Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Winston Peters says some of the claims of Gaurav Sharma are alarming. Sharma says MPs are trained in methods to avoid information being obtained through Official Information Act requests. Jacinda Ardern says the caucus will decide whether to expel him this morning and says the party doesn't intend on triggering the waka jumping law to force him out of Parliament altogether. New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters told Kate Hawkesby he's never heard of workshops to get around OIA requests. He says when the Prime Minister claims to be the most transparent Government ever, it's terrible. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A couple of weeks ago I told you guys the story of the relief teacher censured and embroiled in court action, over removing an ear bud from a Year 10 student’s ear because he refused to remove it himself, and the teacher had asked him to stop listening to music and pay attention. The student had been verbally abusive and refused to oblige and this relief teacher had had a gutsful. I pointed out that despite crying out for teachers, and not being able to get a relief teacher these days for love nor money, the Teachers’ Complaints Committee and the Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal had over reacted in siding with the student. I argued that, in my opinion, it fed a growing issue with a sense of entitlement among young people in classrooms, which in turn fed into disrespect of teachers, and that this guy being told his actions could ‘adversely affect their wellbeing’ was basically over the top. Many of you agreed with me at the time. But the next day my producer received an email from the Media and Communications Advisor at the Teachers Council. He wanted to ‘share a statement’ with me from the chief exec of the Teaching Council as they felt there was “a lot of misunderstanding about the Teaching Council’s roles and functions”.. they ‘hoped I would find the enclosed letter informative and share it with my audience’. Attached to the email was a two page typed up letter on Teaching Council letterhead, signed by a Lesley Hoskin, Teaching Council Chief Executive. Kia Ora Alexander, Tena Koe Kate, it began. FYI If you want to know more about who this woman is, and why teaching is where it is these days, be sure to listen back to NewstalkZB on demand on the ZB website if you didn’t hear her interview with Mike yesterday on his show. It explains a lot about why we are where we are with the education system. I was surprised the Teaching Council was tuning in to Early Edition, I’m not so sure they were, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have a google alert set up, but to dedicate time to typing up a two page letter to me, then having your media guy attach a covering letter and send that to my producer.. I mean really? You don’t have better stuff to do with your time when our education system is in the state it’s in? It may not surprise many of you that the Teaching Council is anecdotally apparently not held in very high regard by the teaching body itself. That was reaffirmed yesterday by teachers who texted in after Mike’s interview. That doesn’t surprise me given the Teaching Council appears to be working against teachers, not for them. Having heard yesterday’s interview it’s almost like they’re working against themselves too. We have record low literacy and numeracy rates, a teacher shortage, and these guys are hitting own goals by running teachers out of the profession for removing headphones from students, and now looking to make Te Reo competency mandatory, to retain your teaching certificate. Anyway the upshot of the letter I received was that the Teaching Council defended its decision over this relief teacher, and like all left leaning ideological bodies, they were just wanting to ‘educate me’.. the great unwashed, on how to think more like them I guess? This approach, this time wasting of typing up letters to radio hosts when you have way bigger fish to fry, sums up everything that’s wrong with where teaching’s heading.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government may have missed an opportunity to address the nurse shortage. Working holiday visas have been extended in a bid to lure 12,000 more workers into the country. Some sectors, including aged care, meat processing and construction, will also be able to pay workers below the new median wage requirements. However, Aged Care Association Chief Executive Simon Wallace told Kate Hawkesby nurses have been left out of this announcement “We are short over 1,200 nurses in our sector. It’s because we don’t have nurses in aged care that we’re having to close down care homes.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Act party isn't interested in any move to make matauranga Māori and te reo mandatory for teachers. The Teaching Council has told a Royal Commission of Inquiry it believes that will eventually be the case. Act leader David Seymour says it will put people off the profession. He told Kate Hawkesby teachers already have enough on their plate, without having to worry about improving their te reo. He says the initiative is another example of something teachers have to do for the Government, rather than what students may want. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether you believe Guarav Sharma or not probably depends on whether you support Labour and all that it stands for, or not. Diehard Labour fans who are still defending the Covid response and lockdowns, the people who probably proudly still own Ashley Bloomfield tea towels, will tell you it’s all a storm in a tea cup. They will have signed up for a lifelong subscription to the PM’s spin and they’ll see validity in lines like, ”I reject the premise of the question’. Others though, will see it for what it is. A party steeped in hypocrisy, preaching the kindness line, advocating for mental health and wellbeing, yet not walking the talk. A party claiming to be honest open and transparent, but instead shrouded in lies, manipulation and deceit. The workshop on how to avoid an Official Information Act request is all you need to know about how these guys operate. Machiavellian and under-handed. Denying those of us who pay their salaries and voted for their representation, to even know the truth about what’s really going in. The glaring hypocrisy of claiming to be the most open honest and transparent government ever – all the while looking to remove paper trails and deceive the public, is about as low as it goes. The ‘nothing to see here’ response is wearing thin though, and surely by now, even the apparatchiks are starting to see through it. Gurarv Sharma, unfortunately for the Government, looks a lot less unhinged than Jamie Lee Ross did, if we’re comparing ‘rogue’ MP’s. He’s a smart guy who appears to be telling the truth, who seems addicted to telling the truth at whatever cost, and has proof of his claims to back them up. He is credible, believable and articulate. And worse yet, he’s got some inside the caucus, at least one we know of for sure, who back him. That’s potentially another headache waiting to happen for Labour. But all along I’ve wondered just how beltway this stuff is. It’s hit in a busy news cycle of Nelson floods, human remains, youth crime surges and interest rates hikes. A busy news cycle means your blockbuster story is less likely to last long on the front page. But Sharma’s made sure he’s talking to everybody, getting everywhere and telling his story. And it must be causing ructions inside the party – I mean yes they’ll just expel him but it doesn’t necessarily solve their problems – it could make them worse. In all fairness – to all parties involved here - there should have been an independent inquiry ordered from the get go. That would have been the only fair way to solve this - instead Labour's made a hash of it, and tried to destroy a man in the process. Running and hiding from the inquiry option was a mistake for Labour. By not having one, all they do is look like they’re confirming everything Sharma’s said about them – that they are indeed bullies, who gaslight or shut down anyone who questions them. It’s an ugly mess for a party that likes to stand on a foundation of kindness. They’re becoming less credible and believable, it’s got an Emperor has no clothes vibe. But I guess if you blindly love the Emperor, you won’t see it that way.