Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Anthony Albanese will be sworn in as Australian Prime Minister today, ending conservative rule in Australia that lasted nearly a decade. Counting from the election is yet to confirm whether he has enough seats to establish a majority government. As things stand, Labor's one seat short -- and needs 76 to form a majority government. Questions have been asked as to what an Anthony Albanese election means for New Zealand. University of Auckland Public Policy Institute director, Professor Jennifer Curtin joined Kerre Woodham to discuss. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don't mind telling you that prior to yesterday's budget, I was kind of over it already.The question is whether this budget announcement yesterday was a win for the Government? Was it that enough to turn the tide in the polls?For most of us though, the immediate question is what's the Government going to do for us, and our focus on the cost of living and the constant headlines around inflation?The Government answer to this is $27.00 a week for three months, making a total of $350.00 for low income earners.Wow, is that it? What a shame.It leaves me wondering whether the obvious solution has been avoided simply because it was the opposition's idea.Grant Robertson was asked what he was doing for the "squeezed middle". His response was to note that 81 percent of New Zealanders are now getting some form of support, either through the Winter Energy Payment or the cost-of-living payment.So 81 percent of working age New Zealanders receiving some level of state support.  So in response to inflation and the cost of living, his response is to turn 81 percent of us into beneficiaries of the Government, and that is the problem.That's why I think that this Budget, for most New Zealanders, is a fail.Over the past couple of years, with lockdowns increasing Government involvement and intrusion into our lives, we've also seen a massive growth in government bureaucracy and more and more, I reckon, the Government is turning us into a nation of people who look first toward the Government for answers and not to ourselves.For me, I would have seen a simple adjustment to the tax thresholds as a common-sense answer to putting money in the pockets of New Zealanders, so they can make their own choices. Instead, we're turned into beneficiaries.Financial commentator, Bernard Hickey, made the observation that next year there's plenty of room for the Government to spend a lot more prior to the election. Well frankly, that observation was probably accurate.In a way, it's disappointing, but unsurprising. But make no mistake when it comes to handing out the money, the Government is saving up for its top priority and that is buying your vote at the next election. Everything else is second best.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is it, and how is it, that you can get away with murder in this country?You'll have heard in our news that a charge has been dropped against a family member who was accused of trying to obstruct justice. They were one of the people in a home in Flatbush Road, who were there when 14 month old Sofia Taueki-Jackson was murdered.She suffered a catastrophic and unsurvivable head injury late on Saturday, May 23, 2020. It was her mother's home. She didn't fall off the couch. She didn't fall from her ride-along toy. She suffered a catastrophic and unsurvivable head injury.Several people were present at the property at the time. Nobody has ever been charged with her killing. Her family has declined to speak with media - doesn't really matter.What matters is that they've declined to speak with police. Manukau Ward councillor and former police officer Al Filipaina has issued a plea for justice for baby Sofia in the days ahead of the anniversary of her death.“She needs to rest,” Filipaina said.He is calling on anyone with information to come forward, appealing to their decency? To the same decent people who killed the baby and or watched someone do it? How does that even work?Can the Police not ask the Serious Fraud Office for tips on how to compel people to talk?Why is it that they get special powers and not the Police? We've gone on for some time now about actions and the lack of consequences. People commit crime and they get away with it.You've got Kainga Ora allowing people to threaten to kill, threaten to rape, to commit abuse, to sell the drugs, to terrorise neighbours with no consequences.Well, why would there be? Because, in this country, you can get away with murder.We've let it slide for so long now. We've got to draw a line in the sand and say people must be accountable - from shoplifting through to bashing the head of a 14 month old baby, it's time people were held accountable.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A warning has come for caution before any change to the law giving a right to silence.Police believe 14-month-old Sofia Taueki-Jackson was killed at her mother's home in Clover Park two years ago, after a significant head injury.NZME’s newsroom can reveal a charge has been dropped against a family member accused of obstructing justice by refusing to assist the investigation.AUT law professor Kris Gledhill told Kerre Woodham we need to question whether law should be based on an emotional situation like a child's death.“Is that a good way for making a fundamental change that would probably effect all sorts of other situations as well.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We can take it as a given, can we not, that dental health is part of your overall health and well-being. Besides the pain of rotten or broken teeth, you're also predisposed to a range of other health ailments. Poor oral health can impair your general health and well-being by creating or exacerbating health conditions such as heart and lung disease, and stroke.There's a direct correlation.Also, your dental health can exacerbate social anxiety and depression. If you've got a mouthful of gappy teeth, you don't smile as much, you’re less inclined to speak up, you become very self-conscious and you hide yourself away.And that's for the adults.When we look at the state of oral health among our children, it's absolutely appalling. In 2019, more than 40 percent of 5-year-olds in New Zealand had tooth decay. Ministry of Health Data showed the number of zero to 14-year-olds requiring general anaesthetic for rotten teeth removal increased from 4500 to 7500 between 2001 and 2016.The latest Newshub poll asked whether people thought the Government should subsidise dental visits, in the way we subsidise doctor visits.  