Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

It was pretty ugly yesterday afternoon, wasn't it? What began with creches and concerts and herb gardens and Kumbaya ended in violence and arson. The Wellington protesters believed they had right on their side. They believed they had all of New Zealand behind them. But ultimately, they believe that their rights superseded the rights of other New Zealanders to go about their business, to go to school, to commute, to work. Their rights don't supersede the rights of other New Zealanders.  Protest all you like; I take my hat off to you. If you feel strongly enough, compelled enough to get out of your comfort zone to go somewhere to raise your head above the parapet and say, I think this is wrong, good for you. But the moment you break the law, the moment you say your beliefs trump mine and I have to seed my right of way to you, you no longer have my support or sympathy. Should the police have acted sooner? I really think it would have been ghastly if they'd moved in the first week. Even the second week. Once the peaceful protesters had upped sticks and gone, then that was the time to go - had they gone in earlier it would have been really ugly. I don't want to see violence, but at the same time I do not want to see protesters think they have the right to supersede my rights. They don't. You have your strong belief, you hold on to it. You protest, you protest lawfully, do not impinge on my rights. And once we start seeing walls around Parliament. That will really brass me off too. Do we need to block off Parliament to the public in general? Or should we just cherry pick and close up the nutters carrying placards with death threats? I'd hate to see protests at Parliament ended because some people acted unlawfully. I think protests at Parliament can be powerful and they can be meaningful. This one wasn't.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, yesterday we got an apology from the Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, over delays in people receiving their Covid test results last week.  He said, as if it was some sort of revelation, that higher test positivity rates meant pooling or batch testing became unfeasible and thus processing tests took longer. There were also problems because they had vacancies in the labs that they couldn't fill and the labs were already down workers because many were in isolation because of the virus. Well, shock me. How is any of this news?  Even those of us without any kind of laboratory qualifications, any qualifications at all really, other than an ability to listen to the radio and to read the news, knew that this was going to be a problem, as Omicron spread as more and more people became positive as the R rate grew higher and higher.  I get angry that more people aren't angry about this. Give them the first six months. But since that time, they're making the same mistakes. They're not consulting with other people with far more relevant expertise than they have. They're not listening to the people on the ground saying we haven't got what we need to do the job. If they don't know, they'll just take a wild stab in the dark and in a way,  I feel sorry for some of the Government ministers, but right now the Government ministers should be putting the blowtorch on the feet of those public officials. You are letting us down as government ministers, we're parlaying wrong information.  You are letting the people of New Zealand down who are trying to do the best in the face of the most bewildering array of instructions, counter instructions and messaging.  You are leading down, I think most importantly those poor under siege, beleaguered public health workers who are doing their best and impossible conditions. It is simply not good enough, and if you get cross that I'm banging on and on about the failings of the Ministry of Health, I'm even more cross that you don't care.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Tuesday the 1st of March and what a red letter day! Today is a day of joy and unabashed delight.  Looking overseas, we have almost universal pressure from the world on Russia to end its occupation of Ukraine, it's I think the first time I have seen in my lifetime the world coming together and saying no, this is unacceptable and they're prepared to put money where their mouths are in terms of the sanctions, in terms of not allowing Russian athletes deployments across the board, it's just about every sphere.  The major democracies of the world finally showing that they do indeed have cojones in putting significant and meaningful sanctions on Russia. Make no mistake this will hurt Putin and Russia.  Closer to home, self-isolation is over for returning Kiwis. Finally, finally a little bit of common sense!  We are so lucky to live in an age of FaceTime and Zoom, but nothing, absolutely nothing beats the connection of a full body hug between people who love one another, just who haven't seen each other for ages and ages.  Then, overnight we have the announcement of a most excellent trade deal that's been negotiated between New Zealand and the UK. The deal will cut costs for New Zealand exporters provide significantly greater access to the UK market and advance other issues important to news.   50 years later, we're back almost where we started with Britain.  So a great day for New Zealand all round!