I am really not surprised to see more people signing up for health insurance, even though we're going through a cost of living crisis and the premiums are not cheap.  

Southern Cross is the country's largest private health insurer and they've seen eight years of growth in their membership, with almost one in five Kiwis on their books. A Kantar survey for Southern Cross from last month showed that cost of living was the top concern for 91% of respondents, but 84% were concerned about not having access to affordable health care. So yes, they're concerned that there's not a lot of disposable, what disposable they have they're putting into their health and their health care.  

Two thirds of those who responded said they had experienced a long-term impact to their physical and mental health from Covid-19. They were also very concerned about long wait times and the unavailability of health care professionals. Half of Southern Cross members made a claim on their health insurance in the latest year, up from a third prior to the pandemic in 2019.  

The cost of claims has also risen due to the high cost of everything and more claims for expensive procedures, and that means premiums have to go up to pay for this. It's a not-for-profit organisation, it's not there to make squillions for shareholders, it's there to put the money back into its membership. If it's costing more, then members have to pay more and that's the way it works. Southern Cross has been increasing premiums by 10-15% as policies come due, but they are expected to normalize back to around 6-6.5% next year as inflation is brought under control.  

I am so glad I have health insurance. I've had it for years and I've never needed it till the last few years, which is the way of it. When you are in your 20s, 30s, 40s, you generally don't need much more than a general checkup. If you're lucky to have been born with relatively good health, you don't need to spend a lot of money on your healthcare. Once you get into your 50s and 60s, then you start to see a little bit of wear and tear. And if you don't have healthcare, you will be waiting years for elective surgeries, things like knees and hips. If you've done them in because of hard physical labour, you will not get ACC paying for them, they'll just say wear and tear.  

Other things, like me with a constantly blocked nose which I thought was just a head cold, it's acute sinusitis. I would be forever getting head colds thinking it was just being prone to head colds. No, it's something that I need surgery for. It's not life threatening, it's really annoying, it means I have to take time off work. Those of you have listened for a while know when I've got it. In fact, Toni Street’s ear nose and throat surgeon diagnosed me over the wireless and said I needed to get in and see him. As it was, I'd already booked the surgery and I was lucky enough to be able to do that because of the premiums I've been paying for years and years and years.  

It does get more expensive but I will prioritise paying it, paying the premiums even as they rise, as long as I can because why live with this sort of thing if you don't have to? It's painful, it's uncomfortable, it takes me off work, and that could be the same for many non-life threatening ailments that many of us suffer. People with knees, hips, hernias, all of those sorts of things that are deemed not to be urgent, not to be critical, not to be acute but have a huge impact on people's day-to-day lives and their ability to work, their ability to be full members of the family, full members of the community. I am counting the hours till the operation next week as are my colleagues.  

I know that the premiums will only get more expensive, but I know I'm only going to need it more if I'm lucky enough to make it into my twilight years.   

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I reckon the Government’s argument in favour of increasing speed limits is looking more and more wobbly.

There’s no question that it’s going to happen, with Transport Minister Simeon Brown confirming at the weekend that faster speed limits will be all-go next year. 

But it seems to me that his case as to why it’s needed and why it’s a good idea, is starting to look pretty weak.

There’s an expert who is trying to sell an alternative idea which will probably have Simeon Brown laughing his head off. He’ll think it’s balmy. But I reckon it’s got some merit to it.

Simon Kingham is this expert. He’s a university academic and he used to be the Ministry of Transport’s chief science advisor. 

He’s saying that, instead of increasing the speed limits, the Government should be setting the same speed limit for every vehicle on the road.

That way, there wouldn’t be any need for cars to overtake trucks because - and for drivers to increase their risk of death or serious injury - because everyone would be doing the same speed.

This is his solution to an issue the outfit representing the trucking industry has highlighted. Which is the fact that when the speed limits go up next year it won't be for every vehicle on the road - and the maximum speed limit for trucks will stay what it is now. Which is 90 kph per hour.

So, cars will be going faster. And trucks won’t. And Professor Simon Kingham says, all that’s going to do, is encourage more drivers to overtake and more people will die, as a result.

He says if everyone was going the same speed - no need for any risky overtaking maneuvers.

And I think, on paper, he’s right. On paper, it sounds like a great idea. 

But, the reality is, people are idiots. They think the fast way is the only way. And, even if cars and trucks had the same speed limit, drivers would still gun it well into the hundreds.

Can you imagine, at the peak of summer, people being content to sit behind a truck all the way? Of course they wouldn’t. Because it’s all about getting there as soon as you can, isn’t it?

There’s none of this “life’s all about the journey” talk once kiwis get behind the wheel.

So, Simeon Brown’s not going to be liking what the professor is saying today about having the same 90 kph speed limit for every vehicle on the road.

I’m picking he’s also not going to be liking everything the trucking industry is saying today, either.

Because remember how he’s been banging on about how increasing speed limits is going to get us all going faster and it’s going to increase productivity blah blah blah.

But, when it comes to productivity, that won’t be the case at all.

Because, as the head of the outfit that represents the transport sector, Transporting NZ has confirmed the speed limit increases will have no direct impact on them because trucks will still be restricted to doing 90 kph.

But where Dom Kalasih does see benefits in cars being allowed to go faster, is that he says drivers will be able to pass trucks more quickly. Which he reckons will reduce the amount of time car drivers spend in risky situations.

He does concede, though, that if the cars are going faster past the trucks - then any supposed reduction in risk might be outweighed by the fact that drivers are going at higher speeds which, of course, increases the chance of something going wrong.

So, as far as I’m concerned, I see these increases in speed limits confirmed by the Government as a lose-lose.

I also think that this idea being floated by this academic today is a win-win, but only in la-la land.

And we’re not in la-la land.

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I am —and always have been— a huge believer in on-the-job training. 

When I left school, I wanted to be a journalist. But I didn’t go to polytech or university, I went and did a newspaper cadetship at the Otago Daily Times, in Dunedin. 1986 this was.  

And, even though day one was horrific, it was the best thing I could have done. Even though I turned up on day one thinking I was Christmas and went home that night feeling like Good Friday - despite that, I’m in no doubt that learning on-the-job was absolutely THE BEST way. 

The best way for me then, and the best way for anyone now. 

Which is why I’m loving the talk we’re hearing today from the Civil Contractors Association and the Motor Trade Association - who are both saying that we need more on-the-job training, more apprenticeships, and less theoretical stuff in the classrooms and lecture rooms. 

Let’s start with the civil contractors. We’re hearing today that if the Government is going to have any hope in hell of delivering the big infrastructure projects it’s promising to deliver, then the number of extra civil engineering and construction workers that are going to be needed is the same as the number of people who live in Ashburton. 

So, percentage-wise, we need about 50% more people working in roading and civil construction. And the timeframe is pretty tight, with government officials saying it needs to happen within the next two-to-three years. 

So we’re in a bind. The Government —which is talking a big game on new roads and infrastructure— is in even more of a bind. 

You might have heard the civil construction guy talking to Mike Hosking a couple of hours ago about this. He was saying that it’s probably going to mean they have to bring-in more workers from overseas. 

But he also said that we need to be doing much more to train more of our own people. 

And that was when he said the magic words - apprenticeships and on-the-job training. 

Fraser May is his name - and he was saying to Mike that they want to see more money going into work-based training, because that’s the best way for people to learn the skills they need to build the roads and put water pipes under the ground. 

He said companies do on-the-job training under their steam, but he reckons the Government needs to come to the party and put apprenticeships and work-based training on more of a pedestal. 

And I couldn’t agree more. Call me old hat or old school, but there is no way someone who learns in a classroom can be as good as someone who learns on the job. So hallelujah for the civil constructors wanting to see more apprenticeships and less essay-writing. 

The other outfit extolling the virtues of apprenticeships and work-based learning today is the Motor Trade Association. In fact, it’s one of about 20 organisations involved in the automotive sector that want to see a return to new mechanics being taught on-the-job. 

Lee Marshall, who is the chief executive of the Motor Trade Association, was also on with Mike earlier. And he says that when it comes to training people to be mechanics and auto electricians, the education sector has done a hopeless job keeping up with the pace of changes in the likes of motor vehicle technologies.  

