Podcasts about kerre mcivor

Leader of the Opposition Christopher Luxon was on Newstalk ZB with Kerre McIvor today for an hour and took calls, we'll have a look at what ensued Today FM's Tova O'Brien talked about how the messenger in media shares the top news stories and then get's seen as partisan by the side not liking that particular news, she encourages her listeners not to shoot the messenger Simon Wilson writes in the NZ Herald that David Seymour is toking the fires of culture war, we chat with Simon tonight about his article and claim around Seymour

The Government's offering up new transport options, rather than kicking people out of their cars.Included in their Emissions Reduction Plan is more than half a billion dollars towards pushing electric and hybrid vehicles.The money will help lower and middle income households scrap their fossil-fuel burning cars for a climate-friendly alternative.A pilot of the scheme will involve up to 2500 vehicles and begin next year.To discuss this, David Vinsen, Chief Executive of the Imported Motor Vehicle Association joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's offering up new transport options, rather than kicking people out of their cars.Included in their Emissions Reduction Plan is more than half a billion dollars towards pushing electric and hybrid vehicles.The money will help lower and middle income households scrap their fossil-fuel burning cars for a climate-friendly alternative.A pilot of the scheme will involve up to 2500 vehicles and begin next year.To discuss this, David Vinsen, Chief Executive of the Imported Motor Vehicle Association joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVE

The public has registered a vote of no confidence in Police Minister Poto Williams as youth crime spirals out of control.The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll asked: Is the current Police Minister too soft on crime?More than two-thirds - 68.3 percent - said yes, while just 18.3 percent said no.Minister Williams doesn't think it's fair. She said to Newshub "For me, you're either soft or you're a thug or you're smart and I choose to be smart."National Party Police spokesperson Mark Mitchell sees it differently and he joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVE

The move to Orange setting means we can now mingle at bars, nightclubs and restaurants mask free - with no capacity or distancing requirements. It's welcome news for the hospitality industry. Chand Sahrawat and her husband Sid run The French Cafe and Cassia restaurants in Auckland and Chand Sahrawat joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

The move to Orange setting means we can now mingle at bars, nightclubs and restaurants mask free - with no capacity or distancing requirements. It's welcome news for the hospitality industry. Chand Sahrawat and her husband Sid run The French Cafe and Cassia restaurants in Auckland and Chand Sahrawat joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the rising cost of petrol and diesel fuelling inflation, companies are looking at new technologies to lower costs, as well as carbon emissions. In a comment piece in Newsroom, the CEO of Hyundai New Zealand said hydrogen-powered trucks are set to have a major impact on our transport industry as a clean transport alternative. Hyundai NZ CEO Andy Sinclair joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

If you're one of our listeners in your 20s or 30s, you might like to prick up your ears at this first segment for the morning. The subject is retirement and I know if you're in your 20s and 30s, it seems like a million years away. When I was in my late 20s, I never thought I'd make it to retirement, it just seemed so far away, but now all of a sudden, I can count the years to 65 in single figures. The concept of retirement has changed over time. Retirement, when I was growing up, seemed a magical thing. A time when, after years of delayed gratification in a lifetime of hard work, husbands and wives would sell off the farm or the business - husbands in the main would retire, collect a healthy pension, and then it was hoots wahey off, quite often for the first big overseas trip that many had taken in their lives. By 2053, almost half of over 65s will be renting, so Kiwisaver won't be that much help for that mix of boomers and Generation X who are approaching retirement. Financial Markets Authority Kiwisaver reports showed the average balance of Kiwisaver at only 26,500.  Looking ahead to retirement, how confident are you that you will have a comfortable old age? LISTEN ABOVE

