Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

It's fortuitous, isn't it, that you can find an expert to justify any position or stance you might want to take, no matter what it is. Anybody who was pro-something can generally find a study, a survey, or an expert to back up their argument, anyone who's against can find the same. Whatever that position might be, there's a survey or an expert ready to back you up; lies, damn lies and statistics. But I do back the economic modeler hired by local body councils, who have banded together against the Three Waters reforms, because they seem to be looking purely at pragmatics.  They look to be purely looking at economics of the matter, they're not driven by ideology. According to a consultancy that does economic modeling on behalf of Communities 4 Local Democracy, which counts 31 of New Zealand 67 councils as members, the economic case for the Government reforms, particularly the Government wanting to strip control of assets from councils, that economic model simply doesn't stack up.   The submission proposes setting strong regulations for water quality, but allowing councils significant freedom to meet the standards without forcing councils to lose control of their infrastructure. Auckland, for example, would keep Watercare, the smaller councils would see it as more sensible to amalgamate their water services.  We don't have a problem with the regulation and the stronger regulation.  Where we do have a problem is when ratepayers have invested in upgrading their assets, their infrastructure, they've bitten the bullet, and they’ve paid the higher rates.  Now not only are they not going to be compensated for that, they're going to see the control of the assets and the infrastructure taken out of their hands. And that's what they don't like.  So if it's done purely on the economics of it, Communities 4 Local Democracy have a plan for you. If the Government says, okay, we accept that it's not about economics, it's about ideology, then at least they're being honest about their intentions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reports of retail crime, from shoplifting to vandalism and ram raids have almost doubled in five years. Police statistics provided to the National Party last week show the monthly average of retail crime reported increased from just over four thousand in 2017 to just under eight thousand in the first half of this year. On One News last night, a Hamilton businessman under siege from young offenders has a plea for the Government to take them off the streets for longer. And in the New Zealand Herald, the owner of Te Puke & Rotorua Jewellers says in 15 years of business, he's had about 30 burglaries or attempted break-ins, and more than $80,000 worth of jewellery and watches stolen. Aimee Hines is the Public Affairs Manager for Retail New Zealand and joined Kerre Woodham to discuss what retailers can do. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finally some impetus to get more healthcare workers into the country, back into the job and provide some relief to our nurses and doctors who've been carrying a heavy load during this pandemic. The Government’s announced a raft of policies, they've stopped short of including nurses and tier one of the immigration green list, which would give them automatic and immediate residency. Nurses are at Tier 2, so they must work here for two years before getting residency. Just out of interest, healthcare workers included in tier one who get that residency immediately, or pretty much any surgeons or psychiatrists and vets.   Oh and GPs as well. Finally.   Too late for the GPs have left the country because it was just too difficult to get residency, but better late than never. Health Minister Andrew Little says we don't need to put nurses into the tier one category because New Zealand is an attractive place to live and work. And the number of expressions of interest from health care workers. Overseas means no extra inducements to come here are required So, better late than never. Everybody has been screaming for policy changes to allow to make it easier for people who want to come and work here and bring their skills to come here. And that's what the government has done. Overnight there was an immediate response. So fabulous. Help is on its way for our beleaguered workforce.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crikey, even when the Government does something right, they seem to get it wrong. Times are tough and a $350.00 cost of living payment will be a Godsend right now for people with little to come and go on. The payment was a surprise addition to the main budget. Eligible Kiwis will have just over $116.00 land in their bank accounts shortly, then another $116.00 in September with a final payment in October, all up amounting to $350.00.  To be eligible, you must earn no more than $70,000, not receive the winter energy payment, be 18 years or older, a New Zealand tax resident and not be in prison. Seems reasonable. However, a number of Kiwis who are resident overseas, including one who hasn't lived here for more than 20 years, have reported receiving emails from IRD informing them to gird their loins and brace themselves, because the windfall’s about to land into their bank accounts. That doesn't seem right.  