Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

A big bounce back for our economy, despite many sectors still doing it tough.

New Zealand's officially out of technical recession, with new GDP figures showing our economy grew 0.7% between October and December.

Economists had predicted a growth rate of just 0.3-to-0.5%.

NZ Herald Business Editor Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham while some areas still look gloomy, the bounce back from tourism and agriculture has been strong. 

He s...

Chris Small from ABC Business Sales summed up the business loan scheme beautifully on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning: it was a balls up that was going to, has indeed, and will continue to cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars.  

Let me take you back to March 2020. Business loans were made available in May – the announcement was made in March for small businesses affected by Covid-19. Businesses were offered...

A Kawerau paper mill has found a new power source as New Zealand struggles with a looming winter power crunch. 

A newly released briefing to the Minister shows electricity supply is tight, and gas supply needs to be maintained until suitable alternatives are found. 

Essity’s Kawerau Paper Mill has become the first in the world to create a machine that runs entirely on geothermal steam. 

Essity General Manager Mark St...

Finance Minister Nicola Willis is looking at upping the amount employees and employers contribute to their KiwiSaver accounts. 

She's seeking advice and taking advice on where we take KiwiSaver in the future.

Commentator Shane Te Pou is saying we should be paying the same as they do in Australia where employer contributions are around 11%.

Employers and Manufacturers Association Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald talks to Kerre Wo...

Next week will see three sporting codes play Eden Park in the span of four days. 

A T20 international double header on Friday, a clash between the Blues and the Crusaders on Saturday, and then on Monday the stadium is hosting the FIFA Oceania Qualifier. 

It’s a massive undertaking for the grounds staff, involving months of planning. 

Eden Park Turf Manager Blair Christiansen told Kerre Woodham that 40 years ago, ther...

Speaking of the Investment Summit that's been convened by the government – or really the Prime Minister, because this Infrastructure Investment Summit is the PM's baby. What I really love is the positivity around it. It must be killing some media organisations, having to reluctantly spit out some good news. But there's optimism and there's hard bitten trillion-dollar asset fund managers saying yes, this all looks really promising. ...

When the Prime Minister is doing all the shake and howdy at the investment summit in Auckland, I bet he’ll be feeling like a harassed parent who —despite all the chaos behind the scenes— somehow manages to arrive at a family wedding with the kids in tow looking cool, calm and very happy to be there.  

Even though one of the kids had been refusing to leave the house and you all had a big bust-up in the car on the way to the chu...

Patriotism or profit.  

Essentially, that’s what these changes the Government is making to the way it hires companies to do work for it come down to.  

It’s like “Buy NZ-Made”. The Government wants to make it easier for local companies to get on its books. But what’s more important? Getting the cheapest price from (potentially) an overseas company or paying a bit more to hire a local company?  

Patriotism versus prof...

There's an old saying in advertising - to be successful you don't sell the sausage, you sell the sizzle. Christopher Luxon may have a great sausage, but he's not selling its sizzle. The Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll released yesterday afternoon had National up 1.7 points to 33.6%, but Labour had moved past it, jumping nearly three points to 34.1%. The Greens fell to 10%, down 3.2 points. ACT went down 2.3 points and Te Pati Māori ros...

The Government's not here to shag spiders, is it? It's planning to turbocharge its fast-track regime, speeding up the process to acquire private land for major infrastructure projects, and they intend to do that in part by offering cold, hard cash. Sweeteners or “premium payments” will be offered to private landowners, whose land is acquired under this new accelerated process. Changes to the Public Works Act, announced yesterday, w...

Crikey, I barely stepped away from the microphone yesterday and we had a double whammy news-wise. Phil Goff sacked as High Commissioner to London for an intemperate comment and question, Greg Foran resigning as Air New Zealand CEO. I heard someone on The Huddle with Ryan Bridge last night saying Greg Foran can now become the High Commissioner, Adrian Orr would become Air New Zealand CEO, and Phil Goff will take over as Reserve Bank...

A former Foreign Minister says Winston Peters was right to fire Phil Goff. 

Goff made comments at a public event questioning US President Donald Trump's understanding of history. 

The remarks have cost him his job as High Commissioner to the UK. 

Foreign Affairs was one of a number of portfolios held by Sir Don McKinnon under National. 

He told Kerre Woodham it's unacceptable for a diplomat to say such things.&n...

Well, the announcement yesterday was on a par with John Key’s resignation. The Reserve Bank Governor, Adrian Orr, pulled the plug on his career yesterday with no real explanation as to why – although it's no secret that there is friction between the Governor and the Finance Minister. You know, I know and certainly Adrian Orr knows that if she could have sacked him, she would, rather than inherit him with his five-year term as given...

There's confusion around the Reserve Bank Governor's resignation. 

Adrian Orr's announced he's quitting, two years into his second five-year tenure. 

Neither the Prime Minister nor Finance Minister are giving any details of why he's abruptly quit. 

University of Auckland Business School Professor Robert MacCulloch told Kerre Woodham that while we don’t know for certain, the criticism Orr has received over the years l...

As promised, Donald Trump has launched a trade war against America's largest trading partners, with huge tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China kicking in yesterday, sparking angry retaliation from all three. 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%.  

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed the tariffs as “a very dumb thing to do” and said that it will be American families who will be...

Divisions are deepening between the US and other western countries over Ukraine, and now trade. 

The US President's slapped a 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican imports, and 20% on some from China. 

Canada's responded by imposing the same amount back, which Donald Trump says he'll match again. 

Former Trade Minister and Ambassador to the US Tim Groser told Kerre Woodham countries like Canada are fighting the US o...

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a health system in possession of physically and mentally unwell people must be in want of billions (with apologies to Jane Austen). It is also a truth universally acknowledged that a health system can never have enough of those billions. Look at the $1.96 billion Labour invested into the mental health budget back in 2019. We now know some years later where exactly that money has gone, b...