Larry Williams Drive

A triumph of spin over substance.That's Act Leader David Seymour's take on the Government Three Waters announcement today.They're forging ahead with the plan to create four publicly-owned water entities and have accepted nearly all recommendations from the independent working group.The shake-up includes a public shareholding model and a council and mana whenua chair for each region.Seymour told Heather du Plessis-Allan there's an implication if you're Maori then you're more caring towards the future of this country and you've got something to offer in Three Waters governance that others don't.“I am part Maori, I’ve been looking inside myself for the special insight, I can’t find it, and I know that most New Zealanders will find that deeply offensive.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government is officially pushing on with its Maori co-governance plan for water.Grant Robertson and Nanaia Mahuta today announced that they’re making some changes to the plan reform but they’re refusing to ditch their sacred cow of co-governance.Iwi, under the plan as it stands, will still have 50 percent control in appointing water governance boards.The longer this goes on, the more the Government refuses to budge on the co-governance aspect, the more it looks like this reform isn’t really about cleaning up your water at all, is it?It’s actually about entrenching a new way of running things in New Zealand, isn’t it? it’s about entrenching Maori co-governance as a system.This is how it’s going to work in terms of the water assets: The Government’s going to take all council water assets and then throw them together into one of four big water bodies across the country divided up geographically.Councils will still own their water assets, that’s one of the changes today, they’re going to be assured that they

The Auditor-General is to launch an inquiry into how mental health and addiction services are working for young people.It comes after National's mental health spokesman Matt Doocey wrote to the Auditor-General, Parliament's independent spending watchdog, to look at the $1.9 billion for mental health allocated in the 2019 Budget.The Auditor-General normally looks at whether laws might have been broken around the spending of public money, not the merits of individual spending decisions.In a letter published today, John Ryan said he believed there was already sufficient oversight of that Government investment, through reviews by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet's Implementation Unit, and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, which recently reported that investment had not seen improvements "materialise" as hoped.Rather than duplicate the processes, Ryan said his office would focus on the effectiveness of mental health and addiction services for young people "a group with an increasing need

Moderna is seeking to be the first to offer COVID-19 vaccine for the youngest American children, as it asked the Food and Drug Administration Thursday to clear low-dose shots for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.Frustrated families are waiting impatiently for a chance to protect the nation’s littlest kids as all around them people shed masks and other public health precautions -- even though highly contagious coronavirus mutants continue to spread. Already about three-quarters of children of all ages show signs they've been infected at some point during the pandemic.Moderna submitted data to the Food and Drug Administration that it hopes will prove two low-dose shots can protect children younger than 6 -- although the effectiveness wasn't nearly as high in kids tested during the omicron surge as earlier in the pandemic.“There is an important unmet medical need here with these youngest kids,” Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna's chief medical officer, told The Associated Press. Two kid-size shots “will safely protect t

The Government could cut the number of pokie machines in pubs and make remaining machines less appealing.Consultation on possible reforms closed yesterday and minister in charge Jan Tinetti wants to implement recommendations by the end of the year.Gaming Machine Association chair Peter Dengate-Thrush told Heather du Plessis-Allan says there's better ways of dealing with problem gamblers.“We don’t think reducing the fun of the game for everyone else is really going to help that number of seriously addicted people.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's reporting season, and a few big US tech companies have got involved.After Netflix’s stocks dropped to 45 percent last week, expectations have been low.Microsoft and Meta maintained just profit guidance, but the shares are up 6 and 7 percent respectively.Fisher Funds Senior Portfolio Manager Sam Dickie joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A big upset for the hospitality sector.A multi-million dollar deal to buy Nourish Group has fallen over because overseas investors couldn’t easily travel to New Zealand and are concerned about future pandemic restrictions.Nourish Group owns a number of well-known hospitality businesses around the country, includingSoul Bar in Auckland and Shed 5 in Wellington.The deal would’ve been worth more than $20 million.Restaurant Association National President Mike Egan joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winter grazing rules have changed.One of the rules concerning re-sowing crop paddocks has been changed from November 1 to as soon as possible.A lot of the regulations were due to come in May 1 last year, but were moved to May 1 this year and then again to November 1.The Country Host Rowena Duncum joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ANZ’s latest Business Confidence Survey is suggesting we’re going to face more inflationary pressure still.Unsurprisingly, confidence overall is down and there are concerns over rising inflation.Activity expectations has picked up and the rate of acceleration of cost increases is slowing.NZ Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite warnings that New Zealand needs to diversify, the country’s dependence on China has grown over the past four years.Almost 33 percent of all of our international exports are sent to China.That’s an increase from four years ago when it was 25 percent.New Zealand China Council Chair John McKinnon joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Companies using the Reader’s Digest Most Trusted logo in their branding are being charged for it.Reader’s Digest Managing Editor Zoe Meunier says brands aren’t being trusted to be a part of the survey.Two ram raids took place overnight in Auckland and Hamilton.In Hamilton, a group of children aged 12, 11, 10 and 7 were all caught attempting to steal from a shopping centre in Hamilton, while would-be thieves failed to steal jewellery from another shopping centre in Auckland.Rotorua Council have paused a controversial local electoral bill.The bill would allow an equal number of Maori and general seats, but a report from the Attorney-General dubbed the report in its current form discriminatory.‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is the fifth-largest bank for handing out home loans, making it bigger than Kiwibank.14 percent of families surveyed offered financial aid for their kids to buy a house, with an average offering of $108,000.Listen above as Clare de Lore and Neale Jones discuss the day's news with Heather du Plessis-Al

