Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Former National Party president Michelle Boag has stood down from Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye's campaign for the upcoming election, a spokeswoman has confirmed.Kaye told the Herald Boag no longer has a role with the campaign."Michelle held a position on the Auckland Central electorate and was on the campaign committee. She has stood down from both roles," the spokesperson said.Last night, MP Hamish Walker and Boag confessed to being behind the massive privacy breach of Covid-19 patient information.The National Party board is meeting today to decide the fate of the MP who leaked Covid-19 patient details and leader Todd Muller wants Walker out.Muller has written to the party's board asking it to remove Walker from the party.Muller says there needs to be consequences for the leak and his advice to Walker was to "think deeply about what the honourable next step is".Muller said his "personal view" was Boag should step aside from having any involvement with the party.Muller said he had "no idea" what the motive was behind the pair's actions.Boag last night said she'd made a "massive error of judgment on my part" and apologised for doing so.MP Hamish Walker has confessed to being behind the massive privacy breach of Covid-19 patient information. Photo / file"The information was made available to me in my position as then acting CEO of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust (ARHT), although it was sent to my private email address."This was a massive error of judgment on my part and I apologise to my colleagues at ARHT whom I have let down badly."I very much regret my actions and did not anticipate that Hamish would choose to send it on to some media outlets but I am grateful that the media involved have chosen not to publish the 18 names that were contained within it."Boag said she has resigned her position as acting chief executive of ARHT because of her conduct."My actions were mine alone and should not reflect at all on the professionalism, integrity and outstanding reputation of the Rescue Helicopter staff."They are an amazing bunch of dedicated community servants and I know they will be very disappointed in me."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

text by Belinda Feek and Michael NeilsonA new report that prefers Manukau Harbour over Northland for a new port is being slammed with the Government being urged to get back the $2 million that it paid for it.The Government officially today released the major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland's freight operations, but deferred any decision on the issue to future government.While Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has welcomed the report, that recommends relocating the port within the region, the author of the Government's original report, and others in the shipping industry, say Manukau is not an option due to both logistical and ecological issues.Wayne Brown authored the first report - Upper North Island Supply Chain Study (UNISCS) - and said those involved with the latest investigation should give the taxpayers their $2m back."I'm very disappointed because the Manukau harbour is a very shallow harbour with a dangerous shifting sand bar at the entrance ... and the Maritime Insurance won't insure boats going in there, so we didn't spend any time on that."It's on the wrong side of the coast. The ships like to come down the other side because it's between China and South America."Brown, who is chairman of Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy (UNISCS) working group, was also annoyed to last night discover the authors of the $2m report - Sapere - were health economists, and not involved in the transport sector unlike himself and the other 80 who contributed to his findings.He was also aggrieved at not being given a heads-up about the findings from the Government."This is a disgrace ... The Prime Minister's done a good job of Covid but she's got to get rid of that idiot [Twyford]," a "grumpy" Brown told the Herald today.His report recommended the port should be moved to Northland, starting now and finishing within the next 10-15 years.This was largely due to a loss of social license to operate and expand further into the harbour, "intolerable congestion" around the port, and the opportunity to re-develop the area along with boosting regional economic development in Northland.Brown told the Herald there was important land at the port that was being used as a dumping ground for empty shipping containers up to six storeys high.The 2017 Coalition Agreement between New Zealand First and Labour agreed to"commission a feasibility study on the options for moving the Ports of Auckland,including giving Northport serious consideration".Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones told Newsroom they had delivered what was promised in that coalition agreement."However, the ability to find consensus about where, when and how the port would be relocated ... I have not been able to get it over the line."Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Phil Twyford approved $2m for the Sapere report, after stating Brown's study had left unanswered questions about alternatives and timeframes.On the Sapere report, Twyford said the port issue had significant fiscal, economic, social and environmental implications.But as policy analysis was still to be completed, with officials focused on Covid-19 response, any decision would be deferred until after the election."Because officials have been focused on Covid-19 response and recovery work they have not yet been able to provide advice on Sapere's assessment of the benefits, costs, risks and uncertainties associated with the options."The new report considered five relocation options: Northport, Manukau, the Firth of Thames, the Port of Tauranga and a shared increase in capacity at both Northport and the Port of Tauranga.It found the port's current downtown Auckland location had about 30 years' capacity and there was a 10-15 year window for making a final decision on relocation, which meant it was not as urgent as the previous finding.For all five...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jacinda Ardern says a transtasman bubble is on "the horizon and real".Prime Minister is live on Newstalk ZB for an hour this morning, talking about a turbulent week in politics including David Clark's resignation and allegations of fraud by America's Cup officials.The fallout from the America's Cup yesterday saw the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment suspend further payment of monies towards the campaign after allegations of a "reclassified" $3 million loan and claims of fraud involving a Hungarian bank account.Health Minister David Clark also tendered his resignation yesterday, while the number of Covid-19 cases rose again.Opening bordersWhen asked about how we can host a successful America's Cup with our borders closed, Ardern told McIvor they wanted a world class event and it wasn't just about visitor numbers.As for the axing of Apec hosting the world's leaders, Ardern said it was easier to have a virtual event given the instability around Covid-19 and borders.As for re-opening the country's borders, Ardern said there was not a lot of clarity around that situation and the country needed to think about the future and the Government was doing that thinking and working in earnest of that happening along with a transtasman bubble.The great unknown for countries with a high presence of Covid-19 is what it would look like with a vaccine and other measures."I think the world will be very different in a few months' time," Ardern said.Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters yesterday outlined what he saw as the requirements for the borders to re-open.With Australia, Kiwis could travel to certain states while we could also travel to some Pacific Islands, including the Cook Islands and Niue.But for other, major countries the challenge was much bigger.Countries would have to have a clean record, Peters told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking - zero community transmission cases, like New Zealand has had since April 28.Creating jobsIn response to a question from a caller about tourists already in the country, Ardern said she had been asked to give them a visitor's residency to contribute to the country's growth.She said there were a chunk of people who were in the country and had decided to go home, but for others the Government was looking at re-deployment including the horticulture sector.Speaking generally, Ardern said that for tourism they needed to find opportunities which were a good fit and offered a good wage.Some could work in tourism in Rotorua or Queenstown or eco-tourism.When asked about the sector's survival, Ardern said there were plenty of Kiwis visiting those towns.As for the Government's economic plan, Ardern said it was about "jobs, jobs, jobs".Training also had to be part of it, she said."Jobs will continue to be our focus."On "shovel-ready" projects, Ardern accepted they weren't shovel ready but some work, including a project in Queenstown, would be ready to start in three months which she said was a quick turn around. Many others were six to 12 months. She said shovel-ready meant there was planning that had already done.Asked by McIvor about where to find that money, and borrowing it, Ardern said people who travelled offshore "spent billions" which would now be spent here.Another caller, in the tourism industry, asked about the wage subsidy finishing next month and having to still run a business. Ardern said discussions have been held and accepted there wasn't any revenue coming in. She knew it needed to be worked through.The caller said it was something they were having to deal with daily and were worried what the future held. Ardern said there was a period of uncertainty ahead and that a transtasman bubble was on "the horizon and real".Asked by McIvor about where to find that money, and borrowing it, Ardern said people who travelled offshore...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China's parliament has passed the controversial national security law for Hong Kong, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colony's way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago.It comes in response to last year's often-violent pro-democracy protests in the city and will allow Beijing to punish acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.Crimes of secession and sedition will be punished in Hong Kong with sentences of up to life in prison.Nicolas Groffman is a lawyer who writes for the South China Morning Post. He joined Kerre McIvor to update us on the situation in Hong Kong.