Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

A Hawke’s Bay group is helping households tackle food waste.  An average of 130,000 tonnes of food is wasted each year in New Zealand – 86kgs per household, resulting in $1326 down the drain.  Every Bite is a four-week programme run by Sustainable Hawke’s Bay, designed to help households become more food resourceful and reduce waste.  Acting General Manager Sam Paterson told Kerre Woodham the programme is teaching a variety of things – not only how to cook, but how to substitute ingredients, and make new things.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has set a deadline for the new Interisland ferries.  Two new ferries are due to arrive in 2029, and the wharf currently home to the Aratere ferry is set to be demolished within a year to make room for infrastructure that can support the new ships.  Ferry Holdings Ltd has initiated discussions with KiwiRail and the Port of Marlborough to understand the infrastructure required to meet the deadline.   Chair Chris Mackenzie joined Kerre Woodham to delve into what is being planned for the ports.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you copyright a recipe?   Two Australian cookbook authors are clashing over claims of plagiarised recipes.  Nagi Maehashi, who runs the popular food blog RecipeTin Eats, says influencer Brooke Bellamy's new cookbook ‘Bake with Brooki’ contains uncannily similar ingredients, quantities, and instructions for a caramel slice and baklava.   Food writer and cookbook Author Allyson Gofton told Kerre Woodham that since baking doesn’t differ that much on a basic level, where copyright would come into the argument would be in the method and how it’s written.   She says that unless the text is copied word for word, it would be very hard to prove, especially for classics like baklava.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest addition to the school curriculum will have kids learning about money.  The Education Minister's making financial literacy a compulsory topic for Years 1-10.  Several financial organisations, banks, and charities have partnered with the Government to deliver lessons on investment and taxes.  Paua Wealth Management CEO Donna Nicolof told Kerre Woodham this is one of the single best initiatives implemented by the government.  Nicolof has taught financial literacy in both Primary and Secondary schools, and she says the earlier children are taught, the better.   She said she’d read some research on breaking the poverty cycle by teaching seven and eight year old children the basic concepts of budgeting and saving, and in her experience, they’re absolutely able to pick this stuff up.   Kids are able to understand concepts like the differences between needs and wants, budgeting, saving, and living within your means – things Nicolof says sets them up to make better decisions in life.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reducing the Interislander fleet by one could have wide-ranging implications, including on people's pockets.    Aratere will retire late this year or early next when demolition begins on its aged dock to add infrastructure for new ships.  Two new ferries aren't due until 2029.  Transporting New Zealand Chief Executive Dom Kalasih told Kerre Woodham it could affect ferry fares – with the addition of supply chain costs.   He's asking road freight supply customers to work with them as they navigate the changes.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Although some towns are feeling the pinch after the opening of motorways that bypass their towns, not all are struggling.  More than 22,500 vehicles used to pass through Warkworth every day, but since the opening of the Ara Tūhono section of State Highway 1, businesses have reported a drop in business.  However, Ōtaki has been thriving since the opening of the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway in 2022.  Ōtaki Business Association Member and Owner of Black and Co Quality Leather NZ Leon Kingi told Kerre Woodham that it’s opened the town back up to locals.  He says that since they no longer have to avoid the traffic, more people are coming into town deliberately to shop and enjoy the local businesses.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was really disturbing to read the opening paragraph of this story on the murder of Juliana Bonilla Herrera. Truly frightening. It reads that high risk offenders are regularly being paroled from prison and into the community. It came from a senior Corrections staff member who was speaking at the coronial inquest into the murder of the Columbian woman. There is a shortage of suitable rehabilitation and accommodation options for high-risk offenders coming out of prison, and accordingly, other high-risk offenders, those with an even greater risk profile, are regularly being released into the community. And the public is not allowed to know who these high-risk offenders are.   At the coronial inquest, Miss Bonilla Herrera's sister asked whether officials considered it necessary to warn neighbours of any possible danger when a high-risk offender comes out of prison and into the neighbourhood? The coroner said this was beyond the scope of the witnesses to answer. But it begs the question, and it's been asked before, and we're asking it again, when does an offender's privacy trump the public safety?   I'm sure there are plenty of people who come out of prison who realise that they have committed a grievous wrong against an individual and against society, they have paid the price, and they are ready to assimilate into the community, having learned their lesson. But there are so many examples of individuals who come out of prison who have learnt nothing, who are perhaps incapable of learning any lessons.   An example, and there are many, for more than a decade, Elliot Cameron had been a familiar sight for a small group of Mt Pleasant neighbours who had him do their gardens. Unbeknown to them, he was actually a mental health patient who had been living at Hillmorton Hospital for many years. Last year Elliot Cameron murdered 83-year-old Faye Phelps, who was one of those who employed him to do the garden in her own home.   