Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

DHBs could offer employment to final year medical students, if Omicron puts too much pressure on our hospitals.  The number of Covid patients in hospitals have been rising daily, since last week. The Resident Doctors Association says they're short across the board for doctors, critically so in emergency departments.  National secretary Deborah Powell says they've been planning for a surge, which includes sixth-year medical students taking on more responsibility. “They won’t be registered medical practitioners but they’re still pretty well informed, they know how to assess a patient and then they can report back to the doctor on duty.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a born and bred Aucklander, who I’m ashamed to say, once voted for Phil Goff as Mayor, I can honestly say, we won’t miss him.  You don’t need to live or work in Auckland to see what an absolute cluster it is. The place is a mess. The CBD’s been obliterated, the roads ruined, the infrastructure is shocking, the traffic’s the worst it’s ever been, the development of shoddy buildings and infill housing is depressing, and the public transport system an absolute joke. It’s not all Phil’s fault of course. But most of it is.  He cited in his retirement announcement the things he was proud of - containing the spread of Kauri die back was one. I rest my case. Show me the Aucklander who gives a toss about Kauri die back when they’re stuck in commuter traffic for hours on end and there’s not a bus or a train to be seen. He thinks Auckland is a world class city now. I’ve lived here all my life, and having also lived in London, I can tell you categorically, it’s not.  He also cites as part of his success, implementing

With daily Covid cases coming within an inch of hitting that one thousand mark, more of us will be close contacts and have to isolate. That could mean more stress for workers who're going to have to pick up the slack. One expert predicts that a "tidal of wave of risk" is coming. He warns some workers are at risk of being exploited and taken advantage of to fill the gaps. Chris O'Reilly is CEO of AskYourTeam, which provide insights into workers wellbeing and he joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queenstown businesses are in crisis, with the Chamber of Commerce saying most expect to close within a week.  The carnage has been sparked by the number of Covid-19 cases and close contacts having to go into self-isolation. The number of active cases in the Queenstown-Lakes region reached 41 as of yesterday - the highest anywhere in the South Island.  Queenstown Chamber of Commerce CEO Ruth Stokes told Kate Hawkesby things are dire.  She's suggesting workers might rort the system. “This is people being able to ring up their mates and say ‘hey shall I call you as a close contact and we can stay at home?’ Labour shortages were acute before this and this chaos is coming to town near you.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Contenders in the Auckland mayoral race are lining up. Phil Goff is standing down as Mayor of Auckland, a post he's held since 2016. Councillor Efeso Collins and HeadQuarters bar owner Leo Molloy have put their hands up for the job, and Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck is expected to as well. Massey University Associate Professor Grant Duncan told Kate Hawkesby Collins is a strong contender because Aucklanders tend to support left wing candidates, but he says Beck has a chance. “But of course, it’s completely open now, we don't have an obvious front runner this time.” Grant Duncan doesn't rate Molloy's chances very highly, but says he'll make the race interesting. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Biden administration on Friday escalated dire warnings of a possibly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying it could happen at any moment, even as emergency diplomatic efforts continued. U.S. officials said the United States is preparing to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv, and Americans in Ukraine are being told to leave within the next 48 hours.Adding to the sense of crisis, the Pentagon ordered an additional 3,000 U.S. troops to Poland to reassure allies.As diplomatic options for averting war in Ukraine appeared to narrow, the White House said President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin would discuss the crisis by phone on Saturday.Biden has said the U.S. military will not enter a war in Ukraine, but he has promised severe economic sanctions against Moscow, in concert with international allies.Timing of possible Russian military action remains a key question.The U.S. picked up intelligence that Russia is looking at Wednesday as a target date, according to a U.S. official familiar with th

Trevor Mallard has officially lost the plot.If you're in any doubt, google the column my colleague Heather du-Plessis Allan wrote for the Herald On Sunday yesterday.She pointed out his disturbing overreach whereby he “advised” media to stay away from protestors outside Parliament. Heather questions how much of this is actually 'advice' versus instruction – and how democratic is it really to keep media away from a protest. He’s done it under the guise of protection of course – appointing himself as some overarching protector of all – whether they want or need to be protected or not. It’s an old school ‘I know best’ approach that reeks of patriarchy and has no place here in the modern world. But what the Government's tried to do here – and failed in my opinion, is grab the narrative on this protest and shut it down. Problem is they’ve only made things worse.Refusing to speak to the protestors, writing them all off as wacko conspiracy theorists, and rabid far-right anti-vaxxers is a big mistake – and has only se

