Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

I see Meta is planning large scale layoffs for thousands of workers following a hiring freeze and a share price fall of 70 percent this year. 12,000 so called ‘underperforming’ employees could face the chop. Meta’s been under fire for a while now - Zuckerberg getting Metaverse obsessed hasn't helped. I have a hunch the only person really living in the Metaverse is Zuckerberg and I’m not sure why tech companies keep wanting to push us into a virtual existence, forgoing the real one we have right here. One media mogul questioned the decision to pivot towards a Metaverse too, he said, "If you change the name of your company to something that doesn't yet exist to bury what does wildly exist, successfully, something is quite odd in that.” And that sums it up. If it wasn’t broke, why fix it? Because it’s not just Meta encountering problems and rethinking staffing. A number of tech companies are announcing hiring freezes or job cuts which as one observer pointed out, is “a stunning shift for an industry sometimes th

Midterm election results leaning away from the US  President  is being described as normal politics. Voting is underway, with opinion polls tipping a Republican victory in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The pattern will follow previous midterms, with a Republican House during Obama, and a Democratic House during Trump. Former Republican strategist Doug Heye told Kate Hawkesby if Republicans take the Senate as well, it'll make things very difficult for Joe Biden. He says the President will have a hard-time negotiating on things like an open government and debt limits. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Mission is selling tickets to an event no one can attend. The charity is trying to sell out symbolic seats to Silent Night at Sky Stadium where 100 percent of sales go to people doing it tough. Tickets range from $10, to corporate box packages to cater for all who want to give. Wellington City Missioner Murray Eldridge told Kate Hawkesby it's an ambitious idea, but believes it'll help those in need. He says people are struggling with the most basic costs. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National's outlining how it will approach working with a Reserve Bank Governor it's criticised if elected next year. Adrian Orr will spend another five years in the role after the unanimous recommendation from the central bank's board. Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis told Kate Hawkesby they'd initiate an independent inquiry into monetary policy decision making over the past two years. She says that would include its contribution to the cost of living crisis, what it's done in terms of unsustainable house price rise and its coordination with fiscal policy. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federated Farmers says Canada is extremely protectionist in its dairy system. Trade Minister Damien O'Connor has asked for an international panel to hear a dispute between the countries, which has seen New Zealand products locked out of the Canadian market. He says Canada isn't living up to commitments under the CPTPP agreement, by implementing broader dairy import taxes. Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard told Kate Hawkesby it's a market they haven't really been able to access, but would like to. He says it'd be good to trade in more markets to reduce reliance on a smaller number of countries. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retailers will be having a busy rest of their November. Click Frenzy, Singles Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales will all happen before December. Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford says we have imported sales from overseas to keep up with customers' demands. He says while they used to be niche sales, they've now gone mainstream with savings on everything from electronics to clothes. He told Kate Hawkesby the cost of living crisis may be good news for the sales. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A climate expert says not all UN climate change conferences are created equal. Delegates from more than 200 countries are meeting in Egypt over the next fortnight to discuss climate action and compare progress. Victoria University's Adrian Macey says the meeting is unlikely to create any new breakthrough agreements. He says it probably won't be as influential as the 2015 Paris meeting. Macey says that meeting produced a robust agreement on emissions. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An extension to childcare funding could benefit children's education. The Government's announced the income threshold to access the childcare subsidy scheme will be raised from April - making 54 percent of the country's families eligible. The Working for Families family tax credit will also rise by nine-dollars a week for the eldest child, and seven-dollars for subsequent children. Save the Children Research Director Jacqui Southey told Kate Hawkesby that it's incredibly necessary. She says those facing steep living costs can re-direct money going on childcare to other household essentials. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I see a theme at the Labour party conference over the weekend was taking potshots at National leader Chris Luxon. It was reported that Grant Robertson made “19 references to National” and 9 to Luxon personally. When asked if all this reference to the Nats meant they were worried about them as a serious threat, Robertson of course denied it. He added some extra potshots that the Nats were ‘out of touch and inexperienced’. Which in and of itself if laugh out loud irony if ever I heard it. Out of touch? This from a government who has never seen a bigger disconnect between the real world and their beehive Wellington echo chamber? Are you kidding me? No one is more out of touch than this government, and by saying the Nats are the ones out of touch proves it. As for inexperienced.. we could take that seriously if anyone inside the Labour government had any experience or had ever run a business or knew any facts or data around their own portfolios. To top it off.. Robertson, who, disappointingly for Michelle Obama,

So predictably, sadly, the huge bushfire in North Canterbury is believed to have been started by two young people letting off fireworks. Why are we not surprised? 130 people were forced to leave their homes in an all-night evacuation. A massive amount of resource was poured into fighting the fire including four helicopters with monsoon buckets, two waterbombing planes, 7 fire crews, 70 firefighters, 12 trucks, 2 bulldozers and 2 diggers. They worked throughout the night trying to get the blaze, which spanned about 200 hectares, under control. The fire engulfed 5 and a half kilometres of the coast north of the Waimakariri River. All of that energy, resource and great expense, all because of a couple of kids with fireworks. Not even letting them off on Guy Fawkes, just randomly letting them off as soon as they’d purchased them. They only went on sale Wednesday. The rules are you can only light fireworks from your own home, and in calm conditions. Who’s taking any notice of the laws? Answer – no one. They couldn

