Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

A mask manufacturer thinks new rules around face coverings should go even further. The Government's tightening rules around mask wearing. From tomorrow week, they'll be required in all food and drink venues, close-proximity businesses, events and gatherings.  And face coverings must be an actual mask as opposed to scarves, bandannas or T-shirts pulled up over the face. Any workers covered by a vaccine mandate will be required to wear a surgical-grade or N95 mask. But Nick Davenport, founder of mask manufacturer Lanaco, told Roman Travers that should go for everyone. “I think it’s a little informed decision and the information behind it and the science behind it differs from the policy that’s been offered.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the couple of days since New Zealand went to red, it has been a logistical nightmare for event organisers. Numerous events have been cancelled around the country, due to size restrictions or it just being logistically too difficult. But some events will be going ahead despite the extra challenges. Sue Wilson is the Event Manager of the East Coast Farming Expo and she joined Roman Travers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ex-truckies are being asked to come out of retirement or do part-time work in the event of permanent drivers catching Omicron. There have been shortages of food in Australia, because truckies have fallen ill and haven't been able to transport goods around the country. Transporting New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett says Roman Travers driving a large truck takes a lot of skill so it takes years to train people. He says they're trying to build a list of relief drivers who could be called on in an emergency. "Maybe doing another job, they maybe used to drive or are working another sector. They could lend themselves, just with a shift here and there.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has been forced to apologise live on air after saying people “aren’t dying” from Covid-19, despite record breaking death statistics.For much of the pandemic, Australia has been the envy of the rest of the world for how it kept Covid-19 at bay and fatalities low.But, while NSW and Victoria are likely over the peak of their Omicron wave, both the United States and Europe have issued a stark warning to residents urging them not to travel to Australia.When asked whether Australia could still say it was the “envy of the world” when by the European Council and the US Centre for Disease Control have both labelled the country as “danger zones”, Mr Joyce said Australia could still take pride in the way it had handled the pandemic.“People aren’t dying,” Mr Joyce told RN Breakfast.He was immediately picked up on the point by host Patricia Karvelas who said “people are dying. People are dying every day”.Mr Joyce immediately sought to cover his tracks and apologised.“Sorry, s

You know the saying… never wake a sleeping dragon? Well it appears that we have - and the sleeping inflation dragon is well and truly awake.Later this week; we’ll get to see the latest update on the country’s financial data – and it’s expected to show inflation in 2021 ran at its highest level in over 30 years.The Consumers Price Index is expected to rise by 1.3 percent for the December quarter, coupled with inflation that accelerated to 6.0 percent.The highest inflation in more than 30 years? Many of us have never experienced this kind of leap in the cost of everything.The only way to appease this waking inflation dragon would be for The Reserve Bank to take some pretty hefty and aggressive action. But will they?Some economists have said that the country is in the midst of "a perfect storm" of inflation pressures, but that much of the CPI's increase will be a result of offshore factors.It’s a huge concern just how dependent we are as a nation on the fluctuations of the vagaries of the overseas markets. But t

Prices are expected to rise for consumers as Omicron spreads.The latest Consumer Price Index is due out on Thursday morning.ANZ economist, Finn Robinson, told Roman Travers he thinks inflation will be between 5.5 and 6.5 percent for the year to December.He says Omicron will hit us in the pocket because a huge chunk of the workforce will probably have to isolate, like overseas.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The travel bubble between the Cook Islands and New Zealand will remain open despite our Omicron outbreak.The Cook Islands held an emergency cabinet meeting last night.There is a new restriction though - no unvaccinated people will be allowed entry from Thursday.Robert Skews, the managing director of the Turama Pacific Travel Group told Roman Travers the news is a huge relief.“70 percent of our revenue here in the Cooks is derived from tourism and so after two years we’re a little bit desperate.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're being urged to think of others - as we prepare our pantries and medicine cabinets for the months ahead.Supermarkets report pressure on products like toilet paper, following the confirmation the Omicron outbreak on Sunday.Food, groceries and medicines could also become harder to come by, as case numbers rise.Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson told Roman Travers while consumers are stocking up, they should remember others who can't.“I do understand families needing to go out and protect themselves from what might just happen. Many, many thousands of New Zealanders just don’t have that luxury.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

And so here we are; waking up in the glow of red lights across the whole country.What does this mean for most of us? Well affectively nothing really has changed apart from the inability to gather in mobs of more than 100 which will serve good purpose in trying to prevent the stupidity of the Brian Tamaki followers across the country’s main centres and their messianistic treatment of a nobody and his attempt to be somebody.Other than that the only thing that I’ve seen change in the last day is again the ridiculous propensity for people to go apoplectic in the supermarket even though we are told we don’t need to.The real concern I have is that we may well see the current Government moving further away from the recommendations of the science community as demonstrated in the comments by certain epidemiologists who say that the red light system is not enough to reduce the spread of the Omicron strain.The only great saviour for us all is the vaccination and the third shot, which at best is 75 per cent affective in

Australian Open quarter-finalist Denis Shapovalov is embracing being part of Canada’s tennis uprising as his strong – but complicated – start to the year continues.Shapovalov scored one of the best wins of his career on Sunday, ousting third-seeded German Alex Zverev in straight sets in a result with major Australian Open title ramifications.The 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist’s 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 defeat of Zverev, in their first grand slam clash, was his third win in their past four meetings.Shapovalov, 22, helped Canada win the ATP Cup in the first week of the year, alongside Felix Auger-Aliassime, who will try to emulate his countryman’s last-eight effort against Marin Cilic on Monday.That followed Shapovalov recovering from his Covid-19 diagnosis on arrival in Australia, and he has survived a number of tense matches to make it this far.Only Milos Raonic and Michael Belkin had ever reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne among Canadian men in the Open Era, before 14th-seeded Shapovalov matched them on Sunday.“

