Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Good morning - and welcome to the working week - for those of you working from home, with little ones, good luck.  Be patient with yourselves - we'll find out today at 4pm from the PM what the plan is going forward, but all the reckons are pointing to a longer lockdown for Auckland and Wellington at least.  What happens with the South Island is anybody's guess - we'll of course be carrying that press conference live on ZB but I think we're all prepared for a longer stay at Level 4 with more than 290 places of interest in Auckland alone and numerous schools.  The Delta variant was always going to be a game changer and thus it has proven.  We're in a hard lockdown and likely to be for sometime.  On Saturday there were 52,206 doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered nationally. And the government has introduced mandatory sign ins for busy places and large gatherings to ensure contact tracers can get the jump on the virus.  Why they didn't make it mandatory full stop is beyond me but there we go - people have been complacent when it comes to signing in and that has made it tough for the contact tracers.  The obligation will now be on the person responsible for the venue or the gathering to ensure that people sign in - what about personal responsibility?  Surely the onus should be on the individual.ACT Party leader David Seymour says rather than using the stick, the government should be offering a carrot.  He has proposed a $5.2 million fund.  Each time a person scans, they go in the draw to win $1000 dollars.  There would be 100 prizes of a $1000 a week.  He told Mike Hosking that he had high hopes the government would see the sense in the lottery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The decision not to vaccinate all police staff before the public roll-out has left some officers baffled. There are estimated to be about 10,500 sworn police and about 3,000 non-sworn officers.  2523 frontline officers have received two doses. 2849 have received first dose. Given they are now on the frontline, enforcing a Level four lockdown, questions are being raised as to whether this is acceptable.Police Association President Chris Cahill joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What a mess. The images of Afghan nationals desperately trying to leave for somewhere, anywhere, as the Taliban approached Kabul was reminiscent of the US leaving Vietnam. What a shambles - at a press conference yesterday, the PM said she and key colleagues had been keeping an eye on the situation in Afghanistan as it deteriorated.And on Sunday, together with the Chief of Defence, they began to put procedures in place to see how they might evacuate both New Zealand citizens and Afghan nationals with Kiwi connections. It's those nationals who worked with allied troops and NGOs that are in real schtuck - they are legitimately fearful for their lives. There are 53 New Zealanders currently in Afghanistan and around 37 personnel who worked with the NZDF and an in principle; a decision has been made to get them out. Great idea, but how on earth are they going to do that? You've seen the scenes at the airport, other countries are desperately trying to get their own people out of the place and helping out New Zealand will be far down the list. Cabinet has also approved an NZDF Hercules being deployed to Afghanistan along with 40 personnel, although whether they'll get there, what they'll do and how long they'll stay is anybody's guess.I know the UN peacekeepers don't have a great track record in recent times, but you'd have to wonder whether an international transition force might provide reassurance for the ordinary people of Afghanistan, or whether the Taliban would see it as still more international meddling. Nobody who has had anything to do with the country sees it as having a long term peaceful future without the support of external factors, including former PM and UN administrator Helen Clark.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A unique school in Christchurch's central city has parents lining up to get their children into it.Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discover is a state-funded special character school that currently has 193 on its wait list.Students work on a 'high-trust model', directing their own learning and can learn anytime anywhere, including off-site if it's agreed.There is also a cohort of students who are not able to attend full-time education.Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery principal Anita Yarwood joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All Blacks' 57-22 Rugby Championship victory over Australia for the weekend was marred by a half-empty Eden Park.Ticket prices were roughly the same as last week, with Sky subscribers getting a last minute two for one deal when it was realised ticket sales were poor.Newstalk ZB Sports editor Matt Brown says the lure of the All Blacks is not quite what it was, especially with this seemingly being the last home test for the year."The reality is, it hasn't been cancelled yet, but the South African test will move to Australia because of the border situation."Brown says there's been so much feedback around the world on the crowd, which has had a negative impact.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another weekend, another senseless loss of a young life.Zion Purukamu, 16, died at Christchurch Hospital after being stabbed at a 17th birthday party. Two teenagers aged 14 and 17 were also stabbed at the Fendalton property remain in a serious but stable condition in hospital.It's understood that an Airbnb had been rented for the party, and trouble started when gate crashers turned up and were turned away.  The property had been rented through Airbnb, listed by Christchurch Holiday Homes, which makes you wonder if enough checks and balances are done on who's renting properties on the books.  One of the company’s directors, Susan Harrison, believed the guest who booked it had a legitimate account, which meant they were over 18.Police have spoken to the Airbnb renter.   The property’s rules include not having guests after 10pm.Harrison yesterday said they thought it was strange the booking was for two people in a large house, but a staffer had passed the property earlier in the evening and not noticed anything untoward.  