Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

You might have heard Mike Hosking this morning relaying the conversation we had during the news break in the office. I told him that as soon as I heard Winston Peters this morning on the drive into work, being his typical curmudgeonly self; I switched over to Coast and had the great good fortune to land on Wham! and Wake Me Up Before You Go, Go,and - I sang along merrily till the end of the song. I turned back to Mike at the end to hear him give a time check, perfect timing. Brilliant Wham! song- no Winston to ruin my day and I could enjoy the rest of the Mike Hosking Breakfast.   The latest Taxpayers Union Curia poll shows Labour crashing to below 30 percent. National and Act with enough support to form a government.  But here he is, here he comes, Winston Peters above the 5 percent threshold and returning to Parliament. As I have said many times, I reached peak Winston years ago.   But as Mike says, don't blame Winston, blame the system. He says we voted for MPP. I didn't. I voted for STV in 1993 and then again in the 2011 referendum. For those who don't like to see the tail wagging the dog, we had a chance to change the electoral system in 2011. You can accept that there was this big campaign in 1993 that promoted MMP. There were people against specifically MMP, so that was all we heard about was MMP. So people voted for it. But then we had a chance again in 2011. And yet again, people voted to keep MMP. We live in a democracy where everyone's vote is given equal value. And thus, you know, we have to accept the result. But seriously, when you think of some of the callers who don't care about politics here,  who have voted the same way, will always vote the same way, who are basically tribal, and that's on both sides of the spectrum. People who simply refused to countenance another party, it is always going to be frustrating for people who do care and who vote based on performance or what might be best for the country.  As long as we have MMP, we will have Winston Peters or Winston Peters pretenders. We are getting exactly what we voted for. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, the stats speak for themselves, really don't they? Since October 2017, there has been an 83 percent increase in sexual offenders serving an electronically monitored sentence and a 133 percent increase in gang members sentenced for violence offences serving an electronically monitored sentence. As at the 30th of June 2023, there are 917 people serving an electronically monitored sentence in the community for violent offending.  You'll remember the teen Mongrel Mob member who broke into the home of a pregnant woman and sexually assaulted her - he was sentenced to 12 months home detention - and on his way out, put up his hand and  yelled ‘yeah, cracked it.’  He wasn't seeing this as an opportunity to rehabilitate. He wasn't seeing this as an opportunity to put a life of crime behind him. He wasn't seeing this as an opportunity to turn his life around. He knew it got off lightly.   2035 breaches of home detention in the year to June and those are only the ones they've caught. There are plenty they haven't.  Don't get me wrong. There are many people who do use the opportunity of a non-custodial sentence to continue to work, to rehabilitate themselves, to not let a moment of madness destroy their lives, their families forever. I get that. But others are just having a laugh. The damage they do, however, is not very funny as we've seen with recent events. Criminal lawyer Steve Cullen was on the Mike Hosking breakfast this morning, and he says home detention should continue to be an option. But the answer is a separate entity to monitor those on electronic bail. A 133 percent increase in gang members being given home detention, doesn't that tell you something? This is how they make their living. They commit crime. It's time to get tough. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christopher Luxon joined Newstalk ZB Kerre Woodham Mornings live in studio to take your calls. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are hopes from our Conservation Minister past successes in protecting the ocean can be replicated. The Government has proposed expanding marine protections to the Goat Island and Cathedral Cove Marine Reserves. The proposed legislation would also create 19 new marine protection areas. It will also eliminate bottom trawling in large parts of the Hauraki Gulf. Conservation Minister Willow-Jean Prime told Kerre Woodham marine protection areas ban recreational and commercial fishing, but allow for Māori customary practices - and says they hope to follow up on good work that's already been done. Prime says says customary practices are developed to match biosecurity goals. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have three ongoing investigations into three separate shooting incidents resulting in death. You have to say that Deputy Police Commissioner Mike Clements’ comments haven't aged all that well, have they? Back in 2019, just four years ago, he said during the first weekend of the gun buyback scheme, if we take tens of thousands of firearms off the streets during the next six months, then absolutely New Zealand has to be a safer place. Jump forward four years; the stats don't really say that, do they? The Deputy Police commissioner was wrong and those who said gun buybacks wouldn't have any real impact on public health and safety are right. ACT leader David Seymour was one of them at the time. He said it wasn't going to make a blind bit of difference. Researchers from Australia, where there had been a similar gun buyback scheme, said much the same. And the stats have proved it. When the Government clamped down on firearms and seized high-powered semi-automatic weapons, they wanted to see a reduction in violent gun crime. They wanted to make New Zealand a safer place. I have absolutely no doubt about that. But facts are facts, and there has been no impact on the rise in gun crime and violence in New Zealand as a result of the gun buyback.   