Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

GPs are still trying to work out how to safe and easily carry out Covid-19 testing alongside normal operations.The Government's urging anyone who is offered a test to take it.Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners president Dr Samantha Murton says access to tests has become varied across the country as testing facilities are scaled back.She told Kerre McIvor testing at general practices has its challenges. "We should be protecting ourselves and patients and anyone else who might be in contact,  so that might mean that you need to have a separate room, but also it might mean we try to schedule it at the practice to a certain time of the day." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new initiative has been launched targeting young offenders entering the justice system.The Young Adult List will give 18 to 25-year-olds extra support in an effort to stop reoffending.Judge John Walker, the Principal Youth Court Judge who led the development of the programme, says often offenders come from a background of being exposed to trauma and abuse and those challenges do not expire when they turn 18 and come into the adult court.Every Friday, a specialist team will provide 18 to 25 year-olds with the full spectrum of wrap-around services including specialist probation officers, adolescent mental health services, alcohol and other drug screening, and links to community support.Justice Minister Andrew Little told Kerre McIvor that it will be money well spent if they can stop people continuing to cycle through the justice system or go to prison, which is an expensive exercise in itself. "The more serious [crimes] will be dealt with at the more serious end. The sorts of offences these folks are up for will be driving offences, there'll be low-level assaults and things like that."He says that there will be other issues going on, such as trauma or learning difficulties, and it's about getting the younger offenders early enough to "reprogramme" their brains."So rather than offending, they've got ways of handling the situation they are in." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tenants rights could be strengthened soon.The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill is due for its second reading in the House tomorrow.It will end no-cause evictions, meaning landlords' must offer more robust reasons for getting rid of tenants.Herald property editor Anne Gibson told Kerre McIvor it's a pathway towards creating tenants for life - similar to New Zealand's employment laws."People are embedded in the community. Why should they be told '90 days, you're out, and we don't have to give a reason'?"Last week, Kris Faafoi, associate Housing Minister, vowed the change would become law shortly."It is still the Government's intention to see the RTA reforms passed in the term of this Parliament," said a Faafoi spokesman when asked if the overhaul would be passed in this Parliamentary term before the September 19 election.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Victorians will have to stay disciplined for at least six weeks -- after a state of disaster was declared yesterday.An overnight curfew has come into effect and there's also a ban on travelling further than five kilometres from home.The latest stats show 671 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours.Jase and PJ from the KIIS FM breakfast show in Melbourne join Kerre with their thoughts!Listen above .See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former television personality is among many New Zealanders living overseas calling quarantine fees unfair.Belinda Todd lives in Brazil, but is back visiting her father in Christchurch. Ms Todd told Kerre McIvor the Government has not taken into consideration those Kiwis' contribution to the economy before they left.She says many expats contributed a lot to New Zealand prior to them moving and when they come back to holiday.Ms Todd adds the million or so New Zealanders living overseas are this country's best ambassadors."We are some of New Zealand's best free advertising, because New Zealanders are by-in-large charming people who have nothing but good to say about our country."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly one in five of Canterbury's 5 year olds has tooth decay - and Christchurch is New Zealand's only metropolitan centre without a fluoridated water supply.  Tooth decay is one of the most common causes of hospitalisation of New Zealand children - and we can do something about it as parents or grandparents and the politicians can do something about improving outcomes if they have the will.But it appears they don't.  And you would have to wonder why a government that places so much emphasis on child welfare and improving outcomes for the most disadvantaged children is dragging the chain when it comes to making a simple, significant policy decision.Listen to the audio above as Kerre McIvor shares her thoughts on the issue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand would be hard-pressed to follow Britain's approach to tackling obesity, with our lax advertising rules.The UK has launched a healthy eating campaign, backed by the Prime Minister after his diagnosis of Covid-19.The strategies include a ban on TV and online ads for unhealthy food before 9pm, and restrictions on store food placement.Auckland University professor of population nutrition and global health Boyd Swinburn told Kerre McIvor we're a long way behind with regulating advertising."We saw over Covid-19 lockdown quite an expansion of junk food marketing and taking advantage of people's vulnerability."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's effort to eradicate the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis has made significant progress, Biosecurity and Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor says.The number of infected properties has dropped to new lows, three years to the day since it was first detected in New Zealand, he said in a statement."To date, 250 properties have been infected by the disease – with all but four now clear of it," O'Connor said.The Government's "hard and early approach" to Covid-19 was the same response it took early on to eradicate M. bovis, "to protect our national herd, the economic base of our primary sector, and the social good of the country," O'Connor said.It was estimated that allowing M. bovis to spread could cause $1.3 billion in economic losses in the first 10 years alone, along with substantial animal welfare issues, and serious ongoing challenges for farmers having to manage the disease within their herds, O'Connor said."One key measure of success of our 10-year eradication plan, the Estimated Dissemination Rate (EDR), shows strongly that we have M. bovis firmly in our sights. If the EDR is greater than one, then the disease is growing. If it's below one, we're shrinking the disease. The EDR is now at 0.4, which is down from over 2 at the start of the outbreak, so we are looking harder to find fewer infected animals."We've shown, again, that we're able to do what others countries have not in terms of disease eradication efforts. That's something our farming community should be really proud of."Allowing the disease to spread would have caused lost productivity in New Zealand's cattle sectors and affected the economy, O'Connor said."Had we left M. bovis to run rampant, I'm not sure our dairy and beef sectors would have been able to weather the economic storm of Covid-19 and the challenges of drought conditions as well as they have."The eradication effort had not been "without substantial challenges", O'Connor said, and the impact on affected farmers could not be under-estimated."Farmers deserve a lot of credit for their efforts. We are continuing to improve processes and work hard to support their wellbeing and recovery, including getting their compensation claims paid as quickly as possible.""We are also changing tax law to further help farmers whose herds were culled. A significant tax bill can arise in the year they receive a compensation payment so we'll be making a change that means they may be eligible to spread their income over several years."While there was still work to be done, and more infected farms to find, O'Connor said New Zealand was "well and truly on track to do what no other country in the world has done and eradicate this disease"."The next 12 months is about ensuring that we have found all infected herds. This will involve ongoing Bulk Tank Milk Surveillance, nation-wide beef surveillance, and on-farm testing of herds that could possibly have been exposed, to ensure that they are not infected."We will not let up on our efforts, and will ensure that this disease is gone so that we can farm free from it in the future."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's office has called a press conference at 11am.It won't say what the press conference is about.National leader Judith Collins says she's had a tip-off about inappropriate behaviour by a current Labour Minister.She says she's passed it on to the Prime Minister's office, which says it has no comment 'at this stage'.Newstalk ZB political commentator Barry Soper told Kerre McIvor the PM has called the news conference, and is expected to talk about the allegations Judith Collins has made today.“This has got to be quite a serious issue for the PM to be holding a news conference in the way she is doing.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Industry leaders say a number of infrastructure jobs could be lost if the full list of shovel ready projects isn't revealed.Early this month the Government announced it had selected 150 projects valued at nearly $3 billion.Four weeks later, details of only 30 have been released.Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Paul Blair told Kerre McIvor contractors feel they have been left in the dark - and it would help business confidence and planning to know more."I know of more than a handful of large and small companies that are preparing proposals now to make staff redundant."Blair says they urgently need a heads up from the Government.“This is a situation where we need to move quickly from announcement - to jobs being created and money being spent.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.