Which is meaning people are coming out of these polytech programmes not as work ready as they would be if they had learnt on the job doing something like an old-school apprenticeship. 

He says the technology we see in cars is changing at an exponential rate, and the education sector needs to keep up with that —or should have kept up with that— and it hasn’t. 

So these motor industry organisations have written a big document and sent it through to the Ministry of Education and the Tertiary Education Commission telling them they’ve dropped the ball. 

Not only that, they’re also demanding that the Government takes training for the automotive industry away from the polytechs and put it back in the hands of the automotive industry itself. 

And just like I do with the civil contractors, I couldn’t agree with the people in the automotive industry. 

Because there is nothing better than learning on-the-job. Nothing better. I know from my experience - on-the-job training keeps it real; it knocks you down a peg or two if you need to be knocked-down a peg or too. 

Like I said earlier, I thought I was the bees knees when I left school to become a cadet newspaper reporter. I’d been editor of the school newspaper, I’d been a debater, I thought I knew it all. And, chances are, if I’d gone and done a journalism course at a polytech or a university, they would’ve allowed me to keep thinking that I was Christmas. 

But I didn’t go to university or polytech. I learned the hard way. Which, as it turned out, was the best way. 

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The Government will officially announce this morning a plan “to flood the market” with land for development in a bid to end New Zealand's housing crisis. Chris Bishop will use a speech to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand later this morning, to announce a slew of changes to New Zealand's planning laws.  He wants to flood the market with affordable land to develop and to make it easier and cheaper to develop that land into housing as he told Mike Hosking this morning. 

 

CB: We're going to let cities grow, Mike, it's really important. We've got a housing crisis. We need to allow our cities to grow. We need to get rid of the Auckland metropolitan urban limit. Let Auckland grow out at the fringe, but also do sensible density around transit corridors and around our train stations. More apartments by train stations, more mixed-use zoning, let our cities grow and get on top of this multi-generational problem of housing affordability. 

MH: Is this mainly metropolitan? Rural New Zealand, provincial New Zealand doesn't really need to worry about any of this, cause it's not really a problem for them or not? 

CB: Yeah, what we call tier one and two cities, so Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga, we're not talking about provincial and, and regional rural councils, you know, they've got growth ambitions as well, but we're really talking about our big cities.   

 

Excellent. We need more homes. The lack of affordable housing has left a generation feeling locked out of home ownership and the lack of social housing has led to a myriad of social problems.  

But. But. But. There must be protections for future homeowners around the quality of the builds for the community, for all of us who call a city home. Just look around Auckland City if you've visited, if you live here, so many of the apartments chucked up in the 90s are aesthetically abhorrent. They are not fit for purpose. There was no thought put into building them, just chucking them up to basically factory farm people. There must be some rules around what developers can build and how they build. Green spaces, community spaces, homes, just as a basic, that don't leak or have bits drop off into the street. Parkwood Apartments, City Garden Apartments, Victopia, Harbour Oaks, The Pulse, Westmount, St Lukes Gardens, Stonefield villas, that is on the first 2 seconds of a Google search of Auckland apartments that need to be remediated. And the human misery that goes along with sinking your money into a spanking new apartment, only to have it fall around your ears a decade later cannot be overestimated.  

So fine, do quality apartments with community spaces, green spaces, that allow for people to live in them. Not just shelter overnight but to live in them. And to live in them for as long as they want, not have to move out while dangerous buildings are repaired. There has got to be some comeback on the developers. So that is one concern.  

The other is the idea of moving beyond the city limits. I mean, Auckland is a great sprawling metropolis anyway, it's just about at Hamilton already. Wellington, the geography sort of precludes you from sprawling, but you're certainly inching your way out there. Urban areas expanded by 15% from 1996 to 2018, with 83% of that land converted from farmland. The area of highly productive land lost to housing increased by 54% between 2002 and 2019. And market pressures (this is a story from 2021) will increase with more demand as the population grows here and overseas. Only about 15% of land is flat with good soil and climate, that makes it ideal for food production, which means it needs lesser irrigation and fertilizers. The Ministry for the Environment said if productive land was not available for agriculture, it forced less suitable areas to be used, requiring more fertilizer and more irrigation, which could then hurt the wider environment.  

I am absolutely not against building more homes, building more apartments, building more houses, we have to, there's no two ways about it, but we have to do it properly. We have to recognise that if we don't do it well, all we're doing is taping up a problem in the short term, while creating a much, much bigger problem down the line. And I think future generations will have more than enough to deal with, without us giving them even more problems. 

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Watercare is planning on spending 18.5 billion dollars to keep Auckland's water networks up to scratch.

The organisation's unveiled its investment programme for the next 20 years, and it's the biggest to date.

It includes expanding the region's two largest wastewater treatment plants and delivering new water sources.
Watercare chief executive Jon Lamonte joined Kerre McIvor.
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One of the giant entities proposed to manage water includes both the Kaipara District Council and Auckland Council.

Heather Du Plessis Allan asked Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta why Aucklanders should pay for the connection to reticulated water of a place like Kaipara.

Nanaia Mahuta told her they benefit from water outside of their region via their beach houses.
Kaipara District Mayor Jason Smith joined Kerre McIvor to discuss.
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Developers will be able to demolish homes and build apartment blocks of at least six storeys deep inside many of Auckland's traditional suburbs under a new Labour Government law aimed at addressing runaway house prices.
Auckland Council has released a proposed approach for implementing the changes requiring more intensification across the city.
In the biggest change to planning rules since the Unitary Plan, developers will be able to build tall apartment buildings within a 15 minute walk of the central city and 10-minute walk of 10 metropolitan areas - Takapuna, Newmarket, Henderson, Albany, Botany, Manukau, Papakura, Sylvia Park, New Lynn and Westgate/Massey North.
The biggest impact will be on suburbs close to the metropolitan areas, which are largely zoned for single houses, such as Remuera, Mt Albert, Sandringham and Milford.
Matt Lawrie from Greater Auckland joined Kerre McIvor to give his take on the proposals.
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Should you be able to swear or use inappropriate terms during a casual game of Scrabble?
Kerre McIvor spoke with Howard Warner from the NZ Scrabble Association to find out.
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Matthew Hooton's column in this morning's Herald highlights why we need a strong opposition in a democracy, especially at a time of perceived crisis and when the government can rule alone, without the constraint of another party to keep them in check. 
A quick check list from Hooton:
The Health Minister Andrew Little forced to admit the centrepiece of the wellbeing Budget has failed, specifically around mental health.
There's the bizarre 785 million dollar Boomer's Bridge to Birkenhead. 
Then, we have the poor vaccination roll-out and the constraint in vaccination supplies. 
Also, there has been no measureable improvement in child poverty or housing, both the PM's pet projects. 
To top it all off, gang crime and shootings are up.
 I'm sure he could go on, we could all go on, and as he points out, a competent opposition would be able to absolutely go to town on the government.  But no,  instead of holding the government accountable, the National Party goes from disaster to disaster, own goal to own goal, vendetta to vendetta. 
The other parties are making the most of it.  We saw the return of Winston Peters and New Zealand First this week, and conservative National voters have run home to daddy, desperate for the reassurance and comfort NZF provides. 
Act has picked up a few liberal National voters and anyone who continues to think that National has a show in the next election must be optimistic to the point of idiocy, so what is National to do? 
It seriously, seriously needs to do something, and something seismic.  Do you have to destroy the village to save it?

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Matthew Hooten joined Kerre McIvor to talk about his 'National goes from sickly to looking terminal' opinion piece in the NZ Herald.
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Ladies and gentlemen, this is not our first rodeo.  We know what to do.  As we move up the alert levels, our behaviours change and certain things are expected of us.
Wearing masks in public places and on public transport, no crowds larger than 100, staying away from others at the first sign of a sniffle, checking in religiously - yep, we've all got it. 
So why haven’t the government and the Ministry of Health?  There were reports yesterday that people were being turned away from testing stations in Wellington and frustration building as people who were trying to do the right thing were unable to fulfil their social contract by being tested. 
Tim Dower questioned the Health Minister on this this morning asking why there wasn't a plan in place to activate when a Covid case has been identified in the community.
We've seen what happens when there are reports of Covid cases cropping up, people want, people need, people are told they need to be tested. 
Of course people aren't sitting around twiddling their thumbs, but isn't there a flying squad of testers that can be galvanised within 12 hours, rather than slowly creaking into gear over two and a half days?
For heaven's sake.

