Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

There has been some discussion this week about the Brain Drain, and how with the world opening up for Kiwis again, we could lose a lot of workers overseas. Employers are having to think of ways to make sure they don't lose their workers going on OEs. Randstad NZ thinks they have worked it out. They are giving staff the choice to work anywhere around the world, for up to four weeks a year and not lose any of their pay or leave. Randstad NZ's country director Katherine Swan joined Roman Travers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s unknown how many rentals are meeting healthy home standards. The Government has revealed it's not collecting data on how many homes are compliant. It's also not requiring properties be assessed by a third party to verify whether it meets the standards. Property Investors Federation Chief Executive Sharon Cullwick told Roman Travers she’s confident the noncompliant rentals are still being found. “There’s also a complaints area that tenants can complain about their house, they are capturing them, but they’re not keeping a detail.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Too little too late would be my assessment of yesterday's clear out of the protestors. And when I say clear out - there's still a few there, but the most obvious question is why on earth it took so long to get to this point? Surely what happened yesterday could’ve happened week one, before it grew, got infrastructure and spread around other cities. To let it get entrenched to the point where riot police with shields and pepper spray had to be called in to clear it out, is to have left it far too long. I wonder if Coster, in his quiet moments (of which there appear to be far too many), ponders the merits of faster action. By the time they’re plumbing showers into the city’s water mains, and setting up toilets and kitchens, it’s gone too far. But that first week, when all the rabid nutjobs were there, that was the time to go in. Nip it in the bud. It was an illegal protest so shut it down within 48 hours. Instead, they poured fuel on the fire - everything from Mallard's macarena and sprinklers, to Ardern's condemnation of them from her very high horse, to Coster's decision to stand back and do nothing- making Police look weak and ineffective. The cops we were hearing from were fed up, sick of sitting on the sideline when they could've been more active. The protest, fuelled by petty actions from politicians, and emboldened by Police's acceptance of their presence, not only grew but started to garner public sympathy - one poll showed 1 in 3 New Zealanders supported it. Mandates became a public debate the PM couldn't ignore, momentum kept building. Are we at all surprised it ended the way it did? Coster claimed he didn't want to turn the whole thing into a fight, but after all this time, how was it ever going to end any other way? The protestors were rarked up, they'd had tips offs Police were coming, they were bristling - and by the time cops got there - it was all on. In the end the fringe let the protest down, the crazies that joined in wrecking any chance of the peace and love brigade getting cut through. And that’s where the more moderate protestors lost the room. Instead of attacking the media and police for not telling their story correctly, they should’ve been dealing with the nutjobs themselves, extinguishing their presence and voice at the occupation. Instead - it got feral. Protestors were given the chance to leave, but many decided to riot instead. No common sense, law-abiding New Zealander, not even the ones mad about the mandates, would condone that sort of behaviour. And so, the protest undid itself, proved the PM's summation correct when she called them deplorable - a badly handled mismanaged shambles of a protest. A Police Commissioner too slow, too ponderous, too piece-meal. And a government who badly misread it and unwisely didn't follow their own favourite mantra of going hard and going early.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former rugby league star Manu Vatuvei has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison. This is for his role in a meth importation scheme. His defence lawyer says part of the issue is Manu struggled with adjusting from professional sport life, to a life post-rugby league? Questions are being raised as to whether there is enough support for sportspeople navigating a life post-retirement. Dr Lefaoali’i Dion Enari is a lecturer in sport leadership and recreation at AUT and he joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police have been maintaining a presence overnight, in case of further protests. But Alistair Boyce, owner of the Backbencher Gastropub in Wellington, told Kate Hawkesby there are no signs of any protesters in the area right now. “Can’t see any protesters, they’ll be lingering in the shadows if they’re anywhere. It was a pretty cold night in Wellington.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retailers are defending the cost of Rapid Antigen Tests. A Consumer New Zealand survey's found the price varies from $6.40 to $19 a test. Retail NZ spokesperson Aimie Hines told Kate Hawkesby some pharmacists bought them at a high price so have to charge $19 but says that's not a sustainable price. “I think what we will see across the board is between $6 to $12 max, that’s a pretty fair price, even with freight costs.” Aimie Hines says retailers managed to land stock within a week, rather than the usual three. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday I had a very strange experience, Facebook-related. A scammer is pretending to be me, commenting on my show page, as me, telling commenters that they’ve won a cash prize. Apparently, fake me is giving away $20,000 in cash prizes. All you need to do is give ‘fake me’ your credit card details. Trust me, if I had 20 thousand dollars to give way right now, it would be to Ukrainian refugees, not people on Facebook. So this fake Kate Hawkesby, which has pictures of me ripped off Google, is out there in the wild west of the internet trying to scam people. I only got clued into this when people started messaging me yesterday on Instagram telling me they were so excited to have been selected. I asked them to send me the link, and thus unravelled the fake news trickery that’s out there in my name. Here’s the really awful bit. Facebook won’t believe me that it’s a scam. My boss contacted our security team here at NZME, he contacted the digital people, he reported the fake account and the scam to Facebook itself and included proof of the real me page versus the fake me page. Seems like enough good evidence to me. But not for Zuckerberg. His Facebook bots or support team - whoever they may be – came back to us hours later declaring in all their wisdom, that upon investigating, they’d discovered that the scammer was in fact me. I kid you not. Facebook tells me there’s nothing to investigate because their insightful probing shows I am indeed the fake account. How is this possible? More to the point, how is it advertisers are happy to part with thousands if not millions of dollars to advertise on this platform – which can’t even patrol correctly what’s fake and what’s real? How could you ever trust Facebook? And why would brands want to align themselves with such a shoddy platform? Mainstream media like us have to be beyond reproach, scrupulous, jump through many regulated bureaucratic hoops for our advertisers. We have to be clean as a whistle. Yet, Facebook, it seems, can do what it wants. It can literally leave up a fake scam impersonating someone, attempting to rip people off, all because it can’t tell the difference between real and fake. How worrying is that? As I sit here now, fake me remains out there messaging people who comment on our show page, that they’ve won thousands of dollars. I spent a good chunk of yesterday messaging people back explaining sadly they'd not won anything. But I can understand their confusion, scammers are clever, the pictures are mine, the ZB logo is there, it’s got ripped off sponsor IDs stamped all over it.. it looks legit. In fact, when alleged winners are contacted by fake me, they’ve asked ‘is this for real?’ and the scammer has replied ‘yes it’s legit – you win!’. So, who really wins here? Not us as Facebook users, not Facebook because they lose credibility, not advertisers because who’d want to be part of this shambles. The only winner is the scammer – the fraud. Worst of all, Facebook’s approved it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russian forces are continuing their attack on Ukraine as international pressure mounts on the Kremlin. Ten people have been killed and another 35 wounded in a rocket strike on a government building and civic square in Kharkiv. A strike on a television building in Kiev has killed at least five people, and taken several TV stations off air. A 65-kilometre-long Russian military convoy is now less than 30 kilometres from the capital. Meanwhile, representatives of dozens of countries have walked out of a speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby the UK Government has set aside $440 million in humanitarian aid. “It’s now saying up to 200,000 Ukrainians could come to the UK as part of a scheme to help those fleeing the war.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From this morning any Kiwis coming home from Aussie do not need to self-isolate and no MIQ. But with the welcome mat opening for KIwis round the world, it also means we can leave New Zealand too. ANZ economists are warning about 20,000 Kiwis will move to Australia alone. With a large outflow of people, this is warned to increase our worker shortage and add demand to our labour market. Infometrics Senior Economist Brad Olsen joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

