Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Auckland continues to prove that it's the sporting capital of the country.  The city played a major role in this year's FIFA Women's World Cup - hosting nine matches.  As a result, more than $87 million in GDP was injected into the region's economy, and over 175,000 guest nights were recorded in the city.  Tataki Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill told Tim Dower that Auckland's hotels, restaurants, and tourist hot spots all bought in to the event.  He said Auckland hosting the United States team made a big difference.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I think the new Government's actually done at least one thing right this week.  Backing out of the Interislander funding deal was a no-brainer really, if you have any doubt about that, have a look at the piece on the Herald site under the title ‘How to blow $15b.’  That digs into the Auditor-General's report on some of the previous government's insane spending.  Back when Grant was splashing money about like a drunken sailor, anybody with a half-baked plan to burn up a couple of billion was welcomed with open arms.  Cost no object, value for money? Doesn't matter. Possible overruns, blowouts if you like, worry about that later.  Just spend it.  The main reason these new guys don't want to pour buckets of your cash into the Cook Strait ferries is they don't trust the numbers.  Much of the money would have gone on terminal upgrades, and Nicola Willis said she reckoned the numbers were undercooked.  In other words, they think KiwiRail deliberately went in with a low-ball cost in an environment where they knew th

New Zealand's GDP is predicted to see a minor pre-Christmas bump.  Stats NZ will release the September quarter figures later this morning.   Gross Domestic Product rose 0.9% in the June quarter.   ASB Chief Economist, Nick Tuffley, told Tim Dower that he's forecasting a 0.2% increase, as recent indicators point to flat growth.  He says while the economy's expanding, it still feels like a recession for a lot of people.  Tuffley says generally GDP has been edging backwards for the last year, so it's challenging.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The economic climate has many small businesses making tough decisions to stay afloat.   Strong inflationary pressures and a drop in consumer demand has meant costs are sky high for many businesses.  Requests for redundancy and restructuring support has surged by 50% this year and liquidations are up 500%.  Small Business Voice CEO Max Whitehead told Tim Dower this just proves how hard it is for small businesses at the moment.   He says while economists are saying things are getting better that isn't what they're feeling on the bottom floor.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's back to the drawing board for KiwiRail on the future of the Interislander as the government axes new upgrades. Contracts were signed to buy two new mega-ferries and upgrade portside infrastructure, but Finance Minister Nicola Willis says the cost has got too high. However, Jon Reeves of the Public Transport Users Association told Tim Dower that backtracking on contracts does reputational damage to the country. He claims this acts as a warning for international companies, that they can't trust New Zealand to honour contracts. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Look, thanks so much for taking part in this, just a little experiment on people's reaction to, response, and experience with this portal passport arrangement: RealMe. That kind of, well, it's been around for a little while, it's had a bit of a refresh, and now they're trying to push it and promote it. Here's, here's another one. Gary says ‘I've used RealMe for some years now at on a very regular basis and have no issues at all, generally. So, nine out of 10.’ Right at the other end of the scale, here's Warwick: ‘Score zero. It's a Nate National Animal Identification and tracking electronic ID tagging system for people. Orwell’s nightmare realized.’ Now, look, I'm kind of, I'm swaying towards your side of things Warwick, so I'm not gonna call you a conspiracy theorist or anything. It wants too damn much information for a start, far too much. I wanted to use it for the purposes of a small charity that I'm involved with and some paperwork that we need to do, okay? So, in order to get established you have to fil

The Climate Change Commission's released advice to the government to meet emissions reductions goals by 2030.   It makes 27 recommendations including building more renewable electricity, swapping from fossil fuels, and preparing for the rapid rollout of low emissions technologies and practices on farms.   Also included is directly resourcing iwi and Māori efforts to reduce climate pollution.  Climate Change Research Institute Adjunct Professor Adrian Macey told Tim Dower that there needs to be a more coherent policy around forestry.   He says it's been a real mess, and the government needs to get its act together.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Transport Minister's hit the brakes on blanket speed limit reductions.  Simeon Brown's removed requirements for Road Controlling Authorities to implement speed management plans.  Work will begin to account for economic impacts, community views, and safety when setting speed limits.  Transporting NZ Interim Chief Executive, Dom Kalasih, told Tim Dower that some limits are simply too low, losing credibility among drivers.  He says the main issue with blanket reductions was that it wasn't risk-based.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How long can the rental market meet demand for migrants?  Stats NZ data shows 245,600 migrants arrived here in the year to October; a new record.  Net migration is nearly 129,000.  Compared to Australia, we've taken in 30% more people when adjusted for inflation.  Aspire Property Management Managing Director, Mike Atkinson, told Tim Dower that it's an enormous amount of people, putting a strain on the system, and could push rents up even further.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bit of an about-turn on immigration from the Prime Minister.  Christopher Luxon now says the current numbers are unsustainable, and the Government expects it to slow down.  And you'd hope so! Nearly 119,000 have poured in over the past year, that's the net gain.  At the same time, we saw a record net loss of New Zealand citizens: 44,000 went.  So, overall, the number of people new to the country is actually more than 160,000.  Our total population has grown nearly 3% in a year, roughly one in every thirty people in the country now, has arrived in the past year. Wow.  Bear in mind we've had some very wonky years because of COVID.  That meant only a tiny number of reluctantly approved arrivals and thousands of our own people locked out or having to go through a lottery for a chance of coming home.  Net migration actually dropped to zero literally overnight in 2020, and stayed there or went negative for the next two years.  So, a bit of catch-up was only to be expected.  Needed even, when we heard constant cries

