Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Support for the views of Sir John Key.Some have labelled the former Prime Minister's assessment of the Government's Covid-19 response as naive and out of touch.But an outspoken critic of the Government's Covid response is backing Key's views.Auckland University Emeritus Professor of Medicine Des Gorman told Kate Hawkesby the Government is relying too much on fear to get people vaccinated.“Fear’s not the way you get sustainable changes in human behaviour. Fear makes people unwell. We need to demonstrate to people what the rewards and privileges are of vaccination and complying with public health measures.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Germany's center-left Social Democrats were locked in a very close race Sunday with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc, which is heading toward its worst-ever result in the country's parliamentary election, projections showed.Top officials from both parties said they hope to lead Germany's next government and have their candidates succeed Merkel, who has been in power since 2005.Projections for ARD public television, based on exit polls and early counting, put voters' support at 24.9% for the Social Democrats — which is putting forth outgoing Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz for chancellor — and 24.7% for Merkel’s Union bloc under would-be successor state governor Armin Laschet.Separate projections for ZDF public television put the Social Democrats ahead by 25.6% to 24.4%. Both put the environmentalist Greens in third place with about 15% support.Those results would be the worst for the Union bloc in post-World War II Germany.The electoral system typically produces coalition governments b

The All Blacks are playing arguably their fiercest rivals this weekend; the Springboks. This will be the first time the two teams have met since the 2019 World Cup, where the All Blacks won their pool game, but South Africa took home the trophy. The Boks come to the game after back-to-back losses to the Wallabies, can they bounce back?  South African sports correspondent Sias du Plessis joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Now we've accepted we're going to have to learn to live with Covid-19, can we please have a clear plan? Listening to the PM and Chris Hipkins and the good Doctor this week, I sense they realise this last lockdown needs to be just that, the last lockdown. We were scared at the beginning, and we've been cowed into compliance over the past couple of years. But I sense now that New Zealanders, Aucklanders for one set of reasons, South Islanders for another set of reasons, are over it. Another lockdown would be the death knell for a lot of businesses and a lot of jobs. And compliance won't come so easily; just look at Melbourne to see what happens when enough people get riled up by enough false information. Right now, we're getting the platitudes and the patronising talk on vaccinations. But there's no target and no plan for what happens once the rush to get jabbed becomes a trickle. We may already be near peak vaccine coverage. So, we need a plan, because we're going to have to live with this. Some people will ge

Retail chain Farmers has told Auckland office staff to go back to the office in Level Three, or be reduced to 80 percent pay.  At the same time, the Government line is that if people can work from home at Level Three, they should. First Union organiser Ben Peterson joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People are losing out on money paid for holiday accommodation they can't use in lockdown. Consumer New Zealand has been receiving up to 15 Covid-19 related accommodation complaints a week during Alert Levels Three and Four. Many are from people who can't get refunds for booked accommodation. Spokesperson Gemma Rasmussen told Tim Dower people should check the terms and conditions.  "When you look at policies, for example Airbnb, the cancellation policies are really variable, and ultimately you as a consumer are signing up to this." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m feeling for the events industry this morning, another industry left in a holding pattern by the Government, playing a waiting game of will we, won’t we. It’s a familiar game by now for South Islanders and everyone outside of Auckland, and for many hospitality outlets still. Level 2 is still not Level 1. There’s still a big difference. And if you’re looking down the barrel of summer festival season, it’s tough to call at this point. We‘ve been given some incentives of sorts; get vaccinated, and freedoms may come back. But no guarantees. And with the Government still refusing to admit it’s given up on elimination, it leaves room for a lot of doubt as to whether we will ever truly be free this year. If their version of elimination, which Bloomfield says no longer means zero cases, but still includes eradication and stamping it out. Don’t you love how they keep re-defining what elimination means? Anyway, if they keep that up, then is Level 1 really an option until we’re virtually all vaccinated? And look, no

It seems more and more young people are expecting parents to help buy their first home. But yet young people often still struggle when it comes to financial literacy. 20 percent of those aged between 16 and 24 think Kiwisaver balances can only ever go up in value.  That's according to research out by BetterSaver, which also found half of that age bracket expect their parents will gift or loan money for a first house deposit.  Mortgage adviser Rupert Gough from Mortgage Lab joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new programme will help prepare police with the various skills they need.  The Government is investing $45 million in frontline officer safety - instead of arming police.   It includes $15 million for a Tactical Response Model and expansion of the frontline skills course.  Former Justice Advisory Group member Chester Borrows, himself a former officer, told Kate Hawkesby police need to have different strategies for today's challenges.  "It requires all kinds of strategy and tactics applied to it, as is often said, you can't just arrest your way out of this stuff." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bit of a double-edged sword today, and I’m not sure what we should be worried about more. The hundreds of thousands of extra Aucklanders back at work today all mingling in kitchens, cafes and businesses, or the absconders who continue to flee the border. We’ve had the Hamilton Maccas run cowboys, the gang with the boot load of KFC, the Northland sisters skipping the border, the drug taker running along train tracks to avoid a border, the driver who tore through paddocks to avoid the border, the infamous Wānaka couple, the high-profile Aucklander who went to Queenstown, the man to Whakatane, the Uni students, another school student yesterday who tuned up magically in class in Dunedin after weeks locked down in Auckland Level 4.  The other one yesterday, a man who left Auckland for Wellington to pick up a caravan and drive it back to Auckland, we had a man hiding in a car boot, and that’s before we get to the Black Power remand prisoner who breached his bail conditions by making several stops between Mt Eden pr