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Restrictions on fishing and new marine protection areas are being introduced to protect Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.
Gulf X is a major marine restoration project launched by The Sustainable Business Network in 2019.
GulfX works with businesses to, among other things, reduce marine plastic pollution and cut transport pollution through promoting copper-free brake pads to cut down on heavy metals in storm water polluting the Gulf.
Sustainable Business Network CEO Rachel Brown told Kerre McIvor protecting our marine environments is more than just about fisheries.
“A real problem that we still haven’t solved is sediment, that’s the stuff we’ve been trying to look at… it sits in the harbour and makes that regeneration of fish stocks and mussels really slow.”
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Women’s Refuge has released a first-of-its-kind research report into what children need to feel safe after family violence.
The Women's Refuge system was set up with women in mind and hasn't always looked at what safety looks like from a child's perspective.
Most of the children who they talked to for the Kids in the Middle research wanted a place that was safe, they needed to know how they would enact an escaped plan if there was violence in their home and of the importance in having their own advocates.
Women’s Refuge professional development and research advisor Cleo Arathoon says they hadn't really considered children and their needs before.
"Now we're really able to do that. We've explained the burden of exposure to violence. It doesn't go away when they arrive at [Women's] Refuge."
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A change has been proposed to encourage commercial fishers to only catch the fish they actually want.
The Government's making it so fishing vessels has to bring everything they catch back to land, including bycatch.
By limiting what can be returned to the sea, and installing onboard cameras on 300 vessels, there's hope companies will be forced to catch only what they want.
The move will cost $68 million over four years.
Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, David Parker, says unless other countries follow suit, New Zealand will have about a fifth to a quarter of cameras on fishing vessels worldwide.
“That should further improve our brand and every little thing helps to maximise the New Zealand brand and get good value, whilst at the same time we’re improving the sustainability of our fisheries.”
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Christopher Luxon joined Kerre Woodham for an hour of talkback, taking questions from listeners and delving into their plans for the upcoming months. 

The Prime Minister says our housing development has been running like it's 1975.  

The Housing Minister is today announcing planning changes agreed by Cabinet in an effort to address the housing crisis. 

It will reform council powers on urban boundaries, liberalise planning, and require councils to plan for 30-years of growth. 

Christopher Luxon told Kerre Woodham that he recently opened a great build-to rent-development in Auckland's Sylvia Park.  

He says we've ended up in a crisis because we haven't evolved laws to unlock those kinds of developments, or to encourage investment in build to rent programmes. 

With politics heating up all over the world, Luxon is keeping his thoughts about major overseas elections to himself.  

Democrat US President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump are facing off again on the 2024 election campaign trail.  

Meanwhile, people vote today in the UK on whether to support Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives or flip to Labour and Keir Starmer.  

Luxon told Kerre he can work with either Biden or Trump.  

He says it's his job to advance New Zealand's interests, and he will do the same in the UK with Sunak or Starmer. 

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New Zealand has again avoided a recession.
Broad-based growth in this year's first quarter has driven a 1.6 per cent rise in GDP.
It follows a 1 per cent fall in the December quarter.
The Herald's Liam Dann told Kerre McIvor the first quarter of the year had been expected to be tough.
"It's the peak of the tourist season, the cruise ships are usually in, we're usually having the arrival of a whole wave of international students who didn't turn up."
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It's a no from Team New Zealand to the Government's $99 million offer for hosting the next America's Cup.
The board has informed Auckland Council and the Crown that's not enough.
Minister-in-charge Stuart Nash says it's disappointing they couldn't reach agreement within the exclusive negotiation period.
He says the talks are commercial-in-confidence - but the offer involved cash and support worth about 99 million dollars.
Nash says Team New Zealand's now free to look for commercial sponsors or other avenues.
He told Kerre McIvor it's clearly a shame.
"I think Kiwis will have every right to feel disappointed, but the commercial reality is that this is more than just a sporting event and men and women on boats racing against each other."
He says ultimately, professional sport is a business that needs to make money.
"The commercial reality is that we couldn't agree on something. Kiwis will feel disappointed, but that's the 21st century reality."
Mayor Phil Goff says he's disappointed in Team New Zealand's decision - but there's a limit on what the city can contribute.
"You can understand why ratepayers would not want to see me or council throwing money at one particular sport, as against all the other things we support - the sports grounds and the parks we provide for the kids of this city."
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Surely there is no reasonable person who would object to the government apologising for the way Pacifica people were treated during the 1970s when they were subjected to the dawn raids.   
It was a time when the New Zealand Police was instructed by the government to enter homes and/or stop people on the street and ask for permits, visas, passports – anything that proved a person’s right to be in the country. 
Even though, technically, everyone in the country was covered by this stop and search, it was applied almost exclusively to Pacific Islanders, even though during the 1970s and into the 1980s the bulk of overstayers (individuals who remained in New Zealand after the expiry of their visas) were from Europe or North America. 
The islands had always provided New Zealand with a source of cheap labour, immigrants who were willing to do the jobs New Zealanders didn't want to do. 
For the people of the Pacific, they came to New Zealand for job opportunities, money, and most importantly their children’s education, which was viewed as the key to success in life. A proportion of wages earned in New Zealand were sent back to the Pacific, allowing some families to build new homes. For a time, it was win win. 
But then in the 70s New Zealand's economy suffered a couple of devastating body blows -  In 1973 New Zealand’s major trading partner, the United Kingdom, joined the European Economic Community, severely impacting New Zealand’s export economy.
That same year, Middle Eastern oil producers slashed production and crude oil prices soared from US$3 a barrel to nearly US$20 virtually overnight. Like most industrialised economies, New Zealand relied heavily on oil imports and suffered severe consequences.
Higher petrol prices meant higher freight costs, higher costs for goods and inevitably, higher retail prices. Unemployment was also rising, at the same time as increasing numbers of Pacific Islanders were arriving in New Zealand on visitors’ permits. Many remained in the country to work.
As unemployment levels grew, these ‘overstayers’ became scapegoats for those looking for someone or something to blame for the social and economic problems facing the country. Pacific Islanders were often falsely portrayed in the media as taking New Zealanders’ jobs away from them.  And thus it began. 
I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been to have been subjected to a dawn raid.  But you could see the pain was still very real for those who had been raided.  Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio, who stood alongside the PM when she announced there would be an apology, wiped away tears as he talked about the raid on his family home when he was a teenager and how seeing his father, a leader at the Samoan Catholic Church in Otara being reduced to a helpless victim in the face of the police invasion. 
The dawn raids were a stain on New Zealand's history and an apology is long overdue.

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The Government has agreed to apologise for the Dawn Raids of the 1970s on Pasifika, Maori, and other people of colour.
Police also randomly forced them to show proof of residency in public.
Pacific Peoples Minister Aupito William Sio says the apology will be significant for Pasifika communities and those affected.
Auckland councillor Efeso Collins, who is of Samoan and Tokelauan descent, welcomes the apology but told Kerre McIvor he hopes that "meaningful actions will follow the words -  like an amnesty and compensation".
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A landmark report by the New Zealand Education Institution has found primary school teachers face increased demands, but staff numbers are mostly unchanged.
The report recommends the current primary school staffing model be completely revamped
That includes reducing student ratios, more teacher aides, and giving teachers a weekly release day.
NZEI President Liam Rutherford joined Kerre McIvor.
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The National Party is due to meet later this month to vote on proposed changes to its internal rules after a string of problems with MPs and candidates, and a disastrous election result in 2020.

National Party leader Judith Collins says changes to the National Party's selection rules will include much stronger vetting of potential candidates' social media histories and more comprehensive reference checks.

But how do you go about rejuvenating a business, or in this case, a political party?

Pead PR Chief Executive Deborah Pead joined Kerre McIvor to discuss why a shake-up for the party needs to start at the top, with the board.