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Communities near Nelson have been evacuated for a second night, as the heavy rain continues. Nelson's mayor says it will take years to recover. But there are others who don't see much point in trying, saying it would be better to just give up on some flood prone places. Professor Bruce Glavovic from Massey University is the former EQC chair in Natural Hazards Planning. He joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Electricity Authority has put a temporary block on bulk low-price power deals. It means power companies won't be to do cheap deals to supply more than 150 megawatts of power, without approval. The EA says it's a win for consumers. Consumer Advocacy Council chair Deborah Hart joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now, Dr Sharma. The longer it drags on the uglier it gets, and there's even a whiff of the Jami-Lee Ross about the whole thing now. I saw Dr Sharma on the TV news last night and he comes across as quite convincing, even straight-up. But then he is a politician albeit a very junior one and he's had experience of pitching himself, and doing his best to come across as an honest broker. So, how seriously do we take him? Has he been bullied, or is it actually him that's the bad guy? Nno one can work with the man. Or has he, like Jami-Lee did, got a bit carried away, does he have an overblown sense of his own importance? Thing is, back bench MPs and especially the current crop of very new members on Labour's back benches, mostly know their place. Their job is to cheer at the right time...ask a pre-prepared patsy question to a Minister if it's their turn...keep a seat warm on a select committee...and so on. Back benchers make up the numbers basically. They're allowed to visit local kindies and put up social media posts when they take their dog for a walk. But otherwise they keep their mouths shut and their heads down, toe the line, and leave the serious politics to the grown-ups. Sharma himself said as much to Newshub last night, talking about Labour's instructions to new MPs, quote "shut up, don't talk about anything...don't say anything for which the Prime Minister has to do a media stand-up". So they had a meeting behind his back to make sure all the other junior MPs were on board and they've been shunning him since. My money is that he'll be expelled from the Labour Party by the weekend. The Prime Minister has already said he's on his last strike and just like Jami-Lee Ross, Dr Sharma seems hell bent on going down in flames. Question is, does he have enough to take anyone down with him? Or will he, like Jami-Lee, fade into irrelevance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ian Foster will continue as head coach of the All Blacks until the end of the 2023 Rugby World cup. Foster has been given unanimous backing from both the board and CEO Mark Robinson, along with promoting new coach Joe Schmidt into a new attacking role. Interestingly, that was Foster's role under Sir Steve Hansen's reign. Questions have been asked as to whether it was the right call and will Scott Robertson stay or pack his bags. Former South African international and rugby analyst Kevin Putt joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waka Kotahi will today decide whether to have a dedicated cycle lane across the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It had originally decided to have a lane for just special events, but a cycling lobby group threatened legal action. National Party Transport Spokesperson Simeon Brown says Minister Michael Wood should have been firmer in denying the lane. Brown told Kate Hawkesby it would be a total waste of time and money. He says closing a lane would be expensive and use of the lane may not be that high, especially on rainy days. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm wondering how long we're going to turn a blind eye to youth crime for. ACT came out with a plan to try tackle it in its law-and-order policy the other day, but that's about it. Ironically, as David Seymour was on the street talking about how to tackle youth crime, 5 storeys above him on the side of a building, youths were busy tagging. But it's no longer just an Auckland problem - we had the Palmerston North mall attack the other day - and the Queensgate mall in Lower Hutt is also proving an issue. There've been a raft of brutal assaults around there, school students being targeted for their phones, or intimidated and harassed, and the other day a 14-year-old had his front teeth knocked out in a brutal attack. It was reported he now has to wear a brace to hold his teeth in place and blend up his food in order to eat it. He's just 14. The Lower Hutt Mayor says it's 'deeply concerning', he's 'appalled' by the number of attacks in the area. But this is where it gets left to the community to fix these problems. Local parents and the Mayor want to meet with Police on what to do about this, but what can they do? What will they do? If instructions top down from Police are to go easy on youth offenders, then there is no way around that. ACT says it wants to put victims back at the centre of the justice system, and when it comes to youth offenders, they'd like to see instant practical punishments like fines and community service. South Australia has a similar model, which makes young offenders pick up rubbish or clean up graffiti. But not everyone's on board with the punitive approach and that's part of the problem. There's a lot of empathy for young offenders in terms of where they come from and why they do it. A lot of stock is put on their home environment and what circumstances they're coming from. While that may be relevant, I don’t think it's realistic that you can wind back years, in some cases, generations of behaviour inside family units. Certainly not in a swift timeframe that might reduce offending for victims right now. But some youth leaders believe you can. Te Ora Otautahi Rangatahi Ora’s Amanda Smith said recently in an article that we need to give youth crime ‘context’. She said young offenders were 'pressured by years of Covid related disruptions, social media trends, and a cost-of-living crisis. Newsflash - so are we all. Doesn’t mean we've all taken up a life of crime. But she claims they 'do know the difference between right and wrong and that 'many of them are hungry, not stupid.' And that I could believe, if, in the 400 percent increase in ram raids, the items stolen were bread, milk and cheese, but they're not. It's vape pods, bubble gum and alcohol. If they were truly hungry and not stupid, why would they ram a shop's front door down for bubble gum? She says the response to youth crime needs to be more support, but I'm just not sure how much more support and where you spread that support? Is it schools who need to pick up yet more social work and help support here? Is it local community groups who're already stretched? I think to be honest it's actually the job of Police, and I think at this point, surely an immediate punishment is more effective and instant, than spending months trying to rebuild or restructure entire family units.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two lawyers and two journalists are suing the CIA, saying the agency violated their constitutional rights when it obtained copies of the contents of their electronic devices and helped enable the recording of their meetings with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the latter part of his seven-year stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages in a lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan federal court. New York lawyers Margaret Ratner Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek, along with journalists John Goetz, who lives in Germany, and Charles Glass, who lives in England, alleged that the CIA got the information through a deal with UC Global, a private security company that was based in Spain and provided security at the embassy. The lawsuit said they suffered considerable emotional distress and anxiety from the uncertainty and concerns about how their personal and privileged information was being used. They said the illegal spying may have violated the rights of over 100 Americans who visited Assange at the embassy. The CIA declined to comment. Two years ago, two anonymous witnesses who worked for the Spanish firm that provided the embassy's security testified at a London court that Assange faced an intensifying bugging operation from 2017 onwards after Donald Trump became U.S. president. Assange, 51, lived in the embassy beginning in 2012 after seeking refuge there while fearing his potential extradition to the U.S. He was evicted in April 2019 and has been in a London prison since. U.S. prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks' publication of secret American military documents a decade ago. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison. Assange's lawyers say he is protected by the First Amendment for the publication of leaked documents that exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also have said he suffers from wide-ranging mental health issues, including suicidal tendencies. In June, the British government ordered Assange's extradition to the U.S. He has appealed that ruling. Assange's lawyers have asked President Joe Biden to drop the charges against him.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I can’t work out if this Sharma stuff is something voters care about or not. It’s a lot of he said / she said. It’s a lot of claim and counter claim – it’s something we may never really get to the bottom of given Labour ruled out an independent investigation. That in and of itself may tell us something actually. The way it’s been handled by the party – a clearly furious Ardern and Robertson, shows that for all the talk of kindness and kumbaya, they couldn’t have been less kind in the way they’ve dealt with all this. So Sharma’s been suspended, which really solves nothing. On top of that, and even worse in my view, is that we learn yesterday that prior to yesterday’s Zoom caucus meeting, they’d already had another secret meeting the night before. Worse yet, when Sharma leaked that info to the media, the Prime Minister’s office disputed it. Didn’t outright deny it, but disputed it. The PM was eventually forced to confirm it after Sharma provided proof of it, with a shot someone inside the caucus had sent him, of a photo of Kelvin Davidson at the Zoom meeting with his hand up looking like he was voting. So they have more trouble brewing inside the party than just Sharma by the sounds of it, if others are seeming to side with him and leak to him. But also, it surely gives Sharma’s claims credibility doesn’t it? It looks like when you weigh up his word against the party’s, he seems correct here, and they look dodgy. A meeting secretly behind his back. That’s just so Machiavellian, so under handed, and frankly just downright mean. It’s like the NZRU is advising the Labour party on how to handle things at the moment. I mean