Teachers say they are shocked with how new curriculum material is being rolled out. Changes to NCEA Level One are being put in place before changes to Level Two and Three come into force in four years. However, a scathing survey by the Post Primary Teachers Association shows the vast majority are dissatisfied with the new material. Union President …

Real estate agents are among the businesses feeling more upbeat. The Herald's latest Mood of the Boardroom survey shows that business owners are more optimistic than pessimistic about their industries, as well as the local and global economy. Optimism varies across the different sectors, with the real estate industry topped the list with an average…

There was a headline in The Post: ‘Scathing survey results from teachers on NCEA level 1 roll out’. That was the headline. The story goes on: “A survey of teachers saw the vast majority indicate that the NCEA standards are poorly designed, changes have increased workloads, there's insufficient support from NZQA NCEA, and the provided exemplars ofte…

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…

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 …

The Hastings youth council has made a successful bid to get voting rights. Hastings District Council has narrowly voted in support of giving unelected youth councillors the ability to vote on council issues alongside other councillors at a committee level. Their mayor thinks giving youth councillors voting rights will bolster their future opportuni…

For the love of all that is holy - can we just introduce a capital gains tax and be done with it? I am so sick of it dominating the headlines. The issue is never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever going to go away, despite two Labour Prime Ministers ruling it out, despite Christopher Luxon ruling it out - it comes up. It's like a nagging child, “I …

Whatever happened to a ‘morning driver’ and a ‘thank you driver’ as you hopped on and off the bus? The violence and racial abuse of bus drivers and indeed their commuters, their passengers using public transport, has got so bad in recent times that the Bus and Coach Association is calling for more security officers to ride along on bus routes, for …

The big corporations have already started ordering their staff back into the office, now the Government’s had enough too. Nicola Willis made the announcement yesterday. While carefully defined, working from home arrangements can benefit workers and employers, she said, if the pendulum swings too far in favour of working from home, there are downsid…

Last week, Kerre was fortunate to MC the New Zealand Citrus Growers conference in Gisborne/Tai Rawhiti. There were many fantastic stories about how the region and growers have bounced back after Cyclone Gabrielle. However, there was also a warning on the horizon about a real danger to the industry – one that we can all help keep a watch on and prev…

It looks like there's going to be a referendum after all. Not the one that David Seymour wants, but a referendum on whether the four-year political term should be legislated. We've got three years at the moment. For years, people have been saying it's too short and now in National's coalition agreement with both ACT and NZ First, there are provisio…

A decision around extending political terms from three years to four may be put to voters in the next election. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the Government may put the matter to referendum in 2026. Luxon expressed confidence there is support for a four-year term across the House. University of Otago New Zealand Politics PhD candidate Micha…

There's an old saying that justice delayed is justice denied. It's a legal maxim that means if legal redress to an injured party is available, but it's not forthcoming in a timely fashion, that's effectively the same as having no remedy at all. I don't think it's entirely true - a conviction and a prison term would bring some relief for victims of …

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…

New Zealand's economy has barely escaped another technical recession. New Stats NZ figures show our Gross Domestic Product contracted 0.2% in the three months to June. Its revised figures downgrade the March quarter to show the economy grew just 0.1%, not the 0.2% initially estimated. Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann told John McDonald tha…

Who'd be a teacher? Not many of us, apparently - the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand says half as many Kiwis are signing up to become teachers than there were in 2010, and the number of students graduating as teachers has dropped by more than a third. The Deputy Chief Executive Clive Jones said if you look at the number of domestic student…

Let's talk politics, specifically the latest Taxpayers Union Curia poll. It showed a firming up of support for the Coalition Government and the parties that make that up, but Labour leader Chris Hipkins has lost support as preferred Prime Minister and the party is languishing. The party vote changes were all within the margin of error in this lates…

Chris Hipkins’ falling popularity could spell trouble for his party. The Labour leader's slumped more than six points to 12.6% in the preferred prime minister stakes of the latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll. National leader and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has taken a hit of 1.8 points - but is still leaps and bounds ahead on 32.7%. All up, th…

So the Government's 'Phones Away For The Day' regulations came into force in state schools and kura at the beginning of term two. Schools must ensure students do not use or access a phone while they're attending school, including during lunch time and breaks. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced the policy before the election last year and th…

