Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Take stock of what you have and save a little where you can.   That's the advice of one financial coach to those feeling the squeeze.   ASB is predicting a $70 increase in weekly living costs for the average family in 2024, that's down from the $115 increase this year.   Enable Me's Katie Wesney told Tim Dower that people should thoroughly check all the places their money is going.    She says everything has to serve you in the current environment.  That way you get the little one percent gains that alleviate pressure and position you to grow your wealth.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's being told phrasing in its call for an end to violence in Gaza needs to pack a stronger punch.  All parties in the House have supported a motion urging those involved in the conflict to 'take urgent steps towards establishing a cease-fire.'  Geopolitical analyst Geoffrey Miller told Tim Dower that the wording is telling.  He says the Government clearly didn't want to call for an immediate cease-fire, so 'steps towards' was the compromise.  He says as the UN has called for an immediate end to fighting, we should follow suit.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taylor Swift says being named Time Magazine's Person of the Year is the proudest and happiest she's ever felt.  The 33-year-old beat finalists including Barbie, King Charles and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.  It caps off Swift's stellar year, which includes her record-breaking 'Eras Tour', two album re-recordings, and becoming Spotify's most most-played artist.  US Correspondent Mitch McCann told Tim Dower that Swift has become even more of a cultural icon in the last year.  He said that her tours both provoked an inquiry into Ticketmaster’s sales practices, and her concert in Seattle reportedly generated seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

True story, abbreviated for time.  San Francisco, about 15 years back now, coming out of the subway following my two teenage daughters.  A group of tatty half-drunk, half-baked beggars hanging around with their paws out for money.  And I hear some leering, grubby, smutty comments being directed at my children.  I sense danger, move a little closer to them.  And the leerers embolden one another. It gets a bit grubbier, I feel the anger boiling up inside me.  Then out of nowhere comes this guttural, aggressive, very loud, and very threatening voice.  It sounds like a lion, and it roars, it truly roars: BACK OFF.  Everyone jumps. The leerers, the girls, myself, other people passing by turn to see where it came from.  It's not until this point, as we quicken our step and move up the stairs into the street, that I realise that powerful, guttural, threatening roar came out of me.  There was no thought behind it, and believe me, I'm not a confrontational or threatening person at all.  I'm a weed. I'm not brave, and

There’s a pressing need to strengthen hundreds of Wellington buildings that are quake-prone.  Experts are warning deadlines are closing in for the work, with more than 500 buildings needing strengthening, including residential apartments.  AUT Professor of construction, John Tookey, told Tim Dower that building owners need to start, or hundreds could be left homeless.  He says it's a public safety issue, and councils should consider incentivising the work.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good news for kiwis as the price at the pump is dropping just in time for Christmas.   Oil prices have dropped four cents since Friday and now sit at $77 USD, almost 30 cents down from September.   AA Principal Policy Advisor Terry Collins told Tim Dower that the recession may be acting in our favour, combined with a lack of demand coming out of China and Europe.   He was predicting fuel prices would be closer to $3.50 than $3 three months ago, and he's glad he's wrong.   Terry Collins says he was starting to feel like the Christmas Grinch, but now he's feeling things are much better.   He predicts we'll probably see the prices drop a little further over the summer period.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell's predecessor says his letter to the Police Commissioner seems a bit redundant.   He's made his letter to Andrew Coster public.  It focuses on things like tackling youth and gang offending, supporting frontline officers, and strengthening policing in communities.   Ginny Andersen told Tim Dower that it's important that police have operational independence.   She says the letter doesn't cover much new ground.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

$27-28,000 a year. That's about the going rate for private secondary education in New Zealand right now.  And you'd pay it gladly wouldn't you, if you could afford it.  I hope the kids whose parents are working or on their way at five in the morning to help pay for it recognise what a privilege it is.  I referred to that St Andrew College prizegiving a little earlier, and the takeaway for me is the value of a good education.  The basics? Yep, obviously, but opportunities too for kids to explore what they're really interested in, and seek the passions that'll give them exciting, rewarding, and worthwhile lives.  And you know what? You don't need, actually, to fork out for private to get that. We've got some great state schools in New Zealand too.  My kids went to cracking state primaries in Auckland: Botany Downs, Mellons Bay, Farm Cove Intermediate, then onto MacLeans.  I think they know they were lucky. Like in health, our education system is a bit of a postcode lottery.  Would I have pushed for private if w