The Government has taken another step towards fulfilling its pre-election promise to lift incomes and improve working conditions of everyday Kiwis. The Fair Pay Agreements Bill was introduced to Parliament yesterday and is expected to pass into law later this year. Under the bill, employees will be able to force their employers to negotiate working conditions and pay if at least 10% of their workforce or 1000 staff agree to it. Objectors believe the legislation will only drive up costs for businesses and it's the type of legislation we would've expected to see in the 70s and 80s. In favour of Fair Pay Agreements is the early childhood sector - they believe FPAs will help retain more teachers. The Council of Trade Unions' say Fair Pay Agreements would put New Zealand on par with the rest of the world. CTU President Richard Wagstaff says Australia's modern awards system has been in operation for years - and its wages outstrip New Zealand's. Richard Wagstaff and Business New Zealand Chief Executive Kirk Hope joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's all about the money, honey. And we would be fools to think otherwise. INEOS Team UK's budget for the last American Cup challenge was $210 million and the cost of mounting an America's Cup campaign gets higher and higher with every passing year. If you've got chump change, if you've got mates looking for coins down the back of the couch, sure you can mount a challenge. You are extremely unlikely to come close, far less win it. And so, as expected, Grant Dalton and Team New Zealand have followed the money and have elected to defend the America's Cup in Barcelona. It is and it always has been about the money. It's not 1995 any more people. When buying a pack of red socks made you a shareholder in Team New Zealand and you could bellow Sailing Away with gusto and pride.  I take Grant Dalton's point, that if you can't attract the backers and you can't get the money, you can't get what you need to take the boat itself to the next level.  I think we're fine with the talent we've got and the sailors we've got, and the associated people involved in a challenge. But if you can't get that technology next level, then we're going to be downwind all the way. The writing's been on the wall for some time. Grant Dalton is a winner. That's what he likes doing. He needs big money for Team NZ to win. He wasn't getting it here. Have we missed a trick? I don't think so. I think we've funded these guys into their waterfront properties long enough. It would have been great. It was fantastic last time even in the midst of all the nonsense.  Grant Dalton made it very clear they need money to win. They will follow that money. They found a pot of gold in Barcelona. Will he parley that win should they do so and bring it home as a consolation prize for Kiwis? I wouldn't bet my red socks on it. 

The Government has taken another step towards fulfilling its pre-election promise to lift incomes and improve working conditions of everyday Kiwis. The Fair Pay Agreements Bill was introduced to Parliament yesterday and is expected to pass into law later this year. Under the bill, employees will be able to force their employers to negotiate working conditions and pay if at least 10% of their workforce or 1000 staff agree to it. Objectors believe the legislation will only drive up costs for businesses and it's the type of legislation we would've expected to see in the 70s and 80s. In favour of Fair Pay Agreements is the early childhood sector - they believe FPAs will help retain more teachers. The Council of Trade Unions' say Fair Pay Agreements would put New Zealand on par with the rest of the world. CTU President Richard Wagstaff says Australia's modern awards system has been in operation for years - and its wages outstrip New Zealand's. Richard Wagstaff and Business New Zealand Chief Executive Kirk Hope joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

I imagine it's come as a wee bit of a surprise to some people that all of a sudden, economists and commentators are warning that New Zealand is facing a brain drain. For a while, all we heard were about the hordes of New Zealanders wanting to come back to New Zealand. Will be overwhelmed, some said. Where are they going to live? What are we going to do?  Now we've got Brad Olsen from Informetrics who posed the question last week, 'Is New Zealand facing up to a brain drain?' For the year to January 2022, Stats NZ estimates a net migration outflow - so more people left than came in - of around 7500 people, with an annual net outflow now estimated to have been occurring since March of last year.  This morning, the Kiwibank Chief Economist chimed in estimating we're going to see Kiwis leaving the level the country at a level last seen during the Aussie mining boom of 2011.  I certainly know young people who are wanting to leave New Zealand. They want to go. That was always the plan. The pandemic has held them back but now they're off.  And TBC, whether they actually return.  It's not just about the numbers either, it's the message it sends when you've got more Kiwis wanting to leave, than stay. This is the first time I've heard that mood shift where, you know what, I don't see this country offering me the future I want. If we can't turn around the flow of people, or if we can't replace them with similar adventurous young people who are willing to travel to another country, another culture, another another part of the world to have an adventure, to bring their talents and add their energy. If we can't get them to replace our adventurous young people, then what are we going to be?  The retirement village of the South Pacific?  

Last Thursday we had a one-topic show on literacy, after a new report from Education Hub raised concerns about our "deeply worrying" decline in literacy levels.Their report found less than 65 per cent of 15-year-olds have basic proficiency in reading and maths.On Friday, the Government announced a plan to improve our literacy and math rates, including more support for teachers and development of action plans.Education Minister Chris Hipkins joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVE

Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State in the United States has died at 84. Former deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs Minister, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and a lifelong friend of Madeleine Albright, Sir Don McKinnon joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

