Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

I've just been watching the news coverage of the cortege as the Queens coffin has been making its way from Balmoral Castle on its way to Edinburgh. It has been stopping off in places so people could pay their respects and there's some very moving footage of just people lining the streets, not just in the countryside but also thousands of mourners lining the streets in Edinburgh. Clearly the coming days will culminate in a funeral, an event the likes of which we will have never seen and maybe never see again in terms of scale. I was a huge fan of the Queen, an incredible life of service over 70 years. Which makes this morning point of discussion, frankly, pretty tricky. A very tricky one because the question is should there be a public holiday to commemorate this occasion? It's an unenviable decision, I think, and I think a difficult one. And here it is. I don't think there should be a public holiday. I know it seems to go against everything I've just said, but we know from recent arguments around Matariki, that the cost of a public holiday is in the region of $450 million to New Zealand employers, who have being through a really difficult time over the past two or three years.   If it weren't for that, I'd have a different opinion, but I just don't think we should be expecting New Zealand businesses, small businesses, medium, large, whatever, New Zealand employers to be picking up the tab for what I think should be a personal choice. She was a wonderful Queen and an incredible example of service to our country and Commonwealth, but in the end, I think the choice around how we all reflect on the Queen's passing should be an individual one, a personal one. As we've seen with all the people who have been lining the streets or who are making a pilgrimage to pay their respects, their grief, and their reaction and their choice is personal, let's not require others to pay for it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chef Peter Gordon, Restaurateur, co-founder of Homeland, joins Kerre Woodam memories of Queen Elizabeth and that of his own investiture. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Prime Minister Sir John Key had the unusual privilege of staying at Balmoral with the Queen - one of the greatest memories of his life. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a morning to remember Queen Elizabeth the second, who died at 96. An extraordinary woman and a number of people who had the great good fortune to work with her great good fortune to spend time with her in a capacity have been able to share their memories. One of those was Clare, Lady McKinnon, wife of Sir Don McKinnon who spent many years in London.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Simon Gimson is one of a number of people who had personal connections with the Queen. Simon was part of the household of Queen Elizabeth the second, with positions as the chief of staff and later as political director at the Commonwealth Secretariat.  Simon Gimson joined Kerre Woodham from Geneva. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sir Don McKinnon, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand and Secretary General of the Commonwealth, came to know Queen Elizabeth well during his eight years as Commonwealth Secretary General. Sir Don received his Knighthood from the Queen and they came to be personal friends.  Sir Don McKinnon joined Kerre Woodham from London. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A massive waste of taxpayer money is resulting in rotting food and unrecyclable packaging adding to our carbon footprint. Or, the single biggest difference in terms of initiatives to improve the well-being of schoolchildren. What is the truth of New Zealand school lunches? The Ka Ora, Ka Ako Lunches in Schools programme was first launched in 2019, was expanded to some high schools in 2020/2021. Since it was established in schools, more than 58 million lunches have been delivered to 220,000 children across primary schools, kura and colleges.  Since then, there have been two opinions about the initiative.  One, that the food is gross, the kids don't like it, they don't eat it, and it goes to waste. The other is that children now have full tummies, they can be taught, whereas before, if you had a hungry stomach, your brain just simply could not learn.  And like the quote from the principle that I opened the show with, some believe it's the single biggest difference in terms of child well-being at schools.   If the earlier reports show that more of the lunches are being eaten than not, I'd rather keep going and see the results of the trial at the end of the year.  You've got to feed these little things, you've got to feed their brains and you've got to feed their bodies. If they're not getting food at home because parents cannot or in some cases will not supply the food, then let us do it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before I join the calls from various people, organisations, and political parties for the Government to apologise for the unnecessary 11-day lockdown of Northland, I would like to apologise to the two women who were at the centre of this latest stuff up that's been revealed. The two women who were accused of using illegal documents to travel across the Auckland border into Northland, and who it was insinuated, were sex workers working for the gangs. The women were publicly vilified for crossing the border, with then Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins accusing them of using false information to travel. The case also saw reporters asking Ardern whether the women were prostitutes, and former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was forced to apologise for falsely claiming the pair were helped by Harry Tam, the Hawkes Bay based Mongrel Mob leader.   