Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Principals are being urged to do all they can to encourage unvaccinated staff members to get the Covid-jab. All education workers who have contact with students must have their first jab by the end of today. Those who don't comply will be barred from entering school grounds. Auckland University's Head of Initial Teacher Education Paul Heyward, told Kate Hawkesby school leaders shouldn't be giving up on their unvaccinated staff members just yet. “Let's begin the conversation, rather than seeing all anti-vax teaches as a kind of lunatic fringe, which they’re not. We could lose some very talented teachers.” Staff must be fully vaccinated by January 1st. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queen Elizabeth II missed out on the Remembrance Sunday service in London to pay tribute to Britain's war dead because she sprained her back, Buckingham Palace said Sunday. The service is one of the most important events on the 95-year-old monarch's calendar, and was meant to be her first public appearance after taking a few weeks off to rest under doctor's orders. British media reported that the back sprain was not believed to be related to the recent medical advice to rest that prompted other cancellations. "The Queen, having sprained her back, has decided this morning with great regret that she will not be able to attend today's Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph," officials said just hours ahead of the ceremony. "Her Majesty is disappointed that she will miss the service." The queen spent a night in a London hospital last month after being admitted for medical tests. It was her first such stay in eight years. On Oct. 29, the palace said she had been told by doctors to rest for two weeks and only take on light duties. She canceled plans to attend the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, but sent a video message. But officials stressed at the time that "it remains the queen's firm intention" to be present for the national Remembrance Sunday service. On Thursday, Buckingham Palace said the monarch planned to watch the ceremony at the Cenotaph war memorial in central London from a balcony, as she has for several years. The Queen served in World War II as an army driver and mechanic, and is head of Britain's armed forces. She attaches great importance to Remembrance Sunday, a solemn ceremony to remember the sacrifices made by fallen servicemen and women. The national service, which follows Armistice Day on Nov. 11, is traditionally marked by the wearing of poppies and a national two-minute silence observed at 11 a.m. On Sunday, other royals and politicians led the ceremony in London's Whitehall, with hundreds of military personnel and veterans lined up around the Cenotaph memorial. It was the first time the event had returned to normal since the pandemic began. After Royal Marine buglers sounded the "The Last Post," Prince Charles, 73, laid the first wreath on the queen's behalf, as he has done since 2017. He was followed by other royals and Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The queen has continued to work from home, doing desk-based duties, during her period of rest. She has spent most of the time at Windsor Castle, west of London, although she made a weekend visit to Sandringham, the royal family's eastern England estate. She has missed several other events, including the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday. Officials also said she will miss the opening of the Church of England's governing General Synod on Tuesday. Penny Junor, a royal biographer, said the queen may be entering a new phase of her reign where she will not be seen as much in public. "It's very sad for the queen, because this is the one event in the year that she really, really likes to be at," she said. "We're so used to seeing her out and about and looking years younger than she is that I think we've been lulled into thinking she can go on at this kind of pace forever. Clearly she can't." Britain's longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch, Elizabeth is due to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee — 70 years on the throne — next year. - by SYLVIA HUI Associated PressSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The world’s top carbon polluters, China and the United States, agreed Wednesday to increase their cooperation and speed up action to rein in climate-damaging emissions, signalling a mutual effort on global warming at a time of tension over their other disputes. In back-to-back news conferences at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and U.S. counterpart John Kerry said the two countries would work together to accelerate the emissions reductions required to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. “It’s beneficial not only to our two countries but the world as a whole that two major powers in the world, China and the U.S., shoulder special international responsibilities and obligations,” Xie told reporters. “We need to think big and be responsible.” "The steps we're taking ... can answer questions people have about the pace at which China is going, and help China and us to be able to accelerate our efforts," Kerry said. China also agreed for the first time to crack down on methane leaks, following the lead of the Biden administration’s efforts to curb the potent greenhouse gas. Beijing and Washington agreed to share technology to reduce emissions. Governments agreed in Paris to jointly cut greenhouse gas emissions enough to keep the global temperature rise “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, with a more stringent target of trying to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) preferred. Both sides recognize that there is a gap between efforts taken globally to reduce climate pollution and the goals of the Paris deal, Xie said. “So we will jointly strengthen climate action and cooperation with respect to our respective national situations," he said. A U.S.-China bilateral agreement in 2014 gave a huge push to the creation of the historic Paris accord the following year, but that cooperation stopped with the Trump administration, which pulled the U.S. out of the pact. The Biden administration brought the U.S. back in to that deal, but has clashed with China on other issues such as cybersecurity, human rights and Chinese territorial claims. “While this is not a gamechanger in the way the 2014 US-China climate deal was, in many ways it’s just as much of a step forward given the geopolitical state of the relationship,” said Thom Woodroofe, an expert in U.S.-China climate talks. “It means the intense level of US-China dialogue on climate can now begin to translate into cooperation.” The gesture of goodwill comes just days after President Joe Biden blamed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to attend talks in person for the lack of more progress in climate negotiations. The U.S. and China will also revive a working group that will “meet regularly to address the climate crisis and advance the multilateral process, focusing on enhancing concrete actions in this decade,” the declaration said. Both Washington and Beijing intend to update the world on their new national targets for 2035 in 2025 — a move that is particularly significant for China. The declaration also said China will “make best efforts to accelerate” its plans to reduce coal consumption in the second half of this decade. The announcement came as governments from around the world were negotiating in Glasgow about how to build on the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect vulnerable countries from the impacts of global warming. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the move “an important step in the right direction.” Some experts noted the deal was short on commitments that would significantly reduce heat-trapping gases. “It’s a good sign that the world’s two biggest emitters can actually work together to face the biggest crisis of humanity but there’s not a lot of meat there after the...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Duchess of Sussex has apologised for misleading a British court about the extent of her cooperation with the authors of a sympathetic book about her and Prince Harry. The former Meghan Markle, 40, is embroiled in a court battle in London over a British newspaper’s publication of portions of a letter she wrote to her estranged father after her 2018 marriage to Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. She sued the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline website for breach of privacy and copyright. A High Court judge ruled in her favour in February, saying publication of the letter Meghan wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, was “manifestly excessive and hence unlawful.” Publisher Associated Newspapers is trying to overturn that decision at the Court of Appeal. The publisher argues that Meghan wrote the letter knowing it might be published, and made private information public by cooperating with Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, authors of “Finding Freedom.” The duchess’ lawyers have previously denied that she or Harry collaborated with the authors. But the couple’s former communications director, Jason Knauf, said in evidence to the court that he gave the writers information, and discussed it with Harry and Meghan. In a witness statement, Knauf said the book was “discussed directly with the duchess multiple times in person and over email.” Emails released as part of Knauf’s statement showed he also emailed Harry to discuss the book and to say he would meet the authors. Knauf said Harry replied: “I totally agree that we have to be able to say we didn’t have anything to do with it. Equally, you giving the right context and background to them would help get some truths out there.” In a witness statement made public on Wednesday, Meghan accepted “that Mr. Knauf did provide some information to the authors for the book and that he did so with my knowledge, for a meeting that he planned for with the authors in his capacity as communications secretary.” She added that “the extent of the information he shared is unknown to me.” The duchess said she did not remember the discussions with Knauf when she gave evidence earlier