Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Auckland's Mayor says there's no way the Government is keeping a hard border around the region this summer. The Government will make an announcement today about the plan for Covid borders. Our newsroom understands Aucklanders will be locked in by the borders for the next month, before travel restrictions are eased in time for Christmas. Mayor Phil Goff told Kate Hawkesby a hard border, with checks on every traveller, simply wouldn't work. “I can’t see that they can have a hard border, you imagine Boxing Day, 60,000 people travelling south from Auckland, you just couldn’t do it.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, as I said last week with the other two polls, what you look for is a trend. And multiple polls showing the same thing is a trend. And the trend’s not good.  Not surprisingly, with the shambolic vaccine rollout, the cluster that is MIQ, divisive policies and controversial mandates. Three waters, He Pua Pua, a never-ending lockdown for Auckland, businesses going belly up, a token insulting ultra-curated stopover in Auckland and inauthentically calling that “a visit”.  And zooming in and out by way of private jet when climate change was going to be her ‘nuclear moment’. Hard to fathom that one from the inside of the Airforce jet whizzing back and forward, that’s a lot of carbon miles. I said last week this was a ‘let them eat cake’ approach and the clanger here is how disingenuous that is, when this is the Government that promised to govern for everybody.  Poverty, gang problems, gun violence, inadequate leadership, lack of accountability, flip flopping, protests, these things are all becoming part of this r

Some cheeky shoppers could be in to make a killing - reselling supermarket collectables at an eye-watering price.  They're using the launch of Countdown's Lego-like brick collection to their advantage - re-selling the items on Trade Me for as high as $200.  Trade Me spokesperson Ruby Topzand says told Kate Hawkesby it's not something new.    She says the most recent craze was the New World SMEG Knife collection. “In the three months that that campaign ran, we saw over 600,000 searches for Smeg on site and it was consistently one of our most searched items.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's relief for doctors at news they'll be able to get a booster shot from the end of this month. Anyone over 18 who's been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 for six months will be able to get a third jab. Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director, Sarah Dalton, told Kate Hawkesby she heard from a lot of members who were concerned it wouldn't be until next year. “Certainly, some of our members, particularly working in EDs who are seeing Covid-positive people every day were talking about getting the third shot privately.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The cost of materials for house construction continue to climb.  The Cordell Construction Cost Index shows a 1.6 percent increase in the three months to September- almost twice the expected increase.  Disruptions to the supply chain, and increased demand for housing are being blamed for the price jumps.  Construction Management consultant Mike Blackburn told Kate Hawkesby the industry has been flat out. “We’re building more houses in New Zealand than we’ve ever built in history.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Absolute downbuzz on Freedom Day plans from Andrew Little this weekend. He called our much anticipated ‘Freedom Day’ “nothing of the sort.” Just when we thought escape to a red traffic light was coming November 29th, Little told Newshub, “You might have misunderstood what the Prime Minister has been saying, the Prime Minister said on the 29th of November Cabinet will do a significant check-in on the state of the system…" but.. “It won't be introduced from the 29th of November - that is the point at which a decision should be expected to be made, but it won't be introduced straight away."  He claims they’ll want to wait longer to get our vaccination coverage up, “particularly for lagging groups like Māori.” So, if not the end of this month, then when? Little claims it’ll be by Christmas, but that doesn’t give much hope to those of us languishing in day 90 of one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. I mean come on. Surely enough is enough. By November 29th, Aucklanders will have spent more than a hundred days lo

