Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appealed Tuesday for resolve and a “spirit of togetherness” through the winter as he unveiled new restrictions on everyday life to suppress a dramatic spike in coronavirus cases.Warning that the measures could last for six months, Johnson voiced hope that “things will be far better by the spring” when a vaccine and mass testing could be in place.The most high-profile change centered on pubs, restaurants and other entertainment venues in England, which from Thursday must close at 10 p.m. In a change of emphasis, Johnson urged people to work from home where possible. He said stiff fines will be imposed on anyone breaking quarantine rules or gathering in groups of more than six, while the use of face masks will be expanded to include passengers in taxis and staff at bars and shops.He said further restrictions might have to be introduced if people fail to abide by the rules.“If we follow these simple rules together, we will get through this winter together,” Johnson said in a prime-time televised address. “But now is the time for us all to summon the discipline, and the resolve, and the spirit of togetherness that will carry us through.”In a speech with deliberate echoes of World War II communal spirit, Johnson said that “never in our history has our collective destiny and our collective health depended so completely on our individual behavior.”The other nations of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — also tightened restrictions, going further in some cases.The new curbs came as the U.K. recorded 4,926 new confirmed coronavirus cases, the highest daily total since early May and four times the figure of a month ago.Many scientists see echoes of the path of the outbreak earlier in the year when the virus spread swiftly through the country and led to Europe's deadliest outbreak. The U.K. has seen 41,825 people die within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19.Johnson had told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Tuesday that barring a vaccine or new forms of mass testing, “we should assume that the restrictions I have announced will remain in place for perhaps six months.”He said that if the new curbs did not slow the outbreak, “we reserve the right to deploy greater firepower, with significantly greater restrictions.”Johnson's government has faced a barrage of criticism over its handling of the pandemic, notably over big problems in the testing regime.It has also been criticized over its perceived mixed messaging and sudden lurches in policy.Just last month it was encouraging people back to pubs and restaurants with a discount scheme. Only weeks ago, Johnson was encouraging workers to go back into offices to keep city centers from becoming ghost towns, and had even expressed hope that society could return to normal by Christmas.Some lawmakers from Johnson’s governing Conservative Party remain uneasy about tightening restrictions on business and daily life, citing civil liberties and the impact on Britain’s already-reeling economy.Johnson, who was hospitalized in intensive care with the coronavirus in April, said he was “deeply, spiritually reluctant to make any of these impositions, or infringe anyone’s freedom.”But he said “the tragic reality of having COVID is that your mild cough can be someone else’s death knell.”Some scientists think it's inevitable that further restrictions will have be imposed.Dr. David Strain, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter, said most transmission is happening socially and the government should have done more to limit social gatherings. At present, six people from six different households can meet in England.“Closing down restaurants and pubs earlier will do little to stave the spread for as long as multiple different households can interchangeably meet up,” he said.Governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, I don't know about you but last night it was appointment viewing for the first time in a long while with the first Leader's Debate. I know it's not a blood sport as the Prime Minister said, and that was a good thing. I thought there was a degree of civility. There was no shouting over each other. It was more a challenge of policies and plans and ideasBut I was hoping for a bit of spark and feistiness.  And eventually it came but not for some time.  For the first half of the show, I heard nothing I hadn't heard already on talkback over the past few months.  There was nothing innovative, nothing exciting, a lot of hot air, a few well hashed policies and that was about it. Judith Collins stepped it up a bit in the second half, and if one was scoring, you'd have said she won that round.  There was quite a bit of I am, I was, I did from the leader of National.There was a lot of ‘I was a proud dairy farmer's daughter’, ‘I have run a business’, ‘I'm married to a Samoan’ - I can only imagine if a member of the trans community had asked a question, Judith might have confessed to sharing her wardrobe with a close personal friend who's trans.  But I guess that's what comes of actually living a life before entering politics.  You have done a bit.  You have lived a life.  And that does give you licence to identify with a broad cross section of the community.  