The firefighters union says workers don't want to strike, but Fire and Emergency needs to take their concerns seriously.

Professional firefighters will walk off the job for an hour at midday on October 17th –protesting pay, staffing, and ageing equipment.

The previous offer from Fire and Emergency was 5.1% over three years, made in June.

Further bargaining is set for the end of next week.

Professional Firefighters’ Union National Secretary Wattie Watson told Kerre Woodham in reality the offer would’ve been over five years, not three, as they haven’t had a pay rise since 2023, meaning it would actually be less than 5.1%.

She says it’s a sinking lid kind of scenario, the longer it takes to ratify the pay increase, the less it is.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 11,500 allied health staff —the physios, the social workers, the health assistants— will strike on the 23rd of October, later this month. The same day as tens of thousands of primary school teachers and workers go on strike. And a week before, well, six days before, firefighters across New Zealand are set to strike over a dispute about pay and conditions (tell me there's a centre-right government in office without telling me). Although, bless, the firefighters are already striking for an hour because of public safety concerns.

New Zealand has about 13,500 firefighters – 2000 of the Professional Firefighters Union members are striking, and more than 11,000 volunteers, mostly in rural and smaller areas, will continue to support their communities and respond as needed.

We've covered a lot of the grievances of the health and education workers who are striking, but we haven't touched on the fireys – why are they striking? Thank you for asking, I can tell you. The NZPFU, the Professional Firefighters Union, said firefighters hadn't received a pay increase since July 2023. And they wanted progress in pay, staffing, and resources. They say the lack of staff, working excessive overtime, and the dire state of appliances are all factors in the level and intensity of mental health issues for members.

Furthermore, they say, Fire and Emergency New Zealand has refused to provide funding for health, well-being, and fitness activities, despite the wealth of evidence that demonstrates the link between healthy living and better mental health. I'm kind of with you on the pay and the appliances – paying for the Pilates memberships, not so much. Fire and Emergency and the Professional Firefighters Union had been negotiating since July 24. Fire and Emergency says the offer of a 5.1% pay increase over the next three years was sustainable, balances cost of living pressures being faced by individuals, alongside the fiscal pressure being faced by Fire and Emergency.

So, at the moment, everybody's grumpy. Everybody wants things to get better. Everybody's sick of doing it tough. Everybody wants more money. Block of cheese in the groceries would be nice once a week.

In the case of the firefighters, I think their complaints about the dire state of appliances is fair enough. You've got to have the equipment to do your job. And when you've got the kind of numptiness that they're facing, you can understand the exasperation. The country's newest fire trucks can't be used at rescues because they're too small to fit all the life-saving gear they need to carry. Shades of the Tasmanian ferry that was built that couldn't fit the terminal – doesn't need anybody to get the tape measure out first?

Firefighters say managers have even talked about cutting holes in them to make room for the gear. Fire and Emergency, in a massive piece of understatement, says yes, well, the situation's not ideal, but we're working on a solution.

Fire and Emergency spent millions of dollars and five years shipping the 28 medium-sized fire trucks to Britain to get them fitted out. They've now returned, and the two trial runs at packing gear on them last month did not go well. According to the firefighters who put the refitted appliances through their paces, the trucks would be a lot better than the existing trucks if all they were doing was pumping water. They're very good at pumping water – better than the old trucks. But 11 of the 28 trucks are meant to be rescue tenders equipped with a broad range of gear for fire rescues, car crashes, and storms.

Firefighters are so much more than firefighters. They are attending all sorts of rescues, and they need the equipment to keep members of the public safe and themselves safe. I do not think this is unreasonable. And imagine how much the person is paid who made the decision to send the fire appliances to Britain to get them fitted out, who didn't get the tape measure. You know, I'd be a bit brassed off if I was a firefighter too. On that alone, I'd say give the guys and girls a pay bump.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The state of central cities is a big issue as local body elections loom.

Both Wellington and Auckland’s CBDs are suffering, with the percentage of empty retail spaces jumping.

In Auckland, major retailers such as DFS Galleria and Smith & Caughey have left or closed their doors.

So how do you rejuvenate a city?

