Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Some farmers are shearing back the costs with new sheep breeds.  Meant for meat production, ‘Nudies’ are a breed of sheep that don’t grow wool, allowing farmers to cut costs as there’s no need for shearing, dagging, or crutching.  Pierre Syben from Wairere Rams in Masterton told Kerre Woodham in his view, the industry will likely split between the people who stick with wool and those who move towards the Nudies.  He says that hopefully as more people go into non-sheering sheep, it will lift the price of wool as at the moment, it’s a loss-making venture.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may have heard, the 80’s are making a comeback. Lookout for denim on denim, bubble skirts, and asset sales. David Seymour is stepping up his campaign to sell state assets and privatise public services.   In his State of the Nation speech last week, the ACT leader said we should be continually asking ourselves do we own the right stuff? NZ First, Labour and the Greens have all pinned their respective colours to the mast and said they are dead against the sale of any state-owned assets under their watch. NZ First and Winston Peters, of course, famously, long-standing opponent of the sale of state-owned assets. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has done what he does best and equivocated. Oh sure, I'm open to the idea, open to having a discussion, but if anything were to happen, not that I'm saying it will, but if anything were to happen, if the for sale signs were to go up, it wouldn't be until the 26th election. So, he hasn't committed either way, just waiting to see which way the wind blows.   The fourth Labour Government was the government that really sold off the silverware. New Zealand changed fundamentally as a society as a result of the economic reforms driven by Roger Douglas and his cabinet. David Lange, he might have been the Prime Minister, but it was Roger Douglas who was the driving force behind the economic reforms. One of those within the cabinet, Richard Prebble, argues it was the right thing to do in today's Herald. He says that they had huge debt, and they had to resolve that somehow. He says New Zealand's privatisation was extraordinarily successful. The investors provided much better services and lower prices. Only profitable businesses pay company taxes. The privatized businesses are paying every year in company taxes more than they ever did in dividends. In contrast, he says, the history of state-owned enterprises retained in government ownership is abysmal. Solid energy went from a valuation of $3.5 billion. To being worthless, that it's $390 million debt. He said his office valued TVNZ in 1990 at around $2 billion, $4.3 billion in today's money. The station now runs at a loss, he says.   Brian Gaynor argues that the asset sales were not a success, that the prime pieces of silverware were sold off and overseas investors made an absolute killing from them. There is a counter to what Richard Prebble claims. John Key brought back the prospect of state asset sales in 2010 with a deeply unpopular promise to privatise state-owned electricity companies such as Meridian. But he told Mike Hosking on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning there are better ways to improve the economy faster than by selling off what remains of New Zealand’s state-owned assets.   “In the scheme of things, we want the boat to go faster. There's a million things you can do, from cutting bureaucracy and taxes, and you know, making a more permissive society, better foreign investment, all those kinds of things. If you want my view, they'll make the boat go a lot faster than a few asset sales because, frankly, there ain't a hell of a lot to sell.”  And there isn't. What would we sell? We've got Quotable Value, which David Seymour quoted as being an example. It values property, it doesn't receive any taxpayer money. But it provides a dividend of between half a million and one million a year, which is the sort of chump change that Grant Robertson used to find down the back of the couch. So that's not going to save New Zealand. Anyone interested in buying a television station? Could chuck in a video store as well as a sweetener on the deal? Anyone? No? Because that's the thing, too, for a successful state asset sale, you have to find buyers. Anyone for a couple of clapped-out ferries? Anyone? No? There’s sort of plans for a kind of port infrastructure that's really expensive and hasn't been costed properly, that we could chuck in for free. No? Nobody?   State housing. Does the government have a responsibility to house vulnerable Kiwis? Which means owning a huge portfolio of properties and more to the point, maintaining that huge portfolio of properties. From what trades people have told us, anytime they know it's a job for Kianga Ora, everything gets inflated. The cost of the products that are going in there, the carpets, the door, the joinery, the electrics and the cost of the labour. And then, of course, there's Kainga Ora buying up houses at far more than their value and distorting the property market during the post-Covid boom. But I mean really, when you look at what's left after the fourth Labour government did the massive clean out in the 80s... Do we need to own homes to house people, or should that be left to charitable organisations and private individuals?   