Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

New Zealand's drug laws are in the spotlight again and with good reason. Despite record police busts, we're still seeing record methamphetamine use, we're seeing increasingly dangerous street drugs, and rising overdose deaths, three a week from drug overdoses.

There have been calls to overhaul the 50-year-old Misuse of Drugs Act and the call comes from a number of different organisations. The Drug Foundation wants drug use decrimin...

Power is still out to many rural South Island properties.

Just under six thousand are still cut off in Clutha and Southland, where States of Emergency continue.

More than three-thousand weather-related insurance claims have been lodged so far.

Federated Farmers Southland President Jason Herrick told Kerre Woodham that, 'people were helping one another and I'll tell you what, I'm hearing some stories out there of some real unsung he...

I thought I'd start with the idea, the initiative, if you will, coming out of the think tank, the New Zealand Initiative. I love generally the work that they produce because even though you might not agree with the ideas that they put forward, there's generally a good discussion to be had. You hear the pros, you hear the cons, you think, mmm, okay. This one though, I'm not so sure.

More MPs. Increasing the number of MPs in our parl...

When the Government unveiled it's maths action plan in August last year, we spoke to Distinguished Maths Professor Gaven Martin.

Widely regarded as New Zealand's leading mathematician, Gaven gave the new plan better odds of working than curriculum under the previous Government.
 
Now, more than 40 maths educators and researchers have written an open letter calling on the Ministry of Education and Erica Stanford to pause ...

Early this morning, the Labour Party made a surprise Capital Gains Tax announcement.

The targeted tax would raise funds for the health system, including three free doctors' visits per year.

The tax wouldn't apply to the family home, farms, KiwiSaver, shares, business assets, inheritances, and personal items.

Dentons Tax Partner Bruce Bernacchi told Kerre Woodham that, "people will call it a capital gains tax when it's actually not,...

I was looking last night at things we could talk about, and there was plenty to talk about, all of which got superseded by Labour, Labour, Labour - having to release their capital gains tax, which is targeted to three free doctors' visits.

Labour's been playing peekaboo with a capital gains tax for some time now. Oh, will we, won't we? Oh, what's it going to look like? Can't tell you. And now they kind of have.

We finally get to he...

They say when one door closes, another one opens.  

That’s certainly been the case for Lisa King. In the same breath she closed her first business Eat My Lunch and started a drinks brand AF Drinks.

AF stands for alcohol free - and it's a range of booze free cocktails.

The brand has picked up on a huge rise in people who want to drink less or not at all.  

It’s a change not just seen in New Zealand, but across the world. W...

Extreme winds are battering Wellington, Wairapa and the South Island. 

Winds of up to 150km/h are expected today as red strong wind warnings are in place for much of the South Island's eastern regions and southern parts of the North Island. 

More than 100 flights have been cancelled, along with some of the planned strikes in tehe affected areas.  

Transpower Executive General Manager of Grid Delivery Mark Ryall told ...

Talkback isn't really the place for good news. Generally, it's a forum where we can vent our respective spleens, express our frustrations, have a good old moan, and yes, we do share stories and we exchange information, but mainly it's to bristle about things that we feel aren't going right and could be better.

Good news, we tend to think that, oh, good, yes, things are back on track. They've listened to what we have to say, and thi...

Labour released some policies yesterday. Very late in the piece, and you can kind of see why. Just like that, we're back to 2017 with a cut and paste of lofty rhetoric, promises to spend lots of money, and little to no detail. It's a dud, I think it's fair to say. And it's not just me saying that. Oh, we'd expect you to say that, you hate Labour. No, I don't hate Labour. I just hate really, really dumb ideas. I hate the fact that t...

Annual inflation has risen to a 15-month high of 3%. 

Economists had been expecting inflation to reach or surpass the 3% upper limit of the Reserve Bank's target band. 

The central bank's expected to look past this current spike when it reviews the OCR next month. 

New Zealand Herald Business Editor-at-large Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham that, “this this drip feeding of the rate cuts means that everybody just waits.” ...

Beneficiaries who break the Government's job hunt rules face more intensive sanctions to prove they are hunting for employment. 

From today, they will be required to report on at least three job search activities a week and participate in four weeks of training courses. 

Minister for social development and employment Louise Upston told Kerre Woodham that the rules are for people, “who aren't doing their best, who aren't f...

New Zealand's first sports school will open next year, in a partnership with Wellington Phoenix. 

The New Zealand Performance Academy in Upper Hutt will operate as a charter school for serious aspiring sportspeople. 

The academy will initially offer elite football training alongside the Wellington Phoenix Academy, as well as rugby training. 

New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa Board Member Brett O’Riely told Ker...

New rules come into force for job seekers today, as the government continues efforts to get more young people off a benefit and into work. It's a very worthwhile enterprise. Do not let young people drift onto a benefit because there they will stay for around about 18 years, which is a hell of a life to condemn any young person to.

Hang on a minute though, weren't there sanctions announced in May? You're right, there were. They targ...

Rod Duke has been selling things since he was 16. First shoes, then appliances, and eventually homewares and sportswear.  

Born in Adelaide, Duke came to New Zealand in 1988 to spruce up a flailing Briscoes for sale. Two years later he scored the best Briscoes deal ever, he bought the whole company himself for $2.  

He ended up with 12 shabby stores, where dusty wine glasses were sitting on the shelf for $2.71 each.  ...