Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

In the UK, the former health secretary says the UK's pandemic planning was "completely wrong". Matt Hancock, the secretary during the pandemic, has told that country's coronavirus inquiry the attitude was to plan for the consequences of a disaster. He claimed medicines for intensive care were within hours of running out. UK and Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby Hancock says he's "profoundly sorry" for the response. He says Hancock told the inquiry they should've been looking at how to slow down or stop the spread of Covid-19. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Tertiary Education Union is welcoming the $128 million cash injection to the struggling sector. Split over the next two years, it'll increase tuition subsidies by an extra four percent at degree-level and above. The Government is also promising to review the funding system for universities. Union National President Julie Douglas is hopeful the boost will allow Vice-Chancellors at Otago and Victoria universities to reconsider job cut proposals. She says the universities have a level of autonomy over what to spend it on, but the money wasn't given for a new building and stems from a long union campaign. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There have been mixed feelings about Resource Management Act reforms. The Environmental Select Committee has suggested amendments including faster consenting and enabling local voices. AUT Professor of Construction John Tookey says it will be impossible to have both increased community say, and a faster consenting process. Part of the RMA reforms is reducing the number of RMA plans from 100 to 16, one for each region. Tookey told Kate Hawkesby this will bring positive changes.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerning new research from Otago University suggests alcohol is the most harmful drug in New Zealand. The first of its kind study ranked alcohol as the most harmful drug for the overall population, followed by methamphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids, and tobacco. Researcher Dr Rose Crossin says the findings suggest the need for policy reconsideration to reduce overall drug harm. She questions the current drug policy settings given that a legal drug is the most harmful. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So another day, another study on alcohol - in fact I’ve seen two just in the last two weeks and of course they say different things. One says even the smallest amount of alcohol can age your brain, another says a small amount is beneficial. So which is it? I honestly believe a lot of it has to do with the makeup of your own body and metabolism, and what makes you tick, what’s in your DNA. As in, some people drink like fish their whole lives and live to almost a hundred (looking at you Prince Philip), others are lightweights who can barely finish a glass of wine without falling asleep (a.k.a me). We all have different tolerances and constitutions. Different strokes for different folks. I also think we get to know ourselves better as we get older, we work out what we can and can’t tolerate because our body lets us know. CNN reported the other day that “For decades, large epidemiological studies have shown that people who consume moderate amounts of alcohol - less than one drink a day for women, and one to two d

Hopes a multi-million dollar government loan to Ruapehu Alpine Lifts liquidators gets the skifields off thin ice. The Government is chipping in up to $5 million towards the liquidators, as a new bid has entered the table A group on behalf of iwi is now proposing to take over operations of the skifields - the bid for operations to be split between two other companies is still on the table. Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton says it's a complex situation, but the financial backing helps jobs. He's sure businesses and communities are clapping with joy, and he's hoping for a good snow season. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are hopes Prime Minister Chris Hipkins can shine in his first meeting with Xi Jinping. The pair will meet to discuss topics like trade and the war in Ukraine tonight in Beijing. New Zealand China Council Executive Director Alistair Crozier says New Zealand needs to be sold as an accessible and open country. He told Kate Hawkesby it will be a chance to make up for lost time.  Crozier says it will be the first trade delegation of its kind for seven years. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A $6 million cash injection has been welcomed by food banks, as the number of families struggling with food insecurity rises. The latest funding top up by the Government will be given to community food providers and distributed to areas in need. Zero Hunger Collective Executive Director Tric Malcolm says it's great news, but the question is whether it will be enough. She told Kate Hawkesby the number of people struggling, as well as the level of support needed, is increasing. Malcolm says this is particularly evident in communities that have experienced weather events - where many have lost their basic items. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A reminder of the importance of judge's discretion as the National Party pitches a crime crackdown. It's called for a limit on the sentence reductions judges are allowed to grant, limiting it to 40%. National would also reinstate three strikes and remove taxpayer funding for cultural reports, instead diverting funds into victim support. Criminal Lawyer Steve Cullen told Kate Hawkesby that the law often deals with people who have had horrific childhoods. He says that's when it's important for judges to have discretion to put them on the right path again. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A survivor of child sex trafficking for 16 years is pushing for more to be done over New Zealand's alarmingly high rate of sexual abuse. The Handing the Shame Back campaign aims to give children who have suffered abuse a way to communicate - including using an open palm signal. Our country has a high rate of sexual abuse with one in three girls sexually abused by the age of 16. Author, survivor, and advocate Gloria Masters told Kate Hawkesby that they've spoken to police but there's still work to be done. She can't sit back and watch these rates, and is wondering where the outcry from the public is. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’ve decided we need to build more roads. I don’t know why we don’t just build roads everywhere all the time. The most transformational thing this government –who said they’d be transformational– could have done was build more roads. I don’t know why they hate them so much and cancelled so many of them. The irony of this government having to officially open the Puhoi road the other day, that they originally opposed, was not lost on anyone. It’s a fabulous piece of road, makes the journey smoother, faster, more scenic, it’s actually such a thrill, we were so excited to finally get to drive it now that it’s finally open. But it really is transformational. Trucks were flowing without clogging up a small winding one lane hilly road, cars weren’t held up by them with dangerous bends and passing lanes. Traffic was flowing, and markedly reduced. It was genuinely an amazing experience. I know I sound super excited about just a bit of tarseal, but honestly, roads are fantastic. They get us from A to B safely. They get

