Nine To Noon for Wednesday 24 November 2021

 

09:05 The future of contact tracing

What is the future for contact tracing as the delta outbreak continues its spread around the country?  As of Monday there were nearly six and a half thousand active contacts being managed in conjunction with just over four and a half thousand active cases.  Of those contact, though, only 69 per cent had received a call from contact tracers - either to confirm testing or isolation requirements. There are three weeks to go til the Auckand border is opened, and health officials say the worst case scenario is 16 thousand COVID cases per week during January. So how can a contact tracing system which appears unable to keep up with the current number of cases, manage with a surge over summer? Kathryn speaks with Professor Philip Hill, a public health expert at the University of Otago.

09:30 KiwiSaver funds still helping to prop up fossil fuels

From next week all default KiwiSaver funds will have had to quit investment in fossil fuels. But a recent analysis shows when it comes to retirement funds, Kiwis are still well invested in the fossil fuel industry to the tune of $1.5 billion in Kiwisaver, and another $1.3 billion in retail funds. The analysis was done by Mindful Money, a charity that promotes ethical investment. CEO Barry Coates believes many Kiwis are unaware of the extent to which their KiwiSaver is helping to prop up the fossil fuel sector, even as financial risks of doing that - let alone the climate risks -  become clearer.

09:45 Australia: PM faces revolt, William Tyrell's foster parents in court, Tim Paine's woes

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Kathryn to talk about the final two weeks of Parliament as Prime Minister Scott Morrison faces a revolt from his own ranks by conservatives who want him to override state government's vaccination rules. There's renewed attention on the William Tyrrell case, as his former foster parents appeared in court over alleged mistreatment of another foster child. And Tim Paine may've stepped down from his captaincy, but there are questions for Cricket Australia over its handling of the scandal before it became public.

 

10:05 How the history of nutmeg interfaces with global warming

The writer, Amitav Ghosh  critiques Western society and exploitative practices in his latest book The Nutmeg's Curse -  Parables For A Planet In Crisis. It is a follow to his critically acclaimed book, The Great Derangement.  
With his work translated into more than 30 languages, Amitav Ghosh has been Man-Booker shortlisted, his essays have appeared in the New Yorker, the New Republic and the New York Times, and two years ago, Foreign Policy magazine named him one of the most important global thinkers of the preceding decade. The Nutmeg's Curse traces the violent history of the spice which was of extreme value in the 17th Century and originated in the Banda group of Islands in Indonesia. Amitav Ghosh argues that nutmeg has huge significance in tracing Western colonialism and the exploitation of the natural environment and genocide and he believes the dynamics of climate change are rooted in the centuries-old geopolitical order.

 

10:35 Book review: Swift and the Harrier by Minette Walters

Elisabeth Easther reviews Swift and the Harrier by Minette Walters, published by Allen and Unwin

10:45 The Reading - Spring Clean at the Pool by Christine Griffiths

One of the winning stories from the 2021 Nine to Noon Short Story Competition.

A contractor cleaning a pool for the coming summer season has a nasty surprise.

Written by Christine Griffiths told by Alex Greig

Recorded by Adam Macaulay with post-production by Phil Benge

Produced by Duncan Smith

11:05 Music with Charlotte Ryan

It's been 14 years since Robert Plant and Alison Krauss surprised the world with a collaborative album called Raising Sand, and they've been back in the studio. Ladyhawke has made another impact internationally with her new album - Time Flies and Daffodil have a new single - 'House Across The Street'.

11:30 Photographer Andrew Spencer on documenting the Kaikoura quake

When daybreak revealed the chaotic aftermath of the earthquake that ripped through Kaikoura five years ago, Andrew Spencer did what came naturally...he grabbed his camera. The 7.8 quake hit just after midnight on November 14 and ruptured along 20 faults - the most on record. It caused extensive ground uplift, triggering the biggest local-source tsunami since 1947 and massive landslides. The town was cut off, stranding locals and a thousand tourists alike. Andrew roamed the town and his photos became a day-to-day record of what was happening. To mark the fifth anniversary of the quake this month, the photos have been compiled into a book simply entitled Remembering Kaikoura Earthquake.

 

11:45 Covid in the workplace: Health and safety expectations on employers

 

Legal correspondent Garth Gallaway joins Kathryn to look at how Covid risk assessments might work in the workplace. Will WorkSafe crack down on employers who fail to keep their employees and customers safe from Covid? And what did an independent review of WorkSafe's performance regarding activities on Whaakari/White Island determine?