A new report out is highlighting something I think most of us know already; that we are failing our children when it comes to reading and writing. Researchers from The Education Hub have combined international research with local studies and have found that yes indeed, we're failing and there are multiple contributing factors.  The first one - children have to be in school to be schooled. If you're going to teach children, they have to be in the classroom to be taught. Chronic absenteeism is a major problem in 2019, and this is before the pandemic.  43% of children in this country are not regularly going to school.   Researchers also pointed to teachers having lower expectations for Māori and Pasifika kids. They don't expect them to achieve, so they don't put in any particular effort.  There's a piecemeal and underfunded intervention system for dyslexic kids and struggling students. The curriculum is also blamed, blamed due to a lack of content. Children aren't getting the opportunity to develop higher-level thinking. The critical skills and their higher-order literacy.  A number of schools are now saying balanced literacy doesn't work for a lot of our kids. We need structured literacy, which is another name for phonics. So, there are different ways to teach.  Not all children will be taught the same way, but what we are seeing is that a country that had a once proud history of teaching and turning out young people with the best brains in the world, is failing them. We still have some very bright kids taking on the best of the best but the gap between those succeeding and those failing is getting wider all the time. 

A new report from the non-profit Education Hub organisation has raised concerns about what it calls a "deeply worrying" decline in literacy levels. Less than 65 percent of 15-year-olds have basic proficiency in reading and maths. Education Minister Chris Hipkins says the Government is working hard to turn around the trend, but it takes time. Dr Christine Braid, from the Massey University Institute of Education, works with teachers and schools to explore best practice in literacy teaching for the benefit of all learners and she joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

Treasury is warning the country's current infrastructure gap is set to widen if nothing changes. It's also stating the Government frequently doesn't get value for money with investments and has one of the worst records at delivering infrastructure. Infrastructure Commission Chief Executive Ross Copland says New Zealand has underinvested compared to its OECD peers and too often when investments are made, they aren't the right ones. Barney Irvine is an Infrastructure consultant and he joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

The next New Zealand general election to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of New Zealand will be held no later than 13 January 2024. That's 20 months away. Presumably it'll happen around November 2023, but that's still 18 months away. This is obviously shocking because without doubt the election campaign got underway this weekend. The Prime Minister broke her Newstalk ZB embargo to speak with Francesca Rudkin on Sunday morning. That I thought was telling. She knows she needs to be on this station through the election campaign and this was the first step in eating her rats. Given how often we hear from the Prime Minister there was nothing ground breaking about the interview. But I did find it telling when she was asked what she got wrong in the Covid response.  Jacinda Ardern said: "I do wish that we could have come through these latter stages … bringing more people with us." I think it shows that she understands she's well and truly on the way to losing the room. Stage 1 of the pandemic response brought the people with them and it resulted in the landslide election. Stage 2, the exit from the pandemic response, has not been so nimble. Covid fatigue and impatience for normality have weighed heavily on the government.  What they've done, with the bizarre exception of the RAT debacle, has not been overly wrong.  But it has been perceived as late. That's been blamed on control freak tendencies. As I've often said this government is not nearly as good as they think they are but they're also not as bad as many make out. So, this morning Christopher Luxon joined Kerre McIvor. It was like shooting fish in a barrel as he latched onto every hot topic and smacked the government down. The Leader of the Opposition has the advantage of 20/20 hindsight. It's easy to say what to do when you know what went wrong or what's unpopular. For instance, he wants the mandates and passports gone today. You could almost hear the cheers of the audience. Of course, I'm pretty sure we'll hear the government say something like that on Wednesday but Luxon has said it first. The harder decision was enacting the mandates in the first place back when we were wallowing on 60% vaccination, but never mind. People have short memories. Which also plays into the hands of Christopher Luxon. The people have forgotten that National first asked for borders to be reopened to Australia in June 2020. 3 months into the pandemic. For lockdowns to end at 70% first vaccination levels. Hot takes, too soon, but who cares when you're in opposition. Right here, right now the electorate is seeing a guy who's gung ho on getting cracking and a Prime Minister who's starting to have some regrets. The election campaign has started and it's going to be a long one. 

What on Earth are we waiting for? Cabinet is to decide today on the future of the country. Covid-19 protection measures, the mandates, the vaccine passes and the like. They've already had the concession of allowing unvaccinated New Zealanders back into the country that was done very quietly. And although we don't know what they have decided — we won't know that until Wednesday (why I don't know) — surely we have to move on. If people don't want to mingle with the masses, fine, don't, stay home. Put the chicken soup on the stove and enjoy an item with Netflix. If people prefer to wear masks for themselves and for others fine.  We have to start living again. And if you don't want to, that's OK. You don't have to. Nobody is forcing you out. Even if you can't afford to go out, nobody is going to make you spend your disposable at a restaurant and a mall where there are lots of people. You don't have to go to a nightclub. You don't have to go to a big outdoor concert where you'll be cheek by sweaty jowl with others.  If that doesn't make you feel comfortable, you stay home. But let other people get on with living. We've had the most extraordinary restrictions placed upon us. It's time to remember that life is for living, not simply existing. 

