We've seen floods in Europe, fires in California and in the last couple of years, weather events here at home. As of the 1st of September 2023, insurers had paid out $2.053 billion on claims relating to the Auckland Anniversary flood and Cyclone Gabrielle. That's expected to increase to $3.5 billion once all claims are settled. Two weather events, one small country, $3.5 billion. And represents the vast majority of insured losses recorded in the Asia Pacific region for the first half of 2023. Insurers keep announcing they've broken new records for pay-outs. Data released by the Insurance Council of Australia last year shows that the impact of extreme weather on the Australian economy has more than tripled over the last three decades. A couple of years ago, the Insurance Council of New Zealand reported that the total amount paid out by insurers for weather related claims in 2022 had reached a record-breaking $335.58 million. A staggering sum, a huge amount. And then along came the Anniversary floods and Cyclone Gabrielle and made the previous year's payouts look like chump change. $335.58 million - staggering amount of money - hello $3.5 billion. It can't go on, its unsustainable. Insurers can and have put up their premiums, but there comes a point where people can't or won't pay those premiums. Home insurance premiums rose by an average of 21.2 percent between September 2022 and 2023 quarters. Should home insurance become unaffordable, and this has happened in other parts of the world, both unaffordable and unavailable - there may be pressure for Government intervention. That's already happened in the UK and in parts of the US, for risks that private insurers have come to regard as unaffordable in certain areas.  Mind you, I don't know how willing the taxpayer would be to insure homeowners whose homes have been deemed uninsurable by private companies. That's just your home insurance. What about the rising cost of health insurance? Income protection insurance? Life insurance? Car insurance? A story out today shows more people are considering changing their car insurance policy or switching to third-party coverage as premiums continue to rise.  The latest data from insurance comparison website Quashed shows the average quote for comprehensive car insurance has increased 41 percent in two years. Average quotes for home and contents insurance have risen 31 percent over the same period. And according to Quashed, more users are looking into other options, including third-party as they face a conundrum between cheaper premiums and greater coverage. So what do you do when the household budget is tight? Or when there are increasing pressures upon it, what gives? Say you're a young couple, two kids, car and a big mortgage. What do you do? What insurances do you pay - or what has to give? Do you keep up the life insurance payments so that if heaven forfend one of you dies, the other isn't left with dreadful grief, parentless children and a $500K mortgage? Do you keep up the income protection, which is incredibly expensive? So that if you get ill and you can't work, you won't lose your home and your business? Do you give up the health insurance because you're a young couple and you've got two young kids and hopefully you'll be fine? Do you go to third party with the car? When you retire, you don't have to pay income protection anymore - so do you keep up the life insurance? Do you pay the premiums as a gift to the next generation coming up? Or do you spend it in the here and now? What do you do? Insurance is there just in case, it's an investment that you hope you never have to cash in on for most of it. If you have to cash in on your insurance policies, chances are something's gone badly wrong. Is it a nice to have or a must have?  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government this morning laid out it's intentions to tackle New Zealand's two-horse supermarket race.  Economic Growth and Finance Minister Nicola Willis says the Government has the power to make the market more attractive and encourage a third player.  They’re planning to remove regulations discouraging other supermarkets competing.  Foodstuffs North Island CEO Chris Quin told Kerre Woodham that it’s not a surprise.  He says competition is good for the supermarket sector, and the actions they took were always with the assumption that new competition could come at any time.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s growing potential for a new player to tackle New Zealand's two-horse supermarket race.  The Government's laying out intentions to encourage a third player to challenge the two incumbents of Foodstuffs and Woolworths.  It's planning to remove regulations discouraging other supermarkets competing.  Economic Growth and Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Kerre Woodham the Government has the power to make the market more attractive.  She confirms there's interest, and says she’s been informed there has been a proposal.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As you will have heard, the Salvation Army has released its 18th State of the Nation report and it paints a grim picture. New Zealanders are worse off than they were a year ago in terms of food security, employment, and housing, according to the data. Mike Hosking made the point this morning that the Sallies report seldom makes for good news. It's not often you're cracking the champagne going ‘well that’s sorted child poverty – done, homelessness solved’. The Sallies are focused on caring for those who are struggling for whatever reason – for those who have slipped through the cracks, for those whose needs are complex and varied. But according to the report author, it's the worst set of results he's seen in six years of writing the report.   