83.7 percent of people who were polled said yes, the Government should subsidise trips to the dentist.There are hopes this will be addressed on Thursday's Budget. Labour promised in the 2020 election campaign there would be money available for more emergency dental grants, but surely, it’s better to have a comprehensive cradle to grave dental health plan that fits in with an overall health plan for New Zealand citizens.There are so many people living in pain, not living their best lives, not achieving all they could do because they cannot afford to go to the dentist.Do you believe that this is something that you would prioritise as a taxpayer?  It's our money that's being distributed. Should it be a key plank in our physical well-being budget that trips to the dentist are subsidised by taxpayers?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A call for the Government to put more money towards dental care in tomorrow's Budget.The Dental Association is calling for raft of changes, starting with increasing grants for access to urgent dental care.President Kate Ayers told Kerre Woodham despite their best efforts, many people develop dental issues they simply can't afford to fix.“It’s just not fair that they need to continue on with it because they can’t afford to get it fixed.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's offering up new transport options, rather than kicking people out of their cars.Included in their Emissions Reduction Plan is more than half a billion dollars towards pushing electric and hybrid vehicles.The money will help lower and middle income households scrap their fossil-fuel burning cars for a climate-friendly alternative.A pilot of the scheme will involve up to 2500 vehicles and begin next year.To discuss this, David Vinsen, Chief Executive of the Imported Motor Vehicle Association joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I have to say looking at the Herald this morning, you wonder whether the Government, whether the media, whether I, have a take on what people are really concerned about because I came back and I'm reading the paper and there's a full-page report in the Herald on what we can expect from the Government and its master plan to cut emissions when the Budget’s released.The headline in Stuff is 'Emissions plan could herald the biggest set of changes in New Zealand since Rogernomics'. It will detail ways in which the Government will reorient the economy towards one that actively tries to drive down emissions to get New Zealand to a position of net zero emissions by 2050. So they're saying the economy and therefore society is going to be yanked into a completely different direction from one which we have known since Rogernomics. Which will be huge if that is so. And yet when households are struggling to put food on the table and petrol in the car, is climate change the most important and meaningful area for the government to focus on? To yank society into a completely different direction?I look at the headlines saying we're about to experience seismic change, the like of which we haven't seen since Rogernomics to deal with reducing our emissions and I wonder if the world has gone mad?!Why do we have to rearrange society when all that really matters is that you have enough food on the table for the kids and that they're getting educated? So that they have a chance to make a difference in the world.Why is it that this Budget that we're all waiting for breathlessly has at its very core fuel emissions and the cutting thereof within CO2, when all I want to be able to do is know that I can feed the kids for a week? That's what matters, surely? The rest is ideological BS.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson delivers his fifth Budget on Thursday, with an emphasis on health and climate change.However, there are doubts this week's Budget will address New Zealand's cost of living crisis.In an opinion piece in the NZH, National's finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says this is not the time to be adding more unnecessary costs or embarking on big bureaucracy-building ventures.Nicola Willis joined Kerre Woodham.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been hard to miss the publicity that's been circulating on-screen, and in radio and print media around the Road to Zero campaign which has been led by the NZ Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi. In response to this, there's a story today about one man, Geoff Upson, who is campaigning in in the other direction ... campaigning to ,quote, Keep it 100.Now for those of you who may have missed it, the Road to Zero campaign involves a vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads. It's a campaign that has been met with a lot of scepticism from people, including me, who are concerned that, as we saw with the Government approach to Covid with the lockdowns and extreme measures, we're going to see increasingly extreme measures, all in pursuit of a target, which frankly is ridiculous.I don't mean ridiculous because I don't value life. I mean ridiculous because life is not wrapped up in one big ball of safe cotton wool.Now I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little sick of this patronizing tone coming from Government agencies who just know best and when the Government agency is capable of gaslighting, not just us but itself, into thinking that there is actually Road to Zero, they really surprised that there's some form of pushback from New Zealand public. You also end up with the accusation that somehow you’re callous and have no thought for the value of human life. They push out statistics like every 1% increase in the speed results in a 3 1/2% to 4% increase in fatal crashes.I'm all for trusting New Zealand motorists a little more -  investing in better driver training, investing in defensive driving courses, and better roads. But please, if you want to win us over, stop this patronising nonsense and demonising people for expressing what, for many, is a common-sense point of view and a response to the self-delusional bureaucratic spin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.