Her best blow was pointing out how the farming community felt they had been vilified by the coalition government.  Jacinda Ardern countered with the fact that there constantly has to be evolution in farming and the way things are done - but the way she phrased it - that's the old way of doing things - came across as a little bit cavalier.  But that's the nature of debates where you have to keep your answers short and sweet.  Both leaders agreed housing for lower income New Zealanders was vitally important - Judith Collins says reformation of the RMA is the way to provide more housing.  Jacinda Ardern said they were onto it already and Collins countered with the fact that National had already set the ball rolling for much of the social housing Labour was claiming as their own. I thought Jacinda Ardern saved her best for last talking about double duty - getting social good while at the same time providing jobs.That pretty much sums up Labour's ideology – doing social good while at the same time providing work on a decent living wage.That was another point of difference between the two leaders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just when you thought it was safe to begin moving out of Lockdown 2.5, New Zealand's most populous city moves into Gridlock 1.0. I have mercifully been spared the horrors of trying to move around Auckland, which is congested at the best of times.  With the Harbour Bridge out of action - at least, extremely limited in its function – travelling around the city is an absolute nightmare from the stories I've been hearing. An hour and ten to travel two kilometres in the inner city.  I can't even begin to imagine what this is doing to the region's productivity coming hard on the heels of a lockdown - never has a reason for a Plan B Harbour crossing been more evident. The PM seems to suggest that is a one off - just one of those unfortunate accidents, but it's been obvious for some time that the region is vulnerable with just one harbour bridge. Back in 2013, in a speech to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce at the Sky City Convention Centre, John Key said congestion on the Auckland Harbour Bridge was already a problem in the peak periods. Traffic forecasts indicated that, as the Auckland economy grew, this would increasingly spread throughout the working day."So a new harbour crossing is likely to be needed between 2025 and 2030. A new crossing will address the issues I have just mentioned and provide for the expected growth in Auckland’s population and economy," Key said."The Government agrees with the Auckland Council that the next crossing should be a tunnel."And Chamber of Commerce ceo Michael Barnett says the accident - a freak gust of wind upturning a truck on Auckland Harbour Bridge damaging its centre strut to force lane closures for weeks on end – was a disaster waiting to happen and is another example of how we have no Plan B.More and more people just want to get out of a gridlocked city. I’ve heard anecdotally from real estate agents and friends with young family members that they have a gutsful. This is no life. Sitting in traffic is not how you want to spend most of your day, and people are moving out to the regions.If you are one of those caught up in the snarl because you have to be, if you have tried to come up with your own Plan B in the absence from successive governments and councils, how are you managing, and how many of you just up sticks and get out?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National says it's tax stimulus package will keep the economy ticking by giving Kiwis money to spend.Under National, the bottom tax threshold would be lifted from $14,000 to $20,000, the middle bracket would rise from $48,000 to $64,000 and the top tax threshold would be lifted from $70,000 to $90,000.The party has also scaled back its plan to reduce debt to 30 percent of GDP within 10 years.Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith told Kerre McIvor it's the right way to get on top of debt in the longer term.He says higher tax, or wealth taxes, aren't the solution - because no one has ever taxed their way out of a recession. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand is officially in its first recession in 11 years, by virtue of a second successive quarter of negative growth.Country’s gross domestic product has shrunk a record 12.2 per cent in the June quarter showing impact of the Strict Level 4 lock down in March and April. Herald Business Editor at large Liam Dann told Kerre McIvor it's a strange set of circumstances and it's the worst GDP we've ever had, but it matches expectations.Dann believes the recession is due to the strict lock down rules during level 4 which completely shut down the economy and the border closure as New Zealand depends on tourism and international students. He says it's a strange set of circumstances. “Technically in the current quarter we are in right now, we probably experiencing a record number of growth which is probably just a rebound, we kind of need to let this wash over us a bit and see how it looks at the end of the year," Dann said.