I suppose the only thing left is health, maybe? Hospitals? I mean, let's face it, it is a huge cumbersome beast. With the best will in the world, the changes to the Ministry of Health and to the hospitals that it oversees as part of its job, the changes are not going to be made within the next 10 years. Bringing everything together under one roof, all of the different hospital boards merged together as one operating unit across the country. And there's no guarantee of success. Do you put health out, privatise that? Still free to the taxpayer but not governed by the government. I don't know. I think most of it's gone. I think John Key is right, there are other, better, faster ways to improve the economy. The only thing I can see, and this is just looking at it theoretically, the only thing I can see that we've got worth selling is the property portfolio and is that what we really want to do? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, I might have been swanning about on holiday for an unseemly amount of time but the Government was back at work. You have already discussed, I have no doubt the PM's reshuffle of the cabinet, specifically Dr Reti losing Health to Simeon Brown in a bid to see change happening, change happening better, and there has been much chat about getting the country moving again.   In the last couple of days, economist Paul Bloxham, the man who coined the “rockstar economy” phrase back in 2014, confirmed what we all know: New Zealand's economy has suffered the biggest hit in the developed world. Specifically, interest rate increases in response to post-pandemic inflation had pushed the country into a recession and unemployment increased sharply across the developed world. HSBC, for whom Paul Bloxham works, estimates suggest that New Zealand's economy had the largest contraction in GDP in 2024.   So that was all inherited issues. This government was elected to put it right. How are they going? Well, not so great. The PM was on with Mike Hosking on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning and got a gee up from Mike.  MH: My criticism of you is that you're too much yak and not enough do. If you don't like what the Commerce Commission is doing...  CL: You're just all fired up because of Trump's executive orders, my friend. Because of? Yeah.  MH: But that's what you need, exactly what you need are executive orders. You need to get a bloody marker pen and start scratching out a few signatures and doing some stuff.  CL: And the difference between a presidential system and a parliamentary system is quite profound in that regard.  MH: Look you and I are sick of the same things, you and I are sick of the same things.  CL: I just say I think we've done more in a year than most governments.  MH: But what I'm watching here is a Commerce Commission that's been looking at petrol and supermarkets and building products and everything else for eons and nothing’s happening.  Well things are happening, but I do get Mike's frustrations. We need to do better, and we need to do better faster. The first poll of the year —a Curia-Taxpayers Union poll at that— puts Labour ahead of National for the first time since the 2023 election. And it's no good blaming the last lot this year, it's going to have to be all on National and the coalition government to get cracking.   I'm not entirely sure the new growth plan announced a couple of days ago by Christopher Luxon in his State of the Nation speech will do the business either. Focusing on tourism is not going to lead to long-term prosperity. Being a service industry, which is ultimately what tourism is, isn't going to lead to long-term prosperity. The rest of the world is pushing back against over tourism, hell, we were pushing back against too many tourists back in 2019, so that's not going to do it.   Foreign investment’s good, but the right sort of foreign investment is what's required. And that's a little bit more difficult to find. We don't want to become tenants in our own land and good luck getting a lot of that past NZ First. Digital nomads, sure. This is something that's long overdue. People visiting New Zealand on short stays will be allowed to work remotely for their employers back home under the digital nomad scheme launched by the government yesterday. It's a popular concept overseas and it allows visitors to travel to New Zealand while continuing to work for their offshore employer. Internationally, the Harvard International Review puts the global economic value of digital nomads at US$787 billion per year. Which is great, we'll get a tiny share of that. Is that going to fix the economy?   You know, we have a lot to offer in this beautiful country, as you will have seen yourselves. A lot. But we need to get better, and we need to get better faster. I was listening yesterday to a young man who was 27 saying the last of his friends have left to go overseas. He’s got nobody left. He loves his job. He doesn't want to leave it, but he has no friends, they’re gone. And while I accept that this is a rite of passage and many young New Zealanders head overseas, there are a lot of people who are seeking better opportunities overseas because they are not finding them in their home country.    We have so much to offer, but is focusing on tourism the way to go? I did like the focus on science and a knowledge-based economy. Come in Helen Clark, what happened to that knowledge-based economy? But that is where New Zealand made its name, New Zealand made its fortune was around the science. Science, scientific brains – entrepreneurs have been leading this country for such a long time, since refrigerated shipping. That's what made our fortune and that's where our fortune lies. That, I agree, is where the focus needs to be. But that takes time and I'm not entirely sure that this government has got the amount of time it needs to turn this country around. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s nothing wrong with backing yourself but, as a country, we have some pretty high and mighty ideas sometimes.    