20 percent of Countdown staff are currently isolating - that's comes out to roughly 1000 workers. The two Auckland distribution centres are down to 50 percent staff, leading to bare shelves across grocery stores. Countdown says it's continuing to recruit temporary team members where it can. Ben Peterson, First Union retail organiser joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Race Relations Commissioner says Russians here have faced discrimination over the invasion into Ukraine. Meng Foon says told Kate Hawkesby one of the main reasons immigrants come here, is to find a better life and adhere to our values. “Unfortunately, there’s a few naughty people that have violated other people’s rights.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My brother had Covid last week. Omicron struck him and his whole family, save for one child. He was asymptomatic, bar a dry cough and a tickly throat. All of which he said under normal circumstances he would’ve gone to work with. It lasted 3 days, he said he wouldn’t even rank it in the top 10 of head colds. So, from where he sat, it wasn’t worth the fear and angst afforded it. I’m sure there are those gravely affected by it – those unvaxxed, or with underlying health conditions, or immune-compromised, or elderly or young children. But for the majority, it’s so low key the CDC in America don’t recommend more than a 5-day isolation period is necessary. So my brother’s view is that it’s not worth the fear, the social dislocation, the decimation of tourism, hospo and international education.He doesn’t see the need for the $80 billion debt blow out and human misery. The massive toll on mental health, and elective surgeries. He sees the condescending endless barrage of expensive overly researched slogans, made up graphics, and ever-changing frameworks and traffic lights as a waste of time. This Government's big on marketing, advertising, social media. It’s a government steeped in comms and marketing, but light on actual substance. A lot of ads, posters and billboards, but not enough ICU beds, health workforce manpower, PCR testing capability, RAT kit procurement and distribution. No amount of teddies in windows and ‘be kind’ motorway signs can make up for the fact that as ‘feel good’ as they wanted our response to look, it fell flat in real hard data. The beds, the tests, the RATS, the PPE, the staff. So now as we face the full brunt of our outbreak, what does the Government of this self-proclaimed world leading response do? They abdicate. The day my brother tested positive he was told he’d be notified by Public Health on what to do next, 5 days later still nothing. In fact, the day they finally called him to ‘contact trace’ was also the day the announcement came that contact tracing was being abandoned. So a late, and as it turns out wasted, phone call. What should the Government be doing here? Well firstly, accept (like every other country in the world) that Omicron is mild to moderate and has overrun our response plan. In line with that they need to make positive result isolation periods 5 days not 10. Remove all onerous scanning in requirements from businesses given there’s no contact tracing now anyway. Disband MIQ immediately, welcome back international visitors and attempt to rebuild our tourism, international education and hospitality sectors. Then we might be able to address the real issues we’re facing like increased cost of living, our debt to GDP, our emaciated labour market, low productivity, a failing education system, our mental health crisis, housing, the creeping co-governance by stealth to name a few.Oh and an added bonus – the protestors would go home. Surely that’s a win-win.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federated Farmers is welcoming the news of a free trade deal between New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The UK has agreed to phase out all tariffs on our exports, saving Kiwi exporters about 37-million dollars a year. It's also expected to boost our GDP by up to $1 billion. President Andrew Hoggard told Kate Hawkesby free trade deals are always a win for New Zealand. “We sign them and you expect some benefits and then we're usually blown away by how many benefits we do get.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Starting friday 11:59pm, vaccinated Kiwis from anywhere in the world will now be able to return with no self-isolation requirements. For those coming from Australia, that begins Wednesday 11:59pm. RATs will be needed before and after arrival, and on day 5. Cabinet is now looking at whether the remaining three steps of the five-step border reopening plan can also be bought forward. Grounded Kiwis spokesperson Alexandra Birt joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There has long been talk of government merging TVNZ and RNZ into a new public media entity. Cabinet is said to have finally made it's decision on the matter, and is expected to announce the merger will go ahead. Someone who has a keen interest in this is TVNZ's main competitor Discovery who owns TV3. Senior Vice President and General Manager of Discovery Australia and New Zealand Glen Kyle joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

These are awful times globally, aren’t they? I mean there have been darker periods in history, but for young people living through a pandemic and now witnessing what’s unfolding in Ukraine right now, awful.Horrific for all of us actually, not just young people. But we have record levels of anxiety amongst our young people in this country at the moment – exacerbated by the pandemic, and I do worry how much worse it’s going to get for them. Young people are seeing this war unfold in real-time, this is not black and white grainy footage from times gone by, they’re watching civilian videos on TikTok and across social media as people literally fight for their lives in front of them. A phone in their hand is broadcasting all the action live for them to witness. And without a wider context of history, or any real memory of conflicts like the Balkans, Crimea, Chechnya, they will be rightly worried and freaked out. Mainstream media puts its own narratives on what they’re witnessing, politicians do too, but confusion still abounds. There’s terror of a World War 3, which I don’t believe will be the case, but I can imagine how frightening it must be to hear, see and read that everywhere. Young people these days are used to hearing things from the horse’s mouth. they get their news from Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. So they’ll be glued to those sources — often bereft of any analysis — just scary war-torn pictures and stories raining down on their feeds. It’s a lot for them to digest off the back of two years of a pandemic and all the fear messaging that went with that.If you think about it, our young people are surrounded by fear these days. It’s hard to imagine them being able to be light of foot, optimistic, planning OE’s, relaxing with friends without a care in the world like we did at the same age. Many of them have missed landmark moments at school or University, unable to do the usual rites of passage like prizegivings, graduations, sports finals, Uni orientations. They’ve been masked up, mandated, vaccinated, sanitised and sent home. Usual pomp and ceremony curtailed. Stood down from school for lockdowns, restricted from sport, jobs lost or changed. Parents under stress or financial pressure. Grandparents isolated. And now they’re seeing division and protest across their own country, while also absorbing an all-out war in a far-flung one. I’m not arguing that young people in other decades didn’t go through worse, I’m just saying it hits different when it’s your own young people. And when it’s a digital generation who’re seeing it all unfold right in front of them, in full colour, the murky bloody desperate horrors of war.I feel for them, and I hope they’re able to build resilience, find gratitude for what they have here, and focus on that. The irony of Kiwis marching for freedom this past weekend, when you see what’s happening in Ukraine — I mean, it’s embarrassing.I hope despite all of this, we can keep perspective on just how lucky we actually are.