Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Unmanaged emergency housing facilities are said to be causing significant social issues in Rotorua.A council committee meeting has revealed a third of family harm calls each week in the city, are to emergency housing motels.District Councillor Tania Tapsell told Kate Hawkesby the Government promised to find a better system a year ago - but they're still waiting for action.She says people and families are suffering, many of whom are likely to be escaping domestic violence - and the Government needs to do better.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been revealed nearly fifty percent of our jobs were protected by the Government’s wage subsidies at some point last year.This resulted in less people losing their jobs during the pandemic and less businesses going under.But now, as wage subsidies are gone and businesses need to fend for themselves again, one economist says we could see a wave of "zombie" businesses closing.Shamubeel Eaqub from Sense Partners joined Kate Hawkesby.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The construction industry is ageing more quickly than new people coming on board.The Government's Apprenticeship Boost scheme, which supports trades training programmes, will now run until the end of next year.The funding goes towards trades training programmes, and will support an additional 24,000 apprentices.Construction Industry Council Chair Graham Burke told Kate Hawkesby it's a good start but it won't fix the skills shortage.He says the number of people retiring is increasing at a rapid pace.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So just when I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, the Government showed its true colours again yesterday and went back to its head in the sand approach. They’re not soft on crime after all, according to them. I thought all this money being thrown at crime was admission crime is a problem, and their dealing with it hasn’t been flash, but alas, wrong. The PM came out and said yesterday nope, they’re not soft on crime. She also denied this funding announcement was a rushed reaction to bad polls and bad headlines.As for Poto Williams, yesterday she was bluffing her way around what they’re doing about ram raids, she didn’t sound any clearer than she did when she first announced it. Essentially, they’re not sure how they’re going to help businesses deal with ram raiders, but they’ll consult. Of course they will. As for whether they’re soft on crime, she was singing from the same song sheet as the Prime Minster. When it was put to her that a Newshub poll showed 70% of New Zealanders think they're soft on crim

A former community constable says the youth committing ram raids lack respect for their family units.More than $562 million has been promised over four years for more frontline police, a new firearms unit and a package for businesses to protect themselves. Manukau Ward councillor Alf Filipaina told Kate Hawkesby it's a good start, and he's looking forward to seeing its implementation.“We’ve seen the disrespect for not only the family unit at a very young age and also to Police and authority; we’ve seen that happen over many years.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Very pleased to see a crackdown on crime coming in the form of some dollars and sense from the government. The sense to finally recognise we have a major problem with crime in this country. $562 million in funding over four years will see a long-overdue increase in Police numbers and plans to tackle gang violence. More Police is a no brainer and should've happened ages ago, but I’m interested in how they tangibly expect to crack down on gang crime. Because it’s rife now and embedded in virtually every corner of this country. The Police have also announced a new crackdown coming for gangs starting in June, but it raises a few questions. First of all, why would they make a gang crackdown public and essentially give gangs a month or two’s notice? Secondly, what actually does ‘increasing focus on unlawful behaviour’ entail? I mean is that simply a surveillance thing? They’ll watch the gangs and start monitoring what they’re up to? Part of yesterday’s release on tackling gang violence said money would include exte

Allied health workers say they're fed up being overworked and underpaid.They're set to begin industrial action today before a full 24-hour strike next week.After 18 months of negotiations, the Employment Relations Authority made a recommendation last week, which DHBs are yet to act on.PSA organiser Will Matthews told Kate Hawkesby a lot of these workers could head overseas if a new offer isn't put on the table.“We have people being actively targeted by Australian health agencies who can offer tens of thousands of dollars more, even as a starting rate, than an Allied health worker can ever hope to earn in New Zealand.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sharks 29Warriors 10One step forward, two big steps back for the Warriors.After their win last week, an unwanted pattern continued on Sunday, with a truly baffling performance against Cronulla as they slumped to an awful 29-10 defeat, despite the Sharks playing more than an hour with only 12 men.Cronulla fullback Will Kennedy was dismissed in the 16th minute, after a terrible high tackle on Reece Walsh, and that should have been a game-changing moment.It was – but for the wrong team. The home side were inspired, digging deep in a magnificent display, even proving resolute when they were down to 11 men for a 10-minute period in the second half, and becoming the first team to win with 12 men against 13 since 2008.In contrast, the Warriors were a muddle; falling short in effort and execution and being let down by a number of poor decisions and a lack of patience.Their attack was too often laboured, and they tried to go east to west too often before they had gone north.The lack of composure and leadership was a w

How much longer will the United Kingdom remain "united"?Sinn Féin is calling for a referendum on the reunification of Ireland and Northern Ireland, following its shock success at the Northern Irish election over the weekend.It's won the most seats of any party in the Northern Irish Assembly, a first for a nationalist party.UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby that while the UK government is ruling out a vote for now, there's now mounting pressure for change.“Make no mistake. With the Scottish National Party winning seats in Scotland, it’s Scotland and Northern Ireland that is threatening to break away from the United Kingdom.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queen Elizabeth II will miss the traditional royal garden party season, where she would normally meet with hundreds of people on the grounds of her residences in London and Edinburgh, palace officials said.The 96-year-old monarch will be represented instead by other members of her family, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.Before the pandemic, the queen invited over 30,000 people each year to the gardens of Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.The guests, who have all served their community in different ways, have the opportunity to speak with the queen and other royal family members at the parties.The parties were set to return for the first time in three years starting next week.The monarch has missed several major events this year and has been carrying out online engagements instead. She spent a night in the hospital in October and only conducted light duties for several months on her doctors' orders.In March, the queen attended a service honouring the life of her late husband,

