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Nine To Noon for Tuesday 12 February 2019

 

 

09:05 Firearms licensing shake-up prompts vetting concerns

A proposed restructure of firearms licensing nationwide could see 280 community based casual vettors, many of them retired police officers, out of a job. They'll be replaced by fewer field based officers and a central admin hub.  Currently every person applying for a gun licence gets a thorough background check by one of these casual vettors, including a face to face visit and meetings with close family and friends. Some community based vettors say the integrity of the system is at risk.

rifle

Photo: 123rf

09:20 How to prepare Auckland for 2 million people

Auckland is at a turning point and faces critical choices about its growth and how to pay for it, according to a new book by Owen Gill. But those choices will require bold thinking about how to raise capital, what governance structure might work and how urban development can proceed. Owen Gill is with us to talk about his proposals, along with local government law expert Dr Kenneth Palmer and Auckland Business Forum project coordinator Tony Garnier.

Te Atatu peninsula, left in 1951 before the Northwestern motorway was constructed and right, in 2018. Photo credits: WA-29674-G, Whites Aviation, Alexander Turnbull Library. Bruce Clark, Incredible Images

Te Atatu peninsula, left in 1951 before the Northwestern motorway was constructed and right, in 2018. Photo: Alexander Turnbull Library, Incredible Images

09:45 Race in America, spotlight on Virginia

US correspondent Susan Milligan looks broadly at racial prejudice in America and how the Governor of Virginia and a state Attorney General, who have admitted to wearing blackface, have reinforced that the roots of racism run very deep.

10:05  The computer says YES!  Logic, algorithms & society

Mathematician Rod Downey.

Mathematician Rod Downey. Photo: Victoria University of Wellington

We're living in the most mathematical age of all time as computers, using algorithms, revolutionize the world around us. From online banking to when Netflix makes suggestions based on the shows we've been watching, it's all based on maths. Kathryn Ryan talks to  2018 Rutherford Medal winner Professor Rod Downey who works on computability, and has a particular interest in algorithms.

Professor Downey will speak about the significance of mathematical logic in his national talk tour presented by Royal Society Te Apārangi in partnership with Victoria University which runs from 19th - 28th March.

10:35 NZ Books review - Sport 46 - New Zealand New Writing 2018

Harry Ricketts from quarterly review periodical New Zealand Books, reviews Sport 46 - New Zealand New Writing 2018, edited by Fergus Barrowman, Kirsten McDougall & Ashleigh Young, and published by Victoria University Press

10:45 The Reading

These Two Hands by Renee  Episode 2 of 10

11:05 Growth in Iwi assets

Business commentator Rod Oram and Kathryn discuss the latest valuation of iwi assets, a disappointing valuation for Methven and parking app, Parkable expands into Australia.
 

11:30 Fifty years of the Young Farmer of the Year competition

New Zealand's top farming competition has reached the grand old age of 50. A lot has changed in five decades down on the farm, and Kate Taylor's new book about the competition's birth, and journey along the years chronicles those changes.

The 1969 finalists from the inaugural competition. From left: Gordon McDonald, Hamish Kynoch, Gary Frazer and Tom Mandeno. Photo credit: Young Farmers

At the first national final, held at the South Pacific Hotel in Auckland in 1969, Young Farmers rubbed shoulders with MPs and other dignitaries. Photo credit: Young Farmers

Young Farmers president Colin Dick presents Prime Minister Robert Muldoon with a mounted lamb at the national final in Christchurch in 1976. Photo credit: Young Farmers

Denise Clemens accepts a two-way radio as part of her regional final prize. Photo credit: Young Farmers

The 1978 contest booklet. Photo credit: Young Farmers

David Skiffington puts out a fire at the 2007 grand final in Rotorua. Photo credit: Young Farmers

Thirty-five of the forty-nine winners from 1969 to 2017 on stage at the jubilee celebrations at Stadium Southland, Invercargill, in 2018. Photo credit: Young Farmers

2017 winner Nigel Woodhead and 1970 winner Allan Anderson cut the fiftieth celebration cake. Photo credit: Young Farmers

Five decades of memorabilia was on show at the jubilee celebrations in Invercargill. Photo credit: Young Farmers

11:45 Brace for a tsunami of disinformation

With elections on every continent, media commentator Gavin Ellis is warning there will be a tsunami of disinformation this year. Also two legal cases with implications: Australia is testing media company responsibility for Facebook posts attached to their stories, and a UK law firm has been granted a gagging writ to prevent a former employee disclosing to media confidential in-house settlements relating to "women in the workplace".

Gavin Ellis is a media commentator and former editor of the New Zealand Herald.  He can be contacted on gavin.ellis@xtra.co.nz