Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Hawkes Bay's water park Splash Planet is closing over summer for the first time since opening in 1998. Although Hawkes Bay isn’t reporting any Covid cases, there are concerns around low vaccination rates and how they would manage social distancing. Nigel Bickle, Hastings’ District Council CEO - who are in charge of Splash Planet – told Kate Hawkesby it’s become too complicated to open the park. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK and Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney was aboard Sir David Attenborough's research vessel today to hear Sir David talk about the upcoming Climate Change Summit. He joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss this and how France has detained a U.K. fishing boat as the battle for fishing in the channel heats up. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I feel for the South Island, with their gradual waking up to the fact that Delta is real. A couple of weeks ago I said to my sister, who lives in Christchurch, when she called me en-route from her pilates class to her café lunch, before probably going on to the hairdresser, that she was living in a parallel universe. I told her I figured the South Island was where the whole of NZ was 11 weeks ago, when we thought Delta was just a “somewhere else” problem. We smugly watched from the comfort of our crowded cafes as chaos unfolded across the Tasman and we thought – oh lucky us, it’s not real for us here. And then boom, there it was. And how our lives have changed. I told her it would show up on her doorstep, it was a matter of when not if. She was confident it wouldn’t and that they’d all be so well vaccinated by the time it did, that it’d be no worries. And then wham. Yesterday’s news of two positive cases in the city. I called her and suggested she go get her hair done and have her last café coffee. But she wa

The latest MIQ change is more about reconnecting families, rather than tourism. From the 14th of November, MIQ stays will be halved to seven days.  People must then self-isolate at home for about three days until their day nine test comes back.  Rosann Connolly George from Vincent George Travel told Kate Hawkesby the focus will be on the repatriation of Kiwis and the education sector before we can think about tourism. “I honestly don’t see a tourism border opening up anytime soon.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation, marking a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who do not identify as male or female, and expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year, the State Department said Wednesday. The department did not identify the passport recipient, but Dana Zzyym of Fort Collins, Colorado, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview it was their passport. Zzyym, who prefers a gender-neutral pronoun, has been in a legal battle with the government since 2015 over a passport. Zzyym (pronounced Zimm) said the fight for the passport with an accurate gender designation was a way to help the next generation of intersex people win recognition as full citizens with rights. “I’m not a problem. I’m a human being. That’s the point,” Zzyym said. The U.S. special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, said the decision brings the government documents in line with the “lived reality” that there is a wider spectrum

I joked this time yesterday that I hoped the big day of announcements we were awaiting wouldn’t just be announcements of announcements. I mean I thought we were past that. Hence, I joked about it.  Sadly, clearly, we’re not past it.  This Government is still taking the piss at 1 o’clock. How much leeway do they actually want? How much rope? Are they joking? Yesterday’s press conference was one of the greater damp squibs of all time. They literally could not announce anything.  We were expecting MIQ changes, an update on school for Years 0-10, and the Waikato level change. What did we get? A delay on the MIQ announcement – they’re not ready, don’t know, haven’t got it together, they’re still ‘having conversations’.  Why? What about? They’ve had weeks and weeks to do this, is it that there’s disagreement? Is it that they literally can’t make a decision? Is it that they just don’t know? What is it? Likewise with schools. Weeks to prepare for this – still no clue. Primary students might be back by November 15th,

ACC is being told it needs to urgently change how it operates. It's been sent an open letter from the Green party and 27 other organisations. It comes after it was revealed more than a dozen employees were sharing and mocking people's injury details on a Snapchat group.  It also outlines huge work backlog issues and client battles. It cites major privacy breaches, massive workloads and long-standing client battles.  Victims' advocate Ruth Money told Kate Hawkesby until now concerns have fallen on deaf ears. She says the media has been trying to shine a light on it for years. “Finally, we’re getting a bit of traction but, it’s too little too late. Hopefully it’s the pressure that makes the diamond.”  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A group representing working parents want more assurances their children will be safe at school. Primary and intermediate schools in level three areas are being told to prepare to re-open on November 15, but that date's not set in stone. Children would attend on different days and there would be outdoor classes. Working parent advocate Emma McLean told Kate Hawkesby parents are already trying to juggle work and home-schooling and the decision just creates more uncertainty. “We want to be able to trust the decisions that our schools and Government are making and if we can, that’s really going to make our load lighter.”  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Widespread reaction to the Government's decision to go ahead with its controversial three water reforms. Water New Zealand says there are big challenges facing the sector, and these reforms address that.  Chief Executive Gillian Blythe told Kate Hawkesby about 30 options were considered. “This one is going to enable the unlocking of barriers that have contributed to this infrastructure deficit.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A senior marketing lecturer sees mandatory vaccinations as a good P.R move. The Government is requiring 40 per cent of our workforce to be vaccinated. Staff will have to be vaccinated at any business that requires vaccine certificates. Auckland University marketing expert Bodo Lang told Kate Hawkesby the vast majority of Kiwis have done the right thing and got the jab. He says now they're just waiting on a few others to do the same. “I think the vast majority of New Zealanders will be viewing this very positively.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m not sure the return to school yesterday for seniors in level three will be the super spreader event people like Rod Jackson were ‘freaking out’ about. I guess time will tell on that one. But what I do know from talking to some students who went back yesterday, was that it was stressful for all concerned. I’m not sure what’s more stressful at this point: online at-home-learning, or heading back into school after so long. There are parents in both camps as well as students of course; some nervous they’ve gone back, some grateful. What I did learn yesterday from returning students, is that there’s a lot of stress from feeling so behind on school work – and worry about how to catch that up in time for exams. The big talking point at school of course is Covid, and the stress around what that means for them, whether their exams will happen or not, how they might happen, and what the rest of the term looks like. That’s something we can all identify with, really. No one really knows what the rest of our year look

