Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

In the lead up to the election, National was clear that they would be rolling back a number of policies that Labour introduced, including fair pay agreements.   Business NZ has called for the fair pay agreement to be scrapped sooner rather than later, and they would also like to see 90-day trials reintroduced, and a commitment to a long-term programme of infrastructure.   Business NZ Chief Executi...

The weekend. Discuss.    No there's more than that isn’t there? What a weekend. I owe my texter Muz from Hawkes Bay a bottle of Pinot of his choice. He said that it would be a walkover, that it would be absolutely obvious that National would do well and that they would have partners to support them.    I thought the election would be a bit closer, a bit tighter. But ultimately, although it wasn't ...

I had no desire to watch that debate last night.   What was the point? I'd interviewed both leaders within the past week. I'd had the ability, as had you, to hear their vision for the country over an hour (commercial hour of course, I know you grumble about the ads). What they thought they could do right, what they thought the others were doing wrong. Rather than spend an hour watching two tired m...

National Leader Christopher Luxon joined Kerre Woodham live in studio to take calls and answer questions from listeners. WATCH ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you listen to Labour's ads, and you can't really avoid them right now as we lead up to final days of the election. If you listen to Labour's ads, you'll be able to go in and make an appointment to get all that dental work you can't afford right now done, once the dentists open up at 7am next Monday. If Labour become the next Government.   Wrong.   Taxpayer-funded dental work is going to only go...

The 2023 election campaign is entering its final days.   With just three days left Labour and National have both descended into negative campaigning as they scrap for every last vote.   NZ Herald’s Deputy Political Editor, Thomas Coughlan, told Kerre Woodham that at the end of the campaign, they’ll tally the time they spent talking about each other versus the time they spent discussing their own p...

Still more election news. It just gets weirder every day really.   The death of a respected and much loved community member in Port Waikato means a quirk of our election process will be triggered. The ACT party's Neil Christensen has died just a week before the election. And that means the electorate vote in Port Waikato will not count on Election Day, however, the party vote will still count.   N...

  This time next week, this time next Monday, we'll have all had our say and the Government who will lead the country for the next three years will have been elected, or will it?   National and Labour have raised the possibility of another election if they fail to get the votes they need to form a government, if their partner parties fail to get sufficient votes to form a government.  Yet more pro...

What an absolute mess our waters are in.   Drinking water regulator Taumata Arowai has put 27 councils on notice to have a plan and funds locked in to fix their drinking water supplies by June of next year. I was actually surprised that so many councils still have issues with their drinking water. Still haven't put in barriers to protect against the cryptosporidium and guardia that can be spread t...

New Zealand's water regulator is cracking down on councils to ensure the country's drinking water supplies are up to standard.   Water regulator Taumata Arowai has found that 27 councils, affecting more than 310,000 people, are lacking sufficient protozoa barriers.   National has pledged to scrap Three Waters and deliver local water well, but what does that mean?   National's Local Government Spok...

The curriculum is shaping up to be a battlefield of education policies in this election with concerns about declining literacy and numeracy rates across New Zealand.   New Zealand is not the only country that's having a look at maths and the way it's taught, in an article in the Atlantic Dr Brian Conrad, Stanford mathematics professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, critiqued the teaching o...

Not even Covid can keep Chris Hipkins down. He joined Kerre Woodham over Zoom to take calls and answer questions. WATCH ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We thought we'd have a look at the different health policies from the various parties and get your thoughts on what would benefit you, your community, those you love the most.   National announced yesterday that after birth hospital stays for mothers would be extended to three days, an extra 24 hours. That children and young people under 18 with type one diabetes would be provided free continuous...

I think it's a little bit rich when you've got Chris Hipkins cancelling a debate because of Covid and people send him "best wishes" and "get well soon"s, instead of accepting the good wishes graciously and using the time to recover at home, out go attack ads saying Chris Luxon is a chicken for refusing to reschedule the debate.   They offered to put up Kelvin Davis against Christopher Luxon, but t...

National outplays Labour according to this year's rankings from business leaders.   More than 100 CEOs and business leaders have ranked MPs in the Herald's Mood of the Boardroom survey.   Luxon comes out on top with 3.24 out of five, compared to Chris Hipkins' 2.95.   Jarden Managing Director and Co-Head of Investment Banking Silvana Schenone told Kerre Woodham that businesses are very concerned w...

I wanted to start by saying it is no secret that we're in the poo.     As a country economically, and in Auckland and Wellington's case, quite literally in the poo as aging infrastructure fails and stormwater and sewage pipes collapse. Right now, Auckland city engineers are battling to deal with a tennis court sized sinkhole and sewage flowing into Waitemata Harbour. The third sinkhole they've had...

Last night's leaders' debate was vastly more entertaining than the first one.    Was it a debate? Well, Sister Philippa, my old debating coach at Sacred Heart Girls College, wouldn't have seen it as a debate per say. I think it was more of a bit of infotainment.   Chris Hipkins, the leader of Labour, showed up and heaven knows we love a politician who shows up. He no longer looked like a dead man...

A little bit of politics, because we didn't really get a chance to talk about Christopher Luxon and David Seymour saying yes, okay, if we have to, we will work with New Zealand First.   Commentators have got themselves into quite the lather over that. A sign of weakness, they were saying, being bullied by the media and all that sort of carry-on. And it's not often I agree with the leader of New Ze...

Watch live as Act Leader David Seymour joins Newstalk ZB Kerre Woodham Mornings live in studio to take your calls. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newstalk ZB rugby commentator Elliott Smith joined Kerre Woodham to recap Wales’ 40-6 thrashing of Australia, to all but knock the Wallabies out of the Rugby World Cup.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Seymour and ACT are nothing if not pragmatists.   After taking in the impact of the PREFU, the pre-election fiscal and economic update provided by the Government, Seymour has made some changes to ACT’s alternative budget, principally softening tax cuts to account for economic conditions.   Previously, ACT had proposed a two tier tax system with a top rate of 28%. Now it's going to get there,...

The economy grew 0.9 per cent in the second quarter, lifting the country out of recession and exceeding expectations. In fact, based on revisions to earlier numbers, the economy may not have been in a technical recession at all. GDP rose 3.2 per cent in the year ended June 2023. Strong net migration buoyed the numbers but the better than expected performance from sectors like manufacturing meant g...

There was a spirited community meeting in the Coromandel township last night over recent gang violence.   Locals called the emergency meeting after a video, obtained by Newstalk ZB, showed Rebel gang members attacking people in the town last weekend.   Police say no complaints have been laid, but they're aware of three people receiving hospital treatment.   National's Mark Mitchell was at that mee...

I was really interested to hear the broad outline of ACT’s education policy goes a little further than National’s, but still with the aim of working towards a lift in New Zealand children's educational outcomes through rigour and testing.   It includes standards for early childhood education providers because educators are concerned at the number of children arriving at school completely unprepare...

ACT is promising a huge shake-up to the education system.   Its new education policy would crack down on ECE providers that don't teach children the basics.   The B4 School Check would be extended to include education progress.   Under ACT, the checks will make sure kids can read their name, know the alphabet, hold a pencil, pick up a book, and communicate thoughts and ideas.   Dame Lesley Max, Co...