It could be a crucial week for Boris Johnson in his battle to stay in power.The British Prime Minister has been under pressure for weeks over alleged summer garden parties and Christmas gatherings held in Downing Street when the rest of the country was under strict Covid-19 lockdowns. A report into the allegations, set to be released this week, could be the final straw for Johnson's increasingly mutinous party.Johnson's approval ratings are plunging and there appears to be a growing sense among some parts of his ruling Conservative Party that he is becoming a liability. Two polls in the last week suggested that as many as two-thirds of voters want him to resign.The parliamentary rebellion is growing. One Conservative MP defected to the opposition Labour Party last week and newspapers have reported rumors of more lawmakers demanding Johnson's exit.The Prime Minister has given unconvincing answers when asked about the numerous parties. First he said there were none. Once undeniable evidence emerged, he denied k

Chris Luxon says greater access to quicker Covid-19 tests and medicines that can treat the virus will be key to keeping goods flowing around the country.Supply chain issues are thought to be inevitable because around 350,000 workers may be isolating at one time.But the National Party leader says the Government needs to bring in more drugs that are effective against Covid-19.He told Roman Travers officials need to chase down more rapid antigen and saliva tests.“If I had a Rolls-Royce engine crisis at Air New Zealand or when the fuel pipeline got dug up and we’re trying to run the airline with 30 per cent of the fuel, you are on these issues like literally every six hours.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The move to Red has sparked a string of event cancellations.Both the New Zealand Masters Games in Dunedin and New Zealand Fashion Week in Auckland have been cancelled.Auckland's Splore Festival, Christchurch's Great Kiwi Beer Festival and Sculpture on the Peninsula, Dunedin's Craft Beer and Food Festival, and parts of Wellington's Lunar New Year Festival have also been called off.Viv Beck, chief executive of Auckland's Heart of the City business association told Roman Travers it's not the news anyone wanted to hear.“Events have been really a saviour last year, so it’s pretty devastating to see that all come apart now.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Had a nice chat with three of the police manning the roadblock at Uretiti this morning. One was up from Nelson, another from Wellington and one was from Whangarei. Standing in the rain in the middle of the night, but still cheery and positive, even though it's a job no-one really wanted. It was nice to meet you guys, as I said to them, they're keeping the peace and that's part of the job. If police hadn't gone along with this, we'd have had chaos and confrontation and no one needs that. Coincidentally, it's the one-year anniversary of that shonky Ihumātao deal and you might see a connection between the two. Ihumātao was a piece of privately-owned land, bought by Fletchers for a housing development. Tangata whenua objected, occupied, and eventually got their way, forcing the Government to buy it. Taxpayers shelled out $30 million, with the promise there'd be some housing there, but of course a year on, what's happened? Not a thing. The Housing Minister says there was never any promise it would be a fast proces

A new lick of paint is needed for town centres around the country. Dunedin architect Ian Butcher has criticised its city centre as tiresome, dull and uninteresting. Dulux colour specialist Davina Harper told Tim Dower most towns want to play it safe when they choose their colours. “Colour can be a little bit polarising, but I think they’re missing a real opportunity to add some personality and interest.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An immunologist is calling on the Government to bring forward the Covid booster shot timeframe.  Ministers are set to meet today to discuss this exact issue, as New Zealand records its first case of the Omicron variant in MIQ in Christchurch. A third shot is currently only available to those who last had their second shot, at least six months ago.  Malaghan Institute Director Dr Graham Le Gros, told Tim Dower with the new threat of Omicron, we should move the eligibility to five months. “It won’t be quite as good as the six month period, but at least it will stop the infection that this Omicron actually hospitalising people or making people sick.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I come to the programme this morning with a feeling of hope after seeing something yesterday that I haven't seen in well over a year. Backpackers. A group of four of them, in their 20s, walking the Te Araroa trail together. All three thousand kilometres of it. Te Araroa should be on every young New Zealander's bucket list, it stretches all the way from Cape Reinga to Bluff. And bit by bit, as we recognise the value of it, old tracks are being improved, new ones built and little gaps are being closed with new connections. I crossed paths with the group as they were about 400ks into the journey, a beautiful day and they'd parked their stuff on the beach for a swim. Before COVID, I'd run into people from all over the world walking Te Araroa, collecting great stories of New Zealand and New Zealanders they'd take home and share. Word of mouth is your best form of advertising. I always make a point of saying hello, partly because I'm nosy and I like to know where people are from, but also because I want to be welco

Today's GDP figures are likely to be better than expected. They're due out mid-morning. ANZ economist Finn Robinson told Tim Dower the ANZ bank thinks the economy has contracted by four and half percent. He says that's considerably better than the seven percent the bank had initially pencilled in. “What we have with that is the preliminary data that is released about how construction and retail trade over the course of the year and it looks like they held up a bit better than expected.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Farmers are evenly split on their expectations for the coming year. Dairy is the most optimistic sector, while dry stock farmers and horticulturalists are more pessimistic.  Rabobank NZ's CEO Todd Charteris joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A health expert says rural hospitals have been left off Andrew Little's Christmas list.  The Government is giving hospitals more than half a billion dollars for upgrades and to help them support more Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients.  The Rural GP Network says the provinces have been left out, with some rural hospitals not getting any funding at all.  Rural Health Clinical Director Dr Jeremy Webber told Tim Dower they're calling out for more resources. “Staffing is huge issue in the rural across the board, so we’ve got a huge reliance on locals so it’s a real strain for our department and this is reflected across the country.”  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.