Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Time is ticking to fill up, before the fuel tax returns. The Government's relief package ends tomorrow, meaning petrol prices will rise around 29 cents a litre including GST. It'll still be substantially less than the peaks seen after Russia's Ukraine invasion in March last year which saw oil prices skyrocket. Gull NZ General Manager, Dave Bodger told Kate Hawkesby sales have been up, rather than manic. He says yesterday's sales were about 50 percent higher than usual, and expects today will be much like a regular pre-Christmas special. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A primary school principal claims their latest government offer is bittersweet. It includes a six percent base salary increase in July, and further rises next year. There's also lump sum payments and allowances for cultural leadership and professional coaching. Auckland's Laingholm School Principal Martyn Weatherill Kate Hawkesby says it's a step in the right direction - but there's still more to do. He says more funding is still needed for learning support. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Try as we do to endlessly support the Police, they’re not making it very easy for us are they? This story of the citizen’s arrest this week irked a lot of people - and rightly so. If you missed it, a Christchurch business owner and some tradies tackled a thief to the ground after he allegedly stole motorcycle parts, he had an armload of stuff, they chased him, got him on the ground, held him down while they called Police. The guy was putting up a fight and was yelling apparently that if they called the cops he’d ‘go back to prison’. Some pause for thought there as to whether getting sent back to prison might be your motivator to not rob people in the first place, but that’s another story. So these guys call the cops, the Police ask if the offender has any weapons on him, when they say, not that they can see, the Police tell them to let him go. Let him go. An offender, caught red handed, in possession of stolen goods, let him go. They do, he runs off down the street, free as a bird. Now the Police here make a

Is Meta finally doing better at protecting kids online? The tech giant is adding new safeguards across Messenger and Instagram. It's the first time parental supervision tools will be connected to their instant messaging app. Tech commentator Paul Spain joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's D-Day for Let's Get Wellington Moving. The council will vote on a motion of no confidence today as seven councillors push for the programme to be scrapped. Yesterday, the capital's Mayor Tory Whanau rejected a compromise from the group. Diane Calvert is one of the councillors who's signed the motion - she joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former President Donald Trump is trying to turn the tables on the advice columnist who won a $5 million jury award against him in a sexual abuse lawsuit, saying in a countersuit that she owes him money and a retraction for continuing to insist she was raped even after a jury declined to agree. Lawyers for the Republican presidential candidate filed papers late Tuesday saying E. Jean Carroll should pay Trump unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and retract her damaging statements. The countersuit comes a month after Carroll's lawyers filed a rewritten defamation lawsuit seeking at least $10 million more from Trump over comments he made after the jury verdict in May. The jury concluded after a two-week trial that Trump sexually abused Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in spring 1996. It also found that he defamed her in comments he made denying the attack last October. But the jury rejected Carroll's claim, first made in a 2019 memoir, that Trump raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman dress

A new peak has been reached in our drunk driver fatalities. Last year, 111 people died in incidents where a driver was over the limit - up from the 53 seen in 2013. In the last five years, the highest numbers were recorded in Waikato, Auckland, and Northland. Crash Investigator and former Police officer, Hamish Piercy told Kate Hawkesby there's no doubt there has been a spike, but it's important to remember the legal limit changed in 2014. He says they made the limit zero for under 20s, and 250 micrograms per litre of breath for adults - meaning more people have potentially been captured in the statistics. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are in for a bunch of cost increases over the next few weeks. I know, more. It’s not like we haven’t been facing a steady stream of rising costs for a while already, but a couple of things are coming up to bite us. One, the Government’s petrol subsidy is coming to an end this Saturday, which’ll see petrol prices jump by 29 cents a litre. That’s a lot, and it’ll hit hard in a cost of living crisis. Not just in our tanks, but it’ll be passed on across the board in terms of transport and logistics for pretty much everything we buy. Two, fruit and veges. That’s been rising steadily too, in fact food inflation is at its highest level in 36 years, according to a recent report. “Stats NZ’s food price index rose 12.5 percent in the year ended April, the highest annual rate since late 1987. The main drivers over the year were a 14 percent rise in grocery prices, and more than 22 percent for fruit and vegetables prices,” the report said - more than 22 percent.   That’s huge, and we know it because we see it in our t