Taylor Swift once again caused some frenzy over the weekend when she released a re-recording of one of her albums. She's re-recording her first six albums, after a dispute with her old record label. But despite being originally released nearly ten years ago, Red has become the most streamed female album in a single day on Spotify. We have been able to track down a Swiftie, one of Taylor's biggest fans in New Zealand, if not her biggest fan, Helena Goldsmith who joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Principals are being urged to do all they can to encourage unvaccinated staff members to get the Covid-jab.  All education workers who have contact with students must have their first jab by the end of today.  Those who don't comply will be barred from entering school grounds. Auckland University's Head of Initial Teacher Education Paul Heyward, told Kate Hawkesby school leaders shouldn't be giving up on their unvaccinated staff members just yet. “Let's begin the conversation, rather than seeing all anti-vax teaches as a kind of lunatic fringe, which they’re not. We could lose some very talented teachers.” Staff must be fully vaccinated by January 1st. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queen Elizabeth II missed out on the Remembrance Sunday service in London to pay tribute to Britain's war dead because she sprained her back, Buckingham Palace said Sunday.  The service is one of the most important events on the 95-year-old monarch's calendar, and was meant to be her first public appearance after taking a few weeks off to rest under doctor's orders. British media reported that the back sprain was not believed to be related to the recent medical advice to rest that prompted other cancellations. "The Queen, having sprained her back, has decided this morning with great regret that she will not be able to attend today's Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph," officials said just hours ahead of the ceremony. "Her Majesty is disappointed that she will miss the service." The queen spent a night in a London hospital last month after being admitted for medical tests. It was her first such stay in eight years. On Oct. 29, the palace said she had been told by doctors to rest for two weeks and only

The world’s top carbon polluters, China and the United States, agreed Wednesday to increase their cooperation and speed up action to rein in climate-damaging emissions, signalling a mutual effort on global warming at a time of tension over their other disputes. In back-to-back news conferences at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and U.S. counterpart John Kerry said the two countries would work together to accelerate the emissions reductions required to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. “It’s beneficial not only to our two countries but the world as a whole that two major powers in the world, China and the U.S., shoulder special international responsibilities and obligations,” Xie told reporters. “We need to think big and be responsible.” "The steps we're taking ... can answer questions people have about the pace at which China is going, and help China and us to be able to accelerate our efforts," Kerry said. China also agreed for the first time to cr

The Duchess of Sussex has apologised for misleading a British court about the extent of her cooperation with the authors of a sympathetic book about her and Prince Harry. The former Meghan Markle, 40, is embroiled in a court battle in London over a British newspaper’s publication of portions of a letter she wrote to her estranged father after her 2018 marriage to Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. She sued the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline website for breach of privacy and copyright. A High Court judge ruled in her favour in February, saying publication of the letter Meghan wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, was “manifestly excessive and hence unlawful.” Publisher Associated Newspapers is trying to overturn that decision at the Court of Appeal. The publisher argues that Meghan wrote the letter knowing it might be published, and made private information public by cooperating with Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, authors of “Finding Freedom.” The duchess’ lawyers have previously denie

So, what you look for with polls is a trend, and when we say the wheels are coming off this Government, it seems the polls now back that up. It’s a downward spiral.  Two different polls out yesterday both confirm the drop for Labour, and the drop for Ardern personally. I’m not surprised and I doubt many Aucklanders would be surprised. If anyone has reason to feel aggrieved, let down and cast adrift by this Government, it’s Auckland.  That was exemplified by the insulting visit the Prime Minister made to the city this week. Less visit, more orchestrated stopover. And, in that arrogance, is everything that’s going wrong here. You can only pull the wool over voters' eyes for so long. You can only rely on goodwill for so long. You can only bank on your support, in such a smug fashion, for so long. What voters want is transparency (which this Government promised and has failed to deliver on), authenticity, also now out the window, surety that there’s a plan, a way forward, some leadership. That’s all missing and h