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The Ashburton District Council is facing a big repair bill to fix up gaping holes left in rutted roads and fix their bridge.
Mayor Neil Brown says if Auckland can get a new $685 million bridge, his Canterbury town should get a new bridge at a fraction of the cost.
The South Island mayor said Auckland has a need to bridge the Waitemata Harbour and "that's fine", but his town of 35,000 people has a need to bridge the Ashburton River.
Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown told Kerre McIvor it's not as simple as asking the government for money.
"We're doing a business case at the moment. Part of that business case will be the design of the bridge, once we firm up the location and there'll come a figure that it will cost to build the bridge and then we'll know how much to ask the government for."
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UK research has found that children on a vegan diet are more likely to be shorter and have weaker bones than their meat-eating peers.
The study by the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health in the UK and the Children's Memorial Health Institute in Poland compared infants on a vegan diet and those who were omnivores.
It found that vegan kids might have slightly lower levels of cholesterol and body fat - but on average they were three centimetres shorter, had weaker bones and were three times more likely to be B12 deficient.
To discuss this, Claire Insley media spokesperson for the Vegan Society New Zealand joined Kerre McIvor.
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Nurses Organisation members around the country are striking between 11am and 7pm tomorrow, after rejecting another pay offer.
They say pay rates don't attract people into the profession or retain current staff, and staffing levels are stretching them to breaking point.
Nurses Association Lead Advocate David Wait joined Kerre McIvor.
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A bill that would have required all primary and intermediate schools to offer second language tuition from among 10 priority languages has been torpedoed by Labour despite the party originally supporting the bill.
The Labour-led parliamentary committee examining the bill, originally proposed by ex National MP Nikki Kaye, oppose making 10 languages a priority. It says that te reo Māori and sign language should be the priority languages because they are both official languages.
And it said Cook Island Māori, Niuean and Tokelauan and other Pacific languages needed to be valued and taught.
National education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said Labour are too focused on Māori - Pākehā relations.
"Fundamentally, what's happened is Labour have decided that yes, it's a good idea to learn a second language, you can learn any language you like, but it must be te reo."
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First up today, a suite of announcements around the media. Paul Goldsmith, Minister for Broadcasting, thank heavens, has agreed to progress the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill. This was a bill initially proposed by Labour and rejected by National. Now, however, the coalition government, minus one of its partners, is progressing with amendments to support our local media companies to earn revenue for the news they produce and in effect, throw them a lifeline, help them survive. Paul Goldsmith says the key change, the reason why they are now supporting the bill, is adopting a ministerial designation framework. This will enable the Minister to decide which digital platforms are captured by the bill, allowing the government to manage unintended consequences.  

The unintended consequences are part of why ACT are not supporting the bill as David Seymour explained to Mike Hosking this morning. 

 

“It's not always obvious who needs who the most, and when it comes to digital media, whether it's the Herald online, or Stuff, or whatever, they are benefiting from being able to be found on Google, from having their stories shared on Facebook and Instagram, and I've heard from people who work on those companies, that they're trained to help enhance their visibility on these internet platforms so they get more readers.  

“Now, if you're going to try and strike a deal it's not actually obvious who should be paying who, for what service. But to put a politician in the middle trying to figure that out, well, that's the kind of policy we expect from the Labour Party and of course, the, the origin of it is a Labour policy, and I just think we’ve got to be honest about, you know, the problems with the media actually relate to the product. It's never been easier to share news, you know, it's not like you have to pay a network of thousands of school kids to deliver papers every morning. Anyone can start a media company. It's easy to communicate. The issue is, I don't think people want the product. And if you start trying to subsidise by pulling down other companies that are doing, well, you're just delaying the change that needs to happen that we need more journalism we can actually trust.” 

 

And therein lies the point really, is it just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? One of the unintended consequences they were concerned about was that in Canada, Meta blocked users’ ability to share or view news content. And that led to a significant reduction in traffic to smaller independent media websites and the government having to bail them out. And if news disappears from social media platforms there's fears misinformation will take its place. Well, that's already alive and well and thriving in different corners of the Internet.  

Goldsmith says, however, they will ensure an appropriate independent regulator is appointed as the Bills authority. In addition, he points out much of the legislation underpinning the media landscape is outdated and stifling innovation. While full legislative review does take time, Paul Goldsmith said we're starting by removing outdated advertising restrictions for Sundays and public holidays. So basically, that means you can see your KFC, and McDonald's, and your Beds R US, and Tina from Turners on Sundays now, Christmas Day, and Easter.  

And don't you dare complain because nobody's watching terrestrial television anymore, or certainly not in the numbers to warrant any complaints to be taken seriously. The government's also going to tweak the eligibility criteria for the New Zealand's Screen Production Rebate for local shows with strong industry and cultural value. Why should international film producers get their rebate when local producers don't? So, Shortland Street gets a lifeline. Does this mean it adds so much cultural value that it can justify being publicly funded rather than standing on its own two feet? It's an adult now. It's been around for long enough. Should it still be living at home with the government, getting funded by the government?  

I don't know that giving television the ability to advertise on Sundays and public holidays is going to save it either. I'm not sure the revenue that's going to come in is even remotely going to help in terms of keeping traditional media, mainstream media, alive. Is it simply delaying the inevitable?  

Where do you get your news from? Where do you get trusted sources of information? Do you also go to places where you find yourself railing at either the announcer or the tenor of the interview, or the information just so you can hear another side?  Or do you prefer to hear your own views reinforced? Do you still check in with the mainstream media websites? Is there anyone still getting a newspaper delivered? When my mum gave up her subscription, I thought well, that's it. That's the end of that, I thought to myself. Is it just going to have to transform itself completely in terms of not only how it delivers news, but what it delivers? What sort of information you want? 

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Christabel Williams has been crowned the winner of Popstars 2021, taking out the $100,000 prize and proving she is well on her way to living out her music dream.
The 20-year-old from Auckland was chosen by Popstars panellists Kimbra, Nathan King and Vince Harder as the deserving winner after careful consideration of her vocal ability, song-writing skills and stage presence.
And Christabel's brand-new single 'If You Ain’t Looking', has already hit number one on the New Zealand iTunes charts.
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A lot of jobs require the wearing of body cams; parking wardens, SPCA inspectors, conservation rangers, a whole host of them.  And yet our police don't. 
Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon has called for body cameras to be used by our police, not to protect them or keep them safe necessarily, but as a tool to prevent unconscious bias from entering into police decision making. 
Body cameras, says Foon, could offer context to any problematic interaction and, as he says, in this day of social media and cell phone footage, context is everything. 
Police Association president Chris Cahill, says bring it on.
Police have trialled body cameras previously. A police research project into the use of the cameras started in March 2018, and was due to report back in December 2019, but was shelved with little hoopla by police bosses a few months earlier. 
At the time, police cited the cost of the project. Cameras are more than one thousand dollars each, but that's only the beginning.  Footage has to be stored, analysed, made available under OIAs and prepared for trial. The cost involved in that was better used in other areas, police said at the time. 
So do they work?  Depends who is asking. 
When it comes to reducing violent interactions, no. When it comes to protecting police officers from false complaints, yes. When it comes to helping police recognise that they targeting certain groups over others, when it comes to stopping on suspicion, yes. 
But then that's more a diagnostic tool, rather than a tool for the front line. If I was a police officer, I think I'd rather wear one than have highly selective social media snippets being the official record of what went on.  But if the money and resources spent on body cameras could be better allocated elsewhere, I'll trust in the police judgement.

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Further to the cycling discussion on Monday, Kerre McIvor was reading a Listener piece by the Chair of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Dr Alan Bollard.
Within the article, Dr Bollard says the proposed Northern Pathway Auckland Harbour Bridge cycleway project has been forecast to cost many times its initial capital cost estimate of 67 million.  It will move less than 1% of the bridge traffic while subsidising some of the wealthiest suburbs in the country.  He says, it does not add up.
Coincidentally, it's the second day of the Infrastructure 2021: Looking Ahead Symposium that looks at Infrastructure NZ's work on a 30-year strategy and discusses some of the most critical infrastructure issues we’re facing as a country.  
New Zealand Infrastructure Commission Chief Executive Ross Copland spoke to Kerre McIvor.