ACT's leader says Government departments will have to prove race-based policies have value. Cabinet is circulating a memo to agencies with the instruction to prioritise public services on the basis of need, rather than ethnic identity. David Seymour says a discussion needs to be had. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

One of the emails that did come in for the Prime Minister caught my eye, and I thought, you know, this is not a silly idea. It might be. I think there's some merit and discussing it and I'd love to run it by you. It was from the Elephant Beetle Think Tank and a quick Google found that no such thing exists, probably a couple of people enjoying a gla…

The Prime Minister says he will bring the Opposition leader on board to hammer out a plan for infrastructure. The Government is promoting a message of bipartisanship as it sets its sights on designing a 30-year pipeline for delivering major projects. Christopher Luxon and his Transport, Infrastructure, and Housing Ministers visited New South Wales …

I could not have put it better than ACC Minister Matt Doocey did yesterday. He wants ACC to lift its own game before it starts raising levies. The Accident Compensation Corporation has just begun a one-month consultation on suggested rises of more than 7% on levies for motorists, and more than 4% for employers and earners. I mean everybody else is …

The number of New Zealanders with dementia is expected to double in the next 20 years, with social disadvantages playing a big role. Public Health Communication Centre's briefing reveals the risk of developing dementia is 60% higher for people living in the most deprived areas in New Zealand. Director of the Centre for Brain Research, Sir Richard F…

It won't be a particularly good morning for the people of the central North Island. There was a sense of inevitability really, though, with the announcement that Winstone International will be closing its two mills near Ohakune. For months now, Winstone have been working on trying to find a way to keep the mills open in the face of declining commod…

As much as I hate the gangs profiting from misery and tying up police time with their internecine feuds, the late amendment to the gangs bill, banning people from wearing their gang patches in their own homes, seems ludicrous for the reasons that have been given. The Gangs Bill, as it was tabled in July at the Justice Select Committee, will give po…

A reminder to construction workers to keep looking out for each other on World Suicide Prevention Day. MATES in Construction's recent survey finds 85% of workers reported good mental health last year, an improvement from previous years. But also last year, 80 workers died from suspected suicides, a jump from previous years. Dr Chris Bowden, MATES i…

This is one that has been discussed before and will no doubt be discussed again. Can pine forestry and livestock farming coexist in this country, or does one have to make way for the other? For the last decade, there have been major concerns about productive farmland, not only being converted into subdivisions, but being converted into forests. The…

A new white paper warns there will be a significant transition of sheep and beef farms into pine forestry unless current Government policies and economic signals are reconsidered. Called “Why Pines?”, the paper summarises the results of four recently completed research programmes, funded by Our Land and Water. The four research programmes used diff…

Well, that's one way, isn't it, to deal with your problematic pupil attendance record – do away with attendance requirements altogether. Hagley College in Christchurch will allow some of its students to work from home two days a week, in a trial to believed to be a New Zealand first. The college is offering 20 NCEA Level 2 students the chance to do…

A Christchurch school hopes to address falling attendance rates by allowing some students to work from home two days a week. The trial will be run by Hagley College, who will be offering 20 students the opportunity to do “hybrid learning”. Students will attend 16 hours of the core subjects —maths, science, and English— a week, with three days of in…

It’s been nearly a year since the Government changed hands, and Opposition Leader Chris Hipkins is back with Kerre Woodham to answer the hard-hitting questions. Hipkins is pointing his finger at the coalition for slowing infrastructure down because of a lack of bipartisanship. Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop has been urging parties to work acr…

We're going a little bit back to the future today because the annual report card into the grocery industry came out yesterday, and we were overrun with health talk. So we'll go back to that report and look at the ramifications for the industry, for the suppliers, and for us, the consumers. So according to the report, we are paying higher prices, sp…

A new recycling scheme has launched today. Developed by the Packaging Forum, it aims to capture and recycle the myriad of plastic and metal caps and lids that currently make their way to landfill. Approximately 16,000 tonnes of caps and lids are in circulation annually, the equivalent of approximately 900 trucks of waste. Collection boxes will be p…

There’s another option for those struggling to access a GP. General Practitioners Aotearoa have said the concept of a “family doctor” is dead as the sector is crushed by rising costs, shortages, and high demands. It can be difficult for people to get a consultation, with many clinics offering video calls instead of in-person consultations. Southern…

