Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

The upper North Island is bracing for the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle. Severe weather warnings and watches are in place for the entire North Island and upper South Island. Red warnings are in effect for Northland, Auckland, the Coromandel Peninsula, and the Gisborne District north of Tolaga Bay. At least 23-thousand homes across Auckland and Northland have spent the night without power. NIWA meteorologist Chris Brandolino says  that Northland and Gisborne have had lots of rain already, but the heaviest rain in Auckland is still to come. Auckland Harbour Bridge has partially reopened. However, State Highway One over the Brynderwyns remains closed due to large slips, and Whangarei Heads Road east of Whangarei is closed due to flooding. ALL rail services and MOST flights in the upper North Island have been cancelled. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been a night of heavy rain in the Gisborne and Coromandel Districts. Coromandel MP Scott Simpson told Kate Hawkesby that the ground across the peninsula is already sodden, and more slips are expected. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I see Aucklanders coming in for a lot of criticism for rushing out to supermarkets and filling their trolleys over the weekend before Cyclone Gabrielle’s arrival, but in defence of Aucklanders: why wouldn’t they?  I mean that’s what Civil Defence, the Mayor, and all the media were telling them to do. Not only that, they were putting out those messages in a concentrated timeframe. We were being told to get enough supplies for 3 days, and to do that by the end of the weekend.  So you had a mad flurried 48-hour period where people went berserk in supermarkets.  You can’t tell everyone to stock up, all at the same time, and not expect that to get hectic. But here’s the thing – what to stock up on was detailed in advance; bottled water, batteries, torches, food.  And the supermarkets —and here’s where I think the blame really lies— supermarkets were busy telling us they had plenty! That stock would not run out, there was plenty for everyone, just take what you need, and don’t worry we’ve got masses. But what maybe

As the school year starts, I am reminded of the beauty of great teachers.  Having had five kids through four different schools, we’ve seen the full gamut of teachers – bad, sad, grumpy, useless, brilliant, engaged, interesting, and inspiring. If you’ve got kids in school, you’ll know what I mean.  Every year, your child desperately hopes for good teachers and every year you end up hoping for that too because it makes such a difference to your child’s year and their learning.  This year my daughter, who is in high school, had a lot of new teachers starting. Many of them young, one even younger than her older brother, fresh faces from Teachers College, ones who have switched from other careers, ones who have been away travelling and returned. But she’s lucked out. Every single one of her teachers is a winner, and it’s already making such a difference to the start of her year. She’s excited to get to school, excited when she gets home from school. Excited for the year ahead. Which makes the whole experience so m

A win for tourism as our local hotel industry thrives, with the sector the most optimistic since the pandemic began. The Tourism Export Council forecasts international visitor levels rebounding to around 2.1 million by the end of May and could approach pre-Covid levels mid 2025. Hospitality NZ Chief Executive Julie White told Kate Hawkesby 2023 is already shaping up to be a bumper year for the industry. She says all market segments are strong, with businesses back to travelling, and a range of events bringing in visitors and helping fill occupancies. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heat pumps the size of a five-storey building could be on the way from Fonterra. It's partnered with German company Man Energy Solutions to tackle its carbon production through greener steam generation. The giant heat pumps would reduce enough to be the equivalent to taking 25,000 thousand cars off the road. Fonterra chief operating officer Fraser Whineray joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Officials say they may need to do welfare checks on people in the worst hit areas, should Cyclone Gabrielle hit hard. Tairawhiti Civil Defence Controller Ben Green told Kate Hawkesby there could be further damage. “We know enough to guess the different forecast models and they certainly correlate around the fact you’re going to see landfall and impact and it just comes down to varying degrees of impact.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So the worst kept secret in politics yesterday was finally confirmed - the merger is a gone burger. Merging TVNZ and RNZ was never a good idea - right from the get go. Everyone thought it was crazy and so the Government now finally agree. Either that, or they just can’t handle the criticism and unpopularity of it.  Because I can’t help thinking if you believe in a policy and invest in it, throw money at it - not just any money either - don’t forget $9,000 a day on consultants, then you believe in it.  But as a sop to the failed project what are they doing? Handing out more money. More for RNZ and more for NZ on Air. The media slush fund for state broadcasting goes on and that’s before we get to the $23 million already spent on the merger, which now just gets flushed down the loo.  But the sting in the tail of yesterday’s policy walk backs was a little treat come April for businesses - the upping of the minimum wage.  And it's not just any increase either but a whopping $1.50 increase. So, businesses who have

Farmers can't catch a break in Bay of Plenty. It's the region's worst maize harvest in decades with around 60 percent of crops wiped out due to the weather. But is it all doom and gloom? Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers provincial president Brent Mountford joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Water New Zealand's boss says we need to focus on what's at stake when it comes to Three Waters - and that's the need to invest in infrastructure. New Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty has been asked to refine the policy, but Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says the need for reform is unquestionable. Water New Zealand Chief Executive Gillian Blythe says the commentary has focused too much on co-governance. She told Kate Hawkesby we need to remember the words of a Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment more than 20 years ago. Blythe says Morgan Williams said the model is not fit for purpose, and the longer we leave it to address, the harder it will get and the more complex it will be. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of you will be about to get back in it, I was in it yesterday and it was hell on earth. I’m talking about rush hour, I’m talking about the school run and in Auckland in particular - it was as hellish as they predicted it would be.  It feels like a long time between drinks. A long time since we’ve been back in cars, kids have been back in uniforms, bags have been back on shoulders and kids trudging back off to school. February is never an easy month anyway given the humidity and heat, especially if your uniform fabric is nice and thick and scratchy.  But the traffic, honest to God, I don’t know how it’s possible but it seems even worse. I left home for an eight minute journey, I returned 40 minutes later. It was chaos. Bumper to bumper madness.  And I know the zealots say hey get a bus, or get a train, or get out on your feet and walk but that’s not always practical or possible depending on where you live. So for us it was the car and we joined the throngs of everyone else doing the same thing.  And here’