Another example: a man has been found not guilty of murder by way of insanity two decades after being found not guilty of murder by way of insanity. Another example, a 501 deportee who murdered a woman had a string of convictions in Australia, but police were unable to monitor him because the crimes had happened in Australia and he'd served his time for them, and therefore to all intents and purposes he was just another human. But he isn't and wasn't.   I really do get that when people serve their time they should be given the opportunity to get on with their lives. Not everybody who comes out of prison needs to be monitored, needs to have a layer of security around them to protect the public from them. But when you have Corrections staff and probation officers and psychologists who know the individual, who know the calibre of the person and they deem them to be high risk, and they say that there are very grave concerns about the releasing this person back into society, there needs to be all sorts of monitoring around them, they need to be in a special rehabilitation centre before they can feel comfortable about releasing them back into the community.   When they deem them to be high risk, how can they be allowed back into society? We know that the support measures simply are not there. Once they're released from prison, it's ‘Jesus, take the wheel’. Will they gert the bed at the rehabilitation centre, who knows? Probably not. It'll be full. Will they get the strict monitoring that's necessary? Chances are not really. In this particular case at the coronial inquest, the probation officer found that the probation arrangements hadn't been entered into the computer properly. Oops. Soz.   You can have no faith in the system that when there's high risk individuals come out of prison that the protections will be there for them and for the public. I don't have any faith they'll be there at all, and anybody who works in the system doesn't have any faith they'll be there. And yet, the public can't be warned because they have a right to privacy. And again, I asked the question: why did their rights to privacy trump the public's right to safety? If there are no guarantees, if they are still considered high risk then unfortunately, they're going to have to stay in prison because their rights should not trump ours. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We know airfares are expensive, right? Everybody, and I mean everybody, I know who's booked flights recently has made the comment that an overseas flight is cheaper than flying just about anywhere around New Zealand – especially to the provincial centres. Easter was huge in terms of airfares, but even on your normal everyday Wednesday morning, flying to Timaru, flying to Tauranga, it's going to set you back a fortune.   We've been complaining about Air New Zealand's pricing now ever since we could get back in the air again after Covid, but what can we do? Air New Zealand says its experienced more cost inflation in the past three years than was typically seen in a decade, with Covid, a weak New Zealand dollar, and geopolitics all to blame.   Richard Thompson, Air New Zealand's Chief Financial Officer says their costs over the past 3.5 years have gone up by roughly 30%. Domestic airfares on average have gone up by around 24%, so they're trying to absorb the costs, they say. He argues that flying is still a relatively affordable way to get around the country, with every $400 or $500 fare, he says, there are thousands of examples of $129 fares or even $99 fares. He said I was speaking with someone before Christmas who wanted to get from Timaru to Napier. They were paying $600 or $700 one way.   But what's the alternative? You drive to Picton. It'll cost you $100 in gas. If you take the ferry across, that's another $250 or $300. Then another $50 or $60 in gas to get to Napier. He said driving isn't cheap either. But now the government's getting in on the act. Associate Transport Minister James Meager is not ruling out underwriting the expansion of small regional airlines to help maintain routes and keep the price of flying competitive. But truly, the thing is we simply do not have the population base to support viable competition. How many airlines have tried and failed to establish themselves in the market? Just thinking back, in the last couple of decades, Freedom Air, Kiwi Air, and Ansett - they came, they tried, they failed.   Don't get me wrong, competition is a good thing. We do have Jetstar, bless them and where they fly, you'll generally find the routes are the most competitive in terms of airfares, and the most reliable – because let's not forget about reliability. And I don't think that's a coincidence. I'm supposed to be flying to Tauranga in a couple of weeks for the day, for a job. And I'm supposed to be flying down on Saturday morning and flying back on Saturday evening. I have absolutely no confidence that that will happen. None. I mean, I hope it does, because there's a film crew down there and it will be a costly exercise if I fail to make it. I'm not planning anything for that particular Saturday night because the last time I flew to Tauranga, I got down there fine and then sat for just under 7 hours in the regional lounge waiting for a plane that never came, or it didn't come for a very, very long time. And yes, you can drive, but it's a horrible drive. But what do you do? It's a horrible drive or you accept that there's a very real chance that the plane won't take off when it says it's going to.    Why, though, is the government interfering in the market? I found it really interesting that successive governments, Labour and National have wanted to tinker with privately owned businesses like supermarkets, and petrol companies, and banks, and now the airlines. They want to sort of tweak and fiddle around to try and bring prices down and make things more competitive, and it's all about the consumer and you know.   