Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Claims allowing an anti-transgender activist into the country is a win for healthy debate. Freedom of speech advocates say sense has prevailed, as self-described women's rights activist Posie Parker has been approved to come here. They say allowing people to voice their views, either way, is crucial. Free Speech Union Chief Executive Jonathan Ayling told Kate Hawkesby people who disagree can voice their opposition freely. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well just as the new Police Minister was fronting media yesterday and telling them she wanted communities to feel safe, Leo Molloy was making headlines for calling the Police ‘weak as piss’. His words, not mine.  The hospitality owner was furious that an attempted break in at his Auckland viaduct restaurant – which caused more than $50,000  in damage -  had elicited a ‘chat’ from the Police, but no arrests. He had CCTV footage of the offenders, police had shown up and spoken with them, but did nothing more. They were free to go. So as Molloy is telling this story, newly minted Police Minister Ginny Andersen is busy saying ‘community safety is her focus’. She told reporters that her focus would be ‘targeting retail crime and youth offending’. And that ‘part of that would be making sure police were available on the front line and responding.’ She said that her ‘single focus will be improving community safety. I want New Zealanders to feel safe,’ she said. So do they?  Well if you ask Leo Molloy, probably not. I

How will Scott Robertson fare in the top job with the All Blacks? New Zealand Rugby confirmed Tuesday the world's worst kept secret in announcing Robertson's appointment as coach from next year. His contract will run until the end of the 2027 Rugby World Cup. Former All Black Josh Kronfeld joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Warnings a hasty transition to renewable energy could be costly to New Zealand. Research commissioned by the energy sector, is recommending natural gas be part of the transition away from fossil fuels towards renewables. But it's found changing too quickly, could create $7 billion in additional energy costs for New Zealand homes and businesses. Major Gas Users' Group spokesperson Len Houwers says people and businesses need time to adjust and invest in their own gas transition. He says pushing people away from gas before they have alternatives, means they're forced to pay for less affordable energy or close their New Zealand operations. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Boris Johnson's job is on the line as he prepares to face a televised grilling by MPs. The former British Prime Minister has published a 52-page defence of Partygate, arguing he misled Parliament, but assures lockdown rules were followed in good faith. He'll present his evidence to a cross-party panel of MPs who, despite the Conservative majority, have previously said he misled them. UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby the potential punishments depend on how bad the panel finds the evidence. He says Johnson could be suspended for more then 10 days, which could trigger a by-election and cost him his seat. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Claims the cost of living continues to bite, even though more people are working. Ministry of Social Development data shows almost 25,000 fewer people are receiving the Jobseeker benefit, comparing June 2022 to June 2020. There were more than 100,000 exits into work in the year to June. But Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge told Kate Hawkesby leaving Jobseeker doesn't equate to financial security. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian police have arrested a decorated former SAS soldier and will soon charge him with war crimes after he was allegedly caught on camera shooting an Afghan man in a field while deployed in Afghanistan. Former Special Forces soldier Oliver Schulz, 41, was arrested in regional NSW – reportedly in the Goulburn area – on Monday morning and was expected to face court later that day. “It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan with the Australian Defence Force,” the Australian Federal Police said in a joint statement with the Office of the Special Investigator. “The maximum penalty for a War Crime Murder offence is life imprisonment.” Schulz’s arrest is the first made by AFP of a former Australian special forces soldier in relation to alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, The Australian reported. He’s accused of shooting an Afghan man in a wheat field in the country’s southern Uruzgan province. He is expected to be charged imminently over the alleged 2012 killing. The AFP said th

The battle of Wayne Brown versus the road cones is one I want a front-row seat for. I am here for it and I love it so far.  I don’t think it’ll be an easy fix. The cones have taken over our streets like some kind of cancer and they seem hell-bent on staying, but now that Auckland’s Mayor’s waged war on them, and Vector’s joined in, I have hope of eradication. The first shock was the cost – although we should've known, shouldn’t we? But $145 million a year on temporary traffic management is a joke. As Wayne says, it's ‘unjustifiable’. It’s absolute BS that this much money is flushed on making Auckland less productive by stopping everyone in their tracks – when half the time it’s not even necessary. The next part which makes an Auckland commuter’s heart sing is that Wayne’s putting his money where his mouth is and taking action.  Potentially, he’ll ‘fine contractors who take up too much road space,’ he said. He says they’re ‘a costly and annoying imposition on the daily lives of Aucklanders,’ and that’s an unde

