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  • John Hart: New Zealand Golf Open Chairman discusses the event, what it took to bring it together

    John Hart: New Zealand Golf Open Chairman discusses the event, what it took to bring it together
    2026/02/27

    The 105th New Zealand Golf Open has teed off at Millbrook.

    It’s a unique Pro-Am event, where 156 professionals compete alongside amateur partners, and is the only Open tournament in the world to be played in this format.

    Australian Ryan Peake won the title in 2025, and has returned to defend it in 2026.

    Chairman John Hart told Kerre Woodham the Pro-Am format is the reason the tournament is so successful, and that if it were solely professionals, they’d struggle to hold the funding.

    He says it’s established itself as one of the leading Pro-Am tournaments in the world, and has gotten fantastic recognition from tours they work with and professional players.

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    11 分
  • Boyd Steel: S Sticker Founder on the plate that identifies cars driven by seniors

    Boyd Steel: S Sticker Founder on the plate that identifies cars driven by seniors
    2026/02/27

    Another way of keeping older folks safer on the roads.

    Aucklander Boyd Steel has started a business producing ‘S’ plates – a car sticker designed to let other drivers know there’s an older driver behind the wheel.

    The blue sticker is similar to the yellow ‘L’ plate for learner drivers, signalling that the driver may be slower or less confident and asking for patience.

    Steel told Kerre Woodham it was inspired by his nana, for who driving was an important part of her freedom, but had become slow driver towards the end of her life.

    “It wasn’t until sort of after she passed, and I sort of started seeing other senior drivers on the road, I just started thinking, God, I hope no one ever gave her a hard time.”

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    7 分
  • Kerre Woodham: Volunteers deserve trauma counselling cover

    Kerre Woodham: Volunteers deserve trauma counselling cover
    2026/02/25

    I can't even believe we're having to discuss this, but we are. It seems absolutely ludicrous that drunk drivers who say, kill their passengers, maim their passengers, smash their own selves up after crashing their vehicles —hopefully not into innocent victims, but sometimes it will be— are able to claim ACC, but the volunteer firefighters and the first responders who are volunteers who respond to the crash and have to deal with the horror of the aftermath, quite often they will know the people involved if it happens in a small community. If they're the ones that have to unwrap a kid from a drive shaft, they are not able to claim ACC for trauma counselling or PTSD. What they do is considered a leisure activity.

    Volunteers have been lobbying the Government to change the legislation for years. In 2025 a petition with 36,500 signatures was presented to Parliament but was ultimately unsuccessful. Now Land Search and Rescue are pushing the Government to reconsider, saying January's Mount Maunganui tragedy showed the level of trauma they're repeatedly exposed to with no long-term protection. So as it works at the moment, ACC can provide broad physical injury cover to volunteers, and that would be the same to you and me. Those of us who don't lift a finger to help others in our community, same sort of thing. The volunteers can access that. So if they got a physical injury and that resulted in a mental injury, that would be covered by ACC. But unlike employees, volunteers don't get any support for mental injury caused by what they see on the job.

    So somebody standing next to them, a paid police officer who was horrified by what they'd seen, would have access to ACC for counselling. They would not. Because what they're doing when they're saving lives and doing the most horrific clean up is a leisure activity as defined by law. ACC cannot under law right now help mentally unwell volunteer emergency responders. LandSAR Chief Executive Wendy Wright agrees the legislation falls far short when we look at the reliance we have as a country on volunteers across emergency services and search and rescue. 95% of the search and rescue workforce are volunteers. And look at the firefighters – as of 2024 there are approximately 11,800 to 12,000 volunteer firefighters in New Zealand. They make up around 80 to 85% of the country's total firefighting force.

