Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Don't blame terrorism on mental health issues or treat extremism like a mental health condition.A police scene examination is continuing at Auckland's Countdown LynnMall, after seven people were injured in an ISIS-inspired terror attack on Friday afternoon.The terrorist was shot dead by police officers at the scene.Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson told Kate Hawkesby the terrorist may have been experiencing mental health issues, but that doesn't explain or excuse his behaviour.“Hundreds of thousands of Kiwis experience mental health issues. They don’t then become terrorists.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before we blow a fuse at managed isolation, let's have some context. Nearly 170,000 people have been through the system. 12 escapes all up involving 16 people, and that includes this one we had yesterday, who'd been in there not even 7 hours before he made his break. What makes you sick about this guy is that a whole bunch of police have had to go chasing after him, and be exposed to him. They now all have to be tested and I suppose isolate until they come up clear. Ironically, if they've caught it in the process of picking this character up, they'll end up in MIQ. The point is that this one escape is really serious; the guy has put a whole lot of people at risk. We don't know anything yet about where he went while he was out and who else might have been exposed. Hopefully, because everyone is meant to be at home and this happened in the middle of the night, it won't be a lot of people. But there was a driver, whether that person was a deliberate accessory is another matter. What I'm wondering, is whether thi

Even in the midst of lockdowns, the hospitality sector has been vocal about labour shortages. The industry wants urgent visa extensions and border exemptions But a McDonald's in the United States has found a solution, recruiting kids as young as fourteen. Questions are being raised as to whether employers in New Zealand should be more open to hiring teenagers. AUT Professor of Management Jarrod Harr joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waikato University is launching the world's first degree in climate change today.  The aim is to produce graduates to lead future climate change solutions - combining science, economics and social and political systems.  Margaret Barbour, the University of Waikato's Dean of Science joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Concerns a new MIQ booking system may not make things any better. A new virtual queue for spots will come into action once the outbreak-induced pause is over. People will be selected from random, meaning they won’t have to constantly refresh the website.  But Travel Technology Consultant Mike Moore told Kate Hawkesby there should instead be a system that provides people with some ability to plan. "One is the idea of a wait list, which basically provides the opportunity for people who want to to form an orderly queue, and other part is to extend the booking horizon as far as possible into the future." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Of those working in our construction industry, just two point six percent are women.  Research out this morning shows both employers and women want the number to be higher, so questions are being raised as to where the disconnect is. Kelly Bennett, who is the Principal Advisor for Women at the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shout out to Auckland this morning, and Northland for that matter. The only two places still waking up in Level 4. Doing the heavy lifting for the rest of the country. Let’s hope it’s only for another two weeks Auckland.. fingers crossed. I saw some stats out of Australia yesterday where lockdowns are really starting to bite. One poll showed 86 percent of Australians intend on getting vaccinated – which is higher than pre-Delta. 50 percent of them want lockdowns to end when 80 percent of the country is vaccinated, so getting out of lockdowns is a big impetus.  Their fears are the same as ours – 58 percent feared businesses closing and job losses, 56 percent worried about what effect lockdowns are having on mental health, which I talked about yesterday. And 52 percent of them find home schooling a negative. I think the thing with home schooling is the isolation of children at such a social time of their lives, but also the inequality of it. Your household’s home schooling regime may look very different to some

Deliveries are also an option for those who don’t want to queue    Domino's New Zealand general manager Cameron Toomey told Kate Hawkesby they’re expecting a big day   But he says, they’ve been here before and they know what to do   "We do serve a lot of customers every day normally, so we just make sure we've got the right amount of people rostered on and we've got the right procedures in place to allow us to meet the demand." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An immunologist says new vaccine eligibility should be celebrated. From today anyone over the age of 12 has the ability to book in to get the Covid-19 jab.  Despite this some are set to face long waits.  Malaghan Institute immunologist Graham Le Gros told Kate Hawkesby it needs to be targeted.  "The regions, Māori community, Pacific community and really make sure that they're really safe too, because they're the ones that live in high-density conditions and they're very vulnerable to this virus if it gets into them." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today will see the return of cafe coffee and gloriously greasy takeaways for those south of Auckland, regarding it can be picked up or delivered under Covid guidelines. But for a small business outside of a major city centre the cost of delivering is often hardly worth the profit margin. Development West Coast has got a scheme to help with that, and the CEO Heath Milne told Kate Hawkesby an incentive is more effective than a payout. "We thought, rather than give cash to businesses, we’ll help them to get into that market, by giving them a rebate for every delivery that they do.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A lot of talk around mental health at the moment, and rightly so. This lockdown feels tougher, and we’re right to feel deflated by it, our lockdowns are stricter than Australia’s. In Melbourne you can still meet up for coffee with people outside your bubble, exercise with someone outside of your bubble, go out for takeaways, coffees, flowers.  My girlfriend in Sydney says basically most businesses are considered essential and are therefore open, the same mixing of bubbles applies, and there’s more movement. That’s arguably why it’s spreading faster, but it pays to remember their lockdown is not our lockdown, so we are rightly feeling the pinch of our super strict Level 4 rules. Some say the mental health shadow pandemic will be bigger than the Covid one. In Australia it already is. There are 342 young people a week in Victoria being admitted to hospital for mental health issues, 40 kids a day in New South Wales. It’s tough.  Anxiety levels are through the roof, isolation is triggering all sorts of feelings, a