Kiwi e-bike supplier Electrify New Zealand is launching its own e-bike brand in the UK after finding success locally. And more good news for them, a recent survey shows 55 percent of Brits are thinking about buying one. Electrify NZ CEO Michael Tritt joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington's mayor isn't entirely sure why the capital's MIQ facilities are being halved. MBIE has decided to stop using one of Wellington's quarantine hotels, leaving just one in operation. MIQ officials say Wellington Airport is not set up to easily cater for red zone flights Andy Foster told Kate Hawkesby he's not sure why returnees aren't being shared around the regions.  "Question marks about why a whole lot of people are being accommodated in the centre of our biggest city, but do you want to take the risk of moving people around the country? The Government's made a judgement that's not what they want to do." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite hundreds of thousands of Covid cases every day, and an average of 2000 deaths a day, the US is opening up again. They're opening their borders to vaccinated UK and EU citizens in November.  The ban has been in place since March last year, and our tourism industry here will be watching with keen interest. But with the international tourism market opening up, will New Zealand get left behind? Grant Webster, Tourism Holdings Limited CEO joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So they did it, they dropped us to level 3, which they were always going to, despite case numbers and mystery cases looking pretty much the same, if not worse, than they have the past two weeks.  Which begs the question, what the hell have we been doing in level 4 all this time if that was the case? Have they suddenly woken up to the fact elimination is out of reach and we are changing tack? If so, why aren’t they just honest about it?  I think I know why.  This Government is about popularity. It’s about polling and focus groups and positive trending on Twitter. This decision yesterday was a political one. How can you explain it any other way? Never has ‘lockdown fatigue’ been such a big consideration. Why is it now?  Because Aucklanders were over it. They knew they’d lost the buy in, and keeping it going any longer would've been – God forbid – unpopular. So they’ve given us a breather. For how long? That’s the horrible question we don’t want to really ask.. how long ‘til the breather’s over and we’re back in

Out in the big space that is the internet there is a lot of misinformation when it comes to Covid-19. But an investigation has revealed dozens of the world's biggest brands including Amazon, Nike, Ted Barker and ASOS have been advertising on websites that spread Covid-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories. The ads are helping fund these websites that include claims powerful people engineered the pandemic, and that vaccines have caused thousands of deaths. Investigative journalist Jasper Jackson joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland University public health expert Colin Tukuitonga told Kate Hawkesby case numbers are too high to be easing restrictions. "I would have preferred the number of new cases to be in single digits and for our vaccination coverage to be ramped up even further.' New restrictions have been put in place around northern Hauraki, after three cases were found in Whakatīwai. The rest of the country remains at Level Two, but the gathering limit has been increased to a hundred people. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's disbelief James Shaw wants to go to a climate change conference in Scotland with an entourage of 14 people. The United Nations summit, dubbed Cop26, is due to start at the end of the month. The Climate Change Minister intends to take nine people from New Zealand and five people from overseas. National Party climate change spokesperson Stuart Smith told Kate Hawkesby Shaw thought it was too dangerous to go to Parliament under level four but is going to Scotland, which has a lot of Covid-19. "So if New Zealand's too dangerous with about 30 cases a day, why is Scotland not dangerous at all with 3833?" LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I know the rest of the country is sick of hearing about this, but for the 1.6 million people who live in Auckland, we're into day 34 of level 4. Since the start of the pandemic that means Aucklanders have spent “6 extra weeks at levels 3 and 4” than the rest of the country, and there’s more to come.Stuff reported that, “over the 2020 and 2021 school years, Auckland students have now missed 69 days of in person schooling, and counting, compared with 39 days for their peers elsewhere, a whole additional month of learning gone.” That’s before we even get to the mental, psychological and financial toll on Aucklanders. So for all those outside of Auckland saying, stop whining, get over it, just think about that from your perceived Level 2 luxury for a moment. It sucks.The fact we're seeing more arrests for people bailing, trying to leave Auckland during this, says all you need to know — Aucklanders are over it.The appetite for lockdown has gone, the buy in is over. We don’t remotely feel like any part of any team

France would have known Australia had “deep and grave concerns” that a submarine fleet the French were building would not meet Australian needs, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Sunday after the contract's cancellation set off a diplomatic crisis.France accused Australia of concealing its intentions to back out of the 90 billion Australian dollar ($66 billion) contract for French majority state-owned Naval Group to build 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines.President Joe Biden revealed last week a new alliance including Australia and Britain that would deliver an Australian fleet of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines.Morrison blamed the switch on a deteriorating strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific. He has not specifically referred to China’s massive military buildup, which has gained pace in recent years.“The capability that the Attack class submarines were going to provide was not what Australia needed to protect our sovereign interests,” Morrison said.“They would have had every reason t

Coromandel MP Scott Simpson says the cases are worrying for the small tight-knit community.He told Kate Hawkesby people should take advantage of the pop-up testing centre being set up at Wharekawa Marae in Whakatīwai this morning.“Anyone that is feeling unwell, anyone with symptoms, anyone that feels that they want to get tested — my advice is absolutely do get tested.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.