    These volunteers who primarily serve the small towns, the rural areas, the outer suburbs, provide more than 820 million in annual value to the community if you want to put a dollar value on it. They basically keep communities together. They save lives within their communities. They deal with the trauma that accidents cause local communities. They are their local communities. Apparently, I've struggled to find any kind of rationale for denying them. Apparently it's going to open the floodgates for other volunteers in other in other fields. Apparently we can't afford it. Not every volunteer is going to need counselling. Not every volunteer wants to go to counselling. Not every paid employee wants it or needs it.

    There was a time when the UK tried to force their police officers to go to counselling. For some it was it was the last thing they needed. Their minds did not need to go over and over and over what they'd seen. They were able to compartmentalise and stay healthy. That was the way their minds worked. So they've scrapped that.

    You don't have to go now, but it should be an option, it should be a choice, it should be available for these incredible men and women who give up their time, give up their weekends, are willing to be roused in the middle of the night to go and try and save someone from themselves. The very least we can do when they finally get back to bed after working through the night is help them sleep soundly and not have to live with the recurring nightmares that come with PTSD that is left untreated. We owe it to them.

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    6 分
  • Kerre Woodham: Privacy - can we have our cake and eat it too?

    Kerre Woodham: Privacy - can we have our cake and eat it too?
    2026/02/24
    There's been a second major medical platform hack, leaving live patients labelled as dead and people's names changed to Charlie Kirk, the American activist who was shot dead last year – assassinated really. MediMap is widely used across New Zealand. It's often used by the aged care, disability, hospice and community health sectors. It's the second major cyber-attack on medical files and records in recent weeks after Manage My Health was hit at the end of last year, start of this year. Manage My Health's portal systems were compromised over the New Year holiday, putting the data of more than 120,000 users at risk. But it seems the two breaches are vastly different. Manage My Health was a ransomware attack conducted by a professional hacker, Kazu, not their real name, said they were motivated by notoriety and by profit. And there are thousands like Kazu. Think Roddy Ho in Slow Horses – annoying little geniuses who are completely removed from the rest of the world, who think along a different code, who live a different life. They do it because they can, because they think they're so clever and they want to prove it to their peers. They love showing off their hacking abilities. In some cases, they demand a ransom, in some cases they're motivated by profit, in other cases not. And generally, when the ransom is paid, they're terribly professional, you never hear another word from them. They take the money, they go and hit somebody else. In the case of MediMap, it seems there was a different motivation as Geoffrey Sayer from MediMap told Mike Hosking this morning. “What people would imagine a cyber hack is, is you've come in and brute forced and you've gone through a vulnerability in the software or the platform. This has not been the case. They've used credentials to come in, for all intents and purposes they look like a regular user, but what they started to do was not what a regular user does, which is why we shut the system down and contained it and are now working with forensic experts and government agencies to understand what's happened and then how do we bring this back online for people. We can trace it to a profile, I suppose is the best way to describe it, but we've subsequently become aware that that profile quite possibly had been compromised with their credentials.” So it could have been a staff member's kid or partner or just somebody who had access to that code. And we actually were having a discussion before we came on air, I said to the boss because I'd been broadcasting from home for the first two weeks, I said if one of the grandkids was tinkering around on the computer, would they be able to get into the radio station basically and move things around? And he said no, there's about three or four different passwords, but I don't have access to the inner workings. I need to be guided through it anyway and given different passwords at different points. So there could be no accidental hacking of this radio station by anybody at my house. These are not the first hacks, and they won't be the last. We have to accept that if we want the convenience of living in an online world, we're vulnerable, especially when we are complete tits when it comes to our security. Guess what the most common password is and has been for years? Yep, ‘123456’. Second most common, this is worldwide, not just New Zealand, second most common is ‘password’, third is ‘admin’, fourth is ‘qwerty’, and the fifth is ‘12345678’ – that'll fool them, adding the seven and the eight at the end, hey? I mean you don't even have to be a particularly good hacker to get into most people's computers. But what if you're scrupulous about your privacy? Sure, there should be tougher penalties for the hackers, but what about those who store our information, who demand it? How many places do we go where even the retail assistants, their KPI is to harvest our email addresses, to get them from us and the more they get, the more they're rewarded. Those who store our information should understand that it's a privilege. They use it. They can make money from it, they can profit from it. So should companies be held accountable if their security is breached? Should they have to pay some really serious fines so they get really serious about their security? In the case of MediMap, they handled that vastly differently. Different circumstances, but they handled it so much better than Manage My Health. They realised that somebody had access who legitimately got into the computer, to all intents and purposes the computer thought, yep, that's fine, come on in, you're welcome. Then once they started fiddling around, the computer recognised that something was going on that shouldn't be occurring and shut itself down. So different circumstances. But how much onus should be on the companies to protect our data and our information? There are millions of Roddy Hos out there, all wanting to show they're the cleverest ...
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    8 分
  • Kerre Woodham: Chris Hipkins' underwhelming State of the Nation speech

