Nine To Noon for Monday 2 December 2019

 

0905: Decision looms on whether Ports of Auckland should weigh anchor

Cabinet will soon make a decision on what to do with the Ports of Auckland. This week Cabinet's development committee with consider the latest report from the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy working group, which reportedly recommends moving "much or all" of Auckland's freight business to Northport near Whangarei. It also recommends keeping and modernising the Auckland's cruise-ship terminal, rejunvenating the main trunk line north and building a new inland freight hub - and making a start on all of this now. In dollar terms, it says the cost of leaving the port where it is would be about $8 billion, while moving it would be $10 billion and Auckland Council would be $6 billion better off. Kathryn discusses the leaked report with the chair of the working group for the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy, Wayne Brown.

09:20 Free speech crisis on New Zealand campuses?

An urgent call is going out to the Vice Chancellors and Councils of all New Zealand universities from a group of academics concerned about the state of free speech on campus. The letter's asking university leadership to protect free debate and to repudiate censorship by affirming the 'Chicago principles'. That relates to guidelines adopted by the University of Chicago that enables university members to discuss any problem that presents itself within the bounds of the law. Letter author, Dr Michael Johnston from Victoria University of Wellington says institutions must not obstruct the freedom of others to express their views, even if they are ideas they reject or loathe. Derek McCormack from the Auckland University of Technology is Chair of Universities New Zealand.

09:45 Maltese PM's job on the line, Irish woman who joined Isis arrested in Dublin

Europe correspondent Seamus Kearney looks at how the job of Malta's Prime Minister is on the line as fallout from the murder of a journalist on the island strikes at the heart of the government, and an Irish woman who joined Isis has been arrested upon her return to Dublin - despite the Justice Minister say it was unlikely.

10:05 Making rare investments: Annette Campbell-White

New Zealand-born Annette Campbell-White lists collecting books, philanthropy and venture capitalism among her interests.  By "books" she means rare editions from the likes of T.S. Eliot, James Joyce and Joseph Conrad. Also among her collection, letters from Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway. Books aside, Annette smashed the glass ceiling in Wall Street: she was the first biotechnology analyst there and the first female partner at a leading investment banking firm.  She founded venture capital business MedVenture Associates, creating more than $5 billion in cumulative value. As if all that wasn't enough, Annette established the Kia Ora Foundation to help New Zealand musical, science and engineering students.  Annette tells Kathryn Ryan her story, as it appears in her new memoir Beyond Market Value, A Memoir of Book Collecting and the World of Venture Capital.

10:35 Book review - Highlights of recent crime fiction

Catriona Ferguson with a round-up of three of the best 2019 crime fiction releases:

• The Strangers We Know by Pip Drysdale, published by Simon & Schuster 
• A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh, published by Hachette 
• The Wife and the Widow by Christian White, published by Affirm Press

10:45 The Reading

Chute Thru by Janice Marriott read by Michael Whalley. (Part one of 10)

11:05 Political commentators Hooton & Jones

Our politics commentators discuss the Labour Party conference held in Whanganui at the weekend, and look at National's announcement that it will established a high-level 'Strike Force Raptor' police taskforce that would "tackle gang crime" if elected in 2020.  Matthew Hooton is an Auckland based consultant and lobbyist. Neale Jones was Chief of Staff to Labour Leader Jacinda Ardern, and prior to that was Chief of Staff to Andrew Little. He is director of Capital Government Relations.

11:30 Biofarm organic yoghurt: milk, cultures & kaitiakitanga

Cathy Tait-Jamieson, who runs BioFarm with her husband Jamie, talks to Kathryn Ryan about their innovative approach to farming. Best known for producing probiotic natural yoghurts, they pioneered 'pouring yoghurt' with fresh milk and are one of New Zealand's earliest certified organic farms. Their story is one of vision, dedication and kaitiakitanga.

11:45 Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne

Kennedy joins Kathryn to talk about the remarkable Tupaia and lessons from an adventure that ended in tragedy.