Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

As we move into phase three of the Government’s Covid plan and learn to live with Covid in the community, I would have to wonder whether this government can continue to justify locking thousands of New Zealanders out of their own country.  Yesterday we had 6137 community cases recorded of Omicron in the country. There would be many, many more than that. There were 338 cases detected at the border.  So, given that, how on Earth can the Government justify keeping up these facilities? Even excluding the humanitarian concerns, I am absolutely certain that defence personnel and the police and the numerous bureaucrats involved in running MIQ  could be better deployed elsewhere.  Continuing with restrictions that simply don't make any sense will ultimately do more harm than the virus will ever do. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don't know about you, but just about everyone who can work from home is working from home right now at this company, NZME.  It's been pretty much that way since the first lockdown two years ago.  Apart from brief sort of bursts of normality and then it's back to being like the parrot on the Marie Celeste, wondering where everybody is gone.  For some people who joined the company over the past 24 months, they've only ever known Zoom meetings and using their bedroom as an office. Which means for those working at home that when they need a coffee, they put the jug on. When they break for lunch, it's last night's leftovers or a quick sandwich, or if it's the day before the supermarket shop, quick run up to the Hot Buns bakery on the corner for a special treat.   That has had a huge impact on Central City and the many, many businesses the central city used to support. It's prompted a plea from the chief of New Zealand's largest commercial landlord for businesses to please, please let their staff back into the city.  Scott Pritchard, Chief Executive of Precinct Properties, says in Commercial Bay, for example, which is a gorgeous new shopping area in downtown Auckland, there might be at any time pre pandemic 8000 people populating the precinct at the moment. It's around three 3000 currently.  5000 people down. Scott Pritchard says the consequences of empty offices are dire.  The shops, the restaurants, the bars, the galleries cannot be mothballed for months on end until people feel safe again - and I really understand what he's saying.  Some people have to work at home, for others who have the choice they prefer to be at home. They don't miss the commute. They don't miss the expense of parking. They don't miss the office politics. They like working from home.  And others who work for multinational companies must take their orders from their foreign masters. These CEOs have seen the havoc wreaked by the pandemic in Europe, the States and Australia and want to avoid that here, so their employees aren't given a choice. They must stay home. So when Scott Pritchard says come back, it's not as simple as Oh, OK.  And while I love the inner city and the vibrancy of so many people in a confined space having a great time, is it everybody's idea of a good time? Have people's idea of what a good time is changed since the start of the pandemic?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sport NZ has today launched #itsmymove - a campaign to help young women get and stay active their way. It has been developed to address declining physical activity levels in teenage girls. Research undertaken by Sport NZ shows young women increasingly opt out of formal sporting environments as they grow older. By age 17, the top three activities young women undertake are running, workouts and walking. Some of the reasons they opt out include body image, judgement, time pressures, motivation and loss of fun. Sport New Zealand Chief Executive Raelene Castle joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Principals are unhappy with a plan to restrict young foreign students from enrolling at schools.The Ministry of Education is asking primary and intermediate principals for their views on hosting international fee-paying students. It's proposing to restrict or stop some international students under Year Nine from coming here to learn. The Ministry's consultation document says it's unfair on schools that did not enrol foreign students, added to pressure on the housing market and to teacher supply and could distract schools from focusing on Kiwi kids. Remuera Intermediate Principal Kyle Brewerton joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone agrees it's not a matter of if, but of by how much, the Reserve Bank raises its official cash rate today. Commentators are picking a rise of 25 basis points, which means rising a quarter of a percentage point to 1%. However, others wouldn't be surprised to see a rise of 50 basis points, I think, bookies are putting it around 30%. The reason is that we have inflation galloping away on us, and the Reserve Banks remit requires the bank to keep inflation between 1% and 3% on average over the medium term, and that's achieved by setting the official cash rate, which is reviewed about seven times a year. However, since 2018, when the Labour New Zealand First Coalition became Government, the Reserve Bank was given another mandate and under the so-called dual mandate, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has to aim for price stability and full employment. In an opinion piece by Dr. Oliver Hartwich in the New Zealand Herald this morning, and he says, as any economist will tell you, you can temporarily reduce unemployment with lower interest rates. But you can't do it forever. As with anything, there's always a trade-off and he sees any such activism will come at the expense of higher prices and voila, here we are! Once you start tinkering, then really the Government does have to take some culpability in what happens as a result.