Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Businesses are continuing to struggle under cost pressures. Latest Centrix data shows a climb in business credit defaults, with company liquidations up 36 percent year on year. CEO of Small Business Voice, Max Whitehead joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss the effects on owners. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pay will be just one part of the puzzle in getting teachers on board in negotiations. An arbitration panel has recommended secondary school teachers get a 14.5 percent pay rise over three instalments. Secondary Principals' Association Chief Executive Mike Newell says it's a pragmatic pay offer which compromises on the 17 percent rise teachers wanted. He told Kate Hawkesby other things are missing from the system which need to be addressed. He says we need a way to get teachers in the door, to end our over-reliance on foreign teachers. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So I’ve just been to Sydney last week and I’ve got to go again this week – these are not holiday trips, these are events I’m attending so I’m in and out, but here’s what I can tell you about Australia, it’s going off. And by that I mean it’s energized, it feels ambitious, it’s got everything going for it that we used to have but have sadly lost. Even in Melbourne when we were there a few weeks back, the vibe was more upbeat, and that’s a city that’s mimicked Auckland’s a lot in terms of post Covid decline... more homeless, more edgy peeps around at night, more for lease signs. Yet the city still hums. Yes, population helps. But it’s attitude I’m talking about. The attitude of hospo staff, the attitude of workers, the attitude of people in general. The malaise we have that’s so oppressive here, is not there. They’re still aiming high. And it’s one of the reasons why I think people are heading across the Tasman. Yes food is cheaper and salaries are better in many cases, but real estate’s still expensive, there are still drawbacks, it's just the vibe is different. And it’s why I can guarantee you the latest high profile high flier from Auckland is leaving, and why so many young people are leaving and why our most productive are going. Richlist property developer Ben Cook, it was reported at the weekend, is outta here too. “One of the country’s biggest private retail real estate investors is quitting New Zealand for Australia - sparking a $100 million dollar sell-off..” it was reported, “Ben Cook boasts a portfolio stretching from Auckland to Central Otago including a string of Countdown supermarkets, and Bunnings… He also owns iconic Auckland buildings. But he is now using his Sydney home as a base and says he doesn’t plan on returning to New Zealand… “I just prefer Aussie now that kids have finished school,” he said. “I just prefer Aussie,” says exactly what we know it says. This country is not aspirational anymore, it’s not desirable, it’s not a place for go-getters. He’s not the only high net worth person leaving. “Some properties {he owns} are co-owned with people who have already left New Zealand to live in other countries..” Others who’ve already gone. Other high net worth individuals taking their investments, developments, money and productivity, out of this country. A designer was also quoted at the weekend moving with her husband and 4 children to Australia - again for better opportunities and a better way of life. we also got reports of the ex-pat who came back with his family only to discover how backward the NZ school system is, and in disgust, moved back to Europe for better education. There will be people who say ‘good riddance’ to this, and you know what, that’s everything that’s wrong with where we’re at right now. Because what is happening when all these people take their business and their brains out of NZ? They take it elsewhere. Our loss. Ben Cook’s “looking to expand in Australia” it was reported, the designer's taking her business to Australia, brains and investments are leaving this country. So a big loss to us, a loss of productivity, jobs, development, drive, intelligence, and money. How many people like that are we prepared to lose, and what does that leave us with? And is that the sort of future you want for your kids here?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plenty of ways to spin the Government's tweaks to its rent-to-buy scheme. Changes to the Progressive Home Ownership programme will allow eligible people to buy existing homes, instead of just new-builds. The income cap is also rising from $130,000 to %150,000. AUT construction expert John Tookey told Kate Hawkesby that if you're in power you say it's a marvellous scheme that's done well and being expanded. He says if you were in Opposition, you'd say it's been a disastrous scheme that's not doing well so you have to spin it out. Tookey says the other view is to say you don't have much faith in new-builds and we're going to see a drop off. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s support for some aspects of the ACT Party's personal grievance policy, and scepticism over others. ACT wants all personal grievance cases brought before the Employment Relations Authority resolved within a month. Its proposed legislation would see staff who don't manage that facing dismissal. The Employers and Manufacturers Association says the current timeline of cases is too long. Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald told Kate Hawkesby that firing ERA staff because of the deadline may not be practical. He says it seems harsh because there's a backlog that needs to be cleared. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday Te Pāti Māori released their tax policy ahead of the election. The policy wasn’t a huge surprise. At their election campaign launch a few weeks ago they made it clear their tax reform policy would have a focus on redistributing wealth. So the proposal for a new wealth tax, an increase in income tax for those earning over $200,000, and a tax free threshold for income up to $30,000 are all expected. During Matariki, Co leader Rawiri Waititi said, “100,000 people are homeless in New Zealand, 60,000 of those are Maori”, so it’s no shock they’re also pushing for new taxes for land banking and vacant houses as well as a capital gains tax. They’ve clearly decided to go all out. So also plan to raise the corporate tax rate from 28% to 33%, as well as new taxes for foreign companies. They call the policy radical and transformative and representative of their values - but there’s plenty of debate as to whether these policies will encourage or hinder productivity. It’s easy to take a radical approach when you’re a minor party. When it comes to the compromises required for coalition negotiations it’s important to have something to lose. Te Pāti Māori’s tax reform policy comes after the Green Party recently released their plan to pursue a wealth tax and universal income guarantee. The person this creates a headache for is the Prime Minister - who recently made a Captain’s Call pledging no new capital gains our wealth tax as long as he’s Prime Minister. It makes for an interesting potential coalition negotiation doesn’t it. And it