Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

The ACT Party has unveiled their party list ahead of the election - and they've placed Paul Henry in the top five and kept Seymour, McKee, and Hoggard at the top. Paul Henry also indicated that ACT would be looking to bump the retirement age up to 67, but allow people to access their KiwiSavers from age 65. ACT Leader David Seymour says the party would stagger retirement out - meaning people may have to work an extra few months before they reach the threshold. "It's been our official policy for a long time, we'll confirm it when we release an alternative budget. Everybody likes talking about bottom lines, but I'll just point to how much influence ACT has been able to have without setting bottom lines."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the election under two months away, questions have been raised over the impact of Labour's proposed capital gains tax. This campaign promise has copped some backlash, with National releasing several AI-generated ads condemning its impact. Dentons tax partner Bruce Bernacchi says it could take some time to reveal the impacts of a capital gains tax, given the current 'flat' state of the property market.  "I'm not privy to their modelling and maybe that's why it's been quite narrowly targeted at the free doctors' visits. But there surely must be a mismatch for the first few years." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I hope you'll be phoning in to tell me all about the CRL - because it's trains, planes and automobiles today with the official launch of the long awaited CRL yesterday. This morning it was the hard launch as commuters test the reliability, convenience and time saving potential of the railway line. Tough day to be a bus. Nobody cares, you big stinky diesel thing, even though I know a few of you have turned electric. There the buses are heroically supporting the commuter network, around 70 million passenger trips per year. Where's the gratitude? There is none. It's all, ooh, shiny trains. But honestly, who doesn't love a train? And there'll be some of you thinking, oh, how very Auckland. Come on, you know and I know that when you go to New York or London or Paris or Hong Kong or Singapore, even Australia, it's so exciting to be able to jump onto a commuter line that works, that takes you where you want to go cheaply, expeditiously. It's fantastic. We have our Oyster cards and we've worked out the lines, and we think we're so sophisticated as we jump on and off the trains. The subways, metros or tubes might be old and dirty or smelly, but you can spot a Kiwi, because they're so excited to be on there. There's none of this block yourself off and go into your own mind if you're a resident of the aforementioned cities. You just block yourself out and think this will be over soon, this too will end. We're bouncing around and hanging off the straps, just thrilled to bits to be there. And now we've got one of our own. I would definitely be using a train if the new harbour crossing is built with the capacity to run trains, although I will probably be dead by the time a new harbour crossing is built. My ancestors will rejoice. And the rejoicing yesterday, the Sky Tower was lit up with the CRL map, people of all ages set their alarms to stupid o'clock to catch the first train. People from around the country came to Auckland to ride the first train. I'd probably draw the line at saying, 'Tunnel, tunnel, tunnel' - a group chant as you go through the first tunnel, but then I'm not a rail fan or a trainspotter or a ferroequinologist or an anorak or a gunzel or a foamer or a densha otaku, which is all names from different cultures for those who love trains. But the fact that there are so many names in so many different languages and so many different cultures for people who love trains shows what a fan base they have. But beyond this special group of people getting their kicks, there's hope that there will be a significant return on investment with the building of the CRL. Aucklanders lose millions of hours each year stuck in traffic and removing even a small percentage of vehicles makes travel times faster, more reliable for everyone else and that improves productivity. It is hoped that the flow on effects will go right down the country, it won't just be a fun thing to ride - or to go on the new ale trail, or the ale rail trail, whichever you want to call it. Some friends of mine said they were going to go on the new rail link over the weekend and stop off for a glass of wine at different stations, or water after the first two. But there is an actual ale trail on the rail. Five breweries, independent breweries have signed up for it, so you can Google that and find it. Businesses like our lovely lady with the flowers in Victoria Street will be praying that the disruption and the loss of business and the hanging on by a thread will all be worth it now that the CRL is finally up and running. So I would love to hear from those of you who have ridden the train, who have jumped on board, test driven it yesterday or have taken the chance to come into work today on the train. Does it make much difference? Is it going to be part of your regular commute?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With just 57 days to go till election day, which is not long at all, most parties are starting to come out with policies. Even Labour. Capital gains tax and free GP visits seems like an age ago, but at least they came out with something. Te Pāti Māori, major constitutional reform by entrenching Te Tiriti into lawmaking, so they've sort of rustled up a couple of election promises. ACT and New Zealand First are giving their party faithful more of the same. ACT are dishing up getting rid of the Treaty, New Zealand First are doling out sanctions against migrants – so far, so appealing to those who are already there. With National, there's nothing to see here, more of the same, stick with us, we'll come right. Look, the economy's improving already, while firing shots across Labour's bow with misleading attack ads around tax.  A feeling I'm picking up, and I'm sure you have too, is that people are getting sick and tired of politics and politicians, which is not great with 57 days to go until we make a really important decision about the direction of our country. There seems to be a pox on all their houses sentiment. As a texter put it, they're going to rule out the parties they simply cannot vote for and put a tick next to the party that remains. It's not really a positive vote, it's more a "the others are worse, so I suppose I'll just have to vote for you". So 57 days to go, less than two months. What issues matter most to you? Have you firmed up your vote? Have you danced around the minor parties and thought, oh well, maybe, maybe. The two main parties haven't really delivered much over the past few years, past few elections. Have a little flirt with the minor parties, no, and then you decide no, I'm not going to. No, they look new and shiny, but really, it's all insubstantial. I'll go back to the main parties.  Are there issues that are important to you that you feel one party over another is going to deliver on? Are you going to be voting for yourself or for New Zealand? Do you have the luxury of being able to look at a vote for the wider community or are you just hanging in there by the skin of your teeth and voting for yourself? Are any of you so fed up that you simply won't vote? And I suppose more to the point, if you want to vote, have you made sure you're on the roll because you won't be able to do it on the day?   There's a lot of you that will swing left to right and right to left – have you reached a level of dissatisfaction with both the major parties that you're ready to join forces with one of the smaller ones? There'll be a flurry, I imagine, of policies coming out, but 57 days to go is leaving it a bit late for Labour. Chris Hipkins said at a public meeting, the first one that he's done for the entire election campaign, and it was only a few days ago, he said, I'm just getting warmed up. Just starting. Has he left his run too late? Or are you still waiting to hear something that might energise you, that might make you think yes, I feel really positive about putting this tick next to this party, I feel certain that they have the answers, that their way of improving New Zealand is the right way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An update from Tauranga's Mayor, who says Mount Maunganui won't reopen for a while yet.  Six people died when the holiday park at the foot of Mauao in January was swamped by a landslide. It's been closed to the public since. Mahé Drysdale says it's tough on businesses, and they're trying to return to some normalcy. He told Kerre Woodham two summit tracks are closer to ready, but the main slip keeps getting worse despite a lack of normal triggers, which makes health and safety hard to predict.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are concerns the culture of school rugby is distorting the values it's meant to promote.  Christchurch Boys' High School's principal is raising flags about the increasingly serious way First XV rugby is treated by schools, particularly regarding recruitment, escalating expenditure, and the culture that develops when winning becomes too important.   He believes that winning and playing for their school should matter, but a win-at-all-costs mentality shouldn't be prioritised over the values that team sport teaches.  Principal Nic Hill told Kerre Woodham winning matters, but so does disappointment, as you can't have the great elation without disappointment.  He says kids get so much out of sport, and the most they get is from the great adults they have with them, but adults are the ones who keep ruining it.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New research by Women's Refuge has shown that more women are disclosing that they are victims of family violence at work, and they are making the most of the domestic violence leave that was introduced by the Labour Government eight years ago. Under the legislation, those affected by family violence are entitled to up to 10 days of paid leave per year on top of their other leave, and they can request flexible working arrangements. The report found that the numbers using paid family violence leave rose from 9% to almost 34% since the Victims' Protection Act came into force, and that more women reported that their workplace response made them safer, not just feel safer, but they were safer. This increased from 40% to 62%.   The workplaces that were clued up in their responses were offering victims of family violence practical safety, such as secure car parks and not allowing the perpetrator access to the workplace or the building. I can't imagine what it must be like trying to escape from a partner that refuses to accept that the relationship is over, and not simply that, but who wants to punish you for daring to go against their wishes. And they want to punish you personally, and worse, your children, for daring to defy them. These people —and it's predominantly men who cause the most damage— are narcissistic, manipulative, sly. Some are using sophisticated technology to track down their victims who have left the relationships. They'll hide GPS trackers in kids' belongings, the vehicle, other personal items, and using everyday apps to monitor the family's whereabouts so they can track them down and punish them. They're violent and they're dangerous.  About nine women a year are killed by men for daring to leave them. Not for these men, the "oh well, we tried, you know, it's a shame, we loved each other once, but let's go and live our best lives separately and do what we can for the children." Oh no. It's not even "if I can't have you, no one else can." It's the fact that the woman dared to defy him, dared to say no, and that's what puts her and her children at risk. The most dangerous time for a woman is when she leaves. That's when they're most at risk. It's great that women feel they can disclose to their employer that they're unsafe, that they're leaving. It's great that employers are responding and saying "this leave is here for you." But it's a huge responsibility for the employer, isn't it? I would feel an enormous responsibility to my employee and to my other employees if she came to me saying her life was at risk, she needed to pack up and get out and get out quickly, she wouldn't be at work for a couple of days while she tried to find a safe place. Could the employer please be aware that the perp might come looking for her? It's not a workplace health and safety issue, but all of a sudden, it actually is.  Remember that case in Māngere Bridge? A man murdered the coworker of his ex-wife. He went round to the workplace because she'd dared to leave him with a knife, tried to stab her, and when her brave coworker intervened, he fatally stabbed her. When it comes to the workplace leave that is available to those who are suffering from domestic violence, how important has it been if you are the victim of that violence to be able to take that leave from work, to be able to use that time to pack up and try to find a safe place? Do you ever truly feel safe unless the perpetrator is behind bars? Do they suddenly have a come to Jesus moment and think, "you know what? maybe killing her isn't the best option. Maybe killing the children isn't the best option. Maybe I let them live their own lives and get on with mine, try to find some purpose and meaning in my own life." Because I can't imagine that would happen very often. At what point do you feel safe?  And as an employer, if you have an employee come to you and say "Look, I feel really unsafe, I have to leave this relationship," it'd be more than just giving them leave, wouldn't it? Saying "Alright then, I'll sign you off for five days, good luck." I imagine it would be a whole lot more responsibility than that. So more power to those employers who have been able to do what they can to provide a safe workplace for their employee and the other employees, but it opens a whole can of worms, doesn't it? The fact that more women are using this domestic violence leave to be able to set themselves up in a safe place is fantastic. If it saves a life, it's well, well worth it. But what is the responsibility that the employers feel? I'd love to hear from you. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some Kiwis are at risk of losing their sight as the backlog for public eye appointments grows.   More than 36 thousand New Zealanders are waiting longer than recommended for their appointments, with more than 125 thousand ophthalmology follow-ups outstanding nationwide.   Health NZ says its working to reduce the wait times caused by an ageing population, staff shortages, and overwhelmed services.  Greenlane Clinical Centre's Clinical Director of Ophthalmology, Sarah Welch told Kerre Woodham they're doing everything they can to try improve things.  She says they're potentially starting to turn a corner, but with the number of people waiting, it's not going to happen tomorrow or the next day – it'll take a year or so.  And that, Welch says, probably shows we need more capacity within ophthalmology across the country.   LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, I don't know what we're going to do... Good news! How on earth do you make a talkback show out of good news? That's not what we're here for. Indeed, it is very good news, though. The post-Covid collapse in education has halted, and the equity gap is narrowing as disadvantaged students improve at higher rates than their richer peers. That's according to New Zealand's 2025 PISA, Programme for International Student Assessment, results, which is a benchmark for 15-year-olds in the OECD in science, maths, and reading. Oh yes, sure, there are legitimate qualifiers. Results in other countries fell, so it was easier for us to catch up and look good. And no, thank you media, we're not back to the 2009 levels, which is when our schools delivered truly world class results in the PISAs, but come on, this is fantastic news.   The Minister for Education, Erica Stanford, believes, as indeed do I, as indeed do many of you, that your socioeconomic circumstances should not dictate your academic achievement. That a world class education should be available to every child in New Zealand, not just those who can afford private schools and tutoring. Education should be a way up, and it should be a way out for those who do not want to live the same lives as their parents. Understandably, Erica Stanford is very, very pleased with the results.  ES: To see these kids who are in the bottom quartile who have gained in science a year, in maths three terms, and in reading two terms or six months, that is beyond what we could have expected. And the reason I came to politics and to education was to close the equity gap that has been stubborn for decades, and this is the first time we've seen a turnaround. One of the things I put this down to is actually kids turning up to school.  