Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

The Government may have missed an opportunity to address the nurse shortage. Working holiday visas have been extended in a bid to lure 12,000 more workers into the country. Some sectors, including aged care, meat processing and construction, will also be able to pay workers below the new median wage requirements. However, Aged Care Association Chief Executive Simon Wallace told Kate Hawkesby nurses have been left out of this announcement “We are short over 1,200 nurses in our sector. It’s because we don’t have nurses in aged care that we’re having to close down care homes.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Act party isn't interested in any move to make matauranga Māori and te reo mandatory for teachers. The Teaching Council has told a Royal Commission of Inquiry it believes that will eventually be the case. Act leader David Seymour says it will put people off the profession. He told Kate Hawkesby teachers already have enough on their plate, without having to worry about improving their te reo. He says the initiative is another example of something teachers have to do for the Government, rather than what students may want. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether you believe Guarav Sharma or not probably depends on whether you support Labour and all that it stands for, or not. Diehard Labour fans who are still defending the Covid response and lockdowns, the people who probably proudly still own Ashley Bloomfield tea towels, will tell you it’s all a storm in a tea cup. They will have signed up for a lifelong subscription to the PM’s spin and they’ll see validity in lines like, ”I reject the premise of the question’. Others though, will see it for what it is. A party steeped in hypocrisy, preaching the kindness line, advocating for mental health and wellbeing, yet not walking the talk. A party claiming to be honest open and transparent, but instead shrouded in lies, manipulation and deceit. The workshop on how to avoid an Official Information Act request is all you need to know about how these guys operate. Machiavellian and under-handed. Denying those of us who pay their salaries and voted for their representation, to even know the truth about what’s really goi

Communities near Nelson have been evacuated for a second night, as the heavy rain continues. Nelson's mayor says it will take years to recover. But there are others who don't see much point in trying, saying it would be better to just give up on some flood prone places. Professor Bruce Glavovic from Massey University is the former EQC chair in Natural Hazards Planning. He joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Electricity Authority has put a temporary block on bulk low-price power deals. It means power companies won't be to do cheap deals to supply more than 150 megawatts of power, without approval. The EA says it's a win for consumers. Consumer Advocacy Council chair Deborah Hart joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now, Dr Sharma.  The longer it drags on the uglier it gets, and there's even a whiff of the Jami-Lee Ross about the whole thing now. I saw Dr Sharma on the TV news last night and he comes across as quite convincing, even straight-up. But then he is a politician albeit a very junior one and he's had experience of pitching himself, and doing his best to come across as an honest broker. So, how seriously do we take him? Has he been bullied, or is it actually him that's the bad guy? Nno one can work with the man. Or has he, like Jami-Lee did, got a bit carried away, does he have an overblown sense of his own importance? Thing is, back bench MPs and especially the current crop of very new members on Labour's back benches, mostly know their place. Their job is to cheer at the right time...ask a pre-prepared patsy question to a Minister if it's their turn...keep a seat warm on a select committee...and so on. Back benchers make up the numbers basically. They're allowed to visit local kindies and put up social media p

Ian Foster will continue as head coach of the All Blacks until the end of the 2023 Rugby World cup. Foster has been given unanimous backing from both the board and CEO Mark Robinson, along with promoting new coach Joe Schmidt into a new attacking role. Interestingly, that was Foster's role under Sir Steve Hansen's reign. Questions have been asked as to whether it was the right call and will Scott Robertson stay or pack his bags. Former South African international and rugby analyst Kevin Putt joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waka Kotahi will today decide whether to have a dedicated cycle lane across the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It had originally decided to have a lane for just special events, but a cycling lobby group threatened legal action. National Party Transport Spokesperson Simeon Brown says Minister Michael Wood should have been firmer in denying the lane. Brown told Kate Hawkesby it would be a total waste of time and money. He says closing a lane would be expensive and use of the lane may not be that high, especially on rainy days. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm wondering how long we're going to turn a blind eye to youth crime for. ACT came out with a plan to try tackle it in its law-and-order policy the other day, but that's about it. Ironically, as David Seymour was on the street talking about how to tackle youth crime, 5 storeys above him on the side of a building, youths were busy tagging.  But it's no longer just an Auckland problem - we had the Palmerston North mall attack the other day - and the Queensgate mall in Lower Hutt is also proving an issue. There've been a raft of brutal assaults around there, school students being targeted for their phones, or intimidated and harassed, and the other day a 14-year-old had his front teeth knocked out in a brutal attack. It was reported he now has to wear a brace to hold his teeth in place and blend up his food in order to eat it. He's just 14. The Lower Hutt Mayor says it's 'deeply concerning', he's 'appalled' by the number of attacks in the area.  But this is where it gets left to the community to fix these probl

Two lawyers and two journalists are suing the CIA, saying the agency violated their constitutional rights when it obtained copies of the contents of their electronic devices and helped enable the recording of their meetings with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the latter part of his seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages in a lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan federal court. New York lawyers Margaret Ratner Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek, along with journalists John Goetz, who lives in Germany, and Charles Glass, who lives in England, alleged that the CIA got the information through a deal with UC Global, a private security company that was based in Spain and provided security at the embassy. The lawsuit said they suffered considerable emotional distress and anxiety from the uncertainty and concerns about how their personal and privileged information was being used. They said the illegal spying may have violated the rights of over 100 Amer