    Kerre Woodham: Chris Hipkins' underwhelming State of the Nation speech
    2026/02/23

    Credit to those 120 business people who went along to hear Chris Hipkins' State of the Nation address yesterday, hosted by the Auckland Business Chamber. Credit to those few people who watched it live, like my colleague Mike Hosking. My word, it was dull. And that is not me being a lickspittle mouthpiece for the Tory overlords. Have a listen to this:

    “I know we didn't get everything right when we were in government last time. Many of you have been very clear on what you think we did wrong. But one thing is clear, we were trying to do too much, too fast, and we weren't focused enough. We're going to be making further announcements later in the year as we get closer to the election. But I want to be very, very clear on this. I want to know that I can deliver on any promises that I make. That's the standard that I'll be holding myself to and our next Labour Government to.

    “Because frankly, Kiwis have had enough of promises that aren't kept. And I don't want to repeat that cycle. We won't try and do everything in our first term. We'll be focusing on what matters the most and delivering on those things. I'm not promising perfection. Where we make mistakes, I'll take responsibility for those. But I'm promising this: a government that puts the cost of living first, a government that partners with business to create jobs and raise wages, a government that invests in our people and backs our potential. Not just managing the country, building it.”

    Yes. So there was another 20 odd minutes of the same, 20 odd minutes. He banged on about affordability, that word was used a lot. Repeated the mantra I first heard when he came in for the quarterly catch up, and which we will no doubt hear throughout the campaign: jobs, health, homes. He went big on renewable energy, promised Labour would scrap the Government's proposed gas import terminal. Also went big on his future fund.

    As speeches go, he was no JFK. It is not one for the history books. But commentators say that was by design, like Tim Murphy from Newsroom. Tim says this was Labour trying to convey maturity, a little contrition, humility, and to claim it could be the adult in the room now and after the November 7 election. Luke Malpass from The Press says the speech was to present as a calm port in a cost of living storm, to be dependable, reliable, and boring even. That was the aim. Well, that's something Labour's achieved.

    Above all else, says Luke, at this stage of the game, to not change the strategy that has served Labour well so far, which is not say much, not do much, not announce much. And it has worked for them. When there is nothing that you can argue against, it's steady as she goes. They're just letting the Coalition Government make mistakes, or not work fast enough, or not be snazzy enough for the electorate, and they're just sitting there and collecting the votes of the centre, who are underwhelmed by the Coalition Government. Basically, they're saying vote for this Chris because he's not Christopher Luxon and we're not National.

    But that works both ways. You might not be wowed by the Coalition Government and the Prime Minister, but the message could be at least they're not Labour, Greens, and Te Pāti Māori, and at least Christopher Luxon isn't the Chris that was in charge last time.