means the Labour party needs to be very clear about their tax policy, which is expected to be announcing imminently. Obviously voters would like the labour party to be transparent about what they would be prepared to consider from coalition partners when it comes to tax reform, but they’ll see no upside in having that discussion before the election. Hipkins’ announcement on capital gains and wealth taxes was pure politicking, and accepted by his cabinet even if they didn’t entirely agree. Which is becoming a theme. National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis has pipped the government’s tax policy announcement by doing it herself. She confidently claims Hipkins’ plans to announce the removal of GST from fruit and vegetables, even after his Finance Minister ruled out the idea earlier in the year. It’s a difficult idea to put in place, and it will be hard to know if we’re saving 15% on our fruit or veggies without more supermarket regulation, but with the heightened cost of a weekly shop it could be a popular move. Hipkins’ is making the big calls and he now has the tough job of assuring party faithful they’re living by their values, while also appealing to a wide demographic feeling the pinch of a cost of living crisis. Something tells me, he may need more than just a fruity rehashed idea from 2011 to get the job done.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The man who killed a New Zealand-born London police officer will spend the rest of his life in prison. Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana died of a chest wound after being shot with an antique gun smuggled into a custody block in September 2020. The judge has handed down a whole life sentence to 26-year-old Louis De Zoysa. UK correspondent Vincent McAviney told Francesca Rudkin he's only the 65th person ever to receive that punishment. He says that means he will never be let out, no matter what appeals he tries to make. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An economist says removing GST from fruit and vegetables can become very complicated in practice. National claims it is part of Labour's election tax policy, but Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is refusing to either confirm or deny it. Nicola Willis says she has been leaked the information. ASB Senior Economist Mark Smith told Francesca Rudkin the extra administration to do this comes at a cost. He says ideally you would take a targeted approach, but that is hard to do. Smith says other countries ask people show their income to get the discount, but it comes with problems. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you feel about electric tractors? The first one arrived in the country this week and Forest Lodge orchard owner Mike Casey has been trialling it out. It's 40 horse power on the small side, and costs about $150,000 - $200,000 if you include shipping. Mike Casey spoke to Francesca Rudkin. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Netball fans will be fizzing as the kick off for the 2023 World Cup draws closer. The first game is 7pm NZ time tonight, in Cape Town, South Africa with the Silver Ferns taking on Trinidad and Tobago. ZB Sports Reporter Nathan Limm spoke to Francesca Rudkin. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The President Joe Biden’s son Hunter is today expected to plead guilty to tax crimes and possession of gun. US correspondent Mitch Mccann talked to Kate Hawkesby. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I was at the supermarket this week and I got to witness first-hand the theft that is taking place on the daily. In fact it’s more than a daily basis; it’s like hourly, according to the checkout operators. My check out operator by the way, I’m convinced, was some kind of angel on earth. She wanted to help the thief. The guy, who to be fair looked dodgy and if I was in the business of profiling customers who may be stealing, I would have picked him all day long: hoodie, head bowed, scruffy, sifting through the aisles looking uncertain, and in his trolley just a couple of packets of meat. Anyway he’s in front of me at the checkout and the operator puts through his small amount of groceries then looks at him and says, “Hey I just wanna let you know, you’ve been spotted by security, they know you’ve got stuff on you and I just want to give you the opportunity to hand it over to me now so you don’t get in any trouble.” I’m thinking - wow this woman is brave, he looks angry, he shakes his head and denies he has stolen anything and says, ‘nah nah nah’. But she’s not letting up. “Hey I want to help, I’m happy to buy you milk and bread if you need it, I just don’t want you in trouble, if you want to give me what you’re hiding now, and you getting to just walk out no issues.” He refuses, looks annoyed, proceeds to the door, where two security guys immediately stop him and ask him if he’s got anything he hasn’t paid for. I ask the checkout woman what happens here, have they beefed up security, what are they doing now? She says, “Watch… nothing. We can’t stop them, we can’t search them. We can’t do anything.” He runs to his car and she says that’s the only thing they can do, take a car rego plate and give it to the cops. What do you think happens then? You’re right, nothing. So they get away with it and they know they get away with it, which is why they keep doing it. I asked her if this was still happening regularly, she said all the time, it’s constant. She said the new thing the supermarket is doing is attaching a monitor to the trolleys which registers if you stop for long periods of time in the aisle just loitering. Once that trolley gets to the door, that monitor then triggers the brakes and stops the trolley dead. The idea being that if it’s been loaded up with stolen goods and someone’s trying to make a run for it, the trolley doesn’t budge. I asked how successful that’s been. She said it works to stop the trolley but it doesn’t stop the people and they get angry. She said she’s seen colleagues have cans of baked beans and bottles of wine thrown at them, people just chucking stuff out of the trolley making a scene as they grab at whatever groceries they can and make a run for it. She said it’s so sad and the staff get abused a lot, but she keeps working in a supermarket because she cares about her customers and she wants to help. Is she or is she not an angel on earth? She also gets up every day at 4.20am she told me, she listens to this show, so we know she’s smart. And it’s people like her that deserve every cent of our increasing grocery bills, people like her at the coal face and wanting to help. Isn’t it a shame that more of our hefty grocery bills these days don’t go towards people like her, on the front line of a really ugly epidemic of brazen theft that they just should not have to put up with?