Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Te Kōti o Timatanga Hou. The Court of New Beginnings.   The court writes off charges for recurring low-level crime and helps the homeless get off the streets and back into work.   They meet once a month in Auckland, and have recently celebrated their 13 th anniversary.   Coordinator Carmel Claridge joined Kerre Woodham to chat about the court and the impact it has.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio....

One of New Zealand’s oldest boarding schools is set to reopen.   Te Kura o Tīpene/St Stephen’s School on Auckland's Bombay Hills is set to reopen in 2025, after being closed for 23 years.   The school will be led by former pupil and principal, Nathan Durie, and his wife Yvette McCausland-Durie.   Nathan Durie joined Kerre Woodham to chat about the reopening.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/lis...

Otorohanga College is tomorrow joining the roll-call of schools shutting its boarding facilities. The Waikato school's board is putting it down to a lack of Education Ministry financial support. Losses over the past four years have totalled 600-thousand-dollars. It's also well below break-even for enrolment, with only about 25 students signed up to board next year. College Board Chair, Duncan Coul...

Only last Friday I think it was, we were talking about infrastructure and how New Zealand is one of the most expensive countries in the world to build new infrastructure, and the importance of having a bipartisan approach with a long-term vision, a pipeline that's going to deliver what the country needs over the next 30 or even 50 years.   We had a really good discussion about this.   Interestingl...

I'm quite impressed that Mark Mitchell has made his letter of expectations to the Police Commissioner, Andrew Coster, public.   Of course, it's normal for an incoming Police Minister to outline expectations to the Police Commissioner, a Commissioner, who's often been employed by the previous government. But this is the first time it has been released.   While campaigning, Mitchell was reluctant to...

I don't think any of us were hugely surprised to wake up this morning to the news that the latest PISA report shows that Kiwi kids aren't doing so well in maths, and to a lesser extent, science.   PISA, or Programme for International Student Assessment, gives us a gauge on students’ maths, reading, and science literacy in every OECD country and in New Zealand. The report is based on assessing and...

How was your morning commute in your region?   I'm not surprised that Te Pati Māori have chosen the first day of Parliament for the new Government to protest their plans to repeal the many policies that affect Māori. Te Pati Māori has always advocated strongly for their constituents, that's their purpose that's their job, and they take on activism with vigour.     And I understand the concerns Māo...

Twenty-one days until Christmas and about now the pressure of the festive season and how you're going to pay for it might be on your mind. After a challenging year that has seen the price of almost everything rise, will Christmas be business as usual for you this year, or will it be Christmas on a budget?  The cost of living crisis has been with us for a while now, but its impact continues to grow...

I do wish that I could go around each and everyone of you handing out the government's press release, still warm off the gestetner with that delicious smell of meths (hold it up to your nose and inhale), so we could all have it in front of us to refer to.   It is a work of art when it comes to a press release. Oh my goodness, companies, government departments, communications staff, take note. Two...

Well, hasn't taken that cranky old curmudgeon long to rark up the media and play to his supporters, throw his fans a bone.   Winston Peters has a hate-hate relationship with the media, which served him very well in this last election campaign. Some people have always had a mistrust of the media. Some have a recently discovered mistrust of the media and believe all journalists to be the servants of...

Scams are becoming increasingly more detailed, catching increasingly more people.   After a close call of her own, Kerre Woodham brought Netsafe’s Chief Technology Officer, Sean Lyons, on the show to give listeners tips and tricks to stay safe from scams.   He also gave some advice on what to do if your Facebook is hacked and how to get it sorted.   For more information, visit Netsa...

As Mike Hosking and I exchanged morning pleasantries today, I said to him “Wasn't Dr Shane Reti a breath of fresh air?”   “Breath of fresh air?” said Mike, “He was a howling Nor Westerly of fresh air!”   And by crikey, he was. Even those who didn't vote National must surely appreciate that here is a knowledgeable, passionate man in charge of his portfolio. He is under no illusions that New Zealand...

