Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

A Government support package which aims to revitalise Auckland by issuing families vouchers for local attractions and events has been panned by the hospitality sector, which says it's been "left to die". Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced yesterday that Aucklanders will be offered 100,000 vouchers this summer for a range of activities in a bid to "reactivate" the city as it shakes off the shackles of nearly four months in lockdown. But restaurant, bars and businesses in the hospitality industry will not be included in the scheme. MP for Auckand Central Chlöe Swarbrick joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Security experts are warning kiwis to be extra cautious when buying toys online this Christmas.  Cyber criminals are banking on global supply issues and people's frustrations, in order to offer dodgy deals online. ‘If it's too good to be true... Then it probably is.’ Dean Williams is a systems engineer for NortonLifeLock and joined Kate Hawkesby from Australia. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A warning to not put schools in the middle of the Covid-19 vaccine debate. The Government's hoping to start rolling out the inoculation programme for five to 11-year-olds by the end of next month. Principals' Federation president Perry Rush says most of the 14 principals on his executive support it, but some people in communities are concerned. He says told Kate Hawkesby we shouldn't create conflict in schools. “That’s really important, it certainly makes sense to use them as a venue, but there needs to be some careful discussion in local communities so that boards can take the temperature of their community and then make decisions accordingly.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I wrote an editorial on Luxon getting the leadership yesterday once we got wind of it in the afternoon, about an hour before their caucus met and before Luxon spoke.But I had to throw that out and start again once he spoke, because when he did, he changed my mind.I was pleasantly surprised, actually, I was impressed.He came out swinging, got straight into all the issues, he talked up achievements over announcements, he gave farmers a long-overdue high five, had a solid answer for the faith question, (he hasn’t been to a Church in five years, FYI) he confidently addressed a Three Waters question, while balancing the underdog card — admitting he might make mistakes because he’s new to politics. And on that, do we overplay that new to politics thing? I mean don’t we just want the best person for the job? And isn’t a wide range of skills from being strong in management, to having sound economical nous, critical for us as a country going forward? You want the smarts right? Not necessarily the longest term of being

A world-first automated beef boning system made in Dunedin hopes to solve worker shortages.The high-speed technology, combining X-ray vision with robotic and mechanical automation, can process 200 carcasses an hour.Scott Technology Chief Executive John Kippenberger told Kate Hawkesby rural companies in New Zealand, Australia and the US have been struggling with labour supply.“Automation was important pre the pandemic, but also even more important following the impact of the virus.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Global stocks and oil prices fell again Tuesday after a brief respite from the heavy sell-off triggered by the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant.Stocks in Asia Pacific and Europe slid, while Wall Street opened weaker. Oil prices fell about 3% as more countries reported cases of the variant and imposed new travel restrictions. The mood was also dampened by a warning from Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel that current vaccines will struggle with Omicron."There is no world, I think, where [the effectiveness] is the same level . . . we had with [the] Delta [variant]," Bancel said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Tuesday. "I think it's going to be a material drop. I just don't know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I've talked to ... are like, 'This is not going to be good'."South Korea's Kospi led losses in Asia, falling 2.4%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 1.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.6%. The Shanghai Composite was flat. China's economy

House values continue to rise out of reach of many young Wellingtonians.The latest rating valuation has been released by QV.Over the past three years, the average home value across Wellington city has increased 60.4 per cent to sit now at more than $1.4 million.All of the capital's suburbs now have an average value above $1 million and land value across the city has increased to more than $980,000.Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen told Kate Hawkesby Wellington seems to have become a millionaire's paradise.“I think the challenge that we’re seeing going forward is that still now getting into a house in Wellington, it seems to be a fair way away for a number of particularly young people.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christopher Luxon's new deputy leader of the National Party is confident the pair can overcome the party's internal divisions.Nicola Willis told Kate Hawkesby National's liberal and conservative wings came together at yesterday's caucus meeting to support them.“What we saw was an uncontested leadership, we saw everyone come in behind. All 33 of us are on that same page.”The Wellington list MP worked for Sir John Key and Sir Bill English in a variety of roles between 2003 and 2011.She entered Parliament in 2018.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A big challenge for National, to appeal to almost everyone with its next choice of leader.Former Air New Zealand boss Christopher Luxon appears to have the numbers over former party leader Simon Bridges, ahead of a caucus meeting this afternoon.Simon Bridges says the leadership will come down to a vote of MPs which insiders say Luxon is likely to win.Former National Cabinet Minister Jonathan Coleman told Kate Hawkesby he'll need to choose a deputy and front bench that unites the liberal-conservative divide.“We’ve got to be a party that appeals to that broad middle swathe of New Zealand, and frankly, the country’s changing, so we need to have a look, feel and a leadership team that reflects that and can appeal broadly.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don’t know why we keep getting our hopes up for these announcements, they’re always such a letdown. I mean I guess we knew Auckland was starting in Red, and not just Auckland but a total of ten other districts around the country as well. That’s a lot of Red.The rest of the North Island starts with Orange, the whole of the South Island Orange. No one’s in Green, because guess what?They’re taking a “cautious approach”. Of course they are. The problem with this whole thing is the lack of definitive criteria for it. That does two things, one, gives the government all the power with little or no accountability, and two, leaves people in the dark.Can festivals go ahead or not? Can people make holiday travel and accommodation plans around that or not? A review of the traffic lights comes on December 13th. Is that enough time for festival organisers to cancel or postpone their events which start a couple of days after Christmas? Is just over ten days enough time for contractors to get the yay or nay? For festival-g

