The United States and Iran have reached a deal to end their war and will hold an official signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland.

Sky News Washington Correspondent Jonathan Kearsley joins Kerre Woodham to discuss the details of the deal, and what the conditions for each side are. 

LISTEN ABOVE

The United States and Iran have reached a deal to end their war and will hold an official signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland.
Sky News Washington Correspondent Jonathan Kearsley joins Kerre Woodham to discuss the details of the deal, and what the conditions for each side are.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

Join Kerre Woodham one of New Zealand’s best loved personalities as she dishes up a bold, sharp and energetic show Monday to Friday 9am-12md on Newstalk ZB. News, opinion, analysis, lifestyle and entertainment – we’ve got your morning listening covered.

Kerre Woodham Mornings Podcast

Jonathan Kearsley: Sky News Washington Correspondent discusses details of peace agreement

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/8b9cf737-de61-416e-9a67-b46a0003e93f/transcript

Now we were saying this last week and it hasn't gone away and it's not going to go away as the different parties announce their policies in the lead up to the election. How do we know what's true and what's not when it comes to costings?

When it comes to millions and billions of dollars, how do we keep tabs on it? We can't. Nicola Willis says there's an $18.2 billion gaping hole between Labour's promises, which are reinstating the pay equity scheme, billions, the future fund and the cap on public transport, and the money available to fund those policy promises.

Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds says, Really? Willis should take a long hard look at her own accounts and explain the $56 billion hole in the roads of national significance." And so back round we go again.

As I mentioned last week, how are we to know when you've got Nicola Willis accusing the former CEO of Kāinga Ora of bidding $10 million more than the next commercial bid on a property back in the bad old days? He says that is an outright lie, it was $2 million more, which, you know, is $1.5 million too much. And then it turns out after, you know, a rule is put over the numbers, it was $8 million. So how are we to know?

I thought we had Treasury with a sharpened pencil doing the adding up to see if the promises can be paid for, and we kind of do, but I'm with economist Cameron Bagrie who told Early Edition this morning he's in favour of an independent fiscal institution.

Am I in favour of an independent watchdog to go through party political costings? I think that's a step too far. Am I in favour of what's called an independent fiscal institution which sort of sits aside the New Zealand Treasury, such as the Congressional Budget Office in the United States? The answer is yes. You know, I think we need to see a lot more sunlight, a lot more focus on the fiscal accounts, particularly issues such as population ageing and whether things such as New Zealand superannuation and exploding healthcare expenditure is going to be sustainable. Now, they will be sustainable, but the caveat is someone's going to have to pay. You know, the problem at the moment is that we tend to write out the cheques forgetting at some stage someone's going to have to pay and odds are it will be the younger generation down the track.

Well exactly, because the promises made today without the money to fund them are the bills the young people have to pay tomorrow and enough's enough, they've got quite enough on their plate.

It's a bit of a conundrum really because both National and Labour want to be calling the shots in the next government. They know that most voters are motivated by self interest, those that aren't tribal. They say, "You want my vote? Sure, what's in it for me?"

So the parties have to make promises even though they're constrained by the fact that we're in dire straits. And so we need to know that they are promises that can be kept for those of us that care and hopefully, hopefully there are more and more voters that do care.

Treasury can provide pre election policy costings but recognised political parties in Parliament are the ones who request the independent costings and analyses. It's not, you know, a public totting up as the policies come out. And rather than evaluating policies in a vacuum, Treasury and other relevant public service agencies assess the financial implications of the policies to ensure consistency and reliability.

But as a voter, I think we really need a body that can independently audit each party's promise as they go and see whether they're pie in the sky or doable. And it will only really be the main parties we need to worry about. Minor parties can make all sorts of outlandish promises and then say, Oh soz, the senior coalition partner put the kybosh on them. We really wanted every household in the country to have $1,000 per week but National Labour wouldn't let us do it, so sorry about that."

So it's only really National and Labour you need to have a long hard look at. But I would really like to see an independent authority with a head for figures do the sums and explain their workings in layman's terms so every voter will know what we're in for.