in the case, “and I apologize to the court for the fact that I had not remembered these exchanges at the time.” “I had absolutely no wish or intention to mislead the defendant or the court,” she said. Associated Newspapers says Knauf’s evidence also undermines Meghan’s claim that she did not intend the letter to be seen by anyone but her father. In his witness statement, Knauf said the duchess “asked me to review the text of the letter, saying ‘obviously everything I have drafted is with the understanding that it could be leaked.’” Knauf said Meghan asked whether she should address her father in the letter as “Daddy,” adding that “in the unfortunate event that it leaked, it would pull at the heartstrings.” In her own written evidence, Meghan said she had not believed that her father “would sell or leak the letter, primarily because it would not put him in a good light.” “To be clear, I did not want any of it to be published, and wanted to ensure that the risk of it being manipulated or misleadingly edited was minimised, were it to be exploited,” she said. Lawyers for Meghan told the Court of Appeal Thursday that if she had wanted to put the letter to her father in the public domain, the “Finding Freedom” book would have been the “perfect opportunity” to do so. Defending the newspaper, lawyer Andrew Caldecott also argued that Thomas Markle had the right to publicly rebut misleading claims about his relationship with Meghan that surfaced in a 2019 People magazine interview with five of her close friends. “Thomas Markle has been royally attacked in the People magazine... and this is his reply,” he said. The appeal continues Thursday before three senior judges. A ruling is expected at a later date. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, what you look for with polls is a trend, and when we say the wheels are coming off this Government, it seems the polls now back that up. It’s a downward spiral. Two different polls out yesterday both confirm the drop for Labour, and the drop for Ardern personally. I’m not surprised and I doubt many Aucklanders would be surprised. If anyone has reason to feel aggrieved, let down and cast adrift by this Government, it’s Auckland. That was exemplified by the insulting visit the Prime Minister made to the city this week. Less visit, more orchestrated stopover. And, in that arrogance, is everything that’s going wrong here. You can only pull the wool over voters' eyes for so long. You can only rely on goodwill for so long. You can only bank on your support, in such a smug fashion, for so long. What voters want is transparency (which this Government promised and has failed to deliver on), authenticity, also now out the window, surety that there’s a plan, a way forward, some leadership. That’s all missing and has been for a while. It goes to show the huge highs this party enjoyed were a post Covid love-in where people were emotive. This time around, there’s still plenty of emotion – but in the opposite direction. People are angry, disillusioned, divided, locked out of their home country, in the case of many Kiwis overseas, and being driven to despair. Instead of being honest and admitting when they’ve got it wrong, this Government continues to put its head in the sand and tell us ‘nothing to see here’. They govern on the hoof, are reactive not proactive, lack experience and political nous, and continue to railroad through policy they won’t even bother consulting on. So, the reckoning is coming and only two things stand to protect them. One, the short memories of New Zealanders who, by 2023, may’ve forgotten the misery of lockdown, the dishonesty of Three Waters and the incompetence of the health system. And two, the fact National isn’t bouncing high enough in the polls – even with Act – to block a left leaning coalition. The gap’s closing – but it’s still not tight enough. We do, however, have a long way to go. And the mood in this country has changed. And that will push political trends if it continues. If Kiwis continue to feel the country’s going in the wrong direction, then that’s going to bite this Government in the bum. And here’s the part I think Labour voters need to think long and hard about – who replaces Ardern? It’s felt for a wee while now, like the lights have gone out for her on the leadership front, she really doesn’t seem that interested in the cut and thrust of political leadership. She seems to prefer the cosy Facebook lives from home to the rigour of the road. And if she bails, how many of the ministers lining up behind her are you willing to have lead the country? Where I would’ve once backed Grant Robertson, I now don’t. (I’ll tell you more on that next week), but as far as this week goes, the wheels are officially off.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former National MP says the Three Strikes Law made the country no safer. The Government's scrapping the law which was created by Act in the National-led coalition government 11 years ago. It meant people convicted of a third serious violent, sex or drug offence would automatically get the maximum sentence without parole. Former National MP and Government justice advisor Chester Borrows says it meant there was no incentive for people to do rehabilitation programmes. He told Kate Hawkesby that rehabilitation programmes do work but without an incentive to do them nobody is better off. “I don’t think it was a good law.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Research is suggesting rural hospitals are being ignored in the Covid-19 pandemic. A study published in today's New Zealand Medical Journal says DHBs have a poor understanding of rural hospitals and facilities, and feel uncertain on managing Covid patients. Otago University researcher Garry Nixon told Kate Hawkesby part of the problem is around the physical resources available and workforce shortage. “There’s also the inevitable issue, whereby, the DHB is going to be largely focused on their large-based hospital” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A worsening surge of inflation for such bedrock necessities as food, rent, autos and heating oil is setting Americans up for a financially difficult Thanksgiving and holiday shopping season. Prices for U.S. consumers jumped 6.2% in October compared with a year earlier, leaving families facing their highest inflation rate since 1990, the Labor Department said Wednesday. From September to October, prices jumped 0.9%. Inflation is eroding the strong gains in wages and salaries that have flowed to America's workers in recent months, creating a political threat to the Biden administration and congressional Democrats and intensifying pressure on the Federal Reserve as it considers how fast to withdraw its efforts to boost the economy. Fuelling the spike in prices has been robust consumer demand, which has run into persistent supply shortages from COVID-related factory shutdowns in China, Vietnam and other overseas manufacturers. America's employers, facing worker shortages, have also been handing out sizable pay raises, and many of them have raised prices to offset those higher labour costs. The accelerating price increases have fallen disproportionately on lower-earning households, which spend a significant portion of their incomes on food, rent, and gas. Food banks are struggling to assist the needy, with beef, egg and peanut butter prices jumping. Millions of households that are planning year-end travel, Thanksgiving dinners and holiday gift-giving will be forced to pay much more this year. The jump in inflation is hardly confined to the U.S. Prices have been accelerating in Europe and elsewhere, too, with annual inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro currency exceeding 4% in October, the most in 13 years, and energy prices spiking 23%. In Brazil, inflation soared more than 10% in the 12 months through October, according to data released this week. Higher prices for electricity, cooking gas, meat and other staples have plunged many Brazilians further into financial instability. Americans are now spending 15% more on goods than before the pandemic. Ports, trucking companies and railroads can't keep up, and the resulting bottlenecks are swelling prices. Surging inflation has broadened beyond pandemic-disrupted industries into the many services that Americans spend money on, notably for restaurant meals, rental apartments and medical services, which jumped 0.5% in October. At the same time, the economy is managing to sustain its recovery from the pandemic recession, and consumers, on average, have plenty of money to spend. That is in contrast to the “stagflation” of the 1970s, when households endured the double hardship of high unemployment and high inflation. Many Americans are also receiving healthy pay raises, especially workers at restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues, where hourly wages are up more than 10% from a year ago. And families, on average, have built up substantial savings from stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits. “We're still looking at an economy in a strong position,” said Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo. “The consumer is still going out and spending, which is why we are seeing the price gains we’re seeing.” Used car prices have rocketed more than 25% from a year ago. With automakers sharply slowing production because of parts shortages, prices for new cars have also risen for seven straight months. Furniture is more expensive. Grocery prices have climbed 5.4% in the past year, with the price of beef roasts leaping 25%. Bacon is up 20% from a year ago. The Biden administration has attributed higher meat prices to consolidation in the meat-packing industry, with lack of competition enabling big processors like Tyson's to raise prices. Meat-packing companies have countered that COVID-related shutdowns of plants, and the difficulty in finding workers to staff the factories when they reopened, are the...