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    4 分
  • Kerre Woodham: You can't lump the homeless into one group

    Kerre Woodham: You can't lump the homeless into one group
    2026/02/22
    I am torn on this one because I know somebody needs to do something. That classic old talkback quote, Somebody needs to do something." Well, somebody has. The government is giving police new powers to crack down on beggars, rough sleepers, and basically nasty oiks. Yesterday, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, Police Minister Mark Mitchell announced the new move on orders and details around when they'll be issued and who they will target. Goldsmith said we should not accept our city centres becoming places of intimidation and dysfunction. He said our main streets and town centres have been blighted by disruption and disturbance, and inner city businesses are suffering as a result. And he's right. We've had many Auckland central city business people ringing in at their wits' end about what to do with people who've been sleeping and soiling in their shop doorways and who threaten and intimidate their customers. But the police are right, yet again, they're being told to do the dirty work, the mopping up when other agencies fail, just as they had to do when mental health services were failing the mentally ill. President of the Police Association Steve Watt told the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning, it's not the police's job to move on the homeless. It's about getting the right resource to tackle the problem. And I appreciate police are that 24 7 agency that always respond, that get things done. But the reality is, is we can't be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff every time. What we have to do is look at the problem That's what the police are, Steve. What we have to do is look at the problem and determine what's the best resource to deal with it. And I'd suggest in this case, it's not police. You sound like a social worker. If somebody's lying across the footpath and abusing me because they're high on drugs and they're causing a disturbance to the peace and I can't open my business or I can't go into a shop, that's your job, isn't it? And when you talk about the Summary Offences Act, there's offences in there that we can deal with disorderly behaviour. We can arrest people for disorderly behaviour. We can arrest people for threatening behaviour, offensive behaviour. That's not an issue, and we do that on a daily basis. That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about move on orders from someone who hasn't committed an offence. And that's the thing, isn't it? That was Steve Watt, and to be fair, there was a fairly negative reaction to his comments. Oh, get tough, get hard." But if you've met one homeless person, you've met one homeless person. They can't all be lumped together as one hopeless, God forsaken bunch. Some of them are gentle, kind, broken souls, and I say that because I've met them and I've talked to them. And I think the police have too. So the police know there's a huge number of reasons as to why people are on the street. So some of them are just broken. They're gentle, they're kind, they're good, they're doing their best in a hopeless situation. Others are crazy, angry, broken souls, like the completely methed out old crone that takes her clothes off, climbs a tree God, the poor tree, you know, nature doesn't judge and that's a beautiful thing, but passers by can and do and shrieks at people from the top of the tree. You know, like, no, not good. Some have been on the street since they were kids because no matter how bad the streets are, it's better than the place they call home. Others are victims of circumstance. Remember the man who rang us? He was living in his car despite being a homeowner and formerly having a six figure salary. The drink had got to him. So in a moment of absolute clarity, he'd put tenants in the house so he didn't lose it and couch surfed till all his friends gave up on him they'd had a gutsful and he was living in his car waiting to get into a treatment centre. And I hope he's there now. I think he should be, shouldn't he, Helen? He said he was I think due to go in. And I hope he's doing well. And I have met some really lovely, lovely humans who happen to be homeless, some by choice, some by circumstance. I've also endured foul mouthed, foul smelling, aggressive humans who I've had to cross the road to get away from. So you can't just lump the homeless into one lot. There's a thousand different reasons why they're there, and the police are quite right. The agencies, the social agencies are the ones who should be trying to help them. Some of them won't be helped. And if, you know, if they're committing crimes, move them on. None of us should have to put up with abuse and intimidation, nor deal with the filth created by other people, no matter how damaged they are. So I'm really torn. You know, as the police say, if we're moving on the rough sleepers, who's responding to your burglary? Well, Steve, actually at the moment nobody is. You know, very few, you don't get an instant police response at the moment anyway, so it's not like you're going to be ...
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    7 分
  • Mark Mitchell: Police Minister discusses the proposed 'move on' order

    Mark Mitchell: Police Minister discusses the proposed 'move on' order
    2026/02/22

    The Government is providing police with the power to issue move-on orders as a tool to deal with disorderly behaviour in public places.

    But, the Police Association says it can't always be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

    President Steve Watt says these people on the streets have complex problems, include housing, mental health and financial issues - and Police aren't equipped to deal with these.

