Josie joined Ryan Bridge on Newstalk ZB's Huddle to discuss the power to detain shoplifters, and whether the form er PM should appear at the Covid-19 inquiry,

Josie joined Heather du Plessis-Allan and Trish Sherson on Newstalk ZB's Huddle to discuss Healthy Homes standards, set to kick in on 1 July. The Government has released a string of new law and order announcements, including tougher penalties for 'coward punches' . And Ikea's consent conditions included cultural monitoring, karakia and other cultural ceremonies with mana whenua among other things.

Josie argues that the aid sector is on a burning platform, but the urgency to eradicate extreme poverty and make the world a safer place remains.

We’re in a post-aid world now. About 50% of global aid budgets, US$100 billion, could be cut. It’s not coming back. Those of us who work for aid charities have to live in this new world and adapt, or end up Blockbuster in the Netflix era. I deplore Elon Musk’s chainsaw massacre of USAID, but he is not a Lone Ranger. Eight out of 10 EU countries also cut their government aid budgets, including nice countries like Norway and Sweden. Before the cuts, aid charities were getting food, water and medicine to people who would otherwise die. In the 1980s, about 40% of the world lived in extreme poverty. Today it’s closer to 11%. The historic improvement is one of the world’s greatest achievements. It’s mostly down to trade, but aid played a part by funding health and education. The death rate of children under 5 has reduced by 75% in a few decades. 40% of that comes from vaccines. HIV programmes have reduced the virus globally by three-quarters. Polio has almost been eradicated.


Read her column here.

Josie joined Heather du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB's Huddle to discuss.

I’m writing this column in the spring sun of Paris. Europeans unprompted, talk of war. Russian attacks were so close to the Polish border this week, Nato was forced to scramble its war planes. That this is the largest conflict in Europe since World War II hovers over every cafe conversation.

In February the Danish Defense Intelligence Service said Russia could be ready to wage a “large-scale war in Europe within five years”. The Germans warned the same in January. In April, Europeans were openly fretting about Russia’s military build up along its border with Norway and Finland.

German security officials say Russia’s war economy is generating more output than is required solely for operations in Ukraine. European intelligence assessments have been wrong before, but how many times in a row do we think tails will come up?

Now, one of the foremost trans-Atlantic security experts, Fiona Hill, warns that Russia is already at war with Britain, and the US is no longer a reliable ally. Russia is menacing the UK with poisonings, assassinations, sabotage operations, cyber-attacks, and sensors around critical pipelines and undersea cables.

What do we do?

Josie's column about the precarious global instability is here.