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Further to the cycling chat yesterday, just a follow up.  Reading the Listener and there's a piece in there by Alan Bollard - chair of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission. 
It's a fabulous piece and I do recommend it - hopefully we will have Alan Bollard on the show tomorrow to talk infrastructure, but within the article is a piece that is relevant to the conversation we were having yesterday. 
He said the proposed Northern Pathway Auckland Harbour Bridge cycleway project has been forecast to cost many times its initial capital cost estimate of $67 million.  It will move less than 1% of the bridge traffic, while subsidising some of the wealthiest suburbs in the country. 
It does not, says Alan Bollard, add up. 
But in the meantime, I was interested in Jarrod Gilbert's piece in the Herald applauding Don Brash for choosing to work with a Mongrel Mob trust.  It's a gang education trust which might, said Gilbert, prove to be a game changer in changing the future of these kids with an extremely high risk of becoming the worst sorts of statistics. 
I know we've had these conversations before about gangs - and in fact I was rung by a very irate Louise Hutchinson, PR consultant for the Mongrel Mob Kingdom, saying the gang members were good people and trying to change and for heaven’s sake I was living in the past - they'd been ordered to cease and desist from pack rape ages ago. 
Jarrod Gilbert says it's worth a try, particularly in addressing the issues of family violence and meth addiction.  The flow on effects of those are hugely damaging particularly to the children, so if they can be given alternatives by working with the gangs he says that's worth doing. 
Muldoon famously tried to get alongside the gangs.  He tried to get the leadership to encourage their members into the make-work schemes that were being run at the time, thinking that getting the gangs into work would decrease their anti-social activities. 
That idea went out with all the other Muldoonisms - protectionism, Think Big, when the eighties swept in and since then, or until recently, gangs have been seen as a police issue. 
The arrival of Andrew Coster seems to be heralding in that back to the future, let’s work with them, not against them, approach and thus perhaps Don Brash joining a Mongrel Mob trust is just part of the zeitgeist.

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I was heading over to the North Shore on Sunday morning - in the never ending search for the perfect inter-generational home - and thought how lovely to see so many families out cycling. 
There seemed to be far more than usual - mums, dads, little kids, babies strapped in the back - and although it was a little irritating, doing 5 ks down Herne Bay's side roads, it was Sunday morning these people were having lovely family time and what the hey. 
Then, as I got closer to the park, I saw hundreds of them.  Like a swarm of lycra clad rats, coming out of every side street and road. 
I had to wait while a policeman directed traffic - hordes of cyclists crossing on the road in front of me, and after four or five minutes, I was allowed to drive onto the Curran Road on ramp.  Well lucky I wasn't ten minutes later setting off. 
Had that been so, I would not have been able to make the appointment because the cyclists whipped up by perennial spinning wheeler Julie Ann Genter went from a lawful rally at Point Erin Park, to a law breaking ride across the Harbour Bridge, backing up traffic for hours on State Highway 1. 
I have no problem with cycling proponents wanting a way to get from the North Shore to Auckland City.  Hell, if we end up buying a house over there, I might have actually used it. 
But right now, I don't feel like ever being supportive about cyclists or cycling lanes ever again. There is absolutely no difference between these law breaking, entitled, demanding gits and the law breaking, entitled gits on motorbikes who take over the roads and the highways when they feel like it - other than the fact that the motorcyclists pay to be on the road and the cyclists don't. 
With all the immature reasoning and rationale of four year olds, the cyclists took over the bridge because they want something and right now, this minute, they can't have it. 
Bike Auckland chair Barb Cuthbert addressed the protesters after they returned from their bridge crossing. 
'Ooooh, how did you like our lane?'  I bet they were ever so thrilled with their smug, lycra clad moment of derring-do and bravery in taking on the police. 
Later that night, sitting around Auckland's leafy suburbs with a median house price of around 3 million dollars, they would have sipped their chardonnay or pinot noir or for the younger ones, kombucha, and thrilled to the excitement of telling the story of the day they took over the Harbour Bridge - a story that will be told and retold in years to come as they push around the gourmet sausages on the BBQ at the beach pad in Omaha. 
That they won't have cycled to mind, because how would they get the toys and the Farro hampers up there if they were biking, but by crikey, the grandkids will know and their kids will know too of the day their courageous forebears took on the authorities and won.

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Today is Gumboot Friday.
Mike King says research tells us that the number one support that can be offered to help an at-risk young person is to give them face-to-face counselling.
His charity Key to Life, which pays for free counselling for youth, aims to raise $5 million through Gumboot Friday to meet a demand they simply can’t keep up with.
Kerre McIvor heard from numerous family members who are struggling to help their children with their illness.
Nuroscience educator Nathan Wallis told Kerre McIvor he thinks children these days often don’t have the support networks available to him when he was a kid
"We've got a much less resilient generation of children, they're in crisis."
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There is a prediction that house prices won't rise much from here.
The Reserve Bank is forecasting zero upward price movement for the next year from June onwards.
The Reserve Bank announced yesterday they are keeping the Official Cash Rate unchanged at a record low 0.25 percent, but point to increases sometime next year.
The Treasury is expecting house price growth between 2021 and 2022 to be 0.9 per cent.
It jumps slightly to 2.1 per cent the next year, 2.1 per cent the year after that, and 2.5 per cent between 2024 and 2025.
One Roof commentator Ashley Church told Kerre McIvor he thinks that putting such specific figures on these predictions is dangerous.
"It's an extraordinary thing to do; I'd go as far as to say I think it's a foolish thing to do."
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Remember BBQ man?  Man, I wished we'd kept that clip. Our conversation is seared into my memory and those of you who heard it will have remembered it. 
Basically, he was off to the beach with his portable BBQ to spend a day there with his daughter, swimming, sunbathing and BBQ-ing because he could. 
He was on the bene - he wasn't going to go to work because he couldn't find work that paid him what he thought he was worth, and he thought we were all idiots for slaving away when we could be at the beach. 
Slaving away to look after ourselves - and people like him. 
He was utterly unrepentant and do you know what? He's probably not the one amongst us who will die of a heart attack. 
I remember a conversation I had with another young man, God, about twenty years ago. He had a university degree and was on the dole because he said no one would pay him what he was worth. 
I was incredulous - until you prove you CAN work, how do you show your worth? But he was adamant he wasn't going to work for minimum wage when he knew he was worth so much more than that. 
It’s an attitude I simply don't get.  But then I'm a peasant. I'm absolutely certain if I go back through my family tree, we were all toilers and hefters and hewers. 
No fannying around in draughty castles doing the embroidery - I would have been downstairs scrubbing coppers pots and having liberties taken by footmen. 
Working defines me, and I really don't care what it is I do. 
Whether it’s working as a house cleaner, in the local fish and chip shop, in restaurants or on the telly - I'll work. But are we the mad ones? 
I'm lucky that I enjoy what I do, but if you don't love coming to work, what is it that gets you up in the morning, out the door and through the grind? Especially if you have children. 
What keeps you going and stops you from pulling a BBQ man, saying to the kids let’s sleep in tomorrow.  You don't have to be at preschool at 7, sleep in, I'll make you breakfast when we wake up and then we're off to the beach for the day. 
If you're educated, fit and well and not working, why not? 
Is it that you have spent tens of thousands of dollars on your degree and don't see working just above minimum wage as a return upon your investment?
I'd love to get inside the psyche of the 122,871 people in this country who are job ready but have been off work for more than a year. 
I'm not talking about people who can't work, or people who have disabilities and would love to work but simply cannot. I'm talking about people who are fit and healthy and just simply won’t.

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Many countries around the world are seeing a Covid-19 surge, which some are saying should be a warning for Australia and New Zealand.

Nations like Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand, once celebrated for their response to the coronavirus pandemic, are now grappling with a sudden surge in cases, with large swathes of their populations unvaccinated.

As long as less than half the population is vaccinated, New Zealand and other elimination countries remain vulnerable to outbreaks.  

Auckland University Professor of Medicine Des Gorman told Kerre McIvor he has a few reservations about our Covid-19 response of late.

"There are a number of reasons why I'm very worried about our immunisation strategy. The software is not good, the booking system is a joke at the moment, sadly, we don't have enough vaccinators. The fact we've kept telling ourselves for so long how good we are has led to complacency."

