Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Orchards across New Zealand are facing worker shortages in the tens of thousands, leaving their fruit to rot on the ground without a labour force to pick it up.There is now the expectation that fruit prices will skyrocket due to the lack of availability.NZ Apples and Pears Chief Executive Alan Pollard spoke to Kerre McIvor about the harsh season they’ve faced.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The not-for-profit housing sector is trying to fill a big whole in New Zealand's property crisis, and is having some success.The Kaitiakitanga Housing Community, one of three new Salvation Army housing projects in Auckland, has 36 two-bedroom units, another 10 single units, all entirely self-contained.The Salvation Army projects were built with a $40 million community bond put together by Community Finance.Investors get a 2 to 3 per cent return, which they know is reliable, and an important bonus; they get to know their money is doing some good in the world. Community Finance CEO James Palmer told Kerre McIvor housing needs to be a collaborative effort.“Housing is a very complicated thing, particularly for those that can’t afford it. So it’s about what is it that government can reasonably do, what is that the private sector can do and what is it that the community housing providers can do.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerns over a new Mongrel Mob-led rehab programme.Almost three-million-dollars in funding seized from gangs, is being used to fund Kahukura.It's based in the Central Hawke's Bay, and aims to get people off the debilitating drug.Mayor Alex Walker says any efforts to stop drug-use are good, but this raises questions."The part of the shame of this for me too is that it's been connected to a place-based or a community-level initiative, but actually this is not about Central Hawke's Bay, this is about Mongrel Mob."Walker is questioning whether the Ministries of Health and Justice made the appropriate checks before providing funding.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An issue has arisen around what to do with children who don't fit into the cookie cutter environment of our education system.Mt. Hobson Middle School in Auckland, which caters for neuro-diverse children, faces closure after Education Minister Chris Hipkins  turned down not one, but two applications to fund the school, saying there are existing supports for all learners in existing state schools.Chief Executive of Autism New Zealand Dane Dougan told Kerre McIvor his organisation would like to see investment in the education sector that will allow parents the freedom to send their kids to whichever school they choose, regardless of their child's learning needs."We need to look at systemic change. There needs to be training on autism at teacher training college, and even wider than that obviously.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National has slammed the government's decision to  lapse and refund 50,000 temporary visa applications. Immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford says its further evidence this Government has no plan to reopen New Zealand up to the world post-vaccination and isn’t listening to the desperate calls from businesses for international labour.  And Immigration lawyer, Alister McClymont says the government's decision has nothing to do with Covid, it's all about closing off New Zealand.We've talked until we're blue in the face about the desperate need for more workers to either have their visas extended or be granted entry so that businesses can survive. Every single sector is crying out for workers of every shape and hue, Trade Me saw over 80,000 job vacancies - the most job listings ever onsite - that's up 25 per cent when compared to the same quarter in 2019, prior to Covid-19 - and yet the only people we have to fill those jobs are the ghost workers, eating their ghost chips at smoko. And yet we come back to the way Covid has exposed a tale of two New Zealands.  There are plenty of people who are quite happy shutting out foreigners.  Foreigners are responsible for all New Zealand's social ills and they are most definitely responsible for the stratospheric house prices. These are people who are not business owners, not forging their own destinies, not trying to keep their companies afloat so the few people they do employ can keep their jobs. The ones I've heard on the radio who are quite all right with us being the Gloriavale of the South Pacific are those on pensions, benefits, employed by the government or with pre-existing health conditions. We need profitable businesses to fund New Zealand Inc - we cannot keep shaking the Wellington money tree forever. Even if Treasury's forecasts are miles out, we all, intuitively know that they money we're borrowing to keep New Zealand afloat has to be paid back. And it has to be paid back by people who generate income, not people who suck it out of the system.  And these people can only generate income if they are productive. And if they can't get the workers they need to grow their business, they will become less productive.  