Apparently, it's because the process is automated. David Parker, the Revenue Minister, was on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning. He said it would be far too costly an exercise to have people apply for the cost of living payment, and then have other people process the application and decide who was eligible for it, and who was not. So it's going to be automated. The IRD at the time said we don't want a bar of this; this is going to be very messy. The Government said don't you worry your pretty heads, you just send out that money.   So, an extra $116.00 a month will certainly help when it comes to filling up the car, paying the power bill, buying a block of cheese , maybe two blocks of cheese for $116.00. If some people get it that don't need it, is that really that big of an issue?  David Parker is quite right. If you hired people to process applications, you know the cost of that would just be astronomical. If you get it and you don't need it through some accounting error or computer error, perhaps you could donate it to charity, do some good that way.  If you're given the payment and you need it, I’m glad.  But my real concern is the old chummy who wanted everything locked down forever is just going to say when times get tough all you have to do is just print the money and give it out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How on earth can the Road to Zero mouthpieces claim that the Road to Zero road deaths is on track, when they've admitted in their annual monitoring report that they're falling short of meeting targets for the strategy? This year, 166 people have died in crashes on our roads. That's higher than pre-Covid levels for the same period, and despite the fact that the price of petrol is through the roof, that generally results in fewer people on the road and accordingly fewer debts, but nope we're on track for a very high toad toll.  At the same time, you've got the Road to Zero mouthpieces saying we're on track. How counter-intuitive how can this be? Having done three openers on the Road to Zero strategy, nothing seems nothing seems to be getting through to them. All of the research and all of the facts say that a Road to Zero deaths, is a road to nowhere. It's a complete and utter waste of time and enormous waste of money.   What about the engineering? Ultimately, we need to be kept apart from one another. More engineering? The AA Rd safety spokesperson, Dylan Thompson agrees. He doesn't speak in Bureau speak.  We've got rubbish roads. Even if everybody is following the rules as the Swedish Scandinavian research indicates, if you've got rubbish roads it is unforgiving of any mistakes.  Sure, you go ahead, more driver education doesn't hurt, defensive driving courses don't hurt. Fine, improve vehicle safety standards, absolutely, but ultimately the best thing the Government can do as a listen to Dylan.  And stop spending millions and millions and millions and millions of taxpayer dollars on dumb advertising programs that will ultimately be ignored by the numbers that don't watch terrestrial television anyway.  Improve the roads. It’s really simple. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In December last year we shared the story of Brittany Kremers, a 25-year-old woman who was denied desperately-needed facial surgery at the eleventh hour by the Christchurch DHB. The reason? No funding available. Brittany has tightened screws on her face to realign her jaw for months in preparation for having a prosthetic jaw fitted.   She had her jaw and skull base removed, along with a life-threatening tumour, in 2006. Seven months on, Kerre Woodham thought to check in with Brittany's mum, Dawn Kremers.  Help Brittany get her surgery here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An interesting idea came out yesterday from Eric Crampton, who's the Chief Economist at the New Zealand Initiative think tank. This was in response to calls from tertiary students for more help to relieve the financial pressure they're under. Everybody is under financial pressure at the moment and tertiary students are certainly no exception.  There is nothing attractive about being forced to live in mouldy cold flats and living on 2-minute noodles and they are hardly the optimum conditions for excelling and attaining your degree.  Eric Crampton believes interest on student loans should be reinstated so students can borrow more while they're studying, thus being able to pay the cost of living without having to take on a third job.  I couldn't disagree with the Chief Economist more. Get more kids into bigger debt? Dumb idea.  If all Kiwi tertiary students were actually completing their degrees and becoming glittering jewels in the crown that is the knowledge economy, fine.  But they're not. Look at the numbers.  New Zealand has one of the lowest reported higher education qualification completion rates in the OECD, well below the Aussies. Another statistic to add to our education roll call of shame.  