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A new survey has revealed that Kiwis are fearful of a more visible gang presence in public spaces. 
A man died following a shooting in Auckland's Ōtāhuhu in the early hours of Sunday morning, in Rotorua members of the public were caught up in the bedlam near the Rotorua Sports bar, and two people were seriously injured in fighting as well.
60 per cent of the 1000 respondents in the Research NZ Crime and Safety survey said an increase in people with alcohol and drug problems contributed to more New Zealanders being assaulted or feeling unsafe. 
We had the stabbings in Dunedin, yesterday a young man was stabbed on a bus in West Auckland and it does feel a little out of control.  As texters have said constantly since the gun buyback, what happened to New Zealand being a safer place?
Remember Operation Tauwhiro?  The operation focused on investigating and disrupting the illegal supply of firearms to gangs.
It was to be a long-term, nationally-coordinated operation that would see each police district run their own "tailored initiative" alongside iwi and community groups to offer support that can help address the underlying causes of violence. 
Since the operation was launched in February, 350 firearms and $2.4 million in cash have been seized, and 378 people have been arrested on firearms offences.  But how many young people have had their life of crime nipped in the bud after being offered support? And are now law abiding members of the community, stacking shelves at their local supermarket, which was one of the clear aims of Operation Tauwhiro.
Not many, if any I'll be bound.  
Still, it's early days, and I guess, while I myself prefer the stick, stick approach, if the police hierarchy want to try a carrot and stick approach, knock yourself out. 
In the past, I've seen gang violence as God's little pruning fork. For the most part, gang members doing harm to other gang members. 
But their reckless and cavalier disregard for our laws and the public’s safety means it's only a matter of time before innocents become collateral damage in their stupid turf wars. 
Still, when it comes to public safety, I have for concerns about the halt, the lame and the dispossessed roaming the streets with unaddressed addictions and no structure or support around them. 
We might live in Paradise, but there's trouble in Paradise and it behoves this government to look after the very people they said they would. 
They might not have campaigned on the law and order card, but they did on homelessness and mental health support.  There is going to have to be an urgent focus on these issues, often one and the same for many people, if people are to feel safe in their communities.

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Wairoa's getting another funding boost of half-a-million-dollars for recovery from last week's major flooding. 

More than 100 properties were badly damaged in a district still recovering from last year's Cyclone Gabrielle. 

It brings Mayoral Relief Funding allocated so far to $600 thousand. 

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell says it'll go into pressing and immediate needs in the community. 

He says it'll ensure ongoing support for clean-up costs such as drying houses and removing damaged materials from homes. 

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little told Kerre Woodham that while $500k won’t go far, at the end of the day, the government didn’t create this mess. 

He said that this was not a big rain event, and the regional council need to come out and apologise, otherwise they’re going nowhere. 

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Dame Cindy Kiro says she hopes to inspire young wāhine to aim for the "very top" after being named New Zealand's first wāhine Māori Governor-General.
Shortly after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement today, Kiro reflected on her own "very poor" upbringing, and the "incredible" journey to get there.
"I really hope it is seen as a positive thing, you can reach the very top, and remember not only Māori and a woman, but pōhara, very poor, from a humble background.
"It truly is incredible standing here with this opportunity, and I hope young Māori girls, no matter where they come from in life, and all girls, take some inspiration from that."
Kiro will take over the role in October from Dame Patsy Reddy, who will have reached the end of her five-year term.
Kiro will become the country's fourth female in the role, and the first with Māori whakapapa.
Kiro has spent much of her career in the tertiary sector, holding a PhD in Social Policy and an MBA (Exec) in Business Administration.
She has held various professorships at multiple New Zealand universities, and most recently was Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori at the University of Auckland before taking up her current role as chief executive at the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
She has also advised multiple governments and various ministries.
She served as Children's Commissioner from 2003 to 2009, from 2014 to 2018 she was a member of the Ministerial Cross-Sector Forum for the Ministry of Education, and from 2018 to 2019 she chaired the Welfare Expert Advisory Group.
This year she was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to child wellbeing and education in the 2021 New Year Honours.
When she was asked by Ardern to consider the Governor-General role, she said it was a "shock", sending her back "slumped" into her chair.
But after the initial emotion, and "huge sense of gratitude and humility" and support from husband Dr Richard Davies, she saw it as "an opportunity to really serve our country".
This notion of service had "gone to the heart" of everything she had done through her life, particularly around children, young people and those who didn't have a voice to speak for themselves, she said.
"Service is an old-fashioned idea but still an important one."
She was born in Whangārei in 1958, the eldest of six children, into a "very poor family".
"My mother was born in a nīkau hut with a mud floor in the Far North. My father was born in the north of England in coal mining town.
"I know what it takes, hard work dedication and perseverance to actually succeed in life.
"I have used that academic success as way of progressing through life, while raising a family and trying to contribute to my community."
She said her heritage was a "unique marriage", being of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu and British descent.
"I am proudly Māori, and part British," she said,
"So I bring with this a unique marriage, an understanding of the foundational basis of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its place in our history."
Asked what she thought of race relations today in New Zealand, Kiro said New Zealand had "done a pretty good job, but we have got some way to go".
The Governor-General role came with the patronage of many organisations, including working with children, young people, mental health, innovation and education, homelessness and those with complex needs, she said.
These were all areas she had "championed and worked on" in the past, and she hoped to be able to continue to do so, she said.
Asked what she thought of the role of the monarchy in New Zealand in 2021 and her views on calls for the country to become a republic, she said "clearly" she accepted the Queen as head of state.
"I am here to support her and act in the role of Governor-General, perform a duty around uniting the country."
text by Michael Neilson, NZ Herald

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I know the argument for paying teachers on performance has been around for years - ever since I've been hosting a talkback show.  But its been around for even longer than that. 
An article in the Harvard School of Education said that, as early as 1710 said that in England, teachers were paid based on their students' test scores in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
But problems with this approach quickly became apparent, the author wrote. The curriculum narrowed as arts and science classes were no longer taught. Teachers focused on drills aimed at improving test scores, and "teaching to the test" was born. There were even scandals with teachers faking test scores.
For these reasons, pay for performance -- also known as merit pay -- was abandoned.
Over the past three centuries, it has been resurrected numerous times, and in each instance, according to a Harvard educator, it has failed to improve education and was eventually dropped. This cycle has been repeated each time a merit pay system has been launched, including one championed by President Richard Nixon but declared a failure not long afterwards. 
Just about every country in the world has had the debate and will continue to do so because it matters.  Because we care about our kids and we want them to do well. 
I understand that you want to reward the people who do the best, but who do you define the best? 
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Well, we were right to be waiting in anticipation. 
In Grant Robertson's first budget unfettered by New Zealand First, he delivered a true Labour budget, with money for beneficiaries and students, money for Kiwi Rail, more money in the coffers for Pharmac and $1.1 billion in initiatives for Māori and reinstating training allowances for single parents, yep, it had it all. 
This was a budget that should have been printed in red ink. 
The Finance Minister has defended his budget and says he's tried to strike a balance between helping those who most need it and being fiscally responsible.
And Grant Robertson seems to have got it pretty much right.  He's been criticised by the left for not going far enough and criticised by the right for not looking after the average Kiwi worker or business owner.
But the PM says the $15 billion earmarked for infrastructure will create jobs and stimulate the economy. 
So where would you like to start?   
In the biggest lift in benefits in more than a generation, welfare payments were yesterday increased significantly, with the Government injecting a massive $3.3 billion into social spending. 
Beneficiary payments are set to be boosted by up to $55 a week come next April, potentially lifting tens of thousands of children out of poverty.  
The increases will be implemented in two stages, the first taking place from July 1 and the second, by the following April.  
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said this would mean 109,000 families with children would be, on average, better off by $40 a week and 263,000 individuals and couples without children would be better off by $42 a week.
It's seen qualified praise from the social service sector and beneficiaries alike, who say while a raise is great news, it is not necessarily enough to live on and this should be seen as a starting point. 
If this is going to raise children out of poverty as the PM believes it will, well and good. It's money well spent. But will it?