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Colin de Grandhomme century and two vintage Neil Wagner wickets have given the Black Caps hope, but they'll still need to accomplish a rare feat for another test victory over South Africa.South Africa reached stumps on day three of the second test at Hagley Oval at 140-5, holding a lead of 211 runs as the Black Caps hunt for their first test series victory over the Proteas.While a crucial pair of Wagner wickets in the final session opened an avenue into the South African tail order, the visitors aren't far away from providing an imposing total.Just twice have New Zealand successfully chased a fourth-innings target of 230 or more in New Zealand, and there have only been five winning fourth-innings chases of more than 235 by any team in this country – none since 2003.That statistic doesn't tell the entire picture, as the 235 mark has been passed 25 times, 20 of them coming in draws or defeats, but it points to the old adage being true – fourth-innings chases, even those with feasible targets, are no walk in the park.That the Black Caps even have a sniff of victory is thanks to de Grandhomme, whose second test century brought New Zealand back into the match.De Grandhomme's unbeaten 120 was his highest test score, and could hardly have come at a more pivotal time, walking to the crease at 91-5 and heading back off having helped drag the Black Caps to 293.He was assisted by Daryl Mitchell, who made 60 in a partnership of 133 for the sixth wicket, but Mitchell was trapped lbw by Keshav Maharaj, who showed enough to indicate that his spin could be dangerous in the final innings.De Grandhomme however largely navigated the spin well, playing a patient game in the 90s before cutting Maharaj behind point for three to casually bring up his century off 138 balls.Having brought up his 50 from 36 balls, he had displayed the savvy in the following 102 deliveries to suggest an even larger score was in the offing, but the big man was let down by the tail order.Kyle Jamieson (13 off 30 balls) and Tim Southee (five off eight) both fell swiping at short balls, and while Wagner (21 off 18) had some fun smacking Maharaj and Marco Jansen in revenge for their ninth-wicket partnership in the first innings, he and Matt Henry fell in consecutive balls to Kagiso Rabada to leave de Grandhomme stranded.From 224-5, the Black Caps would have been disappointed in 293 all out, with Rabada finishing with 5-60 and Jansen 4-98 as the visitors took a vital lead of 71.It was a lead than ensured even a middling second-innings effort would still leave New Zealand with a challenging chase, and middling would be a fair descriptor for South Africa's effort with the bat.By tea, they had slumped to 42-3, with Southee and Henry knocking over the top order and ensuring the Black Caps wouldn't be batted out of the test.Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma provided resistance, with the vocal van der Dussen getting chippy with the equally fiery Wagner in a tense battle.Van der Dussen was content to attack Wagner's trademark short ball – a tactic that carried some risk for New Zealand, with a few lofty blows seeing runs flow and South Africa rapidly increase their lead.The already riled-up Wagner was even redder when de Grandhomme shelled a straightforward chance at square leg to remove van der Dussen, but with his fielders letting him down, Wagner did it himself, luring the batsman into a false shot and taking the return catch.That ended a 65-run stand, and 11 runs later Wagner had the other big scalp – Bavuma driving straight to short cover to expose the start of South Africa's tail.Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder – both players under pressure for their place in the team – stuck together for 26 valuable runs before stumps, and more resistance tomorrow morning will leave the Black Caps with a tall order in their quest to write history.- by Niall Anderson, NZ...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sitting with her teenage daughter in a hotel foyer in northern Romania, 38-year-old Viktoriya Smishchkyk breaks down in tears as she recounts her departure from Ukraine.“I could hear the sound of the fighting outside, it was very scary,” Smishchkyk, who is from Vinnitsya in central Ukraine, told The Associated Press from a hotel that is offering free accommodation to refugees.“We left all our belongings behind, but they are material things — less important than the lives of our children,” she said.Smishchkyk and her daughter are among hundreds of thousands of people who have fled Ukraine since Russian launched its attack on Thursday. The U.N. refugee agency said Sunday about 368,000 people have fled the country, many into bordering nations like Romania, Poland, Hungary, Moldova, and Slovakia.Amid the horrors and chaos, volunteers from far and wide are showing support by extending help to those whose lives are being shattered by war.At Romania’s Siret border crossing, where thousands of Ukrainians have entered, government workers race to distribute basic amenities donated from all across the country. Meanwhile, people and businesses are pooling resources to provide the refugees with everything they need.Stefan Mandachi, a businessman who lives in Suceava, a city about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the Siret border, has converted a large ballroom at the hotel he owns into a refugee reception center and is offering private hotel rooms for free to the displaced.Scores of mattresses are laid out on the ballroom’s floor, donated clothes are piled high and young children run around.“I feel the need to help, it’s my duty to help,” said Mandachi, who is also offering free food for Ukrainian refugees from his fast food chain. “I have locals who speak Ukrainian — we are united to help them.”For Vasiliu Radu, a 34-year-old emergency service worker at the Siret border, the outpouring of support from volunteers has made him proud of his fellow citizens. “It’s more important these days, in these situations of war and instability — that people must help each other,” Radu said.But not everyone trying to flee Ukraine is receiving the help they need.Some Indian citizens seeking to flee into Poland were stuck at the border Sunday and were unable to cross, according to Ruchir Kataria, an Indian volunteer in Poland who is trying to help them.Kataria, who has been in cell phone contact with Indians stuck at the border crossing into Medyka, and a smaller group at Poland's Krakowiec border, told the AP that the Indians trying to cross at Medyka were told in broken English: “Go to Romania.”But the group had already made long journeys on foot to the border, not eating for three days, and had no way to reach the border with Romania which is hundreds of kilometers away.In Poland’s southeast city of Przemysl, just a few kilometers from a border crossing with Ukraine, hundreds of people waited in a parking lot to help refugees who were being bussed in from the border by authorities.“I am very happy that I have come and I want to thank all the people who are organizing this,” a young Ukrainian girl, who had just arrived, said. “This feels really nice that people are waiting for us in your country.”Moldova, which shares a long border with Ukraine, is also seeing a massive influx of refugees. Authorities said that since Thursday, 70,080 Ukrainian citizens have entered the small nation of about 3.5 million.Moldova's President Maia Sandu, who visited a northern border crossing Sunday, urged people to remain calm and vigilant and thanked volunteers for their work.“In these difficult days, I am proud of the citizens of our country, who have shown solidarity and humanity and have offered our neighbors a helping hand when needed," Sandu said.Jacob Sontea, a Nigerian student who was based in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, arrived by train at...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Covid-19 and other world events are increasing anxiety in children.Clinical therapist and parenting expert Dr Anna Martin says access to social media means kids are more likely to come across upsetting images.She told Kate Hawkesby parents can't put their heads in the sand on tough issues like the current Ukraine conflict.