The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Nelson duo Broods have scored five finalists spots in the New Zealand Music Awards.

LISTEN ABOVE: Broods' Georgia Nott spoke to Mike Hosking about the nomination

The siblings, Georgia and Caleb Nott, are finalists for album of the year Tui award, single of the year, best group, best pop album and people's choice awards.

Their second album, Conscious was released in June and reached number 1 in the New Zealand charts and number 2 in Australia.

Singer-song writer Aaradhna and singer Maala are both finalists in four categories.

Kiwi favourites, Sol3 Mio is up for People's Choice Award and Best Group, despite them not releasing anything new.

The Hits radio host Sarah Gandy said the nomination isn't a surprise considering how popular they are.

But it's an extremely familiar face who takes perhaps the most prestigious award of the night.

Bic Runga's been announced the winner of this year's New Zealand Herald Legacy Award.

The awards will be held in Auckland on November 17, where Bic Runga will also be inducted into the NZ Music Hall of Fame.

Judith Collins is defending her comments blaming child poverty on bad parents.

The Police Minister yesterday blamed a lack of responsibility as being a factor.

Collins told Mike Hosking it's what she calls the usual suspects who are upset with her comments.

"Frankly, Mike, I am in the Papakura electorate, we have kids there who go without meals, we have many kids who do very well and parents who do their best.

"But when the inference is made to me that crime is crime because of child poverty, that is totally unfair to kids and to families who don't have a lot of money. And in this country nobody starves to death - we have obesity as one of our biggest health issues.

"What we do have is some kids miss out on caring parents and we have a lot of people who don't have a lot of money who are really good parents. And I really reject and will always reject the statement or inference that crime in this country is because of poverty. It's utter rubbish. It is about criminality.

"Some kids miss out on caring parents and we have a lot of people who don't have a lot of money who are really good parents, so I really reject and will always reject the statement that crime in this country is because of poverty."

Should the bank of Mum and Dad be replaced by the bank of Nana and Grandad? 

British housing minister Gavin Barwell thinks so - he's suggested older Britons should disinherit their children and leave their wealth to their grandchildren.

It was a radical suggestion to tackle inter-generational unfairness caused by rising house prices and mounting debt - similar to what Kiwi kids are facing.

New Zealand wills and estate company, Perpetual Guardian's Charlotte Lockhart said the law in New Zealand says in will must take care of you children in some form.

"The law puts limits on how people dispose of money through wills in New Zealand. If your mother left everything to your children, you could contest it because the law says she has to look after you."

Acclaimed American singer-songwriter Norah Jones joins Mike Hosking to discuss her latest album, Day Breaks.

CLICK HERE to win a trip to Milan to see Norah Jones live in concert!

LISTEN ABOVE: PM John Key speaks to Mike Hosking about voter apathy in local elections, child poverty and homelessness.

Prime Minister John Key has brushed off a critical United Nations report on child poverty, saying the government is on the job.

The UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child over the weekend said it was "deeply concerned" about this country's high child poverty rates.

It recommended a series of reforms for the government, including the adoption of a comprehensive children's code and the introduction of a national poverty definition.

But the government has already rejected the idea of such a measure.

Mr Key on Monday again repeated the stance that it isn't warranted.

"We don't agree with the UN when it says there should be one definition, because you'll spend forever arguing about what that one definition is," he told TVNZ's Breakfast programme

It was a complex issue and the government had lots of measures, he said.

The government was addressing the problem, and was the first in 43 years to raise benefits for households with children, he said.

"We are concerned and that's why we have taken the steps we have."

He cited the problem of rheumatic fever and the government's housing insulation programme.

"We've done a good job, I think, so far of reducing the number of children exposed to rheumatic fever."

The Greens had argued more than 300,000 children were in poverty, but the government believed only 60,000 to 100,000 were in extreme poverty.

"This is a government that's been very focused on the most at-risk kids. We want to do better for them."