Leeann Watson, CEO of Business Canterbury, and Viv Beck, CEO of Heart of the City, joined Kerre Woodham to discuss the topic.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, a great deal of expectation and excitement. We all gathered around the wireless to listen to the 8am announcement about reform of our electricity and power sector and, wow, a lot of hullabaloo and hype over a meh kind of announcement.

This government has announced there is money to invest in critical energy infrastructure. Woot. Good to know. We used to criticise the previous government for its announcement of announcements, but by crikey, Nicola Willis has picked up that ball and she's run with it. There was a lot of talk in the press release and at the press conference – reliable and affordable energy is key to New Zealand's prosperity. Well, yeah. Energy powers every part of our economy. We know.

But what's happening right now is a gas shortage that is driving New Zealand manufacturers out of business. What's happening right now is that people are really struggling to pay power bills that go up year on year. And what have the Finance Minister and the Energy Minister told us? That they wish to correct the perception that the Government won't invest in the electricity sector. Cool. I thought exactly what Mike said this morning when he was talking to Simon Watts: why didn't you just ring the bosses at Genesis, Mercury, and Meridian and tell them the chequebook was open? Not hold a massive press conference to tell us really very little.

There was also an announcement that there's going to be a procurement process started for an LNG import facility, which may or may not be around in two years. Again, announcement of an announcement.

The only thing that really stands out for me looking at it is developing new rules to ensure the lack of dry year backup supply, which has a massive ongoing effect on the economy, doesn't happen again. But again, no detail on how that will happen or what energy source will be used as backup. Simon Watts was talking up the government's package on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning.

“We've got a pretty significant renewable pipeline. I don't doubt that. But am I seeing that flow through in terms of the price of energy? No. And that is what is hitting hard Kiwi households and Kiwi businesses. That's the issue that we need to deal with and this package of announcements and actions, taken as one, is some of the most significant bundle of energy market package announcements that we've seen in a long time. It's going to need to be seen as one package, not as individual parts, but together, we are confident that it'll make a significant impact.”

Really, Simon, is it so significant? If you're a manufacturer wondering how on earth you're going to stay in business given the lack of gas and the soaring cost of energy, what will this announcement do for you? If you're trying to juggle the family's household budget and looking at a power bill of $500 bucks, are you going to feel particularly grateful that Nicola Willis and Simon Watts have announced what?

According to Meridian, and we'll be talking to Meridian CEO a little later, it's bold. ‘We acknowledge the government's commitment to help the country move forward. It will add greater momentum to our development pipeline and building new generation’. But we know that with the fast tracking of resource consent.

This government really does need to stop being so underwhelming in terms of how they report to voters. They get excited about the dry policy wonk stuff and your average voter, not so much.

I like a lot of what they're doing. I really do. And if you think about it, you probably do too. I like the health targets. I like the focus of the new curriculum in the schools. I like the improvement in school attendance. I like the banning of gang patches, the fast tracking of projects, Chris Bishop's plan for improving housing supply. Compare that to the pie in the sky of 100,000 Kiwi Build homes. I like the refocusing of Kāinga Ora on its core job of providing homes for people who need them. There is a lot that I like.

But the thing is they score own goals with press conferences like this, with all the bells and whistles, that don't actually deliver anything of substance for the people who cast their votes.

The problem with the last government is they were all jazz hands and no substance, no delivery. I never thought I'd say this, but the problem with this lot is that they need a bit more stardust. They're solid, they're working hard. They have hard data on what is working policy-wise and what is not. But people just aren't feeling it. There aren't enough good vibes. We need more cowbell, baby, and we need it soon.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's opted against a significant energy shake-up -- rejecting calls to re-nationalise or split up the big gentailers.

Instead, it'll offer the Crown-controlled companies more capital to invest in generation projects.

It will also establish a Liquified Natural Gas import facility, give the Electricity Authority greater power, and speed up consenting renewable energy projects.

Meridian is supportive of the announcement, calling it bold.

CEO Mike Roan told Kerre Woodham the affordability of electricity is a challenge that’s mitigated by the investments made into new generation.

