Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

The Prime Minister's blaming New Zealand's rising unemployment on the last Government's economic management.  

The rate's hit a five-year high of 5.2%, just shy of Treasury’s predicted 5.4%.   

Christopher Luxon told Kerre Woodham when inflation rises, interest rates go up, the economy shrinks, and people lose their jobs. 

He says Labour had a lovely big spend-up party, but it's left a significant hangover. ...

An artificial intelligence expert says the tech will always need human input for marking school exams.  

Education Minister Erica Stanford says AI's already partly used to grade assessments, and it could do most of them by 2028.  

It's alongside Government plans to replace NCEA with entirely new qualifications.  

New Zealand AI Founder, Justin Flitter, told Kerre Woodham the tool should supplement a teacher's process...

You might remember a month or so ago we had Justin Flitter, an AI expert, in the studio for an hour talking about the fact that AI is here, it's already being used by numerous early adopters, it's not going away, and you'll have to get on board or you'll be left behind. And as you can imagine, the calls were a mix of oh no, it's a disaster, stop it now and King Canute trying to turn back the tide, and others who were saying it's br...

Economic recovery is taking longer than many hoped. 

Unemployment's risen to a five-year high of 5.2%, up from 5.1% in the March quarter. 

New Zealand officially moved out of recession last year. 

The Herald's Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham the job market is taking longer to catch up, so many people may not be feeling better off. 

He says economists can tell us numbers are improving, but it takes longer for life t...

In the wake of the changes to NCEA, you would have to ask whether the Knowledge Economy is the biggest political bust of recent times?  

Back in 2001, then Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the Knowledge Wave project. Like many ideas, it came from a good place. Helen Clark had a vision for a nation which was confident, progressive, more prosperous, tolerant and which cared for its people. She said New Zealanders would ride t...

Big players in the energy space are putting forward a new 10-year deal they say will secure supply at Huntly Power Station.  

Genesis, Mercury, Meridian and Contact have agreed to co-invest in a strategic energy reserve – pending Commerce Commission approval.  

It includes adding up to 600-thousand tonnes of coal to current stocks. 

Meridian Energy CEO Mike Roan told Kerre Woodham that although some may find it surpr...

The Government's proposing to entirely phase out NCEA within five years, saying New Zealand needs a schooling system that sets students up for success. 

Within the overhauled system would be improved vocational pathways for students planning on entering the workforce as opposed to further education. 

In 2001, then Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the Knowledge Wave Project – a vision of a society with well-educated, in...

I was struck by a story from Radio New Zealand.  

North Shore Hospital, it has revealed, has an entire ward of people who are stuck in hospital, but they have no medical reason to be there. The 20-bed ward was created in May for patients who were effectively medically discharged but didn't have anywhere to go, such as an aged care facility.  

This shouldn't be happening. The chain of healthcare should include post hospita...

The Government's intends to entirely phase out NCEA within five years.

The proposal would require students take English and Maths in Year 11 and sit a test in numeracy and literacy.

NCEA levels 2 and 3 would be replaced with two new qualifications in year 12 and 13 - a Certificate of Education and Advanced Certificate of Education respectively.

It's the most significant update to secondary school assessments since NCEA was introduc...

Household budgets remain under pressure from rising costs, a credit expert says. 

Centrix’s latest credit indicator shows consumer arrears fell by 7,000 in June to 478,000, representing 12.36% of the credit-active population. 

But Centrix managing director Keith McLaughlin said there has been an increase in pressure on household budgets: “The slight year-on-year improvement in arrears we’ve observed so far this year has p...

Let's face it, civil defence coordinators are damned if they do, damned if they don't. Fail to give people sufficient warning of a natural disaster and they're accused of having blood on their hands. Too many warnings of something that doesn't happen, they're accused of alarmist scaremongering, and they become the boy who cries wolf.  

The reason for all of this, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Russi...

The Civil Defence Minister is staunch on the need for mobile emergency alerts. 

An alert sent at 6.30am warned people to stay away from water, beaches, harbours, marinas, and estuaries - with uncertain sea conditions triggered by yesterday's massive Russia quake. 

It applies until further notice. 

But many received multiple messages, and others got none. 

Mark Mitchell told Kerre Woodham they'll be looking into ...

Gang membership is on the rise, but if you believe Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Basham, an increase in numbers is not necessarily a bad thing. Gang numbers have climbed past 10,000, up from 9,200 in 2023, but that might be, he says, because they're keeping a closer eye on gangs, their intelligence is better, they know who's in and who's out, the record keeping and the data is better. He told Mike Hosking they have a laser foc...

There is much that this coalition government is dealing with that is not of their own making – they are mopping up, cleaning up the mess. Then there are the own goals that should not be happening 18 months into office – and I would argue that the announcement trumpeted yesterday afternoon is an example of an own goal.  

The Government is planning to ban merchants from adding surcharges to in-store card payments, a change they ...

BNZ is taking advantage of the Government’s ban on in-store card surcharges to promote its new banking platform. 

Payap, an open banking platform, allows customers to pay directly from their bank account.  

It provides a lower-cost alternative with transaction fees of just 0.39% or 0.59%, and is compatible with all major NZ banks. 

BNZ Head of Payment Development Jonathan Dale told Kerre Woodham with yesterday’s surc...

Politicians rely on voters having short memories. They all do it.  

Politicians and governments get swept out of power, they fester away on the opposition benches, and then a year before the next election, they make sweeping statements and promises about what they'll do if voters have the good sense to put them in. 

Chris Hipkins is no different from every other party.  A lot of people might nod along with his commen...

Election Day is like Christmas Day, with some of us not getting ourselves organised until the very last minute - even though we’ve known for ages that it’s happening.  

Christmas day is never sprung on us. We know it happens every 12 months, but there’s a lot of last-minute panicking, isn’t there?  

We get even more warning with Election Day. We know it happens every three years, but there's the same last-minute rush. &nb...

Homelessness has increased, but by how much is unclear, according to a government report. 

This is the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's latest Homelessness Insights Report drawn from data in Census 2023, and observations collected from government agencies, councils, and the general good sorts in the sector. 

The report defines homelessness as living situations where people are forced to live; without shelter, i...

It appears we're living in an age where it's okay for politicians to swear to the press. Donald Trump is leading the way, dropping the F bomb over Russia and using the word bullshit more often than anyone ever had. 

It's a sign of the times, and you could argue it makes politicians more relatable because heaven knows we're all a lot more potty mouth in private. But you could also say that leaders of countries should be held to...