Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

We have spent a lot of time, and will continue to do so, discussing how businesses big and small, can climb out of this Covid-19 Crisis.Kerre McIvor speaks to a couple of business leaders about how they are leading their companies and the hard decisions they have had to make.Joining Kerre are Deborah Pead, Chief Executive of communications business Pead PR and Michael Boggs, CEO of NZME.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newstalk ZB listeners Aaron and Rodger called Kerre McIvor Mornings to share their thoughts on the government's economic and health response to the Covid-19 crisis.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Restaurant owners are urging hospitality staff to stay positive post lockdown.Next week the country moves to alert level three, meaning some restaurants will reopen if they can provide their services in a contactless way.Owner and founder of Nourish Group Richard Sigley told Kerre McIvor the money they are earning at the moment is going straight into retaining their staff."We paid all our staff for the first month 80 per cent of their salaries, and that cost us a bit."Hospitality Guru and owner of Wellington's Karaka Cafe Paul Retimanu told Kerre McIvor it's unlikely many businesses will regain the revenue they lost during lockdown."The longer it takes the harder it is. Level three to be fair doesn't do a lot for us."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The article currently leading US publication The Atlantic is titled "New Zealand’s Prime Minister May Be the Most Effective Leader on the Planet".The piece written by Uri Freeman, suggests the coronavirus pandemic may be the largest test of political leadership the world has ever witnessed and every leader will be judged by the results.German Chancellor Angela Merkel embraces science. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro rejects it. U.S. President Donald Trump’s daily briefings are a circus like spectacle, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds no regular briefings at all, even as he locks down 1.3 billion people.However, Jacinda Ardern’s leadership style, focused on empathy is putting New Zealand on track for success against the coronavirus.Freeman joined Kerre McIvor to discuss global leadership, how to measure success, and what Ardern is doing right. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Research into teens’ use of pornography shows that watching porn is increasing amongst young people.Figures recently released by the free pornography site Pornhub show numbers spiking during the Covid-19 lockdown.In theory, it’s a site for adults, but many young people are using it.Classification Office research in 2018 showed that by the age of 17, 75% of young people have seen porn, and one in four have seen it by age 12.Kate Whitaker, a senior adviser at the Classification Office, joined Kerre McIvor to discuss the effects of this increase.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A man wearing a police uniform went on a shooting rampage in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia on Sunday, killing 13 people, in the deadliest such attack in the country in 30 years. Officials said the suspected shooter was also dead.A police officer was among the dead. Several bodies were found inside and outside one home in the small, rural town of Portapique, about 100 kilometres north of Halifax. Overnight, police began advising residents of the town — already on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic — to lock their doors and stay in their basements. Several homes in the area were set on fire as well.Police identified the man believed to be the shooter as Gabriel Wortman, 51, who was thought to live part-time in Portapique. Authorities said he disguised himself as a police officer in uniform at one point and made his car look like a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser.Wortman was arrested by the RCMP at a gas station in Enfield, just outside Halifax. Police later announced that he had died."This is one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province's history," said Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil.RCMP spokesman Daniel Brien confirmed that 13 people had been killed as had the shooter. He said he could not rule out that the death toll could still rise. Already, that makes it one of the worst shootings in Canadian history.Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada. The country overhauled its gun-control laws after the its worst mass shooting in 1989, when gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college. This weekend's shooting is the deadliest since then. It is now illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapid-fire weapon in Canada. The country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks to purchase a weapon.Police have not provided a motive for the attack, but RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said many of the victims did not know the shooter."That fact that this individual had a uniform and a police car at his disposal certainly speaks to it not being a random act," Leather said. He added that police believe he acted alone.Leather said they would investigate whether the attack had anything to do with the coronavirus pandemic but no link has been found thus far.The dead officer was identified as Constable Heidi Stevenson, a mother of two and a 23-year veteran of the force. Another officer was also injured.Leather said at point there was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and police. There were half a dozen police vehicles at the scene of a gas station where the suspect was shot. Yellow