Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

There are concerns the culture of school rugby is distorting the values it's meant to promote.
Christchurch Boys' High School's principal is raising flags about the increasingly serious way First XV rugby is treated by schools, particularly regarding recruitment, escalating expenditure, and the culture that develops when winning becomes too important.
He believes that winning and playing for their school should matter, but a win-at-all-costs mentality shouldn't be prioritised over the values that team sport teaches.
Principal Nic Hill told Kerre Woodham winning matters, but so does disappointment, as you can't have the great elation without disappointment.
He says kids get so much out of sport, and the most they get is from the great adults they have with them, but adults are the ones who keep ruining it.
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New research by Women's Refuge has shown that more women are disclosing that they are victims of family violence at work, and they are making the most of the domestic violence leave that was introduced by the Labour Government eight years ago. Under the legislation, those affected by family violence are entitled to up to 10 days of paid leave per year on top of their other leave, and they can request flexible working arrangements. The report found that the numbers using paid family violence leave rose from 9% to almost 34% since the Victims' Protection Act came into force, and that more women reported that their workplace response made them safer, not just feel safer, but they were safer. This increased from 40% to 62%.
The workplaces that were clued up in their responses were offering victims of family violence practical safety, such as secure car parks and not allowing the perpetrator access to the workplace or the building. I can't imagine what it must be like trying to escape from a partner that refuses to accept that the relationship is over, and not simply that, but who wants to punish you for daring to go against their wishes. And they want to punish you personally, and worse, your children, for daring to defy them. These people —and it's predominantly men who cause the most damage— are narcissistic, manipulative, sly. Some are using sophisticated technology to track down their victims who have left the relationships. They'll hide GPS trackers in kids' belongings, the vehicle, other personal items, and using everyday apps to monitor the family's whereabouts so they can track them down and punish them. They're violent and they're dangerous.
About nine women a year are killed by men for daring to leave them. Not for these men, the "oh well, we tried, you know, it's a shame, we loved each other once, but let's go and live our best lives separately and do what we can for the children." Oh no. It's not even "if I can't have you, no one else can." It's the fact that the woman dared to defy him, dared to say no, and that's what puts her and her children at risk. The most dangerous time for a woman is when she leaves. That's when they're most at risk. It's great that women feel they can disclose to their employer that they're unsafe, that they're leaving. It's great that employers are responding and saying "this leave is here for you." But it's a huge responsibility for the employer, isn't it? I would feel an enormous responsibility to my employee and to my other employees if she came to me saying her life was at risk, she needed to pack up and get out and get out quickly, she wouldn't be at work for a couple of days while she tried to find a safe place. Could the employer please be aware that the perp might come looking for her? It's not a workplace health and safety issue, but all of a sudden, it actually is.
Remember that case in Māngere Bridge? A man murdered the coworker of his ex-wife. He went round to the workplace because she'd dared to leave him with a knife, tried to stab her, and when her brave coworker intervened, he fatally stabbed her. When it comes to the workplace leave that is available to those who are suffering from domestic violence, how important has it been if you are the victim of that violence to be able to take that leave from work, to be able to use that time to pack up and try to find a safe place? Do you ever truly feel safe unless the perpetrator is behind bars? Do they suddenly have a come to Jesus moment and think, "you know what? maybe killing her isn't the best option. Maybe killing the children isn't the best option. Maybe I let them live their own lives and get on with mine, try to find some purpose and meaning in my own life." Because I can't imagine that would happen very often. At what point do you feel safe?
And as an employer, if you have an employee come to you and say "Look, I feel really unsafe, I have to leave this relationship," it'd be more than just giving them leave, wouldn't it? Saying "Alright then, I'll sign you off for five days, good luck." I imagine it would be a whole lot more responsibility than that. So more power to those employers who have been able to do what they can to provide a safe workplace for their employee and the other employees, but it opens a whole can of worms, doesn't it? The fact that more women are using this domestic violence leave to be able to set themselves up in a safe place is fantastic. If it saves a life, it's well, well worth it. But what is the responsibility that the employers feel? I'd love to hear from you.
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Some Kiwis are at risk of losing their sight as the backlog for public eye appointments grows.
More than 36 thousand New Zealanders are waiting longer than recommended for their appointments, with more than 125 thousand ophthalmology follow-ups outstanding nationwide.
Health NZ says its working to reduce the wait times caused by an ageing population, staff shortages, and overwhelmed services.
Greenlane Clinical Centre's Clinical Director of Ophthalmology, Sarah Welch told Kerre Woodham they're doing everything they can to try improve things.
She says they're potentially starting to turn a corner, but with the number of people waiting, it's not going to happen tomorrow or the next day – it'll take a year or so.
And that, Welch says, probably shows we need more capacity within ophthalmology across the country.