A good example is the previous Labour government’s approach that, when it comes to tourism, we should only try to get the people with truckloads of money to come here for a holiday. What they called the “higher value tourists”.   And I’m delighted that the Government is saying we need to get over ourselves and pretty much anyone and everyone who wants to visit from overseas is going to be welcome to come here.   Nicola Willis, the new economic growth minister, is making the very good point that it was all very well for the previous government to think that getting the people with big money over here was the better bet. But that was no guarantee of big spending.   She’s saying today: “I want all tourists. Because, ultimately, it’s not the government that decides how much a tourist spends when they come to New Zealand. The tourist will make that decision.”   She says: “Our job is to make it easy for them to come in the door, easy for them to come to New Zealand. Then, when they get here, I’ve got great faith in our tourism providers that they’ll do everything they can to get as many dollars out of those back pockets as possible.”   No arguments from me there. Because we are not Venice, we are not overrun with tourists. In fact, I would say that we’ve never been overrun with tourists, not even before Covid.   Tell that to the bloke in Queenstown though who got into an argument with a mate of mine in a burger bar there one night.   We were there with a whole bunch of people and this guy was telling us how much of a pain in the backside it was to have all us out-of-towners there.     “Loopies” he called us. I remember, back in the day, the locals in Wanaka used to talk about all the “loopies” coming to visit for a holiday, as well.   But, as my mate politely pointed out to this guy in the burger bar - no tourists, no visitors, no Queenstown. Even our lot. Who were there on the smell of an oily rag.   Another thing too is that, if we’re totally honest with ourselves, we’re not actually that special compared to all the other countries that international tourists have the option of visiting.   Yes, New Zealand is beautiful. And when you go to places like Glenorchy, near Queenstown, for example —which I did a few weeks back, and which is a stunning part of the country— it reminds you what a special place this is.   But there are lots of other special and beautiful places in the world too.   Which is why I think it’s great that the Government plans to get us off this high horse that the last government put us on when it comes to the type of people we want to try and get over here for a holiday.   Why I think it’s great that the new thinking, is that anyone who wants to come here is welcome.     But. And there’s always a but – actually, there are a couple of buts.   One of them, is that tourism is not a silver bullet on its own. Because, generally, tourism jobs don’t pay all that well.    The other but —and this is the more significant one— is that if this is the approach the Government’s going to take, it has to do more than what Nicola Willis is talking about.   Because it’s all very well to say that it’s the Government’s job to get the tourists here and it’s the tourism operators’ job to get as much money as possible out of them once they’re here.   But, as people in places like Franz Josef know, more visitors means more demand for basic services like public toilets and all that stuff – a demand that local councils just can’t afford to meet.   And this is where the Government is going to have to have more skin in the game if it really wants this open-door policy to reap the economic benefits that it wants.   So yes, ditch the pipedream that New Zealand is only a place for wealthy tourists and sell us to the world and get as many visitors here as you can.   But don’t leave it to locals and their struggling councils to provide all the basic services and facilities that these visitors are going to need once they get here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you know who’s to blame for the high school teacher shortage we’re hearing about today? You are. I am, as well. We’re both to blame. Because, whether you’re a parent or not, we have done an absolutely brilliant job of putting people off wanting to become a teacher. And it’s a weird mix of us doing too much of some stuff and too little of other stuff. And the outcome is 346 full-time vacancies unfilled just weeks out from the new school year. Now I know you might be thinking "oh yeah, we hear this every year from the unions. They take every opportunity to bang on about needing more pay, more resources blah blah blah.” But it’s not just the unions speaking out. There’s a principal in the news saying that in the 16 years he’s been in the job, there’s only been one where he’s started the year without enough teachers. Looks like this could be his second.   So why am I putting the blame on us? Because that’s not what the unions are saying. It’s certainly not what the government is saying, either. As if they would. So why am I saying it? I’m saying it because parents - and I’m one of them (our three are in their early 20s now) but, yep, I know I’ve been guilty over the years of poking my nose in - probably a bit too much. Not as badly as other parents - but I’m guilty. And what we’ve done in the process, is we have piled so many expectations and pressure on teachers that we are driving them nuts. We think that we deserve one-on-one time with them whenever we want it. So much so, that some schools have had to put a ban on parents barging into the classroom before or after school to “have a word”. We’ve been banging on the door, writing emails. The way some parents behave, you could describe it as harassment of teachers. This is the part of my argument where we have done “too much”, and it's part of the reason why I think we have