“Answer questions that they may have, but also let them know how safe they are and what’s happening over there isn't going to be happening in their backyard.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The travel industry's imploring the Government to remove self-isolation requirements for returnees as the first phase of the border re-opening begins.Fully-vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible travellers from Australia can now skip MIQ and isolate at home for seven days instead.The first flight into Auckland Airport is due at 2.45 pm this afternoon while the first into Christchurch Airport is scheduled for 5.30 pm.House of Travel's Brent Thomas told Kate Hawkesby a limited number of New Zealanders will head over from here due to self-isolation.“What we do need is for business travellers to be able to travel as well. They need to be able to go and see their suppliers, they need to go and be able to see their customers, and then coming back for a week and having to self-isolate just doesn't work.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Businesses still expect to feel under pressure in phase three of the Omicron response. Health officials will now primarily focus on managing high-risk contacts and locations of interest, like aged care homes. Only cases and their household contacts must isolate for 10 days - with all other contacts expected to monitor for symptoms. Canterbury Employers Chamber Chief Executive Leeann Watson told Kate Hawkesby the difference between phase 2 and 3 is minimal. “We’re still going to see hundreds of thousands of people who will be self-isolating – only for ten days - and that will continue to have a significant impact on businesses' ability to actually operate.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So we’re into Phase 3 as of today – and not before time. Problem is, nobody knows what any of it means. I was out all day yesterday driving around Auckland and what I can tell you is that there are still snaking queues everywhere for PCR tests. Why? Why is no one getting the memo on that? Why are all these people still queuing for tests? Possibly because RATs, which we’re supposed to be doing, are so hard to find. One of my trips yesterday involved a covert side of the road operation like a drug mule, picking up RATs I’d managed to source – at no small expense I might add – from an anonymous source who was transferring them to me from their car boot wrapped in a rubbish bag. I kid you not. It’s like prohibition days – only the prohibited substance is something that should be readily available to everybody, like it is all over the rest of the world. Why RATs aren’t in every Pharmacy up and down the country by now is beyond me. But here at Hermit Central, we’re still waiting to be told when we can have stuff, where, and how. God forbid we try to adult. I was tracking down RATs because I have a family member who was a contact, and their work required a negative test before they’d let them return. Unable to get a PCR, they managed to source a single RAT kit, did the test, sent the negative result to the employer, so far so good. Except for the fact the employer said they wanted a second test result done “just to be sure”. Now here’s where it gets iffy. Employers who are unilaterally making up the rules as they go for employees make things tricky. Where were they supposed to get another RAT from? They’re like hens' teeth, still no access to PCRs, and let’s not forget that under the new rules, being a contact doesn’t even mean you have to isolate anymore anyway unless you’re in the same household as the positive case. Was the employer going to supply the RAT? No, they weren’t. Many businesses are struggling to source them too, they’re having to jump through hoops and if they’re not critical, they’re usually falling flat on their faces. So long story short, I went into mafia mode and sourced some RATs which even if you waterboard me I’m not going to tell you where from, and I was able to supply this family member with one so they could do another test. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The infuriating thing is why is it all so desperate when we’ve had all this time to get ready for this? The problem’s not just the RAT access and limited availability, but also the employers who’re freestyling the rules, the people who’re still confused about the new contact rules, those freaked out despite the Government relaxing the rules and still wanting to ’play it safe’ - and all the people just making it up as they go along. Shambles? Yes, it is. The Government’s clearly given up on this, but we're so acclimatised to rules and fear, we seemingly can’t let go. If I can just say one thing to you today it’s this - it’s time to let it go.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A sense of shock across Ukraine - as Russia ramps up its invasion of the country. Forces are carrying out a major military assault -- with missile strikes and explosions being reported near major cities. The Ukrainian military claims to have shot down at least six Russian aircraft - with reports at least 40 of its troops and several civilians have died. Al Jazeera's Abdul Al-Kadiri spoke to Kate Hawkesby from Kiev where many people are trying to flee. “There is some reports of some heavy clashes on the West side of the capital.” Russian paratroops are now in control of an airbase near Kiev, and are reportedly trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Explore Tāmaki Makaurau voucher programme has been a shot in the arm for struggling Auckland businesses. It's a scheme where you sign up for a voucher to spend on Auckland activities, and registrations are closing today. More than 220,000 Aucklanders have registered, with 53,000 vouchers used so far. Auckland Unlimited investment and industry director Pam Ford told Kate Hawkesby three and a half million dollars' worth of vouchers have been spent, and more than a hundred businesses have benefited. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The testing thing is doing my head in. The lack of preparedness, the lack of enough RATS, the queues, the delay on results, absolute cluster. Then we’ve got the crazy isolation rules – so many people down and out having to isolate. I mean you know when Auckland’s iconic Ponsonby Road restaurant Prego has to close due to no staff that’s it’s end times. I mean that’s surely the final straw for many Aucklanders. And it's not just them actually - a bunch of Auckland restaurants have been hit so hard they have to close the doors for now. I’m not sure how bad it has to get for this Government to adapt, evolve, shift strategies and accept they could do this better? They seem disconnected from all reality. Here’s the absolute gut punch on all this. Students and workers are being told to isolate in their droves, and not come back until they can prove a negative test. Problem is, when and where are they getting that test? Queues for PCR’s go round the block and then some – you’re waiting hours – even if you manage to get one, which is unlikely, you’re then even more unlikely to actually get the result. There’s a 5 or more days lag on results coming back – the labs have confirmed they’re overwhelmed, they can’t do it, they’re at capacity, game over. Some tests that are sitting there may never see a result. So, what’s your alternative? It's what we should have had months ago - RATs. Can you get one of those? Again, unlikely. You’d have to be an essential or critical worker, or part of the health workforce to be automatically supplied one. If you’re just a regular nobody like most of us, you’re going to struggle. They’re not being handed out quite as generously as the Government would have you believe, it's not as simple as they say. You’re either queuing for hours to get one from a testing station, or you’re buying one on the black market or illegally importing them because the Government's somehow against people taking responsibility for themselves. In trying to be a responsible citizen and take care of my family, I tried to buy RATS. Felt like a criminal in doing so. It’s bordering on a covert operation, akin to importing nuclear weapons for goodness sake. Why? Why are we being treated like children – or worse – criminals – in this country, for trying to solve our own problems? My extended family and friends are dropping like flies as close contacts or positive cases and I can tell you out of about 20 of them, just 2 have been contacted by the Ministry of Health to confirm test results and instructions. You’re basically left to your own devices anyway so why not let us all have open access to RAT’s and be done with it? There's so much confusion out there, it’s like the Wild West. And that’s before we get to all the parents fed up with kids at home isolating as close contacts which means they’re off work too, all waiting to be able to show a test result they either can’t get a test for, or won’t get a result to. We had so long to plan for this, so many months to watch it unfold elsewhere .. how are we still cocking this up?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