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Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, has lambasted the BBC for contributing "significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation" felt by his late mother, Princess Diana, in the years before her death, in a rare emotionally charged statement by a royal against the public broadcaster.
The Duke's comments come after the BBC offered an unconditional apology over the controversial 1995 interview by BBC journalist Martin Bashir with Diana, in which she detailed the breakdown of her relationship with Prince Charles. An inquiry had found that he used "deceitful" methods to secure the landmark interview.
The Duke also accused the BBC of commercializing a "false narrative" about his mother.
"But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived. She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions," he said.
"It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialized by the BBC and others."
The original interview was featured on Panorama, which is still on air and showed a documentary about the controversy on Thursday.
William's brother -- Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex -- issued an equally emotional statement after the report, saying, "The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life."
Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have fought battles of their own against British tabloids in court.
"To those who have taken some form of accountability, thank you for owning it. That is the first step towards justice and truth. Yet what deeply concerns me is that practices like these— and even worse—are still widespread today. Then, and now, it's bigger than one outlet, one network, or one publication," he said.
"Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed. By protecting her legacy, we protect everyone, and uphold the dignity with which she lived her life. Let's remember who she was and what she stood for."
BBC makes a 'full and unconditional apology'
BBC Director-General Tim Davie said Thursday the interview "fell far short of what audiences have a right to expect."
"While the BBC cannot turn back the clock after a quarter of a century, we can make a full and unconditional apology. The BBC offers that today," Davie said.
Bashir responded in a statement Thursday that it was "saddening" the controversy had "been allowed to overshadow the princess' brave decision to tell her story," according to PA Media news agency.
Bashir stepped down from his role as the BBC's religion editor last week, citing health reasons.
The journalist apologized Thursday for using the fake bank statements but said they had no bearing on Diana's decision to take part in the interview.
"It was a stupid thing to do and was an action I deeply regret," Bashir said in a statement. "But I absolutely stand by the evidence I gave a quarter of a century ago, and again more recently."
"I also reiterate that the bank statements had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview."
Bashir added that he remained proud of the interview.
The Dyson report comes at a highly volatile moment for the BBC, which is a giant of public broadcasting but increasingly under pressure from politicians.
Its publicly funded model faces growing scrutiny from the government, including from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
What did the report find?
The report was commissioned by the BBC and written by retired high court judge Lord Dyson. It found that Bashir had shown fake bank statements to Diana's brother Charles...

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Greens MP Julie Anne Genter wants this government to spend like there’s no tomorrow. 
She reckons this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to borrow cheap money and invest in climate change technology and reducing child poverty, and tackle the really big issues that governments have been too politically chary of to invest in. 
The argument seems to be, that in the midst of a pandemic, we can reset the world and create a New Zealand that is a Utopian paradise. 
Andrew Kelleher on the other hand, said on the Mike Hosking Breakfast now is the time to reduce debt and keep some money in the coffers for another rainy day. 
Goodness knows we've needed those reserves over the decades; the GFC, Christchurch rebuild and now the pandemic. 
Simon Wilson from the NZ Herald wants benefits raised by 50 per cent, he says benefits should be a measure of financial security and opportunity and he's backed in this by the Children's Commissioner. 
And transport and infrastructure consultant Barney Irvine told Mike Hosking he'd also like to see more investment in roading from today’s budget.
Matthew Tukaki wants to see something for your average worker, the guy and girl that get squeezed every which way with little relief.
So there we go, everyone wants something from this budget and it's hardly surprising, given this government has shaken the money tree at every opportunity. 
I get that this government is behaving like a Labour government.  Now that they don't have the constraints of a New Zealand First handbrake, they plan on introducing the sort of policies they have studied, theorised about and dreamed of since this cabinet entered politics twenty odd years ago. 
This is their time to put into practice everything they've studied and everything they believe.  Yet again, a Labour government is going to use the country as a social experiment just like the Lange-Douglas did all those years ago. 
So, all those industries and business sector spokespeople looking, not for handouts, but for investment in their sectors so they can become more productive?
Yeah, nah.  I wouldn't be holding my breath.

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The cyber-attack that's crippling Waikato District Health Board services could go on for days.

The DHB's entire IT service was brought down by hackers yesterday morning, crashing phone lines, email and computers.

All clinical services at Waikato, Thames, Tokoroa, Te Kuiti and Taumarunui hospitals are affected to varying degrees.

Elective surgeries have been postponed and patient notes can't be accessed.

It's similar to an attack on Ireland's Department of Health last week by a group named Conti.

Ireland was hit with a demand for 20-million US Dollars to get their IT system back and the problem is ongoing.
AUT's Professor Dave Parry for the Department of Computer Science told Kerre McIvor when something like this happens, it helps better prepare defence against future attacks.
"The one good thing is, that every time there is a successful attack, then the agencies and the organisations that share information about defence learn more about how that's being attacked and will fix that particular problem, and often look to see potential similar problems as well and close those off before they happen."
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The Auditor General has taken a proactive approach to New Zealand's vaccination rollout, and taken a long hard look at whether the health sector could meet the government's goal of vaccinating as many people as possible over the age of 16 by the end of the year. 
And in news that won't surprise you, the Auditor General has found the process wanting.  There was some good early progress, in that at the time of the audit; nearly 400 thousand doses had been administered. 
But John Ryan, the Auditor General, says what is in place right now won't be nearly enough when the programme is ramped up. 
He found that the Health Ministry had an awful lot of work to do. Some aspects of the plan weren't fully developed, information systems are still being worked on, there are concerns about the number of vaccinators and also concerns about the distribution model. 
Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins did a good job defending the programme, I thought, when he came on the MHB this morning.
But ultimately, none of this is new is it? 
Yet again, it’s an example of people on the ground knowing exactly what's happening and months later, a report comes out confirming it. 
Remember the people who rang in and the texts I read out from people who had applied to be vaccinators? They were trained nurses either working or retired, who'd put up their hands to help and had heard nothing, zilch, back. 
And yet again, it's a case of over promising and under delivering, gold standard?  Not even gold plated. 
Look, plenty of countries are struggling to get their vaccination programmes right. The UK has provided a first vaccination to more than 40% of its population, whereas the EU is stuck around 12-14%.  
Japan's Covid-19 vaccine chief has blamed a rigid drug approval system for a slow inoculation campaign that is relying on only one approved shot. The delay, along with a host of logistical problems, has meant Japan has inoculated just 2.9% of its population, the lowest rate among wealthy countries. 
So we're not alone in struggling to roll out the programme quickly and efficiently, but could we do better?  Of course we could, and there's no problem in pointing that out.

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In an ideal world, every New Zealander who could be employed would be employed. 
He, she or they would skip off to work, a spring in their step and a song in their heart, happy in the knowledge that they were well remunerated for the job they were about to do, and knowing that should they wish to move up the corporate ladder, say from caregiver to rest home manager, there was a clear path there for the aspirational worker. 
But that's not what happens.
There are some jobs Kiwis won't do and so employers are forced to attract hard workers from other countries. 
And now the Economic Development Minister wants a reset on our immigration policy.  In effect, he only wants highly skilled and high net worth individuals coming to our land of milk and honey and, if companies need workers, well, they're just going to have to pay New Zealanders more and offer better conditions. 
While Stuart Nash conceded to Mike Hosking this morning that some limited migration of lowly skilled workers might be allowed, it would be a measure of last resort.
Nash.
We are a nation of five million people.  If we want to box above our weight, productivity wise, we need to attract people from other countries to come and work here.  And we have to accept there are some jobs New Zealanders simply do not want to do. 
Hence the reason for Pacific Island immigration to Aotearoa New Zealand.  They did the jobs Kiwis didn't want to do and in return, Pacifica men and women received job opportunities, money that allowed them to support family back in the islands and education for their children. 
We didn't treat our Pacifica workforce terribly well. When we needed them all was well, when the economy took a couple of hits in the seventies, with the oil price shock and Britain joining the EU, unemployment rose and these people who'd helped create our booming economy of the fifties and sixties were told to go home. 
Anywho, I digress. 
It's a lovely idea to think that we will return to a time where a worker, no matter how lowly they are perceived to be on the corporate ladder, would be able to live in dignity and raise a family without depending on the state for a handout. 
I'm old enough to remember a time when that was so.  Whether the school principal or the school caretaker, you were able to live on your wage. 
And maybe it is time for a complete reset.  But how do we do that? 
Not everybody has the ability to be an engineer or an internet entrepreneur.  Some people are really good at making vulnerable people feel safe and nurtured, who can create a pleasant environment for someone suffering - and sadly, those are skills that don't earn you the big bucks.
But should you be denied the opportunity to make a living because those skills aren't valued.  What will this mean for the hospitality industries, the aged care homes, the orchardists, the farmers?  Will prices go up?  Will business go offshore or shut up shop altogether? 
Or do we create a utopian New Zealand where every Kiwi not only has the dignity of work, but is happy and valued in what they do.

