Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Trevor Mallard has officially lost the plot.If you're in any doubt, google the column my colleague Heather du-Plessis Allan wrote for the Herald On Sunday yesterday.She pointed out his disturbing overreach whereby he “advised” media to stay away from protestors outside Parliament. Heather questions how much of this is actually 'advice' versus instruction – and how democratic is it really to keep media away from a protest. He’s done it under the guise of protection of course – appointing himself as some overarching protector of all – whether they want or need to be protected or not. It’s an old school ‘I know best’ approach that reeks of patriarchy and has no place here in the modern world. But what the Government's tried to do here – and failed in my opinion, is grab the narrative on this protest and shut it down. Problem is they’ve only made things worse.Refusing to speak to the protestors, writing them all off as wacko conspiracy theorists, and rabid far-right anti-vaxxers is a big mistake – and has only se

Ryan Fox secured the biggest title of his career by winning the Ras Al Khaimah Classic by five shots on Sunday.It was the 211th-ranked New Zealander's first victory in a 72-hole format on the European tour. His only other title was in a Super 6 tournament in 2019 that featured a six-hole knockout format following 54 holes of strokeplay.Fox went into the final round in Abu Dhabi with a six-shot lead — on 19 under — and a load of nerves.He bogeyed two of his first six holes to allow the field to close in, but played the final 11 holes in 4 under and wound up shooting 3-under 69 for 22 under overall."Sleeping on a six-shot lead, I didn't sleep very well last night," Fox said. "Obviously a couple of the guys came at me early. I was a bit nervous. I had that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach all day.""But I'm very happy with how I played. A couple of great shots coming down the stretch and it was certainly nice walking down the last with putter in hand with so many putts to win."Ross Fisher finished in second

An international analyst says New Zealand would be impacted by a war in Europe.United States intelligence has indicated a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent.The New Zealand Government has told New Zealanders in Ukraine to leave immediately.Democracy Project International Analyst Geoffrey Miller told Kate Hawkesby war would affect oil prices and New Zealand's trade.“If you’ve got a war in Europe, suddenly that’s not good for New Zealand exporters. We are an island literally, but not figuratively.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trevor Mallard's predecessor is telling him to grow up.David Carter, Parliament’s Speaker during the last National-led government, has lashed out at Mallard's handling of the Parliamentary protest.Anti-mandate protestors are into the seventh day of their rally on the grounds of Parliament.Mallard's had sprinklers on, and blasted them with some of the world's most hated songs in an attempt to move them on.Police say they don't endorse the tactics.Carter told Kate Hawkesby it doesn't do anything for New Zealand's reputation on the international stage.“Which is in tatters frankly. We had the Charlotte Bellis incident three weeks ago, and now New Zealand’s in the international headlines because we have a Speaker acting in a boorish, childish way.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prince Charles has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating. A message on his official Twitter page said Charles tested positive on Thursday morning UK time and was "deeply disappointed" not to be able to attend a scheduled visit in the city of Winchester in southern England. Charles, 73, met dozens of people during a large reception at London's British Museum on Wednesday evening. He was accompanied by his wife Camilla, and was in close contact with Britain's Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, among others. Charles' office, Clarence House, confirmed that he is triple vaccinated. It was not immediately clear what his condition was. Charles previously contracted the coronavirus in March 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic. Officials said he had mild Covid-19 symptoms then, and Charles said later that Charles and Camilla isolated in Scotland at the time. Britain's Press Association news agency reported that Charles recently met with his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, but the monarch was not displaying a

I’m just wondering this morning if we, as women, need to apologise now for being women. Or for calling ourselves women. Is it insulting that we are happy to be women? Adele has been in hot water this week for her acceptance speech at the Brit Awards as she collected the gong for Artist of the Year. It used to be two categories, Best Male Artist and Best Female Artist, but in a move we should’ve all seen coming, that was changed to the more gender neutrally appropriate “Best Artist’. So Adele said when she accepted the award, "I understand why the name of this award has changed but I really love being a woman and being a female artist. I do!" That’s what she said – to huge applause and cheers by the way. But here’s the difference between the real world and the online world – the keyboard warriors lit up.  What travesty was this?! No less than a transphobic slur, she must be transphobic! Why would she say such a thing? How dare she! Twitter users (who else) blew up in fury – “Who’d have thought Adele was a tran

