Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

At the start of this week I was chastising Auckland for being a dump these days and don’t get me wrong, I still hate the traffic, the cones, and the congestion. But, I am here today to defend the city of my birth. When I criticized Auckland this week, part of my long list of complaints was the way people behave at concerts (Snoop Dog was the example). Someone who attended said the crowd was so baked and out of it they were barely alive. But in Auckland’s defence, I was at the sold-out Morgan Wallen concert this week and boy did Auckland lap him up. What an audience. The packed Spark Arena absolutely loved him, sang every word of his songs, cheered and clapped and danced til the bitter end and even then insisted on an encore and got a spectacular one. Two things I learned. One, the support for country music in this country is phenomenal, and rightly so. Bands and singers out of Nashville are slick, well-organized, class acts, brilliant musicians who know how to play a live show. They’re humble and connected to their audience, they’re authentic, and they deserve the amount of love they get back. I had no idea just how big country was in this country until I saw that show and that crowd. The second thing I learned was that, although every audience has their overly sauced inhabitants who’ve hit the bar a bit hard and a bit early, there are equally some great people around, and even in a big city like Auckland, there’s still a sense of community. We were seated next to some hardcore fans who’d been drinking by the looks of them since about 9 o’clock that morning, they were absolutely smashed and partying hard before Morgan even came on at 9.15pm. They were swaying into us and slurring their words and pushing us as they rocked out to their hero, as my teenage daughter tried to keep her spot alongside them. Seeing this all unfold behind us were some actual sober people, who were so kind in offering up help. They offered to hold our jackets at their seats so they didn’t get drinks spilled on them. They periodically intervened and tried to pull the drunks away from us so we could have some more room given these guys had hijacked our seats and sort of merged across us... one kind woman even offered to swap places with my daughter to protect her from the drunken hilarity engulfing us. All of which was totally unnecessary but extremely kind and observant. I was encouraged that even though there are always those who lower the bar, there are still many more who see it for what it is and try to help out or make sure everybody has a good time. The funniest part was one of the super sauced guys next to us kept telling us through beer fuelled spit bubbles that he’d been waiting 5 years for this concert. He loved Morgan Wallen, waited 5 whole years to see him live, so excited… which does make you wonder why you’d get yourself so drunk that you probably won’t remember any of it, but he’s telling us during the warm-up acts, how much he’s amped for Morgan. Then just as the lights dip and Morgan starts, he has to go to the toilet. Five years he’s waited, and now he has to go to up and off to the loo at the critical moment. Couldn’t believe it. But my thanks today go to all those who do look out for others at concerts and in the community, the kindness of strangers, and the warmth of country music fans. It reminded me that even in a cluster of a city like Auckland, there’re still some great people around. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The New Zealand economy is shrinking, the only question is by how much. GDP figures due out this morning are expected to show the economy contracted in the fourth quarter of last year. Speaking to Tim Dower ASB Chief Economist Nick Tuffley is picking a steeper 0.5 percent drop. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Hipkins is determined to laugh off the resignation of Police Minister Stuart Nash. Nash has been forced to resign, after revealing on yesterday's Mike Hosking Breakfast, that two years ago he asked the Police Commissioner to appeal a judge's sentencing. The Prime Minister joked about the news during a speech to kiwifruit growers last night saying a "minor reshuffle" is coming, but he'd rather not mention the reason why. But this morning, Act Leader David Seymour told Tim Dower there was nothing funny about Nash's actions. He says the right way for politicians to address concerns about a sentencing is to pass laws that require tougher sentences. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I said yesterday that I worry we care more about having a Prime Minister who looks like someone you could have a beer with, than caring about leadership, economic responsibility or policies. The electorate fell head over heels in love with a smiling friendly looking Jacinda Ardern, until her ideology started to bite, then everyone freaked out and she was gone. In came smiley friendly looking Chris Hipkins. “Just a boy from the Hutt!” the media exclaimed with glee, Chippy! Guy next door vibes. Innocuous looking. We seemingly instantly forgot and forgave all his time as Police Minister achieving nothing but a hike in gangs, crime and ram raids, all his time as Covid Minister running the MIQ debacle and overseeing no access to RAT tests, all his time as Education Minister overseeing the biggest truancy numbers this country’s ever seen. All forgotten and forgiven - he looks like a mate you could have a beer with so surely he’s in. The polls show a surge in his popularity - based purely on visibility I guess, and the un-intimidating boy next door vibes. But we do not vote in Prime Ministers, we vote in parties. And actually we don’t even vote in parties we tend to vote out governments. So what it essentially comes down to in seven months’ time is - are we voting this Government back in? Or out? If you’ve fallen for the “policy bonfire” and the borrowed money being sprinkled your way, you’re probably voting them back in. But look carefully at what’s on that policy bonfire. As one commentator pointed out, nothing’s really been set fire to apart from the TVNZ- RNZ merger. Everything else is potentially still on the table, just shunted to one side until after the election. If you think an ideological driven party like Labour, along with the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, are not going to get all that straight back on the table ASAP then you’re dreaming. Because, bear in mind deals will need to be done. On current polling Labour won’t get in alone so they’ll need the car-hating climate-loving Greens on board, plus the co-governance obsessed Māori party. So if you think all that divisive unpopular policy .. and more.. won’t be back, then you’ve misread MMP. I admire the determination of Hipkins and his party though, they’re absolutely determined to hold onto the reins of power - they’re throwing everything at it - no matter what the cost - they’re laser focused. But can you trust them? National, if it wants to get back in the game, needs to worry less about whether their leader is popular or not, and more about showing the wholesale determination and drive that the Labour Party has. They need to look hungrier, more decisive, more determined, more agile, more ambitious. Changing the leader isn’t it, upping the drive and focus is. They need to go hardcore full tilt at this for the next seven months because, yes there’s a long way to go before polling day, but perception counts, and so far the perception is that Labour wants it more than National does. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's thought anything this country does on climate change will have no impact until the whole world responds. A 1News Kantar Public survey reveals more than half of respondents want the Government to act with more urgency on climate change. The poll, taken in reaction to Cyclone Gabrielle, finds 27 percent want officials to continue as planned and 10 percent want less urgency. But Victoria University climate scientist Adrian Macey says even if the nation's emissions hit zero tomorrow, it would make no difference. He says the climate we experience is entirely determined by what big countries like China, Russia, India, the US and Brazil do with their emissions. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is coming under fire for scrapping a number of climate-focused policies. However Prime Minister Chris Hipkins insists Labour has not lost sight of the country's climate goals. New Zealand's first Climate Change Ambassador, Adrian Macey, agrees with him. Now a senior associate at Victoria University, Adrian joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cashflow issues are being blamed for building businesses falling over. The country's construction crunch may start to snowball, with more building businesses expected to fail. Bayside Designer Homes is the latest, leaving nine Auckland housing sites unfinished. AUT Professor of Construction Management John Tookey told Kate Hawkesby the industry uses borrowed money to do all the work. He says as interest rates go up, it gets harder and harder and then payments get delayed, then you end up with companies struggling with cashflow. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cashflow issues are being blamed for building businesses falling over. The country's construction crunch may start to snowball, with more building businesses expected to fail. Bayside Designer Homes is the latest, leaving nine Auckland housing sites unfinished. AUT Professor of Construction Management John Tookey told Kate Hawkesby the industry uses borrowed money to do all the work. He says as interest rates go up, it gets harder and harder and then payments get delayed, then you end up with companies struggling with cashflow. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Napier's Mayor says cyclone impacted residents want central government decisions on whether they'll be able to re-build. The Government is introducing a Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill, similar to legislation passed after the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes. The Bill will remove constraints on recovery such as letting rural landowners in affected regions carry out emergency work without having to apply for resource consent. Mayor Kirsten Wise told Kate Hawkesby anything that removes red tape is welcome. She says there are still properties that can't remove silt and people just want to know what the future of their land is. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I was telling you about my $7.99 lettuce yesterday – and my bad, as I said, I shouldn’t have bought it at that price – it’s ridiculous. But it’s also a reality at the moment that we’re not only paying more for fruit and vege – and all groceries actually, but that those prices are potentially going to get worse before they get better. That’s according to leading economist's and pretty much everyone involved in the sector – to be fair to them, they have been warning us. But in the last month alone, groceries went up another 10.4 percent, that’s off the back of another 10 percent hike which we already had to swallow back in January. There’s a whole gamut of contributing factors.. fuel prices, packaging costs, farm feed and fertiliser, harvesting costs, and that’s before we even get to the cyclone damage and the impact that’s wrought. So it’s across the board.. not just fresh fruit and vege, but frozen, tinned goods, meat.. we know we’re paying more at the checkout because we look at the amount on the conveyor belt screen, and then we look at our trolleys, and we know something doesn’t add up. We’re paying more for less basically. But at least we’re paying.. it seems every second shopper these days is just walking out the door with their groceries without any intent to pay for them. That’s another story.. but I think in my grandparents day they did better than us, because they were smarter than us, I reckon. One, they bought in season. You didn’t have veges or fruit that wasn’t in season because it either wasn’t available or it was too expensive, either way they weren’t dumb enough to drop almost 8 dollars on an iceberg lettuce. But also, they grew their own. And made it last. They preserved fresh in season fruit to spin it out.. pickled or froze fresh veges – they planned ahead. I got one of those vege pods the other day, where you can grow indoors in a large container – a whole variety of veges or herbs. And I tell you what, nothing gives me greater joy than watching things grow and knowing you’ve grown them yourself. You know where it’s come from and what’s on it – as in no nasty chemicals. You get to pick it and literally eat garden to table – it’s an awesome feeling. But it does require effort. And these days we are all about convenience aren’t we? Effort’s just too hard. Getting it chopped up in bag pre washed, beats growing it from seed yourself and nurturing it, watering it, watching it and harvesting it. But the satisfaction when you do make the effort is real. And the taste is better for sure. Nothing beats a fresh fig picked straight off the tree still warm from the sun, no supermarket fig tastes that good. But it’s not feasible for everyone to grow their own, and we don’t seem to have the patience and time our grandparents had. So I’m not sure how we push though these times of exorbitant food prices.. other than trying to buy in season, maybe attempting to grow our own where we can, and taking a leaf out of Nana’s book by freezing some too. It’s ironic, isn't it, that the more modern we get as a society, the more we find value in looking back to how things used to be done.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A researcher says urgent policy change is needed to ensure the future health workforce reflects the diverse communities it'll serve. An Otago University, Auckland University and AUT study in the British Medical Journal Open, has analysed data from 20,000 students. It's found systematic under-representation of Māori, Pacific, low socioeconomic and rural background students. Otago University Professor Peter Crampton says currently it's up to individual universities and polytechs to make selection decisions. He says the health system has a huge stake in these decisions and should be working with the Education Ministry and Tertiary Education Commission to guide funding. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Te Pāti Māori are in a key position, based on the latest poll results. The latest 1NEWS Kantar Public poll shows if an election were held tomorrow, a Labour-Green-Te Pāti Māori coalition would secure 63 seats in the Beehive to National and Act’s 57. Both Act and the Greens are on 11 percent, and Te Pāti Māori on three percent. Newstalk ZB's Political Editor Jason Walls told Kate Hawkesby Te Pāti Māori would definitely go with the left bloc. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National says the Government is fixing its own mistake by increasing superannuation and main benefits in line with inflation. The change kicks in from next month. National Deputy Leader Nicola Willis says the Government switched to calculating them based off average wages, instead of inflation. But she told Kate Hawkesby the problem is, average wages haven't kept up with inflation and prices. Willis says they're pleased to see superannuitants getting the payments they deserve -- but what we need, is a plan to get inflation under control. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m noticing a lot of tourists in town and I’m just wondering what kind of experience they’re having. I was walking through a well-known shopping precinct in Auckland, Newmarket, with my daughter at the weekend and there was a guy walking in front of a few of us just weaving across the footpath getting in everyone’s way and each time someone tried to pass him he’d cut them off and weave back across them just making sure the whole footpath was his. As we got closer and needed to get into a shop I said “excuse me” as we tried to pass him to enter it. He didn’t make it easy for us but as I glanced down I noticed on top of his jandals he was sporting a Home detention ankle bracelet. What sort of criminal might he be… just out here annoying shoppers? Who would know with the current justice system. Then we walked past the train station where we saw a staffer explaining to a very bewildered American tourist that the trains weren’t working so she’d have to take a bus. She was laden with bags and looking increasingly frustrated as he tried to show her when and where she had to walk to go wait for a bus. I thought at this point what sort of experience tourists must be having here as they share the streets with crims in ankle bracelets and can’t get a train for love nor money. I went to pick my daughter up from a party later that night and as we were driving home through an affluent suburb in Auckland, St Heliers, a large group of teenage boys were standing in the middle of a very busy road, with cars whizzing by them either side and I’m wondering what on earth they’re doing and how dangerous this is. As I get closer, instead of them getting out of the way they move closer to us and start running at our car with their arms raised and they’re throwing shoes at cars. I had to swerve to get past them and the flying shoes. Closer to home we see a group of what would’ve been no more than 14 year old boys standing on the road barely able to stand up straight with their thumbs out trying to hitchhike. This is the leafy suburbs of Auckland on a Saturday night. Then I read about the Snoop Dog concert. Headline was.. ‘Incredible performance to an overbaked crowd’. The review said, “too much weed, too little energy..” that’s not referring to Snoop by the way, that’s the crowd the reviewer’s talking about. A fight broke out.. ”between two men..