Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

The Act Party wants to see vaccination mandates for health workers scrapped.We all know hospitals are facing severe staff shortages just as the flu hit .and overseas evidence suggests another Covid surge is likely.Act leader David Seymour joined Early Edition.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MIQ.You'll have heard calls from the Opposition for an apology to some of the New Zealanders who were locked out of the country at the height of the pandemic.And especially pregnant women who couldn't get home to have their babies here.Newstalk ZB is this morning was able to reveal that conversations were had way back in April 2020 about what to do with pregnant women, but nothing was done.This doesn't affect a huge number of people; about 250 made emergency MIQ requests.The bigger issue that MBIE is currently working through is how we operated managed isolation as a whole and how we'd do it again if, heaven forbid, we did have to do it again.Just say there is another pandemic, something we don't know how to deal with in the next five to ten years or so.Look, the response at the time was unquestionably the right thing to do.We had to shut the border, even though it meant refusing entry to New Zealanders who morally and legally had an absolute right to be here if they wanted.They were extraordinary circumstanc

A plea for health workers to get their flu jab.Health Ministry data shows only around 54 percent of DHB staff have had the flu vaccine Nelson Marlborough DHB is the lowest at 39 percent.Immunologist Graham Le Gros told Tim Dower we're going to need all our health workers this winter.He says we haven't had a flu round for a couple of years now, so it's quite likely people are going to need hospitalisation and good health care, so we need robust health workers.When it comes to the general public, almost 990-thousand people have had the flu vaccine, including 64 percent of people aged 65 plus.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A call for the chair of Fletcher Building to resign over the Gib crisis.KiwiSaver provider Simplicity and the Shareholders Association have written to the building giant with the request in the wake of a meeting on Friday.They're also asking for the remaining board members to put themselves up for re-election, and some independent reviews of conduct, culture and risk.Shareholders Association chief executive Oliver Mander told Tim Dower Fletchers isn't taking responsibility for what's happened.He says they haven't really seen any form of mea culpa or any substantial admittance of fault for their role in the plasterboard supply crisis.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support continues for first responders who attended the head on crash south of Picton.Seven people were killed in a collision between a van and a truck on State Highway 1 on Sunday morning  - two others from the van have serious and critical injuries.The Pukekohe family was on their way home after attending a funeral in Dunedin.St John Wellbeing Manager Adele Saunders told Tim Dower first responders are resilient but human emotion always comes through.She says every crash scene emergency staff go to has a different effect on people.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's pretty tough in the emergency departments right now. Hospitals all over the country are pleading with people to leave the ED for life and death situations only.I guess those of us who are lucky enough to enjoy pretty good health don't need to be told that; it says emergency in the name doesn't it?Unfortunately for emergency departments, their front doors are open to all and anyone who turns up asking for treatment is eventually going to get seen.And of course it's free, so it's the doctor's clinic of choice for people who either can't afford a GP, or can't get an appointment when they want, or prefer to spend the money on something else.It's the busiest time of the year right now and Counties Manukau DHB is so strapped, it's offering cash to local GPs to take patients off their hands.$250 for each Middlemore patient they see on a Friday night, or in the day on weekends.And $350 a pop on weekend nights when the ED is flooded out with drunks, and people who've got into fights with drunks.It's just crazy, i

Black Ferns 50United States 6The Black Ferns saved their best for last.While they began their Pacific Four series with two double-digit wins, the Black Ferns' 50-6 victory over the United States in Whangārei on Saturday afternoon showed exactly what they are capable of.While they had been slow to put the foot down in their previous two matches against Australia and Canada, there was no such issue in Whangārei - which will be a beautiful sight to Wayne Smith and his coaching staff, with limited opportunities on the pitch before October's Rugby World Cup."We've got some tough decisions coming up. There are some very good players coming back for trials, Sevens players will become available, so there's going to be some pretty tough moments for the selectors," Smith said looking ahead to the World Cup."But there's only one group of girls at the moment who have put their form on the paddock and that's this group."Despite rain falling from start to finish – only getting heavier as the match progressed – the Black Fe

Matariki is about resetting and remembering those who have died in the past year.Chief Executive of Tātou - a Māori cultural marketing and communications agency, Skye Kimura doesn't want Matariki to be used as an excuse for sales.Matariki will be marked as a public holiday for the first time this Friday.Kimura told Tim Dower we should learn what Matariki is about.She says she sees Matariki as being different to other holidays.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What a pointless exercise the Tauranga by-election was and what a waste of taxpayers' money.National is keeping the seat, hardly a surprise.But the turnout was awful.40 percent, about 20,000 votes cast and cost the taxpayer - roughly $50 a vote according to the Electoral Commission's figure of about a million to run a by-election.Of course, we wouldn't have needed to go through that whole process if Simon Bridges had been a list MP, just ring up the next person on the party list.And maybe, maybe that could work in constituencies too, given we have a general election every three years.Do we really need to go through all that process just to find someone for the seat for say, half a term?Here are some of the characters who've snuck into Parliament in by-elections the last few years:David Shearer, Kris Faafoi, Jami-Lee Ross that name alone shows you what a shonky process it is. Poto Williams, Winston, the Prime Minister and a few others.Now, if we just left it to the party of the outgoing MP to pick a successor,