He says the Government is trying to bolster those investments to bring stability and certainty back to the market.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At last, a triumph of common sense over well-meaning legislation designed to protect every life, everywhere, no matter how much the cost. The “every sperm is sacred” approach to lawmaking has been in place for about eight years, where every life matters, no matter the cost to business, to taxpayers, to everybody else.

The Government announced yesterday that earthquake strengthening legislation will only capture buildings deemed to pose a genuine risk to human life in medium and high seismic zones. The Building and Construction Minister, Chris Penk, said the current new building standard used by engineers was too broad, too inconsistent, and will be scrapped. The rules were brought in under 2017 changes following the Canterbury earthquakes and the subsequent Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Penk said the current system is well-intentioned, but had led to an overwhelming financial burden on building owners. He said the price of strengthening buildings often ran from hundreds of thousands of dollars to well into the millions. He said, as a result, these buildings are often left empty and become derelict, making them even more dangerous to bystanders in an earthquake.

Buildings need to be lived in. You have to have people in homes and commercial buildings, otherwise they become derelict very, very quickly. Cities and regions, he says, are losing the businesses, churches, town halls, and classrooms that are essential to their local economies and community spirit. And you'll have seen it everywhere and every town, no matter how big or small. Beautiful buildings that have been left abandoned, for all intents and purposes, because their owners cannot afford to modernise them to the level that has been required under legislation, without any kind of purpose, to what point? It has to be at this level. Why? Because we say so. Is it because it's especially risky? No, these are the rules.

So what they've done now is say, okay, well, let's look at where there is danger, and buildings must be fortified there. Where there is a limited risk —you can never rule out risk altogether, otherwise you might as well stop living— the changes don't have to be made to such an extent. Auckland, Northland, and the Chatham Islands will be made exempt from earthquake rules due to low seismic risk. And that makes sense. Auckland is at risk of a volcanic eruption, not earthquakes. That's not the main risk. It's not to say they won't happen – we're not called the Shaky Isles for nothing. But the risk isn't considered as high as that of a volcanic eruption.

The response to the overhaul has been positive. Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says the news was a huge win for her city. She said the number of earthquake-prone buildings in Wellington will roughly halve, saving building owners a billion dollars. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown also welcomed the changes. He too points out the risk of an earthquake for Auckland and Northland is less than that of a volcanic eruption. He said we can't expect Aucklanders to be lumped with unnecessary costs, especially now. The previous requirements were expensive and unnecessary. He said it's been a very stressful time, and these changes will be a game changer for example, for apartment owners who will now be spared the cost and financial pain of making upgrades that didn't make sense.

And I get it. After you've had a tragic loss of life, and a loss of life that could have been prevented had proper building standards been followed, had more been done —it's a crisis in the country— the pain is very, very real. You see the numbers of grieving families in a country as small as ours, you don't want that to happen again. But what we've seen is Governments overreact. We saw that with the health and safety legislation as well after Cave Creek. There is always going to be a certain amount of risk in life, but you can't legislate away all of that risk.

There have to be sensible protocols in place, really sensible. Is have to be dotted, Ts crossed. You have to make sure that the job is done properly.

But a massive overreaction to a country's heartfelt pain causes more pain in the long term. Where there is risk, try and mitigate it. Where there are buildings that are deemed to be dangerous, retrofit them, fix them, or tear them down. But in areas of the country where there is minimal risk —still risk, nobody's ruling it out— then you don't have to conform to the most strict legislation.

If you take all risk out of life, then you're not really living.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While it looks to be a solid plan at first glance, there’s at least one major flaw in Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan for Gaza.

If agreed to by Hamas, the war would end immediately, with Israeli troops withdrawing and Hamas releasing all hostages.

No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and Israel won't occupy or annex the territory.

The US President would lead a new transitional government, made up of Palestinians and experts like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

But International Geopolitical Analyst Geoffrey Miller told Kerre Woodham that along with the fact that only Israel has been involved in the negotiation of this deal, there is no timeline outlined.

He says the deal mentions providing a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, but there’s no timeline as to how it would be achieved, so it makes you wonder if it’s been added in to make it sound good.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.