Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Sheep and Beef farmers are feeling the pressure of a second year of high inflation levels - which have not been seen since the 1980s. Beef and Lamb New Zealand reports show a 40 year high at 16.3 percent; that's two and a half times consumer price inflation. The most recent March figures follow a 10.2 percent increase over the previous 12-month period. Westpac Agricultural Economist Nathan Penny told Roman Travers times are tough for farmers. He says fertiliser, feed and interest rate bills have been red hot. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police pursuits are being viewed as a double edged sword. Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says a new fleeing driver policy gives officers more scope to pursue offenders. The Fleeing Driver Framework factors in the threat from the driver, their suspected offence - and the chance they'll offend more. Road safety and crash investigation expert Hamish Piercy told Roman Travers Police are between a rock and a hard place - and there's always going to be risk. He says if a person decides they want to take off and aren't pursued, there's just as much risk of them continuing to behave recklessly and going on to crash. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The trades are giving a tick of approval to the Government's promise to make its Apprenticeship Boost Scheme permanent. Brought in during the pandemic, the programme was set to end this year - but was extended till the end of 2024 in the Budget. Building Industry Federation Chief Executive Julien Leys told Roman Travers that it's very good news for an industry needing lots more workers. Leys says it's going to encourage younger people into vocational trades such as building, where they're needed more than ever before. He says spending hundreds of millions a year on a sector that contributes 18-billion to the economy is worth it. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Delegations from nearly 200 countries are gathering in Paris to work on a Global Plastics Treaty. It's the second round of talks on an internationally binding agreement, which will lay out how to address plastic pollution globally. The UN Environment Assembly aims to finish negotiations by the end of next year. Tearfund's Claire Gray says plastic production doubled between 2000 and 2019, and it's badly affecting people living in poverty. She says about one in four people have no access to waste management and must burn or dump their rubbish, causing huge health impacts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wasn't it reassuring to hear some promising promises made by the Prime Minister Chris Hipkins over the weekend? The promises were apropos the future of apprenticeships and the blinding need to ensure that we have an ongoing supply of tradespeople being brought through the ranks. Chris Hipkins used his first major speech to his party faithful to promise to keep an existing apprenticeship scheme in place. He delivered the keynote address to about 400 party faithful at Labour's election year congress in Wellington yesterday. He said if Labour secured a third term, the party would make the apprenticeship boost scheme permanent. The programme, which was introduced as a temporary pandemic measure in 2020, pays employers $500 a month over two years for every apprentice they train. This is the dangling carrot before us that will undoubtedly secure the apprenticeship scheme and create opportunities and help ease skill shortages. If you’re an employer currently making use of the apprenticeship scheme, what does this pr

Turkey's President Erdogan is set to stretch his rule into a third decade. Unofficial results in the election run-off show him with about 53 percent of the vote, while opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has 47 percent. Europe correspondent Gavin Grey told Roman Travers that it's not beyond doubt, but Erdogan supporters have already begun celebrating. He says he's been in power for more than two decades and has seen the country's economy sharply decline recently. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You have to take the polls with a pinch of salt right now, although we're closing in on the election and neither of the two main blocs has a clear lead. This time around the 1News Kantar poll puts National and ACT in the driving seat with 62 seats on these numbers - enough to govern alone. Bear a couple of things in mind though. Number one; this is another small survey with only 1000 people over the course of two days. Small polls mean a bigger margin of error and in this case it's a gnat's more than three points. Also in this poll around 12 percent said they didn't know, haven't made up their minds, or won't vote, or just refused to answer. Those people aren't counted when it comes to working out the party vote figures. Now look, any survey is basically a snapshot isn't it and it can be influenced by recent events, so it's more interesting and more useful to look at trends. Which direction the party or person you're interested in is travelling - is there a trend? When you look over time at the Kantar survey,

New Zealand's mental health workforce is reportedly on the brink of collapse. A report one of the main non-government bodies involved in the sector this has some innovative ideas. Ember Innovations Director Taimi Allan joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Road repairs look to have lost out in the latest allocations to the Transport Ministry. Nearly $500 million less is set aside for maintenance next year on state highways and local roads. National's Transport spokesperson Simeon Brown, joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Numbers in the latest 1News political poll fall for National and ACT this time - projecting a total of 62 seats between them, should they form a coalition. Labour, Greens, and Te Pāti Māori would only muster 58. Political commentator and lawyer Brigitte Morten joined Tim Dower to discuss the latest polling. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As if a cost of living crisis and a crime crisis were not enough, we also have a mental health crisis in this country, and it’s heart-breaking. It was reported the other day that, on average, 54 tradies take their own life each year, as well as 23 farm workers. They're predominantly men. So what services are available here? Well as we know, time and time again, because it’s constantly reported on, very few. The mental health sector is stretched, it’s in many cases dysfunctional, there are a lack of pyschs, a lack of outlets for people, a lack of supports to tap into. There are long waiting lists, in many cases, too long. And for farm workers in particular, in many rural areas, no help at all. Minister for Rural Communities, Kieran McAnulty was reported recently saying that “rural communities have poorer mental health outcomes and disproportionately higher rates of suicide,” he cited reduced access to mental health services as a factor, social isolation and easier access to firearms and vehicles. But what’s re

