Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast Newstalk ZB

You do not have to go back very far to find a news story about a New Zealand Prime Minister having his or her trip disrupted by a shonky 757.

The Prime Minister's trip to Japan, with an accompanying trade delegation, was disrupted over the weekend after the Air Force 757 broke down, again. And it was this time last year, to within a week, that the plane ferrying Chris Hipkins to China set off on its flight with a backup plane flying in reserve, in case the first one broke down.

Remember that? ACT leader David Seymour said, at the time, the extra emissions were the equivalent of driving a Ford Ranger the distance of a trip to the moon three times. I don't know if that's accurate, might have been hyperbole, but knowing David Seymour, he would have crunched the numbers and done the sums.

But it was literally this time last year that Chris Hipkins set off to China with a backup plane. Which was needed. Former prime ministers Dame Jacinda Ardern, Sir John Key - they've also become stuck when they were flying around the world after 757’s and the Hercules aircraft broke down.

In 2022, Ardern was left stranded in Antarctica overnight after the Herc broke down and she managed to hitchhike home on an Italian plane from McMurdo Sound travelling to Christchurch.

A 757 broke down on Ardern’s official visit to the US in June 2023, while she also took a commercial flight home from Melbourne in 2019 after another engineering issue. The then Defence Minister Peeni Henare and a 30 strong delegation were stuck in the Solomons in August 2022. In 2019, former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters needed that second RNZAF plane to pick him up after breaking down in Vanuatu.

And a trade mission to India, headed by Key in 2016, was cut short after a 757 was grounded in Townsville, forcing the Prime Minister and his entourage to stay the night in far North Queensland while they waited for the AA or the aviation equivalent of the AA. “We've broken down. We're stuck on the side of the road. Can you come and get us? Sure. Give us 24. We'll be there.” I mean, seriously.

The miracle is that anybody gets into the bloody things. Would you? I mean, bless the RNZAF engineers for getting the dear old girls up off the ground and into the air again. But holy heck, it's all bound together with gaffer tape and rubber bands and #8 wire and the like.

When Chris Luxon was opposition leader, he criticised Chris Hipkins' use of a backup plane on environmental grounds - and also said it speaks to concerns about the reliability of those aircraft breaking down as we've seen in past times. 

Well he might be singing another song entirely after this. And this was after saying to Mike only last Tuesday: ‘ Oh, no, I've got every confidence, every confidence.’ Wrong.

So back in 2023, when we were talking about Hipkins' trip to China and taking two planes just in case, Chris Hipkins office came back to us last year and said using RNZAF aircraft is cheaper than a commercial charter and has other benefits such as security assurance, and the ability to travel point to point to reduce time away from home and additional costs such as hotels which would be required if there were stopovers.

Well, I think we can pretty much rule out the cost factor, can't we? Using an RNZAF charter does not appear to be cheaper - and there have been numerous instances where it hasn't been cheaper, where they've needed either two planes to fly or they've needed to get in commercial charters or you've had to say to your Italian mates - 'can I please get a lift back to New Zealand?'

I mean, how embarrassing. So I think we can rule out the cost factor. Let's just take a chartered aircraft that can get from point A to point B. I'm just stunned anyone gets on them.

The other point they made was that the 757s are around 30 years old and nearing the end of their economic lives and due for replacement between 2028 and 2030. Bring it forward.

They've got to be replaced anyway. I get th

A report by the Ministerial Advisory Group reviewing English and maths learning, has recommended annual checkpoint tests for students.

It recommends children in Years 4-6 learn handwriting, including cursive handwriting, and study the "conventions of text structure and style".

Children would also be encouraged to write by hand as much as possible in their first three years at school.

The Write Lesson managing director Belinda Blick-Duggan says more schools have turned their back on teaching handwriting than ever.

"Something like handwriting can be so settling and consistent - and actually a really good routine for a lot of those children."

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General consensus our Defence Force plane is embarrassing New Zealand.

The Prime Minister and his delegation were stranded in Papua New Guinea - en route to Japan - after two fuses blew while the 757 was refuelling.

Chris Luxon took a commercial flight to Japan - and Air New Zealand's diverting a flight to collect his 52-strong delegation, which has taken a slow trip to Brisbane in the 757.

ZB political correspondent Barry Soper says flying on the Air Force plane gives an important signal on trade visits.

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So it turns out we suck at saving for retirement.   

We’re really good at ticking the box and signing up for KiwiSaver, go us! The Retirement Commission said yesterday that 90% of people getting paid a wage or salary have signed up to KiwiSaver, and around 80% of self-employed people have. However, when it comes to self-employed people – I wonder how many are just putting in the minimal amount of $521.33 to get the government’s contribution, and that’s it. 

So, we’re pretty good at deciding to jump on board, but we’re not very good at saving what we will need for retirement. 

A recent study called ‘Money and You: The Perception Gap’ found that 56% of New Zealanders, an estimated 2.8 million, aged 18 or over aren’t financially prepared for retirement, increasing to 67% among women. The study also discovered that our understanding of financial concepts isn't as good as we think it is, and we don’t know how much we would need to retire. In other words, I think they are gently telling us that just ticking that box and feeling like we’re being proactive isn’t enough to make sure we can live the retirement we want.   

Yesterday, the Retirement Commission released a comprehensive analysis on how KiwiSaver is working and have made 15 recommendations to improve this scheme. They too acknowledge we all need to be saving more for our retirement but know it is challenging against the current backdrop of high inflation and cost of living crisis.   

There is talk of making the scheme compulsory – but the numbers signed up to the scheme would indicate we’re pretty keen to be involved already.   