it’s shambolic. And in suspending him, what does that achieve? He’s frozen out of caucus but it’s almost like a good behaviour bond with the decision being reviewed in December so he’s on notice until then. It doesn’t matter because he won’t be re-selected for that Hamilton West seat, especially given the way the Labour party has treated him thus far. So how damaging has this whole thing been for Labour? How much of a PR cock up is this? And why didn’t they just follow due process, be fair, be KIND and give the green light to an independent investigation. I mean look how National has handled their Sam Uffindell woes by comparison. It’s kept it all above board, immediately stood him down, sent it to an independent investigation, kept it looking fair and balanced, and dare I suggest, far kinder than the Labour party who seemed to be baying for Sharma’s blood from the moment he first spoke. Sharma was a no show at yesterday’s meeting, he says because there was no point in him being there, why would he given they’d already all met in secret without him, seemingly deciding his fate behind his back regardless. So this has been a shabby, uncool, unkind, shifty little debacle, which shows the party up for the Machiavellian operators they are. It’s done them no favours. And I don’t know that it’s solved anything either. There's no guarantee this shuts Sharma up, but the underhanded way the party’s dealt with him I think, looks not only shabby, but just plain cruel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour MP Gaurav Sharma's future is uncertain. The Hamilton West MP has been suspended from the caucus after what Jacinda Ardern called repeated breaches of trust. A review will take place in December about whether he will be allowed to return. Former Labour and New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says politics is a tough game which not everyone is suited to. He told Kate Hawkesby Sharma could go down a couple of different paths. Jones says if he wants to make money he should move on, but if he wants to make drama he should try to set up a by-election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank is expected to raise the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points again today. Making it an unprecedented fourth consecutive hike. To give us more insight is Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen who joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A nutritionist says junk food affects how well kids perform in schools. Auckland's Western Springs College is the latest school to ban food delivery services, due to environmental concerns. Nutritionist Nikki Hart told Kate Hawkesby kids have to remain cognitive in school. She says parents need to understand their kids can't do well and feel good on a diet of junk food. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese has revealed "there may be more" portfolios that former prime minister Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to, as he launches an investigation into the bombshell revelations. Describing the situation as "extraordinary" and "unprecedented", the Prime Minister said he simply could not understand the mindset that decided keeping Morrison's extraordinary move a secret was a good idea. So far, it has emerged that Morrison was appointed as a Minister for Health, Finance and Resources during his time in power through a secret mechanism that did not require him to make the change public. Only then-Health Minister Greg Hunt was aware that Morrison was joining his portfolio. Cabinet will be briefed on the unfolding scandal this morning, but preliminary advice suggests that the three portfolios that Morrison is believed to have been secretly appointed to may not be the full extent of the changes. "There may well be more,'' Albanese told ABC Radio National on Tuesday. "But I'll have more to say about that. It may well be that it takes some time to get to the bottom of this. "This really does undermine our democracy. Our democracy is precious and it relies upon accountability. "And this, this cowboy action, I likened it to some tin-pot regime. Well, this is Australia." Albanese said he was "not aware" whether or not Morrison secured extra pay for his additional jobs, but doubted this was the case. Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue QC is also probing the ­legality of Morrison's ministerial arrangements. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo / AP In a statement, Governor-General David Hurley insisted he was acting on the advice of the former prime minister when swearing him into the extra portfolios, and disclosing the arrangements was a matter for him. Asked if he still had confidence in the Governor-General, Albanese said his job was to take the advice of the prime minister. "The Governor-General acted on the advice of the government of the day,'' he said. "Let's be very clear here, it is Scott Morrison that initiated this extraordinary and unprecedented action. "I think that the blame for this lands fairly and squarely with the former government — not just the prime minister — clearly other ministers knew that this was going on, they chose not to make it public." On Sunday, news.com.au revealed Morrison had sworn himself in as resources minister without the knowledge of the existing minister, Keith Pitt. He ultimately used that power to roll Pitt on a plan to drill for gas off the New South Wales coast. Revelations emerged over the weekend via the new book Plagued, that in March of 2020, Morrison was sworn in as a second health minister and second finance minister. None of these moves were revealed to the public. Former Health Minister Greg Hunt was briefed on the changes but former Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was not. Morrison broke his silence on the matter on Monday, texting a Sky News journalist to say he doesn't "engage in day-to-day politics". He was responding to Sky News host Kieran Gilbert, who offered him a right of reply to Albanese, who had blasted Morrison's secrecy. "Haven't seen what he has said," Morrison texted. "Since leaving the job I haven't engaged in any day-to-day politics." Albanese said that response was unacceptable. "Well, he's a member of Parliament,'' he said. "I find that quite an extraordinary dismissal by a former prime minister." The former prime minister is still collecting a $211,250 salary as a backbench MP and recently skipped the first week of Parliament to travel overseas. Albanese has confirmed he will seek advice on the legality of Morrison's appointments. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull also slammed revelations that Morrison secretly swore himself into up to five portfolios as "sinister" and "incredible". Turnbull said he was shocked by the revelations. Asked if he had ever secretly sworn himself into other minister's portfolio he confirmed he had not. "No, I think this is one of the most appalling things I have ever heard in our Federal Government,'' Turnbull told ABC TV. "This is sinister stuff. This is a secret government. What Albanese said today about it is absolutely right." Turnbull backed calls for an investigation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I talked this time yesterday about the reshaping our streets proposals coming to a street near you, and I notice the Road to Zzero campaign in full swing alongside it too. Our roads are changing, you can see it happening already, and there’s more where that came from. And the Greens are taking credit for it. Julie Ann Genter was saying yesterday it’s “years of pressure from the Greens” that is bringing this stuff to fruition. And as we talked about earlier, new speed cameras are coming now too. These cameras take two pictures at different spots in order to work out your car's average speed, rather than just a spot speed read, but not only that, as we know they’ll also capture a clear enough image to include more offences – like tailgating or drivers using cellphones or not wearing seatbelts. The Waka Kotahi is calling them "safety cameras", and according to one article I read that’s ‘a Cabinet-ordered attempt to shift the public away from perceptions that safety cameras are an enforcement, revenue-gathering tool'. They’ve worked out that we’ll see this as revenue gathering, so they’re calling them ‘safety cameras’ in the hope we fall for that. There are privacy issues around use of these cameras and the data they collect of course, but that’s “still being worked out,” apparently. I would've thought working out privacy implications might be quite an imperative before sticking up cameras that are going to zoom inside people’s cars photographing them, but that’s just me. It’s on the desk of the Privacy Commissioner. I’ve got no idea when he’s coming to some kind of conclusion on that, which appears to be like the price and cost of all this – still a bit vague. “Waka Kotahi refuses to specify the total cost of the camera system and new tolling system..” the article stated. So how is it decisions can be made without a price tag? This kind of approach worries me when you look at the record of how this Government tends to sprinkle money round the place like fairy dust, with no regard for whose actually paying that bill. It’s been reported the first phase alone, of even choosing the camera’s designs, has already cost “$21.6 million dollars, which is $10 million more than expected.” So is this just another scheme to ping people on the roads, without even a clear parameter yet on total cost or impacts to privacy laws, all under the banner of ‘safety’? The reason I’m increasingly exercised about what they’re doing to our roads and people in cars, is that it’s becoming apparent they’re just going to railroad through whatever they like in the name of climate, or safety, or whatever ideology they decide suits the narrative. And less and less are we provided with the opportunity for consultation or discussion on it. We are increasingly looking like pieces to be moved around on a Monopoly board, rather than democratic citizens with brains, voices, rights and valid views. Reshaping our streets, taking away carparks, adding speed humps and walkways and cycleways may be all well and good, but surely you have to consult on it first. The more they take away consultation, the fewer people they canvas on this stuff, the more autocratic they look, which is a worry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour's special caucus meeting to decide the fate of MP Dr Gaurav Sharma will be held this afternoon. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed yesterday Labour's caucus would meet this week to discuss the fallout of Sharma's public allegations of bullying within the party against specific MPs. The meeting will be held at 2.30pm today over Zoom, given MPs are currently spread out across the country during recess. Ardern will hold a press conference following the meeting at about 4pm. The NZ Herald has reported it is almost certain Sharma will face a vote to suspend or expel him from Labour's caucus for his repeated salvoes at the party. Just prior to Ardern's post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, Sharma published his latest Facebook post concerning allegations of bullying by Labour's former chief whip, Kieran McAnulty, among others. He also attached screenshots of messages allegedly from other MPs who he claimed had also been bullied. Sharma's chances of escaping a vote appeared bleak unless he backed down: three senior MPs told the Herald his fate would depend on his own actions and ability to convince caucus that he could still be trusted. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during the post-Cabinet press conference yesterday. Photo / Mark Mitchell One MP said if Sharma stopped his public allegations and exhibited "humility" that it could get him another chance, but Sharma's ongoing Facebook posts and public statements made that difficult. "It's difficult to see how anyone would have the sort of trust you need in a team with behaviour like that," one said. Another MP said: "There's always a way back." Thus far, no other MP has publicly backed Sharma's claims – but those MPs spoken to did support Kieran McAnulty, who Sharma accused of bullying him when he was a whip. Labour's ruling council has a separate process to investigate and decide whether or not to expel Sharma from the wider party. President Claire Szabo and general secretary Rob Salmond both declined to comment. The party has a code of conduct which covers both party members and MPs, and grounds for disciplinary action for serious misconduct include bringing the party into disrepute. Labour's former chief whip and MP for Wairarapa Kieran McAnulty. Photo / Supplied It is rarely invoked: the last MP to be kicked out of caucus and the party was Chris Carter in 2010 for undermining then leader Phil Goff. If expelled, Sharma will remain the MP for Hamilton West unless he resigned from Parliament or the party invoked the provisions of the waka jumping legislation to try to force him out. The situation was sparked by Sharma being told by the party whips that he could not hire further staff after complaints about him by staff – the NZ Herald understands that was triggered after at least three staffers voiced concerns while working for him or when they quit. Ardern has confirmed there were multiple complaints about him by staff, but he had not taken well to attempts to give him more training and management support. The staffing freeze was lifted at a meeting on Thursday – but since then Sharma has made repeated statements alleging bullying by the party whips and claiming Labour had refused to investigate his side of the story by looking into his own claims or whether claims by staffers against him were valid. - Adam Pearse, NZ HeraldSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the Government seeming to be spending money elsewhere, they've given early childhood teachers the rough end of the stick. It's come out that the Government reduced pay parity funding for ECE teachers in the May budget, to keep it's education spending within agreed limits. It also scaled-back subsidy increases for education providers. Chief executive of the Early Childhood Council Simon Laube joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cameras hidden around Auckland by a government agency have recorded the better part of 1000 drivers per day unlawfully using their phones behind the wheel, the Herald can reveal. The cameras were installed at three secret spots by Waka Kotahi (NZ Transport Agency) as part of a six-month safety trial. Police are not involved in the trial and the findings will not lead to enforcement action or warning letters, the agency said. The findings for the first weeks of the trial, obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act, revealed the shocking extent of illegal phone use - including texting - while driving in the Super City. Last year, the total number of infringement notices issued by police for illegal use of mobile phones while driving was 40,976 nationally. But the Waka Kotahi trial data shows there were 44,358 mobile phone use offences detected from May 24 to July 16 this year in Auckland alone, from a total of 3,662,024 vehicles travelling past the camera sites. That works out as an average of 836 per day or 1.2 per cent of all cars. A subsequent statement from Waka Kotahi following the Official Information release said a total of 50,333 "potential mobile phone use offences" were detected in the first two months, representing 1.14 per cent of the 4.4 million vehicles that travelled past the cameras. On July 23, a function of the cameras allowing them to detect people not wearing seat belts was switched on. Initial seat belt data will be available next month, the statement said. Waka Kotahi land transport director Kane Patena said the purpose of the trial was both to test the camera technology to ensure it was capable and to understand the scale of illegal phone use and seatbelt violations. "We know that driver distraction is a contributing factor in nearly 8 per cent of all crashes where someone is killed, and approximately 90 people a year are killed on our roads because they didn't wear a seatbelt," he said. "However, the scale of actual distracted driving and seatbelt non-compliance, in general, is mostly anecdotal." Patena said officials would undertake a full analysis at the end of the six-month trial. "We are only two months into the trial, and no detailed analysis has been completed on the raw data. Decisions on the future use of this technology will be made following the completion of the trial and a detailed analysis of the results." The statement from Waka Kotahi said that to protect people's privacy, drivers' and passengers' faces are not included in any stored image and number plates are automatically blurred. Images, where no phone or seat belt offence is captured, are deleted "within minutes", the statement said. Pictures showing an office are deleted within two days, Waka Kotahi said. AA motoring affairs policy director Martin Glynn said the rate of texting drivers caught by the cameras still seemed low given the number of cars that passed the sites. Glynn said the AA supported bigger fines for texting drivers as a way to improve safety on the roads. In New Zealand, the penalty for using your phone behind the wheel is $150 and 20 demerit points. "They're very, very low by international standards," Glynn said. In Queensland, drivers can be fined $1078 AUD. Statistics released last month show deaths on New Zealand's roads are set to rise again. The past two years saw lower tolls largely thought to be due to Covid-19 restrictions. The figures, which were released alongside the Road to Zero Annual Monitoring Report 2021, showed the number of people dying on our roads is currently on track to be about 350-360. According to the Ministry of Transport website, the provisional death toll as of yesterday stands at 225. The total death toll on our roads in 2019 was 352. In 2019, the Government proposed its new road safety strategy called Road to Zero, with the aim of cutting road deaths by 40 per cent during the next decade. It followed Sweden's Vision Zero strategy which seeks to eliminate road deaths. - George Block, NZ HeraldSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I see the latest attempt by councils to control our lives and get us all out of our cars is to axe the school drop off. Actually it’s not fair to just lay the blame at the feet of councils; these powers are allegedly going to be given to them by the Minister of Transport Michael Wood. So it’s more anti-car government ideology creeping into our lives at every turn. You’ve probably already noticed the spate of extra speed humps, pedestrian crossings, increased sets of traffic lights and cycle ways squeezing our roads. But wait, there’s more. The Minster wants councils to ‘restrict traffic outside schools to encourage parents and children to walk and cycle’. As if that will work. The same way getting us all on buses and bikes haven’t worked. The government claims it will improve exercise safety. I say it will just add to more congestion. You tell me how many parents, in the middle of a wet winter, with kids battling all kinds of winter ills and chills, how many of them are going to suddenly pop all those kids on a bike – with all their bags, in teaming rain, to cycle to school? They can put in as many cycle ways as they like, do you see