LISTEN ABOVE

Now we were saying this last week and it hasn't gone away and it's not going to go away as the different parties announce their policies in the lead up to the election. How do we know what's true and what's not when it comes to costings?
When it comes to millions and billions of dollars, how do we keep tabs on it? We can't. Nicola Willis says there's an $18.2 billion gaping hole between Labour's promises, which are reinstating the pay equity scheme, billions, the future fund and the cap on public transport, and the money available to fund those policy promises.
Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds says, Really? Willis should take a long hard look at her own accounts and explain the $56 billion hole in the roads of national significance." And so back round we go again.
As I mentioned last week, how are we to know when you've got Nicola Willis accusing the former CEO of Kāinga Ora of bidding $10 million more than the next commercial bid on a property back in the bad old days? He says that is an outright lie, it was $2 million more, which, you know, is $1.5 million too much. And then it turns out after, you know, a rule is put over the numbers, it was $8 million. So how are we to know?
I thought we had Treasury with a sharpened pencil doing the adding up to see if the promises can be paid for, and we kind of do, but I'm with economist Cameron Bagrie who told Early Edition this morning he's in favour of an independent fiscal institution.
Am I in favour of an independent watchdog to go through party political costings? I think that's a step too far. Am I in favour of what's called an independent fiscal institution which sort of sits aside the New Zealand Treasury, such as the Congressional Budget Office in the United States? The answer is yes. You know, I think we need to see a lot more sunlight, a lot more focus on the fiscal accounts, particularly issues such as population ageing and whether things such as New Zealand superannuation and exploding healthcare expenditure is going to be sustainable. Now, they will be sustainable, but the caveat is someone's going to have to pay. You know, the problem at the moment is that we tend to write out the cheques forgetting at some stage someone's going to have to pay and odds are it will be the younger generation down the track.
Well exactly, because the promises made today without the money to fund them are the bills the young people have to pay tomorrow and enough's enough, they've got quite enough on their plate.
It's a bit of a conundrum really because both National and Labour want to be calling the shots in the next government. They know that most voters are motivated by self interest, those that aren't tribal. They say, "You want my vote? Sure, what's in it for me?"
So the parties have to make promises even though they're constrained by the fact that we're in dire straits. And so we need to know that they are promises that can be kept for those of us that care and hopefully, hopefully there are more and more voters that do care.
Treasury can provide pre election policy costings but recognised political parties in Parliament are the ones who request the independent costings and analyses. It's not, you know, a public totting up as the policies come out. And rather than evaluating policies in a vacuum, Treasury and other relevant public service agencies assess the financial implications of the policies to ensure consistency and reliability.
But as a voter, I think we really need a body that can independently audit each party's promise as they go and see whether they're pie in the sky or doable. And it will only really be the main parties we need to worry about. Minor parties can make all sorts of outlandish promises and then say, Oh soz, the senior coalition partner put the kybosh on them. We really wanted every household in the country to have $1,000 per week but National Labour wouldn't let us do it, so sorry about that."
So it's only really National and Labour you need to have a long hard look at. But I would really like to see an independent authority with a head for figures do the sums and explain their workings in layman's terms so every voter will know what we're in for.
LISTEN ABOVE

Kerre Woodham:  How do we know what's true and what's not when it comes to costings?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/8410586c-132b-4da0-b6cd-b46a0007ce09/transcript

Men’s Health Week is underway, with a warning one in four Kiwi men won’t live long enough to get the pension.

The campaign says raising the retirement age ignores big health gaps—especially for Māori and Pasifika men—and is urging guys to start making small changes to improve their health.

Men's Health Week Director Mark Sainsbury joins Kerre Woodham to discuss the campaign. 