This doesn't surprise me. Times are tough for people with jobs, without drug and alcohol addictions, with homes and children in education, you can only imagine how tough it is for people who have limited choices. The cruel reality of a recession is that when more people than ever before are looking for help, fewer people are able to give it. Government funding has been reduced, and people are finding it more difficult to contribute to charitable organisations. The number of people receiving income support in 2024 exceeded 400,000 —a record high— and unemployment returned to levels seen at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.   Yes, it's called chickens coming home to roost. This is what happens after soaring inflation and enormous budget blowouts. It's awful, and it's hard, and it's painful, and those who are struggling already suffered disproportionately. Salvation Army Principal Social Policy Analyst and the report author Paul Barber spoke to Mike Hosking this morning and said a stable home is vital to the well-being of a community.   “We've seen a really mixed story around homelessness and housing. We've seen a fantastic increase in the number of public houses, so social housing available to help people who are waiting for or need a home. But on the other hand, we've also seen a disturbing rise in the street homelessness, as people's emergency housing support’s been ended.   “Our view is it's important to be beside people, to help them get stability in their lives and to help people have their lives transformed. And what we see when social housing is doing well, that's exactly what happens, and in fact, that's why we strongly support increasing community and Kainga Ora government owned public housing, so that we can actually help people, help end homelessness. That's the dream and we've seen a lot of progress in that space, and we'd really like to see that continue.”  Yes, we certainly saw Labour pushing out as many state houses as Kainga Ora could build in the last years of its government, and hopefully Paul Barber heard Simon Moutter when he came in to explain the vision of Kainga Ora last week. That they want to have a sustained building program that's not subject to ebbs and flows, that it's a sustained building program that will allow houses to be built for those who need them.   Paul Barber said what we need is more compassion and more help for those people who are really, really struggling, and that is a lovely sentiment and what you would expect from the Salvation Army. But ultimately, it is not terribly helpful. Compassion doesn't feed a family. You can have all the compassion in the world for people who are doing it tough, but if you haven't got any money leftover in your pocket at the end of the week you can't do anything about it.   And yes, of course more help is needed for people who are struggling, but help costs money, and where does that help come from? When a country is in recession, when people who do have jobs and pay cheques have less in their pockets every week, there isn't the money to fund the sort of programmes that Paul Barber is talking about. It didn't just happen. It's not as though there's been a change of government and all of a sudden there have been resets and we've decided that we don't care about people, and that we don't care about social housing, and that we don't care about homelessness.   What we need far more than compassion is a productive, thriving economy so that people who can, can look after themselves. And people who can't, will benefit from assistance provided by a government that's got plenty of money flowing into its coffers through exports, through increased taxation, and from caring donors who've got more than enough and are happy to share. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A belief economic pain is driving a dip in the polls for the right, rather than Coalition dynamics.  Two polls out yesterday showed support dropping for Christopher Luxon as preferred Prime Minister, and the figures would let the left bloc form a Government.  Luxon told reporters his team is focused on the job at hand, prioritising economic growth.  He has rejected calls to act more like Donald Trump in signing executive orders, saying we have a different political system.  University of Otago Law Professor Andrew Geddis told Kerre Woodham the US President is elected on a separate basis and has powers specific to the role that allow things like executive orders.  He says that in New Zealand, the Prime Minister is the head of the executive branch but only insofar as Parliament lets them be.   Geddis also notes that many of the things Trump is doing are flat out illegal, as he can’t use executive orders to overturn the Constitution.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two new political polls out show Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Māori would have enough support to form the next government, should an election be held tomorrow, while also suggesting more people believe the country's headed in the wrong direction.   The latest 1News-Verian poll found support had dipped for the coalition government who could only muster 60 seats in Parliament, not enough to meet the 61-seat majority required. A combination, however, of Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Māori did reach the 61-seat threshold. And that follows a Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll that also found the left bloc could form a government.   Does that mean that you and I, that New Zealanders, want to see a government installed tomorrow comprised of Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Māori? I don't believe so. I think what the polls are telling us is that people want to see action, they want to see results. Like kids in the back of the car on a long, hot summer roadie, we want to know if we're there yet.   