Jacinda Ardern and her party believed absolutely in the rightness of the gun buyback. They truly believed they would be making New Zealand a safer place, and I'm sure many other New Zealanders believed it too. Is New Zealand a safer place? It's not. It's worse than it's ever been for many, many reasons. I do believe that kindness and goodness can work but only when those who exploit that, only when people who deliberately choose to stick two fingers to society, to the community, continue to put others at risk, only when they understand that exploiting goodness will have consequences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was 10 years and about a month ago that John Key, then Prime Minister of New Zealand, got up on his hind legs at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and laid out the National Party's plan for a new harbour crossing. There was going to be a freight corridor in Onehunga mooted, as was an inner-city rail link, a cost of $2.86 billion. Two options were floated: tunnels near the existing harbour bridge or another bridge. A road bridge would cost $3.9 billion to build. In this day and age, $3.9 billion is like pocket change, the sort of money that Grant Robertson seems to regularly find or lose down the back of the couch. Tunnels would cost up to $5.3 billion. That was the plan, they were going to get onto it. It was going to start in 2026. And fast forward 10 years to today, nothing happened. And $5.3 billion? If only! The Government yesterday announced a multibillion dollar harbour tunnel plan incorporating light rail, and the cost was estimated to be around $45 billion. $5.3 to $45 billion. And really, if anyone expects it to come in on budget tell them they're dreaming! Transport Minister David Parker told the Mike Hosking Breakfast that when it comes to paying for it, because that's the big question, he says they're leaving their options open. He said, it would be easier to fund from within rather than going cap in hand to China to take part in the Belt and Road scheme that many impoverished nations take advantage of. I tend to agree. There's other ways of finding the money and all options will be explored. But do you agree? That we just have to bite the bullet. That you just have to be able to provide an alternative to an aging piece of infrastructure that is long past its use by date and is not really able to deliver for all transport options. We just have to do it, don't we? If we can go from $5 billion to $45 billion in 10 years, if we hold off another 10 years, how much more is it going to cost?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand’s aged care sector is in crisis. Aged care has been chronically underfunded by successive governments, resulting in a lack of capital investment in facilities. This comes as the sector grapples with rising costs and an acute shortage of 1200 registered nurses. Many providers have had no option but to close beds, with a number closing their doors for good. In the past year, over 1000 beds have closed permanently and 1200 closed temporarily due to staff shortages. More closures are expected to follow. In an effort to get the Government to listen and take action, the Aged Care Association is launching a campaign today, titled ‘The Domino Effect’. Interim chief executive of the Aged Care Association Katherine Rich Kerre Woodham to talk about the situation. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2013 Sir John Key announced a second harbour crossing at an Auckland Chamber of Commerce meeting when he was outlining the then-National Government's transport policy. A decade later Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Transport Minister David Parker announced the proposal for a second Waitematā crossing: two three lane tunnels and a light rail linking Albany to the CBD. Sir John Key joined Kerre Woodham to discuss the proposal. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Criticism is coming in thick and fast for the Government's plan for a second Waitemata Harbour crossing. It wants to build two three-lane tunnels for vehicles and a light rail tunnel, with a route eventually linking Albany and the CBD. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown claims both National and Labour have failed to cooperate with the Council on big transport plans. He says it's exploring better, faster and cheaper plans. Wayne Brown joined Kerre Woodham to discuss the proposal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bleak news has come for dairy farmers this morning. Fonterra has drastically reduced its forecast Farmgate Milk Price for the current season due to ongoing reduced demand from China. The midpoint has plummeted from $8/kg of milk solids, to just $7. Fonterra boss Miles Hurrell is blaming a recent 12 percent drop in the price of whole milk powder, due to much lower than expected demand from China. The Country host Jamie McKay says this will be make-or-break for many farmers. Jamie McKay joined Kerre Woodham Mornings. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.