Ryan Fox secured the biggest title of his career by winning the Ras Al Khaimah Classic by five shots on Sunday.It was the 211th-ranked New Zealander's first victory in a 72-hole format on the European tour. His only other title was in a Super 6 tournament in 2019 that featured a six-hole knockout format following 54 holes of strokeplay.Fox went into the final round in Abu Dhabi with a six-shot lead — on 19 under — and a load of nerves.He bogeyed two of his first six holes to allow the field to close in, but played the final 11 holes in 4 under and wound up shooting 3-under 69 for 22 under overall."Sleeping on a six-shot lead, I didn't sleep very well last night," Fox said. "Obviously a couple of the guys came at me early. I was a bit nervous. I had that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach all day.""But I'm very happy with how I played. A couple of great shots coming down the stretch and it was certainly nice walking down the last with putter in hand with so many putts to win."Ross Fisher finished in second

An international analyst says New Zealand would be impacted by a war in Europe.United States intelligence has indicated a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent.The New Zealand Government has told New Zealanders in Ukraine to leave immediately.Democracy Project International Analyst Geoffrey Miller told Kate Hawkesby war would affect oil prices and New Zealand's trade.“If you’ve got a war in Europe, suddenly that’s not good for New Zealand exporters. We are an island literally, but not figuratively.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trevor Mallard's predecessor is telling him to grow up.David Carter, Parliament’s Speaker during the last National-led government, has lashed out at Mallard's handling of the Parliamentary protest.Anti-mandate protestors are into the seventh day of their rally on the grounds of Parliament.Mallard's had sprinklers on, and blasted them with some of the world's most hated songs in an attempt to move them on.Police say they don't endorse the tactics.Carter told Kate Hawkesby it doesn't do anything for New Zealand's reputation on the international stage.“Which is in tatters frankly. We had the Charlotte Bellis incident three weeks ago, and now New Zealand’s in the international headlines because we have a Speaker acting in a boorish, childish way.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prince Charles has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating. A message on his official Twitter page said Charles tested positive on Thursday morning UK time and was "deeply disappointed" not to be able to attend a scheduled visit in the city of Winchester in southern England. Charles, 73, met dozens of people during a large reception at London's British Museum on Wednesday evening. He was accompanied by his wife Camilla, and was in close contact with Britain's Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, among others. Charles' office, Clarence House, confirmed that he is triple vaccinated. It was not immediately clear what his condition was. Charles previously contracted the coronavirus in March 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic. Officials said he had mild Covid-19 symptoms then, and Charles said later that Charles and Camilla isolated in Scotland at the time. Britain's Press Association news agency reported that Charles recently met with his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, but the monarch was not displaying a

I’m just wondering this morning if we, as women, need to apologise now for being women. Or for calling ourselves women. Is it insulting that we are happy to be women? Adele has been in hot water this week for her acceptance speech at the Brit Awards as she collected the gong for Artist of the Year. It used to be two categories, Best Male Artist and Best Female Artist, but in a move we should’ve all seen coming, that was changed to the more gender neutrally appropriate “Best Artist’. So Adele said when she accepted the award, "I understand why the name of this award has changed but I really love being a woman and being a female artist. I do!" That’s what she said – to huge applause and cheers by the way. But here’s the difference between the real world and the online world – the keyboard warriors lit up.  What travesty was this?! No less than a transphobic slur, she must be transphobic! Why would she say such a thing? How dare she! Twitter users (who else) blew up in fury – “Who’d have thought Adele was a tran