A former National MP says the Three Strikes Law made the country no safer.  The Government's scrapping the law which was created by Act in the National-led coalition government 11 years ago.  It meant people convicted of a third serious violent, sex or drug offence would automatically get the maximum sentence without parole.  Former National MP and Government justice advisor Chester Borrows says it meant there was no incentive for people to do rehabilitation programmes. He told Kate Hawkesby that rehabilitation programmes do work but without an incentive to do them nobody is better off.  “I don’t think it was a good law.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Research is suggesting rural hospitals are being ignored in the Covid-19 pandemic. A study published in today's New Zealand Medical Journal says DHBs have a poor understanding of rural hospitals and facilities, and feel uncertain on managing Covid patients.  Otago University researcher Garry Nixon told Kate Hawkesby part of the problem is around the physical resources available and workforce shortage. “There’s also the inevitable issue, whereby, the DHB is going to be largely focused on their large-based hospital”  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A worsening surge of inflation for such bedrock necessities as food, rent, autos and heating oil is setting Americans up for a financially difficult Thanksgiving and holiday shopping season. Prices for U.S. consumers jumped 6.2% in October compared with a year earlier, leaving families facing their highest inflation rate since 1990, the Labor Department said Wednesday. From September to October, prices jumped 0.9%. Inflation is eroding the strong gains in wages and salaries that have flowed to America's workers in recent months, creating a political threat to the Biden administration and congressional Democrats and intensifying pressure on the Federal Reserve as it considers how fast to withdraw its efforts to boost the economy. Fuelling the spike in prices has been robust consumer demand, which has run into persistent supply shortages from COVID-related factory shutdowns in China, Vietnam and other overseas manufacturers. America's employers, facing worker shortages, have also been handing out sizable pay ra

MIQ has to go and it’s important the pressure keeps being applied to the Government on this, because this is a government that responds to pressure.   As Justice Venning pointed out in Murray Bolton’s successful judicial review of his MIQ exemption, under the Bill of Rights, every New Zealand citizen has the right to enter New Zealand without “unreasonable limitation”. And in those two words are the keys that open the gates, and clearly highlight that the legal grounds for MIQ are no more. MIQ’s also redundant because we’ve abandoned elimination and shifted to containment, we have Covid throughout our communities, we’re 80% double vaccinated; and data from MIQ shows that double vaxxed returnees, who test negative on arrival, pose a statistically insignificant risk in the context of this outbreak.  New Zealand citizens wanting to return home, who are double vaccinated, Covid negative, and who are prepared to self-isolate for 7 days, should be legally free to return. We are averaging well over 120 cases per day

A move to get kiwi kids interested and engaged with farming and the primary sector. Entries are now open for the Junior Young Farmer of the Year for the 2022 season. It's aimed to get school kids from both town and country engaged with the primary sector and where our food comes from. NZ Young Farmers CEO Lynda Coppersmith told Kate Hawkesby they want children to better understand the connection between what farmers to everyday and what appears on their table. “It's amazing how just one or two experiences will actually spark a bit of imagination and passion.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The return to school in lockdown areas is being called a dog's breakfast. Auckland and Waikato schools will welcome back students from Wednesday. Years 1 to 8 will return part-time, and schools can offer half days or alternate days by year group. Papatoetoe North School Principal Stan Tiatia told Kate Hawkesby he's livid and can't believe the responsibility has been put on principals to sort out the health and safety of their students. “What we need are some strong guidelines that show us what we need to do to open, what we need to do when there’s been a positive case in our school and to manage the safety of students and staff.” He said principals are not medical experts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Covid restrictions are failing to dent investor confidence. ASB's latest survey shows net investor confidence reached 25-percent in the three months to October - its highest point in almost five years. Net confidence in Auckland reached 31-percent - its highest point in more than seven years. ASB Senior Economist Chris Tennent-Brown told Kate Hawkesby people are thinking beyond their short-term frustrations. “It seems that Aucklanders are looking through the lockdown and focusing on the true question which is ‘do you think investment returns will be better over the next 12 months?’” He said KiwiSaver balances have been recovering, and term deposit rates have been going up. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Under pressure from rising infections and worried health experts, the British government on Wednesday urged millions of people to get booster vaccine shots but resisted calls to reimpose coronavirus restrictions such as mandatory mask-wearing. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the government would “stay vigilant, preparing for all eventualities,” but would not trigger its “Plan B” of bringing back restrictions on daily life. Britain is relying heavily on vaccines to keep the virus at bay during the fall and winter months. Almost 80% of people 12 and over in the U.K. have received two vaccine doses and millions are being offered a booster shot, including everyone over 50. But critics say the booster campaign is moving more slowly than the virus. The U.K. recorded 49,139 new infections on Wednesday, by far the highest total in Europe, and cases are averaging more than 45,000 a day, up 17% from a week earlier. Hospitalizations and deaths are also rising, though both remain far lower than before vaccination was w