The mother of a girl who attended the party said it was a girl's birthday party and the house had been rented for that purpose when uninvited guests showed up, some of whom were kicked out. It brings back very raw memories of when a couple of young teenagers were stabbed in our neighbourhood when my daughter was a teenager. She was desperate to host a party for her best friend when my then husband and I were going away for the weekend, and we were adamant it wouldn't happen. Not because we didn't trust her - it was just there had been ample tragic evidence that things could get out of hand through no fault of their own. There was much flouncing and huffing on both sides and in the end we compromised on hiring an apartment that was part of a hotel complex that could host six young people and that had security so nobody could just wander in to the party. It's tricky though. And a tricky age. And if people are hell bent on breaking rules, they will. But at least make it hard for them. Relying on a staffer doing a drive by to ensure all is well probably isn't gold standard security. And it does make me very nervous about renting out property to just anyone.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former SAS commander says New Zealand has a moral obligation to help Afghan civilians, who supported New Zealand soldiers in the country.All commercial flights have been suspended from Kabul Airport as Taliban forces have swept in to Afghanistan's capital after taking control of other cities.Cabinet's reviewing immigration cases for about 38 interpreters and civilian workers, who could face retribution from the militant group.Chris Parsons, who served in Afghanistan, told Kerre McIvor it makes sense to help them.“I think we've already established that when we accepted interpreters coming back in 2012, and that was fantastic to see - those people and their families repatriated and brought to New Zealand.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The finger pointing continues in a bid to shift the blame over a major power cut in the North Island.About 20,000 homes were left in the dark on Monday night, after Transpower asked providers to ease network demand.Genesis Energy's Chief Executive claims the company's portfolio showed there was capacity to manage the demand.Marc England says they couldn't fire up an extra generator by the time the risk was apparent.But Transpower's Head of Grid Delivery John Clark says it issued the first notice at 6.00am.He says during the day it was escalated to a warning notice, and then finally to a grid emergency around 5.00pm.Bob Weir, former General Manager of Generation and Trading at Genesis Energy joined Kere McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Questions are being asked over why parts of the country have suffered power cuts due to insufficient power being generated.Around 20,000 North Island households had power cuts last night after Transpower asked lines companies to reduce loads on their networks, as demand surged because of cold temperatures.The national grid operator claims there wasn't enough electricity being generated to keep up with record demand created by cold temperatures.There's been suggestions it's the result of electricity generators focusing on profit over security of supply.Bob Weir, former General Manager of Generation and Trading at Genesis Energy joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m slightly worried about exploding e-scooters.It was reported yesterday that a Beam e-scooter’s battery exploded in an inner city Auckland street, luckily no one was on it at the time.Witnesses reported an ‘ear-splitting bang’ and smoke billowing from it.Pieces went flying from it too apparently, fortunately there was no fire, and no one too close by, but imagine if someone had been on that? Or next to it?It’s nothing short of pure good luck that it happened and didn’t injure anyone.Beam’s not alone in malfunctioning scooters, Lime had difficulties back in 2018.In fact, Fire and Emergency warned in a report that there’ll be a rise in incidents related to lithium-ion batteries. And this of course is due to the rise in devices being powered by them these days. Electric cars, vapes, as well as e-scooters.I’m not actually a fan of these scooters, due to the way they appear to whiz around the place with few considerations for pedestrians.I watched an elderly man get the fright of his life the other day at a busy intersection when he was crossing the road and an e-scooter tore past, turning right across him taking him by total surprise.It very nearly clipped him, but the rider just whizzed on by without a care in the world. And that’s the problem often with these types of things; they attract a certain cowboy wild west approach from the riders.The scooter market has exploded (no lithium-ion pun intended), so we seem saturated with them these days.But who’s actually taking care of them, looking after them, checking the batteries aren’t going to explode, and watching out for dangerous places they get dumped?The scooter companies are supposed to, but how often do you see scooters littered all over the streets in ways that create hazards for walkers. It must be an absolute nightmare for anyone with vision impairment.I also think the rules around them are too loose.Waka Kotahi says ‘E-scooters can be used on the footpath or the road – except in designated cycle lanes. On the footpath the user must operate the device in a careful and considerate manner, operate the device at a speed that does not put other footpath users at risk, give way to both pedestrians and drivers of mobility devices.’Is any of that happening? Who’s checking? You don’t even have to wear helmets on them. I mean it’s recommended but it’s not mandatory.So we have a plethora of these things zipping around our cities, lying across our footpaths, and now, exploding.Do you know, by the way, what happens when a scooter explodes? You can report the malfunction online. If you were riding it, you can get a refund. And just be grateful it didn’t take your eye out when it blew up I guess.I wasn’t a fan of e-scooters in the first place; I’m even less of a fan now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.