Watch live as National leader Chris Luxon joins Kerre McIvor live in studio on Kerre McIvor Mornings

History for me is very much a living thing, and knowing where we've come from and how we got here is vital to understanding, I think, who we are.  But then I'm biased. I chose to study New Zealand history. I found it fascinating and I think it's an incredibly worthwhile subject.  And it's constantly being evaluated as historian and Massey University professor Michael Belgrave said on the Mike Hosking breakfast. Teaching subjects like colonisation is going to be contentious, but we have improved and we're constantly improving the way we evaluate history, and we teach that history.  I agree with him. It's constantly being evaluated so I just don't think there's anything really to fear here. There's nothing to startle the horses. It has come out of nowhere, this has been a process that's been ongoing. Every country should learn a little bit about their own history.  And generally, when you learn these incredible stories, it sparks an interest to learn the history of other people as well, so I'm all for it. 

GDP rose by three percent in the last three months of last year, a lower figure than most economists had forecast but ahead of Reserve Bank expectations. It follows a 3.6 percent fall in the previous three months. The rise has come as Covid-19 restrictions loosened. To discuss, Kerre McIvor was joined by NZ Herald Business Editor at Large, Liam Dann. LISTEN ABOVE

Fully-vaccinated tourists will be allowed into the country sooner than expected. Our newsroom understands travellers from Australia could be set to arrive - without the need for managed isolation - as early as next month. Visitors from other countries which New Zealand has visa waver arrangements with, like the United Kingdom, will be able to come in the weeks after that, followed by all other countries. So, is it a lifeline for our struggling tourism industry and will it make a difference for the Easter holidays and the ski season? Tourism Industry Aotearoa spokesperson Ann-Marie Johnson joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

GDP rose by three percent in the last three months of last year, a lower figure than most economists had forecast but ahead of Reserve Bank expectations. It follows a 3.6 percent fall in the previous three months. The rise has come as Covid-19 restrictions loosened. To discuss, Kerre McIvor was joined by NZ Herald Business Editor at Large, Liam Dann. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fully-vaccinated tourists will be allowed into the country sooner than expected. Our newsroom understands travellers from Australia could be set to arrive - without the need for managed isolation - as early as next month. Visitors from other countries which New Zealand has visa waver arrangements with, like the United Kingdom, will be able to come in the weeks after that, followed by all other countries. So, is it a lifeline for our struggling tourism industry and will it make a difference for the Easter holidays and the ski season? Tourism Industry Aotearoa spokesperson Ann-Marie Johnson joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to make headlines I've been struck about how few politicians seem to have any clue about poverty. But that doesn't stop them crowing about it. After the past week, the Prime Minister cannot claim to have any insight into poverty. I have listened to a number of her interviews this morning in which she squirmed and wriggled and tried to explain that there's no difference between saying there's cost pressure – her position – and a crisis. The Prime Minister is also the Child Poverty Minister. This is a job she has dramatically ignored due to her micromanagement of the fight against Covid. So as Child Poverty Minister she must be aware of how close to the breadline so many families sail and how many families fail to make ends meet. She must be aware of the impact that a rapid rise in inflation, in the order of 5 to 7 per cent, must have on the household budget of the poor. These are households that have nothing spare a week. No wriggle room.   Combined with the inexorable rise in rents and a rapid rise in fuel and there's nothing else you could call it but a crisis. To give you an example, Julia Chapman from KidsCan was on air with Kerre McIvor today.  She says there are families whose sole goal is to pay rent. Anything after that is a bonus. And that includes food. What is shocking is that the Prime minister has been shamed into taking action rather than taking pre-emptive steps as soon as the problem manifested itself. Meanwhile, the National Party claims that tax cuts would help. And yes, they might, eventually. But they don't seem to be aware of how many families pay no net tax after Working For Families and Accommodation supplements are factored in. Again, this morning Julia Chapman welcomed tax cuts but said it would be nice if the poor got a better deal than the better off. People earning the top rates will get $8000 back but those on the lowest rate get $1000 back, she says it would be helpful if those statistics were reversed. Finally, at the weekend the former Minister of Social Development Paula Bennett wrote an opinion piece wondering why, when there's full employment, do we have so many people on the benefit. Despite holding the MSD post for 8 years she seemed not to have an idea why this should happen. So, Julia Chapman told a story today of people giving up their jobs because they can't afford the petrol to get there.  When costs rise, wages remain low and child care is expensive, households make a calculation as to the best way to get through.  What Paula Bennett doesn't get is not that the benefit is so high. It's that the wages are too low and inflation makes work unprofitable and unsustainable. Our comfortable, middle-class politicians cry crocodile tears for the poor while all the time failing to understand the poverty trap that so many New Zealanders have fallen into. So, of course, it is a crisis. It's been building for years. 