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MIQ has to go and it’s important the pressure keeps being applied to the Government on this, because this is a government that responds to pressure. As Justice Venning pointed out in Murray Bolton’s successful judicial review of his MIQ exemption, under the Bill of Rights, every New Zealand citizen has the right to enter New Zealand without “unreasonable limitation”. And in those two words are the keys that open the gates, and clearly highlight that the legal grounds for MIQ are no more. MIQ’s also redundant because we’ve abandoned elimination and shifted to containment, we have Covid throughout our communities, we’re 80% double vaccinated; and data from MIQ shows that double vaxxed returnees, who test negative on arrival, pose a statistically insignificant risk in the context of this outbreak. New Zealand citizens wanting to return home, who are double vaccinated, Covid negative, and who are prepared to self-isolate for 7 days, should be legally free to return. We are averaging well over 120 cases per day; there are more than two thousand people isolating at home, including more than a thousand who are Covid positive. Meanwhile, the Government’s released stats showing that for the 24 thousand people who were in MIQ over a 3-month period, only four tested positive after day 8. That’s 4 cases in 3 months, out of 24,000 people, and here we are with more than a hundred a day in the community. It makes zero sense. ACT and National want MIQ abolished for returning New Zealanders and even Michael Baker has buddied up with other academics and called the Government out on this. As they said, you’re more likely to contract Covid in an Auckland supermarket, than from a double vaxxed returnee. The Government continues to kick the can down the road on this, but it needs to happen now. Returning Kiwis would need to be self-isolating from December 16th at the latest, in order to be around the Christmas table with family and friends. That's also the time the Government's indicated we'll be moving to the orange traffic light, so my pick is, we will be welcoming more freedoms then. For now though, the Government’s showing a lack of ability make pragmatic decisions and deliver. No doubt there’ll be more – and there should be more – legal challenges to MIQ. Pressure will continue to mount as case numbers rise, vaccination stats improve, and the number of people self-isolating continues to grow exponentially. So the Government has to be agile here, instead of waiting until the last minute, then suddenly announcing change and spinning it that that was their policy all along and we clearly all misunderstood them, again. Scrapping MIQ now matters because there are thousands of New Zealanders desperate to return home, return to work, to loved ones. We, as a country, need hope and each other, and Christmas is the very best and most obvious opportunity to make that happen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A move to get kiwi kids interested and engaged with farming and the primary sector. Entries are now open for the Junior Young Farmer of the Year for the 2022 season. It's aimed to get school kids from both town and country engaged with the primary sector and where our food comes from. NZ Young Farmers CEO Lynda Coppersmith told Kate Hawkesby they want children to better understand the connection between what farmers to everyday and what appears on their table. “It's amazing how just one or two experiences will actually spark a bit of imagination and passion.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The return to school in lockdown areas is being called a dog's breakfast. Auckland and Waikato schools will welcome back students from Wednesday. Years 1 to 8 will return part-time, and schools can offer half days or alternate days by year group. Papatoetoe North School Principal Stan Tiatia told Kate Hawkesby he's livid and can't believe the responsibility has been put on principals to sort out the health and safety of their students. “What we need are some strong guidelines that show us what we need to do to open, what we need to do when there’s been a positive case in our school and to manage the safety of students and staff.” He said principals are not medical experts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Covid restrictions are failing to dent investor confidence. ASB's latest survey shows net investor confidence reached 25-percent in the three months to October - its highest point in almost five years. Net confidence in Auckland reached 31-percent - its highest point in more than seven years. ASB Senior Economist Chris Tennent-Brown told Kate Hawkesby people are thinking beyond their short-term frustrations. “It seems that Aucklanders are looking through the lockdown and focusing on the true question which is ‘do you think investment returns will be better over the next 12 months?’” He said KiwiSaver balances have been recovering, and term deposit rates have been going up. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Under pressure from rising infections and worried health experts, the British government on Wednesday urged millions of people to get booster vaccine shots but resisted calls to reimpose coronavirus restrictions such as mandatory mask-wearing. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the government would “stay vigilant, preparing for all eventualities,” but would not trigger its “Plan B” of bringing back restrictions on daily life. Britain is relying heavily on vaccines to keep the virus at bay during the fall and winter months. Almost 80% of people 12 and over in the U.K. have received two vaccine doses and millions are being offered a booster shot, including everyone over 50. But critics say the booster campaign is moving more slowly than the virus. The U.K. recorded 49,139 new infections on Wednesday, by far the highest total in Europe, and cases are averaging more than 45,000 a day, up 17% from a week earlier. Hospitalizations and deaths are also rising, though both remain far lower than before vaccination was widespread. Javid said cases “could go as high as 100,000 a day,” but insisted it was not yet time to reverse course. “None of us want to go backwards now," he said at a televised news conference, adding that the government did not think the health system was under “unsustainable” pressure. But Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the health care group the NHS Confederation, said Britain's health service risked being overwhelmed unless more measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 were introduced. “It is time for the government to enact Plan B of its strategy without delay, because without pre-emptive action, we risk stumbling into a winter crisis,” he said. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government lifted domestic coronavirus restrictions in July, including mandatory face coverings and social distancing. Nightclubs and other crowded venues were allowed to open at full capacity and people were no longer advised to work from home. Infections remained stubbornly high after the reopening and recently have begun to increase — especially among children, who largely remain unvaccinated. Hospitalizations and deaths are gradually rising, with deaths averaging 136 a day over the past week. Britain has recorded more than 138,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest total in Europe after Russia. Against that backdrop, some feel that Britons have been too quick to return to pre-pandemic behaviour. Masks and social distancing have all but vanished in most settings in England, although Scotland and other parts of the U.K. remain stricter. Even in shops, where masks are recommended, and on the London transit network, where they are mandatory, adherence is patchy. A plan to require proof of vaccination to attend nightclubs, concerts and other mass events in England was dropped amid opposition from lawmakers, though Scotland introduced a vaccine pass program this month. Critics say the vaccination program — among the world’s speediest earlier this year — is moving too slowly. More than 4 million people in Britain have had a booster, although about half of those eligible have yet to receive their shot. The U.K. also waited longer than the U.S. and other European nations to vaccinate children from 12-15, and only about 15% in that age group in England have had a shot. The government says it will act to boost vaccination rates, with a new ad campaign and more sites where kids can receive their shots. “We’ve got plenty of vaccines and we just need people to come forward and play their part," Javid said. He also said the government had bought two antiviral drugs to prevent coronavirus infections or lesson the severity of disease — one by Pfizer and the other by Merck Sharp & Dohme. Neither has yet been approved by Britain’s medicines regulator, but Javid said he hoped they would be in use by the winter. Javid renewed calls...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jacinda Ardern is being urged to confront the frustrations of Auckland business owners during her visit to the city today. The Prime Minister is expected to attend a couple of events under tight security. Auckland Business Chamber Chief Executive Michael Barnett told Kate Hawkesby she needs to be willing to have some confronting conversations. “Talk to businesses that aren’t allowed to open, who are sitting there asking ‘why the hell not?’ He said she needs to listen to the messages businesses have been sending for the last three months. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It won't quite be business as usual for Auckland's public facilities on the first day of Step Two restrictions. Libraries will only be open for contactless click and collect pick-up. Some visitor centres, galleries and museums will be gradually reopening over the coming days, but Auckland Zoo will only be open for existing annual pass holders with confirmed booking slots. Motat Museum Experience Manager Sally Manuireva told Kate Hawkesby it will open, but it could be a bit quieter than normal. “Ordinarily, we have a lot of school groups so we’ve been sad that so many of our groups have to had to cancel.