RATs will be the norm at testing sites in Auckland. PCR testing has been pushed to its limits causing long delays. Covid Modelling Aotearoa Lead Researcher Emily Harvey says the tests still need to be prioritised for people who are close contacts or have symptoms. She told Kate Hawkesby if you test positive with a RAT, you should trust it. “Very highly likely a positive result, so well over 99%. The main thing you should be worried about is the false negative rate.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is confident its new goal of zero road deaths by 2050 is realistic. An extra $140-million will be spent on road policing in the next three years as part of the Road to Zero campaign. Police Minister Poto Williams says human error is a good place to start in addressing the issue. She told Kate Hawkesby the plan uses not only government but community agencies and educators as well. “It really speaks to key elements; how we have safer roads, how we have safer road users, how we look at speed, how we look at infringement and education and all those things combined.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's superannuation fund, as well as ASB and Westpac's growth fund all hold shares in Russian listed companies with ties to the Kremlin. British and American sanctions on Russian companies therefore might start impacting our KiwiSaver funds. Barry Coates, chief executive of Mindful Money joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Case numbers yesterday were another ‘record’ of course, but given the lag in getting results notified, and the delay in having them updated, we can only assume these numbers are old. And by old, I mean, out by a few days. In which case, if the experts who say numbers double every 4 to 5 days are right, then you’re looking at in all reality, us sitting at about 5 and half thousand cases at this stage, not the 2 thousand 800 reported yesterday. And if that’s the case, then the Government’s response is dealing with outdated information, and their settings are not accurate for where we’re at. Think about it, they said at about 5 thousand cases a day we’ll move to phase 3, yet we are still in phase 2 because the reported numbers say we’re only at less than 3 thousand cases at the moment. Except that in reality, we’re probably not, due to the delays. So in fact, if testing was keeping up, we’d see a more accurate picture of numbers, instead of a week-late picture, and we’d be more accurately going to phase 3 now. Do you see what I mean? So in Phase 2, the 'transition' stage, isolation periods for cases reduced from 10 days to 7. But under Phase 3, the definition of contacts changes to household - so only higher risk contacts will need to isolate, not this current whack a mole approach of everyone. We'll self-manage at home, notify our own contacts, and test to return to work. Which is about where we should be now, and no doubt will be very soon. This current slow down of results and delays is of course not the fault of the lab technicians and the testers who for all intents and purposes are working their butts off here - they seemingly cannot go any faster than they already are. But they're at the behest of a system that's been created without much regard for what's actually possible. The classic theory versus reality strikes again. Government has invented a political response which you could argue at the moment is neither current nor relevant. It ignores, one, the mildness of the illness, and two, the actual real time data. It's frustrating and I don’t even have it yet. Only a matter of time surely. My daughter’s school mates are dropping like flies, many schools have so many teachers isolating they’ve had to shut shop. There's a clock ticking for those of us who’re parents of school students and it’s the waiting that’s the annoying bit, isn't it? The anticipation of it, and for many, the fear that goes with that. I hope those who’ve locked themselves up with fear will be able to relax a bit once this washes through. It’s sad how restrictive many people have made their lives, and it makes you wonder if they’ll do this during flu season too or if it’s just the name ‘Covid’ that freaks people out. Either way, hopefully we see a peak soon, and we can start to come out the other side of all this.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police say genuine protesters are no longer in control of the behaviour in and around Parliament. Veteran activist John Minto told Kate Hawkesby the protest leaders have tried - and failed - to get control of the situation. “After two weeks, the group should have been able to sort this out to develop some clear guidelines, have some clear leadership and unfortunately I think with all the new people that have arrived that’s overwhelmed them.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A prediction the Reserve Bank will take a cautious approach to the Official Cash Rate. The central bank releases its latest Monetary Policy Statement, and any change to the rate this afternoon. The OCR is 0.75 percent, after it was raised by 0.25 percent in November. Fisher Funds Head of Fixed Income, David McLeish, told Kate Hawkesby he thinks the Reserve Bank will put the OCR up by a quarter of a percent today. “The harder and faster they go, the greater the range of outcomes there will be for the economy and I don’t think the bank will want to make what is already a very hard job any harder.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The sanctions being placed on Russia are unlikely to scare Vladimir Putin. Western nations are taking action, after Russian troops were ordered into two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. Germany has frozen a newly built, but not yet open, gas pipeline -- and both the EU and UK have announced sanctions against Russia. But Birmingham University international security expert Stefan Wolff told Kate Hawkesby Putin's used to sanctions by now. “The has sufficiently insulated Russia from the effect of these sanctions and I think he is also still betting on maintaining a positive relationship with China.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I know lots of people are over the protest, and I feel a bit that way too, and I know that’s easy to say if you're not sitting in the same city as it. Even those in Wellington, just not near the CBD, say they’re sick of it as well. But then there are those at the epicentre who say it’s horrific, don’t underestimate the gruesome time we’re having. The students who can’t catch the bus, the law students who can’t get on campus, the local businesses being punished, the commuters held up. But for those of us for whom it's out of sight, it's out of mind. If it doesn’t affect you, do you really care? And many don’t care. But a lot still do. I got texts yesterday from people analysing the politics in all this. Rating Seymour for at least having a view, and asking where the invisible PM's been and also, where the leader of the opposition's been too. He finally came out of the woodwork yesterday, arguing that the Government needs to address three key issues. He says a response from the Government is required, that they must have a plan for phasing out vaccine mandates – which Jacinda sort of did and didn't address yesterday - she alluded to it happening at some point, but I wouldn't set my watch by it. Luxon also argued that the Government has to make Rapid Antigen Tests available to everybody, allow Kiwis to purchase them and to take responsibility for their own health. I said this yesterday too – it’s a travesty the Government hasn’t been organised on this front, they’ve had the benefit of seeing how this has unfolded overseas, and they just did not get ready – even with all the lead up time. Thirdly, Luxon argued the Government needs to say when it’s going to move from emergency restrictions to a risk management approach. He points out it’s naïve – and I’d argue convenient - for the Government and its supporters to argue that ‘now’s not the time’ for these discussions. Since when has forward planning and thinking ahead not been valuable? Luxon points out too much of the debate is now characterized by fear and division – for or against us. And that’s top down too I reckon. The PM dismissing people and name calling or ‘punching down’ as she’s accused of, sets a tone. It speaks to a "them and us" camp - and for someone so hellbent on a 'team' narrative, that seems hypocritical of her. I just don’t think it’s black and white anymore. Pushing the division narrative of those who buy into her strategy - good, those who don't - bad is about the most ‘unkind’ thing you can do - alongside their current Trump-inspired idea of building a wall. But the tribalism on each side is so entrenched now, the same as the fear messaging promulgated by this Government, it’s really hard to turn that all around when you’ve taken such a defiant stance. It shows a lack of willingness to evolve, to grow, to shift. This is why David Seymour gets points on the board, for at least showing a preparedness to move with the times, to flex, rather than just sticking heads in the sand and saying, “now’s not the time."