Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

As has been much discussed over the last 24 hours, the days of cheaper fuel and transport are coming to an end. Transporting New Zealand says the Government’s announcement is a kick in the guts for the transport industry. Transporting New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nobody, surely, would want a child to take up smoking. It's a ruinously expensive habit that is indisputably bad for your health and the Government has gone about protecting young people in a novel way by banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born after the 1st of January, 2009. It's one of the measures towards a goal of a Smokefree New Zealand, Smokefree Aotearoa. The others being reducing the amount of nicotine that's allowed in smoked tobacco products and decreasing the number of retailers that sell tobacco. Now the ACT party has released a tone deaf press release: ‘Labour's smoking bill kills dairies’. No. What's killing dairies, and in a few tragic cases dairy owners, are criminals being allowed to operate seemingly at will. But ACT is right when they say this will drive up the trade of black-market tobacco with high nicotine, and may well drive those addicted to cigarettes to turn to crime to feed their habit. The gangs, says ACT, will be rubbing their hands with glee, a sentiment ASH chair professor Robert Beaglehole echoed. He said despite the fact he supports the new legislation, he is concerned about a potential explosion in the black market.  But surely for there to be a black market, there has to be a market, and if tobacco is not readily available to a generation then that demand won't be there. I know it's not as simple as saying thou shalt not. If it were that easy, we'd all be living in a perfect world. But surely, given that New Zealand smoking rate is already so low with around 8% of adults smoking daily, that's not a big number, being smoke free by 2025 is one of the more achievable aspirations of this Government and may well be the only one they ever do achieve. Surely you would not want kids smoking. Even if you love your durries - it's an extravagance that you enjoy, that you can afford, that you're not going to give up - you wouldn't want your kids doing it. Although cigarettes are easy to transport, easy to hide, easy to become a currency on the black market, surely it's worth it if it means generations of New Zealanders never ever pick up a cigarette.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On occasion, I receive emails and texts asking me why I am so critical of the Government.  Fewer texts and emails are arriving this year than in previous years, to be fair, as it becomes more evident to even the most fanatical of devotees, that ideological decisions made with the best of intentions are actually harmful to the country and too many New Zealanders. To be fair, I would be critical of a Government of any hue that behaved with such misguided, myopic, ideological idiocy - and on the flip side, intransigent arrogance. I'm critical of this Government because they built up so much expectation and have failed to deliver to the very people they promised to help and who voted them in. People needing safe secure housing. Kids needing a decent education to give them a chance of escaping the poverty trap. Businesses who just want the opportunity to determine their own futures, without being hamstrung by rules and regulations and a lack of staff. Shop owners wanting to know that they can go to work and come home without their face smashed in or their goods looted, or losing their lives just to earn their keep. People who want to feel safe in their communities. This is not an exhaustive list by any means of people who have been let down, but just some of those who can feel justifiably disappointed by this Government. They were a Covid-Government in 2020, given a huge mandate by a largely febrile population had been whipped into an absolute frenzy at the thought of catching Covid. And the fact that they survived, just as the statistics said they would, they attributed to and gave thanks to St Ashley Bloomfield and Jacinda Ardern, the Mother of the Nation.   Yet despite this, report after report slammed the Government's response to the pandemic.  And now we have a ruling on the cruelty of the MIQ system and the High Court has found that the Government overstepped the mark in terms of the fundamental rights of Kiwis, I knew that and you knew that. The suffering caused by this government because of their blinkered and simplistic approach to the pandemic will be felt for generations. And yet, Grant Robertson says that there's no need for the Government to apologise.  You wonder why I'm critical of the Government? Report after report after report after report written by people I trust and respect say they have failed so many times and in so many ways - and that is just in the pandemic response. I'd be critical of any government that had such a poor performance, and if you had half a brain, you'd be critical too. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I suppose it's a bit unfair to conflate the two because there is absolutely no correlation between licensed firearm users and illegal gun use, I get that. And I suppose that an increase in the cost of a firearms licence is fair enough, given that licensing fees have remained static since 1999, according to the police. The police also point out that the cost - $126.50 or thereabouts, is less than 15 per cent of the true price to issue a licence. So okay fair enough. But it's just the optics of the thing, pinging licensed firearms users on a weekend where there were firearms incidents in three Christchurch suburbs, in Hamilton, in Auckland, and in a year which have seen rates of injury and death caused by firearms tracking higher than ever before. Why ping the licensed firearms users? And I, I know intellectually and with clarity that the two are completely unrelated, but they're not. Because we were told when the Prime Minister announced in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings, that the Government was taking action on behalf of all New Zealanders to