Unicef says New Zealand has made some progress combating child poverty but the government had still not demonstrated that laws or policies are being designed with every child and all rights in mind.

The new mayor of Auckland Mayor believes the level of complacency when it comes to voting depends on age.

LISTEN ABOVE: Phil Goff and new Wellington Mayor Justin Lester speak to Mike Hosking

It comes after another drop in voter numbers for the Local Body Elections, with less than 40 percent of the country's eligible voters having their say.

Phil Goff told Mike Hosking it's very much age-related.

"If you're over 60, there's an 80 percent chance you went out to vote. If you're under 30 there's probably a 20 percent chance."

Mr Goff said he's going to work on making the job Council is doing relevant to young people.

Wellington's new mayor has plans to strengthen the city's relationship with central government.

Justin Lester has won by a clear margin over Nick Leggett, with Jo Coughlan third.

He said it's high time someone pushed for Wellington to be prioritised by central government.

"It's really important for Wellington we've got a strong relationship with central government, that we sort out the congestion at the Basin Reserve, that we get priorities here in Wellington, not just in other parts of the country."

An expert on mass hysteria says police have to investigate clown sightings - but judgement needs to be used.

Police were called to Discovery School in Porirua the other night when three boys playing basketball saw a man dressed as a clown lurking behind a building.

It follows a creepy clown epidemic sweeping the United States, where security has been increased at some schools after reports of clowns trying to lure kids into the woods.

Sociologist Robert Bartholomew teaches at Auckland's Botany Downs Secondary College.

He told Larry Williams police have to investigate things like clown, Big Foot and UFO sightings, but says every panic has its underlying fear.

"It's part of the greater social panic about the fear of strangers, terrorists, and living in an unpredictable world."

MORE: People dressed as clowns scaring members of the public, say police

Another step towards reducing rates of cervical cancer - the leading cause of cancer mortality in women.

Otago University researchers have pinpointed a protein known as E7 that causes high rates of the cancer from the HPV virus.

They've found that for 10-20 percent of people, E7 makes it much easier for them to contract cervical cancer, if the virus doesn't clear within 1-2 years.

Professor Merilyn Hibma told Larry Williams it's a significant find.

"What this is really about is the burden of disease in women who have already been exposed to the virus and have persisted in sections that may lead to cancer or to the cancer itself," she said.

Professor Hibma said the next step is to understand how the protein works.

"What we need to really understand is the fundamental, underlying mechanisms of how is this working. Then we have the potential to try and intervene with therapy."

LISTEN ABOVE: Professor Merilyn Hibma spoke with Larry Williams

Nervous times for many wannabe mayors and councillors with local body election results, just around the corner.

First results from around the country are expected after 2 tomorrow afternoon.

But a number of current mayors will be sitting back and enjoying the process after choosing to bow out of the race.

Two of those are Hamilton's Julie Hardaker and New Plymouth's Andrew Judd.

They've told Larry Williams explain why they're hanging up the mayoral chains.

"I was said a couple of terms was about it, I sort of have a view that these jobs - you come in, you do your contribution to your community and you move on," said Hardaker.

"I do want to get back to my legal career," she added.

Judd reflected on his tumultuous experience as the mayor of New Plymouth.

"Clearly we've been through a bit of a storm here in Taranaki around the question of representation for Maori, it pretty much divided our town so for me it was about trying to find some peace for that so we can move forward."

Chiefs of the big four Australian banks have spent the week defending their profits to an Australian parliamentary select committee, arguing their return on equity has slumped since the financial crisis.

The hearing follows the banks' failure to pass on the entire rates cuts by the Central Bank in August, fuelled by public concern over the provision of misleading financial advice, record profits and excessive fees.

Greg Smith from Fat Profits told Larry Williams the whole banking culture in Australia is under scrutiny.

"They've really been under the hammer I suppose, and yeah the returns to capital have been coming down in recent years, and those super-normal profits have been receeding, so let's see if that negates calls for a Royal Commission, which I think would be costly."