MH: I was going to say, right. So just being at school helps.  ES: Well, if you look back to 2022 when we last did PISA, in term two our attendance rate was about 39% 39.6 In 2026 in term two, 64.3 Still a very long way to go, but when kids are turning up to school and our message has been over the last three years every single day counts, this is what happens, and it matters the most for the kids at the bottom who need education to change their lives.  You cannot doubt the Education Minister's passion for her portfolio. You also cannot doubt the results that she is getting. I don't know what the teachers' unions are going to do now. How can they complain because our kids are succeeding? And in large part, it is thanks to very, very good teachers who were always motivated, who were always professional, but who had a dog of a curriculum under Labour to deal with. I don't know what the principals who said, "Oh, you can't test children, you know, these give a false result," were talking about. No, they don't. They give an international benchmark. They let us know how we're doing compared to the rest of the world.   For a very, very long time, we were world leaders. And for those of us who grew up with an education in the 70s and early 80s—I'm talking the 1970s and 1980s, not the 1870s and the 1880s, just for clarity—it was a world-class education. Erica Stanford's been trying to ensure that no matter if you're in Whangārei or you're at school in Bluff, the core subjects will be the same. There'll be localised differences, there'll be regional differences, but the basics, the standard stuff, will be the same, and that's as it was. We turned out world-class scientists from tiny country schools because we had a great curriculum and brilliant teachers.   We've always had good teachers, but they've been dealing with absolute politically motivated, ideologically unsound curricula over the last couple of decades. All parents want is their children to achieve their potential, to have a chance to succeed. I went to school in Pukekohe, Tokoroa, Turangi, and Waihi, and I could foot it with anybody from around the world education-wise. You were allowed to explore what you wanted to explore. I wanted to learn French, for heaven's sake, when I was in Turangi. I found an old, old French dictionary, and French wasn't offered at Turangi Primary, but a teacher found another teacher within the school that was willing to sit with me, show me it wasn't just words, it was sounds that made another language.    The number of parents I spoke to who could see their children going backwards under Labour's curriculum – the money that was spent on that, the people who were employed to come up with all sorts of add-ons instead of understanding that the basics have to be there, and then the children will find the add-ons. If they know the basics, they can go exploring all by themselves. And the number of you who rang me having to find money you simply did not have to pay for extra tuition because you could see your kids were failing, you could see your kids were falling behind, you didn't want them to be left behind, so you did it. You got them educated when it is the responsibility of state schools to do that. I've seen a difference with the grandkids. Huge difference. It's so important. This used to be the way out for migrant families since forever ago. It used to be the way out for children who'd had to leave school at 12 or 13, who slogged away, made a life, but then wanted more for their own kids, wanted more choices for their own children. Education was it. I would love to hear from you on this, especially if you are somebody who's seen the difference in your home, especially if you're somebody who was having to find that money for the extra tuition because you were not going to let your kids down. The Government might have been letting the kids down, but you weren't going to let your own children down. And employers, I want to know if you're starting to see the first signs of a truly educated workforce. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reassurances that life is not over after using methamphetamine as wastewater testing revealed record high consumption.  The Herald's obtained a justice briefing showing almost two million doses were detected in testing in a single week in April.  That equates to about $40 million in social harm and is 21% above the average amount consumed over the 12 months prior.  Whakaronga Whanau Recovery Hub CEO Rhonda Zielinski told Kerre Woodham people absolutely can get their lives back after using meth.  She says people tend to dwell on the bad side and think there's no coming back, but there are people in her life that are living testaments of overcoming meth addiction.   Zielinski says that from personal experience, there seems to be more success in getting people off meth, than off alcohol.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A group of hunters has turned pest control into a way to feed their communities.  Hunt for Good is a not-for-profit that culls wild deer, donating the venison and wild game meat to community groups and food banks.  The volunteer group currently provides meat for the Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay and Manawatu Regions, and have donated over 20 thousand kilograms of mince.  Trust Chair, Bill Osborne told Kerre Woodham they're very careful about how they do it, and have strict processing protocols for farms and a strong hunting doctrine.  He says sustainability is really important in this day and age, and they're trying to preserve what bush they can and maintain pastures for production, so it's quite important to get that balance right.  LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who the hell is doing all this meth?   Yesterday came the news that there were almost 2 million doses detected in wastewater sites over one week in April. One week. 2 million doses. Consumption in the first quarter of 2024 was 15% higher than it was over the previous four quarters.   The numbers are big, but beyond the numbers, that is a lot of misery. Just looking at the ODT today, two headlines stood out: 'No way out, mum sucked into major meth trafficking operation,' and 'Fatal crash caused by distressed speeding mum high on meth'. You've seen the same sort of thing. And the scary thing is that those 2 million doses were discovered in wastewater sites – doesn't even begin to cover the septic tanks. The areas where meth is rife, like the Far North and the East Coast of the North Island, aren't even counted.   Part of the reason for the massive upsurge might be cost. Apparently, the street price of meth in New Zealand is currently at its lowest level ever recorded thanks to a big intake from the internationals. Data from the Massey University New Zealand Drug Trends Survey says the average retail cost of meth is around about $334 per gram or $74 for a "point" (100 milligrams), so the price has come down by half over the last couple of years.   I know people who do recreational drugs. They dabble in alcohol, they dabble in cannabis, they dabble in cocaine, and they do dabble. They appear to be able to pick it up and put it down without their drug of choice impacting their families and their businesses. You would have to wonder, given the amount of meth that's being consumed, can you dabble in meth as well? Is it something you can do on the weekend? I'm probably not the best person to be talking about this, but does it give you energy? Is it one that powers you up or calms you down? I have absolutely no idea. So if you need to be powered up or calmed down, whatever the drug can do, can you take it and then leave it? Because all the stories around meth are very 'Go Ask Alice' and 'Requiem for a Dream' type stories. Horror stories of what happens when you pick up a drug and you cannot put it down. Given I have an addictive personality, I know enough to stay well clear of the illegal drugs. But surely, given the kilos and kilos being consumed, not everybody is a tragic wreck.   Why meth though? It's been around for a very, very long time and there have been I mean, easily the past 20 years we've been talking about how it can tear apart families, how it's funding gangs, how it's fuelling gang wars and turf wars. Why do you want to pay that money so that a gangster and his moll can fly first class to Europe? At least the gangsters who own liquor companies pay tax.   Now Northland leaders are warning against the arrival of fentanyl in this country. Otangarei Trust CEO Martin Kaipo said it was only a matter of time before the zombie drug made its way into the country as crims looked for new opportunities. And you cannot be confident that people will steer clear of fentanyl despite the fact that there have been so many videos, so many social media stories, so many stories on the mainstream media about what that drug can do to people. The images of the walking zombies, the living dead, makes synnies look like a vitamin tonic by comparison. But if the drug dealers see a new opportunity, they will take it. The drugs can get here, clearly. Your South American route down through the islands is basically a free passage for the drug exporters and importers.   Is it a drug you can dabble in? It's just when you look at the people who want to get off it and can't, that's the problem. You might think you might be able to dabble, but what happens when it starts to control you? There simply aren't the beds available if you want to detox. You'll be bloody lucky if you can find one. The damage it does to families, it's multi-generational in the Far North. People are trying desperately to, offer young people an alternative to drugs and drug dealing, but when there's not much up here up there, they see it as the only way they can make a crust. Who on earth is using the meth? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back in the day, when I first got this job, I was desperate to buy a house. All of a sudden I was earning enough to pay a mortgage, but after years of living on a waitress's wages and being a single mum, I didn't have the deposit. I would now be able to start saving for one, there was a bit left over after expenses, which was a new and wonderful feeling. But it seemed such a swizz to be paying more than a mortgage in rent every week when that could be going towards a house and security for my daughter and me. I was very lucky then that my partner, later husband, now ex husband, had a rental unit in the South Island that could be used as security for us to move into a cottage in Grey Lynn. He had the security, I had the wage, it was a beautiful thing until it wasn't. Um, nobody wanted to live in Grey Lynn at the time, wasn't at all fashionable. And although I thought it was a palace, our home was described in a story I did with a magazine as shabby. But we loved it, absolutely loved it, and it was our home for 20 years, which, to make a short story very long, is why I think it's a jolly good idea from National to increase first home buyers' access to low deposit mortgages if they become government. Their stated intention is to get home ownership rates back to their historical peak of 74% and that was achieved by the country back in the early 90s. Since then, home ownership has fallen to about 66%. Now there are all sorts of benefits for the community, for the country, not just for the young families who own their own homes, if you get home ownership rates up. It's a worthy aspiration. Right now, first home buyers account for nearly 29% of all home purchases, representing the largest single cohort in the current housing market as they take advantage of the correction in the housing market. So will lowering the deposit required make a difference? CoreLogic New Zealand chief property economist Kelvin Davidson was fairly neutral when he spoke to Early Edition this morning. "I don't think it's going to transform things. I mean, it's going to be great obviously for those individuals who were previously shut out because their income was just a bit high, they'll now be able to potentially get in under this loan scheme, but it's not going to flood the market. We already know first home buyers are really strong anyway, um, and and values are still pretty flat despite that demand. So good for those individuals, but I don't think it sort of transforms the housing market for sure." Really? But if you're renting right now, surely the lowering of the deposit would make a huge difference for you. 5% is a huge difference from 10% You genius mathematician, Kerre. But you know what I mean, like trying to get a 10% or a 20% deposit as some people had to do was, you know, it was a Herculean task and it seemed so far, it's a bit like the opposite of what the the student loan absconders are doing. Their debt seems so huge that they can't begin to tackle it. When you've got a 20% deposit to find, it seems like such a huge sum you don't even attempt it. Whereas 10% becomes doable, 5% very much so.   If you are renting right now, does the thought of buying appeal and does 5% make it doable? Like really doable. When you look at how much you're paying in rent, have you done the sums to see what a mortgage would look like for your first home? Is it even something you aspire to these days or did the huge jump in house prices knock the confidence out of you when it came to owning a home? I've got friends, young friends, a couple, he's 40 and the other is 34 and they've said no, we'll just rent. They don't have children, they probably won't have children, they'll just rent and use the money to save a bit and travel a bit. They've had a long hard look, big talks about it, and they've decided no. They'll save for their retirement through KiwiSaver and a separate savings account and use the rest of the money to travel. They just don't want to, they've decided they don't want to buy into it. I'd love to hear what you have to say on this. If you're renting right now, does the 5% threshold as promised by National make you think, you know what, I can do it? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour has dropped to a new low in today's Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll with just 25.9%. The result has called into question Labour's election campaign strategy, and Chris Hipkins' leadership.  NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan told Kerre Woodham, "this has only happened in a couple of months, it's just fallen off a cliff. So, I think it will take some time, Labour will want to see other polls before it starts to talk about leadership." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The KNAPP Sustainability Leadership Award recognises retailers who are advancing their sustainability efforts through a specific green initiative. Last night at the Spark Retail NZ Awards The Warehouse Ltd - The Good Drop took the prize, which is The Warehouse's clothing recycling scheme. Sustainability Partner at The Warehouse Group Caroline Dewstow joined Kerre Woodham to discuss the win. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A cross-party committee of MPs has recommended the Government water down its move-on orders, concerned that the penalties and punishments would be disproportionate to the offences of rough sleeping and begging. Under the proposed legislation, police had the ability to move people engaging in specific behaviours, including rough sleeping and begging, away from the area for 24 hours. Breaching the rules risked a $2,000 fine or up to three months' imprisonment.   But after more than 7,000 New Zealanders made submissions, with more than 98% of those submissions opposing the bill as it stood, changes have been made. Those opposed included the Police Association, city missions, faith groups, ordinary everyday New Zealanders who took the time to submit, and Retail NZ, which seems an odd one. Chairperson of the Justice Select Committee, Tom Rutherford, told the Mike Hosking Breakfast he's happy with where the move-on orders have landed.  "I think we've made some really pragmatic changes, increasing the age from 14 to 18 years old, including things like freedom camping not being captured, stronger protections around providing personal details, requiring the police to report on it in a statutory review in three years' time, and reducing that fine from $2000 to $1000 – I think we've really hit the money here."  Reducing the age at which the orders could apply from 14 to 18. There were real concerns that young people would be criminalised by these orders, young people who had nowhere else to go, the most vulnerable. It's interesting that Retail NZ was opposed to the bill as it stood. I totally get the Police Association and the city missions, but the move-on orders were in part designed to protect retailers from dealing with aggressive and offensive behaviour.   