Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Collins says public transport can become free and also more reliable. He says his flagship free public transport policy could save around $27 a week for people using buses, trains and ferries regularly, and about $8 a week for less frequent users of public transport. Collins has said he will pay for free public transport through reallocating council spending. Public Transport Users Association Co-Ordinatior, Jon Reeves, joined Kerre Woodham to discuss. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The death of Princess Diana in a car crash 25 years ago exemplified the media's role in her public adoration. Her death in Paris sparked an outpouring of grief. Vassar University psychologist Dara Greenwood told Kerre Woodham even though the emotion wasn't reciprocated, there was a sense of intimacy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Questions have been asked as to whether New Zealand super will be enough if you have to rent in retirement. When New Zealand Super was introduced, it was with the underlying assumption that those accessing it would be mortgage-free homeowners. That is not looking to be the case 30 years from now.  However, much has been written about The Great Wealth Transfer. The Silent Generation, the Baby Boomers, upon their death, some economists forecast, will transfer an estimated $30-68 trillion to adult children in the United States. Of course, it would be a bit different here in terms of the amount of money.  There's also debate among economists that the great wealth transfer will occur at all, given rising health care costs and the fact that boomers are living longer. To discuss this, Informetrics chief forecaster Garteth Kiernan joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is preparing to respond to a Productivity Commission inquiry encouraging more rapid but more carefully planned immigration. The Reserve Bank reveals there are now two job vacancies for every unemployed person. Immigration would help address both unemployment and inflation. New Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway also says it's more a social question than an economic one, and asks whether New Zealand wants to become a large country or not. Paul Conway joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the face of it, you'd have to say, it makes sense. Looking at it on paper; amalgamation, joining forces, strength in numbers. It gives you more oomph, more heft, more bargaining power, the ability to deliver bigger and better We've seen the failings of many of our DHBs, surely on the face of it; a centralised health system makes sense. Can a country of 5 million people sustain 16 polytechs and numerous industry training organisations? On the face of it, you'd have to say no. So a centralised polytech makes sense. Surely, a whole lot of little councils don't have the same ability to deliver services to their ratepayers in the way a Supercity can. Hence eight scrappy, litigious local bodies were amalgamated into one Auckland Supercity back in 2010. And how's that worked out for the residents of the Greater Auckland region? Well, according to some studies, Auckland Council has estimated that, in cash terms, it's running $316 million a year cheaper than if the eight councils had remained. And they've reached savings of $1.9 billion, which, if true, is a very good thing. It was interesting hearing Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive Simon Arcus this morning talking about the extra power a Super Wellington would be able to wield, should all the Wellington regional Councils merge. This has been bubbling away for some time since 2015. According to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce pre-election report ahead of this year’s local body elections, Wellington businesses feel overshadowed by central Government. They feel that the city is now synonymous with bureaucracy and politics, rather than business and innovation, for getting the very essence of the heart of the city. I think we'd be all agreed on that, wouldn't we? I would be really interested to hear from Wellingtonians as to whether this is the sort of initiative you would support. Do you believe that creating a Wellington super City by combining Wellington pudding or in the Hutt councils?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newstalk ZB Political Editor Barry Soper joined Kerre Woodham following Dr. Gaurav Sharma's expulsion from the Labour Party. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are renewed calls for a new super city, combining Wellington, Porirua and Lower Hutt. A new Wellington Chamber of Commerce pre-election report suggests business leaders would like the cities to merge. Chamber Chief Executive Simon Arcus says a Wellington super city would be able to deal with issues more efficiently and effectively than the current councils. He says a combined council would be a bigger economic voice to deal with the government. David Shand, a former Wellington City councillor and part of Auckland’s Royal Commission, which formed the supercity council in 2009, joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Jan Tinetti, the Associate Education Minister, is launching a nationwide school attendance campaign.  It's called Every School Day Is A Big Day. School attendance has been a long-term challenge, declining across the board since 2015, and that trend was of course further accelerated by Covid-19. Only two in five kids attend regularly. 40 percent. Even more of a concern is that only 5 percent of Kiwis consider attendance a top of mind issue. 5 percent.  Tinetti says she launched the attendance and engagement strategy in June of this year, which set some tough targets, and she wants to see the number of kids attending school regularly increase from 59.7 percent in 2021 to 70 percent in 2024, 75 percent in 2026. It’s going to be complicated; it is going to be tough because there are a number of issues at play here. We have poverty and we have housing insecurity, which makes it difficult to get kids to attend school regularly.  We've had Covid and the school closures; the online learning has meant kids have got out of the habit of attending school.  Parents have got out of the habit of getting them up, dressed and ready to go. Some children are anxious about going back to school because of the climate of fear that surrounded Covid.  There's bullying. You're not going to want to go to school if your life is going to be made misery and hell.  Can we all have a show of hands of how many think that this education system as it stands now is failing our children?  They have been let down by so many decisions made over the last couple of years. We need to give them better. They deserve better. Right now, any child that succeeds at school and comes out with incredible qualifications and is ready to face the world is the outlier, they are the exception, not the rule. Every child deserves to have a decent education and we are failing. We give ourselves an ‘F’ for failure, because that’s what we're delivering.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's hoping to balance out Covid messaging that has played a part in low school attendance. A campaign's launching today highlighting the importance of school attendance. Associate Education Minister, Jan Tinetti, says attendance has been declining since 2015, but Covid messaging has exacerbated the problem. She told Kerre Woodham asking students to stay at home when they're sick, has led some parents to think kids don't have to be at school every day. She says the campaign highlights how our kids are given the most choices and chances to succeed, when they are attending school. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Extraordinary this morning really, wasn't it? Did you hear the interview? I hope you did. Former Labour MP Louisa Wall gave us a hint that all was not necessarily light and love among the Labour Party faithful in her valedictory speech earlier this year. Remember when she said she was forced out of her Manurewa electorate before the last election by quote, the unconstitutional actions of the Party President and some members of Labour's governing body. She said she was devastated and she labelled the ouster corrupt. We thought that was quite something. Fancy that, Louisa Wall coming out and saying that she was being forced out of Parliament. She was told she was not wanted as an MP. She was unconstitutionally forced out of her own electorate and we thought things are bit grim there, not all is well. Then Dr Gaurav Sharma pressed the red button in a form of mutually assured destruction. The disgruntled Hamilton West MP claims he's been let down by parliamentary services and he says the system at Parliament is rotten and alleges a rampant culture of bullying within the Labour Party. He detailed his grievances with Mike Hosking this morning. He finished the interview by saying we could all draw our own conclusions when he was asked by Mike if the Prime Minister is lying. He didn't say yes or no, but he said draw your own conclusions. Where do you stand on this one? It's pretty clear his parliamentary career is over, he will be expelled. Should there be an official inquiry, you would have to say that Labour, in general, loves a good, enquiry. Should there be one into the matters that Doctor Sharma has raised? I would have thought yes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.