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has today launched the Road to Zero public awareness campaign, which sets a target of zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050, and a 40 per cent reduction by 2030. Across the Road to Zero programme there is significant work planned for 2022 to improve road safety, including the finalisation of drug-driving legislation; improved vehicle safety standards and a review of fines and penalties. Transport Minister Michael Wood joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last Thursday we spent most of the morning talking to small and medium business owners who were really doing it tough. It was really hard hearing their stories. Their stories of uncertainty, financial insecurity and fear of the future. They couldn't keep going, but they simply had to. They had employees whose livelihoods depended on them. They were in too deep. No one would buy their businesses and many of them had their family homes tied to their means of earning a living. It was really tough and listening to the reality of being one of the backbones of businesses in this country was pretty gruelling. Now the Finance Minister has announced a new Omicron support payment for struggling businesses. The Omicron peak should be over in 6 to 8 weeks and then we'll see restrictions gradually loosen, allowing businesses that have scraped through to be able to breathe again. There are strict criteria around who can apply for the loan and Mike touched on that too when he was talking to Grant Robertson. If you're already down 50% and then you have to show a 40% drop in turnover, how do you do that? Firms must show a 40% revenue drop in seven consecutive days since the country moved to phase two of the Omicron response, compared with seven days in the six weeks immediately before the move to phase two. So strict timelines. Those that qualify will get $4000 per business plus $400 for each full-time employee up to a maximum of 50 staff, firms that meet the criteria could get a maximum payment of $24,000 each fortnight for the next six weeks, which is when they expect to see the Omicron peak. The government is also topping up the loans available under the small business cash flow loan scheme and Inland Revenue is providing more flexibility on tax payments and terms. So really the question is, has the government listened to the needs of small and medium businesses? Is this the lifeline you desperately need, as it can vaguely sense that the end is nigh?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Prime Minister has reiterated that the protesters have had their say and it's time to go home and again stressed she would not be meeting them because she says the pandemic is still top of mind. The Council of Medical Colleges Chair John Bonning is calling for the isolation period to be reduced from the current 10 days for household contacts to just three days. He says combined with high vaccination rates, Omicron was causing much less serious illness among vaccinated people and that meant some changes could be made. He said he was very clear that many public health measures needed to stay and the changes should be step by step. But he said there was some sensible middle ground that could help to keep the country moving and prevent workplace’s having a quarter of their staff at home isolating, which is just brutal for business, is brutal for supply chains. You've got people who know what they're talking about, saying for most people, it will be a mild to moderate illness. So, time to end the mandates? Yes - put a time frame on it because we can now. Prime Minister Ardern told the Breakfast show this morning that her job is to think about the elderly, the immuno-compromised and other vulnerable Kiwis who will be hugely affected by an ongoing Omicron outbreak. That's her job, and that's her front of mind. Is that really her job now and should that be front of mind? Do we not all have the information we need to look after ourselves? Surely, with the best medical advice indicating that this variant is of the cold and flu variety and severity, can she not get on with looking at some of the many, many other issues that we have in New Zealand rather than micromanaging their health care of a small number of New Zealanders?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first international tourists in two years have touched down in Sydney to be greeted by jubilant well-wishers waving Tim-Tams, jars of Vegemite and stuffed koalas.Qantas is bringing in people from eight overseas destinations including Vancouver, Singapore, London, and Delhi.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Monday was an important day that all Australians had looked forward to.It's a bitter pill to swallow for our own tourism industry though. Tourism Industry Aotearoa spokesperson Ann-Marie Johnson joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now I know that there are a lot of people who think that this Government has done and is doing a good job - look at the polls. I would ask them to explain this to me then, how is it that this Government can say that teachers are not critical workers? Principals are astonished and furious that schools won't have access to rapid antigen tests to help protect their staff and keep classrooms open during the Omicron outbreak. They want, everybody wants, parents want and the community wants teachers to be included in an exemption scheme that lets some critical workers bypass close contact isolation requirements if they return daily negative rapid antigen tests. How was it that teachers are not included in that list? Chris Hipkins, the Covid-19 Minister and the Education Minister said at the start of the year he wanted stability and full attendance at schools to be the norm. With disruptive measures like alternating days at school, only used on a local level in case of an outbreak, Hipkins said he was hoping that getting kids back into school would help remedy issues like the digital divide, which he said had been made worse by Covid. And teachers whom he acknowledged were stressed and tired, had found hybrid learning was almost impossible. That was in an interview with the New Zealand Herald, so the Education Minister is very clear that getting children and teachers back together in classrooms is vitally important. So how the hell can the Government explain why teachers aren't considered worthy of the basic protection? Right?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.