The country's getting up to scratch on teaching Kiwis how to manage possible lone wolf attackers in crowded spaces.

Police are promoting the mantra 'escape, hide, tell' to show the public what to do during an attack.

The Crowded Places Strategy includes information on how to detect possible attackers, and how to conduct security audits.

Auckland's Newmarket Business Association CEO Mark Knoff-Thomas told Kerre Woodham there have been situations where people freeze or start filming, which isn’t ideal.

He says they want to make sure people are armed and educated with the best knowledge possible, as even if it’s not applicable in New Zealand, it may come in useful overseas.

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Our economy's been shrinking much faster than economists thought.

Latest data just out from Stats NZ shows GDP fell 0.9% in the three months to June.

That follows six months of growth, after six months of contraction.

Infometrics Chief Forecaster Gareth Kiernan told Kerre Woodham it's far worse than any economists were expecting.

He says this number is completely "off the charts", as far as they're concerned.

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Shane Jones' warning was clear and concise. As of 2029, if no new gas fields are found or an alternative energy source is not found, there will be no gas available for industrial, commercial, and domestic use.

“In simple terms, what's going to happen in 2029-2030 in the event that we either don't import gas, or we don't find a major find, is that the demand will still be there, but the supply will be below the demand. And there'll be a fraction of gas available, but for those big users, and quite frankly, the energy companies use quite a lot of gas and they can pay because they hand it on to you and I, that's what the crisis will be. There will be too many businesses in New Zealand still dependent on gas and the supply of the gas will be below their need for gas.”

Shane Jones, as other commentators have noted, does talk a big game and is prone to hyperbole to make his point – should have been a journo. Gas NZ Chief Executive Jeffrey Clarke says homes and small businesses accounted for less than 13% of gas demand last year and are likely to have gas for longer than 2029, if only because other bigger customers will find alternatives, and because domestic and small business are profitable.

But there's no doubt that the brutal reality is that we don't have as much gas in our gas fields as we thought we did, and that existing fields are going to run out sooner rather than later. Worse, according to an explainer story in The Post, gas industry sources believe that the aging Maui gas field will require expensive maintenance work in the middle of next year, raising the very real possibility that its overseas operator OMV could simply look at the bill for the maintenance, look at the life of the gas field and say, you know what? Don't worry about it. We'll shut it up early. Close the field.

And some businesses won't survive that. In Shane Jones' report to Winston Peters, where he made the dire warnings, Jones says without profound action, the die is cast. There'll be a rust belt decline in New Zealand with a widening gap in societal well-being.

We're already seeing it. Carter Holt Harvey shuttering its Eves Valley sawmill near Nelson, Kinleith closing and Tokoroa, and now Carter Holt Harvey closing the plywood plant there. Timaru's meatworks gone, Winston Pulp closing its factory in Ōhakune - small town New Zealand is once again fighting for its very survival.

What are the options? What are the alternatives?

According to Gas NZ, homes and small businesses account for less than 13% of gas demand. It doesn't mean that they are going to be really struggling to find alternatives to keep themselves going. The small manufacturing plants, we've already seen it, it's the cost of energy that is closing them, the manufacturing plants around New Zealand.

Can you find alternatives to gas before 2029? If you are living in a small town where your major employer is owned by a multinational, the answer is they'll probably just shut up shop, as we've seen happen in other small towns. They'll look at the cost of finding an alternative energy source and go you know what? No.

If you're a small town locally owned business, you might think differently. There might be more skin in the game for you. You might be willing to make a huge capital investment in resourcing the power supply to keep the plant open. But ultimately, once you do the sums on the back of an envelope, it just comes down to whether you can afford to or not.

And in that case, what is the future of small-town New Zealand? Is the die cast? Are we looking at a rust belt decline and a widening gap in societal well-being unless we can find alternative fuel or simply another way of keeping small town New Zealand alive?

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Of the many, many insane, ideologically driven policies I have heard come from government departments over the years, this has got to be one of the most bonkers.

There have been times over the years, when I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, when I've fantasised about ending up in hospital. Nothing life-changing or dramatic, just a nice routine operation, five days in a lovely quiet ward. Crisp white sheets, view out to Cornwall Park, the scent of lush green grass carried by the gentle zephyrs of spring through the open window. Matron running the ward with a firm, but benevolent gloved hand. I can sleep and rest and be protected from the rigours of reality in a nurturing, safe environment.

Oh, how those days have gone. If they ever existed, I think they may well be some kind of Enid Blyton-esque type fantasy I got through reading old-fashioned books.

I am really, really struggling to see how 24/7 visitors' access to hospitals is going to benefit anyone. Anyone. Not the patients, not the security staff, certainly not the nursing staff.

On the face of it, it looks like a desperate attempt to shore up staff deficiencies in the wards. They say it's not. Health New Zealand says the implementation of the new patient and whānau family support policy is not driven by staffing levels, but is about giving patients the choice of having whānau support when they needed it.

National Chief Nurse Nadine Gray says the policy is patient-centred and driven by whānau voice. That's what the official party line is.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation says the union supports full access for families to be involved in patients' care, which can be very important in some cultures, but they reckon the current push is more a response to the increasing need for patient watches and the lack of staff to do them, and I think they're probably on the money.

Patient watches are needed if a vulnerable patient needs monitoring to ensure they don't hurt themselves or interfere with treatment, and are usually carried out by trained healthcare assistants.

But because there's a chronic shortage of healthcare assistants, family members, say the Nurses Organisation, are being expected to take up the role.

Now, decision-makers might think that the general public will understand that the 24/7 access is ideally for those with children in hospital or family members with dementia or patients who have specific needs. But that is not what the general public will hear. You'll get 20 people camped around a bed with takeaways for five days, while an adult son waits for an operation for his leg fracture. It'll be hoots-wah-hey and off. Party central.

The Health New Zealand Chief Executive says under the policy, whānau will be supported to be with patients 24/7 (24/7! have we even asked the patients if they want the whānau there for 24/7?) where appropriate, working alongside nursing and maternity teams to make this possible. And here's the absolute banger for me - while respecting the privacy and recovery of others. How? Unless you're in a Portacabin 20 miles away from me on the hospital grounds, how is my privacy going to be respected?

How, when the only thing preventing me from becoming a member of my neighbour's extended family is a flimsy nylon curtain?

The nursing staff and security can't be expected to manage the number of visitors, supposed to be one or two per person. That doesn't work now. How are they going to be expected to manage the behaviour of the visitors, the transgressions of the visitors?

We are living in a culture of self, where individuals prioritise their own needs. Their own wants and desires over the need of the collective good of others.

Bloody hell, if there was ever an incentive to lace up the walking shoes and say no to the doughnut, it's this. The thought of ending up in a hospital ward now, my vision has long been shattered. In an ward with three other people is bad enough. The thought of ending up in a ward with three other people and their partners, and their kids, and their parents, and their siblings' children ... euthanise me now. Don't worry about fixing my broken arm. No, pass. Chop it off. No, I'll have to stay in hospital. I'll just live with it. I'll have a gimpy arm for the rest of my life.

Of the many, many insane, ideologically driven policies I have heard come from government departments over the years, this has got to be one of the most bonkers.

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Health NZ is planning to remove restrictions on visiting hours at hospitals.

The change would allow family members to visit patients at any hour of the day, a move that has led to mixed responses.

Health NZ National Chief Nurse Nadine Gray told Kerre Woodham that the change is part of a patient support policy.

‘It’s part of the code of patients’ rights to have support.’

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