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The End of Life Choice Act will allow terminally ill patients to spend more time with their families, not less.Matt Vickers has advocated for euthanasia since his former wife Lecretia Seales died in 2015.After her brain cancer diagnosis, Seales battled the courts for the right to end her life.Vickers joined Kerre McIvor for an hour of talkback on the referendum, and says that many take their own lives prematurely out of fear of suffering.He says the act would remove that threat of suffering, allowing them to focus on quality of life and being with family."What this legislation does is it offers hope. It offers people a way to take back some control and have a choice, when all other choices have been taken away from them." Vickers says people are concerned the criteria would become too broad over time, but he says they are robust and strictly defined."This is probably one of the safest and most constrained in the world when you look at other versions of the legislation that are out there." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The effects of Covid-19 are pushing many small to medium business to the brink.We heard it yesterday from many of our callers in the events or travel industries.One lady had a staging business involving marquees. She is upset that the events that are going ahead, are bringing their marquees and equipment in from overseas.Another caller responded that if you already own your marquee, you'll save money by throwing it in a container and shipping it here, but of course, it won't support the local economy.So is it better to spend at your local and artificially inflate the business in the short term, or let them sink or swim?To discuss this, Senior Economist at Infometrics Brad Olsen joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Mt Roskill Evangelical Church needs to be taken metaphorically speaking by the scruff of the neck and have its nose rubbed into the mess it’s made. The church, which has now been linked with 43 Covid 19 cases, including all six reported yesterday, has been unhelpful, resistant and downright defiant in the face of edicts from the Director General of Health. While people are in hospital, while businesses are going under, while febrile souls are living in fear that the Covid will get them, while we're all wearing masks and giving up our liberties for the common good, these hysterical happy clappers are marching to the beat of their own drum and doing exactly what they want when they want irrespective of community sacrifices.Auckland councillor Efeso Collins attempted to explain the rationale behind the Church's most uncivil disobedience on Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive yesterday.He cited that issues like abortion and gay marriage have created a “great chasm of relationship” between the church and state."As a result of that, the Pacific people are well known for the way they are compliant with any instruction they are given. So if your Pastor or church leader is up front saying we should decline to listen to the Government, then the church is going to follow suit." I don't agree with some of the decisions either.  I never have.  And yet I have stuck rigidly to the rules, because while I'm allowed a reckon, I'm not allowed to make up by own rules about a community response. That's why talkback radio exists - if the Mt Roskill Church for the Bewildered, otherwise known as the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship, doesn't agree with what the government has decreed, 0800 801080 is the number to call. Have a yarn. Vent. Disagree.We all knew – well, everyone but the Church for the Bewildered did - that going against the public health orders, deciding we would go our own way and do our own thing - would simply result in lockdown lasting longer.  And that's precisely what will happen. As a result of their selfish stupid blind faith - never has it been used more appropriately - Aucklanders and the rest of the country are having to live with restrictions for longer than is necessary. The swollen coffers of that church should be raided and redistributed to the people who have lost their livelihoods as a result of the lockdown. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 5500 overseas based student loan borrowers have returned to NZ since April - nau mai, haere mai.  Welcome home. But now you're here, if - and this won't apply to all of you - but if you're one of the bludgers who have refused to pay back your student loan, time to cough up, kids.  The arrogance of particularly overseas based student loan defaulters is legendary.   