The police inquiry summary said the police investigation found no evidence to suggest the woman had any connection to Harry Tam, or the Mongrel Mob, or that they were involved in prostitution. I wasn't able to find my opener for the day that the news was revealed, the reason why we've gone into lockdown, but I have absolutely no doubt I would have gone and boots and all. So for the unfair comments about the women’s character that I undoubtedly made, I do unreservedly apologise. And the Government departments should be apologising too – MBIE and Social Development - on behalf of the nameless bureaucrat who knew three days before Northland was locked down that the women were not in fact gangster’s moles, that they had a legitimate business.   It just reinforces what I've said all along,  if faceless bureaucrats cannot be held responsible for the decisions they made during that dreadful year around who could travel, who could not; if they cannot be held responsible for denying the father of a child the right to support his partner in hospital. For denying parents the right to be by the bedside of sick children. For denying children the right to be with their dying parents. Then the respective heads of MBIE and the ministers responsible should be held accountable.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I have now seen the Sunday programme on emergency housing in Rotorua. Really, it's what we have known has been happening, but seeing the inside of these motel units, seeing the cramped and squalid conditions in which many of them are living, seeing and hearing from the women who have been tenants in these houses, and who were supposed to be getting the sort of pastoral care from a highly paid welfare organisation. It's just driven home so many of the failings of temporary accommodation and motels being used as temporary accommodation. It also frightened the daylights out of me now the borders are open, that these motels are also being rented out to overseas tourists. They are in no condition for anybody to be in there, some of them. Certainly, some of the ones highlighted by the TVNZ crew, you wouldn't put animals in there, far less vulnerable, high-needs families, far less overseas tourists who have spent a fortune looking for the holiday of a lifetime. They'll certainly get it, but it won't be what they imagined. Steve Chadwick, the mayor of Rotorua, says she has gone to the Government and said we want to be able to stop the moteliers from renting out their motels to both tourists and to emergency housing providers, and I think that would be a very, very good start. But seeing the exploitation of the vulnerable by opportunists drives home the failings of this system. Seeing the lack of accountability for the money being spent looking after these people, further underscores just how lax and careless this Government is with our money. Since 2017, the Government has spent a billion dollars housing people in motels. Great for the moteliers.  Great for those that get on the gravy train of caring for the vulnerable. Where the hell has that money gone? I am so sick and tired of this Government refusing to front up, refusing to answer questions. If they do answer on the rare occasion when a blue moon has risen in the sky and a Government minister will come on and talk about these huge programs that they have created to advance the cause of those who are most vulnerable with high, complex needs. If they do answer, it's a Bureau speak which is unintelligible. They don't answer the questions. I'm not good with the Government taking billions and billions of dollars, handing it over to all the people have got on the gravy train and then failing to account for it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to the New Zealand Drug Foundation, the introduction of an overdose prevention centre would reduce harm and save lives by shifting drug use of city streets and alleyways and into a safe, medically supervised setting. This would go alongside basic health, harm reduction and support services. It's not a new idea, it's just a new idea for New Zealand.  The Foundation's executive director, Sarah Helm, called on the Government to support a proposal for a three-year pilot of the service in Auckland CBD.  She says at the moment we are turning a blind eye to overdoses and drug harm occurring amongst our most vulnerable in Auckland, and particularly amongst those who are homeless.  She says synthetic cannabinoids, which caused at least 51 deaths between 2016 and 2020, are among the drugs favoured by this community, and although there has reportedly been a reduction in synthetic cannabinoid use recently, the drug market changes rapidly.  And, she says if fentanyl arrives on our shores, international evidence says this community, particularly the homeless, is likely to be impacted the most heavily and at the moment we have very few overdose prevention measures in place.  The Drug Foundation says the proposed pilot needs government backing because our laws are outdated and get in the way of new health-based initiatives.  If police resources, health resources aren't being diverted to drug overdose crises, that surely has to be a good thing. If there is overseas research that backs a centre, which shows that more people are likely to be engaged in it because they trust the people there, they're more likely to be engaged in ways of getting off drugs, getting off the streets.  Again, surely that has to be a good thing. Why wouldn't you give it a three-year pilot?  It has a track record. If it's not working, yeah, stop it. Where's the harm? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.