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A hospo boss says new government help doesn't go far enough. A targeted payment will help some businesses struggling with revenue loss due to Omicron. To be eligible, they must show a 40 percent drop in revenue, since moving to phase two. Lone Star Chief Operating Officer Paul Steiner told Kate Hawkesby while it's great there's support, it doesn't address the problem of staffing. “The bigger issue is the return to work for existing staff, the delays in testing, the inability to access rapid antigen tests et cetera.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queensland is clamping down on e-scooters, bringing the speed limit down to 12 kilometres an hour. Here in New Zealand, e-scooters are relatively unregulated, with the speed-limit at the discretion of local councils. National president of Blind Citizens NZ Jonathan Godfrey told Kate Hawkesby he wishes our country would take Kiwis with disabilities as seriously as they do across the Tasman. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A suggestion of missed opportunities in the Christchurch rebuild. It's 11 years today since the major quake that claimed 185 lives. Auckland University sociologist Steve Matthewman told Kate Hawkesby the city could have been what residents wanted it to be - but central government took over the recovery process. But he says it's still heading in the right direction. “I think the real resource for hope is the former residential red zone, it’s absolutely massive, it's three times the size of one of Europe’s biggest urban greening projects just outside Vienna.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A pile of figure-skating rubble created by Russian misbehaviour. A new Chinese champion — from California. An ace American skier who faltered and went home empty-handed. The end of the Olympic line for the world's most renowned snowboarder. All inside an anti-COVID "closed loop" enforced by China's authoritarian government.The terrarium of a Winter Games that has been Beijing 2022 came to its end Sunday, capping an unprecedented Asian Olympic trifecta and sending the planet's most global sporting event off to the West for the foreseeable future, with no chance of returning to this corner of the world until at least 2030.It was weird. It was messy and, at the same time, somehow sterile. It was controlled and calibrated in ways only Xi Jinping's China could pull off. And it was sequestered in a "bubble" that kept participants and the city around them — and, by extension, the sporadically watching world — at arm's length.On Sunday night, Xi and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach stood together as Beijing handed off to Milan-Cortina, site of the 2026 Winter Games. "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" kicked off a notably Western-flavored show with Chinese characteristics as dancers with tiny, fiery snowflakes glided across the stadium in a ceremony that, like the opening, was headed by Chinese director Zhang Yimou.Unlike the first pandemic Olympics in Tokyo last summer, which featured all but empty seats at the opening and closing, a modest but energetic crowd populated the seats of Beijing's "Bird's Nest" stadium. It felt somewhat incongruous — a show bursting with colour and energy and enthusiasm and even joy, the very things that couldn't assert themselves inside China's COVID bubble."We welcome China as a winter sport country," Bach said, closing the Games. He called their organization "extraordinary" and credited the Chinese and their organizing committee for serving them up "in such an excellent way and a safe way."By many mechanical measures, these Games were a success. They were, in fact, quite safe — albeit in the carefully modulated, dress-up-for-company way that authoritarian governments always do best. The local volunteers, as is usually the case, were delightful, helpful and engaging, and they received high-profile accolades at the closing. There was snow — most of it fake, some of it real. The venues — many of them, like the Bird's Nest and the Aquatic Center, harvested from the 2008 edition of the Beijing Olympics — performed to expectations. One new locale, Big Air Shougang, carved from a repurposed steel mill, was an appealingly edgy mashup of winter wonderland and rust-belt industrial landscape.TV ratings were down, but streaming viewership was up: By Saturday, NBC had streamed 3.5 billion minutes from Beijing, compared to 2.2 billion in South Korea in 2018.There were no major unexpected logistical problems, only the ones created deliberately to stem the spread of COVID in the country where the coronavirus first emerged more than two years ago.And stemmed it seemed to be. As of Saturday, the segregated system that effectively turned Beijing into two cities — one sequestered, one proceeding very much as normal — had produced only 463 positive tests among thousands of visitors entering the bubble since Jan. 23. Not surprisingly, the state-controlled media loved this."The success in insulating the event from the virus and keeping disruption to sports events to a minimum also reflected the effectiveness and flexibility of China's overall zero-COVID policies," the pro-government Global Times newspaper said, citing epidemiologists who say "the COVID-19 prevention experience accumulated from this Olympics can also inspire Chinese cities to adjust their policies."Look deeper, though, and a different story emerges about these Games.Internationally, many critiqued them as the "authoritarian Olympics" and denounced the IOC for holding...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government needs to come down from its lofty pedestal.That's the call from a political commentator as anti-mandate protesters wake to their third week at Parliament.Former United Future leader Peter Dunne told Kate Hawkesby leaders need to engage with the crowds at some point.“You can’t just carry on with the ‘we’re not talking, we’re not getting involved’ while the police are saying ‘we’re not doing anything either’. This is just an ongoing stalemate and the Government’s got to take a lead in its resolution.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m wondering how much the Government’s following all the numbers we’re getting these days. We are getting bombarded with numbers at the moment. Every day, every night, every news channel, every front page. It’s all numbers. Cases, hospitalisations, protestors, petitions, tents, cars, prices.Case wise – yesterday we hit 2500. So all the news outlets were able to use the now completely over used words “new record”. Which is getting about as annoying as the way “unprecedented” got thrashed. Let’s all accept that every day from here on in is going to be a 'new record'. So cases – higher than we’ve had, hospitalisations – 100, people in ICU – still 0 though. Average age of those hospitalized with the infection – 56 years old.There are just under 14,000 active community cases in New Zealand as of the past 21 days. A PCR test result is taking about 5 days to get back. These are the numbers I imagine the government's following very closely. These are the numbers they’ll be really worried about, given they had two years to prepare for this, and didn’t.Then there’s the next most important set of numbers right now: those of the protestors.Day 14 of the protest today, 1000 people there, 800 cars, 750 tents.These numbers aren't just bad news for the government but also the Police Commissioner, whose nickname ‘Cuddles’ will likely see him sent somewhere else to hug people after this, given the hugging hasn’t worked. We could add another number here too actually – likelihood of Coster keeping his job after this protest rolls on: 0.But there are other concerning numbers floating around which the Government would be naïve not to pay attention to. Because when the media runs out of puff on reporting Covid numbers, it’s the real world impact numbers which will cause the most damage. The cost of living. Petrol, food, fruit and vege, building supplies, it’s all through the roof. $6 for a lettuce and more than $3 a litre for petrol is the stuff of nightmares for many. But for a government solely focused on Covid, it’s going to be their nightmare soon too, once Omicron takes a back seat. When the Covid headlines, case numbers and protest numbers move off the front page, what are we left with?Businesses in trouble by the thousand, thousands of jobs lost due to mandates, many more thousands of people unable to pay their bills, Hospo, tourism and events on its knees, and New Zealand still woefully short of nurses, teachers, agriculture workers, labourers, engineers, doctors. In fact there’s not much we’re not short of.So a lot of numbers being thrown around right now, but it's important the government pays attention to all of them, not just the ones they’ve got PR campaigns attached to.