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government is merging CERT NZ - who help the public with cyber-attacks - and the GCSB together. This decision's had huge opposition who say it's been rushed through. GCSB minister Andrew Little says he's after a single front door for cyber security reporting, triage and response. Darkscope Technical Director Joerg Buss talked with Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former Customs Minister is cooling hopes of making trans-Tasman travel easier. A taskforce is being set up by our government and Australia's, to look at ways to make travel more seamless. Maurice Williamson told Kate Hawkesby he doesn't believe new efforts in the space will lead to much progress. He says the speed you can travel between the two countries is quite fast now - and he doesn't believe we'll get to a point where travellers won't need passports. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Severe staffing shortages gripping Christchurch are being viewed as a replica of the pressure healthcare systems are facing nationwide. Pegasus Health's after-hours medical centre shut it's doors at midnight, and won't re-open until 8am. This comes as Christchurch Hospital faced its busiest 24 hours ever, earlier this month. Association of Salaried Medical Specialists former executive director Ian Powell told Kate Hawkesby it's happening across the country. He says it's not just in urgent care facilities - but hospitals and emergency departments - and is now normal rather than abnormal. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With all the travelling that’s taken place these last few weeks with school holidays and people bailing to beat the winter blues, I’m confounded more and more by the state of Auckland airport. It’s a shambles. Now during and immediately after Covid, you can accept staffing’s an issue, that a few things aren’t right, that it’s not running as well as it should be. You can forgive the dysfunction. But all this time later, it’s still a shambles. It still appears to have staffing issues, it still doesn’t function. Why? Why have they not got it together yet? Worse still, it’s the gateway to our country, it’s currently welcoming FIFA guests and tourists, and it’s just an abomination. You wait forever for an air bridge so you can disembark, then you wait forever for your bags, then you get into the world’s longest queue for MPI clearance – which in my case at the weekend involved the biggest queue I’ve ever seen and no ‘nothing to declare’ lane. It was just a seething mass of people, including flight crew, all having to queue up in an endless snaking line, as three flights descended at once – which by the way is not many, and yet the holdup turned out to be due to, I kid you not.. lack of dogs. Exasperated like so many others in the queue, and standing with some tourists from Australia who were loudly complaining about what a joke this airport was, I enquired as to what was going on. “Oh it may be because it’s busy and there’s heaps of flights in?” one airport worker hazarded a guess. This should not define busy for an airport, I’ve seen way more flights arrive at once, something was slowing it up, it was crawling, if moving at all. I asked another airport worker, “Dunno,” they shrugged, “we just do what we’re told.” Then I asked a third person, “The dogs aren’t on,” he told me. “What?” I asked incredulous, “this is down to the dogs?” “Well the dogs are on a roster and there’s no rostered dogs on so we have to screen every bag.” That’s every single bag, of every single passenger, from every single flight, including flight crew. The crowd at the airport was bristling, angry, it was a poor introduction to New Zealand. I was travelling with my sister who needed to catch a connecting flight on to Christchurch, I asked about people like her who may miss connecting flights because of this huge hold up. Another shrug. As it turned out she did miss her connecting flight – as did many others. So what I want to know is, where’s the airport management on the ground, inside the terminals? I know there’s like an overarching manager who fronts for media, and manages from a head office somewhere, but apart from the rostered workers who’re just doing their jobs and don’t have any insight into the bigger picture, whose on the ground looking at the shambles in real time and going, you know what, this sucks, we can do better, this is a bad customer experience. Where’s that person? At international airports around the world, there are so many people in high vis wandering round yelling instructions or opening up queues or connected to walkie talkies overseeing things, that you feel like it’s all in hand. Auckland airport by contrast has a Wild West vibe. No one knows what’s happening and nothing makes sense. It makes for a horrible entry to our country, and if we’re looking to build the tourism industry back up, I’d say the first place we need to start is our front door.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellingtonians have come down with a severe bout of football fever. Over 30,000 people packed into Wellington Regional Stadium for the Football Ferns match last night. But the crowd couldn't stop the result, New Zealand went down 1-0 to the Philippines. Newstalk ZB's Voice of Football and Weekend Sport Host, Jason Pine told Kate Hawkesby for some reason players couldn't find the same confidence they had in their opening win. He wonders whether the occasion got the better of them. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Warnings the wildfires scorching the Mediterranean are likely to get worse before they get better. Impacts are widespread across the region, with forest fires killing at least 34 people in Algeria. In Greece, two pilots are dead after their water-bombing plane crashed attempting to put out a blaze spreading across the island of Evia. Europe Correspondent, Gavin Grey, told Kate Hawkesby close to 3,000 tourists have been evacuated from Rhodes. He says it's being described as a living nightmare and 19,000 people have evacuated from the island as temperatures reach 40 degrees. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People are back buying cars and doing home renovations again - with demand for credit on the rise. A quarterly report by financial services company Equifax shows a 5.3 percent rise in applications in the three months to June - however mortgage finance remains subdued. Equifax New Zealand Managing Director Angus Luffman told Kate Hawkesby says it follows seven quarters of decline. He says the increase is being driven by unsecured credit among applicants 30 years and older. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A children's health charity says the government needs to do more to support young people's vaping addiction. A loophole in a new law banning specialist vape stores from setting up within 300 metres from schools or marae from October, exempts dairies and supermarkets. The Health Ministry has confirmed general retailers can still set up from October 1. Life Education Trust chief executive John O'Connell told Kate Hawkesby schools need more health access to support addicted students. He says schools are struggling for solutions - and too often it becomes a behavioural issue and a child is stood down, when they need health support. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The end of Kiri Allan’s political career throws up a couple of key questions. One, does it also spell the end of the government as in, the final straw? They look too unstable as a party, they are losing too many ministers, they have no one else to take on serious portfolios and the management of our country now looks like a school project. And two, was enough duty of care employed by the Labour leadership to look out for her? Labour is desperately trying to paint itself as not responsible for any of this. They did their best, they offered her help, counselling, mentorship, they say. Hipkins says he spoke with her and was reassured she was fine. But how often do people in a hole, or a bind, tell you they are fine when they are not? How much exploratory work was done on whether she truly was fine? And given many of us could tell just from the small snippets we saw of her in the media and from what we were hearing that she was clearly not fine, how did the Labour leadership misread it so badly? There is an onus on leaders to really account for the wellbeing of people under that much pressure, especially people who have already stated they’re under pressure and suffering mental health issues. You don’t just bounce back from mental health issues like you do a cold. It takes time, and lots of it. I have experienced first-hand management which takes a pastoral approach to care and staff wellbeing. When I got a very bad dose of Covid, I felt so terrible about all the time off work I was having, I felt the weight of responsibility to turn up. I was trying to get back to work by telling myself I was ready, but my boss's response was very clear: while we’d love you to be back we don’t want you back until you are 100% well rested and you are actually ready for it. He said it would be futile to rush back only to then relapse and need more time off. That’s a duty of care, that’s good management, and that’s taking people’s health and wellness seriously. I wanted to return, just as Kiri Allan obviously did, but management thought better of it. So is Labour responsible here for accepting her at her word that she was fine and not looking at the bigger picture of all she was dealing with? Were they blinkered by their own desperation to steady a rocky ship and have the party out of the headlines for all the wrong reasons? The key question is whether this affects their vote. I heard another host on this station who shall remain nameless (Mike Hosking) saying if this doesn’t show an unstable government then what does, and he predicts “a landslide” for the Nats come October. I’m not so sure about that. Labour loyalists are hardcore. I know this personally, I'm donkey deep in family members who are hardcore Labour fans, and hardcore Labour loyalists don’t see any of this as affecting the party’s purpose. They don’t see the failures or the lack of delivery, they love Jacinda, even now, and they don’t hold anything against the party because they can only see Red. Nothing will sway them, not even a crumbling cabinet, to vote anything but red. So the Labour party faithful won’t be moved. It’s the swing voter who needs to be riled by this. Will they be though? Or will this just add to a long line up of shemozzles that get forgotten about come polling day?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Kiwi Manuka honey company continues to break its own records. The true honey co. has just harvested a Manuka honey that's got the highest unique Manuka factor in the world. So aside from an expensive jar of honey, what on earth does that all mean? The founder and CEO of True Honey Company Jim Mcmillan talked to Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington is set to reap the economic benefits of the FIFA Women's World Cup for a long time to come. The capital is one of the four New Zealand cities hosting matches for the international tournament. Kick-off for the Football Ferns game against Philippines in Wellington is half past five this afternoon. Wellington Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive, Simon Arcus says the event is a real winner for businesses. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A political analyst says Chris Hipkins is playing a dangerous game in choosing not to spread the load among his MPs. Kiri Allan has resigned as Justice Minister after crashing a car on Sunday night - she's been charged with careless driving and refusing to accompany police. Police Minister Ginny Andersen is taking over the Justice portfolio. Political analyst Bryce Edwards told Kate Hawkesby it adds up to a lot of weight on her shoulders. He says it goes to show Hipkins is making the same mistake as Jacinda Ardern, by loading up too few Ministers with too many heavy roles. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A road safety advocate says we can't simply toll our way to a better transport network. The ACT party's promising to replace fuel excise taxes with road tolls, and invite foreign investment in infrastructure projects. AA Road Safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen told Tim Dower that we don't have anywhere near the same volume of traffic as overseas, so some form of tax will still be needed. He says tolls can't cover all the cost of the project and they might help, but we will still need a fuel tax or road user charges. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thousands of tourists and locals on the Greek island of Rhodes are sheltering in schools and stadiums, after being forced to flee a raging wildfire. Europe correspondent Gavin Grey told Tim Dower that it's the largest evacuation in Greek history. The tourist coaches weren't ready to take anyone anywhere, so those who didn't have hire cars were left stranded. Some people managed to make it to beaches to be taken away on boats. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It seems the Government's spending far less than promised on a highly effective methamphetamine programme. It promised to spend $38-million this Parliamentary term to expand the Te Ara Oranga programme to another four thousand people. But figures released to RNZ show it’s spent less than a fifth of that. The programme has a 34% harm reduction rate. Drug Detection Agency chief executive Glenn Dobson told Tim Dower that that's significant for any rehabilitation programme - particularly for meth. He says it's an incredibly difficult drug to rehabilitate, as there's both a physical and psychological dependency, and results indicate the programme’s been successful across the community. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I can't imagine a lot of people are excited about the idea of more of New Zealand's roads being tolled. You'll be aware the ACT Party sees this as the way to go if we want to get those big infrastructure projects we need so badly moving more quickly. ACT would have road development and maintenance funded through a system of tolls. Both domestic and foreign companies would be able to fund projects instead. And as the money wouldn't be coming from fuel excise tax, that would be reduced. So what you'd end up with is, first of all, a much more targeted way of paying for those big schemes, much more of a user-pays system. And for people who don't use the newer roads —the tolled ones— in theory... cheaper petrol. Slight catch: some existing roads would also be tolled as long as another viable free route is available. On the face of it, not bad, if it actually got things done more quickly. Like a new harbour crossing for Auckland perhaps. Problem for ACT is that public-private partnerships don't exactly have a good name with the general public. Transmission Gully for example... or the Pūhoi to Warkworth motorway... both were years late opening, and tens of millions over budget. What is most appealing about the ACT plan is taking a long-term view toward infrastructure. Too many politicians think 'long-term' means 'too hard. Let's kick the can down the road, make it someone else's problem sometime in the future. And we need to invest billions, not just in roads but also rail. So I'd go further. Set up and entrench a stand-alone Infrastructure Agency, funding guaranteed, safe from political interference. Safe from half-wit Transport Ministers who think they know best. Major investments with years of planning, and consenting, and land acquisition suddenly abandoned because a new government thinks they're vanity projects.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After yesterday’s shooting in Auckland, those words are still hard to believe - 'shooting in Auckland', a lot of debate’s been thrown up around law and order, crime, people on home detention, discounts given to offenders and so on. There are those saying this was only a matter of time given the state of law and order in this country these days. I know the state of our country right now is enough to drive people out, I know many who are doing just that - upping sticks and leaving. I don't know him personally, but Marc Ellis is another of them. The former All Black, and iconic Kiwi personality, is leaving for Italy. And who can blame him? His reason is, we’ve lost our mojo. As in the country - and he’s not wrong. He’s trading us in for Mediterranean coastal paradise, pasta, property ‘as cheap as chips’ as he put it, happy people, and ‘gorgeous food at reasonable prices’ he said. Sounds alluring. What’s wrong with NZ? He said our finest days are behind us. “We’re not at our peak, you don’t feel the same vibe or energy anymore,” he says. As hard as it is to hear those brutally honest words, it’s also confronting because it’s true. It’s horrible to admit, but he's right. There isn’t the same vibe or energy anymore. There’s angst and friction and division, there’s fear and there’s a malaise we can’t seem to shake. There’s low productivity and high expectation that everyone else will solve your problems. There’s less personal responsibility, less ambition. Stats are all going backwards, education, health, crime, it’s a shambles. And that’s before we even get to Auckland’s CBD witnessing a traumatic shooting yesterday. And so we surely can’t blame those who are seeking refuge elsewhere. Ellis says, “New Zealand is being pulled apart at the seams. I thought we were egalitarian and unified,” he says, “but some people who feel slightly disenfranchised use that to exacerbate rifts for political reasons. There is a cost of living problem and it has become a heavy place – it’s not the New Zealand of five years ago.” It’s awful to hear it isn’t it, because we know there’s truth in it. We wish it wasn’t so. I’m always amazed at how little time it took to wreck a country but I feel like that’s what’s happened here. And the worry I guess for many of us, is how do we turn it around? Can we? Or is it too late? How do you turn around all our woeful stats? How do you encourage productivity again? How do you get that vibe back? It’s almost an overwhelming concept for the next government, I’m not sure how they take on all this debt, all these issues, all these attitudes, and actually do anything tangible about it, it seems like an uphill battle. Aside from better weather and warmer seas, Ellis says the people are happier in Europe too. He says there’s ‘twice the product at half the price.’ That could be why people are happier. I mean when you look at what we pay for stuff here it really feels like an island nation at the bottom of the world doesn’t it. Limited supply, inflated prices, increasing crime and violence. Yesterday's shooting doesn't help. So is Ellis right when he says our glory days are behind us? Sadly, I think he is.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National wants to know why the 24-year-old Auckland CBD shooter wasn't in prison. Matu Tangi Matua Reid was on home detention for domestic violence, and had approval to work at the construction site. National party leader, Chris Luxon, told Kate Hawkesby the perpetrator had committed some pretty violent crimes. He says the issue of not sending our violent offenders to prison has filtered down through the judiciary system, and we've ended up with soft sentencing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The shooting in Auckland's CBD may have prolonged psychological impacts on Kiwis. Clinical Psychologist Dougal Sutherland told Kate Hawkesby people could feel heightened anxiety from this for up to six weeks. “The public nature of it, it’s such a big impact on people. Watching it on TV, certainly a similar thing happened after the Twin Towers.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new Westpac report has revealed our tourism is doing well - but could do better. The latest Westpac Economic Tourism bulletin shows while the sector has seen some recovery, businesses will need to adapt to the changing market. Industry Economist Paul Clark told Kate Hawkesby the industry is going to find it increasingly challenging to make a profit. He says while the trajectory of international passenger arrivals has started to taper off - the sector is still hopeful. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inflation has finally fallen to six percent but how are we looking in the domestic front? Businesses are continuing to struggle with less demand and less spending. But with China's market back open the pressure may start lifting. Business NZ CEO Kirk Hope joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss the topic. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For everyone in Auckland who bemoans our Mayor, and actually I’m not sure there are many of them left anymore or maybe they’ve just gone quiet, it could be worse. We could have Wellington’s Mayor. Now Tory Whanau has had her fair share of headlines and bad press since her arrival. There was the infamous “don’t you know who I am” alleged drunken incident at a Wellington restaurant, as well as leaving without paying the bill. She also made headlines back in June when she faced criticism for not attending meetings or events. In other words, claiming to be a busy Mayor but having a very empty diary. Apparently the events she did attend, she only stayed very briefly, or cancelled at the last minute. Then there’s her council. It has had issues with data breaches - two in fact: breaching the privacy of submitters to the Golden Mile proposal, and inadvertently releasing the names of more than 4000 people involved in road crashes. Now this is not a seasoned politician. We are talking about someone who completed a media degree with a thesis on Zombies, then worked in insurance, before becoming Chief of Staff for the Green Party. Golriz Gharamann is