But are the amendments fair in your mind? I had a few concerns about them, like aggressive, offensive behaviour, absolutely, get rid of it, but I would have thought that there were sufficient laws to do that anyway. The move-on orders just mean moving the problem from one place to another. If people have nowhere to go, if people have mental health issues, if people are there because they're young, home is not safe, they can't find anywhere to be, then how is the move-on order going to actually solve those issues? It'll just be a not-so-merry-go-round of people landing in one place, being moved on, and landing in another.   I have absolutely no doubt that not just the police, but all of the social agencies who are set up to deal with the problem of people who live outside of the community for whatever reason, I have absolutely no doubt that the move-on orders were meant with the best possible intentions of trying to make the streets safer, of not having people abusing parents and children who are walking down the street minding their own business, your Tom and your Lindas coming off the cruise ship and just experiencing a nice bit of New Zealand to be met with near naked men brawling in a drunken stupor in the middle of Queen Street. It's not great. It's absolutely not ideal. You can't allow it to happen, and it was let go for a very, very long time. But coming down with the move-on orders doesn't seem to me to be a realistic way of solving the actual issue. People are homeless for many, many reasons, it's not simply because they don't have a home, and they're complex and it's tricky. Were the move-on orders ever designed to get to the root of those problems? I'm not entirely sure they were. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retailers are staying opposed to move-on orders as they stand, saying they should target behaviour, not vulnerable people.  The proposed Bill would let Police direct people out of a public space for rough sleeping, begging, or behaving disorderly.  The Justice Committee's recommended changes, including lifting the age orders could apply to from 14 to 18.  Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young told Kerre Woodham disruptive behaviour is the main issue for retailers, not homelessness.  She says it doesn't matter if the person's in a suit or what time it is, it should be down to behaviour, not whether someone has a home or not.  They're also seeing less and less rough sleepers blocking doorways, Young says, as compliance officers now usher people away each morning.  She says they're generally out of doorways by around 7 or 8am.  LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18 year old Jade Evans was killed last year when a truck driver ran a compulsory stop sign and crashed into her car, leaving her with catastrophic brain injuries. She and her unborn baby Lily died three days later after Jade's family donated her organs to save the lives of others. Now her family's calling for stronger accountability for preventable road deaths following yesterday's sentencing of the truck driver. The driver, who pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death, was sentenced to two months community detention, disqualified from driving for one year, and ordered to pay reparation to Jade's family. Doesn't seem much for lives lost, does it?   But then when you think about Jake Hamlin, he got 12 months home detention for driving drunk and killing Samantha Williams. No accident about it. No carelessness about it. It was criminal negligence on his part, really. So yes, it would be nice to see people held accountable for the damage they do.   Jade's mother Kathryn Stothers and stepfather Cameron have launched Jade's Law, a national petition calling for reform of New Zealand's road safety laws. Named in Jade's honour, the petition wants to increase penalties for careless driving causing death, and asks Parliament to amend the Land Transport Act so penalties reflect the seriousness of a life lost and recognise a wider range of aggravating circumstances for breaches of traffic rules, particularly involving heavy vehicles. Kathryn says the petition is not about seeking harsher punishment for one individual, it's about seeking a change of law to allow judges to impose sentences that reflect the seriousness of the crime.   If you think back to a Dutch driver —I believe he was a tourist— Johannes Appleman, he T boned a car in Canterbury back in 2014 and that killed Dr Lucy Hone's 12 year old daughter, as well as her best friend and her best friend's mum. He failed to stop at a stop sign, one of those classic long Canterbury roads where you just don't see it. There was no intent, he wasn't drunk, he wasn't tired, yet he ploughed into them and three lives are lost. A Tauranga man was sentenced to 150 hours community work, disqualified from driving for 12 months, and ordered to pay emotional harm reparation for careless driving over the death of a motorcyclist.   You have that awful, awful case of the young woman in Morrinsville —I think that was back in 2011— who came round a corner just on the outskirts of Morrinsville, failed to take a moderate bend, drifted over the road and ploughed into, she wasn't even going that fast, ploughed into a group of cyclists who were absolutely doing exactly as they should. They weren't all over the road, they were riding sensibly and it was just one of those horrible accidents. She wasn't drunk, she wasn't impaired with drugs, she wasn't tired, she was on her way to work and she killed three people.   When it's an accident, a pure accident, no drugs are involved, no alcohol's involved, no tiredness, you're not turning around and laughing and chatting to other people, when it's just a dreadful accident, yet the outcome of that moment of carelessness or distraction or thinking about something else, that moment of distraction causes so many lives to be changed forever. Families have to live forever without their child, their husband or wife. How do you reflect that fairly? Harsher penalties, they're not going to stop the accidents happening because these are not people who need to be told not to drink and get behind the wheel of a vehicle. They weren't drunk. They don't need to be told don't take drugs, don't speed. They weren't doing any of that. It was an accident and yet the fallout from the accident is so great.   Does there need to be a marker in law to say what you did was an accident, yes, but the damage you did through being at the wrong place at the wrong time in a moment's distraction has resulted in so much damage, so much pain, so much harm, we must mark it in law by punishing you. I mean, at the moment you've got a little light community service or a fine, disqualification for a year or so for people who have taken multiple lives. They didn't mean to, they weren't impaired, there weren't aggravating circumstances around what they did, but boy they did some damage. What's appropriate? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The mother of an 18-year-old killed when a truck driver drove through a stop sign near Palmerston North is calling for stronger accountability.  The driver's pleaded guilty to careless driving causing Jade Evans' death.  He's been sentenced to two months' community detention, loss of licence, and must pay the family reparations.  Mother Kathryn Stothers has launched a petition asking to create Jade's Law, to reform road safety law.  She told Kerre Woodham that they want to close the gap so that if a serious breach of road rules results in death, the charge and sentence properly reflect the loss of life.  Stothers says it's not about making higher charges for everyone, but about giving the legislation, police, and courts a wider scope to charge appropriately when fundamental road rules, such as stop signs, are breached.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now if you were to wander down to your local netball court on any given Saturday morning in winter, you would see hundreds, no matter how small the town might be, you would see hundreds, and in the biggest cities, thousands of parents and young women on the courts, on the sidelines, waiting in the queue for a park in the car park, checking to see if they're blocking a bit of your driveway as they try and desperately find a park down a side street to get to the game on time. It is our national women's game – netball's played by nearly 30,000 secondary school students and more than 60,000 juniors in New Zealand. It's the most popular participant secondary school sport for girls in New Zealand and has been for years and years and years. Moms who played netball come down to watch daughters, and sons up until secondary school, playing netball. Dads who watched the moms play netball back in the day when they were just courting are now watching daughters on the sidelines. Huge supporters.   But why does that support, that love of the game, that passion for the game – because on some of those wet, cold, icy mornings, it's a lot to get up out of your warm bed and head down to the courts. All very well and good to be playing, but when you're standing shivering on the sideline, that's commitment. So why does that support, that passion and commitment not translate into being able to sustain a money-making professional league for our very, very best players? The annus horribilis of Netball New Zealand, or really, it's an anni horribiles, have been well traversed. But one of the main problems that Netball New Zealand encountered was that there just weren't enough people watching the game to support televising the league, and without high rating broadcasts, it's really hard to secure sponsorship and a long-term future for the league.   Netball New Zealand will argue that viewer numbers were improving. The average live television audience for an ANZ Premiership fixture was 51,800 – a 32% increase on 2025, which means that in 2025 they were miserable numbers. But then compare that to the hundreds and thousands who watch rugby on the telly for the Super Rugby matches. The ranks of our best netballers have been gutted as Netball New Zealand worked to find a way to continue with some form of a premier competition. They just couldn't get it nailed down quickly enough, so 13 of our elite players have headed across the Tasman to play, they've been snapped up. Five are heading to the UK's Netball Superleague. If people weren't watching a competition with our very best netballers, some of the best netballers in the world, will we watch with only the up and comers? Chief executive of Netball New Zealand Jennah Wootten is confident we have the talent for a new competition.  "I've been talking to a lot of former Silver Ferns and a lot of people that are deeply involved in the technical side of our sport. And I think one of the things I'm hearing from a lot of them, Mike, is yes, 18 players have signed to go offshore and we totally respect and understand why, we couldn't give them certainty early enough. But if you look at the ANZ Premiership this year, we had around 60 players in that competition. So there's actually an enormous amount that are still here. And what I'm really excited about is seeing what new talent's going to come through. You know, there'll be a whole lot of people that have been on the cusp of getting into these teams in the past. This is going to be their moment, and I reckon we're going to learn a whole lot of new names in netball that are going to be the stars of the future."  Well, you hope so. And that's certainly what angel investors Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams are hoping, who are the backers of a private domestic competition as of next year. They know about sport, they know about business, they know how to get people along, they know how to drum up passion for a team, and hopefully they can do the same for this tournament. Mowbray and Williams will determine the competition format, the team structure and the season dates. And Jennah Wootten said having them come to the rescue gives the netball community clarity on the direction of travel after a lengthy period of uncertainty.   But what is it that makes a sport watchable? There is no doubt that there are hundreds of thousands of people involved in netball in this country who take an interest. And they put their money where their mouth is, they travel, they get up on a Saturday morning, they take the kids to the practices, they travel from city to city too, if the kids get into the top leagues to watch the inter-sport competition. They play social netball. There's a lot of interest in the game that does not translate to eyes on screens. Why? I'll watch a sport I've never played and really enjoy it. Love watching the league, love watching the union, never played it. Really enjoy it. Love watching tennis. You'd argue that netball's more interesting than tennis on paper. But given a choice between watching the best tennis players in the world and the best netballers, I'd watch the tennis. I love watching sport. Give me a reason to watch and I'll watch it, but right now, is it the game? Is it just that it's more exciting to play than to watch? What is it?    Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray are not fools. They're not going to have a passion project that doesn't see a return on investment, surely. They must believe they can get people behind netball. What would make you watch? Because I'm not one of them, and I'll watch just about any sport, but it just doesn't hold my interest and I don't know why. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's not often you hear people moaning that taxes should be put up, but we live in interesting times, people. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Transport Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announced that the Government had scrapped the 12 cents per litre fuel increase, with equivalent increases to road user charges, that were planned for January 1st next year. It's kind of expected that they would – they'd staged on for so long and it's an election year – are we seriously going to expect a government that is fighting to be re-elected to put up any costs for consumers in the next few months? Not really. So the next expected increase of 5 cents per litre will be on January the 1st 2028. To cover the lost revenue, the Government plans to top up the National Land Transport Fund at an expected cost of $1.5 billion over the forecast period, using its $450 million rainy day fund and finding the rest somewhere else. They're not saying where it's going to come from, they're saying that they'll release that later. Transport Minister Chris Bishop told 1News last night the increases couldn't be delayed indefinitely without damaging the transport network. Unless they begin again soon, the financial foundations of our land transport system will be undermined. Luxon argued the extra breathing room before the hike gives New Zealanders more time to recover from a prolonged period of post-Covid economic pain and ongoing global uncertainty around the energy prices. The pair also said, look, the regular fuel hikes that are planned in later years are necessary and people will be able to pay for them because they're saying that the country's economy will strengthen in the years to 2030, so we'll all be able to afford them. Labour has said it will freeze fuel excise hikes for the three-year electoral term if it becomes government.  Either way, we're not going to be paying anything whether Labour or National gets in for the next year. But transport and infrastructure leaders aren't happy about that – they've said both parties are playing politics. Well, yeah, it's an election year, they've got to be re-elected. AA fuel spokesperson Terry Collins said the "what to do" about the fuel was a problem of the Coalition's own making. When they came into power, they wiped the 3 cent annual increases that Labour had announced. If they'd maintained those, they wouldn't be in the same predicament that they are today. Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett said the decision was because of election season and ultimately would end up costing the country more. He said, I understand the politics, but it's become a race to the bottom. The right decision for New Zealand now and in the future would be to let those fuel excise increases continue as planned. It would take political courage to do that. I don't think there's much courage around with just a few short months and the polls looking the way they're looking. Every vote will count and raising excises, duties, taxes, tariffs, whatever you want to call them, is not going to be popular. Even the Greens say bring on the fuel excise tax. The Greens say freezing the fuel excise will make our roads worse, defer maintenance we badly need, and leave people with fewer options for getting around. They say it also shows that neither party is committed to the recommendations in the National Infrastructure Plan. Now, it's hard to believe if you are new to this country or new to this radio station, but potholes were a major election issue last time round. Remember when we had entire hours devoted to potholes? A pothole hotline was set up as a way of getting elected, a promise to set one up and then delivery on that promise from ACT. The state of our roads is an election issue, and we need money to pay for them. It's expensive, it's time consuming, it costs productivity if the roads are in poor shape. Everybody has got their favourite stretch of road or their bête noire of a road that is just hell to drive. Potholes and the state of the roads were shredding tyres and we had collectively, if you add up all the hours we spent talking about it, probably days before the last election talking about the state of our roads. Helen reminded me that we received a text a few days ago saying the roads have never been in better shape according to a truckie who travels the route regularly. He said that potholes are vastly improved, that the roads are in much better shape.  Can you say that the Coalition Government has delivered on their roading promises? Will they be able to keep those promises without the money going into the roading and maintenance coffers over the next year? I mean it is going to come from somewhere, National have said that they'll top it up, but that's debt we're not paying back. What is the right thing to do? I mean yes, it would take political courage, but as the Opportunity Party says, you've got to be in power, you've got to get into Parliament to be able to enact your policies. So National, the Coalition Government, probably feel it's better to get into the seats of power, into the seats of governance, and let the fuel excise slide just for now, they'll find the money from somewhere for the roads.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the weekend too, Nicola Willis announced policy around student loans. And finally, finally, finally, we have a government that's going to get tough on overseas student loan defaulters. Finance Minister Nicola Willis said yesterday that National will introduce harsher penalties on Kiwis who move overseas and simply refuse to pay back the New Zealand taxpayer. This is about making it a bit easier for people who have a student loan and are in New Zealand and sending a stronger message to those offshore that they're expected to repay their loan. We've got to get that balance right. Ultimately, if you do study in New Zealand, you're being heavily subsidised by the New Zealand taxpayer, and we do that because we want you contributing to our economy and our community. It will always be the case that some Kiwis will take their qualifications offshore, but when they do that, we expect them to pay New Zealand back. Yeah, not that harsh, really, is it? At the same time, Nicola Willis said at the press conference yesterday, the party if re-elected will reduce the compulsory student loan repayment rate for those who stay in the country to 10 cents on every dollar earned above 24,128 It's down from 12 cents currently. That's not going to set the world on fire, but I think going after the defaulters is a good move. What does annoy me though, every time the story is written about, generally by Generation Z reporters, New Zealand's student loan scheme was introduced in 1992 by the Jim Bolger led National government, replacing a long standing system of near free tertiary education. The implication being those vile right wing fascists from National took away a God given right for every New Zealand young person to be able to attend university for free and put in a student loan scheme. What they don't say is that there were incredibly tough conditions around getting into university in the first place. Not everybody could go. It was academically rigorous and it was kept to the very highest marks generated by young people around the country. You couldn't just saunter into a BA while you faffed around and decided what you wanted to do. It was really, really tough to get into university. After it became a bums on seats model where you could pay and go if you wanted to, sure, it became more open so people were able to go to university even if they didn't have the very highest marks. Great. So that was a change in policy. But I do wish they'd keep, or at least remind people, that sure, loans were introduced replacing the free system, but it also meant that more people could go to university and get a tertiary education if they wanted one and if they were willing to pay for one. But anything that's going to help get back the billions of dollars those freeloaders refuse to pay back is a good thing. But do you know what? I can almost write the script on this one. Bear with me. National is re elected and as part of a coalition government introduces tough measures targeting overseas loan defaulters. Six months down the track, an extremely attractive young person working for a not for profit in London or Melbourne will have a mental health crisis. Their grieving family will point to the student loan debt as the catalyst for the mental health crisis and blame the heartless actions of a brutal centre right regime. A grim faced young reporter on the old man's news at 6:00pm will conclude with dire warnings of more mental health crises if the government doesn't pull back on its vicious crackdown of Aotearoa's best and brightest. That's One News. Can you not write the script? I mean, it won't be an unattractive person that they'll profile. There may well be mental health crises as people realise actually they're going to have to face their debt mountain. They're going to have to enter into negotiations with IRD. They're going to have to start paying it back. It is, it's tough. It will be tough. But anybody unattractive won't be profiled. It'll be somebody gorgeous who works for Greenpeace or Save the Panda or something. Something lovely. I can absolutely write the script. And I know how tough it is when you get behind on bills and payments, especially when you're young. I remember it well. It's a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, a sense of hopelessness, I'll never be able to get on top of this, so why do I even try? But I also know that the only way you can overcome that mountain of debt is by tackling it head on and digging away at it one automatic payment at a time. Burying your head in the sand and hoping it goes away is not a strategy, certainly not for the best and the brightest, you'd think they'd know better. We have been trying for decades now to get these bludgers to pay back their loans. We've appealed to their better natures, to their patriotism. It is time now to get tough and finally we have a government that's committed to doing so. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A New Zealand Herald article a couple of weeks ago revealed 87 properties across South Auckland have either been purchased, are being purchased, or are earmarked for acquisition to make way for the Mill Road corridor. The properties collectively represent around $2 billion worth of taxpayer funded land acquisition. It was now revealed that NZTA has sent a number of householders within the affected area an email saying, "With no confirmed construction timing nor funding for Mill Road, we advise that NZTA will not be purchasing your property at Redoubt Road at the present time and will be formally withdrawing from negotiations. We appreciate the time you've taken negotiating with us in good faith and understand that this may not be the news that you were hoping for." Lawyer Adina Thorn is acting for people who have been waiting in limbo for their lands and homes to be acquired, and she joined Kerre Woodham to discuss.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Families are desperately waiting to hear from loved ones thought to be caught in the deadly flash flood and mudslide along the Nepal-Tibet border. Almost 400 people were killed in yesterday's torrent - caused by a glacial collapse and landslide, and hundreds remain missing including five New Zealanders. Dr Tom Robinson of the school of earth and environment at University of Canterbury joined Kerre Woodham to discuss how these events occur and the likelihood of one taking place in New Zealand.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour has jumped on the no new taxes bandwagon, promising that if they're elected, there'll be no increase on the fuel excise duty for their first term. I don't know why Labour and National don't just join forces and be done with it and leave the left hand side to the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and the Opportunity Party. The fuel excise duty is due to rise by 12 cents a litre from January, followed by a 6 cents per litre rise in 2028 4 cents per litre in subsequent years. The thing with taxes and excise duties, tariffs, whatever you want to call them, they provide an income. Without money coming in, as Transporting New Zealand pointed out, there'll be no money for new roads, for roading repair and maintenance, and any money saved from not having to pay more for petrol will show up in the cost of living through the increased price of goods because it's going to take longer for trucks to get places. The government's position is that it is unlikely the fuel excise duty will be increased in January, although there'll be discussion around the cabinet table and a decision will be announced soon. National's view is that the increase should be delayed. But the fuel excise duty is set at a flat rate per litre, currently around 70 cents, and that has meant that as inflation and the cost of petrol rises or falls, the excise duty stays the same, and in real terms it means the fuel excise duty has fallen by 21% since the last increase in 2020 while at the same time the cost of repairing and maintaining and building new roads has risen. Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning that they don't want to raise the fuel tax at all, but they accept down the line they just might have to. We can't forever put it off. The current circumstances are not only the heightened oil price, but also we are still recovering from that heightened inflation that the oil price has come on, and we recognise that things are still very challenging for people. Ultimately, where we want to get to is that we've got growing economy, low inflation, and actually we can lift the petrol tax in small, modest, regular increments so that we know there is funding going in to maintain your local roads. Because the issue is, if you're not putting more money into roads, you get potholes everywhere, you get bridges that get washed away in major cyclones that can't be rebuilt, you get road closures that can't be fixed up. These are problems that occur for everyone. And so that's what we're conscious of. I think, you know, Chris Hipkins' policy yesterday, it's really just a fig leaf because we're putting him under heat on his tax plan. Like it or not, we need to pay taxes if we expect to keep services running and to build stuff. If we haven't got money coming in, then there isn't the money to spend on the services. And what it's kind of a trust, a pledge of faith between ourselves and the government. Yes, we will pay taxes, you will spend them wisely on the services that we as a community need. And I think we've been let down by successive governments in terms of how they've spent the money. They've spent it thoughtlessly, they've spent it carelessly, they've spent it on vanity projects, pet projects, all the things they accuse councils of doing, governments have done themselves. The last lot were just wanton in their irresponsible, irrational spending. Even taking into account the spending, the necessary spending that needed to be done during COVID, so much of it was wasted, and that's not coming from me, that is coming from my old boyfriend who was the Auditor General, whose comments I just loved, whose reports I just loved because he was able to get the information.  He's not my boyfriend, that was in my mind. I just loved his reports, I loved the way he wrote and the way he pulled no punches. So you have an accord between the taxpayer and the government. We will pay taxes, you will spend it sensibly and wisely, and we have been let down, so I think we're a bit anti tax because of that. But we do need to contribute either through taxes, through duties, through tariffs, through GST, whatever you want to call it, we need to contribute to keep the country going. And a fuel tax seems to be one of the fairest. You can also see where it's going. A tax by consumption has always been the fairest way to tax. It's a bit like GST. The more you spend, the more GST you pay, and that seems about right. If you've got the money to spend, then we can take the GST off you. The more fuel I buy, the more road I'll be using, the more tax I will then pay to maintain the roads I'm using, and that seems fair. If you're somebody who does not drive, yes, you might have to pay a little bit more if the fuel tax goes up because the price of goods will go up, because perhaps the buses will go up, public transport, but only a little bit, and you won't have to pay as much as I do if I'm using petrol to get from point A to point B. Of all the taxes, if the fuel tax is ring fenced, this is one I don't mind paying, and accordingly, I don't mind seeing it keep pace with inflation. I think they're doing the wrong thing by saying no raise in the fuel tax. They'll have to get the money from somewhere, and I'd far rather see the transparency that comes from having a ring fenced tax that's paid by road users and is spent on road users.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What will it take for public servants to be held accountable for their most egregious mistakes? Not even talking the little faffy silly ones. We're talking really, really big mistakes. Never was a group of people more misnamed than public servants. The current generation are not servants of the public, for the most part – many of them appear to have absolute contempt for the public they are supposed to serve.   The latest and perhaps the most salutary is the MBIE boss Nick Blakeley. The Privileges Committee has found that Blakeley and former Immigration New Zealand head Alison McDonald deliberately misled, what you and I might call lying, deliberately misled Parliament. And the Privileges Committee said their conduct was an insult to the public service. That is damning. The reason why, in a select committee hearing back in March, Blakeley and McDonald were asked about the progress of an expensive biometric upgrade program, and they failed to disclose that the project had already been cancelled. When the truth was revealed that the people responsible for the failed program had just kept going, just kept taking taxpayers' dollars knowing that the money was going to be wasted, when asked direct questions about it, they lied.   Immigration Minister Erica Stanford was quite rightly apoplectic. Blakeley has offered his resignation to Public Service Commissioner Brian Roche, who rejected it on the basis that Blakeley had only been in the role six weeks. Yeah, but he lied, and so did Alison McDonald. And despite Blakeley uttering weasel words on Heather du Plessis Allan's show last night, explaining just how the lie came about, he should have been sacked.  NB: The committee found that the incomplete information that we provided amounted to a contempt of Parliament, to deliberately misleading Parliament. That's extremely serious and I'm deeply disappointed that the ministry and myself have fallen well short of expectations. At the time, there were budget and commercial sensitivities that we understood couldn't be discussed in a public forum. We got that wrong, we should have taken a different approach. That's what I said to the Privileges Committee when I gave them evidence.  HDPA: So you went to Brian Roche, and you said that you're prepared to quit, and he said don't?  NB: I offered my resignation. He came to his judgment. He pointed out one of the factors.  HDPA: What was his judgment, Nick? Did he say don't quit?  NB: One of the factors that he took into account was that I hadn't long been in the role. That was also noted in the Privileges Committee.  HDPA: Who cares? You're the one sitting there fibbing. That's the most important thing. Nick, did he say to you don't quit?  NB: He said he thought that would be the wrong response and that he will be holding me account for how I respond and that is what I'm focused on doing now.  HDPA: Yeah, well, that's disappointing. I think you should have quit because how are we going to know next time that you're telling the truth or just giving us a Nick special?  NB: Look, I have accepted the finding, I've apologised, I'm fronting up and I'm going to be fixing it. We're going to be much better prepared in future for select committees.  