Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

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.

Questions whether changes are needed in shipping as the Delta Covid variant rages.Container ship Rio De La Plata has 11 crew with the virus.No crew went onshore but 94 Port of Tauranga workers who'd spent time on the vessel are being stood down while getting Covid tests.The cases are linked to an Australian pilot who was onboard in Queensland last month and later tested positive for the Delta variant.Maritime Union national secretary Craig Harrison told Kerre McIvor shipping companies should take responsibility for testing and vaccinating workers."I'm sure a lot of countries in the Pacific would welcome the know that the vessels coming in have had the crew vaccinated or carrying regular tests onboard the vessel or at each port call."Harrison hopes that staff stood down will get paid.Public health staff took the test swabs in Tauranga, as part of the requirements for entry for the vessel to its next stop in Napier.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The community of Timaru is reeling – most of New Zealand is reeling from the news yesterday of another senseless car crash that has claimed five young lives. Just one survivor – the driver – and five families utterly devastated. My thoughts are with the families and the poor first responders – what an absolute nightmare for police and emergency services. You could see the despair on the face of the Aoraki Area Commander Inspector Dave Gaskin – he knows the family of one of the boys and he said it's a tragedy that will reverberate around the community for a long time. As he said, it’s one of the worst jobs we do. The driver has yet to speak to police but he has already posted on social media to let his friends no he's alive, and that he is very, very sorry for the stupid mistakes he has made that has cost five lives. He will have his own battles in the weeks and months ahead – how on earth do you live with yourself when you've caused so much carnage – and again we come back to how we protect young people from themselves and their poor decision making. Nathan Wallis is a neuroscience educator and child development expert was on the MHB this morning and he says scaring kids straight doesn't work – they have to be given the tools to make the right decisions early.We've all done stupid things and most of us have walked away from them. If you have children you will know the absolute terror involved in letting them go out, go away for the weekend – putting the white light around them until they're home safely. I gave up alcohol while Kate was at school so that Kezza's Cut Throat Kabs was available at any hour of the day or night to go and collect my daughter and her friends. The rule was no questions asked at the time, although there may be some questions in the morning. But ultimately you just have to hope and pray they get through the very worst of those teenage years – until their frontal cortexes have sufficiently developed. It must bring back awful memories for those who have already lost children in senseless accidents. Can we help protect kids from themselves and their immature decision making? Or is getting a teenager safely into their adult years simply by guess or by god?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Disarray in the National Party after the re-election of Peter Goodfellow as President.After the vote at National's annual conference over the weekend, former MP David Carter resigned, saying he had zero confidence in his leadership.Carter says he has zero confidence in Goodfellow as President.A Newshub poll also shows half of National voters want Collins out and rural New Zealanders are saying National is no longer the party for them.Political commentator and former National staffer Monique Poirier told Kerre McIvor the membership isn't happy with Goodfellow."He is a good fundraiser and I think that has to be acknowledged, but it is probably fair to say membership is disappointed with his re-election."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Auckland school has had to apologise to a student expelled for swearing at a teacher in 2019.Macleans College has been told to say sorry to the teenager, after his family lodged a formal complaint to the Ombudsman.The student was expelled after telling a teacher to "F*** off" in an argument over an iPad, which the Year 13 boy was allowed to use due to writing difficulties.The college has strict rules about where and when devices can be used, but the Chief Ombudsman ruled the student's behaviour was not gross misconduct.Kerre McIvor spoke to Kerry White, Principal of Holy Family Catholic School in Adelaide who in his 38 years as a Principal has never expelled or suspended one of his students.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unemployment has plunged to 4 per cent - the biggest quarterly fall in 35 yearsThat's down from 4.7 percent in the three months to March, and also down from the recent peak of 5.3 percent in the three months to September last year.To provide some context, New Zealand Herald Wellington Business Editor Hamish Rutherford joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government was warned it's efforts to tackle New Zealand's housing affordability issues could be hampered by wood shortages.The issue has become so significant, Building and Construction Minister Poto Williams is considering limiting timber exports to ensure there is enough in the country.  This comes as the cost of building materials continues to rise, pushing up house prices.Phil Taylor, President of the Forest Owners Association joined Kerre McIvor to discuss.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwis are being urged to keep an eye on tightening mortgage rules.  The Reserve Bank wants to halve the number of people borrowing more than 80 percent of the property's value - cutting the number to ten percent.Rules restricting risky lending could be in place from October.To discuss the implications, One Roof commentator Ashley Church joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to the latest Newshub Reid Research poll, if an election was held tomorrow Labour could no longer govern alone. They could get there with the Greens, but their absolute majority would be over.  The big winners are ACT, jumping 4.2 per cent to 11.1; National is stagnant, up just 1.7 per cent to 28.7 percent. That must be a worry for Judith Collins although she told NewsHub they were just being silly when they pushed her on Seymour popularity over hers. And to a certain extent she's right. It would still be a centre-left government, Jacinda Arden would still be the prime minister if an election was held tomorrow. If, would be, could be - we're a long way to an election but according to David Seymour, there are promising signs for centre right and right leaning parties in the poll. A glimmer of hope that voters are becoming dissatisfied with Labour's management on a number of issues.Labour strategists would be concerned by the drop in the polls but surely not unduly so. Yes, support for Labour is falling but support for a centre left government has not. Jacinda Ardern is still the preferred prime minister and in the absence of a viable alternative for the swinging centre voters, they'll still stick with the devil they know. But David Seymour is right to be upbeat and optimistic about his party's chances to capitalise on Labour's urgency to push through reforms while they can.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.