I can’t work out if this Sharma stuff is something voters care about or not. It’s a lot of he said / she said. It’s a lot of claim and counter claim – it’s something we may never really get to the bottom of given Labour ruled out an independent investigation. That in and of itself may tell us something actually. The way it’s been handled by the party – a clearly furious Ardern and Robertson, shows that for all the talk of kindness and kumbaya, they couldn’t have been less kind in the way they’ve dealt with all this. So Sharma’s been suspended, which really solves nothing. On top of that, and even worse in my view, is that we learn yesterday that prior to yesterday’s Zoom caucus meeting, they’d already had another secret meeting the night before. Worse yet, when Sharma leaked that info to the media, the Prime Minister’s office disputed it. Didn’t outright deny it, but disputed it. The PM was eventually forced to confirm it after Sharma provided proof of it, with a shot someone inside the caucus had sent him, o

Labour MP Gaurav Sharma's future is uncertain. The Hamilton West MP has been suspended from the caucus after what Jacinda Ardern called repeated breaches of trust. A review will take place in December about whether he will be allowed to return. Former Labour and New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says politics is a tough game which not everyone is suited to. He told Kate Hawkesby Sharma could go down a couple of different paths. Jones says if he wants to make money he should move on, but if he wants to make drama he should try to set up a by-election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank is expected to raise the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points again today. Making it an unprecedented fourth consecutive hike. To give us more insight is Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen who joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A nutritionist says junk food affects how well kids perform in schools. Auckland's Western Springs College is the latest school to ban food delivery services, due to environmental concerns. Nutritionist Nikki Hart told Kate Hawkesby kids have to remain cognitive in school. She says parents need to understand their kids can't do well and feel good on a diet of junk food. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese has revealed "there may be more" portfolios that former prime minister Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to, as he launches an investigation into the bombshell revelations. Describing the situation as "extraordinary" and "unprecedented", the Prime Minister said he simply could not understand the mindset that decided keeping Morrison's extraordinary move a secret was a good idea. So far, it has emerged that Morrison was appointed as a Minister for Health, Finance and Resources during his time in power through a secret mechanism that did not require him to make the change public. Only then-Health Minister Greg Hunt was aware that Morrison was joining his portfolio. Cabinet will be briefed on the unfolding scandal this morning, but preliminary advice suggests that the three portfolios that Morrison is believed to have been secretly appointed to may not be the full extent of the changes. "There may well be more,'' Albanese told ABC Radio National on Tuesday. "But I'll have more to say abo

I talked this time yesterday about the reshaping our streets proposals coming to a street near you, and I notice the Road to Zzero campaign in full swing alongside it too. Our roads are changing, you can see it happening already, and there’s more where that came from. And the Greens are taking credit for it. Julie Ann Genter was saying yesterday it’s “years of pressure from the Greens” that is bringing this stuff to fruition. And as we talked about earlier, new speed cameras are coming now too. These cameras take two pictures at different spots in order to work out your car's average speed, rather than just a spot speed read, but not only that, as we know they’ll also capture a clear enough image to include more offences – like tailgating or drivers using cellphones or not wearing seatbelts. The Waka Kotahi is calling them "safety cameras", and according to one article I read that’s ‘a Cabinet-ordered attempt to shift the public away from perceptions that safety cameras are an enforcement, revenue-gathering t

Labour's special caucus meeting to decide the fate of MP Dr Gaurav Sharma will be held this afternoon. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed yesterday Labour's caucus would meet this week to discuss the fallout of Sharma's public allegations of bullying within the party against specific MPs. The meeting will be held at 2.30pm today over Zoom, given MPs are currently spread out across the country during recess. Ardern will hold a press conference following the meeting at about 4pm. The NZ Herald has reported it is almost certain Sharma will face a vote to suspend or expel him from Labour's caucus for his repeated salvoes at the party. Just prior to Ardern's post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, Sharma published his latest Facebook post concerning allegations of bullying by Labour's former chief whip, Kieran McAnulty, among others. He also attached screenshots of messages allegedly from other MPs who he claimed had also been bullied. Sharma's chances of escaping a vote appeared bleak unless he backed down:

Despite the Government seeming to be spending money elsewhere, they've given early childhood teachers the rough end of the stick. It's come out that the Government reduced pay parity funding for ECE teachers in the May budget, to keep it's education spending within agreed limits. It also scaled-back subsidy increases for education providers. Chief executive of the Early Childhood Council Simon Laube joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cameras hidden around Auckland by a government agency have recorded the better part of 1000 drivers per day unlawfully using their phones behind the wheel, the Herald can reveal. The cameras were installed at three secret spots by Waka Kotahi (NZ Transport Agency) as part of a six-month safety trial. Police are not involved in the trial and the findings will not lead to enforcement action or warning letters, the agency said. The findings for the first weeks of the trial, obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act, revealed the shocking extent of illegal phone use - including texting - while driving in the Super City. Last year, the total number of infringement notices issued by police for illegal use of mobile phones while driving was 40,976 nationally. But the Waka Kotahi trial data shows there were 44,358 mobile phone use offences detected from May 24 to July 16 this year in Auckland alone, from a total of 3,662,024 vehicles travelling past the camera sites. That works out as an average of 83

I see the latest attempt by councils to control our lives and get us all out of our cars is to axe the school drop off. Actually it’s not fair to just lay the blame at the feet of councils; these powers are allegedly going to be given to them by the Minister of Transport Michael Wood. So it’s more anti-car government ideology creeping into our lives at every turn. You’ve probably already noticed the spate of extra speed humps, pedestrian crossings, increased sets of traffic lights and cycle ways squeezing our roads. But wait, there’s more. The Minster wants councils to ‘restrict traffic outside schools to encourage parents and children to walk and cycle’. As if that will work. The same way getting us all on buses and bikes haven’t worked. The government claims it will improve exercise safety. I say it will just add to more congestion. You tell me how many parents, in the middle of a wet winter, with kids battling all kinds of winter ills and chills, how many of them are going to suddenly pop all those kids on