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Those in Level 2 who can't imagine what this must be like today for Aucklanders. Try to imagine 3 long months, 12 whole weeks - in fact we're now into week 13 - of absolutely no shops open. You can't buy your printer ink, new shoes for your growing child, you haven't been able to try on jeans, no new socks, no ability to just whip to the shops and grab birthday presents or any little things you suddenly realise you need. Nope, three long months of having to order that online, if it's available, and then wait the sometimes 3 weeks for the backlogged courier to deliver it. Some shops have offered click and collect, but again, on a schedule that suits them, not you. So the convenience is missing. But as of today, doors are open. Big question is- will Aucklanders go nuts? Actually, several questions. Will they go nuts initially and then stop? Because what retailers need is spending all the way through to Xmas to stop the haemorrhaging. So will Aucklanders head out in droves initially, then freak out when cases spike, and stop shopping? Or, will they take a wait and see approach, mindful of how many cases are in the community, a bit apprehensive, and decide to play a waiting game on shopping? Will they spend at the levels needed to dig retailers out of the hole? Rod Duke's predicting a greater rebound than last lockdown due to the timing of it being so close to Christmas. I was amazed last year when we came out of lockdown how much people spent - remember that? Art, cars, houses, boats, people went crazy. Retail will be hoping for that sort of frenzy again. My daughter has a list of the things she needs, having had a big growth spurt over the last 3 months, but I can't think of anything I actually need but I'll still go just because I can now. Also, I want to support my local shops. So how many will be sympathy shoppers like me? And how are the retailers going to handle it? Remember last time, some went crazy with the QR codes and the hand sanitiser and the one in, one out, policies, security on doors, queues - really making getting into their shop a full-on administrative exercise. Meanwhile other retailers had a more casual approach, shops full, no social distancing. Then there'll be the Karen's who complain if they feel it's not going right. The one person in the changing room who doesn't like someone trying something on too close to them and complains. So how it all unfolds will be interesting. I'm sure there'll be numbers done on shoppers and dollars spent in the first week but, what I'm interested in is, what happens in the weeks following that. Those will be the critical weeks for retailers to know how bumper the shopping season really is and whether it gets enough cash back in the tills to fix the damage done by 3 months shut.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Foreign Minister's expected to try to put New Zealand's eggs in more than one basket as she visits six countries. Nanaia Mahuta leaves tomorrow for her first overseas foray in the job. She'll be heading to six nations; Australia, Indonesia, the UAE, Qatar, the US and Canada. Otago University International Relations Professor Robert Patman told Kate Hawkesby the Government's trying to increase New Zealand's economic links. “China’s our number one export destination. I think there’s been a determination by the Foreign Minister, expressed many times, that we need to diversify.” He said Mahuta would have had a lot of Zoom calls with them already but, that's no substitute for in-person links. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well done Auckland. The high vax rates have led us to where we are now – getting shops open come Wednesday. It’s several weeks too late, but we’ll take it. Key takeaways from yesterday’s announcement - it’s no longer about Covid and cases, it’s about, as I said yesterday, length of lockdown, lack of compliance. The ‘health response’ for all that the Rod Jackson’s want to squeal about it, is over. Ardern did make mention of mental health though, about time. What an unnecessary strain this has been. Northland goes to Level 2 later this week, the traffic light system will be in place by the start of next month, the PM sounded super keen for a summer, and why wouldn’t she be, she’s got a wedding to get underway. And call me cynical, but her choosing Wednesday as the day to visit Auckland is not lost on anyone. How convenient. The day the shops open up, she’s suddenly able to waft into town... are you kidding me? If anyone was in any doubt that this is a ‘good vibes only’ PM, there’s your confirmation. We won’t see her at any hairdressers or hospo outlets; God forbid, she’ll be in Counties Manukau, somewhere in South Auckland, looking for high fives. Surrounded by preferably children, or pre vetted supporters. She was actually asked if she expected protestors, she played that down saying only a small minority protested her, she said she won’t be increasing her security. I mean why would she, she’ll be sticking firmly to vaccination centres in far flung places. So poor old hospo is still on ice. At least another three weeks, it has to wait until all three Auckland DHB’s reach 90 percent double jabbed. There’s now a huge expectation riding on first doses rocking up for their second doses in the next three weeks. My guess is even if they don’t, the Government will blink first, they’ll admit defeat – though they won’t word it that way. They’ll word it as some kind of world leading world beating huge achievement but, basically they’ll fold on the 90 percent if it hasn’t been reached. So mark your diary for Freedom Day November 29. As for the border, it’ll be open too. iIt’s still a mystery how and that’s concerning that they still don’t know what they’re doing there. But for the people still listening to the squealing hysteria of the ‘people will die!’ epidemiologists, like Rod Jackson, you’re in for a shock. The Government’s no longer listening to them, neither should we. I don’t know why they get so much airtime. All they’re doing is fuelling fear, and the fear mongering is over. So, I for one, will be happy to be out supporting local shops as they fling open their doors Wednesday. I’m confident the sky won’t fall in, hospitals will not be swamped, we will just live with this virus, and it’s about bloody time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A nurse has been arrested and charged with falsely giving a teenager the Covid-19 vaccine. The 51-year-old from Western Australia went into her workplace at a Perth medical centre on Sunday. She obtained permission to administer the vaccine to the teenager of someone she knew. Police allege the nurse inserted the needle into their arm but failed to insert any liquid. It’s claimed she then disposed of the vaccine but then falsely claimed in medical records that the teenager had received the vaccine. The woman is also accused of claiming another employee had administered the dose. The nurse, from Byford, was arrested at her house on Sunday after her employer reported the incident to police. She is expected to front court on Monday charged with one count of gaining benefit by fraud. By - Shae McDonald, news.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First home buyers' 26.4 percent market share is the highest on record. CoreLogic figures show the group's share over the third quarter of 2021 was well above the long-term average of 21.8 percent. Chief property economist, Kelvin Davidson told Kate Hawkesby it goes against the perception of first home buyers struggling. He says people are finding ways in. “They're using Kiwisaver, the bank of Mum and Dad, and getting in with less than 20 percent deposit as well as looking at different locations, and smaller properties like townhouses.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite ongoing labour and supply challenges, New Zealand's local wine seems to still be in high demand. The value of our wine exports hit $600m in the September quarter - up 9 percent on the same period last year. NZ Winegrowers Chief Executive Philip Gregan told Kate Hawkesby says he’s delighted that their buyers are enjoying our wine. “We’ve got a good loyal customer base that is growing all the time.” But, he says the labour supply is very tight at the moment. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aucklanders have a path towards freedom and being reunited with the rest of the country. The region will move to Step Two restrictions at midnight, and is set to move to the red level of the traffic light system at the end of the month. It come as a Covid case is reported on Waiheke Island, and Mount Albert Grammar School returns to online classes due to another student testing positive. College of GPs Medical Director Bryan Betty told Kate Hawkesby the Government is trying to chart a middle ground. “The situation in Auckland has obviously reached a point where there has to be an end to this, we have to move on and through it but, it really does put an emphasis on really keeping the vaccination program going.” He says getting vaccination rates higher and hospitalisation rates lower remains the priority in Auckland. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It seems to matter less and less what’s said at these post-cabinet announcements because people are so over it, they’re just getting on with it anyway. The sun came out this weekend in Auckland and the balmy weather saw pretty much everyone head for the beaches, the parks, the backyard BBQ’s. It’s almost like Aucklanders took themselves to Level 2. Likewise, there's a flourishing black market of hair, nails and beauty treatments being done. More and more restaurants are opening up – on the brink of giving up, and just serving anything they can in a takeaway container from their front door. Groups are gathering in larger sizes, it’s as though Aucklanders have made a collective decision not to live in fear anymore. Having such a high double vaxxed rate helps of course. But when I see the fear in the regions where Covid turns up in the wastewater and everyone panics, it seems so foreign to Aucklanders, who’ve been wandering around with more than a hundred cases in the community for ages. Aucklanders are very much living with the virus, and the bulk of us have done everything right to get to this point. You can only push people so far for so long. And you can only police so much. In fact, it’s the lack of policing, or selective policing, that’s gotten under the skin of most law-abiding Aucklanders. Watching gang members cruise through border checkpoints only infuriates the rule abiders who laboriously apply for exemptions. I know people being forced to sell their homes, businesses going belly up, families torn apart, kids having huge anxiety issues, elderly people feeling alone and depressed, teenagers at their wits end. When you push people this long, with no plan, and no structure, and no end in sight, you’re going to break them. This weekend felt like a marker – Aucklanders have absolutely had a gutsful. So, the shops will open Wednesday, there’s no way they can back down on that now, they must be cognizant of how much compliance has gone, the traffic light system must surely come into play soon, the vaccine target abandoned, and the Auckland border scrapped. These archaic and strict measures don’t work when people stop believing in them. It may’ve looked good in theory on a spreadsheet inside the Beehive from their cosy Level 2 perspective, but out here in the real world with actual human beings, I can tell you it’s more unrealistic by the day. When the ‘let them eat cake’ leadership becomes this inane, the peasants revolt. So, we will be open for business December 1st, I guarantee it, the border will go because it’ll be too hard to police, and the messaging will shift to “living with the virus”. If we’re lucky, we may even start to hear a bit of that at post-Cab today. If we don't, then the control freaks running the place still have their blinkers on.