A concern New Zealand's meth market may be becoming even more attractive to international drug manufacturers. Kiwi users pay some of the highest prices in the world with 100 milligrams costing around $100. But an increase in global supply has driven prices down around the world. Drug education company Methcon Managing Director Dale Kirk told Kate Hawkesby demand continues to outstrip supply here because we don't have many other options. He says we haven't had opioids, cocaine or MDMA take off as much here. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A group of first responders are preparing to lace up their running shoes for the mental health charity I Am Hope in Christchurch. Members from the police, fire and ambulance services along with defence force and civil defence personnel will take part in a 24 hour relay tomorrow. The runners are hoping to raise $20,000 dollars for the I am Hope charity which makes it easy for young people to access counsellors. Senior Constable Glen Dawson told Kate Hawkesby it's personal to a lot of the people taking part. He says they often have a front row seat to mental health and suicide episodes. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another jammed packed weekend of rugby action is on the forecast. The All Blacks are hoping to bounce back from a shaky win over Japan when they face Wales in Cardiff on Sunday morning and the Black Ferns will be trying to keep their home World Cup dreams alive against the French at Eden Park. Dr Farah Palmer is a pioneer for the women’s game and former a Black Ferns captain and she joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A good lesson emerged out of yesterday – don’t forget what you're really about. Starship Foundation, in rejecting half a million bucks because it came from horse racing (which by the way is not illegal, nor is gambling) made a big mistake, and one they should have fessed up to straight away. Their remit is sick children and helping them and their families however they can, not spending time and money on public image and branding. Starship knew exactly what they had done a whole day before the story broke. Not only that, they knew Mark Chittick was going public with it. They knew because several media outlets frantically chased them for their response, giving them several opportunities to respond and offer up their side of the story. Nothing. They went to ground. A small written statement making not a lot of sense did them no favours, no one fronted on it. So the story ran and ran and ran.. it ran all day. It filled talkback shows, it filled newspaper comments sections, it filled up text machines and emails, S

Banks are calling on their customers to reach out if they're feeling financial stress. The Reserve Bank has predicted lending rates and household debt will continue to rise, while house price will trend downwards. Bankers' Association CEO Roger Beaumont says the levels of help will depend on income, size of mortgage and household expenses. But he told Kate Hawkesby early intervention is the best option. Beaumont says the sooner people reach out,  the easier it is for the banks to help. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Christmas right around the corner, we're being warned to be vigilant with online scams. A worldwide study by cyber security brand Norton shows almost a quarter of New Zealanders take more risks when online shopping during the holiday season. The study says inflation's somewhat to blame, as scammers are luring people in with promises of deals too good to be true. Norton Managing Director Mark Gorrie told Kate Hawkesby it's been the perfect season for scammers. He says an increase in online shopping during the pandemic caused more scams to pop up, and the holiday season can mean people let their guards down in search for gifts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anger from the tourism industry over the lack of action and clarity from the Government. Back in May, the Government announced a $54 million recovery fund for the struggling sector as part of  the Budget. The scheme was pitched as a grant to fund innovative and sustainable tourism operations, but nothing has been paid out. Haka Tourism general manager Eve Lawrence told Kate Hawkesby all they want from the Government is action. She says the fund, its criteria and its definition of innovation needs to be clearly defined, which she says, they aren't. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m not worried about Elon Musk buying Twitter because it’s a waste of energy. I’ve decided the only real currency we have these days is our energy; expend it at your peril. Think long and hard about what you give it to. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. People expend too much energy these days on stuff that isn’t real, doesn’t matter, will possibly never impact them. Don’t like Twitter? Hop off it. Delete it. Hate Facebook? Get off it. I’ve done both. It’s liberating. I don’t expend energy on it at all. My only social media outlet is Instagram, I gleefully hit the block and delete button for trolls. Why let them take up space in your head, or take up your energy and time? Pointless. If social media’s not fun or safe or informative, why bother? It seems though, that many of us do get worried about what we see online, or what others may be seeing online. Increasingly, the concern is misinformation and disinformation. I do wonder by the way, to what degree the people who're worried about this from a p

The Council of Trade Unions says National's proposed tax plan would give peanuts to the working and middle classes. It's crunched the numbers based on IRD and National Party data. The council says the cut will cost $11 billion over three years and will mostly benefit top income earners and property investors. CTU economist Craig Renney told Kate Hawkesby says there are better ways to spend that money. He says that could be spent on health, education or protecting the poorest workers. National Party Finance Spokesperson Nicola Willis has rejected the numbers saying they haven't released their entire plan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cookie Time is thanking the 'Costco effect' for a massive jump in sales. The Christchurch-based company is praising the works of the Auckland superstore, saying it's boosted sales by more than a million since opening in September. The cookie manufacturer says due to the recent success, it's now set to supply its cookies for other Costco stores internationally. Cookie Time Managing Director Guy Pope-Mayell told Kate Hawkesby the success comes as a sweet surprise.  He says Cookie Time is producing one pallet of cookies per day just for the Auckland Costco store. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.