However, one of the main changes the Retirement Commission would like to see put in place is a higher default contribution rate of at least 4%, with employers required to match that level or higher. The current default rate is 3% but you can choose to contribute 3, 4, 6, 8, or 10%. Apparently 42% of New Zealanders contribute only the minimum of 3%.   

The default rate hasn’t changed in 17 years since KiwSaver began, and we’re a long way behind Australia and other developed countries when it comes to being prepared for retirement.   

I like it being voluntary – I like that you can make your own decisions depending on what is going on in your life. Are you using extra savings to pay off a mortgage, meet a new higher interest rate, or making investments on your own which you can access when you like? Maybe you just can’t manage any more than 3% at present.   

But for as much as a I like the freedom this system gives us, we’re not likely to pay more unless we have to, so legislating to raise the default setting for both employees and employers isn’t a bad idea, as long as it’s done sensibly.   

Sam Stubbs, founder of KiwiSaver Scheme Simplicity spoke to Mike Hosking about the Retirement Commissioner wanting to increase contribution rates by individuals and employers. 

“Well she wants the contributions to rise 1%, but if you look at Aussie, you know, they’re paying 12%. So the Aussies have got five times our population, but they’ve got 35 times our savings. So we are saving, but we’re not saving nearly enough. But she has to introduce this idea gradually because, you know, everyone’s going through a cost of living crisis right now, right. You know, if she was to say that KiwiSaver contributions were going to go from 3 to 12%, everybody would laugh. But that, that’s possible, it just takes a long time. I think we should do it about half a percent a year and take an awful long time to get there, but we have to go there.” 

So keen to hear your thoughts and as Sam Stubbs said, we have to go there, and I think we have to do it in a really common sense way for both employers and employees. Half a percent. Maybe you do that year on year until it rises, 2, 4, or six? Sounds like the way to go. 

We’re not saving enough. I’m not so sure we need to make it compulsory. I

Fieldays is in full flow at Mystery Creek in Hamilton and there’s a bit for farmers to celebrate this week. Or at least sigh with relief over.   

On Tuesday, the Government announced agriculture would not be included in the Emissions Trading Scheme, and the climate change initiative He Waka Eke Noa would be disestablished and replaced with a new initiative, the Pastoral Sector Group.   

And yesterday the Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced an inquiry into banking competition with a focus on rural banking.   

There are three terms of reference for the inquiry which will be undertaken by the Finance and Expenditure and Primary Production Committees and they are to examine:  

1. The state of competition in the banking sector, including business and rural lending  

2. Barriers preventing further competition in the sector, and   

3. Any possible impact of the regulatory environment on competition and efficient access to lending.  

Nicola Willis believes this will benefit us all and assured us on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this will bring about change. 

“Change needs to happen, and change will happen in the banking sector in New Zealand so that New Zealanders are better served. And I know that the banks are powerful but democracy is more powerful, and this inquiry is going to get to the bottom of these issues.” 

But back to the farmers.   

Also on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning was ACT MP and former President of Federated Farmers Andrew Hoggard, who explained why farmers are dissatisfied with banks at the moment. 

“There is definitely a mood of dissatisfaction amongst farmers around how the banks are working with them, and I guess the margins in particular have really... The additional margins over house lending has really hit a lot of farmers, particularly with where interest rates are at the moment. So from a lot of people, the main concern they’re telling us is, you know, interest rates are the key thing that’s creating the hurt right now.” 

So we’ve got this massive increase in the cost of interest charges. Last year an on-farm inflation survey by Beef + Lamb New Zealand found interest costs for sheep and beef farmers increased 86.5% in the year to March. According to the survey, this has been driven by floating interest rates which doubled over that time while fixed, and overdraft interest rates increased by about 50%.  

I think we can all understand how stressful and challenging that would be and the flow on effects to towns and communities that rely on the primary sector to keep them afloat.   

There’s also been a change in behaviour from banks. It’s become harder for farmers to access lending as banks are reportedly more risk adverse and restricted under new regulatory rules from the Reserve Bank, and these are issues that hopefully the inquiry will define and present solutions to.   

One of the other issues is around customer service. There is no doubt that being able to have a conversation with a bank representative who understands your business is a must. Having that one-on-one relationship with one person who understands your needs, your community, and where you’re going is vital. But I would argue, you don’t need a branch to have that relationship.  

It might just be a representative in your area, it might be a relationship over Zoom —companies like One New Zealand are working hard to make sure we have 100% coverage around the country— so maybe farmers, like the rest of us, have to move with the times and understand that relationship with your banker might look a bit different.   

So, if you are a farmer, how important is this inquiry and the issues you’re facing regarding banking? Is it an issue across the board? What impact is banking having on your confidence?   

I am crossing my fingers we will see some action out of this inquiry —call me an optimist or naïve— but I think we’d all like to see more competition in

This week is Men’s Health Week, aiming to cull the number of Kiwi men dying from preventable illnesses. 

They encourage men to start with the small steps that can enable them to turn their health issues around. 

On their website they say that ‘living longer, more enjoyable lives takes a little work, but we’re all up for it’. 

Scotty ‘Sumo’ Stevenson is an Ambassador for Men’s Health Week and told Francesca Rudkin that after his wife died of cancer a few years ago, he’s very aware of how important it is for his children to make sure he’s around for as long as he can be. 

He’s also coming from a background in sports broadcasting, and thinks that while we look at athletes as role models, but don’t tend to take the same consideration for our health as they do. 

“We forget that while we might not be competing for Olympic gold medals, we can still do our best every day to get our exercise in and to make sure that if we’re not feeling 100%, then we go and do something about that.” 

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