And there will be less money to pay pensions, pay civil servants, pay back our debt. We don't have to have wholesale hollus bollus immigration allowing every man and his dog to come into the country, buy up our housing stock, and never live here. We want people who want to live here and raise their families here and add value to our country - not fly by night investors. And surely we can put boundaries around that. But just to shut up shop and close NZ for business is not what we signed up for.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has been told by its own independent expert advisory group that there is a ‘strong case for adopting saliva testing as the main method for testing in New Zealand’, yet nothing is being done about it.Sir Brian Roche’s September 2020 report said ‘all efforts’ should be made to introduce saliva testing as soon as possible.Those involved are scratching their heads as to why there has been no change.Leon Grice is the Executive Director of Rako Science, a private provider of saliva tests, and he told Kerre McIvor saliva testing has been proven as effective in tracing Covid-19, yet that finding has not been passed onto the Government."We did a head to head comparison in the lab between nasal swabs and saliva and were able to demonstrate it’s at least as, if not more accurate than nasal testing but that information never went to Mr. Hipkins."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour shortages across the country have led to fierce competition among employers looking for staff.Trade Me data shows there were more than 80,000 vacancies listed for the quarter ending June 30, 2021.Trade Me Jobs sales director Matt Tolich described it as a job hunter's market, with employers paying more to attract staff from their competitors."With application numbers down and more listings for job hunters to choose from, in Q2 we saw the largest annual percentage increase in average pay that we have seen in more than 10 years," Tolich said."When compared with the same quarter last year, the average pay increased by 3 per cent, to $64,939. The last time we saw an annual increase this large was in Q1, 2011.""It really is the perfect storm, and job seekers are well and truly in the driver's seat. It's a great time to be looking for a new role."The challenge, however, is convincing workers to leave their current roles to take on new positions.While nationwide job listings on Trade Me increased by 25 per cent in the second quarter of 2021 when compared to the same period in 2019, applications are failing to keep up with the demand."In Q2, we saw a 29 per cent drop in the number of applications for jobs when compared with the first quarter of the year," Tolich said."We're still seeing a massive candidate shortage in the market with the absence of migrant workers."The fact is, right now there are not enough people in New Zealand to fulfil demand in a large number of job categories and this is constraining the ability of Kiwi business to grow."Adding further pressure is the fact that Kiwis are sticking to their current roles, amid the continued global uncertainty."Kiwis appear to be sticking it out in their current roles until our borders are open, and the world begins to return to normal."We know that job security is highly important to employees at the moment. In a recent survey we conducted with 1,400 Kiwis, just 17 per cent said they were looking to move roles in the next 12 months. That's down from 27 per cent in 2020."The sectors most desperate for staff at the moment are hospitality and tourism, which saw a 56 per cent increase in listing between 2021 and 2019.This was followed by manufacturing and operations (52 per cent), construction & roading (46 per cent) sectors, transport and logistics (40 per cent), and trades and services (37 per cent).In terms of pay growth, the IT sector offers some of the best opportunities."As we have seen consistently over the previous year, IT roles are still paid the most," Tolich said, pointing out that IT architects earn the most of any role at $162,206 on average.He said the growth in IT salaries comes down to companies bolstering their tech approach to keep up with competitors and protect their businesses in a post-Covid world.Online job listings have surged as employers scramble to find workers. (Photo / Getty Images)"On top of this, closed borders are putting pressure on the sector by preventing new talent from entering the country to meet the sector's growing needs."Tolich said the biggest pay growth in wages in the second quarter when compared with the same period in 2019 was seen in the retail and tourism & hospitality sectors which both saw the average wage increase 12 per cent to $53,071 and $52,960 respectively.The minimum wage increased from $18.90 per hour to $20 per hour in April this year, off the back of an earlier increase from $17.70 at the end of 2019.The growth in wages based just on the minimum wage during the overall period accounts for a 12 per cent increase.The data also broke down the highest wages by region, with Wellington City coming out on top with an average salary of $76,102.This was followed by Auckland City's average pay of $74,282.With the borders set to remain closed for the foreseeable...