Henry Hutcheon: Upper Hutt grocery store owner on the Green Party's grocery policy

With the election only two months out, Finance Minister Nicola Willis joins Nick Mills in the studio this morning to talk the economy and Wellington issues. When will ordinary people feel the economy begin to recover? With the latest OCR hike, Willis shares her predictions for the financial future. On the local front, pressure is building on WCC Chief Infrastructure Officer Jenny Chetwynd who did not interview for the Moa Point review.  Willis called on Chetwynd to "front up" and take accountability.  “Apparently they provided written information, but you and I both know the lawyers would have written that.” She said while the failures are spread across departments, it is clear the Wellington City Council did not do enough.  Mills and Willis discussed the public servants strike yesterday, and according to the Minister PSA union members were encouraged to wear red yesterday in support. Plus, Willis shares her thoughts on the Green's "KiwiMart", and the MSD admin error. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tiaki Wai Board Chair Will Peet joins Nick Mills in the studio for an update after a hectic month with the Moa Point Review, first bills due and Commerce Commission oversight.  Mills questions Peet over the review and accountability. What has Tiaki Wai learnt so this will never happen again? Peet gives more detail on the new oversight from the Commerce Commission and refutes Mill's concern Tiaki Wai have no competition to regulate prices. They debate the price water meters, and Peet clarifies the councils calculate the bills - "we don't have billing system, we are completely reliant on the council's billing systems". LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are just over a week out from one of Wellington's favourite events, World of WearableArt, GLO! at TSB Arena. To celebrate, WOW CEO Meg Williams joins Nick Mills in the studio to share how the team are gearing up for another hit year, and she brings along a special treat. This year there's a new addition to the WOW calendar - Taste of WOW. Two new experiences will be held at the Intercontinental to share edible art inspired by WOW's collection of garments. Check out the details on the WOW website, to see and taste a new side to Wellington's beloved event.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EDITORIAL: I'd love to have this conversation this morning because I genuinely don't know where the line is anymore.  The Government's advice is that kids don't necessarily need to stay home just because they've got a cough, a headache, a runny nose or a blocked nose.   Holy hell, I think one of the four you stay home.  Not go to school with cough, a headache, a runny nose or a blocked nose.  Come on, that’s pretty tough.  If they haven't had a fever for 24 hours, they're eating and drinking normally, they're alert and capable of learning, then mild symptoms alone don't necessarily mean a day off school.  Now, I get that. We've got a terrible school attendance problem.  But haven't we learnt something from COVID?  I'm certainly more conscious now about sneezing, coughing, washing my hands and potentially giving something to somebody else an ailment.  And here's my confession: I don't feel 100 percent today.  I had a terrible night's sleep. I went to bed feeling a bit average.   Woke up in the middle of the night, been awake since about 1 or 2am feeling blocked up, headachy, generally a bit crap.  But here I am.  And you know what, after my coffee this morning I feel great.  Maybe that's generational. I'm probably old school about it.   Unless I'm really sick, I come to work. You push through it.  But is that actually the right thing to do?  Because I work with people who, at the slightest sniffle, they say Sorry, can't come in. The slightest headache, oh no they can’t come in.   And sometimes I think: Really? That's enough for a sick day?  Well, you’ve got 10 you may as well use them.  Then you've got the complete opposite.   Someone arrives looking absolutely dreadful.   Coughing, spluttering, clearly sick, and you think: Mate, I admire your commitment, but please go home because I don't want to get whatever you've got!  And that's the other side of this.  Going to work sick isn't necessarily heroic, you can infect five other people.  We've just come through an extraordinary flu season. It’s been pretty horrible.  Hospitals have been under enormous pressure and schools have had huge numbers of kids away.  Now I was at my dentist the other day and I said to her, I've got a pretty open, friendly relationship with her, I said, how's it been?   And she said “it's been terrible”,  I looked at her and I said, it takes me a month to get in to see you, how can it be terrible?  