The Prime Minister is set to drip feed the Government's policy changes. Chris Hipkins’ policy cull will be a topic at today's cabinet meeting, with all eyes on the RNZ-TVNZ merger. It comes after a newly reshuffled Cabinet was asked to take another look at its priorities, in a bid to get back to political basics. Political commentator Clint Smith told Kate Hawkesby we'll likely see some announcements, but not everything in one go. He says the advantage the Opposition has is that it can just make an announcement and that's its policy. But Smith says with the whole machinery of government behind things, decisions have to be taken at Cabinet, and that takes some time. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concern over the latest data on online dating and romance scams. The Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report surveyed just over 1,000 New Zealand adults, and found a quarter have fallen victim. More than half have suffered financial losses, on average $264. Systems Engineer Dean Williams told Kate Hawkesby we're not alone, with other countries showing similar rates. He says overall it's quite alarming, and shows this is another cyber issue we need to be conscious of. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Appalling scenes in Turkey and Syria as rescuers continue to search for earthquake survivors. Around 23 million people are thought to be displaced after the two 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude quakes in southern Turkey and the death toll has now passed 6,000. President Recep Tayyp Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency in the ten worst affected provinces. Europe correspondent Kay Oliver told Kate Hawkesby it's a dangerous and dreadful rescue mission. She says tremors are continuing, and help is very limited as people are spending a second night out in freezing conditions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A cutting edge development in the fight for sustainability in the food and fibre sector. New Zealand based company Environmental Decontamination has cracked a way to grind mussel shells into calcium carbonate. It's a product used in paper, concrete and paint. New Zealand currently processes around 100,000 tonnes of green-lipped mussels, which generates around 55,000 tonnes of waste per year. Project lead, Kapish Gobindlal told Kate Hawkesby the new technology offers a step towards a more sustainable future for the food sector. He says the very fine powder can now be used in the construction industry and in commercial goods. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thousands of tourism businesses remain desperately short of staff, with the latest figures showing the sector could be short as many as 80,000 staff - around 13,000 more than last year. As tourism returns to our shores, many visitors have found businesses closed or operating on limited hours due to staffing issues. General manager of Haka Tours and ANZ Nature Tours Eve Lawrence joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So another Waitangi weekend done and dusted.. and what did we learn? Well, not much. I think part of the disconnect around it these days is the coverage of it. Why does it always have to get so petty?  What we learned was – who spoke with notes and who didn’t, who spoke te reo and who didn’t, who attended what and who didn’t. How is that taking us anywhere or telling us anything or bringing us closer as a nation?  We are not being well served here when we let the sneerers on the sidelines get news headlines out of their pettiness.  David Seymour went to the trouble of doing his entire speech in te reo – the only coverage of that? The Greens Marama Davidson sneering at him as he did, and afterwards telling the media.. ‘it’s still racism it doesn’t matter what language it’s in.’  So the fact the media made a big deal of that was either A, because they don’t know any better and are happy to allow themselves to be hijacked by pettiness, or B, because they wanted to let her comment speak for itself. Hopefully it’s

Concerns increasing delays in court hearings could be putting people at risk. Newstalk ZB can reveal the number of family court applications older than two years,  has doubled from October 2022 compared to 2017. Victims Advocate Ruth Money told Kate Hawkesby it means children's safety and domestic violence protection orders are on hold. She says it's a 'warzone' trying to get a family court lawyer, let alone a time in court. The Justice Ministry says these are pandemic delays, and they're trying to work through the backlog. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the travesties of this week’s floods in Auckland has been the acrimonious fallout that’s happened at Council level over the whole response - mainly the beef between the media and the Mayor.  I just want to preface this by saying that I think the way the Auckland Mayor has handled this has been appalling. But here’s the thing about calling the media drongos; is he wrong?  I myself am in the media, I take it on the chin, we are drongos, some of us more than others, but come on, it’s a bit precious to be offended by that, we’ve heard a lot worse surely. And why can’t you call the media drongos?  So often these days the media manage to make themselves the story, make it all about them and then get so mortally offended when they get called out for their bias or their BS.  In Wayne Brown’s case, he probably had a right to be peed off. He got ignored at a press conference by media who didn’t know who he was, he got ignored when he bothered to take a helicopter up with his own money to assess the damage in Auc

National is accusing the Government of having its head in the sand, about the prospect of a recession. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has told Newstalk ZB he's confident New Zealand can still avoid a recession, despite the Reserve Bank's efforts to engineer one. But a new forecast from Infometrics suggests a recession is inevitable, given the slowdown in sectors like construction. National Finance Spokesperson Nicola Willis told Kate Hawkesby on Early Edition Robertson is being naïve. She says New Zealand will look back on this time in history, as the moment the Government didn't act to prevent an avoidable recession. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.