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This was an exceptional call - Hone and his 'English Rose' are in Kaitaia, and have started an initiative called One Whanau (family) At A Time. With methamphetamine use rife, families are struggling to find housing, food etc. They are helping one family at a time to get basic needs met.Hone is former gang member who has turned his life around and has a fascinating story. If you want to help Hone in his work, here's the link to his Give A Little Page.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A purpose-built Covid-19 facility for just 11 million dollars maximum.  A purpose built facility that could then be repurposed into emergency housing perhaps or refugee resettlement.11 million dollars represents just 11 days of housing people in motels around the country. Surely it’s a no brainer to spend that sort of money.  Some people have been calling for a purpose built facility since we first started quarantining people coming into NZ, but I can understand the Government choosing to use hotels in the first instance. For one, they were there, empty and ready to go.  For another, it kept people in work.  And thirdly, there wasn't awareness last year that hotels leak like sieves. With the benefit of hindsight, sure, a purpose built facility makes sense.  But at the time I can understand why the government chose to use hotels. They had an eighteen-month plan and hotels fitted the bill for that, and now that the Government has decided that Covid is enemy number one, and we will be quarantining anyone who comes into the country for the foreseeable future, they need more than a quick fix. This seems to be the plan, although there hasn't been a road map presented to us of when and what that might look.  It depends very much, as it does with every other country, on how quickly we can get the population vaccinated, and given that the vaccination programme is chaotic for many, we will be looking at quarantining being part of a new normal. How does that feel to you?  I'm well aware that there are many in the community who are quite happy being locked up in paradise.  They consider anyone who chafes against restrictions to be ingrates, anyone who calls for a loosening of restrictions to be heartless granny killers. Clearly though this Government has decided that there will be no deaths from Covid on their watch, and yet other killer diseases get a free pass.  RSV is a terrifying disease for parents of babies, diabetes and obesity related illnesses are crippling the health system and we all know about suicide. I get that Covid is serious, I get that a rampant galloping Covid could crash the health system and yet, while we're focusing so much energy and time and money on preventing a single death from Covid, I worry that resources are being diverted from other killers in our community. So purpose built MIQ facilities; a good plan? Quarantining for the foreseeable future; a good plan?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The sound of flapping you hear in the air is the sound of all our chickens coming home to roost. Treasury's most recent analysis of the Government's long term finances sees the country facing an interminable cycle of debt and deficits, with debt levels rising to more than two trillion dollars in 40 years if it doesn't get the costs of an ageing population under control. The cost increases will be driven by the cost of healthcare and superannuation, which will both increase under the weight on an ageing population. In 20 years, life expectancy for women has risen two and a half years; for men, it's three and a half years.  And that's only going to keep going up. There was much more bad news from Treasury - the cost of government spending will swell to 43 per cent of the economy, tax revenue won't keep up, debt will be five times larger than it is today, putting us on a par with the Greece of today, but let’s not dwell too much on the gloomy. They are only projections and things can change, but we really do have to talk about raising the age of superannuation entitlement, and we need to do it sooner rather than later. Both National and Labour have talked about raising the age, and according to former Reserve Bank economist Michael Reddell on the Mike Hosking Breakfast, someone is going to have to go into an election saying we are going to put the retirement age up.Who will pull the trigger?We simply have to.  And I know that there are plenty of hard working people who are simply knackered by the age of 65. They have worked hard physical jobs, their bodies are worn out and all they want is a few years where they can go fishing or pootle round the country in a camper van doing the things they never had time to do while they were slaving away in all weather and every condition. So let people access their Kiwisavers at 65 or even earlier, and have the super kick in at 67 or 68. Australia has moved the pension age to 67 from 2023, Denmark its's 67 from 2027, in the UK 65 to 66 years by 2026, to 67 years by 2036, and to 68 years by 2046.  You get the drift.  Everyone is seeing the writing on the wall.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.