Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

The Cancer Society says yesterday was a momentous day but there's still a bit of uncertainty around Pharmac's funding boost.   The Government's committed $604 million, taken in advance from next year's Budget.   It will cover the funding for 54 new medicines, including 26 cancer treatments.   Cancer Society chief executive Rachael Hart told Mike Hosking that it's been an incredibly stressful time so the news brings some relief, but the uncertainty doesn't end.   She says cancer patients still don't know when the drugs will be funded, and when you're shelling out thousands of dollars a month, every month matters.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auckland will soon have Police on the beat 24/7.  Community Beat Teams will be based in major centres, with 63 officers in Auckland, 17 in Wellington and 10 in Christchurch.  It's the Police and Government's newest plan to crackdown on crime rates.  Police Minister Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking “We want to make sure that we have a safe city – not one that’s plagued with sleepers drug dealers and disorderly behaviour.”  Mitchell said “They’ve already increased foot patrols in the city – but now they’re increasing the number of dedicated police officers that will be out there and highly visible doing their work.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

King Charles will likely skip New Zealand during his upcoming tour to the South Pacific.  According to The Mirror, he and Queen Camilla are set to visit Australia and Samoa - but have dropped New Zealand.  The visit was never officially announced - just rumoured to be on the agenda.  UK Correspondent Gavin Grey told Mike Hosking “His Majesty is said to be like a caged tiger - desperate to do more, while undergoing chemotherapy and having the cancer diagnosis.”  Grey said “It’s been decided he’d be better off doing a ten-day trip.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I think we got enough out of Nicola Willis on the programme Friday to know that today, cabinet’s gonna sign off this money for Pharmac to solve the cancer problem.   The big outworking of this is - I hope they've learned their lesson.   This government has a couple of problems. The biggest one is the mess they inherited. We are going to spend at least the next year deep in it.   Two years of economic misery is a lot to ask of an electorate, and it's a lot to expect of a government to rectify.   Even on a good day - with plenty of intent and hard work - voters get grumpy with whoever’s in charge, whether it was their fault or not.   So given that, problem #2: self-inflicted wounds. The cancer promise was mad. It was mad because governments don't pick drugs.   That's what Pharmac is for. If you don't like Pharmac, fine, change it. But don't keep the same system while trying gerrymandering.   They also put out a list of thirteen drugs, some of which aren't even fit for purpose anymore.   And then, Problem #3: fa

