Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

It seems a fitting memorial to Australian cricket legend Shane Warne.Following his death in Thailand on Friday, fans have gathered at Warne's statue outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground placing not just flowers but also beer, cigarettes, pies and cans of baked beans.Warne's reported love of baked beans was came about in the 1998 tour of India when he said he was only eating the canned goods because he wasn't used to the local spicy cuisine. A reported 1,900 tins of baked beans were then shipped out to Warne and the side.The Victorian state government, which has offered Warne's family a state funeral, announced Saturday that the Great Southern Stand at the MCG would be renamed the S.K. Warne Stand - "a permanent tribute to an amazing Victorian."Ordinary, everyday Aussies shed tears. Mick Jagger, Elton John, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe were among the celebrities mourning Warne's death — not as if his incredible career achievements needed any exclamation points from the entertainment industry. But they were t

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out a six-point action plan to counter Russia's war on Ukraine.It includes rapidly strengthening defences in NATO countries, more economic sanctions on Russia and mobilising international humanitarian efforts.Johnson outlined his plan in the New York Times.Europe correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby the Prime Minister publicised his points before meetings this week.“Meetings with the Canadian Prime Minister and the Dutch Prime Minister here in London tomorrow Monday our time. The following day he’s going to host leaders of central European nations.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s hard to believe we are still watching the war raging between Russia and Ukraine unfold in front of us.It feels desperate and helpless, and almost perverse to watch this play out while we can do so little about it.It’s utterly heartbreaking.But also heartbreaking is the fact ignorant New Zealanders are deciding now’s the time to attack Russians living here.I cannot believe that people think this has anything to do with them – just because they are Russian. It’s abominable.I was horrified to read a headline at the weekend that said “Russian Kiwis in Auckland say they’re encountering abuse and harassment in the wake of the invasion”. The report says they’re feeling excluded like they should hide their nationality, their children are getting bullied at school. As one of the Russian Kiwi Mums said, “The war is not about us, we are just normal people who live in New Zealand and pay taxes.”A Russian Church was vandalised, as well as a shop selling Russian goods.These are senseless ignorant acts done by people w

Concerns the National Party's tax plans could cause more harm than good.Leader Chris Luxon's announced in his first State of the Nation speech that he'll reverse every tax increase the current Government has imposed if he becomes Prime Minister.He also wants to adjust all tax bracket thresholds, so people pay less tax.Council of Trade Unions Chief Economist Craig Renney told Kate Hawkesby that's not going to fix the country's problems.“Property speculators is not going to reduce the price of fuel, reducing taxation on multiple landlords is not going to reduce international shipping costs.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It may be time for men to take better care of themselves.News broke over the weekend of the death of Shane Warne at 52 after a suspected heart attack in Thailand.Thai authorities have been carrying out an autopsy on Warne's body, as they continue to investigate his death.College of GPs Medical Director Dr Bryan Betty told Kate Hawkesby heart attacks are becoming more common in men over 40.“We do see it, it does happen and it’s just something I think we need to be aware of and think about it as a wake-up call that perhaps we should do more.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland Airport is gearing up for a busy weekend - and this time it's the international terminal that should see a bit more action.  New Zealanders from anywhere across the globe will be able to return home without having to go into MIQ from midnight tonight. Neither will they have to self-isolate - if they're Covid negative. Auckland Airport's Corporate Services General Manager Mary-Liz Tuck told Roman Travers staff are preparing for the arrival gates being flung open. “So we are expecting about 900 New Zealanders to come back through tomorrow and that’s the first time in two years we’ve been able to welcome Kiwis home from around the world.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s unknown how many rentals are meeting healthy home standards. The Government has revealed it's not collecting data on how many homes are compliant. It's also not requiring properties be assessed by a third party to verify whether it meets the standards.  Property Investors Federation Chief Executive Sharon Cullwick told Roman Travers she’s confident the noncompliant rentals are still being found. “There’s also a complaints area that tenants can complain about their house, they are capturing them, but they’re not keeping a detail.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There has been some discussion this week about the Brain Drain, and how with the world opening up for Kiwis again, we could lose a lot of workers overseas. Employers are having to think of ways to make sure they don't lose their workers going on OEs. Randstad NZ thinks they have worked it out. They are giving staff the choice to work anywhere around the world, for up to four weeks a year and not lose any of their pay or leave. Randstad NZ's country director Katherine Swan joined Roman Travers. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Too little too late would be my assessment of yesterday's clear out of the protestors. And when I say clear out - there's still a few there, but the most obvious question is why on earth it took so long to get to this point? Surely what happened yesterday could’ve happened week one, before it grew, got infrastructure and spread around other cities. To let it get entrenched to the point where riot police with shields and pepper spray had to be called in to clear it out, is to have left it far too long. I wonder if Coster, in his quiet moments (of which there appear to be far too many), ponders the merits of faster action. By the time they’re plumbing showers into the city’s water mains, and setting up toilets and kitchens, it’s gone too far. But that first week, when all the rabid nutjobs were there, that was the time to go in.  Nip it in the bud. It was an illegal protest so shut it down within 48 hours. Instead, they poured fuel on the fire - everything from Mallard's macarena and sprinklers, to Ardern's con

