Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

A report by The New Zealand Initiative finds the Government's ownership of 77,000 state houses has maintenance costs nearly twice that of a private landlord.

It finds it also doesn't respond quickly enough to issues like rent arrears, and troublesome tenants.

CEO of community housing Paul Gilberd told Kerre Woodham that the top priority for government housing is to support society's most vulnerable people. 

'We're seeing huge ...

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger has died at the age of 90. He was New Zealand's 35th prime minister, in power from 1990 to 1997.

After leaving Parliament in 1998, Bolger became New Zealand's ambassador to the United States and later Chancellor of the University of Waikato.

Clare de Lore is a journalist who was Chair of the Press Gallery at the time Jim Bolger was Prime Minister, and a close friend of the family.

S...

Do you want another example of Labour's ideology over pragmatism? I really, really hope that the previous Labour ministers have learned from their previous terms in government that thought bubbles and bright ideas do not sound policy make.  

Remember Fees Free? The policy was introduced in 2018 and was a key part of Labour's election campaign. The first year of tertiary study would be free for students. It would progressively ...

What do you do if you want to leave a gang? 

A coroner has found that Napier Mongrel Mob leader Neil Angus Benson, otherwise known as Heil Dogg, felt trapped in his position in the gang in the months leading up to his suicide in December 2024. 

In his report, Coroner Wilton said Benson appeared to be under "psychological strain of his leadership position in the Mongrel Mob gang". 

“He also described an internal dilem...

Another option to go alongside fees free study. 

The Labour Government introduced First Year Fees Free in 2018, providing tertiary students with up to $12,000 in tuition cover for the first year of provider-based study, or the first two years of work-based learning.   

The Coalition Government has changed the scheme from this year, applying it to the final year of study instead.  

The policy had three objectives...

I love the fact that New Zealand Education Minister Erica Stanford and the Prime Minister presented improved reading stats to the nation yesterday. Erica Stanford was very quick to praise teachers for the much-improved results in phonics reading. She said this is an incredible improvement in reading scores in less than half a year and reflects the brilliant work teachers are doing, and it does. 

Teachers have had a difficult t...

Well, better late than not at all. On Saturday morning, I went upstairs and said to my daughter, "Have you seen the orange envelopes that had all the voting?" "Oh, hell. Today, isn't it?" she said. "Yes." So we scrambled around and found it in that drawer that has everything, where they'd been since they arrived in the mail. And we had until midday to vote, so both got down to it, and I took hers in with mine to drop into the local...

The government has changed methane targets, aiming to make the changes easier for farmers. 

The Government's slashed the 2050 targets to 14% to 24% below 2017 levels, it was previously 24% to 47% lower than previously.

Former Speaker of the House Sir Lockwood Smith told Kerre Woodham that this change is the right decision. 

He said that it would be a bad idea to impede New Zealand's meat and dairy production when the...

This year’s local government elections have seen the lowest voter turnout in 36 years, with less than a third - or 32% - bothering to have their say.

Of those who did, the contrast between the urban rural divide was stark. In metro areas, only 28.8% cast their votes, provincial people made up 38.3% while rural turnout was 43.6%

Local Government New Zealand says it is clear local elections have to change urgently - they'd like  ...

Dame Wendy Pye is one of the most successful businesspeople in New Zealand.

She’s a rich-lister, her publishing company Sunshine Books has sold over 300 million books worldwide, she's met countless more world leaders, and she was the first living woman to be inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame.  

But it hasn’t all been easy. Dame Wendy has gone through a life changing redundancy, legal battles, and ...

Orini Kaipara gave her maiden speech in Parliament yesterday, and she's just the sort of person you want to see entering politics – she's young, she's smart, she's passionate. And I don't know about you, but I love seeing an electorate MP, somebody who has been overwhelmingly selected by voters, given a mandate by voters to be their person in Parliament, as opposed to sliding in on the list.  

But when she agreed to enter Parl...

A former Speaker of the House is reiterating the importance of the rules of Parliament after a haka disrupted proceedings. 

The House was suspended last night, after a haka broke out in the public gallery, following Te Pati Māori MP Oriini Kaipara's maiden speech. 

Speaker Gerry Brownlee said the agreement was that a haka was not to take place. 

Former speaker Sir Lockwood Smith told Kerre Woodham rules are there for...

The Reserve Bank's continuing to walk a fine line, with its move to cut the OCR 50-basis points to 2.5%. 

Economic data suggests inflation has now hit 3%. 

Finance Minister Nicola Willis is blaming rising rates, saying they’re having a disproportionate impact on overall inflation, whereas other sectors are stabilising. 

NZ Herald Business Editor Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham we almost seem to be in a self-fulfilling n...

Hopes for an economic recovery have been given a significant boost by yesterday's decision from the Reserve Bank to frontload cuts to the official cash rate. The RBNZ delivered a 50 basis point cut to the OCR and indicated it was prepared to cut again in November if required. After that, they're kind of starting to run out of ammo.   

Dropping mortgage interest rates though is not the panacea to cure all economic ills. Mo...

A new report from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says the health of New Zealanders is declining. 

It showed working age people reporting excellent health almost halved between 2011 and 2024, while psychological distress had increased among all adults. 

The report called on the government to address and reverse the decline by investing in housing, poverty reduction, education, improved nutrition and physic...