[took] six security guards to break up, rollies being passed around left, right, and centre, and girls falling over each other,” the reviewer says. “It was almost embarrassing to see how badly Kiwis seemed to rise to the occasion ..” the reviewer said. They concluded that Snoop’s performance was superb but maybe don’t see him live in Auckland, they mused. Clearly because Aucklanders don’t know how to behave. I’m just not sure when the bar got so low on behaviour, but I try to imagine how we must look to tourists. No trains, the home D crims sifting through your shopping precincts with you, large groups of kids menacingly taking over the streets at night, concert goers so baked they can barely function and then post concert gridlock to try to get home. And don't forget the bus driver who got stabbed, the gun fight in Pukekohe and the woman assaulted in her home in Piha. Just another quiet weekend in Auckland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Business owners are being forced to take matters into their own hands as the level of retail crime continues to soar. Latest figures show there's been a 39-percent surge in retail crime since last year, with much higher rises in Canterbury and South Auckland. Newmarket Business Association Chief Executive Mark Knoff-Thomas told Kate Hawkesby that they're particularly concerned by the level of juvenile crime and are calling for more police. He says there are some stores trading with their doors locked and only letting customers in one-by-one due to the scale of crime. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So we learn this week what we already knew, but now have confirmation of - our health system is in dire straits. And it's only March. It's not even winter yet. I worry that we've dropped the ball on fixing it by being too slow to react when staffing, in particular, was first being flagged as an issue. We took far too long to get midwives, nurses and doctors onto the residency green list. And by the time we did, guess what? No one wanted to come. They'd already gone elsewhere, found other jobs, other countries that did have their doors open in time, other markets where health care systems, pay, and conditions were preferable. So we are crying out for midwives, nurses and doctors. We are facing overloaded and overworked ED's and Hospitals, and that's before the winter bugs even strike. Doctors, nurses and midwives are rightfully tearing their hair out with frustration. And then yesterday – news that the Ministry of Health is spouting incorrect numbers anyway. They don’t even have their stats right. They admitted yesterday that official health figures about emergency department wait times were inaccurate. They called it ‘faulty’. National’s Dr. Shane Reti called it ‘fudged’. He said it could be chalked up to incompetence and that when he saw the data for ED’s, he knew straight away a massive drop in wait times was incorrect, anecdotally it was also incorrect. So my question is how had the government just accepted them at face value and published them as official data without checking themselves? How is it Reti could spot this, yet Verrall could not? Reti said the data never made sense, he even got an analyst to have a second look, that analyst also said they made no sense, and yet Ayesha Verrall presumably saw them and didn’t flinch, or never saw them but let them get published without checking anyway – hence now another apology and another walk back by another government department letting us all down. Not quality assuring the numbers and just spouting ‘gobbledygook’ as Shane Reti put it, is disturbing, this is the management of our catastrophically poor health system. The same health system they spent millions rebranding and merging - and yet they can’t even collect data accurately. How many clowns are running this circus? Te Whatu Ora said the figures weren’t accurate because they’ve merged 20 different districts that ‘all collected data on different systems in different ways..’ that’s not an excuse. In my view, that’s an admission that too much time and energy has been spent on merging and rebranding and remodelling a health system at an administrative level – wasting time and money basically when frontline health has never been worse. How can we trust government departments that don’t even check data and are happy to publish inaccurate data? Te Whatu Ora says it’ll ‘improve over time’ but will it? How long do we have to wait for ‘improvement’? And how about the goal is to be accurate and not just ‘to improve’? The very serious outworking’s of this is that important funding goes to the wrong places if incorrect data is used.. how do officials know where to put badly needed resources if there is no correct data? So a bad week for health, a bad week for the Health Minister, a bad week for Hospitals, and as I said, we’re not even into winter yet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National says compounding issues in the health sector are coming to a head in emergency departments. Figures released to Newstalk ZB show over the past five years, 32 of the country's 37 main public hospitals recorded an increase in ED wait times. National Health Spokesperson Shane Reti says it's an ongoing trend. He told Kate Hawkesby too many people are ending up in ED for issues that should have been resolved much earlier. Reti says emergency departments are tired, exhausted, and understaffed, with people turning up with issues that could have been dealt with in primary care. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Frustration between education unions and the Government has boiled over. 50,000 educators will down tools next Thursday in what's set to be one of the country's biggest ever strikes. Both secondary and primary unions have voted to take the action. Te Tai Tokerau Principals Association President Pat Newman told Kate Hawkesby poor conditions are causing massive issues for the workforce. He says people are leaving the profession in droves and it's hard to get any new staff on board. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A shockingly low number of nurses, midwives and doctors have entered the country. That's despite changes to the immigration green list last year aimed to plug skilled labour shortages. Out of 200 healthcare workers granted residency, most were already here and only one has entered the country. Questions have been asked as to whether has anything changed. Kate Weston, Executive Director of the College of Nurses, joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your Instagram food pictures may be influencing more people than you think. In a bid to be ahead of food trends and expectations, researchers are using your hot takes to look at customer preferences and food production. AgResearch is leading the study into it and science team leader Dr Marlon dos Reis joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As I tried to wade through Auckland traffic yesterday on a simple 15 minute journey which took three times that long, I asked myself again, why do I live in Auckland? I asked myself a second time when I saw the Herald headline, ‘Auckland residents violently attacked on street by large mob.’ A resident in the story was quoted saying she’s from the Middle East and would rather be in her country than have to deal with all this violence. The problem is, I love Auckland because I’m a born and bred Aucklander and I think there’s something about where you come from that always tugs at your heartstrings and pulls you back in. It’s like a bad ex-boyfriend that you take back one too many times. You forgive all the bad stuff and only remember the good things; until you’re reminded again of why you broke up in the first place. My point is, I want to love Auckland, but I’m running out of puff. It doesn’t help that my Southern-born husband increasingly feels the pull back to his hometown of Christchurch and is running a relentless daily campaign trying to convince us all to move South. Showing us beautiful houses at half the price, wider streets, tree-lined avenues, traffic that moves, and a CBD that works. It’s tempting. The traffic has gotten worse everywhere, I’m sure, but in Auckland it truly is diabolical, and that’s before a truck on fire shuts the motorway for seven hours and planes get cancelled because pilots are stuck in traffic as happened yesterday. It’s the poor design of the roads and the attack on cars – ie- there’s no room for them anymore. It’s the infill housing and ugly developments getting thrown up cheaply and randomly all over the place. The fear that the old villa with the lovely garden next to you could be bowled over any minute for a three by three up and down Kainga Ora development, or an apartment block. It’s the surge in crime.. the gangs, the reprobates, the grifters, the bored and unemployed looking for trouble. The pepper potting of emergency housing that’s infiltrating once family heavy suburban oases. The graffiti turning up all over the place, the price of housing, the boarded up shops of business owners who’ve gone bust, the empty shops with for lease signs, the time lost in gridlocked traffic, the lack of functioning public transport. Aucklanders will know the drill. A floundering CBD trying to find an identity again. These are the things that make me sad about the city I have always loved. Maybe it’s just part of getting old but I look back on my uni days when walking around the city was no big deal, even at night, when public transport worked, roads functioned, the CBD was thriving, and people were lighter of foot. These days, people are harried and stressed, probably exhausted from commuting, probably exhausted from trying to find a decent coffee at a café that’s still open and thriving and actually has a barista. I used to get defensive about people taking potshots at Auckland but now I get it. They’re right, it’s the city that’s sort of eaten itself. Too big for its boots and not enough infrastructure or can-do attitude to cope. And I’m just not sure that it can be fixed or changed. So what to do? Leave the only city you’ve ever known and start again somewhere else? Or pray for the best that our biggest city can turn itself around and be great again? And if it’s the latter, how long do you wait?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

House prices are down, but still not to pre-pandemic levels, according to QV's latest report. It shows prices have fallen 12.6 percent in the last year, but on average they are still 24.5 percent higher than February 2020. QV communications manager, Simon Petersen joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Harry and Meghan have rarked me up more than usual lately. I think it’s because the delusion now seems so embedded, that their lost grip on reality has lost more and more of us along the way. I mean, how do we keep up? People often misinterpret me when I comment on Harry and Meghan, so let me be as clear as I can. I wish them no ill will. I, like many others was happy for them to pull the plug on royal life and disappear into the private quiet life they said they so desperately craved. No problem with that at all. My problem with them stems from all the hypocrisy that followed. It turned out it wasn’t so much a private life they were after, but a very publicised lucrative flogging of the royal family to anyone who would listen and pay top dollar. But the spleen venting has gone on and on and on to the point now where the Prince is even doing live on-air diagnoses with a trauma specialist. This is where Chris Rock comes in. For the second time in a month, Harry and Meghan have been ridiculed on television in America. First South Park, now Rock’s Netflix special. And a comedian ridiculing them, while expected in Britain where their popularity has plummeted through the floor, is a bad turn of events in America, their specially chosen home land, where celebrity, adoration, Netflix specials and book deals were meant to flow their way like matcha lattes. Chris Rock called them out for acting like victims, he said crying to Oprah about racism was a mistake – it wasn’t racial abuse they were facing he said, but rather standard internal family drama. He warned against victim culture and people with privilege so easily grabbing the victim tag, and what that does to undermine real victims. But the bit that took the cake for me, was this latest report out of the British press that the Sussexes are worried King Charles will never get to build a real relationship with their children Archie and Lilibet, unless they get another UK based royal home. Do they even stop for a second to consider the irony and hypocrisy of that? They’re worried that the grandchildren that they removed from the UK, that they took away from the royal family, which they chose to move to America, that they chose to lob grenades at the grandparents of won’t have a real relationship because they got evicted from Frogmore? Give me a break. Any damage to the relationship has been done and is continuing to be done, by Harry and Meghan themselves. The fact they want a public purse funded royal home in the UK for the maybe one time a year they turn up there, is ridiculous. They chose to leave, to walk away, to fire endless grenades, they’re lucky to have even kept their titles and be invited to the coronation in my view. Honestly, I'm so over their delusion. I didn’t watch their Netflix special, I never read his book, I didn’t watch his many soft ball interviews after the book, I didn't watch him getting diagnosed live on air by a trauma counsellor, there’s only so much over sharing one needs to participate in. I get the drift. I just think enough is enough. And I’ll say it again, no ill will intended their way.. had they done what they said they were going to do, most of us wouldn’t have an issue with it. But in doing the exact opposite, they’ve brought all this on themselves and there’s no one else to blame, but each other.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust have almost got the formula for reintroducing kiwi to areas with otherwise low populations. The trust has improved numbers so much that the kiwi population is able to increase significantly on their own. Save the Kiwi has been steadfast in supporting this project, and chief executive Michelle Impey joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Government debt is lower than forecast, but financial pressures loom on the horizon. The Government's interim financial statement shows net debt is at $70.5 billion in the seven months to the end of January. It's $3.5 billion less than expected, mostly due to the Super Fund gaining value. Infometrics Chief Economist Brad Olsen told Kate Hawkesby it might be time to rein in the spending due to material shortages and inflation. He says the Government has to make a clear list of its financial priorities and potentially re-shuffle or scale back the spending. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There has been disappointment Waka Kotahi is slipping behind in installing median barriers, while surpassing speed targets. A Road to Zero target aims to have 1000km of median barriers by 2030, but is projected to fall short by half. Meanwhile, the agency has exceeded its target of assessing speeds on 10,000km of road. AA Road Safety Spokesperson Dylan Thompson told Kate Hawkesby 100km of barriers should be installed every year. He says they didn't think it was a hugely ambitious target when it was set, but they haven't managed to get close to it so far. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I just wonder how, almost a month on since the cyclone, there are some pockets of small communities around the country still struggling with absolutely no assistance or help from anyone. I heard some callers to this station yesterday saying how abandoned they feel, or how left out their area feels. No council, no government ministers, no police, nothing. No resources, no manpower, no input. Some orchardist’s say they feel completely bereft of any support. And I can't understand it.. millions of dollars have been raised, donations were sent in their droves, people flooded into the area to help. So, how is it possible there are some people still without any support at all? Where has all the money and resources gone? Who's running the show on the ground? How much are people still relying on friends, family, and neighbours instead of professional resources? How are all the tonnes of silt going to get cleared? How have more diggers and trucks not been brought in? Where is the practical assistance? How are orchardist's and farms going to cope the longer they’re left to their own devices? Mental health must be strained, physical health must be absolutely stretched, finances at rock bottom, there’s only so much people can be pushed through and expected to bounce back from. I think part of the problem is people want to help, there are plenty of volunteers, but it’s just getting them where they need to go and with the right resources. We're hearing stories from people willing to offer time, services and machinery but that bureaucrats are getting in the way of progress. Digger drivers are offering up services, no one gets back to them apparently. I know people who’ve offered sizable donations only to be held up with bureaucracy and admin stopping it or delaying it from where it needs to go. So, I’m wondering about the co-ordination on the ground.. where is it? Who's doing it? Other than locals in their own communities? Mixed messages are also part of the problem. Some say they’ve offered up support only to be turned down by councils, some have been promised support only to have none show up at all. So, what exactly is going on? Some pockets of cyclone affected areas are thriving with support and help and numbers and resources, others have nothing and no one. Locals in Patoka say they’re still cut off and that no one’s turned up. Why? Politicians have come and gone, media have come and gone but there needs to be a consistent, constant stream of communication and support if this is ever going to get done properly. Access is a major so we know the roads need the work done ASAP, but some are saying they’ve run out of ideas of where to put everything, rubbish, silt, soaked contents, slash. Thousands of tonnes to move. And in many places, no one to help move it and nowhere to take it. I’ve spoken to local mayors fairly regularly and they seem to be good advocates for their communities, making all the right noises to get attention on their individual areas, but they’re only as good for as long as they’ve got a spotlight on them and a platform. I recall at the start of all this someone emailed me and said they hoped they wouldn't get forgotten about and heartbreakingly, I fear that’s what may have happened in some areas already, not even a month on.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Changes are on the way to manage overcrowding at the Cardrona and Treble Cone ski fields. The changes include a multi-day pass, where visitors will be asked to choose which day and time they'll visit the mountain. If the mountain is full, they'll be denied access. General Manager Laura Hedley says the aim is to improve the experience for everyone. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The trucking sector says transport decisions are never a black and white either/or situation. Newstalk ZB's newsroom yesterday revealed officials were thrashing out a plan to put emissions reduction as their top priority. Hours later, the Government announced the focus would instead be on rebuilding the roading network, following Cyclone Gabrielle. Transporting New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Kate Hawkesby he's heartened to see the government commitment to restoring roads. He says we need both good roads and good public transport. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don't forget to fill out your Census today - if you haven't already. Everyone staying in New Zealand tonight is required by law to complete the form. The Census helps create a clear picture of community needs so government agencies, councils, iwi, community groups and businesses can respond. However, Massey University's Emeritus Paul Spoonley told Kate Hawkesby there are some groups that aren't willing to give up any information. He says officials are working to convince them otherwise. The collection period has been extended for cyclone-impacted areas until June first. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people are picking a further fall in house prices. In the latest ASB Housing Confidence Survey, 43-percent of respondents expect house prices to fall in the coming year. People living outside Auckland and Canterbury are particularly pessimistic. ASB Senior Economist Kim Mundy says this is a shift, as Aucklanders and Cantabrians were previously more pessimistic. The survey also found three quarters of respondents expect higher interest rates over the coming year. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I think what Luxon did right in his State of the Nation, was to remind us of all the wastefulness of this government. One of the things I worry about is that we have short memories; you know come October 14th do we still remember MIQ, inaccessibility to RAT tests, multiple lockdowns, or thousands of cancelled surgeries? Do people still care – or will they have they moved on by then? It’s a fine line of course for an opposition party. On the one hand you don’t want to be seen as too negative or whiney, you have to be seen to offer up new policies and new ideas but it is still important to remind voters why there’s a choice. After all, governments get voted out, oppositions don't get voted in. So reminding people of all the billions on consultants, a bloated public service, a cost of living crisis, rising interest rates, woeful education stats, and a ballooning hospital waiting list has merit. I mean we already know, but it’s confronting when you hear it all laid out and that’s what the Nats will be banking on. That and what’s been described as a foray into ‘Labour territory’ with tax rebates offered to parents to help pay for childcare. Family Boost it’s called, and Luxon says it’ll be funded by ‘slicing into the ballooning cost of consultants.’ But the bit I liked best about the speech was where he pointed out how aspirational we used to be and how we can get there again. I’ve thought a lot lately about how insular we’ve become in our little atoll at the bottom of the world, introspective and tucked away, happy with mediocre, happy to bumble along, despite outcomes in so many areas reaching worryingly low bars. It’s almost like the lower the bar, the less we care about it. It’s all ambulance at the bottom of a cliff stuff. The government waits until truancy and attendance levels are really bad before trying to act. Waits until the Health sector is absolutely diabolical before trying to fix it. Waits until productivity is really low before trying to address it. Waits until immigration settings are bordering on ridiculous before adjusting them. Waiting for public transport to become virtually unusable before we pay attention to it. That seems to be the norm these days. But the head in the sand, or the ‘no worries’ approach has not worked. I don’t know how we got so stuck in it. But to hear Luxon talk about becoming the best New Zealand we can be, aiming to be more serious players on the world stage, to want better for our kids, that’s the stuff of aspiration and positivity, and that’s where I think he’s tapped into a lot of Kiwi sentiment, especially in hard working sectors. Calling out the ‘gravy train’ and saying that comes to a stop under a National government, will be music to the ears of hard workers, but disappointing for those enjoying the gravy train ride. So whether all this resonates with voters will be the true test and I guess a poll will be out at some stage capturing the impact of his speech and whether he’s hitting the right notes. But he seemed relaxed and confident, and though he’s not going to set the world on fire with his oratory skills, as long as he keeps making the right noises, in the right directions, he may be onto a winner. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National is labelling the Government's new transport strategy as "absolute madness". The plan –which is still being worked on– puts climate change as the top priority and dictates where tens of billions of dollars will be spent in the next three years. It will go out for consultation this year. The proposed changes will see two billion dollars of maintenance money spent on the likes of bus lanes and cycleways, rather than fixing potholes. National Transport Spokesperson Simeon Brown told Kate Hawkesby that money for maintenance should be spent on just that. He says we have potholes peppering our highways and those need fixing, rather than work being done on cycleways. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Banks. They're a nice, big, slow moving target, so it's pretty easy to throw mud and have at least some of it stick. Right now, with higher interest rates and more importantly fat margins between what they pay us for our deposits, and what we pay them for our mortgages. The sun is shining for the Banks and they're making' hay. And the numbers are pretty big. Westpac's most recent result was $1.16 billion for the year, up 12 percent. ANZ was at $2.3 billion and increased of 20, yeah 20, percent. You're probably aware from what we've heard his past few days, that if you shop around you don't have to pay the published mortgage rate. If you tell them such and such bank down the road is offering a fraction less, you'll be surprised how quickly they'll drop their pants. Same too, by the way, with term deposits. Rather than just let those roll over, you simply have to ask and they'll grudgingly give you a little more. Not much, but it's the principle of the thing. So are the banks being greedy. Well, yes, of course they are. That's their job. I jokingly said to one bank manager a while back, 'hey...I'm in a bank...I expect to get robbed'. He was affable enough to see the joke. Would a ComCom investigation do anything to make us feel better about the Banks or do anything to reduce the profits they make? I doubt it. Have ComCom probes made any real difference at the supermarkets, at the gas station, with the power retailers? No. If the Government feels the urge to do something useful maybe it could impose a few rules around their social license. Things that actually drive us mad day to day like how long they take to answer the phone, or deal with an email, or even - how's this for radical - like obliging the banks to actually have branches people can go into. The bottom line is - I don't mind paying for a service if I'm actually getting a service. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A well-known scientist says New Zealanders need to stop burning wood, to help curb two of the country's silent killers. Stats NZ indicator data, following a 10-year study, has found two air pollutants are quietly contributing to thousands of premature deaths each year. The two pollutants of concern, linked with pollution from vehicles and fireplaces, are PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide. Auckland University aerosol chemist Joel Rindelaub told Tim Dower combustion products create toxic cancer causing chemicals. He says sitting around a bonfire might be a fun activity to do, but it creates dangerous chemicals in the process. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Calls for a banking sector market study are ramping up, after the Reserve Bank asked for one earlier this week. Bank profits have never been higher than those reported last year, it was the first time they’ve ever cracked $6 billion. Public Policy group Monopoly Watch has set out the terms of reference it thinks the Commerce Commission could use. Massey University Banking Associate Professor Claire Matthews told Tim Dower she isn't convinced it's a job for the Commerce Commission. But she says there's a lot of people that think it would be a good idea and it wouldn't do any harm. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Changes to rental laws to make properties warm and dry have driven up rents, which are now at record highs, according to a survey commissioned by the Government. The survey, commissioned by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, found that a quarter of landlords put up rents in the six months before May 2022, and one of the most popular reasons for this was increased costs lumped on by the Government. Housing Minister Megan Woods said the survey reflected “the advice I have that there is not enough evidence to suggest regulatory changes are the main cause for rent increases”. But National says the survey provides evidence about what it has been saying regarding the law changes since they were originally legislated in Labour’s first term. Housing spokesman Chris Bishop said, “rents are up $150 per week under Labour and are a big driver of our cost-of-living crisis. The data is clear that Labour’s war on landlords is harming the very people they’re trying to help - tenants”. But Infometrics economist and chief executive Brad Olsen said rents might have gone up anyway, and the survey simply records landlords looking for something to blame. The survey dates back to May 2022 and was released to the Herald under the Official Information Act. It found that 26 per cent of landlords had increased rents in the previous six months, up on the 19 per cent who increased rents in the six months before the prior survey in October 2021, which was slightly below the 23 per cent who increased rents in the six months before April 2021. Landlords who used a property manager were more likely to put up rents - nearly a third (31 per cent) put them up in those six months, compared with 23 per cent of landlords who managed properties themselves. The landlords were then asked why they put up rent. Each respondent was allowed to cite multiple reasons. The most common reason, cited by 57 per cent, was that they had not put up rent for over a year - under new laws, rent cannot be hiked more than once a year. The next most common reason, cited by 51 per cent, was to bring rent closer to “market rent”. The next most common reasons for putting up rent were all related to government policy changes: 32 per cent cited the costs of the Government’s healthy homes regulations, which enforce minimum quality standards around heating, insulation, ventilation, and dryness; and 26 per cent cited tenancy law changes enacted in 2020 that prohibited ending a periodic tenancy without reason and things like rental bidding. A further 25 per cent cited “other costs” and 14 per cent cited property tax law changes banning landlords from deducting interest costs from their tax bills. A small number of landlords - 4 per cent - hiked rents simply to improve their own financial situation. The survey showed 30 per cent of landlords were thinking about hiking rents in the next three months. Sixty per cent of these cited increased property costs, while 27 per cent cited property tax law changes. Woods defended the Government’s tax changes, noting they were cited as less of a reason to put up rents than things like “increased property costs”, although increased property costs include other government policy changes like healthy homes. “About a quarter of landlords in the survey cite property tax law changes as a reason why they are considering raising rents, but at least twice that [60 per cent] cite increased property costs, half cite to bring rents into line with the market, and a further 46 per cent cite that they hadn’t increased rents in the last year,” Woods said. She said it was “important to remember why the property tax changes were brought in: to dampen demand in property speculation, shift the balance back to first home buyers and encourage new builds” (which were excluded from the changes). National has pledged to scrap the Government’s rental law tax changes. Bishop said Labour needed to “stop attacking landlords and realise they’re part of the solution to our housing crisis, not the enemy”. Olsen said that just because landlords had cited these policy changes in the survey, it did not mean they were driving increased costs. “There has been quite a large number of changes that have been coming through in the rental space in the last few years from Government. I’m not surprised that you are seeing more of those options being selected by landlords in terms of why they are raising rents. “The question needs to be then, if you look at the rental increases that happened before these changes: why did they happen?” Olsen said. “I still feel like some of the time these changes are being used for cover for why rents are increasing.” Olsen said it is established that the costs of rental accommodation were “not purely driven by what it costs to deliver that rental, if they were they would have fallen during Covid when interest rates were low”. “It’s still a supply and demand question when it comes to rentals,” Olsen said. The national median rent reached $