LISTEN ABOVE

Men’s Health Week is underway, with a warning one in four Kiwi men won’t live long enough to get the pension.
The campaign says raising the retirement age ignores big health gaps—especially for Māori and Pasifika men—and is urging guys to start making small changes to improve their health.
Men's Health Week Director Mark Sainsbury joins Kerre Woodham to discuss the campaign.&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

Mark Sainsbury: Men's Health Week Director joins to discuss the initiative

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/96e104de-ff02-4c1e-a510-b46a0005f8f4/transcript

Our meth use continues to break records. According to the latest wastewater drug test, methamphetamine use is up 15% since the last quarter. And wastewater testing is pretty accurate. Consumption of methamphetamine and MDMA both increased. MDMA use does have a seasonal component though, they said, with increases during the summer music festival period from January to March. People pop a pill while they're at the festivals and then pretty much get on with their lives.  

But meth use, up 15% since the last quarter, and my question is why? Why? Why are people taking up this pernicious drug when there is so much harm associated with it? Do they think that all the stories they hear, all the stats you read or hear, all the pearl-clutching is just middle class, middle New Zealand moral panic? Surely not. Meth use seems to be across all socioeconomic groups, but even on TikTok, Instagram, you've got former users who are saying how much better their lives are now that they've got free of the clutches of the drug and the gangs who control it, that they can't believe that they let themselves get hooked, that they were so low that they wanted to die and now they're out of it. 

Why are people still picking up the pipe and giving it a go? To a certain extent, I can understand how people become sellers and pushers of the drug. They don't actually want to work to make a buck. They see a way of making easy dollars, far more than they could ever earn in their small town with their small skills, and the lure of the money is just too great to withstand the overtures from gang members. So selling it, I can understand how you would get into that. You don't want to work, you don't want to work hard, you haven't got the ability to earn the sort of money that you get from selling drugs, I sell drugs. But why become a user? 

There was much hoohah yesterday with a major drugs bust in Northland. Operation Phoenix has dismantled an operation manufacturing and supplying meth in remote parts of the Far North – it's a huge problem up there. 14 people have been arrested with links to the Tribesmen and Head Hunters. Police say the gangs were getting single mums addicted to meth with the intent of turning them into dealers of the drug. So give it to them for free, get them addicted, get them to pay off the debt in the time-honoured way that desperate women pay off debts, get them becoming dealers, and off you go. Nothing new here.  

Kids from private schools have also been targeted for decades. Good looking boys hang around the girls' schools, good looking girls hang around the boys' schools, they give them drugs for free. They know that even if these kids don't have money, they know people who do, and off you go. So yay Operation Phoenix for busting this gang operation, but even the police know that meth use won't drop. They said in the press conference that it's a long game they're playing, it's not about one off jobs. It will have an impact on this particular gang for a certain amount of time. But why? Why are people using? 

Sir Paul Holmes, bless him, once he saw the damage that drugs could do within his family, he was on an absolute rampage against the drugs and the pushers of the drugs. We've all known the dangers of it, the dangers of being associated with it after all the publicity, the horror stories from former addicts. Why are people still picking up the pipe? I get that the world is a tough place if you feel like you can't get out from under the crushing weight of bills and debt and trying to be somebody, trying to do better, trying to escape a dreadful childhood, you just want to turn off. But nowhere have I ever seen somebody say, well, that meth use really helped, that turned my life around for the better, boy do I feel like a better, more whole human being as a result of using meth. Nobody. Not one person. There are other drugs, there are legal drugs. Alcohol does terrible, terrible harm too, but at least you're not in the claws of the gangs. If you need a drug to switch off, there are other far less damaging drugs than meth. Why? Why? 

I'd love to hear from those who might have been there, done that, who've got family members. And if you are trying to get off or you have managed to, how hard is it to get away from the gangs, to settle your debts to your dealer and walk away, and then how hard is it to get off the stuff? Because it's only by getting rid of the users that you get rid of the sellers and the pushers. If the gangs don't see a market in it, they won't be selling it, they'll move on to something else. It's the dumb shmucks who allow themselves to get hooked that ensure that the gangs keep earning good money, that they keep riding the flash bikes that you've bought them. Your money's funded their lifestyle while you're living in squalid, desperate poverty. The gangs are travelling the world in first class, the gang leaders, laughing all the way to their crooked accountant. 

