found that Civil Defence was unprepared for the disaster, the system not fit for purpose.   Former Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan thinks the report hits the nail on the head.   She told Kerre Woodham that this is not a new recognition.   Following the Christchurch Earthquake in 2011, Gerry Brownlee said that the system...

Interestingly, Marie has sent in a text immediately on the very thing I wanted to talk about. “Kerre what a third world, Banana Republic New Zealand has become. I was at the SailGP yesterday, the final thank God, not Saturday. It was simply amazing. New Zealand in the last six years has slipped into a pathetic nation of nothingness. Useless do-gooders stripping any opportunity to move forward in w...

Having SailGP in Lyttleton Harbour is being likened to planning a motorcross event in Kiwi habitats.   SailGP CEO Russell Coutts slammed the cancellation of Saturday’s racing after a dolphin was spotted on the course. He claims the species isn’t endangered and are smart enough to be aware of the boats around them.   Chair of Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders Christine Rose tells Kerre Woodham th...

Back in 2022, Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr was appearing before a Parliamentary Select Committee trying to explain how and why the bank was too slow in moving the OCR and therefore increasing interest rates. He was asked by Parliamentary Select Committee member Chloe Swarbrick whether the Reserve Bank was deliberately engineering a recession to rein back inflation.     “I think that is correct...

New Zealand has entered a technical recession after drops in two consecutive quarters.   Stats NZ GDP data shows the economy contracted 0.1 percentage points in last year's final quarter.   It also fell 0.3 in the September quarter.   Herald Business Editor at large Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham that GDP per capita decreased 0.7% in the quarter.   He says it's a quite deep recessionary environment...