I did want to have a look at the state of our primary healthcare – this is something we've looked at before, and I have absolutely no doubt that we will look at again. I do tend to agree with the GP advocacy group, General Practitioners Aotearoa, that the concept of the family doctor is dead. You're not going to get a Dr Finlay's Casebook again any…

The coalition government has announced the next three years of transport projects, and it should come as no real surprise there's nothing for speed bumps. Simeon Brown: We're cutting the funding for speed bumps. We're, in fact, I call it an infestation of speed bumps that we've seen across our roads, whilst potholes have been remaining unfilled. So…

Ticket prices have increased exponentially over the years as retailers take advantage of dynamic pricing schemes. Otherwise known as surge pricing, dynamic pricing sets flexible prices that change depending on the demand. Many fans of Oasis wound up forking out double the advertised price of £148.50 (NZ$313.38) for the band’s reunion tour, spending…

I wanted to start with something that always generates a lot of chat and that is the inevitability about raising the age of eligibility for superannuation and, to a lesser extent the introduction of a capital gains tax. National under Bill English came very, very close to getting the age lifted to 67. It wouldn't have happened until 2040, but it wo…

Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop announced yesterday what National had promised all the way through the election campaign. The government's new National Infrastructure Agency will be established this year, unlocking access to more capital for infrastructure and strengthening the government's private finance and commercial capability. So, from t…

You could hear yesterday the sadness and the contempt and the disbelief in Inspector Tony Wakelin’s voice: “Look, can I just say I thought that was disgusting. It really was. I mean, I saw some of the footage, it was filmed before emergency services arrived. There were close-ups of people deceased in the van and injured lying on the road. As I say,…

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission's released a report showing how funding from the 2019 Wellbeing Budget has been spent. It shows 92% of the $1.9 billion has been spent or committed. There's around $163 million that is unspent, and almost $62 million was set aside for capital works. Chief Executive Karen Orsborn says they know there's a hi…

Yesterday the Prime Minister announced what we all know to be true, that we have an energy security crisis. We seem to have been having them for a while now, every winter there are concerns about brownouts. The Electricity Authority put it into plain English on their website - winter sees the highest demand for electricity, obviously, also when it'…

It was interesting seeing the Governments backed down on the Fast-track Approvals Bill. And that's the thing about being in government, isn't it? Well, really any position of authority. You will be criticized whatever you do. It's a truism that you cannot please all of the people all of the time, you just simply can't. So when the government announ…

Well, that was a bit of a shock wasn’t it. It seems everyone was a bit taken aback to hear that assistant coach Leon MacDonald would be leaving the All Black’s group. Less that 24 hours out from the All Blacks heading to South Africa for two Rugby Championship tests, New Zealand rugby confirmed MacDonald would not continue in the role. Fronting the…

Yesterday the Prime Minister spoke at the Local Government NZ (LGNZ) conference, warning councils to restrain their spending to the basics or run the risk of having your hand forced by central government. Apparently, the remarks got a frosty reception – possibly because no one likes being told off and possibly because since Covid all some councils …

I’m not a perfect parent. I’ve learnt a lot on the job, but one thing I got right was making the call that I was not the right person to teach our children to drive – for both my sake, my children’s sake, and other drivers' sake. It’s got nothing to do with my driving ability. It's to do with temperament and patience and bravery – all characteristi…

The learners licensing system is under the spotlight, with calls for New Zealand to adopt Australia's stricter approach. It comes after figures show young kiwis are responsible for a disproportionate number of road deaths. The AA wants to double the learners licence period, implement supervised driving hours, and have tougher penalties for young dr…

To use a Love Island-ism, it looks like Chris Luxon appears to have been a slow burn on the nation since being sworn in as our Prime Minister in late November – but if the latest 1News-Verian poll is anything to go by, we appear to be warming to the man and his leadership. The poll shows numbers for the governing parties remained largely unchanged,…

The New Zealand Blood Service is calling out for desperately needed plasma. The demand for so called 'liquid gold' grows by 10 percent each year, with supply not keeping up. Based on the demand, they’ll need at least 150 more people to start donating regularly. Transfusion Medicine Specialist Richard Charlewood told Francesca Rudkin the problem is …