strengthen gun laws and make our country a safer place. That was the promise, that New Zealand would be a safer place, and it patently is not. Over the past 12 months police have attended 4% more jobs where guns are involved than the previous 12 months. There's been a 74% increase in injuries. And if you look at the past 12 months and compare it with ten years before that, there is a 53% increase in gun crime and a 327% increase in injuries caused by guns. So New Zealand is not a safer place thanks to the gun laws that were introduced. That's the problem with ideology over pragmatism. Just wanting something to be so, hoping something to be so, doesn't make it so. Buying back semi-automatic weapons from law abiding gun owners was never going to make New Zealand a safer place. Illegal firearms use has nothing to do with lawful gun ownership, so the police should be able to increase licensing fees for all the reasons they've given, without there being any kickback. But there will be, A) because the firearms licensing process is imperfect, and firearms owners don't see why they should fund a bureaucratic mess. And B) because at a time when criminals are using illegal firearms, seemingly at will, I'd rather hear announcements about how police are investing, time and money going after the crims rather than raising the prices for lawful gun owners.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I thought, given that it's FriYay, we could start today's show with a bit of good news, a bit of positivity. Incredibly to me, a survey commissioned by small business lender Prospa showed that New Zealand's small businesses are feeling positive heading into the Christmas holiday period. 514 businesses with between one and 49 employees - 73 percent of those said that they felt good about their overall business health. 63 percent are optimistic about their business growth potential over the next year. 80 percent feel prepared for the holiday season and just under half expect their business revenue will increase in the next 12 months. So that's fairly significant. That's 514 businesses, SMEs. 73 percent of those surveyed felt good about their overall business health. Most of them expect business growth. 80 percent feel prepared for the holiday season.   Maybe it's the nature of talkback that we tend to accentuate the negative. Maybe people are more motivated to phone in when they're stressed or worried than when they're feeling positive and hopeful. Given the owners of SME's that I've spoken to in the past, the Prospa results really surprised me. The people I've talked to on the show are concerned about staffing. They don't know if they'll be able to make hay while the sun is shining. They're concerned about the rising cost of everything they are exhausted. They certainly didn't sound as though they were heading into the holiday season spirits high and loins girded, ready and able to face the challenges to come. Barry Soper, our Political Editor, was talking to Mike Hosking this morning and he said there was a malaise around the country. Agreed, and I would have too. But, I guess, although we are the top rating radio station and the top rating morning show, we don't talk to everyone. We're not everybody’s tasse de thé! So maybe we are our own little microclimate where a deep depression always looms over the frequency and beyond our sphere there is a community of people who are happy and positive, and not at all concerned about the looming recession and the closed borders. I mean, I am. I'm nervous about next year. I'm nervous that the recession will bring about an increase in unemployment. I'm nervous that rising interest rates are going to put real pressure on young families, especially if they have mortgages. I'm nervous about the growing division between so many different factions in our country. I'm nervous about the election. But maybe that's just me.   And most Kiwis are like these 514 SME’s that are feeling positive about the next year. I hope so. I would far rather that people felt empowered and confident. Give me some of what you're having for breakfast, if that is the case!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Campbell's series on young offenders called Tough Love, which is running during One News couldn't be more timely given the agonising over what to do and how to deal with offenders as young as 10 years old. In this series, we've seen Craig Clark from Counties Manukau police and Jane King from Oranga Tamaki, and they realize that many of the young people that come to their attention come from homes where police and Oranga Tamariki are not trusted. They're not welcome in the door, it's a blanket rejection of anything they have to offer.  So between them, they began to assemble a team from within the community from south Auckland. The result was Kotahi te Whakaaro (Think as One). They take local resources, local staff,  local NGOs, local understanding, and use them to get entry into the homes where these young offenders are. So every morning this group meets to review all suspected youth crimes in their area overnight. This is every single day. There are eight groups who are part of this particular organisation.  Reconnect Family Services, which is an NGO, local iwi, police, Oranga Tamariki, Counties Manukau Health, the Ministry of Education, Kāinga Ora and the Ministry of Social Development. They get together and they discuss who the best people are to approach that particular family. So it's individual by individual. There's a tailored response for each child and they are children. They're between 10 and 13, although under the new package just announced they go out to 17 now.   That's just the sort of initiative that the Government is going to be funding in its latest attempt to break the cycle of youth offending.   $2 million spread across four regions; Auckland, Waikato, Northland and Bay of Plenty to fund locally led solutions to reduce youth crime.  So they're going to look for unique community approaches, using all sorts of different agencies to try and get a response. Now I know that there is a call to lock these kids up and throw away the key and. I get that. But if it works, and it appears that Kotahi te Whakaaro does, then surely what works should be what's funded?