Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

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.

I don’t think the Prime Minister's assurances that New Zealand is a great place to live will have any sway with all the potential overseas workers we could have, who’re choosing to go elsewhere.  Prime Ministers have to be cheerleaders for their country, it’s part of the job description.  They also have to be relentlessly positive, as Ardern is, when it’s a country you’ve been governing for five years and its reputation as a great place has, under your government, gone backwards.  People used to want to come here, and did come here, in their droves - now, not so much. Just one solitary investor has lined up for the new investor category visa.  A system that used to work well and attract wealthy investors, now that they overhauled it for reasons best known to themselves, is so unattractive that only one person has bothered applying.  So we’re not attracting wealth or investment into the country, but nor are we attracting workforce. A recruiter just back from two jobs fairs in the UK said there’s zero interest

An anti-Three Waters group says reform is needed, but one size doesn't fit all. It comes as Auckland, Christchurch and Waimakariri councils band together to launch a revised plan - keeping a water regulator, but ownership, control and accountability stays with councils. Communities for Local Democracy had a similar plan, but was shut down by the Government earlier this year. Chair of that group, Manawatu District Mayor Helen Worboys, told Kate Hawkesby their plan needs funding assistance, which they're happy to do. She says they support assisting communities, but their overall message to the Government is don't micro-manage them. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concern Auckland's bus users will be left in the lurch, as a quarter of all the city's routes are cut from Sunday. Auckland Transport is suspending nearly a thousand bus services across the city in what they say will give public transport users more certainty amidst driver shortages. Public Transport Users Association co-ordinator Jon Reeves told Kate Hawkesby the Government has had two years to sort the problem out. He says Immigration Minister Michael Wood could have changed the settings two years ago to allow more drivers in the country. LISTEN ABOVE    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This weekend was a big one for sports, with the All Blacks winning against Japan, even if the score was close.  The team didn't get off unscathed though, with two key players sustaining injuries after the fact. Sam Cane fractured his cheekbone and Dane Coles injured his calf. Andrew Alderson, Newstalk ZB sportsreader joined us to recap the weekend in sport, between the All Blacks injuries and The Black Ferns securing a spot in the World Cup semi-finals. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Of all the times we hear about police not showing up to break-ins or burglaries or ram raids, we do hear about when they did show up.  This weekend they showed up at Halloween parties gone wrong, to move on kids behaving badly. One neighbour at an out-of-control party in Auckland’s Mt Albert over the weekend said about 30 Police showed up.  My first thought was, that’s a lot of police at one party, how nice of them. Be good if more could show up when stores are being broken into or ram raids are taking place.  But the common denominator here is kids behaving badly. I mean, let’s not kid ourselves that teenagers have always been so good and now they’ve suddenly all gone rogue.  Teenagers have been trouble forever, that’s what they do, but the trouble they’re getting into these days seems more intense and the age they’re getting into it is ever younger.  There are more and younger gang recruits, more and younger burglars and ram raiders.  There's an issue in this country with lack of respect, lack of fear of au

Hopes the poorest communities will benefit the most from alcohol law reform. Their aim is to give communities more of a say about new liquor outlets. Alcohol Healthwatch executive director Nicki Jackson says deprived communities are hit hardest by new outlets. She says  bottle stores aren't the only issue. Jackson says supermarkets can be bad because they normalise drinking and sell alcohol for cheaper. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russia is accusing British forces of the bombing of its Black Sea naval base. A number of drones are reported to have attacked the naval base of Crimea's Sevastopol. Russia is suspending a Ukraine grain export deal as a result. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says Ukrainian reports say the attack has caused substantial damage while Russia is reporting there's only minor damage to one ship. He says Russia is now saying they believe the Royal Navy was behind the attack, helping Ukraine direct the drones to attack their fleet. But British forces are saying this is not true. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More ways for New Zealanders to take to the skies. American Airlines is returning to the country this morning and will fly between Auckland and Dallas all summer. Air Asia will be back from tomorrow. Aviation commentator Irene King says we will see cheaper flights with the increased competition. But she says prices won't be back to normal straight away. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s annoying to see reports that Covid cases are on the rise again – although I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. Open border equals case numbers up. That’s basic maths. But I think there’s a certain degree of PTSD for us seeing those headlines. Yesterday’s headline by the way if you missed it, was that “Covid infections jump by 1500 in 24 hour period.” The PTSD creeps in particularly for those of us who had Covid quite badly. I know for people who didn’t have it, or people like my husband who had the mildest dose imaginable, eye roll eye roll eye roll… it’s a non-event. But we do not need the alarming reports do we? Or do we? Are we still vigilant? Does anyone still care? The people at the coal face care. I felt for the poor Pharmacist in Picton the other day who said he had passengers coming in from the docked cruise ship Ovation of the Seas, which had 129 people on board with Covid. The passengers coming in were showing cough and cold symptoms he said, they were also not wearing masks. Despite the fact he

Fair Pay Agreements have been passed into law amidst a fiery debate in parliament. Legislation for the agreements passed its final reading in Parliament last night - making it easier for workers to band together and negotiate better conditions and pay. The bill has received major opposition from the business sector, with National and ACT vowing to repeal it. New Zealand Initiative Chair Roger Partridge told Kate Hawkesby that the bill is highly undemocratic. He says when 10 percent of workers can dictate basic terms for all employees, it removes staff freedom to negotiate their own personal terms. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A concern Kiwis are underinsured. Research from CoreLogic suggests almost a third of respondents don't think they have adequate cover for their property. It also shows the average person reviewed their home insurance cover two and half years ago. Head of Insurance Solutions Matthew Walker says that's not good enough. He says people need to know how comprehensive their coverage is, and how much it would cost to replace their home. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Getting to live across both city and country gives me good insight into what’s happening in both places. I can tell you first hand, rural living is where it’s at. And now stats back that up. We’re leaving the cities. In the year to June this year, Auckland lost almost 9,000 people. A lot went overseas; it looks like the rest went North or into the regions - and I’m not surprised. Our cities are a shambles, Auckland in particular is just an assault of congestion, crime and cones, if you had the option to work remote or from home – you’d be mad not to take it. Suburb-wise it was downtown Auckland from Westmere to Newmarket which had the biggest population decline, the biggest loss in the country, down 5.8 percent. Drive through the inner city Auckland suburbs one day and you’ll know why. Auckland wasn’t the only city people bailed from though. Christchurch and Wellington had net losses, so did Dunedin, but many of them didn’t go far. Christchurch’s Selwyn district saw an increase in population growth of 4.8 per

Pen licences are well and truly becoming a thing of the past. School kids will soon be able to get an ‘online licence’ as public schools roll out an interactive programme teaching them how to stay safe online. The eSmart Digital Licence programme is targeted at 10 to 14 year olds and is being brought to our schools by NetSafe. CEO Brent Carey joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the afternoon of December 9 2019, commercial helicopter pilot Mark Law sprang into action as Whaakari/White Island erupted in Bay of Plenty. Today, he's being recognised with the New Zealand Bravery Star - our second highest bravery award - in this year's honours list, recognising his bravery in a situation of danger. Mark and his workmates located 20 causalities on the crater floor - flying 12 to hospital over the course of 40 minutes. Mark joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is hope the Planned Care Taskforce's report will work to address the differing blockages in our health system. It's released 101 recommendations for improving equity, increasing access, and reducing waiting times. Thirty will start being implemented in December, while the rest will be phased in through a number of years. Resident Doctors' Association National Secretary, Deborah Powell told Kate Hawkesby a hard look at our systems is long-overdue. She says the devil remains in the detail, which is why the recommendations will take so long to implement. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.