police tape surrounded the gas pumps, and a large silver-coloured SUV was being investigated.Police said earlier Sunday the suspect was driving a car that looked like a police vehicle and was wearing a police uniform, but later said he was "believed to be driving a small, silver Chevrolet SUV." They said he is not an RCMP employee or officer.Cpl. Lisa Croteau, a spokeswoman with the provincial force, said police received a call about "a person with firearms" at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday and the investigation "evolved into an active shooting investigation.""My heart goes out to everyone affected in what is a terrible situation," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.Christine Mills, a resident of the area, said it had been a frightening night for the small town, with armed officers patrolling the streets. In the morning, helicopters flew overhead searching for the suspect. "It's nerve-wracking because you don't know if somebody has lost their mind and is going to beat in your front door," she said.Tom Taggart, a lawmaker who represents the Portapique area in the Municipality of Colchester, said the quiet community has been shaken."This is just an absolutely wonderful, peaceful...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Augustine's Kelly Coe made the decision not to open as an essential business, despite pressure from her loyal customer base. She and husband Nathan Coe, who own the business, firmly believe their clothes are not essential and people can go four weeks with making a purchase in order to support the Government and keep New Zealand safe. Listen to the interview with Kerre McIvor above. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Golf courses across New Zealand are calling for an essential service exemption as they face the "risk of catastrophic turf death" amounting to $10 million.New Zealand Golf chief executive Dean Murphy says they have put in a request to the Government for an exemption that permits the "essential maintenance" of golf facilities.Sports facilities are not on the essential services list as it stands - and golf courses are not allowed to have a single maintenance worker tending to the course."There is a risk of catastrophic turf death on putting greens due to disease, insect activity and lack of water. If this occurs the consequences could be major for our golf facilities – the cost of repair plus loss of business could be well in excess of $10 million," Murphy said.'While the playing of golf is non-essential during this crisis, if critical parts of golf facilities do not receive some basic maintenance over the shutdown period, the task of repatriating to current conditions may not be achievable nor affordable for a great number of clubs."Growth on most of the grass surfaces can be brought back under control after a period of non-maintenance, however on fine turf surfaces this could be a difficult and protracted process."On March 31, the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Grant Robertson, responded to questions from National's Nikki Kaye on the possibility of golf course maintenance becoming an essential service.Robertson said he had been advised of the economic implications if golf courses and other turf based sports, including national stadiums, if turf maintenance was not regularly completed."My officials at Sport NZ have raised the issues with the Ministry of Innovation, Business and Employment (MBIE)," Robertson said."If maintenance of these areas were to become an essential service there will be clear restrictions for the health and safety of the community and turf management workers."Robertson said Sport NZ was expecting to receive a response from MBIE "shortly" on whether a golf course essential service exemption could be made.National's sport and recreation spokesman Nikki Kaye said yesterday the Government was taking too long in making a decision on the turf maintenance exemption."The minister said a week ago work was going on regarding this," Kaye said."The Government is effectively causing millions in damage when the reality is we are talking often one person being able to go onsite or in some situations lives on site to do essential maintenance."The Government needs to move on this issue – the current decision is not a smart one."If we don't, when restrictions are lifted around physical activity, a lot of people will not be able to go to their local club because there will have to be a whole lot of repairs which clubs can't necessarily afford."According to Golf NZ, over 2000 people are employed in the New Zealand golf sector and it contributes over $1 billion to the national economy each year.New Zealand has in excess of 400 golf courses, facilities and venues.All operations and play at New Zealand Golf courses, facilities and venues has now ceased for the Covid-19 shutdown period.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As countries around the world grapple with how to deal with the coronavirus economic crisis, it seems there is no right or wrong way for Governments to manage the financial impact, only trade-offs.Who should ultimately pay for all the money that businesses are getting: is it the ones who receive help now, paying it back over the next few years out of their revenues?Is it a question not just of economics but of intergenerational ethics and justice?University of Auckland's Professor Tim Mulgan is a Global Expert on Intergenerational Ethics, and joined Kerre McIvor to discuss the ongoing situation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shirley called in with her heartwarming story about her street supporting her from afar. Listen above.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.