Small and medium-sized enterprises are feeling the pinch under the Covid-19 protection framework. A new survey by MYOB shows more than half expect to see a negative impact on the financial health of their business, if the country stays in Red for more than a month. Almost a quarter believe they will take a significant financial hit. Head of Go to Market at MYOB Jo Tozer told Kate Hawkesby they've had a mix of feedback from their customers. “Some are noticing a drop in customers through their doors, others a degree of caution but still enjoying a solid summer, but seeing the data now makes quite stark reading.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

National says the Government's new close contact exemption scheme has too many barriers. In phase two of our Omicron response, critical business workers found to be close contacts won't need to isolate, if they return negative rapid antigen tests. But companies wishing to sign up, will still need to meet certain criteria. National's Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop told Kate Hawkesby RATs should be available to everyone. “It’s hard to imagine a more bureaucratically inept system that the Government could design, it’s classic Labour. I just don’t understand why we’re making it so difficult. Everyone acknowledges we need rapid antigen tests.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m feeling the itchy feet, the urge to travel is back.  Now that we can, it’s tantalising isn’t it? I’m worried that once everybody does start bouncing out the door, I’m going to get wicked FOMO.  But here’s the problem, with all this time locked up at home and locked down, I’ve become too attached to the dog and vice versa.  I’m serious. I don’t know how I leave her now. She didn’t cope well when my daughter finally went back to school, having had all these months of just having everyone home all the time, walking her, cuddling her, feeding her, playing with her. And now it’s like, well real life is knocking on the door again and the dog’s not coping.  She’s gotten used to us all at her every beck and call. And I’ve become so attached to her that I genuinely don’t know how I would up sticks and leave her to gallivant off somewhere. Only dog people will understand this of course. So, I’m not sure what I’m going to do here. I fear my family will probably just go regardless and leave me and the dog behind. So

It was a busy day in the capital yesterday as the convoy protesters continued their stay on the lawns of Parliament.  Three people were taken into custody after attempting to breach police lines, while an official trespassing notice was issued. Chester Burrows is a former police officer and joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday in parliament, New Zealand's relationship with the monarchy was once again debated. This was after a motion was set to congratulate Queen Elizabeth on her platinum jubilee, a 70-year reign. But the Māori Party voted against the motion, and the Greens say our head of state should be from Aotearoa New Zealand. Questions have therefore been raised as to how the monarchy and the UK would feel if we turned our backs on the institution. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Tinder Swindler is now one of the most popular films on Netflix. It shows the dangers of online dating, with a fraudster scamming several women for a total of $10m. NortonLifeLock have a report out this morning, saying more than half of Kiwis vet their matches online, and nearly 2/5 un-match as a result. Senior director at NortonLifeLock Mark Gorrie joined Kate Hawkesby from Australia. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kiwi director Jane Campion is leading the Oscar nominations this year with 12 nods for her film The Power of the Dog. But as always, the list of nominations was full of surprises, announced this week by comedy actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross. From Dune to House of Gucci, several of the biggest films released over the past year have missed out in the major categories. Here are the most shocking snubs on this year's list of nominees. Best Actress — Lady Gaga (House of Gucci) Gaga was gunning for an Oscar with her role as Patrizia Reggiani - but while she landed nominations at the BAFTAs and the SAG Awards, the Academy wasn't convinced enough to recognise her performance. Best Supporting Actress — Caitriona Balfe (Belfast) Outlander star Caitriona Balfe was a frontrunner for an Oscar nom with her performance as Ma in Belfast. But she was edged out by her co-star Judi Dench, who picked up the nomination - her eighth to date - instead. Best Supporting Actor — Jared Leto (The House of Gucci) Jared Leto w

