Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Less than half of students are regularly attending school. The latest truancy data shows regular attendance in term one dropped to just 46 percent. It's down on 72.8 percent in 2019 - pre Covid - and 50.5 percent in 2020. National's Education spokesperson Erica Standford says this is not just a social failure but a future economic crisis. Erica Standford joined Kerre Woodham. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now, if you're listening to me while you're at work this morning, it doesn't matter what you're doing; blue collar, white collar, minimum wage, being paid through the nose for whatever it is you do, working part-time, working full time. I just want you to take a wee moment and just give yourself a virtual hug. A little bit of a hearty handshake, a bit of a hand clap, because you and I my friends, taxpaying New Zealanders, are becoming rare and wonderful beasts. We are like shining unicorns, you and I.   Marvellous creatures we are, the stuff of myth and legend, because, and this stopped me in my tracks yesterday - did you know how many people are receiving benefits in this time of desperate worker shortages? 11 percent of the working age population is receiving a main benefit.   11 percent! What you might ask is a main benefit? Well, I wondered. I thought perhaps it included Working for Families, but no, no, those payments are extra. Emergency accommodation and emergency payments for food that's all on top. The main benefits are Job Seeker, Supported Living, Sole Parent and then a host of others - a bit of rats and mice, like the Youth Payment, Emergency maintenance allowance, student hardship etc. Not many people are on those. By far the majority of working age people are on Job Seeker, Supported Living and Sole parents.  If you had asked me if somebody had said on-air, you know how many people, what proportion of working adults do you think are on the benny? I'd have said I don't know 5 percent, six maybe. The people who can't work because of illness or accident. People who are new parents, brand new parents at a push. People in-between jobs and looking for work. But 11 percent?!  Bloody hell, taxpayers are not only funding the huge sinkhole that is government bureaucracy, they're funding schools, hospitals, roads and they're funding 11 percent of the working age population. They're having a laugh. I really draw a line at that.  And what sort of life is it on a benefit? You exist. You barely get by. How on earth can you not think you're better than that? As I say, sincere sympathies for those who cannot work and that is what the benefit is for, and perhaps if those who were able got off the benefit, those who need it could have a little bit more. You could take the money that is being paid to 11 percent of the population and give more to the 5 percent who desperately need it. I'm appalled. Honestly, I had no idea it was that many people.  So if you, my beautiful Unicorn, with your shining mane and your silver hooves, are grunting away at work today, labouring away doing what you do, thank you. I'll thank you as a fellow taxpayer, because I guarantee that 11 percent won’t. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Dickens: Does the Govt know their new visa policy hurdles are too high?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Dickens: Dr Ashley broke me when he announced changes to the way we monitor Covid infectionsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are landlords and then there are landlords. There are those who do it for a living, they're professional, they're onto any problems, they treat their tenants with respect and in turn they are rewarded with great tenants. It's a symbiotic relationship in the best possible way. Then there are the complete amoral Rachmans of the renting world. Slum landlords who care nothing about the state of the properties their tenants live in, care nothing about their tenants, and who are only in it to get as much money as they possibly can, and they're basically land banking while farming people. Then there are the hapless, the ones who don't really know much about being a landlord. They don't really know much about the rules around it. They don't really know much about how to repair a property or how to best screen for the right tenants, but they've been told that buying an investment property and renting it out is the only responsible thing to do as a New Zealand family person.That if you and your family want financial security, the only way to do it is to buy another house and rent it out. And they're the ones who will be squeezed by increased interest rates, and they're the ones who will have been hit by Labour’s changes to the rules around investment properties. We know that times are tough for just about everyone, but when households are seeing the majority of their household income being swallowed up by rent. When tertiary students are paying more than half their income on rent, times that are tough will be tougher still for renters. The Salvation Army is called for an accommodation supplement review, saying the supplement is based on rent data about six years out of date. And as we know, the property market has changed considerably in six years. The Sallies also say the Government needs to take into account regional variances across the country when it comes to the cost of living and renting.But is topping up Government allowances the answer? Taking money out of people's pockets, washing it through Government departments and then handing it out to selected people doesn't seem like a particularly sensible, economically cost-effective way to fix the problem.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The desperate need for affordable housing in the Waikato has driven a local charitable trust to launch an ambitious development in the Waikato town of Cambridge.  The Bridge Housing Trust, set up by The Brian Perry Charitable Trust, is to develop a brand new, 42-home community in Cambridge.Peake Mews will offer affordable, architecturally designed housing in an innovative, vibrant, and connected community.It's based on the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust’s innovative leasehold model for progressive home ownership, with the first homes looking to be completed by May 2023.Will Randell is the portfolio Manager for the Perry Group/Bridge housing Trust and he joined Kerre Woodham.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ireland beat the AB’s 32-22 and deservedly took out the series 2-1.There are those who ask does anyone still care about rugby? The answer is yes they do. Judging from the sellout crowds at every single one of the games and the howls of pain and anguish from All Blacks fans after their series lost to Ireland on home soil. First things first though, Ireland were absolutely outstanding. Their attack, their defense, their lineouts, their ability to force turnovers. It really was a masterclass in rugby and looked like the All Blacks of old really. The All Blacks in my mind never ever looked like they were going to win. They simply didn't have the nouse to respond to Ireland. So where to from here? An interesting stat over the weekend. Just 24 tests were needed for Ian Foster to suffer 7 losses. It took Sir Steve Henson 89 tests to lose 7. The All Blacks have lost four of their last five internationals and many in people's mind, surely the coach must be to blame. There were many who were against Ian Foster being appointed All Black coach. It was a safe, boring, pedestrian appointment in many people's minds. So surely not much of a debate. The only debate is whether he stays for the World Cup or goes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inflation has hit a 32-year high of 7.3%, with housing costs said to be the biggest driver.In the past three months, the cost of building a new home rose 18-percent and renting a home went up 4.3 percent.Transport was the next biggest factor, with petrol prices increasing 32-percent in the past year, the biggest annual increase since 1985.NZ Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann joined Kerre Woodham.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I wanted to have a look at our farming sector this morning, because I think the grumpiness from a number of farmers over a Country Calendar show featuring Lake Hawea station probably gave us a heads up on where farmers' confidence is at.And it's low, very, very low. According to a Rabobank quarterly rural confidence survey, it's the lowest since the pandemic began. Back in March, farmers' confidence was the lowest it had been since Federated Farmers began a twice a year survey in 2009. When you think about the reality of farming for most Kiwis, I guess you can understand and empathise with their frustration. It's a cold, wet, miserable job in winter and a hot, dry dusty one in summer. Most farmers can't delegate their farm chores, no matter if they've got the flu or if they're feeling under the weather with a head cold, or if they've got Covid, they have to drag themselves up or call in favours from neighbours, which they will then repay.Sure, the dairy prices are looking good, but rising costs for everything, absolutely everything, are eating away any profits that can be put back into the farm, or could see you repaying the eye-watering loan that you took out to buy the land.You won't be able to pay that down any earlier, which you may have been able to do with the profits because fertiliser costs more and feed costs more and transport costs more.Men and women go farming because it's a way of life. They're not asking for sympathy.They're not asking you to feel sorry for them, and they never have. For them it's a way of life and it is not just a job. You wouldn't do the job if it was only about the money, and you wouldn't do it because you needed a job. It is a way of being.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Farmer confidence is at its lowest level since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey.Possible reasons such as spiralling costs for a host of key farm inputs — including fuel, fertiliser, feed and labour, alongside concerns over Government policy are said to have led to this.Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard joined Kerre Woodham.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.