According to the Government data from 2018, one in the three university students never completes their degree.  So they've taken on this loan, they've gone in there with their brand new pads and their new lecture notebooks, and they're all excited, and it's going to be very thrilling, and they’re off and away. Except, they're not. One in three crash lands. But they've still got that debt, and they've got nothing to show for it. A complete and utter waste of money for them, and a total waste of taxpayers' money too.   I believe we need a massive change in the way in which we fund universities. Stop having them as bums on seats to get the funding and make them centres for excellence. Not a kind of youth camp while kids work out what they want to do at tremendous cost to themselves and to the taxpayer. The money the taxpayer is investing in tertiary education could be far better spent on funding students with natural academic aptitude, whatever their background. And once they complete their degree, they either stay in the country for a period of time and the debt wiped, or they can leave and they pay back their loan.  What needs to happen is that we stop giving places at university and we stop giving student loans to kids who have absolutely no reason to be at uni, and we stop subsidising 80 percent of courses on horses who are never going to make it to the finish line, they're barely going to make it round to the straight.  Fund to those who deserve to be there, who need to be there for the good of the country and fund them 100 percent.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Calls are growing for a review of the Reserve Bank's slow response to inflation. National is calling for an independent review after Governor Adrian Orr acknowledged his interest rate decisions have contributed to inflation reaching the level it has. Orr's acknowledgment followed criticism from his predecessors, including Graeme Wheeler and Don Brash. To discuss this, former Finance Minister Steven Joyce joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A couple of weeks ago we were talking about the farming community and the fact that the latest surveys out showed they didn't have a great deal of confidence or optimism about the future of their livelihoods. And you would have to wonder how they're feeling now with reports of foot and mouth getting closer to New Zealand. A new outbreak in Indonesia, a first for that country, has both Australia and New Zealand on edge. Bali is a popular tourist destination for Kiwis and particularly Aussies, and even though there are no direct flights to Bali from New Zealand, biosecurity officials say they'll be on the lookout for anyone who's traveled there recently.  At the PM's post Cabinet press conference yesterday, she said that if foot and mouth reached New Zealand, all rural trade would be stopped and more than 110,000 jobs would disappear. Biosecurity Minister, Damien O'Connor, put it more bluntly, it's the doomsday disease. And he says officials are doing all they can to prevent the disease arriving on these shores.  So we have to do our bit and we have to be vigilant as well. If you're heading to Bali then you'd want to make sure the shoes, and whatever else you wearing on your feet were washed, anything else that came into contact with any kinds of animals.  Mike Hosking expressed doubt this morning on his show, whether this Government could cope with a biosecurity risk as big as this. But I think successive governments, including this one and their associated departments have shown they can.  Remember the great 2015 Grey Lynn fruit fly hunt? And the subsequent 2019 Auckland fruit fly response that saw around $34 million spent on eradicating a handful of fruit flies. I think it was just over $1 million a fruit fly that they found, which might have been considered an overreaction, but I would say it was money well spent. As the fruit fly if it had established itself here, could have decimated an industry worth $6 billion in domestic sales and exports kiwifruit, honey and the like, gone. And remember M. Bovis? In 2017, the Government made a commitment to eradicating Mycoplasma Bovis and that would have been, or is, a world first. And although the relevant departments were unprepared for such a widespread response. Shock me sideways and color me pink they weren't ready! They rallied. And an independent review found that New Zealand is well on track to being able to make the claim that we are M. Bovis free.  But I think the lessons we can take, is that we know how to get rid of biosecurity threats, thus far. The threat was identified, the threat was eradicated in terms of the fruit fly and in terms of M.Bovis. If the lessons have been learned, that can be adapted to foot and mouth and that should give you some confidence, shouldn't it? That we'll be able to keep this latest by a security threat from establishing itself on our shores? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AG Research principal scientist Axel Heiser joined Kerre Woodham to answer questions on Foot and Mouth disease and whether we can stop it entering the country. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.