The Blues dominated the Chiefs on Saturday night to take the 2024 Super Rugby title at Eden Park - beating the visitors 41-10.   Caleb Clarke scored a hattrick as Akira Ioane and AJ Lam got a try each.   It's the first time they've won the competition in more than two decades.  Newstalk ZB Sports Anchor, Andrew Alderson, told Mike Hosking “I thought it was going to be closer – but the Blues were so convincing.”  Alderson said “Ever since I’ve been working here, we’ve been talking about the Blues resurgence – and it’s finally come.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government’s expected to announce a $600 million boost in funding for Pharmac today.   If approved, it would bump the medicine budget up 40 percent - and cover the 13 cancer drugs the Government initially promised, and more.  Patient Voice Aotearoa Chair, Malcolm Mulholland, told Mike Hosking “From our perspective – this was always going to be the option that the government would land on.”  Mulholland said “The problem doesn’t go away – but we expect it will put a significant dent in Pharmac’s options for investment lists.”  LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour’s lead in the UK election is holding steady as the Tories deal with a scandal.  The party has admitted that their campaign head, Tony Lee, placed bets on the timing of the vote, allegedly just days before Sunak went public.  The BBC revealed that Tory candidate Laura Sanders, wife of Lee, is also being investigated by Britain’s Gambling Commission.  UK Correspondent Vincent McAviney told Mike Hosking that it’s a huge scandal that these people have seemingly used insider information to infringe the UK’s betting laws.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's officially out of a technical recession but may not be out of the woods.  Stats NZ figures show GDP rose 0.2% in the three months to March and the same amount for the year.  However, per capita GDP decreased by 0.3%.  Infometrics Chief Economist Brad Olsen told Mike Hosking that the numbers are not looking promising for Q2.  He said that some of the important pieces of the business economy haven’t been doing as well —construction, non-food manufacturing, professional services— which doesn’t bode well for general economic momentum.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tomorrow’s Super Rugby Final is set to be an intense match.  The Blues face off against the Chiefs at a sold-out Eden Park, kicking off just after 7pm.   ZB’s Rugby Commentator Elliott Smith told Mike Hosking that the Chiefs have come out of nowhere in the last couple weeks.  The Blues were expected to face the Hurricanes in the finals, the Chiefs entering the playoffs sitting fourth on the table.   He said they’ve stepped up not just one or two levels, but, to use a sporting cliché, they seem to have gone up and grown an extra leg, finding their feet and swept away the hurricanes on their home turf.  “It sets up an interesting final.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Northland business leader says the large power outage will significantly impact business.   Widespread power outages began yesterday morning when a transmission tower toppled at Glorit, northwest of Auckland.  NorthPower says supply has since been restored to the majority of Northland.  Top Energy is showing 61 customers in Bay of Islands still without but warns there's potential for further outages as they manage load restrictions.   North Chamber chief executive Darryn Fisher told Mike Hosking that the business impact isn't yet known, but he expects it'll be significant with economic head winds already at play.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Freight operators are thrilled they can deliver goods to Northland a lot faster from next week.  State Highway 1 over the Brynderwyns will reopen to two-way traffic from 11.59pm next Wednesday, just in time for Matariki weekend.  The Transport Agency says additional space has been created so crews can work on repairs without lengthy closures.  James Smith, General Manager of Policy and Advocacy at the National Road Carriers Association, told Mike Hosking that it's important to note that this repair only gives them another seven years of the Brynderwyns, and then the whole lots coming down.  He said that what they're saying is that while that fix is in place, let's get on with building the diversion as fast as they can, because if the previous government had continued with it, it would’ve been just about done by this point.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We'll know later today whether New Zealand was in a technical recession last financial quarter. Gross Domestic Product figures for the three months to March are released later this morning. ASB is forecasting a 0.1% rise. Senior economist Kim Mundy told Mike Hosking that they're not expecting another recession, but neither are they expecting strong growth. She says they think the second quarter will actually be worse. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a renewed call for Boeing to be prosecuted after being grilled in the US Senate over its recent safety issues.  US Justice officials have until July 7th to decide if it lays criminal charges.  Family members of the 346 victims of two separate crashes involving Boeing planes five years ago were also at the hearing.  US Correspondent Katherine Firkin told Mike Hosking that they're calling for criminal liability for the company, specifically the upper management.  She says they want Boeing to be fined almost US$25 billion, and for officials to move forward with criminal prosecution.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dolphin advocates are celebrating SailGP's decision to move next year's event from Christchurch.  SailGP announced the 2025 edition wouldn't return to Lyttelton Harbour, which has hosted for the last two years.  In this year's event, the first day of racing was controversially cancelled due to a Hector's Dolphin spotting.  Maui and Hector's Dolphin Defenders spokesperson Christine Rose told Mike Hosking that regulations are in place for anyone using boats in Hector's Dolphin habitats.  She says those rules have to apply for everyone else, especially when the scale of impacts is greater.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dozens of migrants have been rescued from a sinking ship in the Mediterranean.  German aid group RESQSHIP said it picked up 51 people from a sinking wooden boat, including two unconscious people, and found ten bodies trapped in the lower deck.  A second ship sank nearby, and 64 people total are still missing from the vessels.  Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey told Mike Hosking that the Mediterranean is the deadliest known migration route in the world.  He said that since 2014, over 23 thousand migrants have died or gone missing in its waters.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maintenance on ageing Interislander ferries is seen as a short-term solution by the Maritime Union.  Estimated annual maintenance costs to keep KiwiRail’s three ageing Interislander ferries running could almost double to $65 million by next year, and keeping the ferries afloat will be an “ongoing battle”.  A previous assessment of the fleet’s condition raised concerns about steel corrosion, metal getting weak and cracking, and prohibitive maintenance expenses.  The project to replace the fleet with two mega ferries was left dead in the water in December after overall costs, including new terminals and wharf upgrades, ballooned to almost $3 billion and the new Government refused to fund the blowout.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis has previously refused to commit to replacing the fleet by 2026, which is when the now-cancelled mega ferries were due to arrive.  Given the project’s history of delays, budget blowouts, and other problems, Willis said people were “dreaming” if they thought the mega ferries would be

There’s hopes an improved vaccine against an infectious disease running rife through New Zealand cattle could ease costs for farmers.  The Ministry for Primary Industries is backing a project which aims to develop a modified vaccine against Bovine Viral Diarrhoea.  It impacts about 80% of our dairy and beef herds and costs the industry more than $190 million each year.  Research lead John Moffat told Mike Hosking that it's one of the many threats farmers face.  He says the virus is one of the most important issues needing to be dealt with in the cattle industry.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A victims' advocate says new measures to address court backlogs are doable if all players in the system play their part.   The Chief District Court Judge has introduced maximum waiting times based on the seriousness of the crime.   For the least serious category —where there's no risk of prison— the aim is six months.   Independent victims' advocate Ruth Money told Mike Hosking that the courts are jammed and delayed.  She says people have their lives on hold waiting.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following his visit to New Zealand, the Chinese Premier has begun his visit to Australia.  Li Qiang was greeted by hundreds of supporters and protestors upon his arrival in Canberra on Sunday, receiving a ceremonial welcome at Parliament House.  Australian Correspondent Donna Demaio told Mike Hosking that there has been talks of better military communication, as well as extending the offering of visa-free travel to Australians.  She said that Albanese says the bilateral relationship is back on track.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's changed its tune on transgender people participating in community sports.   A policy in the New Zealand First-National Coalition agreement threatened to withhold public funding if sports bodies didn't separate trans athletes from grassroots competitions.   After feedback from Sport New Zealand, Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop says the government will now take a watching brief.   Save Women's Sport spokesperson Ro Edge told Mike Hosking that she thinks Bishop's been given inaccurate information.   She says a letter she received from Bishop wrongly stated Sport NZ's guidelines have exemptions for fairness and safety in female sport.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.