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A New Zealand duo The Chicks gave their blessing for a Grammy-award winning band to change their name.Suzanne Lynch and Judy Hindman rose to fame as The Chicks when the sisters formed a singing duo in the 1960s, and had a string of hits make the NZ charts.They're known for their hits Miss You Baby and Stoney End, and Lynch went on to have a successful solo career.Lynch tells the Herald about the moment she received the "strange" request. After all, they'd had the band name more than half a century. She was just 14 years old when she began touring with her sister who was 17 at the time."With everything that's going on in the US at the moment, they wanted to change to The Chicks, and they were nice enough to get in touch," she says.However, despite being contacted from the band's lawyers and having "always" been a fan of The Dixie Chicks, Lynch admits it wasn't an easy decision.The Chicks' album art. Photo / Supplied"We considered it for a while to be honest because it was a strange request, but it was agreed to share the name of The Chicks with them."She was a little taken aback by the request at first but eventually called it "an awesome, wonderful" decision.Lynch was impressed with the band's lovely message, who thanked the band directly in their statement posted to social media."They sent us a really nice message saying: 'Our sincere and heartfelt thanks goes out to The Chicks of New Zealand for their gracious gesture and allowing us to share their name. We're honoured to co-exist in the world with these exceptionally talented sisters. Chicks rock!"When asked if sharing the name will mean the two music acts could tour together one day, Lynch laughed."Well that's an interesting question," she says. "It would be fun."The Dixie Chicks decided to drop the word Dixie from their name because the word refers to the Southern US states and those that belong to the Confederacy, the Associated Press reports."We want to meet this moment," the band's website reads, referring to the current Black Lives Matter movement which has sparked protests across the United States and the world.The three-piece band made a comeback earlier this year and will release their first album in 14 years next month.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chinese and Indian military commanders have met for the first time since a confrontation in the Himalayas that left at least 20 soldiers dead.India and China say they want peace but blame each other for a clash in which soldiers of the two sides savagely fought each other with nail-studded clubs and stones on their Himalayan border.Meanwhile, in China, state media has revealed draft national security law that gives Beijing sweeping powers over its enforcement in Hong Kong, paving the way for the biggest change to the city's way of life since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.Nicolas Groffman is a lawyer who writes for the South China Morning Post.  He joined Kerre McIvor to give us the latest from China and Hong Kong.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first real snapshot of how New Zealand’s economy fared through the Covid-19 pandemic is out in the form of GDP numbers.Gross domestic product has fallen 1.6 percent in the three months to March -- the largest drop in 29 years.Stats NZ says the result shows a widespread drop in economic activity under travel restrictions and moving towards lockdown.It says the Covid 10 effects came on top of the smaller impact from drought in parts of the country.Infometrics senior economist Brad Olsen joined Kerre McIvor to take a look at the numbers and what it means for New Zealand's economy.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"I didn't think things could get much worse after the news yesterday that two women left managed isolation, tiki toured to Wellington and tested positive for Covid.  It showed up the incompetence of Ministry of Health officials and a clear failure of the system.A system we were led to believe was robust and capable of protecting New Zealanders from Covid 19. And yet yesterday, from the 1pm press conference, it seemed that every hour on the hour, another piece of gob smacking incompetence was revealed.The Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield fronted for the Mike Hosing Breakfast this morning to give him his credit but his attempts to minimise the failure of his officials was woeful.Listen to the full editorial by Kerre McIvor aboveSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An economist has called for New Zealand to start paying blood donors. New Zealand, like other countries, does not pay donors, relying entirely on voluntary donation. However, a new report has revealed that New Zealand does rely on blood that is paid for - however, it is imported from the United States, where compensation for donation is allowed. Dr Eric Crampton from The NZ Initiative has written an opinion piece calling for donors to be paid. He joined Kerre McIvor to discuss why we need to do this, and why relying on blood from the US is not sustainable. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A familiar sight on Wellington's streets - another burst sewerage pipe.Victoria Street in the CBD was closed last night due to the burst pipe - which sent sewage spewing onto the footpath and closing the front entrance to the Wellington Central Police station.It's understood some sewage momentarily overflowed into the harbour after the burst.Repairs are due to begin this morning, and the road remains partially blocked.Acting CEO Tonia Haskell joined Kerre McIvor on the show this morning.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.