Everyone's always sick, cancellations, bang, bang, bang.  Now that affects a lot of people.  So I want to get into the middle ground here.  I don't want to sit on the fence, but I want you to determine, I want you to determine how sick you have to be to have a sick day.  Is it a temperature? Vomiting? A terrible cough? Not being able to get out of bed?  Tick, tick, tick, tick should be days off work or school.  Or is simply feeling lousy enough?  And parents — where's the line with your kids?  Now I was a pretty lenient parent, must admit.  “I don't feel like going to school today, dad, I'm not feeling great.”  Stay home, I’m okay with that.   Because surely we don't want a generation believing every sniffle means a day on the couch, day in front of Netflix, a day on the machines.   But equally, we don't want genuinely sick kids being sent into classrooms because we're obsessed with attendance figures.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this week's Business Panel, Nick was joined by Chamber of Commerce CEO Hayley Horan, and WellingtonNZ Chief Executive Mark Oldershaw.  They discussed how the region is tracking approaching summer time, and tackled issues such as attracting events, business investment, and the safety of city streets. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An independent supermarket owner says state-owned stores are feasible, with some work. The Green Party's pledging to tackle grocery prices by breaking up our duopoly with KiwiMart - costing 2.8 billion dollars.  It'd force Woolworths and Foodstuffs to divest 120 branches into public ownership, and two distribution centres.  Upper Hutt's Plenty Foods owner, Henry Hutcheon told Nick Mills it's a realistic idea, that'll need fine tuning. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Friday Faceoff and this week Nick Mills is joined by Regional Councillor Yadana Saw and political commentator and academic Dr Bryce Edwards to debate the biggest stories of the week. Our panel get heated over the Moa Point review, who's to blame and who's avoiding accountability?  After Nick's disagreement with Mayor Andrew Little over "exceptional circumstances" for the opportunity to stall Tiaki Wai, we hear what the panel think about the debate and the speed of setting up the entity.  And would water metres be worth it? Also, this week Mayor Little called out Deloitte, accusing them of using AI on the council report. Saw and Dr Edwards discuss the reliance on "the big four" consultants in the public sector. Plus, move on orders have been dulled down, should reckless driving resulting in death end with stricter punishment, and should Nick publish the footage of thieves from his restaurant. Then our guests give two hots of the week to end on a high. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's time for the third test between the All Blacks and the Springboks, and on Friday Sports Kick-off this week Nick, Coops and Piney talk the most importance test of the on the Greatest Rivalry tour. The crew analyse Rennie's team "rotation", his performance as a coach so far, and give their score predictions for this "game of chess". And is there still hope for the Wellington Lions for their upcoming game against Tasman? Have our panel been too harsh on the team? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Politics Thursday this week Nick Mills is joined by Labour's Ayesha Verrall and National's Tim Costley to debate the top political issues of the week. The highly anticipated Moa Point review is out, showing multiple organisations were at fault over many years. Nick asks our politicians - how can we trust the plant will improve in the future when no group wants to take accountability? They also discuss a review into changing careless/dangerous driving legislation. This comes as the parents of Jade Evans call for action after the preventable death of the 18-year-old. Plus, the panel debate Labour's new policy which would guarantee all nursing graduates a job, and should e-scooter/bikes require a license? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour MP for Ōhāriu Greg O'Connor delivered his valedictory speech to Parliament last night and joined Nick Mills this morning to reflect on his time as an MP and what comes next. Mills attempted to get the reason O'Connor will not return to parliament with Labour, with O'Connor suggesting it was relevant to his age.  When asked if a run for Council was in his future, O'Connor responded, "the answer does not yet exist".  O'Connor reflected on his proudest moments in his parliamentary career, including his time as Deputy Speaker of the House.  O'Connor would not say whether he regretted standing for Labour. "Some might say they became the right party when I stood for them Nick." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.