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A key part of the Government's controversial Three Waters reforms has just passed its third reading in Parliament - the Water Services Entities Bill. It's the first of several bills to establish the new national water system. Deputy Political Editor Jason Walls told Kerre Woodham the bill has passed despite vocal opposition. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I heard Mike Hosking this morning talking about the significant pay rise expected to be given to professional firefighters later this year.   Firefighters will get a 24 per cent wage increase under a $145 million settlement agreed upon by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) today. It signals the end of a gruelling 18 months of negotiations that could be coming to a close. The draft collective has yet to be ratified by the union members, a process expected to be completed by the end of the year. Firefighters have walked off the job twice this year amid six-month-long industrial action as they attempted to gain guaranteed mental health and wellbeing programmes as well as ongoing access to psychological professionals.  It wasn't just about the money - NZPFU and FENZ have agreed to provide life-saving blood screening for the early detection of firefighters’ occupational cancer and other illness, as well as medical response recognition for firefighters and dispatchers.   They have also agreed to provide psychological support and a supervision programme for firefighters and dispatchers.   FENZ chief executive Kerry Gregory said the now acceptable proposal was only made possible due to Government funding.   Minister of Internal Affairs Jan Tinetti revealed today the Government has agreed to provide funding support of a $75.4 million repayable capital injection to FENZ.  Hosking was critical of the pay rise not because he doesn't believe firefighters aren't worth it, but because at a time of high inflation, a 24 per cent pay rise funded by the Government, sends the wrong signal.  Adrian Orr has said to stop spending - the Government is giving a significant sum of money to firefighters which inflames the wage price cycle.  But why on earth should ordinary Kiwis pay the price for the significant stuff ups of others?  It is going to be a tough year ahead for your ordinary, average, mortgage-paying New Zealander.  Some will lose their jobs.  Some will lose their homes. Through absolutely no fault of their own.  They haven't been slack or spendthrift.  They will just fall victim to a recession that is being deliberately engineered by people earning $500,000 - $700,000 a year.  And their wages are paid by the very people who will be the real life collateral damage of their decision making.  Where is the accountability for well-paid public servants who cock things up and then expect other people to pay the price?  Sure, we can vote governments out if we think they have made terrible decisions that will impact the country for generations, but that hardly seems punishment enough.  But what about the Treasury, the Reserve Bank, the Health Department - all of those people in high-paying jobs who will never know the sick dread of seeing mortgage payments rise beyond their ability to pay, the fear of wondering whether they'll be able to find another job at 50.  Why on earth should the ordinary average Kiwi who never had a say about these decisions have to pay the price. Where will the 24 per cent come from to pay the firefighters?  Let the decision makers take a 25 per cent pay cut for getting it wrong. They should pay for their mistakes, not us.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may have seen this documentary on television last night, Patrick Gower's latest offering is "On All The Drugs".   The doco attempts to answer a very broad and complex question: should we decriminalise drugs in New Zealand? Gower presented a variety of perspectives, from that of Australian MP Karen Andrews who’s firmly in the “war on drugs” camp, to University of London’s Professor David Nutt, who argues that taking MDMA is less dangerous than riding a horse. Paddy Gower joined Kerre Woodham in studio. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First up, the Royal Commission of Inquiry. Finally, finally, the Government has acceded to requests from a number of different agencies and parties to launch a royal inquiry into the Government's handling of the Covid pandemic. Do not hold your breath waiting for the findings. Given the scope and breadth of the inquiry, it'll be mid-2024 before we can see any kind of official report.   It is being led by Australian-based epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely, former cabinet Minister Hekia Parata and former Treasury Secretary John Whitehead. So they've got the chops. They know their stuff. They know the way government departments work. They know their particular specialties and there aren't too many of them, so they'll be able to cut through. All the B.S. hopefully.   But at least there will be a playbook. At least there will be an official record of a when the world went crazy, when there wasn't any institutional knowledge of how to deal with a global pandemic. Everybody was doing it based on theory, based on historical precedent, when the world was vastly different to the way it is today. I mean, hopefully by the time the next global pandemic arrives this will be slightly old fashioned. It will be out if date, it will be an historic record. But we can't take that for granted. We have to be prepared. We have to be forward-looking as tempting as it is to find a scapegoat.  I think, to have a panel of this caliber who appear to be impartial, who have the chops to be able to take on a huge job … I mean, Professor Blakely said he didn't think twice about it because he knew just how big it was going to be. I think to have a playbook for how to deal with future pandemics with a record of what worked, what didn't and suggestions on what could be done better, will be invaluable for the country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.