Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

We all know that the first 1000 days are the most important days in a child's life. Forget saving up to send them to the best possible secondary school. Forget putting aside money to help them through university or an apprentice training scheme. Invest in a child in the first 1000 days say all the child development experts and you will reap the rewards. As the child psychologists and developmental...

Tourism operators are welcoming the return of international accents again. New Zealand is opening up to visitors from around 60 visa-waiver countries from today. Like Australians, international tourists can arrive without isolation, if they're vaccinated and do a pre-departure and arrival test for Covid-19. Kerre Woodham caught up with tourism operators who had called her during the pandemic in 20...

There has been much discussion in recent times about the diversity of our local councils, with Local Government New Zealand launching a campaign to ensure councils reflect the people they represent. Currently only 14% of councillors are under 40 years old, with the average age being 56 - 60. The majority are men, while 41% are women. There's also a lack of ethnic diversity with 14% of representati...

The path forward for Three Waters reform is now less murky. The Government's accepted nearly all recommendations for our country's water system, from an independent working group. A public shareholding structure will be put in place and shares will be held by councils on behalf of communities. There'll also be regional representative groups...with a council and mana whenua chair for each region. L...

We've been talking about this for what seems like months now, young people involved in brazen daylight and midnight robberies and getting away scot free. According to the Herald's Jane Phare, young people have turned away from robbing dairies because dairy owners are now locking up vapes and cigarettes, so the only takings to be had are lollies, biscuits and drinks. That’s a lot of effort for very...

I have to say it was an absolute horror show on the roads again. In a way, I don't know why I'm why I was surprised because every holiday weekend you tend to see the road toll, people focus on the road toll over a specific time frame, so you become aware of how many deaths there have been. Maybe because there's been so much chat about the Road to Zero and we're going to make sure that nobody dies...

Kiwi motorsport legend and road safety advocate joined Kerre Woodham to discuss New Zealand's road safety and the Government's Road to Zero campaign following 11 deaths on our roads over the Anzac Day weekend. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m beginning to wonder whether the Government may have made a rod for its own back over the fuel tax cuts. If you’ll remember, they amounted to almost 30 cents a litre including the GST bit – making a huge difference to what people were paying at the pump. So, yesterday’s big news – the news everyone had been waiting for was the much-anticipated announcement of where inflation was going to be. An...

The move to Orange setting means we can now mingle at bars, nightclubs and restaurants mask free - with no capacity or distancing requirements.  It's welcome news for the hospitality industry.  Chand Sahrawat and her husband Sid run The French Cafe and Cassia restaurants in Auckland and Chand Sahrawat joined Kerre McIvor.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was worth a try, I suppose. I understand the concept of policing by consent, but surely that only works when you're trying to police people who understand the rules of living together in a community who want a peaceful life who choose not to commit crime, who understand consequences?   For those who make their living out of crime, whose lifestyles and very raison d'etre revolves around crime an...

A new policing unit is finally ready to tackle retail crime. Everything from ram raids to robberies to shoplifting. The intention to form such a unit was first announced back in November, now it's ready to launch. It will be known as the Police National Retail Investigation Support Unit. Not quite your Strike Force Raptor, but nonetheless, hopefully it will do the trick.  The unit will primarily b...

The Police National Retail Investigation Support Unit will come into force this month, tackling everything from ram raids to robberies to shoplifting.  Young people are, in the main, responsible for the current spate of ramraids, and questions are being raised as to how you turn a young child's life around if they've had the worst possible start to life.  Neuroscience educator Nathan Wallace joine...

You would have to wonder if Plunket's days are numbered. The iconic parenting organisation that is as Kiwi as Buzzy Bees, as the All Blacks, as Edmund Hillary, has announced that its parenting programmes will finish at the end of June because they cannot afford to keep them running.  Other of Plunket's programmes will continue including the Well-Child Tamariki Ora service - that's the early checks...

