Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

The Government will today reveal its back down on controversial Auckland housing intensification plans amid fierce public criticism.   New planning rules would currently allow another 2 million homes in Auckland.  But last month the Government announced it'll water down the rules with an announcement expected this afternoon.   Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Kerre Woodham a ba...

The National Infrastructure Plan was released yesterday, and it makes for grim reading. I don't think anyone expected good news, but nonetheless a cold hard dose of reality is always unwelcome, especially when you've been wilfully ignoring the obvious for years. The plan looks at 17 sectors covering central government, local authorities, and commercially regulated utilities, and lays out a 30 year...

An ACT MP is looking to improve and extend the End of Life Choice Act.  Todd Stephenson has proposed a member’s bill that would incorporate all 25 of the recommendations made by the Ministry of Health in their review of the Act.   He wants to restore the original intent of David Seymour’s earlier bill, addressing the “overly restrictive” six-month prognosis requirement.   Stephenson...

Act MP Todd Stephenson has been looking to improve and extend the End of Life Bill since around August of last year. His new bill, for which he's seeking support across the House or has his fingers crossed it'll be drawn from the ballot, would incorporate every single recommendation made by the Ministry of Health's review into the End of Life Choice Act. He wants to restore the original intent of...

Five million dollars is being injected to revitalise one of Auckland's longest-standing shopping locations. The private capital will be used to overhaul the historic Queens Arcade, turning it into a boutique luxury retail precinct. Construction at the lower Queen Street site will begin in April and is due for completion in November. Queens Arcade Property Manager Ian Wright told Kerre Woodham the...

We thought we'd start with Eden Park given that the number of concerts allowed annually at the Auckland stadium will almost triple. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, and Nick Sautner, CEO of Eden Park, among others, confirmed the details of a State of Origin fixture at a press conference at Eden Park this morning, along with the news that Eden Park will host up to 12 la...

I've been saying every morning to Helen, God, would you look at what's happening in Wellington? Look at what has oh! Like one of those people, usually men, watching the television going, look what she's wearing, come here and have a look at this. Have a look at that. God. Oh, but I'm like that about the waste going into the ocean off Wellington. That's far more important than what a reporter may o...

After pouring more than $11 million into a Rotorua motel complex for the homeless, Kāinga Ora has decided to tear it down and put the Fenton St site on the market. One year on since Kainga Ora began its turnaround plan, and it's now exceeding its saving targets. Tenancy satisfaction is rising, vacancy rates are lower, fewer tenants are in rent arrears, and Kāinga Ora is doing a better job of manag...

For those of us with PCT, post Covid trauma, I've just given it a name and an acronym, the news that Nicola Willis is launching an inquiry into the actions of the Reserve Bank during Covid is going to bring back some bad memories, but I guess that's what National's relying on. During the pandemic, you'll recall the Reserve Bank cut the Official Cash Rate to a record low and for the first time prin...

A Kiwi clothing brand will no longer make plus sized clothing.  In a post on social media, Augustine owner Kelly Coe explained they’re focusing on the core of their business and what works best for them.  “We tried for years to dress our curvy babes and in the end we just got left with so much stock that ends up in our outlet store, it's simply not sustainable."  Coe told Kerre Wood...

The Government's announced an independent review of the fiscal response to the Covid pandemic.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis says it will look at any lessons the country could learn to improve its monetary policy response to future events.  It will probe decisions by the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee and advice it received – including the decision to print $55 billion in dig...

One renewable energy advocate believes New Zealand would be better off burning our coal reserve than building a liquefied natural gas terminal.   The Government’s aiming to sign a procurement contract for a Taranaki LNG site by mid-year, and hoping to have it running by late next year or early 2028.  An electricity levy of two to four dollars per megawatt-hour will fund the build, which...