Former rugby league star Manu Vatuvei has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison. This is for his role in a meth importation scheme. His defence lawyer says part of the issue is Manu struggled with adjusting from professional sport life, to a life post-rugby league? Questions are being raised as to whether there is enough support for sportspeople navigating a life post-retirement. Dr Lefaoali’i Dion Enari is a lecturer in sport leadership and recreation at AUT and he joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police have been maintaining a presence overnight, in case of further protests. But Alistair Boyce, owner of the Backbencher Gastropub in Wellington, told Kate Hawkesby there are no signs of any protesters in the area right now. “Can’t see any protesters, they’ll be lingering in the shadows if they’re anywhere. It was a pretty cold night in Wellington.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retailers are defending the cost of Rapid Antigen Tests. A Consumer New Zealand survey's found the price varies from $6.40 to $19 a test. Retail NZ spokesperson Aimie Hines told Kate Hawkesby some pharmacists bought them at a high price so have to charge $19 but says that's not a sustainable price. “I think what we will see across the board is between $6 to $12 max, that’s a pretty fair price, even with freight costs.” Aimie Hines says retailers managed to land stock within a week, rather than the usual three. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday I had a very strange experience, Facebook-related. A scammer is pretending to be me, commenting on my show page, as me, telling commenters that they’ve won a cash prize. Apparently, fake me is giving away $20,000 in cash prizes. All you need to do is give ‘fake me’ your credit card details. Trust me, if I had 20 thousand dollars to give way right now, it would be to Ukrainian refugees, not people on Facebook.  So this fake Kate Hawkesby, which has pictures of me ripped off Google, is out there in the wild west of the internet trying to scam people. I only got clued into this when people started messaging me yesterday on Instagram telling me they were so excited to have been selected. I asked them to send me the link, and thus unravelled the fake news trickery that’s out there in my name.  Here’s the really awful bit. Facebook won’t believe me that it’s a scam.  My boss contacted our security team here at NZME, he contacted the digital people, he reported the fake account and the scam to Facebook its

Russian forces are continuing their attack on Ukraine as international pressure mounts on the Kremlin. Ten people have been killed and another 35 wounded in a rocket strike on a government building and civic square in Kharkiv. A strike on a television building in Kiev has killed at least five people, and taken several TV stations off air. A 65-kilometre-long Russian military convoy is now less than 30 kilometres from the capital. Meanwhile, representatives of dozens of countries have walked out of a speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. UK correspondent Gavin Grey told Kate Hawkesby the UK Government has set aside $440 million in humanitarian aid. “It’s now saying up to 200,000 Ukrainians could come to the UK as part of a scheme to help those fleeing the war.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From this morning any Kiwis coming home from Aussie do not need to self-isolate and no MIQ. But with the welcome mat opening for KIwis round the world, it also means we can leave New Zealand too. ANZ economists are warning about 20,000 Kiwis will move to Australia alone. With a large outflow of people, this is warned to increase our worker shortage and add demand to our labour market. Infometrics Senior Economist Brad Olsen joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

20 percent of Countdown staff are currently isolating - that's comes out to roughly 1000 workers. The two Auckland distribution centres are down to 50 percent staff, leading to bare shelves across grocery stores.  Countdown says it's continuing to recruit temporary team members where it can. Ben Peterson, First Union retail organiser joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Race Relations Commissioner says Russians here have faced discrimination over the invasion into Ukraine. Meng Foon says told Kate Hawkesby one of the main reasons immigrants come here, is to find a better life and adhere to our values. “Unfortunately, there’s a few naughty people that have violated other people’s rights.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My brother had Covid last week. Omicron struck him and his whole family, save for one child. He was asymptomatic, bar a dry cough and a tickly throat. All of which he said under normal circumstances he would’ve gone to work with. It lasted 3 days, he said he wouldn’t even rank it in the top 10 of head colds. So, from where he sat, it wasn’t worth the fear and angst afforded it. I’m sure there are those gravely affected by it – those unvaxxed, or with underlying health conditions, or immune-compromised, or elderly or young children. But for the majority, it’s so low key the CDC in America don’t recommend more than a 5-day isolation period is necessary. So my brother’s view is that it’s not worth the fear, the social dislocation, the decimation of tourism, hospo and international education.He doesn’t see the need for the $80 billion debt blow out and human misery. The massive toll on mental health, and elective surgeries. He sees the condescending endless barrage of expensive overly researched slogans, made up

Federated Farmers is welcoming the news of a free trade deal between New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The UK has agreed to phase out all tariffs on our exports, saving Kiwi exporters about 37-million dollars a year.  It's also expected to boost our GDP by up to $1 billion. President Andrew Hoggard told Kate Hawkesby free trade deals are always a win for New Zealand. “We sign them and you expect some benefits and then we're usually blown away by how many benefits we do get.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Starting friday 11:59pm, vaccinated Kiwis from anywhere in the world will now be able to return with no self-isolation requirements. For those coming from Australia, that begins Wednesday 11:59pm. RATs will be needed before and after arrival, and on day 5.  Cabinet is now looking at whether the remaining three steps of the five-step border reopening plan can also be bought forward.  Grounded Kiwis spokesperson Alexandra Birt joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.