New Zealand's logistics and freight industry is calling for immediate intervention to a worker shortage. A new government study finds the labour shortage could triple from nearly 5,000 to over 18,000 in the next five years. Chair of the NZ Council of Cargo Owners Ant Boyles joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It seems alcohol may not hold the allure it once did for young people. Youth drinking survey results from 20 years ago show more than half of those in high school were drinking and going to parties on a regular basis by Year 10. Comparatively, Otago researchers surveyed students last year and found only one of the Year 10 students they spoke to reported drinking socially. Senior Research Fellow, Dr Jude Ball says there are reasons for the change. She says there are big shifts in how teenagers socialise, as well as increasing negative connotations towards alcohol. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some good news, and some bad news, from the Reserve Bank. The central bank has hiked the Official Cash Rate by a further 25 basis points to 5.5 percent. But it's also indicated no further hikes are likely, before the OCR starts coming down towards the end of next year. Weakening is already being felt in the retail sector, where new figures show spending is continuing to slide. Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford told Kate Hawkesby the OCR hike will push spending down even further. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m bordering on feeling sorry for Chris Hipkins - and I’ll tell you why. He’s single-handedly being the face of the entire Government day in day out and spinning so much BS that it must be giving him a headache. I mean the level of ‘creative facts’ shall we call them, being espoused, is truly award winning. Yesterday he even tried to blame an international TikTok trend which has only just blown up, on our ram raid stats. He tried the old ‘it’s an international problem’ routine that he trots out for all our problems - he tried to make it sound like kids filming themselves committing crimes like ram raids was a global thing and we were just unfortunately somehow caught up in it. Sadly, what the advisors who peddled him this spin to espouse did not tell him, was that our ram raids have absolutely nothing to do with TikTok. The international TikTok trend disturbing people currently is young people breaking into people’s homes and filming their reactions. That’s very different to taking a stolen car and a crow ba

Act's Police Spokesman says new Police assault data is a damning indictment on the type of country New Zealand has become. Newstalk ZB can reveal the number of assaults on police staff has almost doubled in recent times - with officers reporting more than a 1,100 attacks in 2022, up from 631 in 2021. Chris Baillie says although tragic, the figures sadly will surprise few. He says the numbers show a decline in respect, and that people aren't afraid of consequences.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Official Cash Rate is expected to take another hike today. An announcement will be made by the Reserve Bank at around 2pm this afternoon. Most economists are holding out for a 25 basis point increase to 5.5 percent. Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss a potential rise. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Miami Zoo has announced that Paora the kiwi will no longer be offered up for paid encounters with the public after videos of the bird being paraded in daylight for selfies with zoo visitors went viral, causing outrage. Ron Magill, communications director for Miami Zoo, told the Herald that they had listened to the response from New Zealanders. “We regret the unintentional stress caused by a video on social media depicting the handling of Paora, the kiwi bird currently housed within Zoo Miami,” Magill said. Magill apologised profusely to RNZ, saying he told the zoo director: “We have offended a nation”. “I am so sorry. I am so remorseful. Someone asked how would you feel if we did that to your bald eagle, and you’re absolutely right.” He said that the concerns expressed by the community “have been taken very seriously” and told the Herald that their $40 “Kiwi Encounter” will no longer be offered. “We should have known better,” Magill told AM this morning. ”We were really not sensitive to the fact that this bir

So another day, another shop closing for good because they’re fed up with being robbed. That sees off West Auckland’s only Post Shop – seven ram raids and break ins have pushed them over the edge. They’ve been in business 20 years. Now, they’re closing their doors for good. It beggars belief that business owners are getting run out of town by thugs and criminals, but that’s where we are now. Remember Michael Hill Jeweller in Auckland’s Takapuna shut up shop after several burglaries and ram raids too? Reported retail crime doubled between 2018 and 2022. Auckland Business Chamber’s Simon Bridges, when commenting on the violent attack by the ferry terminal in the CBD recently, said it’s actually beyond a social issue now; it’s an economic one too. People and businesses do not want to be where the criminals are - and at this stage, they’re everywhere. Not just our big centres but small town New Zealand too. One woman wrote to me and said Palmerston North is so bad now that she worries about going into the main sh

The ratio of sheep to people has dropped below 5 to 1 - the lowest number since the 1950s. Stats NZ has released its five-yearly Agricultural Production Census, which shows decreases in the national dairy herd and sheep flock. Federated Farmers Meat and Wool Chairman Toby Williams told Kate Hawkesby the fall in numbers shouldn't have much of a direct impact on our exports. "It'll make our product become more premium in the marketplace." LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.