Plunket has announced it will no longer run its parenting education programme. It comes after a month-long staff consultation, and means the loss of five permanent and 17 casual roles while a further 16 people will have their hours reduced. Chief executive Amanda Malu says the charity can no longer afford to run the programme at its current deficit of $400,000 a year. She says the courses will sto...

Now you might have heard this on Drive yesterday. The Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for a temporary wind freeze and she says, well, if that encourages some landlords to sell up, all well and good. The Greens say the situation is dire and that the Government can freeze rents it as. The will does not seem to be there, despite the fact the number of New Zealanders renting has risen...

Last Thursday we had a two-hour discussion on planning for your retirement. When you're in your 20s and 30s retirement seems a million years away, but it was interesting to hear from some of our younger callers that they are thinking about and putting plans in place to be comfortable in retirement. According to figures released by Massey University, a two-person retiree household, living in the ci...

Who on Earth would be a copper these days? Maybe the job is more rewarding than the news reports suggest. Certainly, the young men and women I dealt with from about 7 different countries and ethnicities who were all part of the New Zealand police when my car got stolen –they were onto it. They seemed positive they had a really wonderful worldview. They were good people and they seem to have enjoym...

An alarming rise in the time Police take to respond to serious crime.  New figures show average response times increasing in most parts of the country – doubling in Northland, and tripling in Auckland and Waikato over the past five years.  In Auckland City, the response time has increased from 25 minutes to an hour and 50 minutes.  National's Mark Mitchell told Kerre Woodham Government needs to lo...

Pedigree have got behind a new kid-to-canine reading programme called "Dogphonics".  The aim of the Dogphonics books is to boost the confidence and literacy of children by encouraging them to read to a dog.  For young kids, one of the biggest challenges when learning to read is the anxiety that comes from stumbling over words or making mistakes in front of people.  Studies show that reading to you...

Ashley Bloomfield's resignation hasn't come as a thunderbolt. The Director-General of Health has announced he'll step down from the role in July, well ahead of his term's official end in June next year. An acting Director-General of Health will be appointed before he leaves. Political editor Barry Soper told Kerre Woodham it's been a hell of a job. “It’s virtually 24/7. He’s had to front the pulpi...

As you have heard in our news, the Defence Minister Peeni Henare says he's asked his colleagues in Cabinet to send some anti-tank missiles to Ukraine as part of different options to help the embattled country in its war against Russia.  But so far, he says, Cabinet has put the kibosh on any aid initiative that would involve actually hurting somebody. Blankets yes, uniforms yes, anti-tank missiles,...

When I checked the ZB website yesterday afternoon to check where we were with the level changes, I didn't feel anything at all when I saw we were going to be staying at red. I think I'm just desensitized to it all now, but then I'm not somebody whose livelihood depends on indoor audiences or customers being inside. I can't even begin to imagine how you're feeling. I did suggest yesterday that the...

Concert promoters are crossing their fingers for a change in traffic light setting. Cabinet meets this afternoon to decide if all, or regions, of New Zealand should ease Covid-19 restrictions. A move to Orange would see an end to indoor gathering limits and the chance for larger concerts. Live Nation New Zealand Managing Director Mark Kneebone joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/...

With the rising cost of petrol and diesel fuelling inflation, companies are looking at new technologies to lower costs, as well as carbon emissions.  In a comment piece in Newsroom, the CEO of Hyundai New Zealand said hydrogen-powered trucks are set to have a major impact on our transport industry as a clean transport alternative.  Hyundai NZ CEO Andy Sinclair joined Kerre McIvor.  LISTEN ABOVE Se...

If you're one of our listeners in your 20s or 30s, you might like to prick up your ears at this first segment for the morning.  The subject is retirement and I know if you're in your 20s and 30s, it seems like a million years away. When I was in my late 20s, I never thought I'd make it to retirement, it just seemed so far away, but now all of a sudden, I can count the years to 65 in single figures...