Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

A tax adviser thinks the Government's housing policy will push up new home prices.New investors will be stung under the bright line test if they sell an existing home within 10 years.They also won't be able to claim home loan interest repayments as a business expense.Greenmount Advisory managing director Bruce Bernacchi told Kerre McIvor those things won't apply to new houses."A lot of new builds are going to be targeted at first home buyers, or lower income buyers."I think it will have the unintended consequences of forcing the prices up."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mega-moves to halt a housing bubble.Almost $4 billion is going into a fund for housing infrastructure, and the Government's doubling the bright line test to 10 years.It's also lifting the ceilings for income and regional house price caps for first-home buyers.Finance Minister Grant Robertson says we can't afford to allow spiralling house prices to put our economic recovery at risk.One Roof property commentator Ashley Church told Kerre McIvor if the Government wanted to , it's already failed."Nothing in this package actually reduces house prices, including things like the bright-line test measures, which will make absolutely no difference."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's moving to curb speculation and close tax loopholes in the housing market.It's announced a suite of measures, including a $3.8 billion housing acceleration fund, and lifting the First Home Grant caps to tackle the red hot market.Finance Minister Grant Robertson says they're also doubling the bright-line test from five years to ten years to reduce the attractiveness of flipping residential homes to speculators.He says the average house in New Zealand is owned for seven to eight years - so extending the brightline test to just beyond this mark, will capture more speculative investment.The Government will also remove the ability for property investors to offset their interest expenses against their rental income when they're calculating their tax.Political editor Barry Soper told Kerre McIvor Finance Minister Grant Robertson has broken a promise, by increasing the bright line test."He said on Newstalk ZB last September that he won't increase the brightline test, but that's exactly what he's done today."Soper says  the package doesn't provide any immediate solutions to cool the housing market.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former Finance Minister has offered his thoughts on how the country can bounce back from a GDP slump.Figures released last week showed a one percent decline in the last quarter, contributing to a largest ever annual fall of 2.9 percent. Steven Joyce, who served as Minister for Finance under Bill English, told Kerre McIvor that as the financial support dries up, the true cost of lockdown will be revealed.He says that keeping the borders closed has been a big factor in this decline. "For the first time ever, we've done this unintentional experiment where we've worked out what happens when we close [New Zealand]. And at the bare minimum, it's five percent of the collective New Zealand income for the year." Joyce says that reopening the borders and letting people in is not just about tourists, but letting key workers and international students in as well. "This suggestion we should be able to find all the people we need to do the work we want from internal sources is unrealistic."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Police Ten 7 host Graham Bell has spoken out in defence of the show after calls were made for it to be scrapped and argued that critics should examine the causes of crime instead.Bell spoke to Kerre McIvor this morning after Auckland councillor Efeso Collins made a public call for TVNZ to stop broadcasting the highly rating reality show.Collins says it feeds on racial stereotypes of young brown men being brutish and described it as a "chewing gum TV show"."Crime and all its uncomfortable and unfortunate truths are not going to disappear if they get rid of Ten 7, are they?" Bell told McIvor."We need to face and accept there is a problem instead of looking for ways to hide from it, that's my approach."Asked by McIvor how the show decided on which criminals to feature, Bell replied: "The police don't select who they are looking for. The people who commit the crimes are the ones that select themselves to be sought.""There is no bias towards any colour, race, creed or any other type of person. It's whoever is wanted today is who goes on the show. It's as simple as that.Asked, based on his experience in the police, whether there was an inherent mistrust towards Māori and Pasifika, Bell replied: "It's very difficult not to develop a slight attitude to a group of people that are constantly offending.""It's an unfortunate fact that certain sectors of our society are grossly over-represented in the crime statistics," he added."I don't have the answer for that but cancelling a show like Police Ten 7 is not going to help."Bell, who hosted the show for more than 12 years, told McIvor: "Police work is tough. It requires courage and persistence in the face of a lot of criticism. This sort of criticism that is floating around at the moment is far from helpful, you have to say.""I would argue that Mr Collins is approaching this from the wrong end. Perhaps he should be looking at why we've got this problem in our society."Does he want police to ignore crime if it is committed by brown people?"Bell