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's praise all around for New Zealand rea$ching a free trade deal with the United Kingdom. Trade Minister Damien O'Connor says our free trade deal with the UK is a gold standard agreement. The UK has agreed to eliminate tariffs on our exports, with duties removed on 99.5 percent of current trade into the UK. Kiwi exporters are expected to save about 37 million a year on tariff elimination alone. It's expected to boost our GDP by $700 million to $1 billion. Laura Clarke is the British High Commissioner to New Zealand and she joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've been discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine overnight. Ukrainian forces are battling Russian invaders on three sides after Moscow mounted an assault by land, sea and air. Thousands of Ukrainians are fleeing to neighbouring countries, including Poland, Hungary and Romania. New Zealand has joined other Western leaders in condemning the invasion and imposing sanctions against Russia. For an explainer as to why this is happening, Director of International Studies at Otago University, Professor Robert Patman joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was interesting reading the New Zealand Herald headline "Ready, set, go! Employers brace for the Kiwi worker exodus as borders reopen." Over the past couple of months, I've received numerous texts and the old email from people saying, right that's it, I'm off to Australia. Mostly they’re people who identify themselves as young professionals, which is concerning. I haven't heard this much chat about heading to OZ, because of dissatisfaction with the way the country is going, since the final days of the Helen Clark years. That anecdotal kind of evidence is shored up with the story in the Herald. Recruiters and employers are really concerned about the skills shortage right now. It's already tight, but they say if bright young Kiwis head off on their delayed OE, and the government border restrictions mean bright young internationals can't come here and replace them, then we're in shtook. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Urgent changes to government policy are needed to control the conversion of sheep and beef farms to pine trees for carbon farming, according to a discussion paper funded by councils and farmers. The paper, by former Hastings Mayor and National Party MP Lawrence Yule, argues that short-term land-use decisions are being made to the detriment of long-term land-use flexibility, rural communities and export returns. Lawrence Yule joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we move into phase three of the Government’s Covid plan and learn to live with Covid in the community, I would have to wonder whether this government can continue to justify locking thousands of New Zealanders out of their own country.  Yesterday we had 6137 community cases recorded of Omicron in the country. There would be many, many more than that. There were 338 cases detected at the border.  So, given that, how on Earth can the Government justify keeping up these facilities? Even excluding the humanitarian concerns, I am absolutely certain that defence personnel and the police and the numerous bureaucrats involved in running MIQ  could be better deployed elsewhere.  Continuing with restrictions that simply don't make any sense will ultimately do more harm than the virus will ever do. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don't know about you, but just about everyone who can work from home is working from home right now at this company, NZME.  It's been pretty much that way since the first lockdown two years ago.  Apart from brief sort of bursts of normality and then it's back to being like the parrot on the Marie Celeste, wondering where everybody is gone.  For some people who joined the company over the past 24 months, they've only ever known Zoom meetings and using their bedroom as an office. Which means for those working at home that when they need a coffee, they put the jug on. When they break for lunch, it's last night's leftovers or a quick sandwich, or if it's the day before the supermarket shop, quick run up to the Hot Buns bakery on the corner for a special treat.   That has had a huge impact on Central City and the many, many businesses the central city used to support. It's prompted a plea from the chief of New Zealand's largest commercial landlord for businesses to please, please let their staff back into the city.  Scott Pritchard, Chief Executive of Precinct Properties, says in Commercial Bay, for example, which is a gorgeous new shopping area in downtown Auckland, there might be at any time pre pandemic 8000 people populating the precinct at the moment. It's around three 3000 currently.  5000 people down. Scott Pritchard says the consequences of empty offices are dire.  The shops, the restaurants, the bars, the galleries cannot be mothballed for months on end until people feel safe again - and I really understand what he's saying.  Some people have to work at home, for others who have the choice they prefer to be at home. They don't miss the commute. They don't miss the expense of parking. They don't miss the office politics. They like working from home.  And others who work for multinational companies must take their orders from their foreign masters. These CEOs have seen the havoc wreaked by the pandemic in Europe, the States and Australia and want to avoid that here, so their employees aren't given a choice. They must stay home. So when Scott Pritchard says come back, it's not as simple as Oh, OK.  And while I love the inner city and the vibrancy of so many people in a confined space having a great time, is it everybody's idea of a good time? Have people's idea of what a good time is changed since the start of the pandemic?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sport NZ has today launched #itsmymove - a campaign to help young women get and stay active their way. It has been developed to address declining physical activity levels in teenage girls. Research undertaken by Sport NZ shows young women increasingly opt out of formal sporting environments as they grow older. By age 17, the top three activities young women undertake are running, workouts and walking. Some of the reasons they opt out include body image, judgement, time pressures, motivation and loss of fun. Sport New Zealand Chief Executive Raelene Castle joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.