God, I love my colleague. While I do believe that nothing short of a public flogging in the town square will begin to drive the message home to public servants that they need to be more accountable, more responsible, more careful in how they spend our money, more like the private sector and taking ownership for snafus, until the public floggings begin, a good grilling from Heather du Plessis Allan will do as a good down payment. No wonder she's the broadcaster of the year, second year running. A "Nick Special" may well enter the lexicon as a euphemism for a lie.   We think 'Gliding On' and 'Yes Minister' are clever, funny comedies from yesteryear, but public service incompetence, public service lies, public service cover ups, public service treating ministers like children, it's alive and well. And when it involves the wasting of so much taxpayer money, when it involves complete and utter contempt of Parliament, nothing my Minister needs to worry her pretty little head about, I'll deal with this, throwing good money after bad so your own incompetence is not exposed, when you're asked directly about it, you lie, when it involves bringing the good hard working members of the public service into disrepute, there is nothing bloody funny about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has decided it will cap annual council rate increases at 4%. We've been talking about it for more than a year now, but the cap will take effect in 2029 – councils will need to consider the cap from next year. Local Government Minister Simon Watts told Mike Hosking the reason for it was to ease pressure on households, and although the national average will be savings of just $34 a week, Simon Watts said for many ratepayers the cap will be meaningful.  "The key of $34 is across the country, but if you're living in Waitaki, down the bottom of the South with a 17% increase, that's a $600 increase on an average bill of three and a half grand, and you know, that's not immaterial by any stretch. And also then you've got to think about the compounding as well. You know, as these bills increase, three numbers: 14.2% increase last year, 9.2% average increase in rates this year, under us it's going to be 4% going forward. That's going to be the limit, and if you think about the compounding effect of that over years, that's some pretty big savings over a 5 to 10 year period for a household."  As I say, we've been talking about a rates cap ever since National got into office – I still don't think it's a good idea. If a council doesn't know how to budget properly, a rates cap, having less money coming into the coffers, is not going to suddenly make them sound husbands of the ratepayer dollar overnight. They're not going to be able to balance their books all of a sudden just because they have less money coming in. And yes, I'm sure we can all think of barking mad vanity projects that our rates money's been spent on, and that incenses us but the Australian experience shows us that a rates cap will see reduced services, delayed infrastructure repairs, and outdated facilities. Duh, of course it will. There's been a rates cap in some Australian states for around 40 years, and work just gets deferred and deferred and deferred or not done at all.   And if the political aim of a rates cap for local government is to ease the financial pressure on households, impose fiscal discipline, and get back to the basics of what councils should be doing, why don't we have a tax cap right back at you, central government? How about you lead by example? I'd really love to see the central government impose fiscal discipline and get back to the basics rather than the nice to haves and the glory vanity projects.   Are you for or against a rate cap? In some ways it'd be lovely to see a tiered approach to rates given that we've got away from the sense of community where we give a bit so that others might gain. You could have economy, premium economy, and business rates. Economy, you get the absolute bare minimum, but it means you don't get access to swimming pools, libraries, art galleries, and we'll fence off the playgrounds and the beaches, and you'll have to pay to get in. It's not a serious suggestion, but something will have to give.   As Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said last year, putting a cap on rates is not going to solve anything. It will just defer it for a couple of years, then in the end, when it has to be done, ratepayers will be paying even more. He says councils are faced with making decisions that involve significant investment and should not be restricted by governments telling us what we can and cannot do. So are you Team Simon Watts or Team Wayne Brown? Are you for the rates cap or are you saying this is just going to be deferred expense and a bleaker, less enjoyable community in which to live? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dolly Parton's legacy is being remembered as one that will last lifetimes.  The beloved country music star has died aged 80.   She'll be remembered for songs like 'Nine to Five', 'I Will Always Love You', and 'Jolene' – just some of her 25 number one hits.  Kiwi politician and country singer Suzanne Prentice opened for Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers when they visited New Zealand in the late 1980s, and remembers how kind and down to earth Parton was.  She told Kerre Woodham the star seemed to look after everyone who came into her realm.   "She was truly a star of our time, so I don't think in our lifetime, we'll ever see anything like Dolly Parton again."  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stars are paying homage to the late Dolly Parton, who's died aged 80.   Her team has revealed to CNN that the singer songwriter died after a brief battle with cancer.   Tributes from those close to the singer like Billy Ray Cyrus, Sabrina Carpenter, and Kaycee Musgraves have swamped the internet.   Kiwi Country singer-songwriter Tami Neilson told Kerre Woodham Parton was her Northern Star.   She says there would not be a Tami Neilson if there wasn't a Dolly Parton, and that would be the case for many country artists.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National, as you will have heard, is pushing ahead with its social media regulation bill, but it's going to have to do the heavy lifting itself. Neither New Zealand First nor ACT, its coalition partners, are supporting a ban on social media use for under-16s. Labour may yet come to the rescue of the bill, but by crikey, Erica Stanford's going to have to jump through hoops to get them to come onboard. They will want their pound of flesh before they agree to support the bill.   The Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, said they are determined to progress the bill because the Government could not accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children. One in three children aged between 13 and 17 are now spending at least five hours on social media a day, according to the government fact sheet. Social media is exposing them to harmful content, addictive technology, and pressures they are simply not equipped to deal with, and it's affecting their family life, their mental health, their sleep, and their education.   The PM said obviously parents have a role to play in monitoring what social media platforms their children are on, but that's if the parents know they're on the social media platforms. There's a piece from Chris Schulz in the Spinoff saying he didn't realise his teenage son was on Instagram until it was far, far too late. They know now, and their 12 year old is well and truly locked down social media wise. But for many parents, they simply don't know. The kids can do workarounds. The Prime Minister says we have protections to keep children safe in the real world, but we need them in the virtual world too. Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking this morning that they don't expect every child to be protected from the harms of social media simply because an Act of Parliament is passed, but it will send a strong message.  "We knew that this was really important. We know that, you know, it's been done overseas, but it's been really hard for them to get traction overseas, and we wanted to be fast followers. If we'd done something immediately and not learned from Australia and the mistakes that they made, we'd be in a very different position. But I'm a lot more confident now that we've taken the time, we've taken on, you know, on board this work and been that fast follower. Now we've got all this evidence from the UK and the EU and Australia, you know, we're able to be in a position with a much stronger piece of legislation. And remember, it's the very first time in our country's history we have a dedicated online safety bill for children."  And really, it can't come too soon for some kids. Once you know something, once you see something, once you read something, you can't unsee it. You can't unknow it. There are some horrific images that our children, and they are still children, are exposed to. In the olden days, this is pre computers, pre digital era, there were still things you could find, but you had to really work hard to find them. You had to work really hard to find pornography and hardcore pornography. You had to work really hard to find graphic video images. If people wanted to insult you, bully you, be cruel to you, they would, but they had to see the whites of your eyes. They had to see the effect it was having on you. These days with technology, it's in your kid's bed with them. This cruelty, this vileness, these pornographic acts are all in bed with your 13 year old.   The legislation is going to require high risk social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook to take reasonable steps to check users are over 16, and that will involve several methods, including using existing account information, facial age estimation, digital ID services, and formal ID. And to those parents like the one who sent a text to Mike: "I am a parent. I am currently responsibly using time and app limits in ways that make sense for my family. Your policy will forbid parents from making these choices. This does not back me or parents like me, rather the opposite." To that parent, I say cool your jets. Do the police come knocking on your door if you let your 13 year old watch an R16 movie? No, they do not. You can make the rules for your household and your kids.   But interestingly, also in the fact sheet, a survey of young New Zealanders found half of those surveyed, half of the teenagers surveyed, felt they had been given access to social media too young. That's that whole point of you cannot unsee and unknow what you've seen and been exposed to. 39% said they wished social media had never been invented. This is just as Erica Stanford says, it's sending a strong message to the tech companies that you are responsible. It's helping create a norm that social media is not for under 16s, that children grow up knowing they cannot have access to it legally until they're 16 and it's backing parents who want to keep their kids off social media for as long as they possibly can. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yep, it was all about taxes over the weekend. Labour pinned its colours to the mast over the weekend and wants to tax more to spend more. Taxman from the Beatles was written by George Harrison in 1966 when Harold Wilson came to power in Britain. He imposed a super tax of 95% on the extremely wealthy, of which the Beatles were on paper, but their accountants warned them they were about to become bankrupt. 95% tax. Labour does not want that in 2026 in New Zealand, but they do want to tax more to spend more. As Henry Cooke wrote in the Post, Labour is a social democratic party. It wants the state to be a large part of the economy and it wants the state to worry more about employment. They are comfortable with core crown spending and revenue aligning at about 33% of the economy. National wants 30% And you might think, oh, 30 33 what's the diff? Well, the difference between these two targets is not there or thereabouts when you consider every 1% of GDP is worth around $4.35 billion. So it'll mean two very different ways of managing the country and running the economy depending on who's in charge. Barbara Edmonds over the weekend and Chris Hipkins were speaking to their tax policy and it's good to finally see it because people now know they have a clear choice. We also heard on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning the Labour leader outlining exactly how the CGT will work to fund the many promises Labour has made. Once the capital gains tax is fully implemented, we're expecting government spending as a percentage of GDP to settle at around 33% of GDP. So that is it is higher than what the National Party are estimating. We're not putting a particular we're not setting a deadline for it or anything, but it is a it is an indication that we don't expect to go higher than that. The 1.35 billion on the CGT based on what? This is still the Treasury 4% number? No, it's based on a 3% when we when we set out the CGT we set it out at 3% so we were deliberately conservative on that. And it's 3% over time, so obviously with the capital gains tax the revenue in the early years is lower than the revenue you get as the longer the capital gains tax is in place. That was Chris Hipkins talking the CGT on the Mike Hosking Breakfast. Labour's also promising a return to surplus in the 29 30 financial year while pledging to restore the Reserve Bank's dual mandate so employment levels are considered in monetary policy decisions, which is all very well and good, but didn't help us back when they did have the dual mandate, did it? Over the weekend National too made their party's position very clear: no new taxes. So no bed tax, which we were discussing last week to help fund regional tourism. No bank tax, despite Nicola Willis announcing a levy on banks in Budget 26 which she said would gather about 200 million over the few years. Over the weekend she said she was concerned and the reason she'd pulled back from announcing that levy tax that any new taxes would simply be passed on to Kiwis. If she taxed the banks they'd pass it on to consumers and she didn't want that. It's becoming a clearer and clearer choice. Labour wants to tax more to spend more. You have to tax more. Where else are you going to get the money from? And if you tax more you have to hope that they will deliver more because it's all very well and good taking the money, but then it has to be spent wisely and judiciously. National says we can't afford to do much. If we wanted to do more we'd have to tax you more and we don't want to do that. So it means that some of the nice to haves won't be funded. So do you go with more tax, more spending on the part of the government so they will do the spending for you? Do you want less tax and less money for the nice to haves? Or a pox on both their houses as we've seen in a number of political polls and a vote for the Opportunity Party? Because that's an option too. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Privacy issues are still points of contention as Police take the next step towards putting body cameras on officers.   Police have begun researching potential cameras but are yet to secure funding or Cabinet approval.   The Privacy Commissioner says it could have a chilling effect on people's civil rights, but they could still be safely implemented.   Police Association President Steve Watt told Kerre Woodham New Zealand, for want of a better term, is already a surveilled state.   He says almost every supermarket and street already has CCTV, so he struggles somewhat with the privacy issues.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I cannot understand it. We have had eight years of discussion, debate, market research, investigation, draft reviews, proposed market trials, and still our police don't have bodycams. Our Corrections Officers have bodycams, they've had them since 2015. The security guard at your local mall has a bodycam. Every hoer with a mobile phone has a recording camera, and still our police officers don't have bodycams.   Most police forces around the world have them, apart from municipal and national police organisations across developing regions in parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and New Zealand. They don't have body worn cameras due to budgetary constraints and infrastructure limitations, and apparently, we're with them. We're with parts of Africa and Latin America, budgetary constraints and infrastructure limitations. According to the stories I've read on this, a bodycam, along with the storage that you'd need and the technological backup, varies from $1,500 to $3,000. We have 10,000 sworn police officers who would need them, give or take the odd constable. That is not, I mean, I think Tauranga City Council paid more for their coffee machine, didn't they? I might be incorrect, but it doesn't seem like a huge constraint or hurdle for the police to clear.   