Two weeks is a long time when it comes to Covid. There are 562 community cases in the current Delta outbreak -- with just 53 new cases reported yesterday. That's 30 fewer than the day before. Most of the country comes out of Level Four at midnight and Northland is likely to follow on Thursday night, while Auckland faces another two weeks under Level Four restrictions. Otago University infectious diseases physician Kurt Krause says told Kate Hawkesby while yesterday's drop in case numbers is encouraging, only time will tell whether we have the outbreak under control. "There's new variants brewing around the world, different things are happening. It really has been hard to settle down and be confident about what's going to happen from one week to the next." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Civil Defence officials still don't know the full extent of the damage, from a night of heavy rain and extensive flooding in Auckland. Emergency services have received more than 150 calls about flooding, mostly in West Auckland. One Swanson resident has described seeing cars being swept down the road, children being carried through shoulder-height flood waters, and homes ending up underwater. Auckland Emergency Management Deputy Controller Rachel Kelleher told Kate Hawkesby response crews will head out to assist, where needed. "It's still an emerging situation at the moment, we're just working through what the needs are out there." Kelleher says the need to evacuate overrides any alert level requirements, but people should socially distance where possible. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Those on one side of a Waikato road will wake up tomorrow in level three, but the other will still be in level four. Everywhere south of Auckland will move to level three at midnight but the boundary cuts across Koheroa Road at Mercer. Waikato District Mayor Allan Sanson told Kate Hawkesby he's spoken to the Prime Minister's office about it but they're sticking with their decision. "The stupidity in having a boundary down the middle of the road, I can't defend that position, it's just crazy." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It may be easier than we think to combat online scams that are continuing to run rampant in New Zealand.New research by BNZ shows nearly four out of five New Zealanders are being targeted by a scam and nearly a quarter are falling for them.It comes as BNZ launches its annual Scam Savvy Week, running from today until Friday.BNZ's Head of Financial Crime, Ashley Kai Fong told Kate Hawkesby with everyone online in lockdown, they’re more susceptible.But he says there are simple steps people can take.“Keep their software updated, do all the software patches that are required and actually educate their staff not to click on links.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Public Service Commissioner, Peter Hughes, took umbrage at an editorial I wrote last week challenging the under performance of Ashley Bloomfield in his role as Director General of Health.Hughes misinterpreted this as me criticising frontline public servants, who he said deserve respect. That’s right, they do — from Ashley Bloomfield, whose supposed to be working on their behalf.No one’s a bigger supporter of people on the frontline than me. They do an incredible thankless and tireless job. I was not referring to them. I was talking about the man tasked with overseeing our Covid health response, and paid more than half a million dollars to do so. My criticism was of the bloated ineffectual bureaucracy sitting behind desks, which suffocates frontline workers with unnecessary overloaded processes. These are the people often caught off guard by announcements made from the 'pulpit' that aren’t directly communicated to them. It’d be great if public sector workers could be left to get on with it – let police pol

When six rounds were complete and Lisa Adams saw her name at the top of the leaderboard in the women's shot put (F37) at the Paralympic Games, a dream had been realised.She sought out her coach and sister, Dame Valerie, and the two shared an embrace before Adams had the New Zealand flag draped around her shoulders.It was a moment she won't soon forget."Honestly, it was just phenomenal," Adams told Newstalk ZB's Elliott Smith of having her sister with her in Tokyo. "That was so special to me; that hug is up there with one of the best hugs I've ever had in my life. That was so special to be on this journey with her."I couldn't do this without her, so that was special in that moment. She's been my coach throughout, but that hug was definitely a sister hug. She put the flag on me and that whole moment, it was so special. I really, really loved that." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dame Valerie Adams (@valerieadams84) Adams' Paralympic gold is the latest in a growing collection

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday praised the "colossal" effort to airlift civilians from Kabul, as U.K. troops and diplomats flew home after the two-week mission, ending 20 years of British military involvement in Afghanistan.In a video message, Johnson praised the "colossal exertions" of British troops engaged in "a mission unlike anything we've seen in our lifetimes."But his government is facing criticism for leaving behind hundreds, or even thousands, of vulnerable Afghans whom the U.K. had promised to protect.The U.K. ambassador to Afghanistan, Laurie Bristow, was among those who arrived at RAF Brize Norton northwest of London on Sunday, hours after the government announced that all British personnel had left Kabul. More flights bringing back approximately 1,000 U.K. troops from Kabul airport were due throughout the day.Britain says it has evacuated more than 15,000 U.K. citizens and vulnerable Afghans in the past two weeks, but that as many as 1,100 Afghans who were entitled to come to the

National says scrutiny of the Government, in person, is critical.The Prime Minister suspended parliament last week, on advice from the Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.But, it will now resume tomorrow, after National and ACT rejected a proposal to hold it virtually.National Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop told Kate Hawkesby the select committees on Zoom were pretty inadequate.“We need to get back to Parliament and ask the questions New Zealanders need the answers to like: why is our vaccine rollout so slow? Why are we the slowest in the developed world? Why did we not prepare for this Delta outbreak properly?”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Isn’t it interesting how much lower the bar is for bureaucrats than the private sector? Even our sports teams get more scrutiny. Imagine if Ashley Bloomfield was an All Black coach. Bear in mind, this guy is our number one, head and shoulders above the next best suitable candidate. That’s the worryingly low benchmark we’re setting and accepting across the state service for where performance expectations sit. If he was an AB’s coach, he’d be getting dissected, analysed and critiqued by all, including the NZRU. There'd be unsolicited nominations from pundits left, right and centre on who should replace him. But obviously the national game is of greater public importance and held to a higher standard than our Covid response. Not only is this a major concern for the continued underperformance of our Health Ministry and Covid response and more importantly planning, but it also gives a stark and alarming insight to the calibre of bureaucrats in the Ministry of Health.  In a global pandemic threatening our safety an