Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Reports of retail crime, from shoplifting to vandalism and ram raids have almost doubled in five years. Police statistics provided to the National Party last week show the monthly average of retail crime reported increased from just over four thousand in 2017 to just under eight thousand in the first half of this year. On One News last night, a Hamilton businessman under siege from young offenders...

Finally some impetus to get more healthcare workers into the country, back into the job and provide some relief to our nurses and doctors who've been carrying a heavy load during this pandemic. The Government’s announced a raft of policies, they've stopped short of including nurses and tier one of the immigration green list, which would give them automatic and immediate residency. Nurses are at Ti...

Crikey, even when the Government does something right, they seem to get it wrong. Times are tough and a $350.00 cost of living payment will be a Godsend right now for people with little to come and go on. The payment was a surprise addition to the main budget. Eligible Kiwis will have just over $116.00 land in their bank accounts shortly, then another $116.00 in September with a final payment in O...

How on earth can the Road to Zero mouthpieces claim that the Road to Zero road deaths is on track, when they've admitted in their annual monitoring report that they're falling short of meeting targets for the strategy? This year, 166 people have died in crashes on our roads. That's higher than pre-Covid levels for the same period, and despite the fact that the price of petrol is through the roof,...

In December last year we shared the story of Brittany Kremers, a 25-year-old woman who was denied desperately-needed facial surgery at the eleventh hour by the Christchurch DHB. The reason? No funding available. Brittany has tightened screws on her face to realign her jaw for months in preparation for having a prosthetic jaw fitted.   She had her jaw and skull base removed, along with a life-threa...

An interesting idea came out yesterday from Eric Crampton, who's the Chief Economist at the New Zealand Initiative think tank. This was in response to calls from tertiary students for more help to relieve the financial pressure they're under. Everybody is under financial pressure at the moment and tertiary students are certainly no exception.  There is nothing attractive about being forced to live...

Calls are growing for a review of the Reserve Bank's slow response to inflation. National is calling for an independent review after Governor Adrian Orr acknowledged his interest rate decisions have contributed to inflation reaching the level it has. Orr's acknowledgment followed criticism from his predecessors, including Graeme Wheeler and Don Brash. To discuss this, former Finance Minister Steve...

A couple of weeks ago we were talking about the farming community and the fact that the latest surveys out showed they didn't have a great deal of confidence or optimism about the future of their livelihoods. And you would have to wonder how they're feeling now with reports of foot and mouth getting closer to New Zealand. A new outbreak in Indonesia, a first for that country, has both Australia an...

AG Research principal scientist Axel Heiser joined Kerre Woodham to answer questions on Foot and Mouth disease and whether we can stop it entering the country. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Less than half of students are regularly attending school. The latest truancy data shows regular attendance in term one dropped to just 46 percent. It's down on 72.8 percent in 2019 - pre Covid - and 50.5 percent in 2020. National's Education spokesperson Erica Standford says this is not just a social failure but a future economic crisis. Erica Standford joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVE See omny...

Now, if you're listening to me while you're at work this morning, it doesn't matter what you're doing; blue collar, white collar, minimum wage, being paid through the nose for whatever it is you do, working part-time, working full time. I just want you to take a wee moment and just give yourself a virtual hug. A little bit of a hearty handshake, a bit of a hand clap, because you and I my friends,...

Andrew Dickens: Does the Govt know their new visa policy hurdles are too high? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Dickens: Dr Ashley broke me when he announced changes to the way we monitor Covid infections See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are landlords and then there are landlords. There are those who do it for a living, they're professional, they're onto any problems, they treat their tenants with respect and in turn they are rewarded with great tenants. It's a symbiotic relationship in the best possible way.  Then there are the complete amoral Rachmans of the renting world. Slum landlords who care nothing about the state of...

The desperate need for affordable housing in the Waikato has driven a local charitable trust to launch an ambitious development in the Waikato town of Cambridge.   The Bridge Housing Trust, set up by The Brian Perry Charitable Trust, is to develop a brand new, 42-home community in Cambridge. Peake Mews will offer affordable, architecturally designed housing in an innovative, vibrant, and connected...

Ireland beat the AB’s 32-22 and deservedly took out the series 2-1. There are those who ask does anyone still care about rugby? The answer is yes they do.  Judging from the sellout crowds at every single one of the games and the howls of pain and anguish from All Blacks fans after their series lost to Ireland on home soil.  First things first though, Ireland were absolutely outstanding. Their atta...

Inflation has hit a 32-year high of 7.3%, with housing costs said to be the biggest driver. In the past three months, the cost of building a new home rose 18-percent and renting a home went up 4.3 percent. Transport was the next biggest factor, with petrol prices increasing 32-percent in the past year, the biggest annual increase since 1985. NZ Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann joined Kerr...

I wanted to have a look at our farming sector this morning, because I think the grumpiness from a number of farmers over a Country Calendar show featuring Lake Hawea station probably gave us a heads up on where farmers' confidence is at. And it's low, very, very low. According to a Rabobank quarterly rural confidence survey, it's the lowest since the pandemic began. Back in March, farmers' confide...

Farmer confidence is at its lowest level since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey. Possible reasons such as spiralling costs for a host of key farm inputs — including fuel, fertiliser, feed and labour, alongside concerns over Government policy are said to have led to this. Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard joined Kerre Woodham....

Acclaimed Auckland restaurant Cassia is shaking up its operations and opening seven days a week in order to meet customer demand. They also want to provide a better work-life balance for staff. Their employees will work a four-day week while still earning the same salary, and to achieve this they'll be hiring 15 extra staff. Cassia is owned by restaurateurs Sid and Chand Sahrawat and Chand joined...

The Police and Justice Ministers are giving officers more tools to tackle crime. The package of policies includes additional search and warrant powers, allowing seizure of weapons from gang members during conflicts. The New Zealand Police Association says today’s announced measures are a "solid start". Police Association President Chris Cahill joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/...

The owner of Auckland's Stonz Jewellers, Trevor Jordan, says his Takanini store was attacked by five men wielding axes in broad daylight. He told Kerre Woodham it's a scary environment at the moment. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last night, the youngest in our household had an ear infection.  Nothing could ease it, even with the Pamol. We rang the A&E clinics and were told to prepare for a one and half to two hour wait on a Monday night, which was as expected and then all of a sudden the tears stopped and she was fine, probably because it had burst.   We were taking it in turns to make the phone calls and you could just h...

The leader of the Opposition says he's ready to make bold change. Christopher Luxon has just returned from a trip overseas - including visiting Singapore and Ireland, where he discussed infrastructure planning, public service and attracting foreign investment. He says he can see massive failure in almost every portfolio in our Government.. Luxon told Kerre Woodham his own team is strengthened by h...

I never ever take having a roof over my head for granted, particularly not in winter when it is raining, when it is cold. Having a place to call my own, I think it's a real privilege. And I firmly believe you're only about three major life events away from finding out what it's like to be desperate. You lose your job, your marriage breaks up, illness or injury, and all of a sudden, you find yourse...