On Thursday and Friday, there was not a cost of living crisis in New Zealand.  Yesterday, however, the Prime Minister announced that we have a global energy crisis, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Well aware that she was looking out of touch and obdurate, the Prime Minister decided over the weekend she had to respond to calls to help New Zealanders who are struggling to pay the rent, fill the car and put food on the table. And so, yesterday Cabinet decided that they would offer some relief. Reducing fuel, excise duties and road user charges by $0.25 a litre each for the next three months is easy and thus with a stroke of a pen it was done. The petrol tax tweaks will provide some relief, but don't address the wider cost of living crisis. We all know it's way more expensive right now to do anything than it was six months ago. So whether reducing the fuel excise tax is going to help you materially or not what's important in terms of the Government optics is that they have been seen to respond, finally. 

The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has this morning finally acknowledged that there is a cost of living crisis, and she's indicated the Government will announce some kind of relief, presumably at the petrol pump.She was able to choke out the C-word today - crisis; despite refusing to concede there was one just a few days ago. And this was probably so as not to be seen as buying into National's narrative. Christopher Luxon was the one who coined the 'cost of living crisis' phrase and he's been hammering that at the Government in the house. But by refusing to acknowledge it, by refusing to concede that such a thing was even possible under her leadership, despite the fact that many of the contributing factors are beyond to control, it may do look out of touch and obdurate in not conceding just how hard so many families are doing it right now. People are doing it incredibly tough. They are going to be doing it tough for a long time yet. And if the Government can do something to alleviate that, then they must.

A concession from Jacinda Ardern that many New Zealanders are facing a cost of living crisis.The Prime Minister now admits there is a problem — whether it be called a crisis, emergency or shock — and something needs to be done about it.She says Cabinet will be discussing ways to address pressure on households today, and isn't ruling out changes to fuel taxes.In today's New Zealand Herald, the CEO of KidsCan, Julie Chapman, writes a confronting piece.A teacher at one of their partner schools says for many families, paying rent is the number one priority and anything else is a luxury.  Enough food is a luxury, power is a luxury. Julie Chapman joined Kerre McIvor.LISTEN ABOVE

Well, the polls have been giving signs that a National Party revival was underway, and last night's One News Kantar poll confirmed that National has bounded ahead seven points to 39% to take the lead in the latest poll, the first since January. Labour's dropped three points to 37%.  It's the first time National has been ahead of Labour since February 2020, which of course was a month before Covid-19 entered the lexicon, entered the world, and New Zealand was plunged into lockdown.  National leader Christopher Luxon told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking this morning, that people wanted strong economic leadership and there's real sense that the government has lost direction.  He speaks a lot of sense. He absolutely does.  There is still a heck of a lot of work to do for Luxon, and as he says, you don't want a party to just oppose the Government, they want to propose a different way and a better way.  A lot of what he says is absolutely bang on.  Hopefully this will send a message to the Government that you cannot run a country on ideology alone.  There have to be foundations and underpinnings that show the ideology works, or at the very, very least, does no harm.  And it also shows that you cannot live off your Covid response forever.  These polls are a sign that perhaps there are more people beginning to chafe and resent the Government control over so many aspects of our lives. 

