Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Obesity related illnesses, as you well know, cost this country a fortune. The direct healthcare costs of obesity, well, they estimated it at $2 billion per year, per year, and that was in 2021, so it'll be a hell of a lot more now. It's more difficult to calculate the total economic impact that obesity has on this country. Estimates range between $4 to $9 billion per year. It depends whether you include lost productivity and how yo...

Are our patient consent rules making it harder to train the next generation of doctors? 

An article in The Conversation argues that the strict requirement for patients to content to the involvement of junior doctors in their care is hindering medical training.  

Author and Associate Professor of Primary Health Care and General Practice at Otago University, Dr Ben Gray says it’s limiting hands-on learning, especially in cr...

Guess what? New Zealand's in economic trouble. I know, I know, who would have thought it? Well, we did. You know it, I know it. We've known it for a very, very long time, right from the very start when Labour began throwing money around. There were the Cassandras coming on the radio saying, “Oh, you're going to have to pay it back. All very well and good now, probably the right thing to do, but at some point we're going to have to ...

It will be the single biggest piece of infrastructure that New Zealand will build. Remember when Shane Jones' Northport was going to be the single biggest piece of infrastructure? Well, now that's gone the way of the dodo. So the single biggest piece of infrastructure that New Zealand will build in our lifetimes, will come when the Government makes the decision on what a new Auckland Harbour crossing will look like. The time for di...

Judith Collins is bidding farewell to politics. 

The senior National MP has delivered her valedictory speech, saying goodbye after 24 years in Parliament, as she prepares to move on to heading the Law Commission. 

Collins held numerous ministerial portfolios in her time in politics and led National to the 2020 election. 

She told Kerre Woodham she feels as though she’s done everything in Parliament that she really wa...

We start this morning with something you already know: the number of New Zealanders moving to Australia is at its highest level in 12 years. And most of those moving are going to Australia – around 58% of those who are leaving say they're heading for Oz. Yet in the World Happiness Report, in terms of happiness, we rank ahead of Australia. We're 11th happiest, they come in at number 15 – the Nordic countries always take out the top ...

New figures reveal hundreds of Kiwi officers are continuing to head across the Tasman, nearly one in three police resignations are now linked to the move.

But, the Police Commissioner didn't seem too worried when he spoke to Mike Hosking this morning, saying they prioritise quality over quantity. 

Minister of Police Mark Mitchell told Kerre Woodham "of course we want to pay our frontline police, all of our police personnel as ...

Well, Winston let the cat out of the bag on Friday afternoon with Heather du Plessis Allan. Oh, we're scrapping fees free in the third year, he said, you'll find that in the budget.

And Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that yes indeed, the scheme will be ditched in the upcoming budget. 

Those students completing their tertiary studies this year in their final year will remain eligible for fees free.

So, all well an...

New Zealand, according to the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, needs to reform the electricity sector, expand and strengthen capital markets, speed up digitisation of the health sector, and reform the pension. The OECD joined other international agencies in calling for the age of eligibility for super to be raised by indexing it to life expectancy with measures to take account of different ethnicitie...

The Prime Minister's signalling he'd prefer a one-party Government, rather than a coalition. 

Parties appear to be moving closer to campaign mode, announcing policies ahead of Election Day on November seventh. 

The Government's also promising further cost-savings to be re-invested into the frontline ahead of this year's Budget. 

Christopher Luxon told Kerre Woodham New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters could work w...

It looks like setting fire to small explosives in the backyard will be one of those wacky stories you'll tell the grandkids about. You were able to set fire to explosives, Grandma? In the backyard? In your own home you let off little bombs? Yes, we did. Those were the days. A Parliamentary Select Committee has finally backed a ban on the public sale and use of fireworks.  

No one can really say they're shocked, surprised, knoc...

The Icehouse is celebrating 25 years of powering Kiwi business growth. 

They’re a non-profit dedicated to training and mentoring the small to medium enterprises that make up 97% of New Zealand’s economy. 

And today is their Ignite Growth Summit, in which they bring together legendary founders who have gone from the garage to the global stage to inspire the next wave of business talent.  

CEO Olivia Blaylock told Kerr...

Government ministers gave councils an ultimatum yesterday: come up with your own plans for amalgamation within three months, or the Government will do it for you. Local Government Minister Simon Watts and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said there was broad support from councils – some were already gung-ho and proceeding with plans to amalgamate. One of them is Nelson Mayor Nick Smith. He's long held the view that merging with Tas...

Auckland Council is aiming to reduce drownings and improve safety by upgrading its Navigation Bylaw. 

The most significant change would make life jackets mandatory for everyone on vessels under six meters long whilst it’s in motion. 

Current rules only require for them to be carried, with the person in charge of the vessel making the decision on whether it’s necessary. 

Auckland Councillor and Bylaw Review Panel memb...

Auckland Council wants to hear from you. It's consulting on proposed changes to the Auckland Navigational Bylaw. Right now, Clause 20 of the bylaw requires personal flotation devices, also known as life jackets, on vessels six metres and under. Unless, and here comes the thorny bit, unless the person in charge gives permission not to wear one. So that makes it all pretty cloudy, doesn't it? The proposed changes aim to clarify expec...

The Health Innovators' Summit takes place in Auckland tomorrow with this year's discussion centring around ideas to create a world-class, high performing health system for New Zealand.

The keynote speaker is one of the world’s foremost health policy experts and author of Which Country Has The World’s Best Health Care?, Dr Ezekiel Emanuel.

He joined Kerre Woodham to chat about the state of New Zealand healthcare and how other countr...

It's good to see some parties releasing policies, looking at you Labour, whether you agree with them or not, given it's less than six months to the election.

ACT released its immigration policy over the weekend, a six point plan that ACT says will welcome people with shared values and who play by the rules.

ACT leader and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said New Zealand was a settler society that had been built by people willin...

You'll have heard it in our news, since Monday the 20th of April, 18 people have been killed in 14 separate crashes on our roads. As of this morning, 12 more lives have been lost on New Zealand roads so far this year compared to the same point last year. To give some context though, our road tolls today are nothing like the bad old days. Back in 1973, long before many of you were born, when we had a much smaller population and fewe...