to carry the blame for people not wanting to be teachers. Another part of my “too much” argument is the expectations we have placed on teachers and schools to provide not just an education but full-scale social services. As well as all the moaning about all the holidays they, supposedly, get - and let’s not forget all the tut-tutting over the keep cups about teacher-only days. Who would want to be a teacher with all that going on? Not me. As for the “too little” bit —this is where you and I have put people off wanting to be teachers by not doing enough— this is all about our lack of support and advocacy for teachers. And this is broad. At one end, you’ve got the way people are always far too busy to put their hand up to help out with anything at school. You’ll know as much as I do that the ones who do are always the same faces, and they get sick of it eventually. At the other end —on a broader level— we have done an absolutely hopeless job of standing up for our teachers. And there is an absolutely prime example. We have quietly sat-by and allowed to happen what I think is the most damaging thing that’s ever been done to our education system - the modern learning environment. The modern learning environment has been —in my opinion— an absolute disaster. And you and I - we’ve allowed it to happen. It gets moaned about, but no one ever takes it to the next level. The fact that teachers have been forced to teach kids in these barn-like settings with tents and bean bags and noise. Again, who would want to be a teacher in that kind of set-up? I wouldn’t!  But we have allowed the Ministry of Education to force these monstrosities on schools. Sure, we might have had a rant about it to our mates - but that’s all we’ve done. And by stopping there, we have let teachers down big-time. And by letting teachers down big time by not advocating for them as much as we should —and by placing such unrealistic expectations on them— by doing too much of some stuff and not enough of other stuff - we have done a first-class job of telling people to forget about being teachers.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a belief we're still yet to reap the benefits of having inflation under control.  Latest Stats NZ figures show the inflation rate for the year to December was 2.2%, unchanged from September.  Inflation is well down on the once-in-a-generation high of 7.3% of just two and a half years ago.  The Herald's Liam Dann told John McDonald we're still yet to see many prices come down.  He says rents are still up for example, but they should be coming down with a struggling property market.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"We will be the envy of every nation and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. I will, very simply, put America first."   And with that, Donald Trump —the 47th US president— probably sent a chill down the spines of truckloads of people around the world.   And a chill down the spines of some people within America too - because, some Americans, he won’t be putting first. Which I’ll get to.   But do you know what? There was no chill down my spine when I listened to him.   Well, that’s not quite correct. There was probably a draught, but there was certainly no chill.    Because just like last year when he won the election —when I said that it’s very easy to jump on the hysteria bandwagon over Trump— that’s how I’m feeling too now that it’s happened and he’s the president.    I still generally think that. Although there are a couple of things he’s been saying today that have me thinking. But let’s see what happens. That’s what I meant when I said there was a draught down my spine instead of a chill.   But generally, when it comes to how I’m feeling about the next four years with him in the White House, I’m more intrigued than anything.   Yes, it will be weird at times, but that’s as bad as it’s going to get. For me, anyway, living here in New Zealand.   That does come with a few provisos, though.    Number one: I’m not an exporter - so I’m not going to be directly affected by any trade tariffs that he might bring in.   I do know though that —if it happens— we will all be affected in some way, shape or form, because when exporters do well, we all do well.    And when exporters don’t do well - we all feel it.   But, as anyone who has exported anything knows, there are always challenges to overcome. So, let’s wait and see what comes of that.    But overall, you’ve got to give it to him - he’s not shy on ambition.   He’s talking already about getting an American flag on Mars. The weird bit about that is he says it’s possible because America split the atom.   Now, this might be a bit of parochial New Zealand coming through, but I’m pretty sure it was Ernest Rutherford who did that.   And he wasn’t American. He was born in Brightwater, near Nelson.    He went to school in Nelson, went to university in Christchurch and then headed off overseas and did the splitting of the atom thing at the University of Manchester, in Britain.   But Donald Trump is never one to let the facts get in the way of anything.   He’s been banging on about the US “taking back” the Panama Canal because, at the moment, China’s operating it and there can’t be any more of that nonsense.   I’m paraphrasing the president there but that’s the gist of it. He says: “It is time for us to act with courage and vigour”.   And no surprises, he’s announced that he’s going to re-name the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”. But he was talking about that last week, wasn’t he?   So a lot of bluster. But here’s the bit where things get a bit ugly.    President Trump says his government will only recognise two genders: male and female. He’s going to stop the “social engineering” of “race and gender into every part of life.”   