one of her besties apparently, and the word is Helen Clark is mentoring her. I have no first-hand knowledge if that’s true, but that’s the word. So yes, she’s learning on the job. But is her fascination with horror playing out in real time for her now as Wellington’s Mayor? She came onto the scene with a bang, as a media luvvie, much like our old mate Jacinda did - and we all know where that particular horror show ended up. But Whanau was quoted saying on arrival “I'm an outsider from the council, never worked in council, I'm going to be a breath of fresh air and make Wellington fun and cool and positive again.” Let me know Wellingtonians if it’s fun, cool and positive again yet? And actually is that what we want from our Mayors, or do we just want someone competent who can run stuff? Anyway, my point here is, another controversy just this week is engulfing her. And this one I have some sympathy for, because no one loves dogs more than me, but she is bringing her dog into work. That’s against the rules. You’re not allowed to bring dogs to work; it’s a breach of the council’s tenancy agreement to have her Staffordshire Bull Terrier Teddy rocking up to the office. Not only does she bring it in, it’s reported she gets staff to regularly walk it. Wellington ratepayers, quick question? Is that a valuable use of your ratepayer dollars? Now as a dog lover, particularly of my own dog, I too would love to bring her into the office. But I know not everyone’s a dog person and it’s not my work’s job to house my dog while I’m there. We had someone who shall remain nameless bring their dog in once, but it did number two’s on the newsroom carpet, so it was outskis and no dogs have been seen in our office since. But none of that’s the point; the point is the Wellington Council premises does not allow animals, and yet Whanau is flouting that for her own precious pooch. So my first question is, is this acceptable? My second question is how many personal controversies surrounding a Mayor are too many? Thirdly, Wellingtonians, are you having fun yet? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yet another announcement from Labour in a bid to put a stop to crime. The party has announced 12 and 13 year old ram raiders will be charged in youth court, while adult offenders could face up to ten years in prison. Act Party Leader David Seymour joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss the policy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of our greatest footballers believes New Zealand has dropped the ball when it comes to supporting the FIFA Women's World Cup. Thousands are set to flock to tonight's opening match at Auckland's Eden Park, where our team will verse Norway. Political leaders including Chris Hipkins, Carmel Sepuloni, and Grant Robertson will all be in attendance. Maia Jackman told Kate Hawkesby it's a different feel here than in Australia where the tournament is being heavily embraced. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No one is more beside themselves about the Puhoi Motorway schemozzle than me. Well, to be fair there are probably people more upset than me, but I’m pretty upset. I mean, finally, finally after so long, such an interminable wait, finally we got our glorious smooth new road North. The gateway to the winterless North, bypassing all the windy roads and single lane hills and crappy old tar seal. A new perfect, smooth, pothole free, scenic and lush drive North, shaving big time savings off the journey, making everything feel easier and safer. And then, wham. The headlines yesterday sent a shudder down my spine, because you just know our brand new highway is going to be for the high jump if they don’t secure this and fix it. This ’slow moving landslide’ we now know about alongside it. Oh no biggie. Just a SLOW MOVING LANDSLIDE. This new motorway was an $880 million build. It took a painstaking six years to finish. They finally opened it, we’ve driven it every single week since it’s opened. It’s only been open a month. But now we learn, it’s got cracks. It’s potentially a safety risk, they say. Cracks have appeared in concrete barriers, and an entire section may be moving underneath it, it was reported. Why can’t we build stuff in this country? Why can’t we do the job properly? This motorway was supposed to be built to last a hundred years. It hasn’t even lasted a month before we have front page ‘landslide’ news. Waka Kotahi is been criticized for ‘disjointed and reactive decision making’ in ‘not doing enough to factor in resilience at many transport projects.’ ‘This has led to ‘suboptimal and inefficient investment choices,” it was reported. Why can’t we trust government departments to do their jobs properly? Why does this give such backward banana republic vibes? Why are we like this? It was exactly the same with our local main street recently when they put new traffic lights in. Waka Kotahi coned off a huge area for ages and poured concrete to footpath holds for the traffic light poles - but left no room for water run off or level adjustments for rain. Local business owners said it looked dodgy, complained that they needed to allow for rain or the run off from the new slopes would go right into their shops. Waka Kotahi was told, they did nothing, they sat on their hands, they didn’t listen, whatever it was, the advice was ignored - and then it rained. Water flooded the pavements and poured into the shops, the whole area had to be shut down, everything dug up and re done - at God knows what cost, and of course it tripled the timeframe of completion. So these guys have form, on even small scale projects, at not doing things right the first time. Please for the love of God can we get some people into the Government’s transport sector who actually know what they’re doing, and get it right the first time. $880 million is too much money to not account for landslides. So they’re doing remedial works, at this stage they’re not shutting the highway - yet. They claim the work will be done by October, they’ll keep monitoring it, and the ‘unstable terrain’ it’s on. And as for us Northern commuters, I guess we just keep our fingers crossed, and our eyes peeled for cracks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most economists are tipping the Consumer Price Index will fall below six percent. It would be for the first time since December 2021. ANZ Economist Henry Russell joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's thought Countdown's $400 million rebrand is a waste of time, money and poor timing as many Kiwis struggle to pay for their groceries. The supermarket chain will revert back to Woolworths early next year, 12 years after changing to Countdown. Sign changes start next month, along with store upgrades. Massey University Marketing expert, Bodo Lang, told Kate Hawkesby there's a danger the Australian ownership becomes more noticeable in the rebrand, and puts New Zealanders off. He says there's also a risk the rebrand's costs will be passed onto consumers, at a time food prices are already at record highs. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Police Association's questioning how much difference the Government's latest crackdown on youth crime will make. New measures have been announced — including coercing young people to commit crime an aggravating factor in sentencing. Posting criminal behaviour online will also be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing. President Chris Cahill told Kate Hawkesby that it's great that there's a focus, but we'll have to wait and see what actually becomes a reality. He suggests judges will continue to bend over backwards to give as many discounts to offenders as they can. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taking your electric vehicle on holiday may be about to get easier. ChargeNet, Z Energy, and Openloop have come together to launch a charging roaming trial, which would allow drivers to charge at any of the three networks. Currently New Zealand drivers need individual memberships with each charging provider. ChargeNet Chief Operating Officer Martin Miles says this move will help to attract more people to this sustainable mode of travel. He says they want to make charging point access as simple as possible. The trial starts early next year. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Investing platform, Sharesies, isn't a fan of National's new Kiwisaver policy. National's pledging to let under-30s dip into their fund for a tenancy bond. Money would transfer directly from their savings to Tenancy Services, returned at the end, or transferred to the next rental arrangement. Sharesies Co-Chief Executive, Leighton Roberts, told Kate Hawkesby that Kiwisaver's main goal is to save for retirement, and secondary purpose is for first-home buying. He says at the moment we aren't achieving good outcomes on either, so adding additional factors that could compromise either isn't the right move. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So another poll out last night showing a right block government —just— and slipping support for Labour. What's interesting though, is it's the second poll in a row to show Christopher Luxon edging up in the preferred PM stakes... so, is he turning a corner in terms of likeability? Because he's seemingly been a hard sell. Though people are sick of the direction the country’s going in, they’ve been unconvinced he’s the saviour. And let’s be honest, personality politics dictates that we have to love or hate the person who fronts the party. It’s not the reality of course. The Party is a whole team, but we seem to be obsessed with the front person. No better example of that than Jacindamania, which then turned to so much vitriol against her that she ended up stepping down to save the party’s chances. Chippy came in as the great hope; he had boy next door vibes, he loved a sausage roll, people were enamoured with the prospect of fresh blood. But he too has gradually eroded that popularity. Which leaves us with the alternative... Christopher Luxon. Who, arguably, has had a tough run, but how much should a leader play the media and look to be Mr Popularity, versus just doing the job? I mean look at Jacinda. Played the media and the public like a fiddle. Did not put a foot wrong, everyone ate out of the palm of her hand, the international press lapped it up, she was queen bee. But as we now know, how good a leader was she? What was really going on behind the scenes? How tight of a ship was she running and how good were they as a government under her leadership? Useless. As we now know, complete chaos. Poor old Hipkins has been mopping up the fallout ever since. So while she was popular, she was shambles. We elected a leader with zero experience of running anything, to run our country because she was popular. Look how that turned out. What might happen if we elect a leader who isn’t Mr popularity, but knows how to run stuff? What would you prefer? I reckon Luxon is a good operator behind the scenes. Solid, methodical, strategic. His record speaks for itself at Air NZ, he’s reigned in the Nats which was leaking and falling apart, he’s stopped all that – and I don’t think got enough credit for it. I just don’t think he’s great on camera. He seems uncomfortable around the press pack, and to be frank, wouldn’t you be if you were him? I also think there’s been a bit of a campaign around his unpopularity which has been peddled beyond its legitimacy. But if you look at the latest poll results, he’s actually only 4 points off Chippy now in the preferred PM stakes. But here’s the thing, for all those who've been calling Luxon out as a loser and saying he should step aside for Nicola Willis, I think that’s misguided and myopic. Look at the big picture, what’s our issue as a country right now? 65 and a half percent of us don’t like the direction it’s going in, according to the latest poll. That’s a great big majority of Kiwis saying, this sucks. So what do we want? Things run better, handled better, going in a better direction. Can Luxon do that? I think so yes. I don’t know him personally, but I don’t obsess with how he appears on TV. Look at the team, and in the case of Luxon the leader, look at his record.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Extreme weather is causing problems in several parts of the world. Southern Europe is bracing for a second heatwave in a week, with record temperatures expected to be broken in places like Italy, Greece, and Spain. Europe Correspondent, Gavin Grey, says one of Spain's Canary islands has been hit hard. He says in La Palma, troops are evacuating more than four-thousand people and four and a half thousand hectares of woodlands have been destroyed by wildfires. Almost a third of Americans are under extreme heat advisories, while at least four people have been killed by severe floods in Pennsylvania. In South Korea, the death toll has risen to at least 37 after flooding across much of the country. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The country's infrastructure industry is describing National's $500-million road transport policy as a good start. The party has declared it will redirect funding from road safety initiatives to pothole repairs and road renewals, if it wins the election. Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Kate Hawkesby that the man power exists to make this promise a reality, but there has to be a guaranteed pipeline of work. He says if the work is there, the resources will follow. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A chance for businesses to reconnect with a changing China. The China Business Summit began in Auckland at 7am this morning. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will speak —covering topics like trade and investment— and insights from his recent trip to China and Nato Summit attendance. The Chinese Ambassador and the New Zealand China Council are also attending. Council Executive Director, Alistair Crozie told Kate Hawkesby that it's significant, being the first in-person summit since Covid. He says no-one's been to the market until recently and this event gives businesses a chance to get to grips with how China's evolved. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour released its party slogan over the weekend and it says ' In it for you', which as some cynical person observed sounds like something you'd say on Tinder to secure a date. What it says to me, is that the two main parties slogans this election year very much reflect their parties approaches. One is a slogan which is ambiguous: what's it even mean, 'in it for you'? Sounds kind, has the feel good factor I guess, sounds like it got work shopped in a focus group on a white board and people went 'oh yeah, sounds nice.' But what's it actually mean? And that's the problem. It's just more words, platitudes, word salads, things that sound potentially kind or good, or about us, but we're not sure. The great irony of course being that this party, since its 2020 mandate, has been in it for them. One hundred percent for them, not us. In fact their raison d'etre has been to tell us how we should all be living, what we should be doing, whether we should drive cars or take public transport, when we're allowed a RAT test and how many, how we should read road signs, how we should manage our appliances over winter, dictating to us what the media landscape and our workplaces should look like. They've been largely obsessed with pushing their own agenda and that of their Maori caucus, they haven't really been 'in it for us', at all. So do we even believe them? And when Hipkins says he's 'in it for you'... who’s he talking to? The disillusioned Labour voter who saw them swing so wildly to the left this term that they don't recognise the party anymore? Or the middle swing voter who voted for Jacinda last time, not the party, but the woman, and now Chippy's trying to get a slice of that support back by sounding like he too can be their cheerleader. Problem is, those voters have been burnt. Is it all a bit late to sound like you're in it for us, when 6 years of this government, and especially the last 3, tells us you're actually not. Then there's National's.. 'Get NZ back on track'. It's a goal, an ambition, a focus, a target. It's clear what it means; it speaks to the 65 plus percent of us who on current polling say the country's going in the wrong direction. It's clear, and it's a promise they're making, which we will be holding them to as a country because we know how badly we all want the country back on track. The National party gets to sound ambitious because it's in opposition, yes, but what it does bring to the table and always has, is targets. Accountability. Looking to measure progress, looking to achieve goals, hit targets, weigh things up, balance the data and aim for better. Given the race to the bottom we've had the past few years, that's quite appealing. Not that we vote on slogans, the same way we shouldn't vote on leaders personalities, but the slogans do tell us about a party's focus. One, wants to get the country back on track, the other wants to be there for us, or be 'in it' for us. And when you weigh both of those things up, I think it's clear which party has a vision for change and progress, and which wants to just sound like a mate, but achieve nothing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I said earlier this week that my hero of the week was any CEO who walks the talk and works the floor and gets amongst the team. That was off the back of my parents having Greg Foran, Air NZ CEO, check them in at Auckland airport. He’s out there often apparently, doing various jobs inside various departments to learn more about the airline and be present, and it’s a good look – it’s appreciated. But then I’ve found something else this week that I appreciate; common sense. Or at least people who speak it – and we seem to be thin on the ground on those people these days. But in light of the Sam Cane pitch invader saga All Blacks forwards coach, Jason Ryan, has come out and blasted pitch invaders. Which is good, because for a while there it was looking like we were busy apologising to them and handing them a bunch of free rugby merch for their troubles. Which made no sense to me, but then a lot of the weird woke stuff that goes on these days doesn’t make sense to me. Like how we seem to kowtow to offenders more than victims now, how we let gang members run riot, we’ve sort of become a nation of apologists, excusing everyone for bad behaviour and just hoping by handing them some rewards like KFC or some rugby kit, that they’ll stop being a pain the arse. Anyway Jason Ryan’s having none of it, he’s said, in lieu of the All Blacks’ first home test this weekend, that they won’t be tolerating pitch invaders. Which is lucky, because given Sam Cane’s grovelling apology and the invader getting some gear out of it, it may be seen as an incentive for others to randomly pitch invade. Ryan says pitch invading’s been ‘a shambles’ lately, he was reported saying he’s got no time for it, the players have got no time for it, and that it needs to stop. He said someone’s going to get hurt and they have to make the consequences a bit harder, he pointed the finger at security saying they need to ‘do their job’. He said they’re there to watch the crowd, not the game. Which is a good point, how are these clowns getting onto the field in the first place, they shouldn’t be able to get anywhere near it if security’s awake and doing their job. But I can’t help thinking Cane’s little trip up of that invader was not a bad thing - it sent a message. Come on here, you’re gonna get hurt. Sadly that didn’t end well in that he then decided to apologise and hand out gear but I support Ryan’s firm stance on invaders. They’re menaces, and they should be not only discouraged but actively stopped. Look at what’s happening at live concerts these days with artists being thrown things on stage and getting hit in the face. Then there’s copycat behaviour, and you’ve got even more people throwing stuff at people on stage. The pitch invasions are the same, there’s a domino effect. So Jason Ryan is right when he says there needs to be tougher consequences, he’s right that they need to harden up on it. I’ll be very interested to see how alert and onto it security guards are at this weekend’s Test match, in terms of keeping these baffoons off the field. I wouldn't be surprised if they increase security for it, and if they don't, then I at least hope the security that is there does its job.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plastic pollution in Lake Rotorua is reportedly comparable to lakes in Europe and the US. Three places in New Zealand have been part of a global analysis of plastic pollution levels in freshwater lakes. Deniz Özkundakci is a University of Waikato Associate Professor and freshwater ecologist. He told Kate Hawkesby it's disappointing we're seeing high levels here. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

News that business owners are struggling to make ends meet isn't surprising to some in the sector. Research by accounting software company Xero shows almost half of small to medium business owners aren't paying themselves. Business mentor and Whanganui Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Helen Garner told Kate Hawkesby the statistics are dismaying. Garner says there are ups and downs in business, but with money not moving as it should be, these are not ideal times. She says there is no way of telling at the moment how long this will last. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.