So who's in the right at Bethlehem College?One the one hand, the school's Statement of Beliefs is pretty up-front about matters of sexuality.Example: biological pronouns will be used for students, him and her, a student's name is expected to align with their biological sex.In other words, the school does not acknowledge such a thing as a transgender person.And to be absolutely clear, it goes on to talk about toilets, wearing a male or female uniform, and male and female sports teams.So, at the outset, it's clear what's expected of you when you enroll.Now, independent schools are to a certain extent, able to hold their own views and make their own rules.People sign their kids up to that kind of an education because they want a particular kind of schooling and providing it's not actively teaching anything illegal, that's OK, isn't it?As a private school, Bethlehem College could make pretty much whatever rules it wanted.But the thing is, it's not private any longer.Since 1999 it's been a State Integrated School,

A leaked document from Tauranga's Bethlehem College is raising concern about its stance on gender.It includes a number of prerequisites for students, including the school using biological pronouns' for pupils,  and students needing to adhere to practices according to their birth gender.Tauranga Pride Advocate Gordy Lockhart told Tim Dower the stance the document takes will have a negative impact on the children there.He says the trauma that students will face at the school is absolutely appalling.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eden Park is making extra tickets available for tomorrow night's sold-out Super Rugby final.The Blues will take on the Crusaders in front of a home crowd.Eden Park Chief Executive Nick Sautner has confirmed to Newstalk ZB, extra tickets will be made available this afternoon, for about $120 each.He told Tim Dower it's taken some doing, but demand is extremely high.“We’ve implemented a standing room area on the field of play, something unique given that the demand for the event has been unprecedented.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Patrick Gower did not expect to give up drinking on TV.On Booze explores New Zealand's drinking culture through the lens of Gower's own relationship with alcohol.The Newshub National Correspondent is frank about about how much he drinks.Gower told Early Edition it required an intervention from fellow journalist Corrin Dan.He now confirms he is six months sober.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A not-for-profit leadership group says legislation may be to blame for the sector's increasing vulnerability.It comes as a new report from Grant Thornton warns they'll soon be at breaking point if they don't adapt.The report shows there's little understanding for law changes, while maintaining staff and financing are top concerns for the sector.Garth Nowland-Foreman - director of Centre for Not For Profit  Government and Leadership told Tim Dower the Government hasn't been very good at engaging with the sector about these changes.He says they seem to find more in additional compliance requirements put upon these groups each year, many of which are unnecessary.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Wairarapa secondary school says its plan for random drug searches is about identifying issues students may have and nipping them in the bud.Kuranui College in Greytown will have handlers and their dogs sweep the property during school time, including classrooms and lockers - but won't search students themselves.Principal Simon Fuller says it's not about kicking students out of school, but rather part of a wider education initiative.He says they're not immune to outside society influences and are trying to take a more proactive and rigorous approach to teaching students.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've talked a lot about the 501 deportations lately and how unjust and downright grubby that Australian policy is.Just a week ago the Prime Minister was in Australia and most New Zealanders backed what she was saying, how it's wrong, immoral even, for the Aussies to send back crims when they've got no connections here, and haven't lived here since they were tiny kids.Here’s a bit of a tricky situation.A former inmate here is due to be deported back to Samoa.Immigration was actually serving Mose Vaipapa with deportation papers at the same time Jacinda Ardern was in Australia, putting our case to Anthony Albanese.Open Justice reports he's a 29-year-old, originally from Samoa, who came here at the age of four.Now he's done 15 years for two rapes he committed at the age of 14.While he was inside he seriously assaulted two guards, and got his sentence extended.He's done his time like the 501s and because he's not a New Zealand citizen and there's obviously nothing desirable about his character, we want him gone.B

Markets see, markets do.Global markets have been following US stock market trends, which investors say has gone down because of worse than expected US inflation rates.The NZX was down 2.6 percent yesterday, and over the last 100 days has gone down by 20 percent.Harbour Asset Management Portfolio Manager Shane Solly told Tim Dower the NZX is heavily influenced by the US.He says the US federal reserve, the US central bank, are likely to put in a point 75 increase in the next few days, which will push interest rates to the highest they've been since 1994.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A report into ACC has found privacy issues among staff.The independent review found the agency doesn't adequately monitor and audit staff access and use of client information.It follows the revelation last October, that more than a dozen employees were sharing private client details on social media app Snapchat.Auckland University commercial law expert Gehan Gunasekara told Tim Dower the sharing of personal information is appalling.He says it's very sensitive health information that ACC's clients would expect to be the object of social derision.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If someone in your family suggests you have a look at Patrick Gower's alcohol documentary, perhaps you should take the hint.I watched it before coming to work this morning and I've read some of what's been written about it online.The way I understand it, Gower didn't set out on a journey of self-discovery.The plan to begin with was a serious investigation of New Zealanders' relationship with alcohol, and why we're some of the heaviest boozers on the planet.But it became very personal.Now, I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but the are some very candid, revealing, awkward and downright embarrassing scenes of Patrick Gower off his face.So what's the value of that you might ask? You can walk around any main centre of any town in the country at night and you'll see that.I think the value of it was to show very bluntly, and in a way anyone can understand, how normal it is for us to see alcohol being used to excess, even if we don't do it ourselves.And for the most part, we think it's funny

Football fans will be up early to see if New Zealand can book a spot in the Fifa World Cup.The All Whites are taking on Costa Rica and the score is 1-0 to the South Americans at halftime in Doha.If they pull it off, they'll be in the World Cup for only the third time.Ricki Herbert coached the team into their last World Cup run in 2010.Herbert joined Early Edition.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.