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and is experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, Buckingham Palace said, adding that she still plans to carry on working. The diagnosis prompted concern and get-well wishes from across Britain's political spectrum for the famously stoic 95-year-old.Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a fixture in the life of the nation, the queen reached the milestone of 70 years on the throne on Feb. 6, the anniversary of the 1952 death of her father, King George VI. She will turn 96 on April 21.The palace said the queen, who has been fully vaccinated and had a booster shot, would continue with “light” duties at Windsor Castle over the coming week.“She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines," the palace said in a statement.People in the U.K. who test positive for COVID-19 are now required to self-isolate for at least five days, although the British government says it plans to lift that requirement for England this week.Both the queen's eldest son Prince Charles, 73, and her 74-year-old daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall contracted COVID-19 earlier this month. Charles has since returned to work. There are also thought to be several recent virus cases among staff at Windsor Castle, where the queen is staying.Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, said the queen would likely be given one of several antiviral drugs that have been approved in the U.K. to treat COVID-19.“If you do get them early enough, it does reduce the risk of severe disease developing, so I would imagine any doctor for a patient in their 90s would be considering giving these antivirals,” he said.A host of senior British politicians sent get-well messages on Sunday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “I’m sure I speak for everyone in wishing Her Majesty The Queen a swift recovery from COVID and a rapid return to vibrant good health.”Health Secretary Sajid Javid wrote that he was “Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a quick recovery,” while opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer wished the queen "good health and a speedy recovery. Get well soon, Ma’am.”Elizabeth has been in robust health for most of her reign and has been photographed riding a horse as recently as 2020. In the past year she has been seen using a walking stick, and in October she spent a night in a London hospital for unspecified tests.The queen's doctors ordered her to rest after that and she was forced to cancel appearances at several key events, including Remembrance Sunday services and the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland in November.This month she returned to public duties and has held audiences both virtually and in person with diplomats, politicians and senior military officers. During one exchange caught on camera last week, she walked slowly with a stick and said “as you can see I can’t move” in apparent reference to her leg.The queen delivered two televised messages to the nation early in the pandemic in 2020, and has sought to lead by example. She let it be known she had been vaccinated, and last year sat alone during the funeral of her husband of 72 years, Prince Philip, because of coronavirus restrictions.Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said members of the royal family are probably more concerned than the queen about her situation.“I would guess that she will be matter-of-fact about the diagnosis in a way perhaps that the people around her are less matter-of-fact,” he said.The queen has a busy schedule over the next few months of her Platinum Jubilee year, and is scheduled to attend in-person public engagements in the coming weeks, including a diplomatic reception at Windsor on March 2 and the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on March 14.On March 29, she has a remembrance service at Westminster Abbey...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A disappointing start for university students looking to kick off the year with a bang.Orientation Week events are canned as Covid-19 puts a dampener on the student experience.University of Canterbury Students' Association president Pierce Crowley told Kate Hawkesby it's unfortunate.But he says they're still looking to put on some scaled-down events.“It’s going to be barbecues and quizzes kind of outdoor events, performances-type things. Everything will be Covid based. We’re doing what we can. We kind of want to provide students an opportunity to have an opportunity to socialise.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A “chaotic shambles” is how one reporter this week described the Government’s RAT kit rollout for critical workers - and that sums up the week really - if not the whole pandemic, let’s be honest. We’ve got a cumbersome and clunky critical worker RAT kit rollout requiring businesses to register with six forms of ID. Six. Set up systems in their workplace to manage this, get hold of the RATs and be clear on the rules. Which, speaking of rules – they keep changing, you get a conflicting message every time you call – even the Ministry seems unclear on what exactly the rules are. That’s if you can get hold of the Ministry. I know of someone who called the Covid line – they were 146th and then 94th in line, on two separate calls. That’s a system not coping – a chaotic shambles indeed. I also know of someone whose child was unwell, she took him for a Covid test. Four days later there was still no result. He felt fine and wanted to return to school but she needed to check his test result. No answers, no one knew, conflicting advice from the Healthline, so after him, his parents and their 4 other children had all isolated, she decided in the absence of any answers or results, he could return to school. When she followed up through her own contacts in the health sector where his test had gone and why no result, she was told he was positive - and she'd be officially notified by Public Health. She contacted the Ministry of Health, rang the Healthline multiple times asking for advice on isolation times, contacts, testing procedures, she was given four completely different and conflicting pieces of information. She is still yet to be officially notified her son tested positive - Chaotic shambles. She is not alone. The disorganization of the Government not ordering RAT’s early enough means we don’t have enough of them for critical workers like schools to be able to use them. School students and teachers are now dropping like flies. It’s frustrating for them and for parents – and it beggars belief the Ministry still says – “we want kids in school” when their own incompetence appears to be preventing that from happening. Then there’s the protest, an invisible PM, a government running for the hills, a Police force inept – full of threats they don’t deliver on – as we enter day 11 of this occupation, the crowd just continues to swell. Disturbingly, the Police Association Head said yesterday he reckons the protestors could still be occupying Parliament’s grounds in 3 months’ time. Russell Coutts is joining them - the protestors seem more organised than both the Police and the Government. Then there’s the College Sport fiasco with sports teams telling kids they can’t play unless they’re vaccinated – the Ministry saying that’s wrong, it’s not true, but the Ministry’s not prepared to do anything about it – they’re putting it back on parents to “contact their schools and tell them that’s not right”. Are you kidding? That was Chris Hipkins' official advice. Day 11 of the protest, year 3 of the pandemic, week one of our Omicron surge, and look at the state of us.Chaotic Shambles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

