Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Well, it kind of feels like the inevitable has happened, hasn't it? After receiving his final final warning a few weeks back, it wasn't going to take much for Stuart Nash to lose his portfolios and job as a Minister. Especially, as many thought Prime Minister Chris Hipkins's actions over his previous cabinet manual discretions were not firm enough. So, this time around it has been revealed that St...

We know that times are tough for GPs, just trying to get into one in parts of the country is almost impossible. I've been taken back talking to you over the last few months about some of the wait times that you're experiencing when it comes to getting into your GP or being able to sign up with the GP if you're looking for a doctor if you've moved to a new area. It is now even more disappointing to...

People are unable to access some essential family doctor services as the services are being cut due to chronic workforce shortages and underfunding in general practice. A survey of general practices has found more than half of essential family doctor clinics have reduced the services they are offering. The General Practice Owners Association of New Zealand (GenPro) survey found a significant numbe...

I don't mind telling you that I get a little tense talking about the sort of stuff that came out of the events that we witnessed in Albert Park on the weekend, because passions, as we saw, ran very high.  I've taken a bit of time over the past 24/48 hours to think about those events and also look at a bit of video coverage, and I think we should be deeply worried about the way we engage with each...

Yesterday we were wondering what Nationals announcement was going to be around education, today we know. From where I'm sitting, it's pretty good. The basics are primary and intermediate schools will teach students for at least one hour a day on each of the topics of reading, writing and maths, and children will be tested at least twice a year to make sure that they've got it, that they understand...

Finally, finally, a political party is grasping the nettle and telling it like it is. This education system is failing our children and it's been failing it for two decades. Parents and teachers have been saying this for years. The kids themselves are voting with their feet. They're simply not turning up for school. And why should they? I've been saying for years, as have others, that it is inconc...

Data from the Ministry of Social Development, comparing June 2020 to June 2022, shows almost 25-thousand fewer people are relying on the Jobseeker benefit. Minister for Social Development and Employment, Carmel Sepuloni, says two MSD reports show its investment in the Covid response helped drive record numbers of people off benefits and into work. Wairoa Deputy Mayor and Young Achievers Trust Yout...

In 2004, the New Zealand Labour Government introduced the Working for Families Package as part of the 2004 budget. The package, which basically began in 2005, had three primary aims to make work pay to ensure income adequacy and to support people into work. There was concern about the number of young women who were on benefits, they were a valuable resource, it was important they get into work. Bu...

A review into the Working for Families tax credit system has found "serious design issues" in the way some of the tax credits are applied. Working for Families was introduced by the Helen Clark Government in 2004 and currently pays out over $3 billion in tax credits to around 350,000 families. The review also warns that despite the tax credit system, "in-work poverty" was becoming an increasing is...

For your edification this morning, a little history lesson. In 1940, while working as a street painter for the city of Los Angeles, Charles D. Scanlon designed a hollow conical marker to keep cars from driving over wet paint. And he was the one who painted the rubber traffic cone in 1943.   In his patent filing, Scanlon explained his three main objectives for his invention were to provide a marker...

The health system is in crisis, and surgeons are being forced to decide which patients to treat, and which need to wait. Counter to Te Whatu Ora’s statement that 73% of planned surgeries had been delivered in the year to date, surgeons are saying its closer to 50% or less. High-profile colorectal surgeon Frank Frizelle joined Kerre Woodham Mornings to discuss the situation. LISTEN ABOVE See omnyst...

The National Excavator Championships are taking place today at Central Districts Field Days. Joining the show from the Field Days is the local chair at Civil Contractors NZ, Greg Lumsden. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine getting up in the morning and having to make a decision about whether someone will live or die.  Christchurch surgeons were so outraged by Te Whatu Ora's statement that it was delivering 73% of planned care surgeries in Canterbury in the year to date, that they have broken ranks and called BS on that.  Remember back in 2022, when then Health Minister Andrew Little said EDs are “totally saf...

The New Zealand Educational Institute’s primary teachers negotiating team gave it one more whirl on Tuesday to come to an agreement with the Ministry of Education. The Union President Mark Potter said conversations were worthwhile, that the Government and Ministry are better at understanding the issues that need to be addressed, but the Ministry did not make an official offer. So today, many prima...

The economy has contracted slightly more than predicted by economists and the banks. Latest GDP figures from Stats NZ show a 0.6 percent decline in the three months to December and compares to a two percent increase in the three months to September. Herald Business Editor Liam Dann told Francesca Rudkin if the next quarter is also negative, we could already be in a technical recession. He says eco...

Did you know the Bonfire of the Vanities was an actual thing?  Not just a very good book written in the 1980s that was later turned into a film. The bonfire of the vanities was a religious command to destroy objects that might tempt one to sin, including vanity items such as mirrors, cosmetics, fine dresses, playing cards, and musical instruments. Other targets included books manuscripts of secula...

Before I launch into the usual litany of woe, and really, the stories making the news headlines are indeed indicative of a woeful state of affairs, I do think we should acknowledge some of the good news around.  Zoe Hobbs was magnificent in Sydney over the weekend; the Tarankai raised, Auckland based sprinter has officially become the first New Zealand woman to run under 11 seconds for the 100 met...

To start with we're going to look at the latest announcement from teachers that they're taking strike action to force the Government's hand in their pay negotiations. It is the last thing that parents and kids need to hear. Primary school teachers have announced they too will be joining their secondary school teaching colleagues in strike action across the country. The press release from the NZEI...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says he doesn’t see his kids “anywhere near enough” and is grateful for their sacrifice so he can hold the country’s top job. Speaking on Newstalk ZB this morning, he said he made an effort to treasure what time he did have with them, leaving his phone in the next room, but he recognised the sacrifice of his two young children. “They ultimately make a big sacrifice for...

Let's talk tax. It is an election year, which means a number of key policies are coming under the spotlight. All the usual suspects - health, law and order, welfare and tax. A Newsroom article has proposed a fairer tax system that would, the author posits, bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Inequality is the enemy of society. It's fine if we're all poor and fine if we're all rich....

The author of the Newsroom piece, 'How to make New Zealand's Tax System Fairer?' says our tax policies need to change. This is especially if we want to do something serious about intergenerational inequalities, poverty, and inadequacies in our health and other social services. Louise Delany is a senior lecturer in the Department of Public Health at Otago University and is also a member of Tax Just...

Last Friday, I caught up with the neighbours. It was a long time between drinks and it was lovely to sit on the deck on one of the few glorious evenings in Auckland, learning a bit more about the people in my street. I already knew that one of the women was a nurse and it appeared she was a very good one at that. She had worked around the world in public hospitals and in private clinics for the st...

The nationwide Open Farms Day is back on again this Sunday, 12th of March. 25 farms around the country are opening up for urban Kiwis to reconnect with food and farming. Open Farms Founder Daniel Eb joined Kerre Woodham. For more information:  https://www.openfarms.co.nz/ LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peter Knight, from Auckland, took his wife to Auckland City Hospital on Monday because she had severe abdominal pains. Staff were coping admirably, he said, but the department was clearly understaffed and overworked. One nurse said the ED was at 195 per cent capacity. St John workers were looking after patients in the corridors, he said. “It was like a war zone and it was Monday afternoon in the o...

Yesterday we had a number of listeners wondering if Napier is still open for business and tourism if they venture to the Sir Rod Stewart concert at The Mission Estate. Some were surprised it was going ahead given the state of the roads to get there and others were worried about accommodation. To clarify the situation CEO of Hawke's Bay Tourism, Hamish Saxton, joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVE See...