Concerns have been raised that our climate change policies are too insufficient to mitigate the effects of climate change. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report shows emissions will need to be halved by 2030 to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius. It also warns every degree will exacerbate extreme weather events, as seen at the start of the year. NIWA Principal Scientist Dr Olaf Morgenstern told Kate Hawkesby the report is a blueprint for what we need to do to get to net zero. He says getting there means we have to tackle our own emissions, and that of our emission profile of agricultural greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide and methane. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trade, TikTok and Ukraine are expected to be top-of-mind during a diplomatic visit between New Zealand and China. Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta is today on-route to Beijing to meet with her Chinese counterpart. Contemporary China Research Centre Director, Jason Young, told Kate Hawkesby they'll likely oppose New Zealand banning TikTok on diplomatic phones. And New Zealand may push back on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the same time Chinese President Xi Jinping is meeting with Putin. But Jason Young expects the main discussion to be about economic development. He says 33 percent of our trade goes into China, and it's important that carries on when the economy looks as it's softening. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The retail sector is hoping to sit down with the new Police Minister soon. Ginny Andersen is replacing Stuart Nash in the role, having only been sworn in as a Cabinet minister earlier this year. She is a low-ranking member of Cabinet, but has 10 years of experience working with Police. Retail NZ Chief Executive Greg Harford told Kate Hawkesby they want Police to have more resources and tools to deal with retail crime. He says fundamentally we need a big social change campaign across the whole of Government, including Police, to get the message out that it's not okay to steal. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are demands for dental care to be included in New Zealand's public health system. An Association of Salaried Medical Specialists-commissioned poll shows seven in 10 Kiwis agree it should be free, as it is for children. Seventy-two percent of respondents say they've delayed a dentist visit due to cost, and only 43 percent had visited a dentist in the last year. Auckland Action Against Poverty coordinator Brooke Stanley Pao says in the communities they work with, that stat would be higher. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Make it 16 campaigners are annoyed apparently – because their campaign’s been shoved on the back burner by the new PM, who has worked out that it’s not a priority right now and added it to his so-called ‘bonfire’.  But it shouldn’t be a priority right now, not when the government has to contend with rising inflation, the health system in dire straits, crime at massive highs, a huge cyclone relief effort, infrastructure badly needing doing... and all the other problems we have right now. Lowering the voting age is well down the list. But not as far as the campaigners themselves are concerned and in that lies part of the problem.  Ability to read a room maybe comes with age and experience. It’s juvenile to stand there whining about it being a human rights breach when the rest of the country clearly has other more pressing concerns. I don’t doubt the Make it 16 campaigners can actually see, but they just disagree that their plight shouldn’t also be on the list. They see this as them being ‘sidelined,’ and th

The Green Party wants a commitment to climate action from a potential coalition partner. Co-leader James Shaw voiced his distaste at the prospect of a National-Act alliance in a 'State of the Planet' address yesterday. He said it would be the most "reactionary, race-baiting, right-wing" government in decades. Clint Smith, a former advisor to Jacinda Ardern, says that the Greens aren't happy with the Prime Minister's policy bonfire either. He says they're concerned Hipkins' leadership is moving away from climate. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The clock is ticking for Switzerland's banking sector as one rival hopes to save another. The country's largest bank UBS has offered to buy all or parts of Credit Suisse. The Swiss Government is looking to change laws to bypass a shareholder vote. Regulators have been racing to save the 167-year-old bank, hoping to secure a deal before the markets reopen tonight at 6pm New Zealand time. Europe correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby that UBS is offering to pay around 1.8-billion dollars. He says although parts of Credit Suisse are still viable, the plummeting share prices make it a risk for both UBS and the Government. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will Stuart Nash last the day as a member of the Cabinet? Newstalk ZB has revealed Nash was warned for breaching the Cabinet manual over a 2020 Newstalk ZB interview in which he advocated for police officer Matthew Hunt's killer to be imprisoned for a long time. Nash has already lost his job as Police Minister after revealing on Newstalk ZB this week that he'd asked the Police Commissioner two years ago to appeal a decision by the courts. Otago University law expert Marcelo Rodriguez-Ferrere told Kate Hawkesby that it isn't a good look for Nash. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While Cyclone Gabrielle will have a negative impact on the economy this quarter, it could be a different story later in the year. The latest GDP figures show a 0.6 percent contraction for the December quarter, with economists predicting another decline to follow, partly driven by recent weather events. But ANZ Senior Economist Miles Workman told Kate Hawkesby that it will support GDP in the quarters to come. He says that broken window style of economics is going to give demand for goods and services a bump higher than otherwise as people rebuild and replace. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lyttelton is gearing up for a big weekend. Racing in the International SailGP competition starts tomorrow on Lyttelton Harbour. Banks Peninsula Community Board Member Reuben Davidson told Kate Hawkesby that after a few false starts due to Covid getting the event off the ground has been hard work, but the set up looks amazing. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the start of this week I was chastising Auckland for being a dump these days and don’t get me wrong, I still hate the traffic, the cones, and the congestion. But, I am here today to defend the city of my birth.  When I criticized Auckland this week, part of my long list of complaints was the way people behave at concerts (Snoop Dog was the example). Someone who attended said the crowd was so baked and out of it they were barely alive.  But in Auckland’s defence, I was at the sold-out Morgan Wallen concert this week and boy did Auckland lap him up. What an audience.  The packed Spark Arena absolutely loved him, sang every word of his songs, cheered and clapped and danced til the bitter end and even then insisted on an encore and got a spectacular one.  Two things I learned. One, the support for country music in this country is phenomenal, and rightly so. Bands and singers out of Nashville are slick, well-organized, class acts, brilliant musicians who know how to play a live show. They’re humble and connecte

The New Zealand economy is shrinking, the only question is by how much. GDP figures due out this morning are expected to show the economy contracted in the fourth quarter of last year. Speaking to Tim Dower ASB Chief Economist Nick Tuffley is picking a steeper 0.5 percent drop. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.