Auckland Police officers might need better protection as they respond to more firearms events.Three police officers are recovering in Auckland Hospital after being shot in Glen Eden.The offender was shot dead.Former Justice Advisory Group chairman Chester Burrows, who's also a former cop, told Kate Hawkesby police need more to respond with than pepper spray and a taser.“The Police Association has been saying for a long time they want to have guns on their hips. I would hate to think that we’d go there, but it’s difficult to find out what the other answer is.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian federal government has "paused" its plan to ease border restrictions from Wednesday, December 1, delaying the move by a fortnight as the world grapples with the new Omicron Covid variant.This means fully vaccinated visa holders will not be able to fly into Australia without an exemption.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement on Monday night after a meeting of the Cabinet's national security committee was briefed on the latest information about Omicron.At this stage, the easing of border restrictions will be delayed until December 15."On the basis of medical advice provided by the Chief Medical Officer of Australia, Professor Paul Kelly, the National Security Committee has taken the necessary and temporary decision to pause the next step to safely reopen Australia to international skilled and student cohorts, as well as humanitarian, working holiday maker and provisional family visa holders from 1 December until 15 December,'' a spokesman said."The reopening to travellers

Understanding from Whakatane about why it's moving into Red under the traffic light system from Friday.Most regions will start in Orange, apart from Auckland and places with low vaccination rates, including Northland, Gisborne and parts of Bay of Plenty.Whakatane Mayor Judy Turner told Kate Hawkesby she isn't surprised because the area's still working on vaccination levels.She says a large percentage of the population lives in isolated rural communities.“To getting those services out there has been a challenge, but it is happening. We’ve got a couple of amazing providers who have just gone for broke.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Aucklanders endured their last weekend of an alert level lockdown, waiting to move into our red traffic light this weekend, Covid reminded us that it’s in the driving seat, not us. Relative freedoms just a handful of days away, inching towards some kind of normality, and then boom, news erupts over the weekend of this new variant Omicron. With hope having been dashed to shreds over this past year, it’s hard to stay positive, especially when countries start restricting travel again, re-introducing self-isolation, and not ruling out a return to lockdowns. The familiar creep of dread washes over us. We don’t know yet whether the vaccine’s effective against this variant, UK health officials say there’s a "reasonable chance" that vaccines could be less effective against it. Reports yesterday said, “early data suggests it could be several times more infectious than the original virus, and appears to be outcompeting Delta.” Michael Baker says it’s a variant causing alarm because “it has a very large number of mut

So it's November 29, a date we've all been waiting for. Originally the D-day for the announcement of all announcements, we already know on Friday we're heading to the traffic light system. But today we find out what colour each region will be going in. Sociology professor Paul Spoonley joined Early Edition. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new heavily mutated Covid variant has been identified named Omicron. It's been rapidly labelled a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation, and is already spreading to other countries, including Australia. Originating from South Africa, there's a shortage of real-world data, and no one really knows how big of a threat it poses. Principal scientist at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research professor Mike Bunce joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Surprise from Judith Collins' former and current colleagues, about how her time as National leader came to an end. MP Jacqui Dean has told the Otago Daily Times she's surprised and disappointed Collins used a conversation from some weeks ago to demote Bridges. But speaking exclusively to Newstalk ZB, Collins says she has no regrets about demoting Simon Bridges. Former colleague Chris Finlayson told Kate Hawkesby while he isn’t surprised by her departure, but he is shocked by how it happened. “It is a real doozy.” He said the frontrunners for leadership, Luxon and Mitchell, are both are very able.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who’d be in politics, eh? I mean talk about brutal.  How do they just keep getting knocked over and get back up again. It’s so so tough. I don’t know what came over Judith, apart from obvious desperation and I actually feel a great deal of sympathy for her; she clearly felt so backed into a corner she lost all perspective. And I don’t know whose advising her anymore or if anyone did, but it goes to show how important the team around you is, the perspective, the depth of talent needed. And that’s what worries me going forward. I think a reheated Simon 2.0 is just Simon again but at a different time. There’s nothing that leaps out at me to say he’s morphed into a considered strategic and smart team player. He still seems unable to hold his cards close to his chest, keep his cool, look considered and elder statesman like. He’s more relaxed, for sure, but I don’t know that’s enough to lead this motley crew and rein them in as much as they clearly need to be reined in. Then there’s Luxon. Still new, naïve, learnin

England and France are at odds over how to deal with illegal migrants crossing the Channel, after 27 people died trying to get across. It's the largest loss of life there in a decade. Europe correspondent Vincent McAviney told Kate Hawkesby 25,000 migrants are trafficked across each year from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Eritrea. He said they're smuggled by gangs from the Netherlands, Belgium and France. McAviney said the French believe the coastline's too hard to police, so Britain's offering to send officers to help, but France is resisting that. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The retail sector is in for a much-needed boost today.  The industry is set to make about 270-million dollars from Black Friday sales. Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford told Kate Hawkesby he's hoping Kiwis will get out and support businesses. “It could really be busier than Boxing Day. Black Friday has become a really significant part of the shopping calendar.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.