In the UK, the former health secretary says the UK's pandemic planning was "completely wrong". Matt Hancock, the secretary during the pandemic, has told that country's coronavirus inquiry the attitude was to plan for the consequences of a disaster. He claimed medicines for intensive care were within hours of running out. UK and Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby Hancock says he's "profoundly sorry" for the response. He says Hancock told the inquiry they should've been looking at how to slow down or stop the spread of Covid-19. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Tertiary Education Union is welcoming the $128 million cash injection to the struggling sector. Split over the next two years, it'll increase tuition subsidies by an extra four percent at degree-level and above. The Government is also promising to review the funding system for universities. Union National President Julie Douglas is hopeful the boost will allow Vice-Chancellors at Otago and Victoria universities to reconsider job cut proposals. She says the universities have a level of autonomy over what to spend it on, but the money wasn't given for a new building and stems from a long union campaign. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There have been mixed feelings about Resource Management Act reforms. The Environmental Select Committee has suggested amendments including faster consenting and enabling local voices. AUT Professor of Construction John Tookey says it will be impossible to have both increased community say, and a faster consenting process. Part of the RMA reforms is reducing the number of RMA plans from 100 to 16, one for each region. Tookey told Kate Hawkesby this will bring positive changes.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerning new research from Otago University suggests alcohol is the most harmful drug in New Zealand. The first of its kind study ranked alcohol as the most harmful drug for the overall population, followed by methamphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids, and tobacco. Researcher Dr Rose Crossin says the findings suggest the need for policy reconsideration to reduce overall drug harm. She questions the current drug policy settings given that a legal drug is the most harmful. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So another day, another study on alcohol - in fact I’ve seen two just in the last two weeks and of course they say different things. One says even the smallest amount of alcohol can age your brain, another says a small amount is beneficial. So which is it? I honestly believe a lot of it has to do with the makeup of your own body and metabolism, and what makes you tick, what’s in your DNA. As in, some people drink like fish their whole lives and live to almost a hundred (looking at you Prince Philip), others are lightweights who can barely finish a glass of wine without falling asleep (a.k.a me). We all have different tolerances and constitutions. Different strokes for different folks. I also think we get to know ourselves better as we get older, we work out what we can and can’t tolerate because our body lets us know. CNN reported the other day that “For decades, large epidemiological studies have shown that people who consume moderate amounts of alcohol - less than one drink a day for women, and one to two d

Hopes a multi-million dollar government loan to Ruapehu Alpine Lifts liquidators gets the skifields off thin ice. The Government is chipping in up to $5 million towards the liquidators, as a new bid has entered the table A group on behalf of iwi is now proposing to take over operations of the skifields - the bid for operations to be split between two other companies is still on the table. Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton says it's a complex situation, but the financial backing helps jobs. He's sure businesses and communities are clapping with joy, and he's hoping for a good snow season. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are hopes Prime Minister Chris Hipkins can shine in his first meeting with Xi Jinping. The pair will meet to discuss topics like trade and the war in Ukraine tonight in Beijing. New Zealand China Council Executive Director Alistair Crozier says New Zealand needs to be sold as an accessible and open country. He told Kate Hawkesby it will be a chance to make up for lost time.  Crozier says it will be the first trade delegation of its kind for seven years. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A $6 million cash injection has been welcomed by food banks, as the number of families struggling with food insecurity rises. The latest funding top up by the Government will be given to community food providers and distributed to areas in need. Zero Hunger Collective Executive Director Tric Malcolm says it's great news, but the question is whether it will be enough. She told Kate Hawkesby the number of people struggling, as well as the level of support needed, is increasing. Malcolm says this is particularly evident in communities that have experienced weather events - where many have lost their basic items. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A reminder of the importance of judge's discretion as the National Party pitches a crime crackdown. It's called for a limit on the sentence reductions judges are allowed to grant, limiting it to 40%. National would also reinstate three strikes and remove taxpayer funding for cultural reports, instead diverting funds into victim support. Criminal Lawyer Steve Cullen told Kate Hawkesby that the law often deals with people who have had horrific childhoods. He says that's when it's important for judges to have discretion to put them on the right path again. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A survivor of child sex trafficking for 16 years is pushing for more to be done over New Zealand's alarmingly high rate of sexual abuse. The Handing the Shame Back campaign aims to give children who have suffered abuse a way to communicate - including using an open palm signal. Our country has a high rate of sexual abuse with one in three girls sexually abused by the age of 16. Author, survivor, and advocate Gloria Masters told Kate Hawkesby that they've spoken to police but there's still work to be done. She can't sit back and watch these rates, and is wondering where the outcry from the public is. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’ve decided we need to build more roads. I don’t know why we don’t just build roads everywhere all the time. The most transformational thing this government –who said they’d be transformational– could have done was build more roads. I don’t know why they hate them so much and cancelled so many of them. The irony of this government having to officially open the Puhoi road the other day, that they originally opposed, was not lost on anyone. It’s a fabulous piece of road, makes the journey smoother, faster, more scenic, it’s actually such a thrill, we were so excited to finally get to drive it now that it’s finally open. But it really is transformational. Trucks were flowing without clogging up a small winding one lane hilly road, cars weren’t held up by them with dangerous bends and passing lanes. Traffic was flowing, and markedly reduced. It was genuinely an amazing experience. I know I sound super excited about just a bit of tarseal, but honestly, roads are fantastic. They get us from A to B safely. They get

Hard to believe it's taken so long to get this new firearms register up and running. Then again - it's a government IT project and we all know there's a well-established track record of these things going way past deadline and of course way over budget. On top of that, it's likely to be clunky, overly complicated and not very well thought out so don't be at all surprised if it needs a multi-million dollar overhaul within the first couple of years. And don't be surprised either if it has no impact on the rampant crime wave we're enduring. Police themselves say there's been a marked increase of guns being used for criminal activity. That's in spite of the fortune we spent on gun buybacks, after the Christchurch mosque attacks. And they say a lot of the weapons they're seizing these days are being traced back to legal buyers. Some get stolen in burglaries, but some have also been on-sold to people who simply shouldn't have them. So, the logic for collecting all this information on legally licensed gun owners and