Now the new Government has officially signed in this morning, and as Christopher Luxon said on Friday, he and his coalition Government cannot wait to get stuck in. The RMA reforms will be rolled back before Christmas, Three Waters gone, the ute tax is expected to be gone as well, and in a controversial move, the Government will not proceed with Labour's planned legislation that would restrict the...

Te Whatu Ora is standing by its $100 million consultant spend.   This is despite it dropping from $139 million the year prior.   Chief People Officer Andrew Slater told the Mike Hosking Breakfast they've tightened where they're using contractors and consultants and are focusing on making sure they have the appropriate expertise.   He says it doesn't make sense to have some of these skills in house...

The talk is over, the ink is dry on the contracts, let the governance begin.   Prime Minister-in-waiting, Christopher Luxon, is due to speak this morning, giving us the broad shape of what the 54th New Zealand government will look like. And let's hope that once they start the governing proper, we see the last of these sorts of headlines: “Te Whatu Ora’s more than $100m consultant bill”.   A $100 m...

Long coalition negotiations from the new about-to-be Government have seen a major economics consultancy downgrade its perception of New Zealand's political stability to its lowest rating in more than a decade.   BMI, not the body mass index, but a consultancy group owned by the Fitch Group and one of the three big ratings agencies, docked New Zealand a couple of points in its Short-Term Political...

So it appears the policy has been hammered out, and it's just a matter of dealing with the positions within the new government. But when you're dealing with politicians and egos, it's no simple process.   Some of the posts surely are obvious. Minister for Agriculture must be Andrew Hoggard, former Federated Farmer's head. Mark Mitchell for police, he's been in training for that job his whole worki...

My mouth began to open in gobsmacked incredulity and then just as quickly snapped shut again.   Yes, the Herald investigation that found Auckland Transport is spending on average $470,000 a pedestrian crossing is shocking. But those of us with memories, and indeed arses, like elephants, remember how much the Wellington City Council spent on their pedestrian crossing on Cobham Drive out towards the...

Now, a little bit of background. I'm no manager. I have only ever managed a couple of restaurants briefly and I wasn't a terribly good manager. I ended up about 3 months into my managerial position being sued for constructive dismissal after trying to say somebody was a bit rubbish at training the other waitresses, but he was still very good at what he did and he could stay on the same money. Appa...

A survey of our 200 largest and fastest growing tech exporters shows the sector is booming   Revenue for the so-called tin 200 increased 11.8 percent to 17 billion dollars in the past year...   The Former Managing Director at TIN, Greg Shanahan, told Heather Du Plessis-Allan that “the sector is reaching maturity, and the number of large companies is growing dramatically”.     LISTEN ABOVE   See om...

Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the radio... Covid.   We're experiencing a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections, with an increase in the number of infections. The officials are going by wastewater testing, which gives us a far better idea of the levels of Covid within the Community than the self-reporting numbers.   When you test, when you find out you've got Covid, you're supposed to re...

Te Whatu Ora is reminding us about the availability of Covid-19 antiviral medications for people at high risk, as we see a spike in cases.   Recent testing has showed an increase in the virus in wastewater and there's been a rise in reported cases and deaths.   They're also recommending that if people haven't had the booster that was recommended in April and May, they should get it now.   General...

Congestion charging... coming soon to a city near you!   It might be Auckland Mayor, Wayne Brown, floating the idea for now, although he doesn't call it congestion charging. Last night with Heather du Plessis-Allan, he called it ‘time of use charging’, but you know potato, potato. But you can bet the dollars that will be flying out of your wallet that once it's in place in Auckland, other cities w...

A couple of good news stories in the news cycle today - a rare and marvellous and wonderful thing!    In light of the traffic and roading conversation we were having yesterday, great news that State Highway 25A between Kopu and Hikuai will reopen to traffic in time for Christmas, three months earlier than anticipated and under budget. I mean, it shocked me.   The decking is complete on the new 124...

So another week, another five days of negotiations it appears as National, Act and NZ First hammer out the conditions required for forming a government.   Christopher Luxon, the Prime Minister-in-waiting, was on with Mike Hosking this morning and he says while the three parties may agree on most issues, there are sticking points - tax and ACT’s referendum on the Treaty clearly being two of them, g...