And he’s promising to bring back free speech by stopping all censorship.    Which is all stuff from the “go woke - go broke” manual. And that’s the bit I’m not liking.   Because even though I’m not part of the LGBTQIA+ community, why on earth would you refuse to recognise the way someone identifies?   Of course, there’ll be no shortage of people cheering Trump on, on this one. There’ll be no shortage of people, either —like me— who see this sort of talk from the new president as something from an age long gone.   But —despite those things— even though there are a few things that President Trump said this morning that I don’t like, I’m still feeling pretty relaxed about it all. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you believed the Prime Minister when he said yesterday that he still has confidence in the now-former health minister Shane Reti, you will believe anything. Let’s face it, though, he couldn’t have said anything different. But whether you believe it or not - that’s another thing. And I don’t. Because he clearly doesn’t - or he clearly doesn’t have as much faith in Shane Reti as he used to. Otherwise, Simeon Brown wouldn’t be the new health minister. And who would want to be Simeon Brown? Being the minister of health, you’re on a hiding to nothing. And who would want to be working in the health system? I wouldn’t. Because, trust me, it’s about to get ugly. I know people working in health might say “it’s pretty ugly already mate”. In fact, one person I know who works pretty high up in the health system - and who is a big advocate of the public system - they’ve been telling anyone who will listen that they should be getting private health insurance. If they can afford it, of course. So here’s why I think things are about to get ugly - or uglier - with Simeon Brown in charge of health. Christopher Luxon says he’s given him the job because he “gets things done”. Which is a term that drives me nuts because this whole idea of “getting things done” says nothing about quality or improvement. It’s just ticking things off the to-do list. Or ticking things off the quarterly plan. And Simeon Brown has form. He’s got a track record from the other ministerial roles he’s had so far where he gets stuff done by telling people what they’re going to do. Local government. He’s made it very clear to local councils who is running the shop. And it’s not them. Transport .He’s flying in the face of what the experts say about speed and he’s going to increase speed limits. And, as of yesterday’s announcement, Dunedin can kiss goodbye to the hospital the people thought they were getting and the hospital they still want to get. Because the Prime Minister is going to be putting Simeon on a plane south to bang some heads together. Which is what the Prime Minister was really saying yesterday. It might’ve sounded like he was saying that the new health minister got the job because he gets stuff done. But what he really meant, was that Simeon’s got the gig because he’s good at banging heads together. Don’t get me wrong - he does get stuff done. But is that really the approach we should be taking when it comes to something as critical as our health system? I don’t think it is. Not that I think Shane Reti was up for the job, either. Last year I ended up in hospital for a night after some pretty bad complications from a flu bug I picked-up travelling back from the UK. And if you ask me how I felt about that experience - it was brilliant. Sure, I would have preferred not to be there in the first place. But I couldn’t have asked for more. And, a lot of the time, from what I hear people say - it seems that most are pretty happy - if not delighted - with the care they receive in hospital. Trick is, though, that’s once they get in the door. Get in the door of your local hospital and, generally, you’re fine. The only proviso I would put on that is that I live in New Zealand’s second-largest city and I know things - even once you’re through the door - can be a bit average at some of our smaller hospitals. Take Dargaville hospital. Last year there was that issue with no doctors on the wards overnight. That had been going on for a few months and the nurses weren’t happy about it. And poor old Shane Reti was in the firing line. Pouring cold water on rumours that the whole place was going to be shut down. But, of course, hospitals are only part of the health system. I heard Bryan Betty, who heads the organisation representing GPs, was saying that he thought Shane Reti had been doing a pretty good job. Which is another reason why I think Simeon Brown is on a collision course. Because even though the Prime Minister didn’t like the pace Shane Reti was working at - and even though I don’t think Shane Reti was all that good as a health minister - I don’t think Simeon Brown’s approach is going to do us any favours at all. Because Mr Get-Stuff-Done is also going to be Mr Get-Peoples-Backs-Up. And that’s not going to do anyone any favours. It’s not going to you any favours. It's not going to me any favours. And it’s certainly not going to do anyone working in the health system any favours. But if Simeon Brown proves me wrong - and if he does manage to get people on-side and does manage to make the health system better than it is now - then I’ll be the first to acknowledge it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"It was the right thing for the UK": Boris Johnson 'unapologetic' about Brexit  Boris Johnson is unapologetic about taking his country out of the European Union.   He's in New Zealand for a speaking event and to promote his book 'Unleashed'.   The former British Prime Minister says while there was panic about Brexit at the time, in the long term it's been good for the UK.   