The Queen will no longer attend the Cop 26 climate summit in Glasgow next week, following her visit to hospital last week. Buckingham Palace says she's been advised to rest and carry out light duties. The 95-year-old will still contribute to the summit, delivering an address to the assembled delegates via a recorded message from Windsor Castle. UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby it comes as concerns grow about her health and workload. “Lots of people are now going to be intensely reviewing how she looks and what she’s doing and how many royal engagements she should be trying to do.”  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A glimmer of hope for Kiwis stranded overseas because they can't get a spot in managed isolation. The Government's making a major announcement about changes to the MIQ system today. Shorter MIQ stays for returnees, home quarantine, and possibly no quarantine from safe countries could be in the mix. Travel technology consultant Mike Moore told Kate Hawkesby home quarantine has been used successfully in countries like Taiwan, by using things like apps and phone calls. He said reducing MIQ from 14 to seven days is one of the things mooted. “That actually only increases the number of people you let into the country from 350 to 700 a day so that’s still massively massively short of demand.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Confusion continues on vaccination rules for players at the Australian Open. Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio told Kate Hawkesby a leaked email from the Women's Tennis Association said that unvaccinated players would be allowed to enter Australia and asked the information to be kept private until the government makes a public announcement. This comes after Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said, last week, that tennis players who haven't received a COVID-19 vaccination are unlikely to get a visa to enter the country for the Australian Open in Melbourne in January.This risks men's No. 1, Novak Djokovic, not being able to take part as he refuses to disclose his vaccination status.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s hard not to feel disillusioned this week - struggling to understand this new traffic light system. It feels like we’re being asked to reach an unrealistic goal by an ambitious PM who wants to score some points. And in achieving that goal, what do we get for it? A red light.   As we’ve been told many times by this government, Delta didn’t come with a roadmap. That’s actually not true in our case. The roadmap was rolling out in front of us. We had months to watch it unfold in other parts of the world. And in that time, we should’ve readied our healthcare system, our ICU, our nursing capacity, our testing and tracing abilities. But we didn’t. We bragged about Six 60 concerts and how we didn't need to rush the vaccine rollout instead. We put millions into designing a now cancelled bike bridge, money for school lunches, University buildings; stuff that wasn’t as important as money to ready ourselves for the inevitable. And then when Delta did arrive, instead of asking for roadside assistance or seeking help f

New research suggests three quarters of Kiwis have used video games to connect with their children during the pandemic. That's according to a new report by the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association and Bond University in Australia. Nearly 60 percent of parents say their children’s schools are using video games as another way to teach. Let's Play Live director Duane Mutu told Kate Hawkesby parents should jump in and have a turn with their kids on games- like Fortnite, for example. “Understand what they’re doing. Being able to jump in and understand that language, being able to talk to them is very very good.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is keeping a close eye on vaccination rates in every DHB, as it prepares to transition the country to a new "traffic light" system of covid restrictions. Auckland will move to the new system once all three of its DHBs have hit the 90-percent vaccination target. The rest of the country is also set to move to the system, once 90-percent of the eligible population in each DHB area has received both of their Covid jabs. But Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare told Kate Hawkesby everything will be up for review at Cabinet every week leading up to a major review in late November. “We’re pushing our hardest for getting the highest vaccination rate.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We got a strong sense yesterday of the reaction to school going back for seniors currently languishing in Level 3, and how it’s gone down with teachers.  The PPTA, as we know, was furious - they didn’t mince their words. They said the government had abandoned it’s ‘abundance of caution’ approach and moved to a “reckless disregard for consequences in the blink of an eyelid.” Teachers themselves had mixed reactions – some worried about having to teach students both online and in person – the increased workload associated with that, increased risk of exposure to Covid from any unvaccinated students. Could it be some kind of super spreader event, some wondered.  Parents were in the same camp. Some relieved, some anxious. Students, likewise, were split – some thrilled to go back, others saying it’s too soon. And sure enough, yesterday we learn not all schools are going to follow the Ministry's instructions and open back up. Some are opting to just keep exams online for seniors, as was already in train. I can't wor

Human rights activists have disrupted the flame lighting ceremony for the Winter Olympics. This was in protest to China hosting the games.  The activists are calling for countries and athletes to boycott the games due to human rights abuses in China. At the same time, British diver Tom Daly is asking IOC to ban countries from competing where being gay is punishable by death. Deputy Head of Sport and Events Management at Bournemouth University Dr Keith Parry told Kate Hawkesby so long as the IOC are not being punished in a financial sense, we can expect to see them continue to claim political neutrality. “It’s always going to be political.” He says “We have seen the greater presence of activism from athletes because they have got more power these days.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hopes today's announcement on the Covid protection framework will signal when the South Island can move out of Level Two. Canterbury Chamber of Commerce CEO Leanne Watson told Kate Hawkesby the south may have no cases of Covid - but that doesn't mean it's not struggling. She says businesses and people in general are frustrated that there’s just no recognition. “Businesses just want clarity. It will provide that sense of hope and will be a real incentive to people, particularly those who are not vaccinated yet.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.