    Minister of Police Mark Mitchell told Kerre Woodham that the Police Association had the same response to the gang patch ban, yet were able to act once the law was in place.

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    10 分
  • Kerre Woodham: Did the intensification announcement allay your fears?

    Kerre Woodham: Did the intensification announcement allay your fears?
    2026/02/20
    We thought we'd start with the housing densification or de-densification that was announced yesterday. We didn't really get a chance to talk about it despite the fact that yesterday when the Prime Minister was in for an hour, he gave us a bit of an announcement of an announcement. “Long story short is what Chris will announce is a significant reduction in the capacity, which means that then actually that pressure of intensifying our suburbs in Auckland goes away. And what we want to see is intensification happening in the right places. Over the CBD, the transport hubs, the town centres, we should be densifying and putting more intensification. So where would the density occur? Should occur in the CBD, in the town centres, in the transport hubs that we've got across the across Auckland City, but not in the suburbs.” Didn't have to wait very long for the actual announcement, because a few hours later, Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced sweeping changes to housing densification in Auckland, with dwelling capacity being slashed from 2 million homes to 1.6 million. The housing intensification will still go ahead near transport hubs, rail corridors, and the CBD. Chris Bishop said yesterday that the 2 million housing figure had become a red herring that transformed into a lightning rod. Basically, people felt that 2 million houses would be put up right next door to them. That was the kind of irrational thinking behind it. There were concerns about who would be there, what sort of housing developments would go there, where people would shop, how people would get to work, where people would go to school. They were legitimate concerns, but there was, I agree with Chris Bishop, that 2 million suddenly became 2 million people will be next door to me. And he said the changes made yesterday were a response to public feedback. Hamish Firth, who you will have heard on this show before, who is most excellent, who is an urban planner, who was stolen by the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning, said the changes announced by the Minister yesterday made sense. “What we've got to be very careful when you suddenly throw 2 million out there is you create paper capacity, but you're going to create community backlash, you're going to create land value distortion, and you're probably not going to create any extra homes, especially against the backdrop of what was a very well written Auckland Unitary Plan. At the end of the day, targets don't build houses, infrastructure and feasibility do. And what you'll find right now is a lot of high rise buildings are very expensive to build, and they only get built, as you're starting to see, in very high end areas where the developer can achieve a very high end outcome. So just because you can build to 50 doesn't mean many of these sites will or may, and I think that some thought has to go into that.” Does this allay the fears you might have had about intensification of housing? Does the fact that the Government has listened show a government that is concerned and understands and appreciates the fears of well, many around the country, because what happens in Auckland quite often filters through to the rest of the country? That by being willing to listen, that shows, you know, a reasonable kind of a government. Labour was shouting about a u-turn and they've got it all wrong and they've had to backpedal. But a couple of texters yesterday, because I said to the Prime Minister yesterday, this just looks like you're looking after the voters in the leafy suburbs. And a couple of people from the leafy suburbs said it makes no sense to put people in areas where there is no transport hub, where there are no schools. And I think that's a perfectly valid point and I accept that. And when the PM said yesterday that you could pop up housing developments, you know, put 100 homes into an area without having to provide for transport, without having to provide for schools, there was no thought to it, you could just sell off the land and the council'd say, “Yeah, sure, you can turn that into a development," – that doesn't make sense either. There's got to be planning and forethought when you are putting in new homes. That's what will create a thriving community. Putting it around the transport hubs, great. Putting it in the CBD and the and the suburbs closest to the CBD, great. Watch new communities develop. Does that allay the fears that people had now? First home buyers, there have never been more of them right now, and that's pleasing. We never want to see the kind of rorting and speculation that we saw with housing prices, and an increase in supply will help mitigate that. And we don't want to see people stranded in the middle of nowhere in housing developments that have put a roof over their head but precious little else. So love to hear from you on this, especially if you had concerns at the time. Does this kind of tinkering with the plan, this kind of revisiting of the plan, ...
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    6 分