Ah, Winston. Winston, Winston, Winston. He is the embodiment, as his namesake Winston Churchill famously said of Russia, of a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The canny campaigner knew exactly what he was doing when agreeing to job share the Deputy Prime Minister role with ACT leader David Seymour during the Coalition Government's startup. He, Winston, would take the first 18 months,...

The headline on one of the stories this morning said, "vital or bonkers?". Is the new liquefied natural gas terminal announced by the Government yesterday a vital piece of infrastructure that will save New Zealand households hundreds, shore up gaps in our energy supply, give confidence to our manufacturers, or as the Greens are saying, absolutely bonkers for the planet and for our country's energy...

Today, we thought we'd have a look at jury duty, given a story in the New Zealand Herald this morning. I've only been called for jury service once, a couple of years ago, before Covid, which isn't really a couple of years, is it? It's like six years ago. I was keen as mustard. Couldn't wait.  Fortunately, I have a very supportive employer who's able to sustain me doing my jury service. So I w...

In an opinion piece in Newsroom, former United Future leader and Political Commentator Peter Dunne writes about "How to stop NZ First from playing the two main parties off against each other". Under our MMP system, NZ First often holds the "kingmaker" position, allowing them to leverage the two main parties, National and Labour, against each other during coalition negotiations. Currently, NZ First...

Stats New Zealand released the labour market statistics yesterday while I was on air talking to my caller Troy, and the numbers were not good.  KW: The unemployment rate is 5.4% in the December quarter, up 5.3 in September. So we'll discuss that with Liam Dann in a minute. There we go.   T: Interesting in an election year, that will be interesting for sure.  Interesting in an electi...

The job market's remaining tougher, for longer, than many economists were expecting.  Unemployment's reached a ten-year high of 5.4% in the December quarter, and the broader under-utilisation rate is close to a ten-year high as well, at 13%.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis is trying to point out silver linings, saying the data also shows more jobs have been created, and hours worked are...

Unemployment's risen again to a ten-year high, with 165 thousand Kiwis currently out of work.  Stats NZ data shows the unemployment rate was 5.4% in the December quarter, up from 5.3% in the September quarter.  It's now the highest it's been since September 2015.  The Herald's Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham while today's rise is small, it's also unexpected.  He says there was som...

Remember the terror of the driving test? Your heart in your mouth as you drove around the mean streets of Timaru or Ashburton, or in my case Tauranga, with a gimlet-eyed traffic cop watching your every move. The parallel parking, the hill starts. I only got my license because the cop took pity on me, I'd have lost my job if I didn't pass the test. But it's been 40 years now and I haven't had any m...

The Government wants to open New Zealand up to mining investment from all countries, not just from the US.  New Zealand's one of dozens of countries negotiating with the US on a potential minerals deal.  Ministers from New Zealand, Australia, the US, UK and EU are also meeting in Washington DC this week to discuss a potential security alliance over critical minerals.  Minerals Counc...

As children head off to school this week, many of them for the first time, a woeful number of young ones are ill-prepared for the classroom.   A recent survey conducted by the Auckland Primary Principals' Association and released by the ECE sector partnership, found nearly 90% of Auckland primary schools have reported an increasing number of children starting school without basic skills, such...

It's believed the pandemic can't be used as an excuse for why a growing number children aren't ready for life in the classroom.  Some primary schools are reporting record levels of children arriving without basic skills such as talking, eating, and toileting.  Auckland Primary Principals' Association President and Milford School Principal Lucy Naylor told Kerre Woodham this was the case...

We thought we'd start with the new 12-month prescription rules. They came into force this weekend and are designed to save time and cut GP visits for patients. But community pharmacists say this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back because it's the latest in a raft of changes in a sector that is fighting to survive. The rules mean that people with long-term stable conditions can now get...

I've always understood the theory behind mainstreaming. We're all different, we all have different abilities, different attitudes, and a classroom of individuals with diverse personalities and levels of learning prepares young people for the real world. You're not among your own kind once you leave school and enter the workplace, enter the community. Mainstreaming means that kids who are different...