Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Job fairs are popping up all over the place these days, with some suggesting this is a sign of how desperate things are for some employers. There's one at Mt Smart stadium in Auckland today, hosted jointly by Work and Income and the Warriors Community Foundation. MSD's Mark Goldsmith joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Black Ferns will square off against England at a packed out Eden Park on Saturday night, in the Rugby World Cup final. The Ferns head into the match as clear underdogs, with the Red Roses looking to extended their 30 game winning streak. Elliott Smith is Newstalk ZB's Rugby Editor and joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

James Corbett, Tom Batterbury and Phil Thomson, the founders of crime prevention and detection software Auror, have been named winners of the EY Entrepreneur of The Year award for 2022. The trio were chosen from a field of five category winners and will represent New Zealand at the World Entrepreneur of the Year awards in June next year against winners from more than fifty other countries. Vaughan Fergusson, head judge for the category, said Auror has the potential to be a massive Kiwi global success story. “Entrants are typically strong across two to three aspects of the judging criteria, but Auror’s entry was strong across them all, and that’s what made them stand out,” Fergusson said. “What impressed us was the work they are doing to make the world a better place, and because the tool has been in use across multiple countries for a number of years, they had some really amazing stats to demonstrate the impact they’re making. “By changing the way we prevent crime, they are making people feel safer in the wor

A downward spiral in New Zealand's school attendance is sparking alarm. A new report by the Education Review Office has found 41 per cent of parents are comfortable with their child missing a week or more of school a term. Attendance has been dropping, with a 12 per cent decrease between 2015 and 2019 to 58 percent attending regularly. Te Tai Tokerau Principals Association president Pat Newman told Kate Hawkesby it's not a blaming situation. He says it's not something that can be fixed by government legislation, as it needs to be dealt with by communities. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Democrats have done better than expected, with the results of the US midterm elections not going down well in Donald Trump's camp. Republicans had been expecting a red wave across Congress, but the Democrat performance has hampered their progress. The Republicans scored an important victory with Ron DeSantis retaining his position as Florida Governor, but Trump-picked Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr Oz, lost his Pennsylvania Senate race. US Correspondent Anna Burns-Francis told Kate Hawkesby Trump is reportedly considering delaying his big announcement planned for next week. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.