any more people on bikes? Me neither. Is the Government going to ensure the buses that get cancelled or don’t turn up or run woefully late are all suddenly front and centre and on time so all these children can get to school punctually? Didn’t think so either. It’s all theory no reality. The worst part of this plan is the government wants to give the council this power to ‘reshape our streets’ without consultation. Sorry? I thought we lived in a democracy? Turns out we don’t. Dictators will dictate how the streets look, how your child gets to school, and where your car can drive on the roads. So clearing cars from school gates – as theoretically climate friendly as that may be, and as pretty as the planter boxes they’ll put in the way so we can’t drive near the school may look, I still don’t see how you’re doing any more than just pushing the traffic further up the road. You can’t force people out of their cars. You can’t force kids onto bikes. You can’t make people struggling with a cost of living crisis, buy bikes for all their children or buy bus tickets for them all, if they’re used to taking 3 kids to school in one car on one trip at one price. It’s madness. Carving up streets, removing carparks, installing speed bumps and cycleways, has become an obsession with this Government. They want to unilaterally change the way families operate, mess with their logistics, run a reward system for people who can afford public transport, and people who can afford bikes. Not to mention all the scooters and skateboards this will make way for, which in my humble opinion will probably cause more accidents and harm to kids than cars at school gates do. All this so they can ‘help meet the country's climate change emission reduction targets’. Punishing parents in cars and school students, to fulfil government pipe dreams and ideology, is about as crazy as a cycle lane over the Harbour Bridge. But knowing this lot, that won’t stop them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All eyes are on the Labour Party with bullying accusations against MPs. Hamilton West MP Gaurav Sharma has accused party whips and the Parliamentary Service of bullying. But Sharma himself has also been accused of bad behaviour by previous staff. A senior staffer has also made allegations against first term Tukituki MP Anna Lorck. Former Labour Party staffer Shane Te Pou told Kate Hawkesby from what he can see, whips handled Sharma appropriately. He says Sharma had a high turnover of staff, so the party put a staffing freeze in place and tried to provide support. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A grim milestone for Afghanistan; today marks one year since the Taliban's takeover. A year on, a new World Vision report paints a dire picture with the country's children facing starvation, forced child marriage and child labour. World Vision Afghanistan National Director Asuntha Charles told Kate Hawkesby the situation on the ground is changing day by day. She's concerned people no longer care. With crises increasing globally, she says people are forgetting about Afghanistan, but the crisis is not yet over. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I see the latest outburst of thuggery from our youth happened at a Palmerston North shopping mall. 30 teens ‘rampaged through it’, stealing, smashing things, throwing glass at staff, kicking them. Here’s the rub: they came back the next day bold as brass to skite about their performance and mock staff they'd abused. Understandably, businesses are fearful. As well as this group’s destructive spree through the place where they also threw chairs, they assaulted a young worker while other offenders cheered on. Police took 20 minutes to arrive apparently, despite the station being two minutes from the mall, and by then a bunch of the teens had escaped, they only managed to round up two girls. But this gang of thugs are relentless, they carry BB guns and knives according to mall businesses, and they don’t fear police. I tell you who is living in fear though, retailers. A contact recently told me a well-known jewellery chain in this country is struggling to get staff to work there anymore given the recent spate of attacks on jewellery shops. We have a youth crime wave that is now seriously out of control and shows no signs of abating. And it’s no longer just an Auckland problem. My Christchurch-based sister was asking me the other day how I can stand living in Auckland with so much violence around the city. Not just our CBD but through the suburbs too. She’d heard about the six ram raids in one night and the brutal street brawl between rival teen gangs, she said Auckland didn’t sound appealing at all. And that’s a worry too isn’t it? What all this does to our reputation if we’re not seen as a safe country anymore. And I just wonder if we’re all a bit punch drunk by so much of this that we’ve become a bit too immune to it all. For the people at the forefront of this though – can you imagine? Their livelihoods are being crushed here, as well as their spirits. And having a government say they’re going to get on top of it – then nothing happens must be as soul destroying as it is frustrating. The PM was interviewed recently about ram raiders and the lack of consequences for them and she 'rejected that'. Are we surprised she rejects anything anymore? It’s so predictable it’s laughable, but she said that the police and Government are taking youth crime seriously. She said they want to stop young people entering a life of crime, and that ‘a group of ministers’ were all looking at what’s contributing to young people choosing crime. But what about consequences? The PM couldn’t say what the consequences were, she just rejected that there were none. Police on the ground say kids are bored, that lockdowns didn’t help, and that young people feel they’ve got nothing to lose. Many of them are repeat offenders; they get some kind of notoriety out of it. I would’ve thought the most obvious place to go looking for the clues would be asking young people themselves. A group of teenagers recently said they do it because they get away with it. They do it because they can. They know the cops won’t chase them. So I would have thought that’s your answer. While departments and ministers and politicians are all hunting for the why’s and how’s of these kids offending, the kids are just getting out there doing it knowing they can. We should be demanding more of government ministers than just letting them say they’re looking into it. Or in the PM’s case, that she rejects the premise of the question.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Surprise about scathing bullying allegations from a back-bench Labour MP. Gaurav Sharma has hit out at bullying between MPs and from parties towards MPs.. He says it's facilitated and promoted by the Prime Minister's Office, the Parliamentary Service, party leaders' offices and party whips' offices. Newstalk ZB Deputy Political Editor Jason Walls told Kate Hawkesby it's rare to see an MP break ranks like this. He says for an MP to call out their party in such a public way is extraordinary. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There will be a lot of nervous rugby fans heading into this weekend. The All Blacks have their redemption test match against the Dpringboks on Sunday morning. But all week, there has been an enormous amount of scrutiny and criticism of the team. Most of it is directed at coach Ian Foster, with pundits warning this could his last match. Sports psychologist Gary Hermansson joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss the impact this criticism may have. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Changing university terms may not address the tourism worker shortage, but it could help fill other gaps. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash has suggested moving the university year by six weeks so more students can work in tourism and hospitality over summer. It follows the release of a new plan, aimed at boosting the sectors' workforce. Tourism Export Council Chief Executive Lynda Keene told Kate Hawkesby many tourism businesses need workers with particular qualifications, but she isn't opposed to the idea. She says for industries like horticulture, the idea could be very helpful. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Although we’re crying out for teachers, I don’t think we’re doing ourselves any favours. Well, certainly not the Teachers Complaints Committee and the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal. Stuff had a story yesterday about a relief teacher at Mt Maunganui College, who objected to two ten year olds in his class sharing headphones listening to music from a cell phone, and drumming on the table, refusing to stop apparently. The teacher tried unsuccessfully to take the phone away, so removed an ear bud from one of the students instead. Cue the hanging offence. This, the committees from on high decreed, was an act of ‘serious misconduct’ and one that could “adversely affect the students wellbeing..” Now I don’t know if you’ve been in a school lately but there is some serious attitude going on inside many classrooms, and some pretty reprehensible behaviour, much of it stemming from a lack of any respect for authority. So I can understand this teacher’s frustration. These days you’re expected to be not just teacher but also social services manager, wellbeing overseer, and part time parent, yet god forbid you try to discipline your students. The grievous actions of this relief teacher in trying to get a couple of students to pay attention in his class, was labelled by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal as.. “actions [that] could bring the teaching profession into disrepute.” Fighting this through an appeals process, which he lost, has cost this teacher $55,000 so far and he says it could yet cost him another $20,000. He’s been censured, his teaching registration’s now lapsed and he’s decided to just retire. He said the whole process has been ‘farcical.’ He was quoted saying his advice to other teachers would be to .. ‘not, under any circumstances, feel any responsibility for the welfare of your students, because it will cost you big time.’ And therein lies the rub for teachers. You’re expected to be compassionate, holistic; all round guardians for these students, yet at the same time don’t even think about disciplining them or trying to set a boundary. In this case all the teacher was after was a bit of attention in his class, I assume so that some learning could take place, but unfortunately, the students right to listen to music instead of doing maths, appears more important. That kind of logic is so topsy turvy I shudder to think how hard it must be for teachers, it’s no wonder youth crime is at an all-time high. If kids know they can get away with disrespectful behaviour then you’ve lost the battle before it even starts. They’re not listening. This teacher said he was doing his ‘best to control some of the most unruly behaviour’ he’d ‘witnessed in his 40 years as a teacher.’ He was reported saying he'd ‘never been abused like that in [his] life.’ Which speaks to the state of young people these days, but also to the current climate of pandering to the offenders not the victim. The fact a teacher is getting abused at all, is something we should be disgusted by, but we’re not, sadly we’re barely surprised. But the fact a Disciplinary Tribunal then decides a student’s wellbeing may be ‘adversely affected‘ by having an ear bud flicked out of his ear, shows how far down the road we’ve gone on promoting an inflated sense of entitlement among young people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, Sam Uffindell has now been stood down from caucus while the National party investigates some new allegations that have come to light from when Uffindell was a uni student. He's been accused of banging on the bedroom door of a female flatmate in 2003, screaming obscenities, she claims he was a bully. The former flatmate says she lived with Uffindell and three other students for several months in Dunedin in 2003, she says he was verbally aggressive. She says he excessively used alcohol and drugs, and that she didn't feel safe. She eventually moved out, her Dad corroborates her story. And there were other details reported like the flat had no furniture in it, handles had been broken off doors etc. That part of the story I'm afraid is probably to this day the state of many Otago Uni student flats, if not worse. And you could mount an argument that that's flatting culture in a student town like Otago - students sitting around drinking, smoking weed, yelling obscenities, trashing flats. Doesn't make it right, I'm not defending it, but having had and continuing to have many family members through the flatting scene in Dunedin, that part's not that shocking. It's a problem with Otago flatting culture and student party lifestyle and that's another story for another day. This incident and allegation is what counts and how this woman was made to feel. She says she was scared. She's clearly traumatised by it. Uffindell has responded to the allegations by saying he did engage in a 'student lifestyle' but that he rejects any accusation that he engaged in behaviour that was intimidatory or bullying. He says that simply did not happen. So it's his word against hers, hence a QC's now been hired to look into it independently, and in the interim, he steps aside. The first thing that comes to mind for me here is that I believe Uffindell when he says he's not now the person he was back then, he sounds back then like a thug and a bully and frankly an idiot. I wouldn't have wanted a bar of it either if I was his flatmate. But he does seem changed these days, and genuinely remorseful in the case of the Kings College incident, I mean he grew up obviously, and tried to make amends by way of an apology. He has also in the past 24 hours said in interviews that there's nothing else - he was asked directly if there was anything else in his background that could come to light now, any other incidents of bullying, and he said no. He denies these Otago Uni flat accusations, says it simply didn't happen. He says a number of flatmates fell out in the second year of uni and two of the flatmates left midway through the year. So he's either a lying bully with a history of aggressive behaviour, or he's telling the truth. The QC will decide. In the interim, and more importantly what are the optics of this, what will the public make of it, the people of Tauranga, and National supporters? It is a giant unwelcome distraction which does the party no favours. And it actually points to a bigger issue within National of how seriously they take candidate selection, how thoroughly they're vetting people, and how much brainpower they're applying to the process. No matter which way it goes for Sam Uffindell, that's the bigger problem for National.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerns from National about the prospect of driving fines being linked to a person's income. The Ministry of Transport is giving the Government advice on potential changes to the system of fines, which have been largely unchanged for the past two decades. Possible options include a move towards income-based fines, and greater use of demerit points. National Party Transport spokesperson Simeon Brown told Kate Hawkesby he'd be concerned if ministry officials are recommending income-based fines. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The relationship between gun owners and the Government is continuing to sour. A new law passed by Parliament overnight will mean anyone with a serious conviction may be banned from having a gun or being in places where guns are likely to be for ten years.Council of Licensed Firearms Owners Chairman Michael Dowling says he's concerned about how those places will be defined. He told Kate Hawkesby gun owners feel they're being ignored during each change to gun law. Dowling says they've lost trust and confidence in Police and the Government. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Small businesses are still finding it hard to fill vacancies. A snapshot from MYOB shows 59 percent of SMEs have increased their wages, but a third are still struggling to find workers. Questions are being asked as to who fills the gaps. Doug Jarvis owns two butchers stores in Tauranga, and is having to work seven days a week, just to keep things operating. Doug joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Qantas has asked corporate executives to work as baggage handlers after getting itself in a pickle during the pandemic. The airline asked senior executives and managers to join a new contingency programme working as handlers up to five days a week for three months, overseas media reported. The Australian newspaper said Qantas bosses had previously worked at airports in peak times, but the new programme showed how severe worker shortages now were. The newspaper said the airline's head of operations wanted at least 100 volunteers to work at Sydney and Melbourne airports. Jobs would reportedly include loading and unloading bags as well as driving vehicles to move luggage around airports. Late last month, Qantas domestic and international chief executive Andrew David admitted the airline was struggling in some areas. "Much has been said about Qantas in the last few months. Some of it's fair, as we're absolutely not delivering the service that our customers expect, but some of it fails to take into consideration what's happening across the industry here and around the world." He added: "Some have pointed to Qantas's decision to outsource ground handling as a key reason the restart has been hard. This is not true." David said Qantas finished its ground handling changes before Easter 2021 when domestic travel was back to almost 100 per cent. He added: "The pandemic was very tough on aviation. Economically, most airlines were on their knees. Early in the pandemic we were 11 weeks from bankruptcy and have since posted $6 billion in losses and over $24 billion in lost revenue." The labour market this year has been tight in Australia and New Zealand, with low unemployment in many sectors. A Qantas spokesman told The Australian: "We've been clear that our operational performance has not been meeting our customers' expectations or the standards that we expect of ourselves."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government says National is oversimplifying complex issues, with its new plan to tackle youth unemployment. National has unveiled a policy to get under 25s off the Jobseeker benefit and into employment.It includes incentives for people to take up jobs -- and sanctions such as money management or benefit reductions for those who don't take part. Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni told Kate Hawkesby the Government's policies are working, and National's policy won't. She says National is trying to demonise young people as if they don't want to work, when the vast majority do and just need some support. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine being Ian Foster right now. Worse than being the most hated politician, is being an under fire AB’s coach surely. We seem to be more aggressively passionate about rugby in this country than anything else. Not even the way the country is run, apparently compares to how the AB’s perform, in our eyes. So why are we so harsh? Why are we so invested in how a sports team performs? Is it because for so long our identity as a nation was wrapped up in having a strong rugby team? Did we idolise them and put them on a platform so early on that they became too high on the pedestal. You know how the saying goes – the higher up you are, the further you have to fall. It’s who gets the bulk of the blame I’m interested in though. Everything seems to be falling squarely on the coach’s shoulders. NZRU management and culture took a bit of heat for a while there with a spotlight on how things are being run top down. Players always take a bit of heat if they’ve committed some egregious sin like not kicking or passing the ball properly. But the weight of the country’s anger and disappointment seems to be largely sheeted towards coach Ian Foster. Former coach Steven Hansen recently spoke out about the attacks on Foster, he described social media reactions to him as, "cruel, nasty, malicious, spiteful, vicious, straight out bullying..". And he wasn’t just referring to social media but mainstream media journalists too. The treatment has been savage, so what’s going on with us that there’s such a pile on when we lose rugby games? We tolerate a lot of stuff in this country, but not losing rugby obviously. Which makes the job of coach surely unappealing at this stage, at a time when there’re so many questions about how rugby’s being run. Questions over culture, questions over the structure and support offered by the NZRU. If I was Scott Robertson I’d be having a good long hard think about whether this is something you really want to take on right now. And for the players, it must be so tough for them to feel confident right now, or mentally robust, in the face of such heat. We surely don’t do ourselves any favours as a country when we turn on them and want them lynched. How is that supposed to make them able to perform any better when all of their fan base and supporters suddenly ditch them? I can’t work out if this is just New Zealand’s ugly tall poppy syndrome at play, or whether this level of vitriol is unique to rugby because we feel we have some kind of ownership of the game. Like we all know better or could do better? The armchair pundit is surely the worst kind; it’s pretty easy to sit at home and criticise when you’re not the one in the public eye, in the arena, slugging it out in real time. Yet our collective outrage seems to fuel a truck load of pressure right to the athletes and coach’s feet. Pressure that many of us may not be able to withstand, so why are we so quick to dish it out?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your weekly grocery shop isn't likely to get cheaper any time soon. New analysis from Infometrics and Foodstuffs shows the prices supplies charge supermarkets has increased nearly eight-percent in the past year. The increases are being passed on to consumers. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Kate Hawkesby the increase follows minimal rises over previous years. He says throughout 2019 and 2020 supplier cost changes were minimal, but they've now been accelerating since April 2021, and it shows the pressure on suppliers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All Blacks play their first test in South Africa since 2018 this weekend. It means a wake up time of 3am Sunday morning, you could just roll over in bed and flick the radio on, there will be live commentary on ZB. The stakes are very high; Ian Foster is facing big pressure to make up for the series loss against Ireland. South Africa sports correspondent Sias du Plessis joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another wave of supply chain disruptions is predicted this coming summer, just as exports are due to peak. Massey University’s mid-year risk outlook highlights a bunch of factors converging. Ant Boyles chairs the New Zealand Council of Cargo Owners and joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Regulatory changes may be needed to bring more competition to the building supplies sector. A Commerce Commission draft report into the building product sector has found competition in the market isn't working as well as it should be. The watchdog has found it's too difficult to get innovative products to market, and established players are blocking land use by their competitors. Building Industry Federation Chief Executive Julian Leys told Tim Dower a national products register with information about each product could be one piece of the puzzle. He says access to information improves decision making, will make it easier for new products to enter the market, and will increase competition. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sighs of relief in some quarters after the Commerce Commission report on building supplies came out. ComCom says competition isn't working as well as it could in the sector and a lot of people in the industry said…er...tell us something we didn't know. ComCom also raised the issue of rebates; big volume buyers get a better discount, but is there anything too surprising about that? If you were a big buyer, you'd expect a better price too wouldn't you? There are some comments about restrictive land covenants and exclusive leases, these sound a lot like what we heard in the supermarket report. But overall, the message from this lengthy probe seems to be, you know what, there's nothing much to see here. So has the ComCom missed the glaringly obvious, or are there reasons we pay so much more for building stuff than the Aussies do? People often take pot shots at the bigger companies, with the supermarkets it seems justified as some of their conduct has been appalling. But is it the same in construction? If so, this report hasn't found it. And surely the very nature of a business is that it wants to grow, either by expanding into new markets, or exporting, or coming up with new products, or buying smaller competitors. Funnily enough, it was only last week that ComCom OK'd Fletcher buying up another half a dozen building products stores, and a frame and truss manufacturing plant. So it's obviously not concerned about a large company getting larger. Perhaps the real problems in construction have more to do with incompetent government departments and unwieldy regulations. We've seen it with the Gib crisis; it's not the fault of the few giants dominating that market. It's more about the regulators making it nearly impossible for new competitors to get a foothold. Regulators who, of course, have a monopoly on rule-making. Perhaps ComCom could achieve more if it looked at the competence, or lack of it, in some of those office towers in Wellington.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the price of food the way it is, lest we forget we are in a ‘cost of living crisis’, I have become hyper-alert at the supermarket these days in terms of what I’m paying. And it seems I’m not the only one. Headlines these days say shoppers are fed up and looking to go elsewhere than a supermarket. It used to be, back in the good old days, that the supermarket was the best deal for food. You’d be mad to buy cereal or butter at the local dairy because it was smaller scale so sold at a premium, you could guarantee back then it would always be the more expensive option. You’d also be less likely to get the freshest products in terms of use by dates. But these days I think that may have changed. Not on everything, but on some things. When a block of butter the other day turned out to be four dollars cheaper at The Warehouse than it was at Countdown, it was apparent the gap’s now enormous. But here’s the thing, who has got time to drive round all these places comparing prices? For all the people who say it’s up to the consumer to shop around, have you been a consumer lately? It’s exhausting. We don’t have hours and hours in the day to endlessly trawl supermarkets, dairies or The Warehouse looking for the cheapest price. Most shoppers going to get groceries have limited time, they’re sticking to their local hood for various reasons including the price of petrol, so they’re not driving all over the place to check butter prices. That’s what your local supermarket is banking on of course, it’s preying on our desire for convenience, but to get a step ahead of them is hard work on our part. So it behoves the supermarkets to do better by us doesn't it? Their success was artificially inflated by the Government during lockdowns when they decreed from on high that supermarkets could be the only places to open. And that was a travesty for the local fruit and vege shops, bakeries and butchers, but I’ve decided they’re the best places to shop. You can guarantee you get the freshest produce, way fresher than a supermarket, you get the personable interaction of others in your community, and you’re supporting small, locally-run businesses. The new moves by the Government to monitor supermarkets, off the back of that Commerce Commission report don’t come into effect until next year, so if you think supermarkets are already responding, you can think again. They’re still at it, and they know they’ve got us over a barrel when it comes to convenience. I wonder how many of us who planted vege gardens during lockdown still have them going? How many who took up baking their own bread are still doing that? I mean when push came to shove we sure did get creative with food provisioning, but back to normality means back to our old habits. And I don’t know that’s necessarily a good thing? Not if we’re getting fleeced at the checkout, surely? So I’m actively trying to spend less time in supermarkets these days, shop smaller and locally more often, and buy in season. It doesn’t mean I’ve gone as far as baking my own bread, but I’m not ruling it out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some coastal communities are now facing the very real prospect of having to desert their homes due to climate change. The Government has released its first national strategy for adaptation. It includes plans for the likely retreat of entire communities or towns affected by sea level rise. GNS Science Environment and Climate Research Lead Richard Levy told Kate Hawkesby some people will simply have to pack up and move on. He says insurance companies are going to have to do what's called "insurance retreat", where some places may become uninsurable, forcing people to leave. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Council of Trade Unions says more needs to be done to protect low income workers. The latest wage figures show inflation has increased, but the union says pay isn't being matched. Meanwhile, despite forecasts, unemployment has slightly risen. Union economist Craig Renney joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nancy Pelosi's controversial trip to Taiwan could have ramifications for the whole world, for a long time to come. The US House Speaker has wrapped up her visit to Taipei, where she expressed solidarity with the Taiwanese government. China has condemned the trip, calling it a violation of China's sovereignty under the guise of democracy. SAIS China Global Research Centre director Andrew Mertha told Kate Hawkesby it could have flow-on effects for international relations around the world. He says the US and China are the only two world powers that can come together to solve certain bilateral and multilateral international issues. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Families who were split up by the borders being closed, may now be inflating a surge visa numbers. Immigration stats show a 73 percent increase in visitors on pre-Covid figures. Most are either students or tourists. But, Into NZ Immigration Advisor Katy Armstrong told Kate Hawkesby many will be family members who've recently been able to apply to come into the country. She says they had to wait till July 31, to apply for their spouses to come via the visitor visa category. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m pleased midwives are asking for justification of the ongoing Covid vaccine mandate, surely we need to let it go by now. Surely it’s not even relevant anymore, in a world where we are learning to live with Covid, where we are gaining herd immunity anyway, and where the evolution of the virus is such that keeping up with never ending variants and relevant vaccines is going to become impossible to patrol. Let’s be honest, how many of us are going to keep up with all the new vaccines that may be available over time against all the new evolving variants? How many of us are boosted and going to get re boosted and re boosted and how do you keep tabs on that and enforce that without becoming an all-controlling, micro managing, nanny state? Surely we are at a point now with such desperation in our health workforce that we have to be more realistic? And when it comes down to it, would you rather have babies delivered safely and new mothers cared for? Or, stressed and alone because there just isn’t a midwife available? It’s been reported that the College of Midwives has been asking for a review of the mandates for a while. They apparently first wrote to Ministers back in May, asking for a ‘robust review’ into evidence supporting mandating midwives, "given the critical nature of the midwifery workforce shortages". Their logic is sound and hard to argue with. If they’re daily RAT testing, and they’ve got PPE, then what’s the problem? You weigh that up against the alternative; no midwives or a glaring lack of them, then it’s a no brainer surely. Frustratingly, the Government replied to this plea in June with a standard ‘thanks for your letter’ type response, and just reiterating that they regularly review Covid response settings. Do they though? Or is that just the ideology behind it? Oh we should keep looking at this, when was the last time they looked at the traffic light system? When did they think about a mask review? What’s their idea of ‘regular’ reviews really? But I think when you’ve got even a vaccinologist on board, surely you’re onto something? University of Auckland vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris even said "the conversation has definitely changed" and it was "very reasonable" to review evidence for having mandates. So we either value quality maternity care or we don’t, I guess is what it boils down to. And in a country struggling so desperately with no health workforce surely it behoves us to have all options on the table, including the option of an unvaxxed midwife. What would you rather have? An unvaxxed midwife, or no midwife at all? I think it’s naïve and backward thinking of the Government not to engage in this with midwives, but not just them, with many aspects of the health workforce. Surely it’s time we had another look at how relevant mandates really are now, and surely other sectors of the health workforce put pressure on here too. Because for a government that claims to be ‘regularly reviewing’ all this, it doesn’t really feel like it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There has been overseas news with the US killing the leader of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri. It comes ten years following the killing of the group's founder Osama bin Laden. Zawahiri helped coordinate the 9/11 attacks and was known as bin Laden’s right hand man. But now questions are being raised about whether the Taliban gave sanctuary to the al Qaeda leader. Jason Campbell is the former country director for Afghanistan in the office of Secretary of Defence for Policy and he joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I mentioned yesterday, with the return of cruise ships to our now fully open border, who’d be game enough to get on a cruise? The horror of those ships stuck like floating prisons when in the early days of Covid people got stuck on them unable to move. I thought that might put people off for life. But, apparently not. I was inundated with messages from people already back out cruising, not only that, they’re loving it. And so far so good, touch wood. It’s been drama free. I mean there was that cruise ship Coral Princess, last month in Brisbane, which got hit with a Covid outbreak. They had to offer up refunds to passengers after the ship was held in Sydney while the two thousand odd passengers had to choose whether to disembark, while positive cases had to isolate on board. Cruise aborted. And surely after two years of a pandemic and no cruising, that’s just the worst luck ever. I’m not sure any of those passengers would be back. But the people that are into it, love it, they’re devout about it. I thought it was largely for old people, but then my cousin whose in her 40’s has just done one, she loved it. My parents are hard core cruisers, the first thing they booked post-pandemic was a cruise. It didn’t bother them at all the thought of being tucked up at sea on a boat with thousands of other people, they weren’t remotely worried about Covid. This surprised me, because I can’t think of anything worse than a cruise ship being the place you end up getting it. So far so good though, touch wood again, they say temperatures are taken every morning, masks are worn on all forms of transport between destinations like tenders or buses, and no unvaxxed passengers are allowed on board. So far they’ve kept the cruise Covid-free. But on top of that, no one’s talking about Covid overseas anymore, which hopefully we're getting to the place of here, where it’s just not front of mind anymore. No one talks about Covid abroad because no one is thinking about Covid, in fact I was surprised they’re even bothering with masks, given most places overseas appeared to have ditched them. Which makes me wonder what cruise passengers here must be thinking this month, when they start disembarking and coming back into mask land. They’re quite possibly going to be bemused by it but find themselves having to comply with it when and if retailers or tourist operators remind them of our ‘Orange light’ rules. I wonder whether they find that cute and endearing, or just think we’re all nuts. Here’s the other thing about new international tourists off cruise ships arriving into our city wharf; is Auckland city ready? I’m just not sure a main street of for lease signs and homeless people is quite the welcome they’d be expecting? Boarded up shop fronts and graffiti? A lot of closed shops? I’m hoping their impending arrival has focused the mind of Queen Street retailers to rev it up a notch and throw out the welcome mat. I’m hoping enough tourists pour up that street to breathe new life into it, likewise into the hospo venues in the viaduct. They deserve it, they desperately need it. And I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed for big numbers that not only take the CBD off life support, but see it thriving again.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A nursing union says it would have liked to have been consulted in new Government efforts to plug gaps in the health system. The raft of efforts includes payments to entice former nurses back to work, and doubling the number of nurse practitioners being trained. Registration fees for incoming foreign nurses will also be covered, along with the induction period for overseas doctors. Nurses' Organisation President Anne Daniels told Kate Hawkesby they weren't party to the package. She says there's a few other things they would have liked to have added, but they can't do that unless they actually talk to the Minister. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.