For those with mortgages and children and businesses to run, it has been a long, tough three years. We're tired of scrimping. We're tired of barely getting by and making do. We're tired of having a knot of tension constantly in our stomachs that comes from living so precariously.   The Prime Minister keeps telling us economic growth is the key to turning things around. We're going as fast as we can. But things are changing, things are going to get better. Just like Dad driving the car, he's sick of telling us that yes, we're nearly there but we’ve still got a nasty, windy bit to come. For God's sake, kids. I'm going as bloody fast as I can, as safely as I can. And what thanks does he get from the whining kids in the back? None.   National issued a pledge card in the lead up to the ‘23 election. Lower inflation and grow the economy. Check and in progress. Tax cuts. Check. Build new roads. Yep. Tackle gangs, introduce boot camps. Yep. Lift school achievement. Well TBC but certainly making the right noises and going in the right direction with the new school curriculum. Cut health waiting times, give Kiwis access to more cancer treatments. Don't know about the waiting times, but the new cancer treatments have been signed off. Support seniors and deliver net zero by 2025. So far on track.   And Luxon can say for heaven's sake, people, I'm doing the best I can, I'm doing what I said I would do. But then we have all the distractions and the simmering resentments. The Treaty Principles Bill, that ferry debacle, I mean, we used to give Labour gyp for announcements of announcements – that was the king of all announcements of announcements. We've got David Seymour and then we've got the platitudes from the Prime Minister.   I don't know how many times he can say I get it, it's tough, I hear you, we're working on it, we've got a really good discussion group coming. Then you see Trump come into office and then with a couple of hours, he does what we wanted the new government to do. They still haven't done it and it's been over a year – Trump does it in a matter of hours.   And so we grizzle. And so we moan like the kids in the back of the car. And the Prime Minister, dad the driver, seethes with resentment. I'm going as fast as I can and it'll be great when we get there, you ungrateful wretches. And in the meantime, the opposition parties, who if I'm going to stretch the analogy even further, are the hoons in the lane outside of us, in their unregistered car, not licensed to drive. They toot the horn, give us the fingers and think I wonder when those kids will want to get in the car with us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kerre Woodham speaks to NZ Herald Business Editor at Large, Liam Dann, to explain how the changes to foreign investor visas will grow our economy. LISTEN ABOVE.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government, as you will have heard, is relaxing immigration settings to encourage migrants to invest in New Zealand businesses. While everyone was at the beach yesterday making the most of the golden weather the Prime Minister was suited and booted and spelling out the changes to the Active Investore Plus (AIP) visa category to the Auckland Business Chamber. The way it works is that there will be two “simplified” investment categories that will replace the existing “complex waiting system”, as set up by Labour. From April 1, the visa will be split into two categories: Growth and Balanced. The growth category applies to those making “higher- risk investments”, including those directly in local businesses and will require a minimum investment of $5 million for a period of at least three years. Visa holders in this category would have to reside in New Zealand for a minimum of 21 days. Not a long time. The balanced category focuses on mixed investment, allows for a minimum spend of $10 million over five years, and requires 105 days spent in New Zealand with the potential to get reductions if investments exceed $10 million. Several other changes have been made, including the stripping away of the visa's English language requirement, which demanded applicants have an English language background. Christopher Luxon said yesterday that the requirement had scared off many potential investors in recent years and the numbers certainly seem to support that. Since 2022, migrants entering New Zealand under the investor category have invested just $70 million. By contrast, in the two years prior to Covid-19 migrants invested $2.2 billion. There’s a hell of a difference. However, Labour says by dumbing down the rules for the investor visa risks watering down the economic benefits for New Zealand. In his press release, Phil Twyford says “allowing people to buy residence by parking their money in a passive investment like property that won't generate jobs or sustainable economic development for New Zealand does not sit well”. And I guess that's the rub. Is it going to generate real jobs? Is it going to generate real growth? Or is it just going to be money washing around in the system? Simon Bridges talking to Andrew Dickens on Early Edition says it's a good move and most people don't realise just how important foreign investment is to the growing of the economy.  “If you look at the results over time, under more permissive settings if you want to say that, the results pretty clear ... a lot of very wealthy came and I think history shows they invested in our best companies, our golf courses, they made bequeaths to our art galleries, they had an oversized contribution to New Zealand. Then we tightened them up, I think it was under the last Labour government. And we saw less of that right? You know, I think possibly New Zealanders don't quite understand how much good investment migrant settings can be really important to our economic success and we sure as hell need that at the moment.” Well, we certainly do. We certainly do need that kind of investment, but I think Simon Bridges from the Auckland Chamber is probably quite right. I don't understand how foreign investment is going to grow our economy. I can understand how bringing money in and just using it as an investment opportunity to offset your other investments if you're a wealthy foreign investor just allows you to slush money around. How does it grow it?  It is it going to be the next Rocket Lab or the next Xero. How? Art galleries and golf courses are all very well and good, but they're lovely, gorgeous vanity projects and gifts to New Zealand from wealthy investors that don't really generate jobs. Where's the benefit to the ordinary Kiwi?  So the government has banged the sign on the shop door and is sitting about telling the world we are open for business. But what sort of business? You know, where is it going to franchises? It going to nail bars? Is it going to fast food? Is it just money going round and round in a continual cycle within the economy? How do we ensure it's going into these businesses where we've got brilliant Kiwi entrepreneurs, brilliant startup businesses that need that extra capital to go to that next level? How do we direct it there? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kerre Woodham speaks to NZ Herald Business Editor at Large, Liam Dann, to explain how the changes to foreign investor visas will grow our economy. LISTEN ABOVE.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The news that Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown is heading to China today on the country's first state visit, where he's expected to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership with China, has come as news to our Foreign Minister, news to our government, and indeed news to some of the Cook Island people.   The excellent Barbara Dreaver on 1News broke the story on Wednesday night. As she reported, the impending visit has taken the Beehive by surprise, as it's a potential breach of constitutional arrangements between the Cook Islands and Aotearoa New Zealand.   This year the Cook Islands celebrate 60 years of self-governance in free association with New Zealand. That means that they're free to make their own moves on policies and partnerships at home and abroad, while enjoying the benefits of a New Zealand passport and citizenship, plus substantial investment and aid. But with any perks come responsibilities under the long-standing agreement. The nations must cooperate and consult on any issues of defence and security, and they have to advise each other of any risks to either state. And it would appear that the detail of the arrangements has not happened in this particular case, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, who spoke to Mike Hosking this morning:   “I believe they've got all these other things about beliefs, principles, freedom, human rights – these are fundamentals that the Cook Islands people are also concerned about, as they are around the Pacific. They need to know what's happening here and as a consequence, when they make a decision, then they should be free to make it, but they have to be free to make it in the circumstances of the commitments that we made going back to Helen Clark's time and going back to 1901, where we just discuss and consult, that's where we are now. I can assure you that the New Zealand government has done its best to find out what's going on, and to say this has been discussed with us is absurdly not true.”  So the government's been blindsided, and it appears the Cook Islands people themselves have been blindsided. A protest has been planned on Parliament's first sitting of the year in Rarotonga on February 17th. Some locals told Barbara Dreaver that they fear losing the special relationship they have with New Zealand, and that will happen if the Cooks Prime Minister Mark Brown pushes ahead with his intention for them to have its own passport. New Zealand's ruled out a dual passport arrangement.  1News understands that if the Cook Islands went ahead with its own passport, anyone who applied for a Cook Islands passport would be treated as having renounced their New Zealand one. The Cook Islands, of course, are perfectly free to make their own arrangements, but so too are we. If you want your own passport, that's absolutely fine, but you don't get to have a dual passport arrangement with New Zealand.   They're also perfectly free to trade with China. We do. Brown was adamant the Cook Islands Government could go ahead with its own passport and still stay within the free association with New Zealand. He said the Cook Islands needed more development partners such as China, and the Islands already more than pulled its weight with New Zealand.   Okay, that’s his opinion. But there's two people in a relationship, and clearly Winston Peters and New Zealand feels a bit differently. If New Zealand doesn't think the Cook Islands are operating within the obligations of the agreement, there will be consequences. So they're perfectly free to make their own decisions, and we are perfectly free to respond. If it comes to a bidding war, we will always lose to China. If it comes to who can put more money into the Pacific, it's China, every single time. But when it comes to cultural connectedness, history and family, that's where New Zealand has the advantage. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.