Te Pati Māori's challenge to the incoming Government has been heard loud and clear, likely foreshadowing what is to come.    Thousands answered the party's call to protest the Government's incoming Treaty and Te Reo reforms yesterday, while MPs swore allegiance to both their mokopuna and Te Tiriti, as well as King Charles III.  ZB Political Editor Jason Walls told Tim Dower that it sets the stage for the sort of party Te Pati Māori is going to be for the next three years.  Walls says the party's positioning themselves as a thorn in the Governments side on all Māori issues.  But he says it's fair of Prime Minister Chris Luxon to question why there are protests only a week into their first term.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More stability in education is being floated as an idea to reverse declining test scores.   New Zealand's 2022 PISA reading, maths, and science scores have all dipped since 2018, and they show longer term decline.   New Zealand is still above the OECD average in all three standards.   PPTA Acting President Chris Abercrombie says all countries have seen a decline.   He told Tim Dower that constant curriculum changes between different governments have contributed. Abercrombie says curriculums need time to develop and if they're changed too often it disrupts children and teachers.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where shoppers are seeing food prices rise, Woolworths New Zealand is seeing profits fall, but is still walking away with $76 million in its pockets.   The latest annual figures show a 52% drop from last year, the source of which one business consultant says is ‘very opaque.’   Ernie Newman told Tim Dower that he believes the recent $400 million rebranding and transfer pricing has something to do with it.   Transfer pricing is when multi-nationals adjust their books and take their profits in whatever country they want to, usually to a country with the lowest tax rate.  He says there's no sign of any benefit in this for consumers.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, a Day of Action called by Te Pati Māori. Organisers promise they'll target busy roads and even try to jam the motorways.  They're talking about gridlock on roads into central Auckland, and gleefully suggesting this will cause millions in lost productivity.  Wow. What a useful and worthwhile objective that is.  Now, this is supposedly about an assault by the new Government on tangata whenua and the Treaty.  That assault as they see it comes in the form of dialling back the extensions to smokefree laws, scrapping the Māori Health Authority, and repealing Three Waters.  It's probably worth mentioning that those changes —with the exception of smokefree— were well flagged up during the election campaign.  And if there hadn't been broad support across the voting spectrum then we'd have ended up with another three years of a rotten Labour government, and its rotten policies.  The people have spoken, and the people want the country back on track.  The people, as I read it, wanted less divisive policy and a focus

Screen time may be making young children more prone to mental health problems.  A new study measured the link between screen time and mental health in 16,000 children in China, across the ages of three to six.   Neuroscience educator and child development expert Nathan Wallis told Tim Dower that flashing lights from screens affect the part of the brain associated with emotions and empathy.  The World Health Organisation says the appropriate number of minutes per day a child under two can look at a screen is zero.   Wallis says that has nothing to do with the content, it's completely to do with the flashing lights.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new government's increasing the Working for Families rates.   The tax credits will rise $8 to $144 after tax for their first child, and by $6 for subsequent children.   Finance Minister Nicola Willis says there'll be a mini budget December 20th.   ANZ senior economist Miles Workman told Tim Dower that further spending cuts could be in line to maintain a fiscal balance and eventual surplus.   He says the previous government increased spending by a very significant amount during Covid-19, and never unwound it despite the economy becoming overheated.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A prediction that this morning's Te Pati Māori-organised protests could be just the beginning.   They're rallying people from one end of the North Island to the other, against policies perceived to negatively affect Māori.   Political Commentator Grant Duncan says the Prime Minister will have to make a decision on how to handle them.   He told Tim Dower that he hopes Chris Luxon offers an olive branch, wanting to see him listen and be conciliatory.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Couple of canaries going off in the coal mines over the past few days. Ominous warnings actually, of how tight things are getting out there in the real world. First off...the Centrix figures showing how many people are doing Christmas on credit this year. It is normal for people to borrow a bit here and there to...smooth out if you like...the household budget over the heavy spending period. Credit cards were up nearly 12 percent...Buy now pay later jumped 7...personal loans are up 3 percent. This is a seasonal thing...quite normal for a November month. But Centric said this...and I precis...“there will be a segment stretching beyond their means". More of a tell-tale sign though...the growing number of people falling behind with their debt. That's mortgages in arrears or car loans or credit card debt that's not getting paid down. The monthly count of people behind on their payments is up...not a lot...I don't want to over-egg this...but year-on-year arrears have increased 6.1%. Mortgage arrears are up by a qua

The energy sector is pointing to international evidence to back axing the Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme. Energy Minister Simeon Brown says the 16-billion-dollar project, was pouring money down the drain, at a time when we need to be reining in spending. He says axing the scheme will increase confidence to invest in more energy production. Energy Resources Aotearoa John Carnegie told Tim Dower that Australia's Snowy 2.0 is enough evidence to show it wouldn't have delivered for Kiwis.   LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another ceasefire in Gaza seems unlikely - as fighting resumes on both sides. It comes after a pause in fighting, which saw the release of some hostages kidnapped by Hamas, in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners. Otago University international relations professor Robert Patman told Tim Dower both Hamas and Israel are saying there's no prospect of further ceasefire negotiations. He says Israel's withdrawn its negotiations and Hamas is saying it won't resume negotiation's, until the current Israeli military campaign ceases. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Really interested in this Medical Journal piece about emergency departments.  The impression we often get is they're horribly overcrowded, patients lying in corridors for hours in agony, constant panic stations.  Friday and Saturday nights are bedlam, we're told: drunks staggering around the place, people unleashing their stress and anger at the staff.  And in the winter, people with coughs and colds packing out the waiting area.  Hospitals are begging us to go to our GPs, even giving out vouchers to take the pressure off, because a lot of people can't afford to pay for a doctor's visit.  What the Medical Journal piece says is that actually, New Zealanders overall make fewer calls to A&E than people in other countries.  So, what does that tell us?  Do we need more A&Es? Or would it be better to spend a greater chunk of the health budget in primary care?  Have we fallen victim to a perceived need for the glamour projects like new hospitals?  Would more GPs on the ground, especially in rural New Zealand

Tensions are heightened in the Middle East as the truce in Gaza enters a seventh day.  The UK is sending a second warship —the destroyer ship HMS Diamond— to the Gulf to join the frigate HMS Lancaster.  It comes after Israel and Hamas reached a final-hour agreement last night to extend the ceasefire to the end of today.  Correspondent Vincent McAviney told Tim Dower that the UK Defence Force is describing its latest deployment as critical to bolstering its presence in the region.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.