Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Living in New Zealand can be akin to living in Paradise - or it can be sheer hell. It's not about your ethnicity - although Māori are overrepresented in the worst stats - its about poverty and its about location. Look at the stories that have been in the news in the past week - wastewater testing has shown struggling rural towns are bearing the brunt of New Zealand's methamphetamine crisis. The New Zealand Herald says there are a handful of small towns where people there are consuming disproportionate amounts of meth - sometimes up to four times as much as the national average.  Kaitaia, Opokiki, Waiora, Kawerau, Tokoroa, Huntly - these are the towns being hit hard. Then we had a story on TV One - One News counted thirty cars on the main street of Kaikohe - half of them had expired warrants or registrations - and having been to Kaikohe on a number of occasions, I have often wondered just how road worthy many of the vehicles I see might be. The Sunday programme highlighted the chronic need for health funding for the people of the East Coast where life expectancy is much lower than anywhere else in the region  - the average man lives to 69 whereas the average New Zealander is 81. Meanwhile, over on Newshub the wait times for state houses has absolutely exploded - it's now taking more than six months to house the one per cent of those most on the at risk list. It's a tale of two New Zealands really - look at some of the announcements and pronouncements from the government too in the past week. Rebates on electric cars - vehicles that cost around 40 thousand dollars which is beyond the budget of any of these families in the small towns. The Boomers Bike Bridge to Birkenhead when these small towns are screaming for driveable roads so they can drive the many hundreds of kilometres they need to access hospital treatment or to simply be able to get supplies into their town - like Methven. It's difficult for anyone to access mental health and addiction services - but try getting help living in a small town. You have Nanaia Mahuta telling the people of Auckland that they can subsidise the water reticulation in the Kaipara district because a lot of Aucklanders have holiday homes in the North - seriously?! The vast majority do not.  The vast majority are struggling to get by.  Every cent counts.  They don't have a magical money tree that can be shaken to subsidise their every want and desire - unlike the government. If you are parking your Tesla at the flashest food markets, where imported delicacies are still able to be found despite constraints on the supply chain, life is sweet. There might be civilised debates at dinner parties over whether Māori names are being introduced by stealth and there'll be more impassioned arguments between those who believe the borders should be open and those who don't - but these are all theoretical discussions. Nothing really matters, because they have enough.  Their children have enough.  They can access the care they need, when they need it.But it’s a different story in the other New Zealand.  And while I truly believe the government cares about this other New Zealand, caring isn't as important as delivery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watercare is planning on spending 18.5 billion dollars to keep Auckland's water networks up to scratch.The organisation's unveiled its investment programme for the next 20 years, and it's the biggest to date.It includes expanding the region's two largest wastewater treatment plants and delivering new water sources.Watercare chief executive Jon Lamonte joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the giant entities proposed to manage water includes both the Kaipara District Council and Auckland Council.Heather Du Plessis Allan asked Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta why Aucklanders should pay for the connection to reticulated water of a place like Kaipara.Nanaia Mahuta told her they benefit from water outside of their region via their beach houses.Kaipara District Mayor Jason Smith joined Kerre McIvor to discuss.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Developers will be able to demolish homes and build apartment blocks of at least six storeys deep inside many of Auckland's traditional suburbs under a new Labour Government law aimed at addressing runaway house prices.Auckland Council has released a proposed approach for implementing the changes requiring more intensification across the city.In the biggest change to planning rules since the Unitary Plan, developers will be able to build tall apartment buildings within a 15 minute walk of the central city and 10-minute walk of 10 metropolitan areas - Takapuna, Newmarket, Henderson, Albany, Botany, Manukau, Papakura, Sylvia Park, New Lynn and Westgate/Massey North.The biggest impact will be on suburbs close to the metropolitan areas, which are largely zoned for single houses, such as Remuera, Mt Albert, Sandringham and Milford.Matt Lawrie from Greater Auckland joined Kerre McIvor to give his take on the proposals.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should you be able to swear or use inappropriate terms during a casual game of Scrabble?Kerre McIvor spoke with Howard Warner from the NZ Scrabble Association to find out.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matthew Hooton's column in this morning's Herald highlights why we need a strong opposition in a democracy, especially at a time of perceived crisis and when the government can rule alone, without the constraint of another party to keep them in check. A quick check list from Hooton:The Health Minister Andrew Little forced to admit the centrepiece of the wellbeing Budget has failed, specifically around mental health.There's the bizarre 785 million dollar Boomer's Bridge to Birkenhead. Then, we have the poor vaccination roll-out and the constraint in vaccination supplies. Also, there has been no measureable improvement in child poverty or housing, both the PM's pet projects. To top it all off, gang crime and shootings are up. I'm sure he could go on, we could all go on, and as he points out, a competent opposition would be able to absolutely go to town on the government.  But no,  instead of holding the government accountable, the National Party goes from disaster to disaster, own goal to own goal, vendetta to vendetta. The other parties are making the most of it.  We saw the return of Winston Peters and New Zealand First this week, and conservative National voters have run home to daddy, desperate for the reassurance and comfort NZF provides. Act has picked up a few liberal National voters and anyone who continues to think that National has a show in the next election must be optimistic to the point of idiocy, so what is National to do? It seriously, seriously needs to do something, and something seismic.  Do you have to destroy the village to save it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matthew Hooten joined Kerre McIvor to talk about his 'National goes from sickly to looking terminal' opinion piece in the NZ Herald.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not our first rodeo.  We know what to do.  As we move up the alert levels, our behaviours change and certain things are expected of us.Wearing masks in public places and on public transport, no crowds larger than 100, staying away from others at the first sign of a sniffle, checking in religiously - yep, we've all got it. So why haven’t the government and the Ministry of Health?  There were reports yesterday that people were being turned away from testing stations in Wellington and frustration building as people who were trying to do the right thing were unable to fulfil their social contract by being tested. Tim Dower questioned the Health Minister on this this morning asking why there wasn't a plan in place to activate when a Covid case has been identified in the community.We've seen what happens when there are reports of Covid cases cropping up, people want, people need, people are told they need to be tested. Of course people aren't sitting around twiddling their thumbs, but isn't there a flying squad of testers that can be galvanised within 12 hours, rather than slowly creaking into gear over two and a half days?For heaven's sake.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Restrictions on fishing and new marine protection areas are being introduced to protect Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.Gulf X is a major marine restoration project launched by The Sustainable Business Network in 2019.GulfX works with businesses to, among other things, reduce marine plastic pollution and cut transport pollution through promoting copper-free brake pads to cut down on heavy metals in storm water polluting the Gulf.Sustainable Business Network CEO Rachel Brown told Kerre McIvor protecting our marine environments is more than just about fisheries.“A real problem that we still haven’t solved is sediment, that’s the stuff we’ve been trying to look at… it sits in the harbour and makes that regeneration of fish stocks and mussels really slow.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women’s Refuge has released a first-of-its-kind research report into what children need to feel safe after family violence.The Women's Refuge system was set up with women in mind and hasn't always looked at what safety looks like from a child's perspective.Most of the children who they talked to for the Kids in the Middle research wanted a place that was safe, they needed to know how they would enact an escaped plan if there was violence in their home and of the importance in having their own advocates.Women’s Refuge professional development and research advisor Cleo Arathoon says they hadn't really considered children and their needs before."Now we're really able to do that. We've explained the burden of exposure to violence. It doesn't go away when they arrive at [Women's] Refuge."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.