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could New Zealand adopt New South Wales' Covid-19 roadmap? The Australian state is fast tracking new freedoms for fully vaccinated residents from Monday. It includes removing limit on house gatherings, opening sports stadiums and cinemas, and even allowing dancing in nightclubs. The unvaccinated people must wait until December 15, or until the state reaches a 95-percent vax rate. Auckland University Emeritus Professor of Medicine Des Gorman, says it's good plan, that could work here. “People need encouragement, people need some sort of reward and the best way to reward people is for behaviour that actually keeps them safe.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're a Cantabrian, you'll likely be familiar with the Ravenscar House Museum. It's a $16 million art museum in the city centre. After eight years of planning, a three-year delay in opening and a $3 million budget blow-out, it's officially open to the public today. Anthony Wright, the Canterbury Museum director joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Euthanasia becomes legal this Sunday but the requirements will be strict. It follows nearly two-thirds of New Zealanders voting to legalise assisted dying last year. The criteria to request it includes being 18 and over, in an advanced state of irreversible physical decline with unbearable suffering, and able to make an informed decision about it. The Act Party's End of Life Choice spokeswoman Brooke van Velden told Kate Hawkesby at any given time only a handful of New Zealanders will be eligible for assisted dying under the strict criteria. “We expect that, over the first year, about one thousand people will request assisted dying but not all of those people will actually be eligible and be able to go through the process.” She says it's good people who are suffering terribly now have compassion, choice and dignity for their final days. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can always tell when a topic has hit a nerve... The text machine blows up with texts, people email me before, during and after the show has gone to air. And this was the case yesterday over the latest crazy suggestion from the Government – that Aucklanders could face being set allotted time slots to travel this summer. It was such a stupid idea that no sooner had Chris Hipkins uttered it out loud than Grant Robertson was shooting it down. And therein lies a lot of the problems with this Government’s response to this pandemic. It’s chaotic, all over the show, and smacks of knee jerk reactions. I’m not sure why they say stuff out loud when it hasn’t been given the sniff test but, having Ministers on the hop make stuff up, is sure to backfire. And so it did. And the problem is, this wasn’t just any Minister, this was the Covid-19 Response Minister. It is literally his job to manage this stuff. And sure enough, not long after Chris had said it and Grant had poo-pooed it, Chris was putting it back on the table again. Do they even talk to each other? The more shambolic and knee jerk this thing looks, the less we have any faith in them. It also reeks of control freaky-like arrogance around what they can and can’t tell us to do, and no one's more fed up with being told what they can and can’t do than Aucklanders. There's a limit to how much we will put up with, and Aucklanders made it loud and clear; that a roster on who can travel where and when for summer, is a bridge too far. Collins called it 'raving mad', Chris Bishop called it 'immoral' and 'ludicrous'. Aucklanders felt it was the final straw. The bruhaha led Hipkins to issue a hasty press release yesterday saying that while 'committed to ensuring Aucklanders are able to leave Auckland for Christmas and the summer holidays. At the same time, we need to do what we can for the rest of the country to try and ensure its people, and not the virus, that moves beyond the Auckland boundary.' He goes on to point out they’re “looking at tools like vaccine certificates”. I’d hope they’re doing a hell of a lot more right now than just looking at that. I mean those need to be up and running sooner rather than later. In fact, they really should've been up and running by now. We literally can’t go anywhere if they don’t have that sorted, that should be priority number one. So I’m not sure we are any more the wiser this morning, or any more reassured today than we were yesterday. For those trying to plan their summer holidays outside of an Auckland boundary, there's not a lot we can bank on at the moment, other than the fact we'll be log jammed in way more traffic than usual, either way. Even if we are allowed to travel in our own chosen time slot.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deciding on a process for electing Jacinda Ardern's ultimate successor will be up for discussion at the Labour Party's annual conference this weekend. Party members will meet online, to vote on a proposed change to how Labour elects its leaders when the time comes for Ardern to go. It would allow a new leader to be elected by caucus alone if more than two thirds of caucus voted for a new leader within a week of the job coming up. Political commentator Peter Dunne told Kate Hawkesby they'll also be discussing how to sell the party's bold reform agenda. “They’ve got to get out there and try shift the focus off being a ‘Covid Government’ to a government that’s got policies on a whole range of other areas they’re seeking to implement.” The centrepiece of the conference will be Ardern's keynote speech tomorrow afternoon. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Keeping Auckland's Covid boundary in place over Christmas could take a huge toll on tourism-dependent regions. The Government is working on plans to require people to prove their vaccination status and provide a negative Covid test each time they cross the border. But Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins says no final decisions have been made on how it will work. Jereon Jongejans, the owner of Northland's Dive Tutukaka, told Kate Hawkesby if Aucklanders can't easily get in and out of the region, the rest of the country will suffer. He says it’s not sustainable. “If we, in Northland, don’t have the Auckland trade, I would say that 50% of the businesses will go broke.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“A small but active group”. This the new catchphrase we can expect to hear more often from the Government as it faces the reality of popularity slipping. When the chips are down and things don’t look good, it’s important to minimise, diffuse, and distract. That’s why in Northland when the PM was confronted by a heckler, she quickly told the crowd it was “just one person”, in fact there were four of them. Then in Whanganui, when numbers of hecklers and protesters escalated to about 250, we were told it was “a small but active group”. Like we couldn’t see the throng of people there for ourselves. A second protest saw the PM cancel another press conference, nothing to see here. This is clearly a disconcerting time for our beloved PM because she’s had a golden run, is used to fawning photo ops and easy stand ups, and turning out to adoring crowds on university campuses. Not so much now. The wheels are coming off and it’s not pretty. It doesn’t make for good photos; it doesn’t warm the cockles of the heart. The PM looks stressed. Cancelling stuff and diverting media away from it is not handling it well. I actually feel sorry for her. The higher the pedestal, the greater the fall, and that this will be terrifying new territory for her. Panicking, shutting it down, looking angry and then belittling those involved, smacks of things spiralling out of control. We are told these people just a vocal minority of trouble makers. Are they though? Could they actually be representative of a good chunk of the population absolutely fed up with where things are tracking? Add to that the current polling – the Roy Morgan poll this week had Labour down 6 to 39 percent support, the lowest since they came to power. Just 6 percent now separates the left from the right. The huge highs and outright majority they enjoyed and the lofty arrogance they comfortably slipped into, is eroding. Ministers are looking increasingly possum in headlights at press conferences when reporters dare question their modus operandi. They’re increasingly coming up short on answers, they’re looking more spooked on the public walkabouts. You can only dismiss negative publicity and protestors as a ‘small but active group’ for so long. Most of us can see this for what it is. So, what becomes of our glorious leader as the tables start to turn? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she hangs up her hat next year. The old guard of politics for whom it was once a vocation and a lengthy commitment is not as prevalent among this younger breed of politicians. Their tolerance threshold seems lower. My pick is she won’t be bothered with seeing things through to the next election with declining support. The international scene beckons, family life beckons, celebrity stardom and adoration outside of politics beckons. Time will tell, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she exits stage left.