Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

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...

We all know we need more doctors. A lot more. Considering how long it takes to train a doctor, this is something that someone should have probably thought about 20 or 30 years ago. New Zealand's population has doubled since the last med school was opened, so you can see how far behind we are. 

But now we have a proposed new medical school in the Waikato. 

This was dreamed up last electoral cycle by the University with the...

Inflation's cooling in many corners of the economy, but not headline inflation.

Latest Stats NZ figures suggest core inflation and domestically-driven non-tradeable inflation are trending downwards.

But annual inflation has risen to 2.7 percent, up from 2.5 three months ago.

NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann says these figures will provide relief for the Reserve Bank, as they work on getting the OCR down.

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So here we go again. A national conversation about whether NCEA is C.R.A.P

A damning Government briefing presented in June has raised significant concerns about the credibility of New Zealand’s main secondary school qualification.

It’s worried about the flexibility built into NCEA, including regarding what assessments students sit, means courses can be structured around those perceived to be “easier” to accumulate credits.

The brie...

A late night safe zone has found success in Wellington, and is being brought to Auckland. 

For the past eight years, Take 10, an initiative run by Vulnerable Support Charitable Trust (VSCT), has been offering a late-night safe zone on Wellington’s Courtenay Place. 

Now, with the support of Auckland Council, the volunteer-run initiative is launching a 10 week pilot in Auckland’s city centre. 

Operations Manager Leigh ...

There’s no doubt the news that the number of people on a benefit in New Zealand is up to the 400,000 mark will have some people tut-tutting.   

But before we start ripping into the so-called “benefit bludgers”, we need to be very careful.  

Because at the same time that we’re finding out that benefit numbers are up —and the number of people on the dole in particular— 10% compared to last year, we’re also hearing abou...