He told Kerre Woodham that the split from the EU came in handy during the Covid pandemic.    He says it allowed the country to get early access to vaccines before other European countries.  Johnson says the massive Conservative loss in this year's UK General Election can't be blamed on him.   The Conservative Party's defeat by Keir Starmer's Labour was one of its worst-ever losses.   Johnson told Woodham had he and Rishi Sunak teamed up, it would have been a different result.   He says if they'd been able to put into action some things they'd planned, they would have wiped the floor with Starmer.  He's denied any responsibility for the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and says progress has been slow since he left office.  The former Prime Minister says it's "absolute bollocks" to suggest the UK could have a role in negotiating peace between Ukraine and Russia.  Johnson says the West has a pathetic paranoia about humiliating Vladimir Putin - and is too half-hearted in helping Ukraine. He says he's fed up with hearing the nonsense idea we'd risk a nuclear confrontation.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here’s how I would sum up the Government’s changes to the free speech rules for universities. It wants more Posie Parkers and less posey political statements. Which I’ve got no problem with - but I don’t think it should stop at universities. I think the Government also needs to look at other public entities, such as local councils, which actually seem to be making more posey political statements than universities. Because, if the Government doesn’t want universities taking positions on things like the war in Gaza because - whatever position they take - won’t reflect the views of all staff and students, then the same could apply to local councils, couldn’t it? If a council boycotts Israel, for example, there’s no way everyone who works for these councils or who pays rates to these councils will agree, is there? Let me come back to that. But the gist of all this is that the Government wants two changes to the way universities deal with free speech. For starters: It wants them to stop being so antsy about having guest speakers coming onto campus who might upset a few people with their views. Which has seen some universities pull the plug on certain events. Massey University, for example, stopped Don Brash from giving a speech there once because of what one person described as his "separatist and supremacist rhetoric". A more recent example is Victoria University cancelling a freedom of speech debate this year because of concerns it would turn into a cesspit of hate speech. So the Government wants no more of that. Because it thinks universities are places where all sorts of ideas and thoughts should be shared and debated. And I agree with that. So that’s what I mean when I say it wants more Posie Parker. The other change it’s making to the regulations that universities operate under, is to stop them taking positions on matters that don’tdirectly relate to their core business of research and teaching. Now this is not something that is going to impact academics who enjoy what’s known as academic freedom - which pretty much means they can think and say what they want. Although some academics have questioned that in recent years, saying that they don’t feel as free to think and say what they want as they used to. But, essentially, what the Government wants to stop is universities - as institutions - taking a view or a stance on international issues, for example. Some of our universities have been under pressure to condemn Israel for what’s going on in Gaza and the Occupied Territories. But, as far as I’m aware, none of them have given-in to that pressure. The closest example I could find here in New Zealand is an announcement three months ago by Victoria University's fundraising arm - the Victoria University Foundation - that it would be getting rid of its Israeli government bonds and its shares in companies listed in Israel. So maybe this is a pre-emptive move by the Government, as much as anything. And it says the reason it’s doing this, is that if a university takes a stand on something - it doesn’t reflect the views of all staff and students, and that is unfair. So, if that’s the motivation, then I reckon the Government needs to come down just as hard on other public entities. Public entities which, at the moment, seem to be going harder on this thing than any of our universities. And I’m thinking, specifically, about local councils around the country which have been more than happy to pile-in on Israel this year, with decisions to boycott companies which operate in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Christchurch City Council has done it. Environment Canterbury regional council has done it. And Nelson City Council’s done it. They’re the ones I’m aware of. There might be others. But, if we apply the argument the Government’s using to stop universities taking positions on global issues - because they won’t necessarily represent the views of all staff and students - then the same can be said of these local councils, can’t it? In Nelson, for example, after the council there voted to go with a boycott - there were some pretty fired-up locals. The mayor Nick Smith, who voted against it, got a whole lot of abuse too. And who says everyone working at these councils agrees with the position their employers have taken? They won’t. And who says everyone paying rates to these councils agrees with their anti-Israel positions? They don’t. Which is why I think the Government should be telling councils not to take political positions on issues outside their core business, just like it's telling the universities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.