More staff is needed to help reduce growing violence at Christchurch Hospital's emergency department.Research in the New Zealand Medical Journal says each and every staff member has experienced the abuse.Emergency medicine specialist Dr John Bonning says more resource is needed across the health sector to reduce waiting times.He told Kate Hawkesby they've produced hospital access targets like shorter stays -  but that requires the whole system buying in.Bonning says with the transition into the new health authorities from July - it's still unknown what that means for those on the frontline.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How would you feel about investing your KiwiSaver in Bitcoin?A KiwiSaver scheme is launching the world's second carbon neutral cryptocurrency fund.Koura is launching new specialty funds that will invest in Bitcoin and offset carbon emissions through purchasing carbon offsets.Founder and managing director of Koura Rupert Carlyon joined Kate Hawkesby.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are  hopes newly-approved Auckland cycleway extensions will provide safety for city commuters.Plans for more than $300 million in funding was endorsed by the Auckland Council yesterday.Bike Auckland Chair Tony Mitchell told Kate Hawkesby when you look at major cities like London and Paris - it's clear people don't get on their bikes unless it's safe to do so.He says the main issue with cycleways in the super city is a lack of safety, and people are dying while trying to commute.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I was out in Auckland city last night - which if you know me, you know is extremely rare on a weeknight for me to be out anywhere, far less the CBD. But I was driving through downtown Auckland with my kids in the car and I couldn't believe how heaving town was for a Thursday night.Bars and restaurants full, people sitting cheek by jowl at tables both inside and out on the street, it was buzzing. I said to my kids, "look at this! Town's on fire!" and my very wise 22 year old son said, "Mum, you just wait, past 8 o'clock you do not want to be in here, it gets as rough as guts."Luckily I didn't plan on being in town past 8pm, but I knew he was right. Once the post work drinks and dinner crowd go home, Auckland's CBD transforms into a pretty unsavoury place. And I note even during the day it's getting untenable for some retailers.Clothing store Huffer said this week that Auckland’s just not safe anymore, which anyone who lives in Auckland knows. From guns going off, to ram raids, to violent crime, to the CBD full

Talk of the aged-care sector cannibalising itself.Survey results from 17 industry Chief Executives show more than two thirds say it's likely they'll have to stop or restrict admissions in the next year.Facility closures could be on the cards too - with more than a third saying it's likely.Radius Care's Michael Parker told Kate Hawkesby staffing shortages are playing a part.He says there's a lot of churn within the industry - with no new nurses coming in.Parker says the sector's in a perfect storm with Covid, immigration settings, and historical under-funding also.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A rural community on the Forgotten World Highway has received high international praise as a tourist destination.Whangamomona is probably most famous for declaring independence from New Zealand over a regional boundary dispute.Well it has been featured on BBC Travel, which has an audience of around 3 million people worldwide.John Herlihy, President of the Republic of Whangamomona, joined Kate Hawkesby.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The United States is in political uproar over a leaked document from its Supreme Court, which indicates abortion rights are about to be rolled back across much of the country.Overnight the court's Chief Justice, John Roberts, confirmed a draft opinion published by the news website Politico yesterday was "authentic".He described the leak as a "betrayal of the confidences of the court" and "an egregious breach of trust", and said there would be an investigation.The draft, written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, would overrule the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe vs Wade, which has underpinned abortion rights in the US for the past 50 years.Under the precedent set by Roe, and a subsequent decision in the 1992 case Planned Parenthood vs Casey, governments across the US can only ban abortion from the point of "viability" onwards, meaning the time at which a foetus can realistically survive outside the womb. That threshold is reached at about 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy.Overturning those rulings wo

This Government has an image problem and that may be partially reflected in their poll result.It's the bury the head in the sand approach - 'I reject the premise of the question', nothing to see here.But worse than that now I think, is this push back we're seeing where the Government is gas lighting its critics.If you dare to question co-governance, you are racist.If you criticise a female minister you are sexist.And now, Poto Williams has taken it next level - she's claiming that saying the Government is 'soft on crime' is a gendered issue and an attack on her, because she's female. Are you serious?That one is a such a stretch it's hard to believe she even said it out loud, but then she did also call the Police's handling of the Parliamentary protest "fabulous".That was her word - "fabulous".I can think of a lot of other words to describe how Police handled the Parliamentary protest but 'fabulous' isn’t one of them.But to think that soft on crime is a personal attack on her for being a woman? That's madness.

Today Stats NZ will be releasing unemployment figures for the first quarter.Economists are predicting it will fall to a new record low, just three percent.So with a lack of workers, and wage inflations, what can businesses do?For some in the primary sector, they are using AI, robotics and automation tech to do the jobs instead.Robotics is a kiwi-based world class company in robotics technology.Founder and CEO Steve Saunders joined Kate Hawkesby.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's hard to find any supporters for Trevor Mallard's move against Winston Peters.The Speaker of the House has trespassed Peters from Parliament for two years, - along with former National MP Matt King -  after they visited the anti-mandate occupation in February.A political commentator says it reaffirms Mallard's unfit for the role.Victoria University's Bryce Edwards says it's likely the New Zealand First leader will be launching legal action over the decision.He adds it gives Peters great publicity, and potentially a launching pad for a comeback in the Tauranga by-election.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.