Political commentator Matthew Hooton has written a piece in the NZ Herald saying, "Grant Robertson's $60 billion spend-up and Adrian Orr's money printing have made New Zealand asset holders nearly $1 trillion better off, while the poor have fallen further into debt." "Twenty-something Kiwis considering returning home report London property prices are below Auckland's, while salaries are three times as high. They also know that under 30s are doomed to have to pay back most of Robertson's $60b debt."  Matthew Hooton joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

The Newsroom headline 'Luxon Spies an Opportunity' kind of sums it up really. National's leader delivered his State of the Nation speech over the weekend, and basically went back to the future with a promise to reverse Labour's tax grab should National be voted in 2023. Labour spends your money. National gives you your money back. It's the traditional trope. Christopher Luxon was right not to dwell on Covid, even though we've had more hospitalisations and infections with the Omicron variant than we've seen during any time of the pandemic. But there is plenty of fertile ground to be had by talking about how taxpayers' money is spent. Nobody minds money being spent on our hospitals. If there's one thing the pandemic is underlined is that governments of whatever hue, simply cannot afford to neglect our health system. But I personally do mind that this government spends so much money on looking good, gussying up its image.The Government spent close to $1 billion on contractors and consultants in the past financial year, Newstalk ZB revealed the numbers just after Christmas. The figure was down from the previous year of 2020. But still, tens of millions of dollars higher than it was in 2017. And this after a promise from Chris Hipkins to reduce the number of consultants.So while some of that might have been necessary for experts on the like, significant sums have been spent on public relations consultants and communications experts. Why do we need public relations consultants being paid tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars, to tell us what a good job the Government is doing? If in fact, the Government is doing a good job, we can see that for ourselves. We don't need to be told. We don't need to be persuaded. It bothers me that $200,000 is being spent on an American company to listen into social media posts relating to the government rules and policies around Covid-19. Why, why bother? If you think you're doing a good job, if you believe you're doing the best job possible, just do it. Why would you worry what people were saying about you on Twitter? Or about your rules. On Facebook, why does it matter? And if you're going to spend our money listening into our conversations, make the reports public, but they will not. 

As Omicron bites and more people are being forced to isolate for extended periods of time, the staff shortages in this country across just about every sector have become critical. The aged care sector is an example - a broad coalition of residents, workers and facility operators has written to the Health Minister warning him that staffing shortages in the sector could become catastrophic if more workers go into isolation. And it's not just the aged care sector that's suffering.  In the New Zealand Herald, Jane Phare, a business reporter, has done another story on the staffing shortages in this country. And across every sector. We're all going to have a problem with the worker shortage with or without Omicron isolation.  You might say it doesn't affect you, but it will soon with increased inflation, delays in infrastructure and building, poor service closures and everyday price rises. Fruit is going to stay unpicked. If there are no pickers, it will stay on the trees until it falls to the ground and rots and you will pay more for it.  You won't be able to get to the supermarket after work or when you usually did, because they are reducing the hours that they're open because they don't have the staff. You're not going to be able to get the car fixed because your workshops are closed and so on and so forth.

A firm that tracks cryptocurrency transactions says US$33.8 million of the digital currency has been donated to Ukraine's government and non-governmental organisations since the start of Russia's invasion, nearly a third of it on Wednesday. And with some of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges staying put in Russia, the European Union and United States said they would include crypto currencies in sanctions. Janine Grainger is the co-founder and CEO of Easy Crypto and she joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

It was pretty ugly yesterday afternoon, wasn't it? What began with creches and concerts and herb gardens and Kumbaya ended in violence and arson. The Wellington protesters believed they had right on their side. They believed they had all of New Zealand behind them. But ultimately, they believe that their rights superseded the rights of other New Zealanders to go about their business, to go to school, to commute, to work. Their rights don't supersede the rights of other New Zealanders.  Protest all you like; I take my hat off to you. If you feel strongly enough, compelled enough to get out of your comfort zone to go somewhere to raise your head above the parapet and say, I think this is wrong, good for you. But the moment you break the law, the moment you say your beliefs trump mine and I have to seed my right of way to you, you no longer have my support or sympathy. Should the police have acted sooner? I really think it would have been ghastly if they'd moved in the first week. Even the second week. Once the peaceful protesters had upped sticks and gone, then that was the time to go - had they gone in earlier it would have been really ugly. I don't want to see violence, but at the same time I do not want to see protesters think they have the right to supersede my rights. They don't. You have your strong belief, you hold on to it. You protest, you protest lawfully, do not impinge on my rights. And once we start seeing walls around Parliament. That will really brass me off too. Do we need to block off Parliament to the public in general? Or should we just cherry pick and close up the nutters carrying placards with death threats? I'd hate to see protests at Parliament ended because some people acted unlawfully. I think protests at Parliament can be powerful and they can be meaningful. This one wasn't. 