Gas demand could outstrip supply by 2025, causing an energy shortfall.  The Gas Industry Company's latest research shows renewable supply options are on the horizon but will still take time and investment to develop.   Energy Resources Aotearoa Chief Executive, John Carnegie, told Tim Dower that the predictions are sad, but not unsurprising.  He says the previous Government's policies for the sector have damaged investment.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The previous Government's plans to introduce new maths and literacy tests as an NCEA requirement from 2026 have been delayed.   Trial runs of those tests have had failure rates of more than 40%.   New Zealand Initiative research fellow Michael Johnston told Tim Dower that he understands kids will still be able to do the tests, but can also meet requirements through NCEA achievement standards, like in the past.   But, he says, he'd like to see a certification for students who do pass those tests and meet requirements that way because they are more rigorous.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All employers will soon be able to use 90 Day Work Trials, which the previous Labour government restricted to small businesses.   The new Government is passing a bill to do so under urgency by Christmas.   The Employers and Manufacturers Association's Alan McDonald told Tim Dower that it'll mainly be used by smaller employers.   He says it might encourage them to take a chance on someone returning to the workplace after a long absence, or a school leaver looking for their first job.   Cabinet's also confirmed that it will repeal Fair Pay Agreements before Christmas, which made it easier for workers to band together to negotiate wages and working conditions.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Migrating to Australia is set to get more difficult.  The Australian Government is looking to halve overseas migration to 250,000 by 2025 after a record number of people arrived in the last financial year.  Australia correspondent Donna Demaio told Tim Dower that a number of the changes will impact international students and workers.  She says there will be more difficult English tests and visa requirements.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vape retailers are selling higher strength vapes at lower prices - before new rules kick in. From next Thursday, disposable vapes can't be sold, unless they have removable batteries, maximum nicotine limits, child safety features and follow new labelling requirements. All vapes will have to meet those requirements in March - and there'll be limits on flavours. Auckland University public health professor Chris Bullen told Tim Dower the new regulations may make it difficult for people who have been smoking heavily to switch to vapes. He personally thinks there's scope for higher nicotine concentration vapes to be available through prescription.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a fire sale underway at the vape retailers, and some pretty arresting advertising lines are being used.  “Stock up while you still can” ... “Get them before they’re gone” ... “Don’t be left stranded without a vape”  By gone, they mean illegal...new laws from the 21st of this month put restrictions on disposable vapes...including maximum nicotine limits.  So, at some places it's basically a fire sale, devices going for a couple of bucks or even being given away free.  Fair enough I suppose if you've bought stock in good faith and then basically had the rug pulled from under you by a law change.  But there's also a whiff of the frenzy to dump synthetic cannabis products, when that particular experiment went so badly wrong.  And thinking about it...our experience with the whole vape thing has been uncannily similar to the synthetics.  Hailed as a legal...controlled...and therefore theoretically safe alternative to the real thing.  And with vaping pitched at us as a tool to help the sorry old smokers get

Parliament will sit under urgency this week - with the new government pushing through the first changes in its 100 day plan. Part of this is repealing Fair Pay Agreement legislation. Former National ministerial adviser Brigitte Morten told Tim Dower every opposition complains about the use of urgency - then use it themselves when in government. She says the last Labour government used it considerably more - and while it'd argue Covid meant it had to respond with emergency legislation, they were pushing a lot more through under urgency even in August.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Now we've had a full day to digest Mark Mitchell's letter to the Police Commissioner, was he actually out of line to release that?  His Labour predecessor said on this show yesterday that Mark Mitchell was huffing and puffing, talking up a big game and chest beating.  To quote Ginny Andersen, “I think it's a demonstration of bravado”, and then saying, "He's getting dangerously close to telling the Commissioner how to do his job.”  Thing is, we all know there's a line between setting a strategic direction and meddling in day-to-day operational activities.  Mark Mitchell noted that, loud and clear, in his letter.  So, what the Minister was doing was not telling the Commissioner how to do the job, but outlining what the priorities of the job are.  That's not meddling, it's managing.  If you want an example of meddling, look no further than sacked Minister Stuart Nash on the phone to the Commissioner over a court case, hoping to persuade him to get prosecutors to appeal for a stiffer sentence.  So why was Ginny

Anger at the Government's decision to disestablish tertiary education programme Te Pukenga.  Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds announced the move yesterday, following a Letter of Expectation saying they're not prioritising it.  But the Tertiary Education Union is worried Simmonds has no clear plan on what happens next, and no vision for the sector.   National Secretary Sandra Grey says their members won't have any job certainty until well into the new year.  She says they go into Christmas not knowing if they'll have a job, lose it, or have to apply for something entirely new.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A grilling over Boris Johnson's decisions during the pandemic on the second day of his appearance before the UK's Covid-19 inquiry.   It's heard evidence from former advisers that the then-Prime Minister wanted to let the virus spread, rather than order another lockdown   Johnson's also accused of saying "let the bodies pile high", something he strongly denies.  UK correspondent Vincent McAviney told Tim Dower that he also faced criticism for a campaign encouraging people go to restaurants while the virus was still out there.   He says the campaign, called " Eat out to Help out" was derided by scientists as " Eat out to help out the virus".  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.