Despite Commissioner Richard Chambers tasking officials with exploring options for equipping frontline officers with body cameras as a priority last year after six years of exploration, reviews, trials, discussions. Fast forward to this year, a year later, having been told to see it as a priority, we're no further ahead. No decisions have been made, and Police could give no confirmation of timeframes. What on earth is the hold up?   We're not inventing the wheel here. As I say our security guards have them, Corrections have had them for more than 10 years. There appears to be a willingness on the part of the Police hierarchy and on the part of the Police Association to have them. There appears to be a willingness from politicians across the political spectrum to equip our police with bodycams. The Police Association says its members are fully in support of body worn cameras because of the benefits they produce for their members and for the public.   A study on the benefits following the introduction of body cameras saw complaints against police officers drop by 16% in one overseas jurisdiction. NZPA President Steve Watt says essentially, they're a de-escalation tool and that's how Corrections have seen them and seen the results as well, a de-escalation. The cameras improve safety for police and the public, were an evidence gathering tool, and helped with training and provided greater transparency. What on earth is the hold up? Bring them on. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The report into this devastating landslide at Mount Maunganui is so desperately sad, because it was all so preventable. Six people died when the landslide from Mauao hit the council-owned campground at the foot of the mountain on January 22nd after record rainfalls, including one heroic woman who knew something was wrong. She and her husband were staying at the campground in a campervan, were woken at 4:30 when a landslide hit the back of their campervan, a minor landslip. She knew something was wrong. From that point, she and her husband partner tried to call someone, anyone, someone who was in charge who could make the call to say, "No, it's fine, it's safe," or "No, get out."   So acting on their instincts, acting on what they could see, what they could sense, picking up on the warning signs from the mountain itself, they tried desperately to get someone to make the call, and when they couldn't, they raised the alarm themselves. They cut short their stay and thought, "Just before we get in the campervan and go, we'll have a shower." Her partner went first, Lisa went second, and that was when the landslip hit. She knew.  The damning review prepared for the council by retired High Court Judge Paul Davison found report after report over the decades had either been commissioned or submitted to the Tauranga City Council, outlining the landslide risks and rockfall hazards to the campground over many years, but no action was ever taken. No one said, "Hey, maybe if we've had a number of reports saying you shouldn't have a campground here, we'll move it. Move it somewhere else and give a good clearance area around the mountain." No. It was, Davison said, systemic failure with tragic consequences. Something as simple and basic as the trigger action response plan recommended by experts over the years would have helped the council and campground staff identify risks such as muddy water or sudden waterfalls appearing, forecast heavy rain. That would have been triggers for evacuating campers, but nobody knew. That information wasn't passed on. Never happened.  And the review found no one person is responsible. Heather had the Chief Executive of the Tauranga City Council, Marty Grenfell, on Drive last night and asked him who was responsible.  "Mr. Davison made it very clear that no one individual, no single person is accountable or responsible for this. He's described the failings as systemic across the organisation dating back to 1999 when the first Dutch report was received."  Heather asked Marty Grenfell, as leader of that organisation, whether he would resign. He said no. He believes he's the best person to lead the organisation into and to fixing the systemic failures. Paul Davison KC, his final thoughts were that the review had been so sobering in its simplicity. There was nothing complex about what went wrong. It wasn't a hazard that was unknown, hidden, or beyond the reach of foresight, he said. For more than two decades, one competent consultant after another identified the landslide hazard to the campground. He said the landslide hazard was located on the very slope that failed.   Davison said there was a previous warning that a holiday accommodation beneath the mount slopes was imprudent and the risk to sleeping occupants was high. He said this warning was repeated over many years. He said what was missing was not knowledge, but an organisation able to hold, assess, and act on that knowledge. When a loss of life occurs on the scale and when it is accepted that there has been systemic failure on the part of a body or organisation that led to the deaths, it has been the convention that the leader fall on their sword. Nobody is saying Marty Grenfell is personally responsible for what happened, but he led an organisation that was. He is responsible for the organisation that has failed so many families and as such, he should go. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every bailiff in the country is going to be out in force today, scanning the number plates of parked cars to identify those amongst us who have overdue court fines and reparation. You can run but you cannot hide. And if you can't pay your fines or make arrangements to pay them, your car may well be clamped or towed away to be sold to recoup the parking fines you haven't paid. In July of last year, bailiffs began trialling handheld devices to scan number plates of parked cars and those stopped at some breath testing stations. So far, and this is just since July of last year, the new technology has returned a total of $4,241,867 —no word on the cents— in fines and reparations as of a few days ago. Paul Goldsmith says the message to those who owe money is simple: pay your court fines or you may be walking home. He was on with Mike Hosking this morning and said the swarming of the country with bailiffs is not just about revenue gathering, it's also about raising awareness of court fines.  “I also heard them saying, “Is this a PR exercise?" Well, yeah, it is an element of PR. We want to actually get the message out that you've got to pay your fines. And so it's pretty sort of simple so that we can spend that money, and it's a good $4 million we can spend that on helping victims out from suffering from the consequences of all this." Well, quite. Any dollar counts given the parlous state of the country, and getting $4,241,867 back as of just a few days ago is a very good start. So far, bailiffs have scanned well over a quarter of a million number plates and identified 7,148 people with overdue court fines or reparation. Of those, 1,320 people paid on the spot, a further 561 organised a payment arrangement, 404 people had their vehicle seized, 683 had their vehicle clamped. So they're getting on with it. They're not mucking around.   But while I'm all for people paying what they owe, and I had to come to an arrangement when I was a mad thing many years ago —before I became the sensible voice of reason on the wireless— with the courts to pay off my parking fines, and they were substantial by the time you put the penalties in there, and it took about a year to pay off. But I did pay them off. I'm all for people paying what they owe, but I do hope there'll be some willingness from the courts to work with those who have allowed fines to back up. If you have a bit of disposable income, fines are annoying. They're like, “Ugh, oh well, better pay it." You pay it, you resolve to be more careful next time. But if you are on the bones of your bum, if the couple of days before payday are tight, there is no extra money to go around – a fine can be absolutely disastrous if it comes with another unexpected expense.   I don't think people who are comfortable have any idea what financial anxiety is like, that gnawing in your stomach, that sick feeling of thinking, “I don't know how I'm going to pay this." And if you get a parking fine or if you haven't got your rego done because you're waiting till next month to get the rego done but then you're sprung, yeah, you know that you owe it, you know that you have to pay, but there's something that needs that money more urgently. It's not all cigarettes and Sky television, it's not all drugs and alcohol. For a lot of either working families or families on benefits trying to get by, they are doing the best with what they have. And I just hope the courts show a little bit of leniency if you enter into a payback arrangement, otherwise, it's just a spiral further and further downwards, which doesn't help anybody.   And if you need your car for work because you're barely getting by and your car's seized or clamped, you lose your job. Again, it's that debt spiral further and further and further down. Yes, pay what you owe. I've done it when it's been really difficult to do, and I've done it when it's been relatively easy to do. Maybe be proactive. If you've got that technology and you know that somebody owes a fine, get onto it before and get them onto an arrangement before it becomes so big it becomes a debt mountain they simply cannot scale. They'll never see the top of it, they'll never see the back of it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says her party will fight tooth and nail for its tax plan as Labour rules out new taxes beyond its capital gains tax.  Labour is vowing not to support tax changes proposed by potential coalition partners Te Pāti Māori, the Greens, and Opportunity.  Swarbrick told Kerre Woodham she wants collaboration because she says it's clear there does need to be tax reform.  She says people are sick of political tit-for-tat, and her party doesn’t agree with tinkering around the edges.  But Labour leader Chris Hipkins isn’t budging, telling Woodham there needs to be a public mandate for major changes.  He says parties are free to advocate for things they were elected on, but if there's no public support for that then the status quo prevails.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gisborne's Mayor says the council's trying its best when it comes to the issues facing the region's forestry sector.  The Government's appointed a facilitator to determine whether further intervention may be needed after being made aware of concerns about the approach the Gisborne District Council is taking to land use change.  Mayor Rehette Stoltz told Kerre Woodham Mornings says they were told to step up consent conditions after Cyclone Gabrielle.  She says in 2023 they were told they weren't doing enough, now it feels like they're being told they're doing too much.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I can imagine 50 years from now, the morning host on ZB 9am to Noon will be nearing retirement and they'll have talked about everything, as I have done over my time here. So, they'll be opening their show on the 18th of August 2076, and they'll say, “Harbour crossing, tunnel or bridge? Meola Reef crossing or a bridge alongside the existing one? 0800 80 10 80.” And 50 years from now, the discussion will begin again and again and again.   Can you imagine we'll have a second harbour crossing in 50 years? Which is the more likely scenario – the ZB morning host 50 years from now opening it up for discussion, bridge or tunnel, Meola Reef or alongside the existing one, or that you'll be driving over or through the tunnel-crossing, listening to the morning host on Newstalk ZB in 2076? Because it will have been built and there you will be in your driverless car, sipping your morning coffee, listening to the wireless on your car radio while you're going over the harbour crossing.   It seems like one of those where you just end up going round and round and round in circles, which would be fine if it wasn't costing us so much money. How many reports have there been into another crossing? There was one in 1996 —last century— Transit New Zealand's scoping study identifying the initial bridge and tunnel options. Oh, and then things stepped up again, in 1997 the Auckland Regional Council reviewed dozens of alignment variants. Bit of a lull, then between 2006 and 2009 there were more studies, alignment and corridor protection studies recommending twin tunnels – I remember that, remember the discussions around that 20 years ago. 2010 to 2011, new transport and economic evaluation that looked into add-ons like the Skypath. 2023, the Waitematā Harbour Connections detailed business case presented five shortlisted bridge and tunnel options. 2024 to ‘26, further geotechnical seabed testing and market sounding investment cases by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport.   And then this month, another reset ordering an independent Crown-led detailed business case alongside a separate $1 million study for a Meola Reef alignment, which is basically a sop to Wayne Brown's ego and will only happen if Auckland Council's willing to pay half a million towards it. You cannot imagine how thrilled I am to be an Auckland ratepayer contributing towards Wayne Brown's ego and a taxpayer paying towards a $1 million ego study. Chris Bishop says the latest independent Crown led detailed business case is necessary.  “The difference here would be that in the past we've made decisions based on desktop studies, right? So a bunch of people have sat around and looked at a map and gone, “Oh, that'd be quite good," and drawn a line and gone, Let's do that." This time we've actually had a barge in the harbour, we've got the route alignment for a new bridge, we've got the route alignment for the tunnel. There's a lot more work's been done and I appreciate people listening will say, “Oh yeah, yeah, well he would say that," but this, you know, is genuinely true. We're a lot further advanced, we've got a really detailed investment case for both a bridge and a tunnel.   “The question is always, and has always been with this project, and this is the reason why the ‘08 and 2014 and 2015 and 2016 versions fell over, no one's yet worked out a proper way to pay for it because it's, you know, like it potentially, you know, could bankrupt the transport system or even, you know, the country's fiscal position unless we get it right. So that's the work we're doing right now, and I don't want people to underappreciate the scale of the cost. It's huge.”  I don't think we underestimate that, but I also know that given the amount of time we've wasted and the money we've wasted on coming up with options and then re-presenting the same options, would have been a good down payment to a lovely firm of Chinese tunnel builders who could have come in, whapped the thing up and pushed off again. We'd be driving over it.   The only thing that makes me feel marginally better about this decades long time and money wasting exercise is that the first harbour bridge was beset by the same issues. I know we probably think, as I did until I looked into it, God, must have been 20 odd years ago, that our pragmatic, phlegmatic forebears just rolled up their shirt sleeves and threw up the Auckland Harbour Bridge and bloody be done with it because we needed it, but in fact no. It faced intense public, political and technical opposition for decades. North Shore residents and farmers had been agitating for a crossing since the 1860s. So nearly 100 years later the thing was shoved up after much debate.   So maybe, maybe, maybe we aren't completely and utterly as hopeless this generation as I think we are. These are the same kind of debates, discussions, you would think we would learn from history, wouldn't you? But no. And if ever there was a piece of infrastructure that needed to be looked at by independent consultants, the Infrastructure Commission has a look at it, it cannot be touched politically, we decide on the best option, we toll the thing and be done with it. But it just does not seem to be that simple. It wasn't that simple in 1860 and it's not that simple in 2026. I hope things will have improved by 2076. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite headlines about a "gel nail ban", gel manicures are not being banned in the UK. The new rules target a specific ingredient called TPO (trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide), which is used in many gel polishes to help them harden under UV or LED lamps. Regulators are phasing out polishes containing TPO over concerns it may damage fertility. So are we being exposed to TPO here in New Zealand? NZ Association of Registered Beauty Professionals President and owner of Allure Nail Studio in Tauranga Emma Frazer joined Kerre Woodham to discuss.