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A sociologist says we can expect more protests. The Prime Minister yesterday abandoned a scheduled press conference in Whanganui after about 250 protesters gathered outside a vaccination centre she planned to visit. The day before, Ardern had moved a Northland press conference indoors after being heckled by activists. On Saturday about five-thousand people gathered at the Auckland Domain and marched through the streets of Newmarket. Massey University sociology professor Paul Spoonley told Kate Hawkesby as we head towards 90 percent vaccination, protests are becoming more public. “They’re also going to disrupt others to make their point so yes, I think it will escalate.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you want to get in and out of Auckland this Christmas you may have to book in advance, and be prepared to wait. The boundary between Auckland and the rest of the country is likely to remain in place -- with people prevented from travelling if they aren't fully vaccinated, and don't have a negative Covid test. Covid Minister Chris Hipkins says people could be given an allocated time, but it's still likely to be a "time-consuming process". Tech commentator Paul Spain says told Kate Hawkesby the Government will be trying to iron out a system that works and is fair to everyone. “We have seen other areas where the Government has struggled on technology and that’s partly because it takes time to get these systems up and operating.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m not sure what’s worse at COP26, the private jets they all flew in on, the hot air they’re spouting, Greta Thunberg doing her usual spit the dummy routine, or Joe Biden living up to his nickname and falling asleep. I mean it’d be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. UK PM Boris Johnson, having lectured them all on cutting down on travel emissions, then hopped back on his private jet to head back to London. He excused that hypocrisy as being about ‘time constraints’. We get it, you’re so busy saving the planet, you also need to pollute it as you come and go. Ironically, moments before Boris boarded his jet, he told a roundtable of leaders that, “When it comes to tackling climate change, words without action, without deeds, are absolutely pointless.” Then there’s Sleepy Joe. He dozed off during the first few speeches, again showing us that world leaders are really only interested in talk fests if they’re stimulating and perhaps climate ‘blah blah’ as Greta puts it, just isn’t that scintillating. Which leads me to the teenage activist herself, more celebrity pin-up with expletive rants these days than silent protestor. She did not mince words as she delivered what was described by the press as a “foul mouthed tirade”, denouncing world leaders for failing to act. She said: 'No more blah blah blah, no more whatever the f*** they are doing inside there'. What a delight she is. Good to see her protests are evolving from shouting at people to now include swearing at them as well. They’ve got high hopes for this summit – I mean don’t we all? Wouldn’t it be great to see something tangible come out of the talk fest. This summit is, they say, “poised to be one of the most consequential climate events since the negotiation of the Paris Agreement in 2015.” Organisers are looking for “whole economy transformations.” But in the bid to build a more sustainable, resilient and zero-carbon future, you need to be taken seriously. And I’m just not sure you’re doing that by whizzing around on private jets, swearing at world leaders for being a waste of time and, in Joe Biden’s case, falling asleep. Luckily the Queen was beamed in to give a bit of gravitas and deliver a few stern words about aiming for statesmanship over politics. It is all politics though, isn’t it? And the thing I find disingenuous about so much of left-serving politics these days is the champagne socialism aspect of it, exemplified in so many ways here, but also in our own backyard. I mean James Shaw’s going up with an entourage, I’m not sure why he needs the reported 14 people to go up there with him, that’s quite the junket. To get real traction on anything, anywhere, politicians actually have to do more than just talk. They have to be authentic and they have to have their actions match their words. Staying awake also helps. So with another week of COP26 still to unfold, let’s hope we see something legit come out of it, rather than just more hot air.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctors are calling for better regulation of health supplements, as demand surges during the Covid pandemic. Sales in New Zealand supermarkets reached 130-million dollars this year by September. However, some say they're expensive, we don't need them, and they can be dangerous. Medical Association chairman, Dr Alistair Humphrey, told Kate Hawkesby people are wasting their money taking supplements. “They haven’t been tested and so we have no idea whether they work or not, potentially they can be harmful. Their claims are quite extreme.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police are undergoing a research project investigating whether they have unconscious bias towards Māori. It will be examining whether bias exists within Police, and how to eradicate it. Over in the US, Philadelphia has become the first big city to ban minor traffic stops. Police can't pull people over for broken tail lights or expired inspection stickers. Could something similar be done here? Criminal justice advocate Sir Kim Workman joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hopes for a silver lining in Northland's third lockdown in as many months. The top of the Far North has moved to Alert Level Three at least until Monday after two Covid cases were found in Taipa in Doubtless Bay, with no known link to the wider Delta outbreak. The boundary slices through the Hokianga Harbour across to the Mangamuka Junction, to Kaeo and out to East Bay, east of Whangaroa Harbour. Far North mayor John Carter told Kate Hawkesby community, iwi and business leaders are using the developments to get as many people vaccinated as possible. “We’re all now working together united and the levels of vaccination and testing has gone up, and I think we’ll find we’ll end up with a good rate out of it.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Auckland enters week 12 of lockdown, there must be a small sigh of relief for businesses. I mean another whole week, but at least a date is set to open. Which is just as well, because had they not given businesses a green light to open, I would’ve suggested they just stop waiting for permission and get on with it anyway. Leo Molloy it. Ian Tayor it. Set a date, make some rules, band together in a cohesive body and just make it happen. I think some business associations were already looking at that. But a reprieve of sorts yesterday – an ‘in principle’ decision for next Wednesday morning for retailers to throw open the doors. Lucky Aucklanders, Christmas shopping can be done in person, the couriers can get some respite, the online bingeing can be replaced by the bricks and mortar experience. Waikato of course gets better news, doors can open as of tomorrow morning, thrilling for them. So why not now for Auckland? Well according to the PM she wants to allow an extra week to let the school changes ‘bed in’, whatever that means, and to let extra vaccinations occur. Let’s call it for what it was - political pressure, and buckets of it. It was just all getting a little too unsavoury for them to continue with their head in the sand approach to Auckland. The irony of this won’t be lost on anyone. Record case numbers, yet only 3 in ICU. Our vaccination rates are high, 81 percent of Auckland is fully vaxxed, 75 percent of the whole country is double jabbed. So, our rates are at higher levels than when most other countries threw open the doors for more freedoms. In other words, we are very late to this party. I feel for the sectors who’re still playing the waiting game. No date, no surety, and no consistency. I mean how is it a physio and a chiropractor can open but a masseuse can’t? A dentist and a botox operator can open, but a hairdresser can’t. Many of those closed businesses are of course already operating. Just covertly, with cash, and behind closed doors. They’re not waiting for permission, and they’re prepared to take the risk of a fine because they’re that desperate. It’s not about breaking rules or trying to be renegade, it’s about literally surviving. Many of them have mouths to feed and you can’t take loans out on the basis of never knowing when you can pay it back. So, a political decision from the Government yesterday based on two things; compliance in Auckland lost, and political heat being felt. Health considerations are now taking a back seat, and there's more of that to come. Watch this whole thing unravel real quick from here - and the pivot on the fear messaging is going to be sharp, so buckle up. It's a shame Auckland retailers are being used as pawns in a political game to appease the fearful, by buying another pointless week, but it bodes well long term for restrictions being eased faster then we think.