So just when we thought we may never hear from Sir Ashley again – up he popped yesterday defending the public service. He was claiming they’re all neutral but do we believe him? It probably doesn’t matter because the man in question, Rob Campbell, and his particular lack of neutrality is no longer an issue.. given he’s been sacked. Not a great week for him having lost his Health NZ gig only then to have rumours swirling of David Parker also being about to swing the axe on his other job as the Environmental Protection Authority Chair too. So, in a week, two jobs gone, and ironically the firing being done by two of the tamer members of the Labour party, really. I did not see Ayesha Verrall as someone who could fire anyone, she looks like the sweetest person on earth, so that was a turn up for the books. But David Parker too, I mean when you think of big swinging guns inside the Labour party, Verrall and Parker don’t ordinarily spring to mind. But let’s be honest, the person loading the bullets was most likely Chris Hipkins. And for that, I give him credit. We are used to, in this government, nothing happening to anyone. Accountability isn’t big on the priority scale; holding people to account that is. Just ask Trevor Mallard. So, to have two Ministers inside a 24-hour period looking to fire someone, is progress. I don’t think Campbell’s covered himself in glory throughout this whole process. He’s argued it to the bitter end which put paid to my theory that maybe he wanted to be sacked. He just seemed to be asking for it with the way in which he conducted himself, refusing to apologise and seemingly missing the point about code of conduct rules being applicable to him. I also thought it was pretty arrogant the way he dismissed Sir Ashley Bloomfield's comments. Bloomfield said that, he ‘spent much of the last 25 years in NZ’s excellent public service and saw no evidence of either left or right ‘leaning’,” he said he had ‘no idea how any of his former Crown Entity colleagues voted, because they just didn’t talk about it.’ Campbell’s response to that was to say that “there is a big difference between a chief executive and the chair of a board. A chief public servant is usually a career public servant, I am not a career public servant." I don’t know, that just all feels a bit holier than though to me, and a bit out of touch, which may have been part of his problem. Along with how much time he appeared to spend on social media. Which as I said this week, was not a great look for someone overseeing a health system in such dire straits. I mean please make that your focus, not your LinkedIn profile and commentary. But the key question now is whether the health system is better or worse off going forward. One doctor who spoke to RNZ said it’s an opportunity now to have ‘someone with a healthcare background to deliver reforms.’ He was reported criticising 'a lack of transparency around what Health NZ and its board had been doing to address a systemic crisis in healthcare. He said there was a disconnect between leadership and health staff, who hadn't seen any change or vision, or an increase in staffing levels over several months.’ So that’s concerning and if that’s the case, then change here could be not only timely, but also for the better.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Napier's Mayor is pleased with increased police support for Hawke's Bay. Two mobile police bases have been set up in the area, at Bay View and Puketapu, and a third is on the way. It follows concerns about crime in the area, which made some residents keen to take up arms. Kirsten Wise says residents weren't feeling heard. She told Kate Hawkesby keeping residents feeling safe is an ongoing process. Wise says she will keep in touch with locals abut whether they think they have enough support. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I see universities are asking students to come back to lectures in person because the low attendance is apparently ‘demoralising’ staff. Covid lockdowns and closures saw more classes go online and as it turns out, many find that preferable to having to rock up in person. It is also no doubt a contributing factor to our truancy levels at school. Once you stop something and let students know it’s OK to pause it, or to do it remotely, then guess what - they’re going to take that and run with it. The reasons for not showing up to lectures I can imagine are similar to the reasons we skipped lectures back in my day. Sometimes just getting to uni is a hassle with traffic, public transport (if you’re in Auckland especially), weather, sickness, lack of parking, lack of bus services, and probably also lack of interest. I mean why trek all the way in if you don’t have to? If you can have it beamed into your bedroom in the comfort of your own home, why wouldn’t you? Obviously we didn’t have that option when I was at uni, so if you skipped a lecture you did miss it entirely and would have to catch up. It was often easier to go in person and soak up the environment, get work done in the library, see your mates and ask the lecturer any questions afterwards. But I’m not convinced that had we had the option of just viewing it virtually, that we wouldn’t have taken it. So, how to get students back? Apparently attendance is so dire that it was reported in Wellington ‘earlier this year, a bookshop and café on Victoria University's Kelburn campus’ closed. That sort of emptiness is contagious, students and young people have a pack mentality. If you’re one of only a handful turning up to a lecture, then you’re going to wonder why you bothered. One report said some students felt ‘sitting in near empty lecture theatres could be awkward.’ Then there’s the argument put by Vic Uni’s Student Association president that a lecture is such a passive experience, that it’s actually better off served up as a recording that students can watch at their own pace in their own time anyway. So what's right here? Well I feel for the lecturers going to the trouble of preparing a lecture, turning up with it to a theatre of 400 seats, and only 50 students turn up. That must feel deflating. Should they take it personally though? I wouldn’t have thought so. If you’re going to offer something online that’s easier for people, then they’re probably going to take that option, irrespective of how fantastic your lecture may be. Likewise, I doubt high school teachers take truancy levels personally. The ultimate decider is the results though. Does it have a positive or negative impact on student’s results? One lecturer said the problem with viewing lectures online was students who waited ‘until the end of the semester and then jammed as many recordings as they could in before the exam.” He said of his students, the ’15 who got A-plus grades for his course all attended lectures in person.’ So the proof could be in the pudding. How does this one resolve itself? Time will tell but my hunch is that when students find an easy way out, they’ll take it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can guess what the conversation around the water cooler will be about today; the Blackcaps and that staggering win at the Basin Reserve. They took the victory by one run in the second test against England in an absolute nail-biter to the end. Newstalk ZB cricket journalist Andrew Alderson caught all the action at the Basin and joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Few are surprised to learn that house values have fallen again. This time, it's by one percent for February, the largest monthly decline since October last year. It's in the latest CoreLogic report and chief property economist Kelvin Davidson joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Seymour doubts the dismissal of Te Whatu Ora's chair goes far enough. Rob Campbell has been sacked by Health Minister Ayesha Verrall, for venting on social media about National's Three Waters policy. But the Act Party leader is adding to some calls for Campbell to be removed as chair of the Environmental Protection Agency as well. He told Kate Hawkesby the role is subject to the same Code of Conduct requirements for political neutrality. Seymour says today is the day Environment Minister David Parker should sack Campbell as the chair of the EPA, for the same reasons he's gone from health. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An opportunity for Chris Hipkins as PM to show real leadership - and a divergent path to his predecessor by acting decisively and quickly on the Health NZ Chair, I reckon. I think that'd go well for him. If you've missed this story, former trade unionist Health NZ Chair Rob Campbell, criticised the National’s policy announcement on Three Waters on social media, stating that he thought it was a ‘thin disguise for the dog whistle on co-governance’. He made a bunch of comments including that, "Luxon might be able to rescue his party from stupidity on climate change but rescuing this from a well he has dug himself might be harder." Firstly, this is the guy overseeing the absolute shit-show that is our health system, so how he's even got time in the first place to be ranting on social media about opposition party policies is beyond me, but secondly, he's subject to the Public Service Commission code of conduct, requiring impartiality. He is not allowed to make political statements, or politicise his role, yet that’s exactly what he did. Act's David Seymour's called for his resignation. He says: "The reality is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Much of the Wellington bureaucracy is openly sympathetic to the left and that's a real concern." Especially, when they're supposed to be impartial. National called it appalling, with one MP suggesting Campbell shouldn't give up his day job of wrecking the health system to make spurious criticism of National's policy. Another MP said, 'it is completely inappropriate for a senior public servant, the chair of our Health Agency, to be making these comments..’ and ‘it’s in breach of the clear rules on political impartiality for senior public servants.’ Seymour said he should pull his head in, but Campbell did nothing of the sort, he doubled down, saying he had nothing to apologize for, and doesn’t regret the comments. So here's where Hipkins can show some strong leadership, and reassure voters that public servants aren't so full of their own importance and arrogance that they can breach Code of Conduct rules - and not apologise for it. Hipkins would not express confidence in him when asked last night. I mean, how do you keep on a guy who not only breaches his own conduct rules, but has overseen a health system that's in dire straits and arguably getting worse. Shortages of doctors, nurses, GP's, overcrowded ED's, cancelled surgeries, a ballooning waiting list of 67,000 and counting. And not only does Campbell say they're not on top of all that yet, but he's hardly giving the impression he's laser focused on fixing it either when he's busy on social media writing monologues on Three Waters for goodness sake. This highlights everything that’s wrong with ideological bureaucrats running things.. full of opinions and social media meanderings, but nothing actually gets done. We have a health system in tatters, a system we all pay for that they can’t fix, a system overseen by him, and yet instead of spending his time fixing it, he’s espousing his views on opposition party policy on social media. Hipkins needs to show strong leadership and stub this banana republic vibe out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More history for Kane Williamson in his illustrious Blackcaps career. His second inning at Wellington's Basin Reserve saw him overtake Ross Taylor as New Zealand's leading Test run scorer. Newstalk ZB's cricket guru Andrew Alderson has been at the Basin Reserve and joined Kate Hawesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retail sales were down 4 percent in the December quarter of 2022 compared to the previous year. Hardware, building and garden supplies were hit the hardest with a 15 per cent drop. Managing director of First Retail Group, Chris Wilkinson joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rotorua's Mayor says she wants more local input in central government spending. Local Government New Zealand says 90 percent of public spending is allocated by Wellington. Tania Tapsell says local people need to be able to have their say on how and where the money is spent. She told Kate Hawkesby Cyclone Gabrielle has highlighted the importance of that. Tapsell says when it comes to important jobs like fixing infrastructure, locals know best. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cyclone-affected regions are bracing for yet another round of heavy rain. MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for the Gisborne District north of Tolaga Bay until 6am Tuesday. There's also a heavy rain watch for the Coromandel Peninsula until 3am Tuesday. Gisborne District Mayor Rehette Stoltz told Kate Hawkesby that every bout of rain makes the East Coast's issues even worse. The Government's providing 25-million dollars in grants to address the immediate cashflow needs of businesses in affected regions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At least 58 migrants have died after their wooden boat sank in rough seas off the southern coast of Italy. It was carrying around 150 people when it hit rocks and broke apart near a seaside town in the Calabria region. One of the more than 80 people who survived has been arrested on migrant trafficking charges. Europe correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby that it's another unfortunate case of people losing their lives fleeing conflict zones to get to Europe. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I was very pleased to see that the second series of ‘’Clarkson’s Farm” has broken Amazon viewing records to become one of the most watched shows in the UK. The very same UK that we heard was cancelling Clarkson due to his comments about Meghan Markle. So I regard this as, one, smart viewership by people drawn to quality programming, and two, a figurative flick of the bird to cancel culture. The show is brilliant. It‘s beautifully shot, extremely well put together, cleverly scripted (by Jeremy Clarkson himself) and shows the bureaucratic bungling nightmare of local councils. It shines a light on the plight of farmers in general and is just wonderful family-friendly enjoyable content. My only complaint about it is there are not enough episodes for each season. So how is it possible that off the back of a poorly worded column about Meghan Markle and calls for Clarkson’s sacking, that rumours abounded of his demise? Amazon would not be continuing with him, media told us, ITV would most likely dump him as well, it was reported. Clarkson was persona non grata, vilified, cancelled, gotten rid of, all but toast. Except none of that happened. Instead, he put out a superb second series of his farming show and what do you know? It got watched in record numbers; it broke records and got more eyeballs than Love Island and the Harry Styles-heavy Brit Awards. Now that’s saying something. So what is it saying? Well apart from a good chunk of the UK clearly knowing what a quality TV show looks like, it says to me that mainstream media’s obsession with the vilification and trolling happening on social media is misguided and out of touch. Journalism these days, so often under the guise of neutrality, runs agenda-driven stories about people either they don’t like, or who’re getting a pile on, on social media. Mainstream media jumps in on this with headlines about that person being 'under fire’ and what they mean by that is that the perpetually bored and the idle, with too much time on their hands, have weighed in or shared their views on someone they hate. And then spread that to some more people who jump in and a few more, and before you know it there’s a petition this person should be cancelled. Cancel culture is pretty much all social media does these days, unless you’re an influencer monetizing yourself, then the bulk of it is just whining. Misery loves company. It’s free and easy, and it often gets results (just ask Roald Dahl's family). The virtual pile-on means all those who threw stones from the comfort of their Lazy Boy can go away feeling better about themselves. Even though they may be contributing nothing at all other than bitter commentary. And even though a creative putting content out into the world may be canned because of it. God forbid we have a diverse range of opinions or views or that anyone dares not participate in the group think of social and now sadly mainstream, media. And by the way, social media only started making it into mainstream media when newsrooms got lazy and instead of looking for stories to break themselves, decided to read Twitter or Facebook instead and just report on what trolls were saying there. So a win for Clarkson, a third series is already underway, and it’s a win for those of us who know that just trying to cancel people, is a cop-out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.