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ACT's vowing to share the tourism revenue already collected with councils, based on the number of bed nights.  It wants to see one dollar given to councils for each guest night in their area, funded through GST and levies already paid by visitors.  Leader David Seymour says it could be implemented at the next Budget, rather than needing legislation.   He told Kerre Woodham the Government is not short of taxes and does not need a new one – it needs to use the money it has better.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a reason that people live in cities and towns that others love to visit. Beautiful beachside resorts down south, the gorgeous, gorgeous little villages nestled under incredible mountains and natural beauty, or vibrant hotspots where there's a million things to do and a melting pot of cultures and all the places of great historical relevance as well as great beauty. Of course people are going to flock to visit them. But it does cost to provide the amenities that serve the visitors and for small cities and towns, it's a heavy, heavy burden for the ratepayer.   For a long time now, there's been discussion about whether to impose a bed tax on tourists, approximately 2.5% to 3% on short stay lodgings, and that would fund major cultural and sporting events and build the infrastructure in places where the ratepayer simply can't afford to put in the changing rooms, the loos, the motorhome parks, that sort of thing that are required. It would relieve the financial pressure on the ratepayers. Local authorities like Auckland Council face multimillion dollar budget gaps for attracting and subsidising major events that drive regional economic activity.   Now, ACT has proposed a dollar a night from each guest night stay be given to the local council who is hosting that visitor, funded through levies and GST that tourists already pay. So not a new tax, but taking the money and taking a dollar out and giving it to the council. David Seymour estimates this dividend would give councils more than $40 million annually, but the strategic director of Hotel Council Aotearoa, James Doolan, told Mike Hosking that while it's a good start, it's nowhere near enough.  “How do we share the massive amount of tourism tax with the people who actually host the tourists? You've got to do it everywhere nationally with a formula that doesn't change and isn't at risk of being changed by politicians from time to time. And $40 million for the entire country, I mean, Wayne Brown and Hotel Council, we agree that the number for Auckland alone should be about $40 million.   “So there's some, again, good stuff from ACT, they've acknowledged the problem, but already we have $5 billion of GST, we have $230 million collected at the border, $230 million at IVL, and we need ACT to tell us whether that money is also going to deal with visitor pressure, which is what it was originally designed to do.”  And it was. Remember when the international visitor levy was $35? Half went to conservation and DOC, the other half went into directly into infrastructure. Then the Coalition Government came in and changed it to $100, and now it's being used to pay for all sorts of things loosely associated with tourism. James Doolan didn't believe it should be spent on upgrading the cycle trails, given that it's mostly Kiwis that use them, but I don't know. I mean, regional tourism is still tourism, isn't it? At least it's not going on something like defence. It's not being taken out of one budget portfolio and going into another portfolio entirely.   But if you live in a tourist town, a place that tourists flock to because it's beautiful, because it gives them an experience that they otherwise would not have, like Rotorua. Loved my time in Rotorua over Christmas, loved going back and seeing the city recovering and damn near fully recovered. Beautiful things to do there. But what do you need to spend the money on? I look at places like Whangamatā or Wānaka, and they're little, and for most of the time they chug along really nicely as a beautiful little community in a beautiful part of the world, and then woof, in comes the tourism, in comes the visitor influx. And it's not year-round, it's seasonal. How on earth do you deal with that with the huge fluctuations? If it was relatively steady, it would be so much easier to deal with.   But when you're living in places, Ōhakune is another example, how do you deal with a massive influx of tourists all at once? Because what you need to sustain the tourists during that time is not what you're going to need for the rest of the year. And what sort of money do you need to look after the tourists properly, so it doesn't fall on the ratepayers’ shoulders? What sort of money are you talking about in the regions? What would you spend it on? Say all of a sudden, the international visitor levy gives you a windfall for your particular town, your particular region, what would you spend the money on to either attract tourists or to look after the ones who are already dedicated to coming and visiting your town? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So that's it then, at least until the next time. Christopher Luxon and his camp stared down the would-be challengers to his leadership, and he lives to fight another election. What happens after that is anybody's guess – win or lose. Chris Penk, the stalking horse, paid the price for calling a confidence motion, stripped of his ministerial portfolios, kicked down to the bottom of the backbenches to sit in purgatory, and he's announced he'll retire from politics at the election. There are all sorts of reckons about who he was acting for, who was really behind the coup, why it failed, and no doubt that will keep the political journos and the Wellington cabal in a lather for the next few weeks to come.  But the end result is, despite all the fevered speculation, another challenge to the Prime Minister's leadership was mounted and another challenge was bested. What a sorry, sorry state of affairs. Credit to the Prime Minister for having the cojones to stare down the perfidious ne'er do wells within his own caucus. He doesn't have to do the job, he doesn't need to do the job, yet he was determined to stick it out and finish the job in his own time and in his own way. Credit too to him for keeping excellent ministers where they are doing good work, when surely a dark deep recess of his heart must wish there was still the ability to hang, draw, and quarter traitors. Would have taken a big deep breath and then move on. The ministers are doing good work for New Zealanders while undermining their boss and their party, and to be able to set aside an entirely understandable desire for vengeance shows real maturity and leadership.  But where does it leave erstwhile National voters? Quite clearly the caucus is full of liars and traitors and grasping opportunists, no different I suppose to most other political parties, but it doesn't make me feel great voting for them. I know I should accept that this is politics, but why? You wouldn't put up with that in friendships, you wouldn't put up with that in your own workplace. Why do you have to accept undermining, duplicitous, two faced, pledging loyalty with one hand, hugging with one hand while the other hand holds the knife? I find it despicable. Is loyalty an old-fashioned virtue? I wouldn't have thought so. Anyway, why should people be able to get away with pledging their loyalty, telling the public, “Oh yes look, we're absolutely behind the leader," only to be found to be actively undermining both the leader and the party? And what sort of thinking are you getting if a significant cabal within National thinks it's a great idea to roll a leader who is leading a party that could form a government 90 days before the election?  It hardly shows the brains trust, does it? To have a group of people going, “Hey, I know, why don't we roll the leader of our party and the Prime Minister 90 days before an election? That'll really get people on side." What a waste of time, what a waste of money and what an absolute bloody gift to Labour. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you know what? While those self-serving destructive quislings in Wellington are doing their very best to lose the election at the caucus meeting this morning, specially called, do you know who's not meeting? 40 mayors and councillors who were supposed to be attending a signing ceremony of a regional deal between the government, the Queenstown Lakes District Council, the Otago Regional Council and the Central Otago District Council. This is good work. This is perhaps not sexy work, but it's sound, sensible work that's going on, that's going to make life better for the ratepayers of these regions. It was all set to be signed at 10:30am, but now it won't because senior ministers can't attend. And why can't they attend? Because a group of traitorous idiots are attempting to roll the Prime Minister again.   That just underlines how arrogant and ignorant these small minded, perfidious group of Nats are. Because they are terrified of losing their accommodation allowances, their travel allowances, their home security allowance, their jacked up Super, terrified of having to find a real job 90 days before an election. They're trying to roll a Prime Minister who at the latest poll was leading a party that was ahead and a party that had every chance of winning an election with a group of centre-right other parties. If there was any last one of us who thought that politicians were there to serve the people, surely this self-serving, self-seeking, self-aggrandising group of Nats has put that idea to the sword.  If National had no chance of getting back in, if the leader of the Nats had committed an egregious crime à la McSkimming, if he'd been accused of something truly vile, then sure, get rid of him, utterly grounds for getting rid of him. But to get rid of him because he's not snazzy enough? Not glib enough? Not vibey enough, hasn't got the feels? Knows too much and wants to share it? They think Chris Bishop is snazzy? What a pack of fools.   I do not know where my vote will go if the cohort of Nats within the party are stupid enough to roll their boss. If they prevail, they're people who simply cannot be trusted, their word is not good. I know men and women who can do million-dollar deals on the shake of a hand and a word. They are good people, they are sound people and they're the ones getting dicked around by these traitorous, duplicitous liars. “We back our leader," said Chris Bishop yesterday while testing the sharpness of his blade. Erica Stanford four days ago told journalists that they were interviewing their typewriters and that she's behind Luxon while the bagman Penk is alleged to have done the numbers. Ugly, ugly, ugly stuff.  If Luxon prevails today, and I really hope he does, Chris Bishop should be relegated straight to the bottom of the list and consigned to history. Christopher Luxon came in and did a jolly good job of uniting a party that was a shambles. It was in absolute disarray. Simon Bridges was dumped, replaced by Todd Muller who retired hurt and then Judith Collins got the hospital pass and then into the 2020 election in which National were decimated. They had to rebuild from the ashes, and Christopher Luxon helped them do that.   He might not have the jazz hands, but he had faith in good ministers, let them get on with their work, held them to account. What do they do with their renewed strength, the Nats? They disembowel themselves and eat their own entrails, which makes for really unpleasant viewing. For the lefty voters, oh, you must be thinking this is better than any Netflix drama right now. Grab the popcorn and watch it all unfold and who can blame you? This is an own goal of seismic proportions. If a small group of destructive Nats are responsible for the collapse of the centre right vote and Labour, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and the Opportunity party gets in, we should make a new crime and charge those snivelling quislings with economic treason. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As debate continues about Luxon's political future following last week's MMP reform comments, there's growing discussion about whether a referendum is needed. In a piece in Newsroom, Otago University political commentator Dr Michael Swanson argues MMP has delivered fairer representation and coalition Governments are doing exactly what proportional representation was designed to do.He joined Kerre Woodham to outline New Zealand's possible options amid the ongoing election season. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, this Orewa development's giving fast-track consenting a very bad name, isn't it? I am absolutely gobsmacked. I am no property developer, but I would have thought you wouldn't apply to put up hundreds and hundreds of houses before you had, if you’ll excuse me, your shit together, quite literally. The decision to greenlight a 1,217 home development on the outskirts of Orewa has attracted heavy criticism from the Auckland mayor, the council, local residents, and just about everybody you speak to. And deservedly so. Vineway Limited plans to build the homes, a commercial area, two neighbourhood parks, some ecological areas to tick the box, and construct a State Highway 1 interchange. All very admirable, but where's the wastewater pipes? And the water pipes full stop. Lovely to have a little ecological area where you can rediscover a sparkling skink, but what about the pipes?  There isn't the capacity from Watercare to deliver water, get rid of the waste for the more than a thousand homes in the commercial space. Watercare has made it abundantly clear that it cannot connect any services to the site before 2033, potentially 2050, so why in heaven's name would you allow a housing development of this size to go ahead? We've been there, we've done that, it doesn't work. Two years ago, Watercare was trucking sewage from new housing developments while infrastructure was being built to cope with the waste. But they said two years ago this wasn't working. It was expensive, it was smelly, it was complex. So they said no, we're not going to approve any new resource consents that require an interim wastewater solution. And they did oppose this Orewa one.  Back at the time they were talking about servicing Cardinal West, a housing development on a former dairy farm. There were 300 homes there, in the first stage they were planning 417 odd. There were 300 homes, and to service those 300 homes Watercare had to make 90 trips a week to remove the sewage. 90 for 300 homes. How many trips would it take to get rid of the waste from 1,217 homes? Can I remind you too, because this is why it's so incomprehensible; if this was a first where you had a housing developer saying, “Hey, I know we haven't got any pipes to connect to the water infrastructure and the wastewater infrastructure, and I know we won't get them till about 2050 but what about we truck water in and take the treated sewage away?" And if that was the first time it had been suggested, you might think, “Well, that sounds half baked, but nonetheless let's give it a go, let's not be negative Nancys, let's just, we need housing." Look at them. It doesn't work. That's why Watercare said no.  And can I remind you of Auckland's Whitford Manor, described by planners as a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when developers build houses in areas where public water pipes have yet to reach. Spelling it out for the property developers out there. Over the years, every plan for a private wastewater system at Whitford Manor collapsed. A deal to pipe waste across a neighbouring golf course fell through, shock me. And a backup plan to dump it in a nearby creek was killed in the High Court by conservationists and iwi, and I don't blame them. It didn't work 150 years ago, we're still dealing with the problems of just using natural waterways to dump our crap into and our arsenic and our poisons from the factories. Look at the creeks around Grey Lynn, they're still recovering.  So what in God's name are we doing in Orewa? Watercare held up Whitford Manor's failure as one of the reasons to object to other housing projects trying to build outside the public network. We've been there. We've seen that it can go wrong. Everybody's opposed to it, apart from the developers, who, you can take your ecological area and your indigenous skink and shove it up your jacksy because until you've got the infrastructure that's necessary, you're creating a recipe for disaster and you won't be clearing it up. You won't be, because like Whitford Manor you'll just go tits up and bankrupt and off you go. And guess who's left cleaning up your waste, your mess? We are, the ratepayers, the taxpayers. No, no, no, no. If this is an example of the fast-track consenting process, it's a big fat fail from me. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A developer says controversy around a housing build near Orewa in north Auckland should prompt a rethink. The 1200 home Delmore development —now fast-track-approved— can't be connected to wastewater infrastructure until at least 2033.  Waste will have to be trucked out. Urban Planning Specialist Hamish Firth told Kerre Woodham it highlights a lack of support for infrastructure providers. He says we need to be getting this infrastructure into areas where housing is likely to go. However, Firth says the land has been zoned for housing since 2016 – so maybe Watercare should have planned for it in future work. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, the 111 call out and the fact that St John is absolutely under the pump and has been for quite some time and they're not expecting it to finish anytime soon. On Saturday, 2,562 calls came into the ambulance through 111 the highest number received ever in a single day. But then that was the third time the daily record had been broken in a week. Just last week, the record number of 111 calls was set, then surpassed, then surpassed, then surpassed again and they're not expecting that to go anytime soon. A mate of mine pretty much saved the life of our mutual friend. She was at her flat, suddenly stricken, like off the couch in agony. Her flatmate called 111, time was ticking by, nothing was happening. So he rang my friend Les in absolute despair and said what the hell do I do, she's in agony. Les whizzed round there and then rang the ambulance service and asked where the ambulance was. And she said I can't tell you that and he said yes you can because you've got GPS, where is the ambulance? She said I can't tell you that. And he pushed her and pushed her until finally she admitted there was no ambulance on the way, they didn't have one. But she didn't want to tell him that, I don't know why.  As soon as he heard that he just hung up, he and the flatmate scooped up Soph, whizzed her to the hospital and she'd had a brain aneurysm. It was touch and go but she has made a full recovery and is back to the beautiful vibrant soul she is, but it really was touch and go. If Les hadn't pushed, they'd have sat there waiting for an ambulance and Soph would have died. There'll be a hell of a lot more stories like that out there after the past two weekends. As I said, it was a record number on Saturday, 2,562 calls, a normal day would see around 1,900 calls. According to Doug Gallagher, who's the St John Director of Ambulance Operations, not all cases need an ambulance. And he's right. After I smashed my arm into a million pieces, the next day, it was an uncomfortable night I grant you, but the next day I was still able to take a taxi from Leigh to a 24 hour medical centre on the North Shore. It wasn't a fun hour and if I'd been in an ambo perhaps I would have had some pain relief which would have been greatly appreciated, but I got it once I got to the 24 hour clinic and once there it was a completely straightforward process of them going ooh, no, I think that needs to be x rayed, oh, I think we'll go to hospital for that one, and off we went. So probably people don't need an ambulance. When something drastic happens, your first thought probably is oh I better ring an ambulance. And I suppose when I hurt my arm, I didn't even think of an ambulance because we were so far away, we were out in the seaside, at a seaside resort. And I didn't think there'd be any point in ringing an ambulance, I'd wait till the morning and get a taxi and go in from there. Possibly you could travel under your own steam. And I just wonder why people instantly think 111.  As Mike said this morning when he was talking to Doug Gallagher, there are a lot of time wasters, but Doug Gallagher said well I wouldn't call them that. Wasting the time's not the term to use. I think people struggle sometimes with not being able to access the right part of the health system. But there are options there, Healthline, online GP portal, people can find those through the Health New Zealand website. I think that's the issue that people struggle to navigate the health system at times. Is that what it is? Why would the first, I mean if you don't have a vehicle and you don't have any money, and there's a few people like that, then an ambulance may well be your only option if you think it's serious. But in the first instance, what do you do? I've called the Healthline before and it's been very helpful. I did think I'd probably need to get my arm set, but I didn't need an ambulance for that. I couldn't drive, but I could take a taxi and I did have the money to take a taxi. Not everybody does. Do you think it's drummed into us to call 111 in an emergency or why is it that so many people see the ambulance as the first response? And you are asked to pay if you can when you take an ambulance, so you might as well hop in a cab or an Uber if you think there's something really wrong and needs checking out. That's a lot of calls in a day.  I would love to know how many of them were absolutely essential where people may well have died if they didn't get that ambulance ride to the hospital. I'd just be interested to know what the advice is. Like Doug is saying navigate the health system, well so okay you ring Healthline and they answer pretty quickly. They might be able to give you advice. Is it just panic when something happens? Like oh my god, what do I do? They're in terrible pain, I don't know how to deal with it, I'm going to ring the ambulance rather than I'm going to ring Healthline and see if this is something I can manage myself. I'd really love to hear your experiences. I mean in my mate's case, Les's case, if he hadn't got Soph to the hospital she wouldn't be here and that's that. How many cases are like that with an ambulance or are people using it because they have no other options? And what is the medical advice? I mean if in doubt ring an ambulance, is that really the advice that St John would give? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the first episode of the 100 Years of ZB Podcast, Mike Hosking takes you through the birth of the iconic 1ZB in 1926.  The episode takes you through the history of the station from 1926 until the beginning of 1987. You'll hear snippets from the iconic names  - like Phil Shone, Aunt Daisy, Selwyn Toogood, Merv Smith and Marina (Jocelyn Parr).  Mike Hosking will also take you back in time to the famous moments from the 1ZB Theatre in Auckland - and the radio dramas that made the station an unmissable listen.  You'll also hear how 1ZB covered the big stories over that time - including the World War Two, the Wahine Disaster and the 1981 Springbok Tour.   100 Years of ZB - Celebrating a century of New Zealand's conversation. Archival audio from the collections at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.   New episodes every Sunday on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts - powered by Newstalk ZB.  LISTEN ABOVE OR BELOW IF YOU'RE LISTENING OUTSIDE OF NEW ZEALAND See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christopher Luxon says he supports having another referendum on the MMP voting system if he’s re-elected as he encourages greater support for National so the party can avoid working with “some yahoo and numpty” in Cabinet. Act leader David Seymour says he’s not opposed to another referendum but suggests Luxon “may not have thought through what he’s saying” regarding ministers from other parties, noting the number of National ministers who had been dismissed this term. Speaking on Newstalk ZB this morning, Luxon made the statement in response to a listener who had texted in asking whether the PM would address the power held by minor parties in governing arrangements. Luxon initially pointed to the Government working towards a referendum on whether to extend government terms from three years to four, before saying he was “open” to asking voters whether they were “still supportive of MMP”. Asked if he would do so if he were Prime Minister next year, Luxon replied: “Yeah, I think I would.” He added: “I think I would because I actually think, you know, that it is quite right to check in constitutionally and say, is this the system, New Zealand, you still want? “You know, you voted for this in the 90s, we’ve had a check-in in the [20]10s, 20 years down the road or whatever it has been, is it still where you want to be?” Luxon went on to talk about his 20-person Cabinet, currently made up of ministers from National, Act and New Zealand First.  He argued the best way to provide a “strong and stable government” was to have as many National ministers in Cabinet as possible.  “When you have to form coalition governments, you don’t have the same values, you don’t have the same policies, you’re not talking to the same people.  “You try and find the common ground and I feel like I have done the best I can in two and a half years to find common ground on the economy, law and order, education and health.  “I think you’ve got to ask the question, I feel like I’ve got responsible, sensible ministers delivering: Mark Mitchell, Todd McCay, Erica Stanford Nicola Willis, Simeon Brown, Chris Bishop, you know, I’ve got amazing people doing incredible work who take it very seriously.  “The question is, I keep saying, I don’t need some yahoo or numpty from some other party around that table, I can do a lot more to get the centre-right agenda, centre being the operative word, done and out the door so think about your vote, November 7, it’s important.”  Asked if his current coalition partners were yahoos and numpties, Luxon replied: “No, I’m just saying I can do better with National Party ministers, I think New Zealand’s better served by that.”  Asked by ZB host Kerre Woodham if he’d prefer Mitchell around the Cabinet table over former National MP and current NZ First candidate Michael Laws, Luxon replied: “You said it.”  Act leader David Seymour defended the work of his ministers. Photo / Mark Mitchell  Speaking to the Herald, Seymour said he wasn’t certain whether Luxon was calling his ministers yahoos and numpties.  “Who knows, I suspect that he’s being a bit free-wheeling and may not have thought through what he’s saying there.”  Seymour noted how several National ministers had been dismissed during this term before pointing to work achieved by Act ministers, including on school attendance and reforms concerning the Holidays Act, Arms Act and the Resource Management Act.  “I’m not here to start bagging other parties’ ministers but I think anyone who’s an objective observer would say that Act ministers have been pretty effective.”  On a referendum, Seymour said he wasn’t opposed but said any change would be unlikely to be implemented until the 2032 or 2035 elections and there were “more urgent problems” to address.  In a statement on social media, Peters commended MMP for having “broke the stranglehold” of Labour and National on “running roughshod over our economy without social licence”.  “Now that the two old parties are losing their grip on power, they want to change the electoral system to favour their falling fortunes.”  Referencing the previous referendums in 1993 and 2011, Peters said people wanted different representation in Parliament than what Labour and National could provide.  “The old parties’ weak and inept attitude to economic sovereignty, immigration, and woke nonsense has seen people move to a party that is offering common sense, patriotism, and old-fashioned Kiwi values.  “Shutting down and taking away true democratic representation from the people of New Zealand should be seen for what it is – a power grab and an ignorance for what it means to be a democracy.”  Adam Pearse is the deputy political editor and part of the NZ Herald’s press gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, the Corrections Minister has halted a $9 million plan, as you will have heard this morning, to provide Rongoa Māori healthcare in prisons, including giving prisoners traditional massages called mirimiri, after questions were asked about the programme. Mark Mitchell said, first I heard of it. But Corrections launched a procurement process for the services in all New Zealand prisons in July, after a trial was run in a couple of prisons. Seemed to work well.   Rongoa is traditional Māori medicine, including herbal remedies, physical therapies, and spiritual healing. The listing from correction details the plans, including rolling out karakia, mahi wairua, and mirimiri – that's the massage therapy. But Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking this morning the massage programme has been put on pause, saying it doesn't meet his expectations.   “I was unaware that there was a programme that was delivering massages, and I agree with you. I mean, that's part of it ... Probably done with the best of intentions, because, you know, our Corrections people are outstanding. Do tens of thousands of positive actions every day in terms of rehabilitation, but this did not meet my expectations. “My focus quite simply had been, Mike, on delivering rehabilitation that gave people real life skills or something that would enable them to actually get started again, reintegrate, make good decisions – things like getting a driver's license or getting them some sort of trade qualification. That is what I want done with taxpayers' money.”  According to the 2004 Corrections Act, the standard of healthcare available to prisoners must be reasonably equivalent to the standard of healthcare available to the public. And Rongoa Māori is available to the public. It's delivered across primary healthcare and within community contexts across New Zealand. The number of ACC people using Rongoa Māori was 9,000 in 2024 – about 59% of them were Māori clients, 41% non-Māori. So it's a thing. It's an alternative health practice that is reasonably common within the community.   I'm all for rehabilitation in our prisoners and giving people a chance, but wouldn't it be better to put the $9 million into literary programmes? Literacy, numeracy, for those that want to learn how to communicate, perhaps anger management courses so you don't beat the living bejesus out of some poor fool who's cut you off in the traffic. Mindfulness, perhaps, would give more bang for prisoner buck, I would have thought, learning how to control your stress or your temper. Or even marriage therapy, relationship counselling would give you more bang for your prisoner buck. Because from what I've been told from ex-cons, the reason they gave up offending was for family, for wives and kids. They just thought, no, more. I want to be on the outside and see my kids grow up. So maybe relationship counselling would give you more bang for buck than a good old mirimiri on a Sunday afternoon.    A massage is something I book as a present to myself, as a reward to myself when I could afford it. It's not part of my ongoing healthcare. I'm sure there are aspects of Rongoa Māori that are enormously helpful, but no, I just can't see how you could possibly justify massage. That's a nice to have, not a must have. And sure it's available in the community, but it's not considered part of standard healthcare, I would have thought. It's not generally funded by primary health providers to get people back on their feet.   There are so many things that people in our prisons need to be able to integrate into society before massage, I would have thought, but then I haven't been inside. Thank heavens. I haven't done anything really, even flicking back through the filo facts of sins of my past, I haven't done anything that could have put me inside. So I don't know. What do you need if you've served time to help you get back on your feet? What do you need if you go to prison, which you accept as collateral damage as part of the price of being in the gang? What do you need to divert you from that life to another?   Honestly, over the many, many years I've done talk back and talked to people who've been in prison, the only thing that really does seem to work is Jesus or relationships, wanting to be with your family and wanting to see your kids grow up. wanting to be with the good person who stood by you. All the courses in the world don't seem to make a blind bit of difference. But having a purpose, either through God or through family, and the second tier would be getting a job. Having a massage every Sunday in your cell, I don't see how that's going to help. For those of you who have been there, done that, I would love to hear from you. What does work? Where should money for rehabilitation go? What programs do you think are required for those who have provided services designed to get people back on their feet, either inside prison or out? Again, given the huge menu of options we have now in terms of alternative healthcare, what works? I'm sure we wouldn't begrudge $9 million being spent on keeping people out of prison – we would get that money back in no time at all.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.