Small and medium-sized enterprises are feeling the pinch under the Covid-19 protection framework. A new survey by MYOB shows more than half expect to see a negative impact on the financial health of their business, if the country stays in Red for more than a month. Almost a quarter believe they will take a significant financial hit. Head of Go to Market at MYOB Jo Tozer told Kate Hawkesby they've had a mix of feedback from their customers. “Some are noticing a drop in customers through their doors, others a degree of caution but still enjoying a solid summer, but seeing the data now makes quite stark reading.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National says the Government's new close contact exemption scheme has too many barriers. In phase two of our Omicron response, critical business workers found to be close contacts won't need to isolate, if they return negative rapid antigen tests. But companies wishing to sign up, will still need to meet certain criteria. National's Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop told Kate Hawkesby RATs should be available to everyone. “It’s hard to imagine a more bureaucratically inept system that the Government could design, it’s classic Labour. I just don’t understand why we’re making it so difficult. Everyone acknowledges we need rapid antigen tests.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m feeling the itchy feet, the urge to travel is back.  Now that we can, it’s tantalising isn’t it? I’m worried that once everybody does start bouncing out the door, I’m going to get wicked FOMO.  But here’s the problem, with all this time locked up at home and locked down, I’ve become too attached to the dog and vice versa.  I’m serious. I don’t know how I leave her now. She didn’t cope well when my daughter finally went back to school, having had all these months of just having everyone home all the time, walking her, cuddling her, feeding her, playing with her. And now it’s like, well real life is knocking on the door again and the dog’s not coping.  She’s gotten used to us all at her every beck and call. And I’ve become so attached to her that I genuinely don’t know how I would up sticks and leave her to gallivant off somewhere. Only dog people will understand this of course. So, I’m not sure what I’m going to do here. I fear my family will probably just go regardless and leave me and the dog behind. So

It was a busy day in the capital yesterday as the convoy protesters continued their stay on the lawns of Parliament.  Three people were taken into custody after attempting to breach police lines, while an official trespassing notice was issued. Chester Burrows is a former police officer and joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday in parliament, New Zealand's relationship with the monarchy was once again debated. This was after a motion was set to congratulate Queen Elizabeth on her platinum jubilee, a 70-year reign. But the Māori Party voted against the motion, and the Greens say our head of state should be from Aotearoa New Zealand. Questions have therefore been raised as to how the monarchy and the UK would feel if we turned our backs on the institution. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Tinder Swindler is now one of the most popular films on Netflix. It shows the dangers of online dating, with a fraudster scamming several women for a total of $10m. NortonLifeLock have a report out this morning, saying more than half of Kiwis vet their matches online, and nearly 2/5 un-match as a result. Senior director at NortonLifeLock Mark Gorrie joined Kate Hawkesby from Australia. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi director Jane Campion is leading the Oscar nominations this year with 12 nods for her film The Power of the Dog. But as always, the list of nominations was full of surprises, announced this week by comedy actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross. From Dune to House of Gucci, several of the biggest films released over the past year have missed out in the major categories. Here are the most shocking snubs on this year's list of nominees. Best Actress — Lady Gaga (House of Gucci) Gaga was gunning for an Oscar with her role as Patrizia Reggiani - but while she landed nominations at the BAFTAs and the SAG Awards, the Academy wasn't convinced enough to recognise her performance. Best Supporting Actress — Caitriona Balfe (Belfast) Outlander star Caitriona Balfe was a frontrunner for an Oscar nom with her performance as Ma in Belfast. But she was edged out by her co-star Judi Dench, who picked up the nomination - her eighth to date - instead. Best Supporting Actor — Jared Leto (The House of Gucci) Jared Leto w

As our Omicron daily case numbers started to trend down instead of the much promised up, I wondered if my theory last week is in fact more than just a theory.  People aren’t testing. They’re not scanning in, they’ve turned off their Bluetooth on the app, they’re not reporting symptoms, or maybe they’re just asymptomatic. Either way, our Omicron surge that the doomsayers keep warning us about, that we are sitting in a red light because of, is still nowhere to be seen. And it may well be down to a variety of factors; some say it’s a slow burner, we haven’t ‘let it rip’ like other countries, so it’s just a slower start for us. Others say we are getting a milder taste of what the rest of the world experienced because our vaccination numbers are high. Others say it’s because we’re in a red light, so we’re slowing it down with our restricted movement. But my theory, and one I don’t think you can discount given the way our case numbers are plateauing, is that people are over it, Covid fatigue has set in, and no one’