As our Omicron daily case numbers started to trend down instead of the much promised up, I wondered if my theory last week is in fact more than just a theory.  People aren’t testing. They’re not scanning in, they’ve turned off their Bluetooth on the app, they’re not reporting symptoms, or maybe they’re just asymptomatic. Either way, our Omicron surge that the doomsayers keep warning us about, that we are sitting in a red light because of, is still nowhere to be seen. And it may well be down to a variety of factors; some say it’s a slow burner, we haven’t ‘let it rip’ like other countries, so it’s just a slower start for us. Others say we are getting a milder taste of what the rest of the world experienced because our vaccination numbers are high. Others say it’s because we’re in a red light, so we’re slowing it down with our restricted movement. But my theory, and one I don’t think you can discount given the way our case numbers are plateauing, is that people are over it, Covid fatigue has set in, and no one’

There is concern vaccine fatigue could be setting in. The campaign for people to get their Covid-19 booster is ongoing, and now there's a push for them to get their seasonal flu jab, ahead of the country's border opening. Auckland University public health expert Colin Tukuitonga told Kate Hawkesby both vaccinations are necessary,  but people are tiring of having to have yet another jab. He says the Ministry of Health's speaking about giving the jabs at the same time, which might help. “Without a doubt, we’re going to have to be creative and think about how we communicate best.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More pain at the pump is on its way, as petrol prices continue to climb. It's thought 91 could reach $3 a litre soon, and stay there this year. The National Party is calling on Auckland's regional fuel tax to be scrapped. Consumer New Zealand Chief Executive Jon Duffy told Kate Hawkesby $3 a litre will hurt everyone, but particularly those on low or fixed incomes. “Bear in mind this is in combination with high rents, high food prices and rising inflation generally, so everything is getting more expensive for people.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Construction costs are continuing to skyrocket and there are no signs of slowing down.  The CoreLogic Cordell Construction Cost Index for the last quarter of 2021 shows a 6.2 percent increase. That's the highest in four years.  But experts are warning that figure could hit double digits.  CoreLogic chief economist Kelvin Davidson told Kate Hawkesby costs could easily rise to 10 per cent or more and stay that way. “The builders, they’ve got such a big pipeline of work in front of them and Omicron, Covid I think there’s going to be supply disruptions for a while so I could imagine double digits for a little period of time.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well the latest Newshub Reid Research poll has the Labour / Green government still the most popular, yet if ever we needed confirmation of the spin and PR machine that this Government really is, we got it at the weekend from Sir Ian Taylor. In a series of columns for the NZ Herald documenting his dealings with this Government, Taylor has become increasingly disillusioned. He admits he voted for them – that was probably his first mistake. Like many who voted for them, one wonders if he’ll make that mistake again. Like many who believed in this Government, he went in with good faith believing they would walk their talk. Sadly, they did not. Like many business people who’ve tried to help this Government, he’s been sidelined, rebuffed, muzzled, and shut out. It should worry every New Zealander interested in democracy and progress, that this Government continues to shut out the private sector, ignore them, and then crap all over them. The Government seems to have, on top of this bewildering level of arrogance, a v

History making Zoi Sadowski-Synnott believes momentum can take her to a second Winter Olympic gold medal, but only if she can come down from winning the first. New Zealand's first Winter Olympics gold-medal winner said she will need to regather herself for the big air competition, the event she won bronze in at the 2018 Games. But she sounded confident of landing another gold medal early next week after her slopestyle triumph in Beijing. "I feel like I'm a bit of a momentum competitor - every season where I start well, it carries through," she said. Andew Alderson from Newstalk ZB Sport joined Kate Hawkesby to let us know which events to keep an eye on this week. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Businesses are angry about the Ministry of Health requisitioning Rapid Antigen Tests for its own stocks.  When news broke that the Ministry was requisitioning the tests, Dr Ashley Bloomfield said they were from forward orders from overseas - not tests already in the country.  But the Ministry has backtracked - acknowledging it took the full February allocation from one manufacturer, along with its stock on hand in the country.  Business New Zealand Chief Executive Kirk Hope told Kate Hawkesby the Ministry has misled people. “We’re dealing with businesses all the time who have been struggling to get access to the Rapid Antigen Tests that they ordered. They’re getting angrier and angrier and it’s frankly unacceptable.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.