Well, yesterday we got an apology from the Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, over delays in people receiving their Covid test results last week.  He said, as if it was some sort of revelation, that higher test positivity rates meant pooling or batch testing became unfeasible and thus processing tests took longer. There were also problems because they had vacancies in the labs that they couldn't fill and the labs were already down workers because many were in isolation because of the virus. Well, shock me. How is any of this news?  Even those of us without any kind of laboratory qualifications, any qualifications at all really, other than an ability to listen to the radio and to read the news, knew that this was going to be a problem, as Omicron spread as more and more people became positive as the R rate grew higher and higher.  I get angry that more people aren't angry about this. Give them the first six months. But since that time, they're making the same mistakes. They're not consulting with other people with far more relevant expertise than they have. They're not listening to the people on the ground saying we haven't got what we need to do the job. If they don't know, they'll just take a wild stab in the dark and in a way,  I feel sorry for some of the Government ministers, but right now the Government ministers should be putting the blowtorch on the feet of those public officials. You are letting us down as government ministers, we're parlaying wrong information.  You are letting the people of New Zealand down who are trying to do the best in the face of the most bewildering array of instructions, counter instructions and messaging.  You are leading down, I think most importantly those poor under siege, beleaguered public health workers who are doing their best and impossible conditions. It is simply not good enough, and if you get cross that I'm banging on and on about the failings of the Ministry of Health, I'm even more cross that you don't care. 

Welcome to Tuesday the 1st of March and what a red letter day! Today is a day of joy and unabashed delight.  Looking overseas, we have almost universal pressure from the world on Russia to end its occupation of Ukraine, it's I think the first time I have seen in my lifetime the world coming together and saying no, this is unacceptable and they're prepared to put money where their mouths are in terms of the sanctions, in terms of not allowing Russian athletes deployments across the board, it's just about every sphere.  The major democracies of the world finally showing that they do indeed have cojones in putting significant and meaningful sanctions on Russia. Make no mistake this will hurt Putin and Russia.  Closer to home, self-isolation is over for returning Kiwis. Finally, finally a little bit of common sense!  We are so lucky to live in an age of FaceTime and Zoom, but nothing, absolutely nothing beats the connection of a full body hug between people who love one another, just who haven't seen each other for ages and ages.  Then, overnight we have the announcement of a most excellent trade deal that's been negotiated between New Zealand and the UK. The deal will cut costs for New Zealand exporters provide significantly greater access to the UK market and advance other issues important to news.   50 years later, we're back almost where we started with Britain.  So a great day for New Zealand all round! 

Urgent changes to government policy are needed to control the conversion of sheep and beef farms to pine trees for carbon farming, according to a discussion paper funded by councils and farmers. The paper, by former Hastings Mayor and National Party MP Lawrence Yule, argues that short-term land-use decisions are being made to the detriment of long-term land-use flexibility, rural communities and export returns. Lawrence Yule joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

It was interesting reading the New Zealand Herald headline "Ready, set, go! Employers brace for the Kiwi worker exodus as borders reopen." Over the past couple of months, I've received numerous texts and the old email from people saying, right that's it, I'm off to Australia. Mostly they're people who identify themselves as young professionals, which is concerning. I haven't heard this much chat about heading to OZ, because of dissatisfaction with the way the country is going, since the final days of the Helen Clark years. That anecdotal kind of evidence is shored up with the story in the Herald. Recruiters and employers are really concerned about the skills shortage right now. It's already tight, but they say if bright young Kiwis head off on their delayed OE, and the government border restrictions mean bright young internationals can't come here and replace them, then we're in shtook. LISTEN ABOVE

We've been discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine overnight. Ukrainian forces are battling Russian invaders on three sides after Moscow mounted an assault by land, sea and air. Thousands of Ukrainians are fleeing to neighbouring countries, including Poland, Hungary and Romania. New Zealand has joined other Western leaders in condemning the invasion and imposing sanctions against Russia. For an explainer as to why this is happening, Director of International Studies at Otago University, Professor Robert Patman joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

There's praise all around for New Zealand rea$ching a free trade deal with the United Kingdom. Trade Minister Damien O'Connor says our free trade deal with the UK is a gold standard agreement. The UK has agreed to eliminate tariffs on our exports, with duties removed on 99.5 percent of current trade into the UK. Kiwi exporters are expected to save about 37 million a year on tariff elimination alone. It's expected to boost our GDP by $700 million to $1 billion. Laura Clarke is the British High Commissioner to New Zealand and she joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