I've been banging on about this for years. In 2010, overdue repayments from overseas students rose 111 per cent last year and despite being just more than 14 per cent of student borrowers, they make up 20 per cent of the total amount owing.Government's been trying to get the money out of this particular group for years - in 2007, Michael Cullen and Peter Dunne announced a series of measures, including a three-year holiday on repayments and an amnesty for overseas students.By making it easier for them to repay their student loans, we removed a disincentive for them to return to New Zealand when they were ready, said Dr Cullen, which was benevolent but ultimately futile.A couple of years earlier, Trevor Mallard and Helen Clark announced an amnesty on penalties on overdue payments for any returning students who entered into repayment schedules - and that didn't work either.Now Peter Dunne is back, quoting from the same script, promising to reduce penalties for overseas student loan borrowers.But by using carrots rather than sticks, the incentive to stay in New Zealand and pay back the money owed to the taxpayer isn't terribly strong either.Loan defaulters should be stopped at the border and made to pay back their loan or enter into a repayment schedule before they can leave.Oh, and before I finish with the students, I do wish they'd stop their whining that people who enjoyed free tertiary education are depriving them of the same opportunity.Yes, tertiary education used to be free. But there were nowhere near as many institutions as there are now, nowhere near as many spurious diplomas and degrees and nowhere near as many people accepted into university.In 1980, 2224 graduated from the University of Auckland. By 2000 that had risen to 6000 people. So there's thousands more studying and they still get subsidies.I can't understand why the IRD isn't taking a tougher approach. They know who these returning students are, but they say that they are just going to hold off now. We're going to wait four months.We need the money. We needed it during the GFC, we need it now. This was a contract entered into by these so called bright people, and if they did not understand when they were putting their signatures to the papers that this was money they were borrowing they had to pay back to the taxpayer, they shouldn't have been in tertiary education at all. Most people do the right thing, they aren't the ones I'm talking to. I'm talking to these arrogant, snotty little toads who have consistently refused to honour an agreement they freely entered into. The vast majority of their education is subsidised by the taxpayer. They only have to pay a portion of it. They promised to pay it back, they've reneged on that promise, and I'm sick and tired of playing nice with them. They're thieves, pure and simple.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We were talking on Friday about the shocking UNICEF report that showed how poorly our children are doing on so many many markers. I'm sure you'll have seen the results by now - we were failing on just about every measure except air quality and water pollution. And then as if to prove the point, a 10 month old baby dies in Starship Hospital over the weekend from injuries inflicted in the home. A child is killed every five weeks in this country and there are 14,000 substantiated cases of child abuse every year. Most of us have a child whose death touched us particularly.  Mine is Delcelia Whitaker and she was born the same time as my daughter.  Every landmark stage of my daughter's life - the first time she could read a book herself, her first day of school, her school ball, graduation from university, marriage and children, I thought of Delcelia. Those of us who can't contemplate harming the babies in our care can't even begin to imagine what would drive an adult to hurt a child.  And what you don't understand you can't fix.  But as we were discussing this on Friday, a caller Tony rang in and said he thought the key to improving outcomes for New Zealand kids was a roof over their heads they could call home.  And the stats back him up.  The Housing Foundation said the research showed actively supporting affordable home ownership for low and middle-income families was beneficial for all. They say that “moving people along the housing continuum reduces the long-term liability to the Crown, improves household outcomes, builds communities and is morally and fiscally the right course to take”.It found home-ownership was linked to better health, crime and educational outcomes - even once a person's socio-economic status was taken into account - benefits it said could carry on into future generations.And I was thinking about this over the weekend, because as part of that discussion on Friday, we had a young woman ring in and say poverty is the reason why so many of our young people are failing, but that's not the sole issue. I pointed out plenty of our parents grew up in households where they could have been classified as living in poverty with one or two parents who were less than ideal - but the children grew up to be capable, functioning members of society, able to contribute and raise their own families - in effect, correcting the ills of the past, not perpetuating them. Why were they able to break the cycle, when this generation can't?  And one of the main reasons seems to be that our parents grew up in well-built state houses.  They were warm and dry with veggie gardens that parents used to supplement the family meals.  They could go to the same school, all through primary and the same college until they graduated - albeit in hand-me-down clothes.A safe home is a haven.  Imagine trying to create a safe space in a motel.  Or try to get a good night’s sleep when you're jammed in one room with four other kids.  It's absolutely fundamental to people's wellbeing to feel safe and secure and surely nothing represents security more than your own home.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.