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Irish-trained and Australian-owned nine-year-old Twilight Payment will attempt to become the first horse to successfully defend a Melbourne Cup since Makybe Diva won her third in a row in 2005 in Tuesday's race at Flemington. The stayer will go into the 3,200-meter race having finished runner-up in the 2,800-meter Irish St. Leger, a placing that was one better than his final lead-in run in the same race last year. Part-owner Nick Williams says the St. Leger finish will be an advantage for Twilight Payment and British stayer Spanish Mission in their bid to beat Caulfield Cup winner and favorite Incentivise. "Our horse and Spanish Mission are proven over the distance at the absolute top level in the world," Williams said. "We'll see on Tuesday whether Incentivise is up to that level at that trip." Twilight Payment is the Melbourne Cup top weight with 58.5 kilograms (129 pounds) after being asked to carry 3 kg (6.6 pounds) more than 2020 as he tries to become the oldest winner of the race. Jye McNeil will ride Twilight Payment. "He'll roll forward again, that's the way he likes to race," Irish trainer Joseph O'Brien said of Twilight Payment. "He doesn't have to lead but he's very comfortable on the lead." Twilight Payment and Spanish Mission are the only overseas-trained horses in the race and they are the closest in betting to Incentivise. Twilight Payment drew Barrier 2 while Incentivise will need to overcome a wide barrier after drawing Barrier 16 in the 24-horse race. Incentivise, to be ridden by Brett Prebble, has won his past nine starts. Craig Williams has been booked to ride Spanish Mission. Incentivise trainer Peter Moody said his horse has taken it easy in training since his win in the 2,400-meter Caulfield Cup on Oct. 16. "He's done everything asked of him . . . very little fast work, he hasn't needed it," Moody said. "Fitness levels are very good and health and well-being are very good." With Melbourne only recently coming out of a lengthy lockdown due to COVID-19, Flemington, which can accommodate up to 120,000 race-goers, will be restricted to 10,000 fully-vaccinated spectators. The forecast is for dry weather and a high of 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) for the race first held in 1861.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There seems to be bit of a grey area when it comes to whether we should make young children wear masks. While parents and officials want to protect kids against Covid, they also don't want to get in the way of a child's development. Each country is doing it differently, countries like France and Italy are masking kids six and over, but in the US, they want kids as young as two masked up. Developmental psychologist at University of Toronto Dr Kang Lee joined Kate Hawkesby from Beijing. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well the climate change summit we all know the name of now COP26 is underway in Glasgow. Apart from a stoush between France and Australia, the main takeaway has been world leaders giving pretty grim outlooks on the future. The UN Secretary General says "we're digging our own grave" "either we stop it, or it stops us" and the UK Prmie Minister Boris Johnson says the world is at "one minute to midnight". But what is New Zealand's attendance going to achieve, and what does the farming community want to see? CEO of Dairy NZ Dr Tim Mackle joined Kate Hawkesby.LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the corporate world, they call it avoiding death by a thousand cuts. It’s a smart marketing strategy and one I think the Government's currently employing. Get all your bad news out at once - more crudely referred to in some sectors as “flushing all the turds in one go”. When Steven Joyce wrote at the weekend about the wheels coming off this Government, he wasn’t wrong. Ramming through Three Waters, announcing a fanciful $15 billion light rail project, keeping Auckland locked down, butchering the MIQ messaging and changes. The wheels are well and truly off. And you’ll note, fronting all that bad news was Chris or Grant - anyone but Jacinda. That’s the other strategy of course - keep your most popular player away from bad news. Save her for the good stuff. And here’s where the play is smart. The good stuff is coming. Matthew Hooton was the latest of many cynics to forecast a loosening of restrictions and an opening up - albeit an abandonment of the ambitious vaccine target - by November 29. He said we could mark December 1st as our “Freedom Day” they won’t call it that, nor will they admit they’re abandoning targets, but that’s what’ll happen. Kiwis will get home for Xmas, MIQ will be abandoned, targets will be gone. When my husband suggested this to me a week ago, I told him he was over estimating this “abundance of caution” Government and it wouldn’t happen. But I forgot about the obvious bit staring us all in the face. This Government hates bad press. And what they’re currently getting is bad press, and lots of it. The usual cheerleaders have turned. I’m told even the PM’s social media pages which are usually awash with sycophants has turned ugly. Labour won’t tolerate this much love lost and so watch December come like the great redeemer. Jacinda will be back out front for the good news. We will open up, the chicken littles like Wiles and Baker sidelined once and for all, there‘ll be good news aplenty and they’ll be banking on everyone - particularly Aucklanders - forgetting this period of discontent and riding the wave of open shops, domestic tourism and salon haircuts. There’ll be a celebrity wedding for the PM - a summer to enjoy, and the key bit - the spin. The spin will be, that we are in fact, world leading. That we opened up with a higher vaccination rate than other countries, that we have our freedoms back and that we earned it with fewer deaths and no hospital overload. Part of our small size and stature globally is that we puff our chest at any chance - and Labour will capitalize on that to claim we’re top of the pops. And by inference that Jacinda is top of the pops. There will be many who fall for it. But there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and September 2023, question is, can they keep swimming?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The message to young kiwis who don't want to head overseas on their OE, is go to rural New Zealand instead. Think Rural, launched today, is a local government campaign, aiming to attract young people to rural areas for work. Otorohanga Mayor Max Baxter says told Kate Hawkesby we should treat an OE in New Zealand, like an OE overseas. “Certainly while we’ve been in Level 3, I mean the opportunity for freedom, a bit of space. The jobs are still out there in the rural community.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A crucial U.N. climate summit opened Sunday amid papal appeals for prayers and activists' demands for action, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries aimed at slowing intensifying global warming and adapting to the climate damage already underway. As U.N. officials gaveled the climate summit to its formal opening in Glasgow, the heads of the world's leading economies at the close of their own separate talks in Italy made pledges including stopping international financing of dirty-burning coal-fired power plants by next year. But much of the agreement was vague and not the major push some had been hoping for to give momentum to the climate summit. Government leaders face two choices in Glasgow, Patricia Espinosa, head of the U.N. climate office, declared at the summit's opening: They can sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions and help communities and countries survive what is becoming a hotter, harsher world, Espinosa said. "Or we accept that humanity faces a bleak future on this planet." "It is for these reasons and more that we must make progress here in Glasgow," Espinosa said. "We must make it a success." India Logan-Riley, an Indigenous climate activist from New Zealand, had a more blunt message for negotiators and world leaders at the summit's opening ceremony. "Get in line, or get out of the way," Logan-Riley said. But G-20 leaders offered more vague pledges than commitments of firm action, saying they would seek carbon neutrality "by or around mid-century." They also agreed to end public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad, but set no target for phasing out coal domestically — a clear nod to China and India The G-20 countries represent more than three-quarters of the world's climate-damaging emissions and G-20 host Italy and Britain, which is hosting the Glasgow conference, had looked for more ambitious targets coming out of Rome. But major polluters including China and Russia had already made clear they had no immediate intention of following U.S. and European pledges to zero out all fossil-fuel pollution by 2050. Russia said on Sunday that it was sticking to its target of 2060. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson struck a grim tone Sunday. He said G-20 leaders "inched forward" on curbing global warming, but the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) -- struck in a landmark deal at the end of the 2015 Paris climate accord -- was in danger of slipping out of reach. "If Glasgow fails then the whole thing fails," Johnson told reporters in Rome. Some observers said the pledges from the G-20 countries were far from enough. "This weak statement from the G-20 is what happens when developing countries who are bearing the full force of the climate crisis are shut out of the room," said Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa. "The world's biggest economies comprehensively failed to put climate change on the top of the agenda ahead of COP26 in Glasgow." While the opening ceremony in Glasgow formally kicked off the talks, known as COP26, the more anticipated launch comes Monday, when leaders from around the world will gather to lay out their countries' efforts to curb emissions from burning coal, gas and oil and deal with the mounting damage from climate change. The leaders of two of the top climate-polluting nations - China and Russia — were not expected to attend the summit, though seniors officials from those countries planned to participate. For U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country is the world's biggest climate polluter after China, the summit comes at a time when division within his own Democratic party is forcing him to scale back ambitious climate efforts. At the Vatican Sunday, Pope Francis urged the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square: "Let us pray so that the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor" is heard by summit...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So it seems the vocal minority of anti-vaxers and anti-lockdown protesters, otherwise known as 'freedom fighters' has got louder over the weekend. At least 5000 people gathered in Auckland domain on Saturday for the third major protest in six weeks. Protesters also targeted Dominion road yesterday grinding it a halt, and vandalised a vaccination centre in Panmure. So how do we deal with these people? How do we get through to these people? Professor Stephan Lewandowsky is a world-renowned cognitive scientist currently based in Bristol and he joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hawkes Bay's water park Splash Planet is closing over summer for the first time since opening in 1998. Although Hawkes Bay isn’t reporting any Covid cases, there are concerns around low vaccination rates and how they would manage social distancing. Nigel Bickle, Hastings’ District Council CEO - who are in charge of Splash Planet – told Kate Hawkesby it’s become too complicated to open the park. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