Fabulous. Why don't they bring down the price of power? That's something they do control. The governments are in charge of that. Not everybody flies, we all use electricity. It is what it is. It's expensive to run an airline. Really expensive now in the wake of Covid and it's all been outlined as to why it's so expensive. Flying is expensive. We know that. We baulk at paying the prices if we can. They will allow some subsidies if you're going for a funeral, if there's humanitarian reasons for getting somewhere quickly.   Air New Zealand can allow for cheaper airfares, but ultimately, do we want the government, that is the taxpayer, subsidising competition in the aviation industry?  I wouldn't have thought that was a good use of taxpayer money. Why on Earth should other taxpayers who don't fly, subsidise those who want to flit off to Hawkes Bay or Queenstown for a jolly. I just don't see why the government should be interfering with the business of flying planes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Airfares are still on the rise, and the Government is considering getting involved.  It hasn’t ruled out underwriting the expansion of small regional airlines to help maintain routes and keep the price of tickets competitive.   Associate Transport Minister in charge of Aviation, James Meager says he’s uncomfortable with the idea of flying becoming accessible only to the wealthy.   NZ Airports Association CEO Billie Moore told Kerre Woodham they have to be upfront in that no airline is really going to go up against a government-owned carrier like Air New Zealand on existing routes.  She says it's not a viable option, particularly for smaller carriers.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaking of the bad weather, it brings me to the emergency mobile alerts. The emergency mobile alerts came about because Fire and Emergency and the National Emergency Management Agency and other agencies including New Zealand Police, Ministry of Primary Industries and Ministry of Health use emergency mobile alerts to alert people if their lives, property or health are at serious risk. I'm pretty sure they came about during Covid, I can't recall them before then you might, but I think it was pretty much a Covid response and that's continued to include any other times where lives, property or health are at serious risk. Over the past week. Aucklander’s have received about four or five emergency alerts on their phones, and I'll tell you what, they give you an absolute conniption when they start screeching. You know it takes you right back, the adrenaline surges through, you think, fight or flight ... okay there's bad weather coming. Well, yes, a cyclone had been forecast to be arriving over the North Island. So, you would imagine with a tropical cyclone bad weather comes - thunderstorms, the potential for flooding. And then the next lot of emergency alerts came to warn of the potentials of dangerous gases as a result of a recycling plant in a suburb of Auckland going up in flames and once that fire started, many, many suburbs around the fire were advised to stay inside and then another alert gave the all clear sometime later. I do understand that Civil Defence is damned if they do and damned if they don't. Some Aucklander’s were asking why they weren't warned about the severe thunderstorms and deluges on the Friday night of Easter weekend. But surely, we all knew that a cyclone was sitting over the North Island, and cyclones bring rain and thunderstorms. But there was criticism because they hadn't been warned, so therefore we got warnings up the Ying Yang in response. Meteorologists defended themselves, saying well, thunderstorms are notoriously difficult to predict, and weather is notoriously difficult to predict. We saw that with Gabrielle as well. In February 2023, the Esk River in Hawkes Bay burst its banks and flooded the entire valley. Hundreds of Hawkes Bay residents woke in the middle of a nightmare, with water surging through their homes, and there was no alert, no warning, they hadn't been evacuated from the area, and yet the cyclone had been predicted. Schools had been closed in Hamilton and Tauranga and those areas were unaffected but Hawkes Bay was absolutely hammered. It's an imperfect science, an imprecise and inexact science. Are we depending far too much on meteorologists who can give you a broad spectrum? - we can expect thunderstorms, we can expect electric storms, we can expect heavy rain over the next week, we can't tell you that it's going to arrive at your house at this time, so be prepared. And I wonder if too many people are expecting that from authorities and from decision makers. We've become very used to having people tell us what we should do, how we should do it, to keep ourselves safe. I'm not entirely sure you can do that with weather. It is unpredictable. It changes. Meteorologists will tell you that they can really only give you a broad spectrum. And if you're depending on government agencies to tell you what to do and where to go and how you should cope, I think that way lies disaster, really. Because you'll think, well, I haven't had a warning, so I should be fine. People will let me know if I'm in danger and you start to lose your Spidey instinct, you start to lose your Spidey senses. Too many alerts are going to mean that people will just switch off. They'll either switch off their phones and say I'm not going to have my heart racing and my pulse racing and the adrenaline surging through me for a fire that's happening ten suburbs over that really doesn't affect me. If we start to switch off, then again, emergency services will be blamed because they sent out too many. I suppose it's helpful having someone to blame other than God and the weather? But when did weather become such a big deal that it dominates the news. Meteorologists are becoming the new public health officials. And when did we stop using our common sense and relying on government agencies to tell us what to do in weather. Do you need to know through your emergency mobile alerts, what is happening? Does that give you the opportunity to take precautions? What purpose does the agency serve? I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this one.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.