Assurances the door is still open for a controversial bill which would boost Maori seats in Rotorua.The local bill would allow an equal number of Maori and general seats - granting both sides three sets a piece.But an Attorney-General report earlier this week dubbed the bill in its current form is discriminatory.Progress on the bill has been halted.Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick told Heather du Plessis-Allan a pause is sensible to complete policy work.“The bill is about the right way forward for Rotorua. We’re committed to working through the parliamentary process and if a delay is needed, then we’ll get the work done.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Companies using the Reader's Digest Most Trusted logo in their branding have to pay for it.Reader's Digest Managing Editor Zoe Meunier told Heather du Plessis Allan the payment is for the Trust mark - but brands aren't charged to be part of the survey.She says with the rise of an e-commerce based environment, customers are looking for trust signals to help their purchasing.“There’s things like testimonials and star ratings and awards that are those like ours which is internationally recognised.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Police Minister says young offenders committing crimes and posting them on social media hasn't been seen before.There were another two in Auckland and Hamilton overnight.In Hamilton, a group of children aged 12, 11, 10 and 7 were all caught attempting to steal from a shopping centre at 1 am.In Auckland, would-be thieves smashed through a glass door at Sylvia Park at around 3 am in an attempt to steal jewellery but failed.Police Minister Poto Williams told Heather du Plessis-Allan young people are seeking a thrill and putting it up online.“That is something that is not just in the Police’s realm to deal with. It is about some of the other social agencies, Government agencies coming on board with that.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scott Morrison has insisted he’s not worried about the prospect of an interest rate rise next week during the election campaign, maintaining it’s a matter for the Reserve Bank.Traditionally, the RBA rarely hikes rates during election campaigns because it doesn’t want the issue to become a political football and it wants to remain independent.If the RBA chooses to hike rates it will be the first time that has happened during a federal election campaign since 2007 when Kevin Rudd defeated John Howard after 11-years of Coalition government.But with inflation surging, the RBA could face questions about why it hasn’t increased rates if it holds firm next week.The issue was discussed this morning during the Prime Minister’s interview with Channel 7’s Sunrise program.“The Reserve Bank rarely increases rates in the election campaign, because it doesn’t want to be seen to be political,’’ Sunrise host David Koch said today.“Would it worry you at all if they didn’t move rates up next week, as they should, to get ahead o

National is crying foul over the country’s state housing wait list.New figures out today show more than 26,000 people are holding out for a home, up 500 from last month.White supremacism is the biggest source of online violent extremism.It comes from a new report from the Department of Internal Affairs in wake of the Christchurch Call – an agreement between New Zealand and France after the March 15 mosque attacks.A likely day of reckoning for Three Waters tomorrow.An announcement on the next steps will be made tomorrow, which Cabinet has been considering recommendations on.Newstalk ZB Political Reporter Aaron Dahmen joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 'Bank of Mum and Dad' is now bigger than Kiwibank for handing out home loans.New Consumer NZ research reveals if parents were a bank, they'd be the fifth biggest lender to new homeowners in New Zealand.14 percent of families surveyed offered financial aid for their kids to buy a house, with an average offering of $108,000.First Home Buyers Club director Lesley Harris told Heather du Plessis-Allan where parents are getting the money is the question.“My concern, obviously, is the impacts on people’s retirement, retirement funds, rest home care.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We had another retail raid overnight.This time at Sylvia Park Mall in Auckland at half past 3 this morning where the offenders smashed the glass door, got inside and tried to steal jewellery before taking off in a vehicle.This is after the Ormiston Mall ram raid on Tuesday morning, the ram raid at a gas station in west Auckland that same morning, aggravated robberies at west Auckland, dairies yesterday and raids on high end stores in Queen St earlier this month.If you’re wondering why we’re seeing so much of these raids and ram raids nowadays I suspect the answer is this:  these kids know they’re more likely to get away with it than get caught.For a start look at burglary resolution rates. At last count – which is unfortunately quite old – from back in 2015, only 7 percent of burglaries in some regions were solved.7 percent.So offenders have a 93 percent chance of getting away with it.Then look at police pursuit data.The cops changed their policy about 18 months ago so they effectively don’t chase as many fle

Russia is stopping gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. The Foreign Secretary will shortly call on western powers to provide warplanes to Ukraine. A damning report into terrorism activity in UK prisons. UK correspondent Gavin Grey joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An economics commentator has pointed the finger at the Reserve Bank Governor and the Finance Minister for failing to keep inflation in the target range.  Auckland University economics professor Robert MacCulloch has detailed his prosecution of Adrian Orr and Grant Robertson in the Herald this morning. Robert MacCulloch joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.