UK and Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney was aboard Sir David Attenborough's research vessel today to hear Sir David talk about the upcoming Climate Change Summit. He joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss this and how France has detained a U.K. fishing boat as the battle for fishing in the channel heats up. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I feel for the South Island, with their gradual waking up to the fact that Delta is real. A couple of weeks ago I said to my sister, who lives in Christchurch, when she called me en-route from her pilates class to her café lunch, before probably going on to the hairdresser, that she was living in a parallel universe. I told her I figured the South Island was where the whole of NZ was 11 weeks ago, when we thought Delta was just a “somewhere else” problem. We smugly watched from the comfort of our crowded cafes as chaos unfolded across the Tasman and we thought – oh lucky us, it’s not real for us here. And then boom, there it was. And how our lives have changed. I told her it would show up on her doorstep, it was a matter of when not if. She was confident it wouldn’t and that they’d all be so well vaccinated by the time it did, that it’d be no worries. And then wham. Yesterday’s news of two positive cases in the city. I called her and suggested she go get her hair done and have her last café coffee. But she was relaxed, confident they wouldn’t be locked down, confident it would be a non-event. I admired her positivity and at the same time resented how cynical and deflated we’ve become in Auckland. That sort of upbeat laissez-faire approach to life she was exhibiting, has been missing in action in the city of sails. Aucklanders are instead like brow beaten cave dwellers living in the dark, fear and rule bound, glumly crawling around with our regrowth and our chipped nails and our takeaways, wondering when we’ll ever get to a traffic light. My sister said she refused to subscribe to the fear, or run around like a headless chicken buying up toilet paper. In fact, she was so confident there’d be no lockdown that she said she was going to make restaurant bookings. She refused to go to the supermarket to join a queue and in the end, she was right not to panic. But I am hopeful it’s a wake-up call for those who may still be on the fence regards vaccinating. Nothing spurs people on like some positive community cases, and perhaps this focusses the mind for South Islanders that they may not be completely immune from this. I do think the blame and finger pointing is futile here though – those who’re saying ‘bloody Aucklanders’ - Let’s be frank, Delta was always going to make its way around the place. These two travellers had exemptions to travel, and had provided negative tests How is that Auckland's fault? There is an argument for domestic vaccine passports, especially for those leaving the centre of an outbreak. Why that’s not already in place to protect South Islanders and the rest of the country is beyond me. I imagine it’ll eventually come into play – but as we’ve come to expect with this government, unfortunately, not in time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest MIQ change is more about reconnecting families, rather than tourism. From the 14th of November, MIQ stays will be halved to seven days. People must then self-isolate at home for about three days until their day nine test comes back. Rosann Connolly George from Vincent George Travel told Kate Hawkesby the focus will be on the repatriation of Kiwis and the education sector before we can think about tourism. “I honestly don’t see a tourism border opening up anytime soon.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation, marking a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who do not identify as male or female, and expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year, the State Department said Wednesday. The department did not identify the passport recipient, but Dana Zzyym of Fort Collins, Colorado, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview it was their passport. Zzyym, who prefers a gender-neutral pronoun, has been in a legal battle with the government since 2015 over a passport. Zzyym (pronounced Zimm) said the fight for the passport with an accurate gender designation was a way to help the next generation of intersex people win recognition as full citizens with rights. “I’m not a problem. I’m a human being. That’s the point,” Zzyym said. The U.S. special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, said the decision brings the government documents in line with the “lived reality” that there is a wider spectrum of human sex characteristics than is reflected in the previous two designations. “When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect,” Stern said. Zzyym was denied a passport for failing to check male or female on an application. According to court documents, Zzyym wrote “intersex” above the boxes marked “M” and “F” and requested an “X” gender marker instead in a separate letter. Zzyym was born with ambiguous physical sexual characteristics but was raised as a boy and had several surgeries that failed to make Zzyym appear fully male, according to court filings. Zzyym served in the Navy as a male but later came to identify as intersex while working and studying at Colorado State University. The State Department’s denial of Zzyym’s passport prevented Zzyym from being able to travel to a meeting of Organization Intersex International in Mexico. The department said in June that it was moving toward adding a third gender marker for nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people but that would take time because of required updates to its computer systems. In addition, a department official said the passport application and system update with the “X” designation option still awaited approval from the Office of Management and Budget, which signs off on all government forms. The department now also allows applicants to self-select their gender as male or female, no longer requiring them to provide medical certification if their gender did not match that listed on their other identification documents. The United States joins a handful of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Nepal and Canada, in allowing its citizens to designate a gender other than male or female on passports. Stern said her office planned to talk about the U.S. experience with the change in its interactions around the world and hopes that might help inspire other governments to offer the option. “We see this as a way of affirming and uplifting the human rights of trans and intersex and gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people everywhere,” she said. By - Colleen Slevin, APSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I joked this time yesterday that I hoped the big day of announcements we were awaiting wouldn’t just be announcements of announcements. I mean I thought we were past that. Hence, I joked about it. Sadly, clearly, we’re not past it. This Government is still taking the piss at 1 o’clock. How much leeway do they actually want? How much rope? Are they joking? Yesterday’s press conference was one of the greater damp squibs of all time. They literally could not announce anything. We were expecting MIQ changes, an update on school for Years 0-10, and the Waikato level change. What did we get? A delay on the MIQ announcement – they’re not ready, don’t know, haven’t got it together, they’re still ‘having conversations’. Why? What about? They’ve had weeks and weeks to do this, is it that there’s disagreement? Is it that they literally can’t make a decision? Is it that they just don’t know? What is it? Likewise with schools. Weeks to prepare for this – still no clue. Primary students might be back by November 15th, then again, they might not. They may go back on a rostered system, they may go back for outdoor classes only, they may not go back at all. Years 9 and 10, which are junior high school students, don’t look like they’re going back anytime soon either. At best, I’d say when and if the seniors leave daily classes to sit external exams, juniors may get a look in, but again, who would know? The government certainly doesn’t. Then we got to the poor old Waikato. Languishing in Level 3, they got the big news they can move to picnics and golf. What I want to know is, why are they staying in Level 3 with only 6 cases in the community, all in Hamilton, and all linked? Well apparently, it’s because, as Hipkins put it, “it’s a difficult group to contact trace.” When pressed on this, he simply repeated ‘they’re a difficult group to contact trace’ - which of course tells us nothing and everything all at the same time. History tells us the group the government tends to protect the privacy of the most is? Gangs. Who are these ‘difficult’ people? Are they not co-operating? Are they being difficult for a reason? Why are the difficulties not being addressed? Why hold Waikato to ransom for a small group of ‘difficult’ people? And how do you define difficult for goodness' sake? They should know by now that in the absence of information, all that will do is stir rumour and upset. The other strange thing about the approach to Waikato is the Government’s words that they’re looking to ‘stamp it out’ there. Why? That’s elimination and I thought we ditched that? Why is the Waikato having a unique approach taken when the rest of us are all being told we have to learn to live with the virus? So, another frustrating press conference of absolutely no use or merit, which left us with more questions than answers. This government is doing my head in.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.