Hard to believe it's taken so long to get this new firearms register up and running. Then again - it's a government IT project and we all know there's a well-established track record of these things going way past deadline and of course way over budget. On top of that, it's likely to be clunky, overly complicated and not very well thought out so don't be at all surprised if it needs a multi-million dollar overhaul within the first couple of years. And don't be surprised either if it has no impact on the rampant crime wave we're enduring. Police themselves say there's been a marked increase of guns being used for criminal activity. That's in spite of the fortune we spent on gun buybacks, after the Christchurch mosque attacks. And they say a lot of the weapons they're seizing these days are being traced back to legal buyers. Some get stolen in burglaries, but some have also been on-sold to people who simply shouldn't have them. So, the logic for collecting all this information on legally licensed gun owners and

The Super Rugby final is tomorrow night - with tickets now sold out. It's Chiefs versus Crusaders - and Scott Robertson's last match in charge of the Crusaders. Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland has scraped into the Top 10 in a new ranking of the world's most liveable cities. It comes in at 10 - tied with Osaka, in Japan. 173 cities were compared by the economist intelligence unit on factors like stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Viv Beck is the CEO of Heart of the City and joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is optimism the country's first digital gun registry will put criminals under the pump. The online registry goes live tomorrow, aiming to track nearly 240,000 licensed gun owners. It relies upon people registering within five years. Police Association president Chris Cahill told Tim Dower it'll be a key tool to reducing crime, as it would track those selling guns to criminals. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this point for the Labour Party and Chris Hipkins. I mean the state of it. It really is from the sublime to the ridiculous. Who's left? Who around that Cabinet table is capable enough to seriously manage all the portfolios of the other ministers who are dropping like flies? It’s a shambles. But is it all a shambles of their own making? Have they played a bit fast and loose with the rules, been a bit slow to react, a bit slow to follow up on anything, a bit cavalier about the importance of being beyond reproach? Is it arrogance? Is it incompetence? The PM sounded absolutely fed up with Michael Wood yesterday and I’m not surprised. Wood hung him out to dry. How you can claim to be so busy and so important that you don’t run a ruler over your potential personal conflicts of interest is beyond me. Especially when you’ve already been in the gun for conflict of interest - how do you take that long to clarify any other conflicts of interest? I initially defended Wood as being

The political headaches continue to pile up for Labour, four months out from the election. Chris Hipkins is expressing his disappointment in Michael Wood - who's resigning as a minister after more revelations about his failure to declare shareholdings. The Prime Minister is also promising to take another look at the rules around ministers' investments. Victoria University political analyst Bryce Edwards told Kate Hawkesby while many voters won't care about the specifics, the sheer number of scandals will be hurting Labour's credibility. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A victim advocate believes there will be more disclosures during a review of Oranga Tamariki. The department has revealed two staff members have been stood down as they're investigated for alleged sexual misconduct with young people in the past year. Former Police Commissioner Mike Bush will conduct a review. Victims' advocate Ruth Money told Kate Hawkesby there could've been a vetting issue. She says if people haven't been convicted or had a notation on their file before, they'd look clean - which is a huge issue with the vetting process around the country. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Only about half of kiwifruit growers expect to break even this year, amid a particularly bad harvest. Production this year is down about 35 million trays on 2022, mostly due to storms. Kiwifruit Growers CEO Colin Bond told Kate Hawkesby there are ways to mitigate the risk like frost protection and artificial shelters. He says the quality of this year's harvest is higher than last year. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I was at my physio yesterday, she’s South African. She moved here to an allegedly ‘safe’ country with her children, they live on Auckland’s North Shore, they’ve eaten at the Albany restaurants where the axe attack took place. She said it could have been them, her, or her children. She asked me what’s happened to this country and why it’s so violent now. It’s hard to answer that question without feeing embarrassed as a New Zealander that our little slice of paradise has come to this. “It’s complex”, I told her, sounding like a Labour politician trying to explain away our many and varied issues. From being soft on crime and reducing the prison muster and leaving too much crime out on the streets, to an increase in gang memberships and gang notoriety thanks to an apologist media and government who seem enamoured with them instead of appalled by them. Then to a mental health system in crisis, to the prevalence of drugs in our society, to a broken and divided country which got locked down for three years and has n