83 percent of nurses say patients aren't receiving complete care in hospitals due to understaffing. A major independent report has been looking into a safe staffing programme that was put in place 15 years ago, and found 13 out of 20 DHBs haven't been following it. Along with this, it highlights just how bad the short staffing has become. New Zealand Nurses Organisation acting chief executive, Mairi Lucas joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Several alcohol companies are continuing to illegally supply Dunedin students free drinks, in exchange for advertising. Police have warned those companies, but with O-Week starting on Monday, the problem is likely to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Doug Sellman, director of the National Addiction Centre joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to some experts, we should expect to see the protesters outside parliament for the long haul. Chris Cahill from the Police Association says they'll still be there in three months. Questions are being raised about the kids at the protest. Newstalk ZB understands protesters have created a school or daycare amongst themselves, but how do we feel about kids being at the protest for three months? Child psychologist Kathryn Berkett joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don’t have a problem with David Seymour meeting with the protesters. The Prime Minister does, obviously, but that's because he broke ranks of what up until now has been a pretty united front from all politicians. But Seymour decided dialogue might be a good thing - his justification being that "as protests change, so must the approach". And his view of it was that the extremists had gone, it was more peaceful now, and it was time for some responsible dialogue. To backtrack how all this came about, we had on the show yesterday, Backbencher Pub owner Alistair Boyce, to talk about how the Police were going to start towing protesters cars - and what that might mean for local businesses like him. Businesses who’d had to close due to the ruckus, and due to the fact regular punters weren’t pushing past protesters to show up, nor could they get a park because streets were blocked by protesters cars. Not that any of the cars have been towed yet, because Police still haven’t managed to find a truck as far as I can gather, but anyway, Alistair told us that he’d been talking with some of the protest leadership and the mood had changed, the crowd had changed, it was more calm and peaceful and protesters had some semblance of leadership now. They had an end goal, and they wanted to talk - and he said he’d brokered a deal with a senior member of Parliament to speak with them. I pushed him on who this might be, given that would be a big development if true, but he wouldn’t say other than the protest leadership and this mystery politician would be meeting by the end of the day. When Mike had Megan Woods on his show later on, he put this to her – that someone was going to meet with the protesters - and she immediately shot that down saying categorically that absolutely no one from government would be meeting with them, that it was an unlawful protest, they were a dangerous and violent lot, and no government minister was going near them. She was adamant. She said there were people issuing death threats, there was a noose hanging in a tree, it was not safe. This left us perplexed as to who this secret politician meeting them must be. We later find out of course, David Seymour. He said it was time for ‘some mature conversation about de-escalation.’ Kudos to him for doing it. I'm not sure how entering a reasonable discussion and hearing each side of a story is ever a bad thing. The protesters want to be heard, and ignoring them has so far only fanned the flames, it's not working. But the Government won't budge. So good on Seymour for trying something different - but I’m not sure it resolves anything. Unfortunately, what the protesters really want is a government minister, someone with some ability to give them some answers around an end to mandates. But they’re not going to get it. So where does this all end? And more importantly when? Because at this stage it's an ever-growing occupation set up like a small village, and as of this morning, still not a single car's been towed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Tenants Protection Association says new regulations for property management have been a long time coming. The organisation, based in Christchurch, is backing the Government's proposal. Rental property managers would need a licence and would be subject to an independent complaints process. Association manager Penny Arthur told Kate Hawkesby that process is the biggest thing they'd hoped to see. “A lot of the complaints we get it are actually about property managers’ behaviour as opposed to the property, so this provides an avenue for those complaints.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As was inevitable, my daughter’s school had its first Omicron case this week and in came the email notifying parents that a student had tested positive. They immediately followed that up with the very calm assurance that this should have no impact on school attendance, that all students - unless you’d been notified as a close contact - were safe to return to school, that health and safety protocols as per the Ministry of Health were being followed. This of course does not diminish the alarm that Omicron’s arrived on their doorstep. Two years of fear-mongering and schools shutting for months on end will do that to you. So it took some persuading that all was fine, and it was business as usual. I’m not sure that email assured all parents and children though, as the next day another email came out reiterating the Ministry’s guidelines on returning to school, prioritizing learning, and the importance of carrying on. I can only assume that email was sent out to hose down the number of parents and/or students who’d decided no thanks, we’ll stay away, hence the school needed to double down on its reassurances. But it’s not just schools spooked by this. A survey this week by Research NZ revealed that the “country has divided itself into “roughly two equal sized camps”; those who’ve changed their behaviour to limit exposure to Omicron, and those who are carrying on like before.” The report said 53 percent of “the 1001 Kiwis who took part, had ‘significantly changed what they do or how often they do it’. That’s disturbing because it smacks of just how powerful the fear messaging has been, how pervasive it’s been, and how suckered into it we all got. It’s not just sad for those who’re still afraid, but sad for the domino effect on all those negatively impacted. Cafes and restaurants sitting empty, supermarkets with smaller crowds, empty libraries, and schools with students too scared to attend. The shift in mindset we’re being required to make – is a large leap. The epidemiologists, experts, modellers, Ministry of Health and government ministers all the way up to the PM, have relentlessly warned us of this deadly disease coming to ravage us all for two solid years. And now that we’re finally ramping up case numbers, they’re flipping all that and saying, actually, don’t worry – carry on about your business. It’s a mental leap clearly not everyone's comfortable making. If you’ve got friends and family overseas, you’ll be more relaxed about it – we’ve got a daughter in Melbourne who along with all her friends has had it, a nephew in the US who had it, along with all his mates, friends and family in Australia and London who’ve all had it – all of them say the same thing – they can’t believe the amount of fear in New Zealand around Covid. Maybe it’s because we really didn’t get it here in the big numbers as other countries did. So I'm actually relieved a milder variant is hitting us now, so that once we’ve all had it, hopefully we’ll be less scared of it and put this climate of phobia and fear behind us once and for all.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police finally seem to be going harder on the protesters that are causing inconvenience to the people of Wellington. Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has issued an ultimatum, move your cars off the streets, or they will be towed. This comes as we are now in week two of the protesters causing havoc in the capital, and nearby businesses have had a gutsful. Owner of the iconic Backbencher pub Alistair Boyce joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our wild weather over the last three weeks has caused huge damage to our crops throughout the country. Arable farmers are describing this month as the harvest from hell. Federated Farmers Arable chairperson Colin Hurst joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.