Our meth use continues to break records. According to the latest wastewater drug test, methamphetamine use is up 15% since the last quarter. And wastewater testing is pretty accurate. Consumption of methamphetamine and MDMA both increased. MDMA use does have a seasonal component though, they said, with increases during the summer music festival period from January to March. People pop a pill while they're at the festivals and then pretty much get on with their lives. &nbsp;
But meth use, up 15% since the last quarter, and my question is why? Why? Why are people taking up this pernicious drug when there is so much harm associated with it? Do they think that all the stories they hear, all the stats you read or hear, all the pearl-clutching is just middle class, middle New Zealand moral panic? Surely not. Meth use seems to be across all socioeconomic groups, but even on TikTok, Instagram, you've got former users who are saying how much better their lives are now that they've got free of the clutches of the drug and the gangs who control it, that they can't believe that they let themselves get hooked, that they were so low that they wanted to die and now they're out of it.&nbsp;
Why are people still picking up the pipe and giving it a go? To a certain extent, I can understand how people become sellers and pushers of the drug. They don't actually want to work to make a buck. They see a way of making easy dollars, far more than they could ever earn in their small town with their small skills, and the lure of the money is just too great to withstand the overtures from gang members. So selling it, I can understand how you would get into that. You don't want to work, you don't want to work hard, you haven't got the ability to earn the sort of money that you get from selling drugs, I sell drugs. But why become a user?&nbsp;
There was much hoohah yesterday with a major drugs bust in Northland. Operation Phoenix has dismantled an operation manufacturing and supplying meth in remote parts of the Far North – it's a huge problem up there. 14 people have been arrested with links to the Tribesmen and Head Hunters. Police say the gangs were getting single mums addicted to meth with the intent of turning them into dealers of the drug. So give it to them for free, get them addicted, get them to pay off the debt in the time-honoured way that desperate women pay off debts, get them becoming dealers, and off you go. Nothing new here. &nbsp;
Kids from private schools have also been targeted for decades. Good looking boys hang around the girls' schools, good looking girls hang around the boys' schools, they give them drugs for free. They know that even if these kids don't have money, they know people who do, and off you go. So yay Operation Phoenix for busting this gang operation, but even the police know that meth use won't drop. They said in the press conference that it's a long game they're playing, it's not about one off jobs. It will have an impact on this particular gang for a certain amount of time. But why? Why are people using?&nbsp;
Sir Paul Holmes, bless him, once he saw the damage that drugs could do within his family, he was on an absolute rampage against the drugs and the pushers of the drugs. We've all known the dangers of it, the dangers of being associated with it after all the publicity, the horror stories from former addicts. Why are people still picking up the pipe? I get that the world is a tough place if you feel like you can't get out from under the crushing weight of bills and debt and trying to be somebody, trying to do better, trying to escape a dreadful childhood, you just want to turn off. But nowhere have I ever seen somebody say, well, that meth use really helped, that turned my life around for the better, boy do I feel like a better, more whole human being as a result of using meth. Nobody. Not one person. There are other drugs, there are legal drugs. Alcohol does terrible, terrible harm too, but at least you're not in the claws of the gangs. If you need a drug to switch off, there are other far less damaging drugs than meth. Why? Why?&nbsp;
I'd love to hear from those who might have been there, done that, who've got family members. And if you are trying to get off or you have managed to, how hard is it to get away from the gangs, to settle your debts to your dealer and walk away, and then how hard is it to get off the stuff? Because it's only by getting rid of the users that you get rid of the sellers and the pushers. If the gangs don't see a market in it, they won't be selling it, they'll move on to something else. It's the dumb shmucks who allow themselves to get hooked that ensure that the gangs keep earning good money, that they keep riding the flash bikes that you've bought them. Your money's funded their lifestyle while you're living in squalid, desperate poverty. The gangs are travelling the world in first class, the gang leaders, laughing all the way to their crooked accountant.&nbsp;

Kerre Woodham: Why are people still using meth?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/91725bd5-0025-4bb5-a249-b467000f2c2e/transcript

Jonathan Kearsley: Sky News Washington Correspondent discusses details of peace agreement

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