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Well, I don't know what we're going to do... Good news! How on earth do you make a talkback show out of good news? That's not what we're here for. Indeed, it is very good news, though. The post-Covid collapse in education has halted, and the equity gap is narrowing as disadvantaged students improve at higher rates than their richer peers. That's according to New Zealand's 2025 PISA, Programme for International Student Assessment, results, which is a benchmark for 15-year-olds in the OECD in science, maths, and reading. Oh yes, sure, there are legitimate qualifiers. Results in other countries fell, so it was easier for us to catch up and look good. And no, thank you media, we're not back to the 2009 levels, which is when our schools delivered truly world class results in the PISAs, but come on, this is fantastic news.
The Minister for Education, Erica Stanford, believes, as indeed do I, as indeed do many of you, that your socioeconomic circumstances should not dictate your academic achievement. That a world class education should be available to every child in New Zealand, not just those who can afford private schools and tutoring. Education should be a way up, and it should be a way out for those who do not want to live the same lives as their parents. Understandably, Erica Stanford is very, very pleased with the results.
ES: To see these kids who are in the bottom quartile who have gained in science a year, in maths three terms, and in reading two terms or six months, that is beyond what we could have expected. And the reason I came to politics and to education was to close the equity gap that has been stubborn for decades, and this is the first time we've seen a turnaround. One of the things I put this down to is actually kids turning up to school.
MH: I was going to say, right. So just being at school helps.
ES: Well, if you look back to 2022 when we last did PISA, in term two our attendance rate was about 39% 39.6 In 2026 in term two, 64.3 Still a very long way to go, but when kids are turning up to school and our message has been over the last three years every single day counts, this is what happens, and it matters the most for the kids at the bottom who need education to change their lives.
You cannot doubt the Education Minister's passion for her portfolio. You also cannot doubt the results that she is getting. I don't know what the teachers' unions are going to do now. How can they complain because our kids are succeeding? And in large part, it is thanks to very, very good teachers who were always motivated, who were always professional, but who had a dog of a curriculum under Labour to deal with. I don't know what the principals who said, "Oh, you can't test children, you know, these give a false result," were talking about. No, they don't. They give an international benchmark. They let us know how we're doing compared to the rest of the world.
For a very, very long time, we were world leaders. And for those of us who grew up with an education in the 70s and early 80s—I'm talking the 1970s and 1980s, not the 1870s and the 1880s, just for clarity—it was a world-class education. Erica Stanford's been trying to ensure that no matter if you're in Whangārei or you're at school in Bluff, the core subjects will be the same. There'll be localised differences, there'll be regional differences, but the basics, the standard stuff, will be the same, and that's as it was. We turned out world-class scientists from tiny country schools because we had a great curriculum and brilliant teachers.
We've always had good teachers, but they've been dealing with absolute politically motivated, ideologically unsound curricula over the last couple of decades. All parents want is their children to achieve their potential, to have a chance to succeed. I went to school in Pukekohe, Tokoroa, Turangi, and Waihi, and I could foot it with anybody from around the world education-wise. You were allowed to explore what you wanted to explore. I wanted to learn French, for heaven's sake, when I was in Turangi. I found an old, old French dictionary, and French wasn't offered at Turangi Primary, but a teacher found another teacher within the school that was willing to sit with me, show me it wasn't just words, it was sounds that made another language.
The number of parents I spoke to who could see their children going backwards under Labour's curriculum – the money that was spent on that, the people who were employed to come up with all sorts of add-ons instead of understanding that the basics have to be there, and then the children will find the add-ons. If they know the basics, they can go exploring all by themselves. And the number of you who rang me having to find money you simply did not have to pay for extra tuition because you could see your kids were failing, you could see your kids were falling behind, you didn't want them to be left behind, so you did it. You got them educated when it is the responsibility of state schools to do that. I've seen a difference with the grandkids. Huge difference. It's so important. This used to be the way out for migrant families since forever ago. It used to be the way out for children who'd had to leave school at 12 or 13, who slogged away, made a life, but then wanted more for their own kids, wanted more choices for their own children. Education was it. I would love to hear from you on this, especially if you are somebody who's seen the difference in your home, especially if you're somebody who was having to find that money for the extra tuition because you were not going to let your kids down. The Government might have been letting the kids down, but you weren't going to let your own children down. And employers, I want to know if you're starting to see the first signs of a truly educated workforce.
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Reassurances that life is not over after using methamphetamine as wastewater testing revealed record high consumption.
The Herald's obtained a justice briefing showing almost two million doses were detected in testing in a single week in April.
That equates to about $40 million in social harm and is 21% above the average amount consumed over the 12 months prior.
Whakaronga Whanau Recovery Hub CEO Rhonda Zielinski told Kerre Woodham people absolutely can get their lives back after using meth.
She says people tend to dwell on the bad side and think there's no coming back, but there are people in her life that are living testaments of overcoming meth addiction.
Zielinski says that from personal experience, there seems to be more success in getting people off meth, than off alcohol.
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