said New Zealand needs to focus on the social drivers of crime and ignoring the over-representation of Māori and Pasifika in crime statistics is "just ignoring cold, hard uncomfortable truths"."There have been generations of familial inadequacies by sectors of our society that have created a lack of aspiration, a lack of self-worth, a lack of self-respect and we see it everywhere," Bell said."It's not only in crime, we see it right through society. There are sectors of our society who are over-represented in our statistics and everybody in society would be better off if that were not the case".Police Ten 7 producers Screentime have also hit back at the suggestions.Screentime Chief Executive Officer Philly de Lacey told NewstalkZB the criticism is unfair."It plays a really important function in society. It's a crime solving. useful for the public, and it's also an education tool."NZME has approached TVNZ  for comment on this story.Earlier today, Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon added his voice to calls to end Police Ten 7, saying that the show reflects racist policing in New Zealand.Speaking to Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking, Foon said the show did "target more brown people than white people so therefore it is racist".Foon cited evidence that Māori and Pasifika were overwhelmingly more likely to be subject to force from the police, such as use of dogs and Tasers.Asked by Hosking if the statistics he cited reflected more on the actions of those being arrested, Foon held firm."The police are racist," he said.He also defended the show, saying Ten 7 was a "good programme" that helped communities to solve crime but argued that they need to "proportionalise the filming of brown people".Asked if a quota system would work, Foon agreed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A producer's speechless The Lion King musical has an immigration exemption, when local shows need support.126 border passes have been granted under the "other critical worker" category - for a limited run of the stage production from June.The production will employ more than 300 local workers, but only put five young Kiwis on stage.G&T Productions Terry O'Connor says he's gobsmacked.He told Kerre McIvor the Government should be supporting Kiwi talent and productions."We're just asking for a level playing field while our borders remain closed. We just want a hand up or just fair deal."He says the amount of talent we've already got in the country's immense - and there's more people here waiting for opportunities than normal. "Due to Covid, most of our young people who went overseas to make careers have had to come back to New Zealand."Sole Mio's Pene Pati backs those calls. He told Kerre McIvor so many Kiwis are hungry to get on stage."They're bringing in a massive production and only five of us go on stage? That's so sad, because I know some of the talent that's sprinkled around New Zealand." Promoters Live Nation say the Lion King needs international talent for continuity, and because it's a difficult show to learn.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dumping landline surveys won't stop Colmar Brunton's poll capturing all of New Zealand.The company's latest poll has ditched house phone calls, and now makes contact through mobile phones and online polling.Concerns have been raised about whether older generations are able to be contacted.But Kantar head of analytics Jason Shoebridge told Kerre McIvor they have a harder time getting young people to respond."Older generations are a little bit easier, but in terms of doing this poll, we make sure we quota so we are getting a representative sample of New Zealanders which we tie back to the Census." He says they are ensuring that young and older people can take part."We have maintained calling in respect of the political poll, and we are even now calling mobiles, because it does give us a robust methodology."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Auckland bar owner who was forced to sell his home to keep his businesses afloat is angry the move to Alert Level One has taken so long.Mat Jorgensen told Kerre McIvor his blood boil is boiling, as he has been burning through $10,000 a week to keep his business alive from the Government's crippling Covid-19 restrictions.He says they were never able to make money under Level Two.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's investigation into a pumped hydroelectric scheme to make New Zealand become totally powered by renewable energy resources will take at least a year longer than anticipatedLabour's promise that 100 percent of New Zealand's electricity will be renewably generated by 2030 could be jeopardised by delays to its flagship NZ Battery project.Dr Jim Hinkley is a Senior Lecturer in Renewable Energy Systems, and he joined Kerre McIvor to talk about the issue.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A confronting topic is being brought to the forefront in a moving new series. A New Zealand Herald series "The Brains Trust" is looking at dementia, a terminal disease that can last up to eight to 10 years, and has no cure.The cruel disease is growing rapidly in our ever-ageing population.Deborah Pead, who's mum suffers from dementia, told Kerre McIvor it's hard to watch someone go through it."There are many different ways it manifests itself. And it's hard when your mum is so dynamic and powerful and everything in your life, to see that decline."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.