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She might not believe the numbers.  She might claim that no-one in her party is out to roll her.  But National party leader Judith Collins would not have enjoyed hearing the results of the latest Newshub-Reid Research Poll that shows her falling even further in popularity. 
The latest poll shows Jacinda Arden streets ahead in the preferred PM stakes at 48.1 per cent, although she is down 4.5 percentage points, Judith Collins was at 5.6 percent, down 12 percentage points. 
Judith Collins says at this point in the election cycle she simply doesn't care.
But seriously how long can she expect to remain leader with those sorts of figures? 
Simon Bridges was rolled in part for leading National to a shocking low of 30 percent in 2020.  Judith Collins had an unenviable task leading a hapless hopeless party into the 2020 election but since that time she's failed to fire. 
She was a strong and powerful figure in Opposition but as leader she has been somewhat muted.  ACT is doing a better job leading the opposition although Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis are making inroads in their respective portfolios. 
The answer is if not her, who?  Until the National caucus knows the answer to that, Judith Collins is safe.  But once a viable alternative presents themselves, she'll be gone.

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has shut down the idea that New Zealand will return to life under Covid-19 alert level 2.5 when the borders open.
It comes after director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield yesterday floated the vision that opening up the border to vaccinated tourists could require Kiwis to return to alert level 2.5.
Speaking on Kerre McIvor Mornings on Newstalk ZB, Ardern said it would more likely be a "1.5 environment".
"I spoke to [Bloomfield] and he said he was referencing more a 1.5 environment with things like QR code scanning, those kind of things we need to be aware of on a day to day in that transition period," Ardern said.
The Prime Minister's comments came in response to a caller who was worried the country was now being restricted to gatherings of ten.
Ardern was quick to say that was not the case, saying it was a discussion about creating extra "buffers" when we do open the borders which could be at the end of this year.
She said there was no suggestion that for three to five years New Zealand will be in a constant level of a 2.5 environment.
"A lot of it is going to come down to how many people we have vaccinated, the more people we have vaccinated the more freedom we can have.
She said in the same way we have immunisations for measles we do still have outbreaks from time to time and we have to make sure we contain those.
Ardern dedicated an hour to answering questions from Newstalk ZB callers.
It is the first time this year the Prime Minister has been in studio with McIvor.
She will also be answering questions from McIvor about child poverty, homelessness, the public sector pay freeze and District Health Boards.
Ardern speaks ahead of Budget 2021, which will be announced next Thursday, May 20.



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“A successful second quarter Action Plan shows the coalition Government has continued to build on the momentum of its first 100 days”, says the press release from the Prime Minister's office. Well, Christopher Luxon would say that wouldn’t he?  

The Press release continues: “Actions the coalition government has taken this quarter include:  

- Deliver tax relief to hardworking New Zealanders.  

- Support young families with the cost of childcare through the Family Boost tax credit.   

- Set ambitious Government Targets to improve the lives of New Zealanders  

- Restore Three Strikes and establish a Young Serious Offender category to hold serious, persistent offenders to account.” 

It goes on. Certainly, it appears the tougher stance on crime and giving police permission to police seems to be working. I’m not entirely sure there's wholesale relief after the tax relief, and the government really does need to sort out their boot camps and who's running them before they can claim to be sorting out the young, serious, persistent offenders. But nonetheless, whether you agree with what the coalition government is doing or not, at least you know what they're doing. They set out the plans. They then report back as to whether they've achieved them, and they let us know.  

The Prime Minister told Mike Hosking this morning that his way of doing things is that they have a different way of running things from previous governments, but they're trying to be transparent.  

“I publish these quarterly plans and people will say to me, you know, why do you do that? Well, I'm doing it because I'm trying to be transparent about what we're working on as a government in the next 13 weeks, and some of it is taking decisions and making sure we get alignment inside our government and our coalition to do those programmes. A lot of it's introducing legislation. This August, you're going to see all our gang laws get actually passed into law. That's a six month process, we kicked that off in that first 100 days. Now that's going to be law. That will be picked up by police in October and away we go. So it does take time, but it's really at the moment, it's the turn around. You've got to just be what's the problem I'm trying to solve? What's the common sense solution that deals with that? Right, is that moving forward in the next 13 weeks or not? And it's focusing tremendously a public service that hasn't had direction and it's also focusing my ministers and my conversations with them about what I'm expecting from each of them. And it's always done through the mantra of rebuild the economy, restore law and order, deliver better public services, particularly health and education.” 

So that was the Prime Minister with Mike Hosking this morning. And sure, as some of the things might be a bit Betty Basic on the Q3 40 point plan that's just been released. Take cabinet decisions. Well, basically that means holding cabinet meetings, hold public consultations. Yeah, good on ya.  And probably, the action on gangs that featured in Q1. So that features in Q3, so a bit of a double up, but that's what I'd do with the big To Do List as well. Write down the really easy things that I was going to do anyway, so I can cross them off and it makes the list look less daunting. And if you can double up... sometimes I'll do bathrooms, and then I'll do polished glass, which includes the bathroom, and I can do 2 ticks off my list, which is a little bit, I think, what the Prime Minister is doing.  

But who can blame them? It's a daunting list. And when it's a great big scary list, you need to have a few things you can tick off. Governments love to think that they're all about transparency. Remember the last lot? But this one does appear to be transparent. If you want to have a look at what the government intends to do, you can see it online. If you want to look at how well they have done, you can see it online and then you can make your own judgments as well. I feel they are being transparent. I feel they are giving us something against which we can measure them. Is that how you feel? Whether you like what they're doing or not, then at least we know what they're doing and then we can think, okay, they're doing a good job/they're not doing a good job.  

So far, so good. They've listed what they intend to do, they're following through on their plans, we can see that with the gangs. They've said that Q3 is where they're going to be focusing on the gangs and clamping down on gang activity. The way gangs advertise themselves through the patches, through the gatherings, and we can judge whether they're having any effect or not. So yes, I think they are being transparent, might be a slightly more business-like way of doing things by setting out a list or a 40 point plan. The stats seemed to be coming through and that was always something I wanted the last lot to do. Show me. If your ideas are that great, show me they're working, give me some numbers, and that was something that the last lot failed to do. So, so far, so good. 

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You'd like to think you'd be the first to rush in if someone was being threatened, but there is a very real risk in these mad and crazy times that you could literally be putting your life on the line to help. 
In the wake of the Dunedin Countdown stabbings, there are stories of tremendous courage on the part of the store manager and bystanders who are now in hospital recovering from their injuries. 
Others said they just froze, they saw what was happening, they knew people were in trouble but they did nothing. 
People who failed to step in are being told they shouldn't feel guilty, remember Austin Hemmings? 
He was the father of three, the devoted husband and the incredible colleague who was coming out of his workplace when he saw a man assaulting a woman and stepped in to help her escape. 
He was stabbed and fatally injured; he paid the ultimate price for being a Good Samaritan. 
If you've ever been in that situation I'd love to know how you handled it. 
Does it help if you have been trained for a conflict situation?
Say, if you've been in the army or you were a police officer or a corrections officer? 
Does it help if you know first aid?
One of the reasons I did a first aid course a couple of years ago because I felt it was almost inevitable I'll come across an accident? 
In these mad and crazy times, we ask the question ‘will people step in?’
The answer is yes, and we saw that in Dunedin yesterday.
If you've ever been in that situation I'd love to hear your story.

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The government's making space in managed isolation to get skilled and critical workers into the country.
Over the next 10 months, 500 spaces per fortnight will be allocated to support New Zealand's economic recovery.
Three hundred seasonal workers will be able to arrive each month from June, 2400 in total by next March.
There's also an allocation for construction workers, international students and refugees.COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says they need to balance seasonal and strategic skills shortages, using spaces freed up by the trans-Tasman bubble.
But dairy farmers and the hospitality sector are disappointed the government is not allocating MIQ spaces to workers who could help.
Federated Farmers Immigration spokesman Chris Lewis and restaurateurs Chand Sahrawat and her husband Sid, told Kerre McIvor they’re disappointed with the announcement.
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