There's praise all around for New Zealand rea$ching a free trade deal with the United Kingdom. Trade Minister Damien O'Connor says our free trade deal with the UK is a gold standard agreement. The UK has agreed to eliminate tariffs on our exports, with duties removed on 99.5 percent of current trade into the UK. Kiwi exporters are expected to save about 37 million a year on tariff elimination alone. It's expected to boost our GDP by $700 million to $1 billion. Laura Clarke is the British High Commissioner to New Zealand and she joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we move into phase three of the Government's Covid plan and learn to live with Covid in the community, I would have to wonder whether this government can continue to justify locking thousands of New Zealanders out of their own country.  Yesterday we had 6137 community cases recorded of Omicron in the country. There would be many, many more than that. There were 338 cases detected at the border.  So, given that, how on Earth can the Government justify keeping up these facilities? Even excluding the humanitarian concerns, I am absolutely certain that defence personnel and the police and the numerous bureaucrats involved in running MIQ  could be better deployed elsewhere.  Continuing with restrictions that simply don't make any sense will ultimately do more harm than the virus will ever do. LISTEN ABOVE

I don't know about you, but just about everyone who can work from home is working from home right now at this company, NZME.  It's been pretty much that way since the first lockdown two years ago.  Apart from brief sort of bursts of normality and then it's back to being like the parrot on the Marie Celeste, wondering where everybody is gone.  For some people who joined the company over the past 24 months, they've only ever known Zoom meetings and using their bedroom as an office. Which means for those working at home that when they need a coffee, they put the jug on. When they break for lunch, it's last night's leftovers or a quick sandwich, or if it's the day before the supermarket shop, quick run up to the Hot Buns bakery on the corner for a special treat.   That has had a huge impact on Central City and the many, many businesses the central city used to support. It's prompted a plea from the chief of New Zealand's largest commercial landlord for businesses to please, please let their staff back into the city.  Scott Pritchard, Chief Executive of Precinct Properties, says in Commercial Bay, for example, which is a gorgeous new shopping area in downtown Auckland, there might be at any time pre pandemic 8000 people populating the precinct at the moment. It's around three 3000 currently.  5000 people down. Scott Pritchard says the consequences of empty offices are dire.  The shops, the restaurants, the bars, the galleries cannot be mothballed for months on end until people feel safe again - and I really understand what he's saying.  Some people have to work at home, for others who have the choice they prefer to be at home. They don't miss the commute. They don't miss the expense of parking. They don't miss the office politics. They like working from home.  And others who work for multinational companies must take their orders from their foreign masters. These CEOs have seen the havoc wreaked by the pandemic in Europe, the States and Australia and want to avoid that here, so their employees aren't given a choice. They must stay home. So when Scott Pritchard says come back, it's not as simple as Oh, OK.  And while I love the inner city and the vibrancy of so many people in a confined space having a great time, is it everybody's idea of a good time? Have people's idea of what a good time is changed since the start of the pandemic? 

Sport NZ has today launched #itsmymove - a campaign to help young women get and stay active their way. It has been developed to address declining physical activity levels in teenage girls. Research undertaken by Sport NZ shows young women increasingly opt out of formal sporting environments as they grow older. By age 17, the top three activities young women undertake are running, workouts and walking. Some of the reasons they opt out include body image, judgement, time pressures, motivation and loss of fun. Sport New Zealand Chief Executive Raelene Castle joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE 

Principals are unhappy with a plan to restrict young foreign students from enrolling at schools.The Ministry of Education is asking primary and intermediate principals for their views on hosting international fee-paying students. It's proposing to restrict or stop some international students under Year Nine from coming here to learn. The Ministry's consultation document says it's unfair on schools that did not enrol foreign students, added to pressure on the housing market and to teacher supply and could distract schools from focusing on Kiwi kids. Remuera Intermediate Principal Kyle Brewerton joined Kerre McIvor. LISTEN ABOVE  

Tim Dower was joined by Tim Wilson and Kerre McIvor to wrap the week in news. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Bryan Crump about a sympathetic story on the plight of the unvaccinated, a new doco from TVNZ, and anger and anxiety directed at a caller to Newstalk ZB. [image:283042:full]

Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Bryan Crump on Nights. This week Hayden Donnell talks to Bryan about media angst over whether ‘elimination' is still our Covid strategy - and the Herald aiming high for vaccination, but with one big name conspicuously off-message. Also: anti-vaxxers fooling Facebook; and former broadcasters hired as columnists by NBR, whose owner once pledged to purge opinion from the outlet.

In this week's Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Karyn Hay about the perils of both-sides journalism during the Covid-19 crisis, a weird on-air monologue from Kerre McIvor, and some slightly cringeworthy market research from RNZ.