Nine To Noon for Thursday 24 March 2022

 

 

09:05  The new Covid normal: no passes, no scanning, fewer mandates

Lynn Freeman speaks with Professor Sir David Skegg, chair of the Covid 19 Public Health Advisory Group, about the pathway forward for the country. The government announced yesterday that vaccine passes and scanning will be scrapped with worker mandates lifted in some sectors. The traffic light system will stay in place, but gathering limits are rising for indoor settings and lifted completely for outdoor events.

09:20    "Complaints process too slow"- volunteer firefighter

A volunteer firefighter who made a complaint of sexual harassment against a senior officer has been stood down for two years waiting for the case to be resolved, while the respondent involved has continued in the brigade. Jane (not her real name) lodged her complaint with the Behavior and Conduct Office within FENZ in 2020. It is one of 58 unresolved complaints of sexual harassment and bullying reported to Fire and Emergency in the last three years - around a third of all complaints.  The BCO was established in wake of the damning 2019 Judge Coral Shaw report, which found bullying and harassment was rife at all levels and across all regions within FENZ. An independent review last year found that while the BCO is well resourced and has support from senior leaders, unresolved historic complaints damage its perception among fire fighters. Jane says after what she's been through, she has little faith in the BCO and she doesn't believe anything has changed within the culture at FENZ since the Shaw report. She speaks with Lynn Freeman, along with the Secretary of the Professional Firefighters Union, Wattie Watson. FENZ Deputy Chief Executive Raewyn Bleakley responds.

09:30: Reporter Andrew McRae on flooding near Gisborne

Evacuations have taken place in the middle of the night  and Tolaga Bay Civil Defence expects some residents to remain cut off for four days or more, as a result of this week's flooding. A helicopter has been up this morning identifying damage to roads and infrastructure. Almost half a metre of rain has fallen in two days.The Hikuwai River north of Gisborne peaked at higher than 12 metres - coming within a hundred millimetres or so of going over its banks and causing massive damage. RNZ reporter Andrew Mcrae speaks to Lynn Freeman with the latest. 

09:45 UK: Spring mini-budget, inflation hits 6.2% and free range eggs off menu

UK correspondent Matt Dathan joins Lynn to look at what was in Rishi Sunak's spring mini-budget, including a 5p per litre cut in fuel tax and a future 1p reduction in income tax. It comes as Brits - like many around the world, experience a rise in the cost of living. New figures show inflation in the UK has risen to 6.2 per cent. And shoppers won't be buying free range eggs anytime soon - they're banned from sale after a rise in bird flu cases

 

10:05 Adam Nicolson: The hidden world of rockpools 

Adam Nicolson has been obsessed with the landscape we live in his entire life. Recently Adam has been staring into rockpools, trying to work out what might stare back. The journalist, broadcaster and poet has been writing books about how we interact with our environments since the 1980s and his newest tome The Sea is Not Made of Water: Life Between the Tides is no exception. In the book he wanders around the world to try and understand what the liminal space of the world's seas can tell us. He's also been captured by the way we think about that thin strip that isn't quite 'land' or 'ocean'. 

10:35 Book review: Paradais by Fernanda Melchor

Luke Finnegan reviews Paradais by Fernanda Melchor, published by Text Publishing

10:45 The Reading

Part one of the final story from Bug Week and other stories by Airini Beautrais. Today, The Tea Shop told by Carmel McGlone.

11:05 Tech: Why no Russian cyber attacks? Meta employees rush for the doors

Technology correspondent Bill Bennett joins Lynn to look at why there appears to have been a lack of cyber-attacks during Russia's month-long war with Ukraine. He says, in reality, there IS a cyber-war going on but it's very much behind the scenes and doesn't affect New Zealand. It's a year since Australia introduced laws to make tech giants pay for the news they display - how has it gone? And why are Meta (formerly Facebook) employees running for the door? It's not because they've had an attack of conscience about what the social media giant has been up to.

11:25 How to talk to your children about what's happening in Ukraine

Russia's war in Ukraine is dominating the headlines, so what can parents, grandparents or educators do to help children understand what they're seeing? And how can that message be delivered in an appropriate way to various age groups - from pre-schoolers to teenagers? Lynn is joined by Dr Nicole Racine, a clinical pyschologist and expert in paediatric mental health based at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada.

11:45 Film & TV: The Adam Project, Bad Vegan, Windfall and Meeps

Film and TV correspondent Laumata Lauano joins Lynn to talk about sci-fi flick The Adam Project (Netflix) starring Ryan Reynolds, new fraud documentary Bad Vegan (Netflix), a Hitchcockian thriller Windfall (Netflix)and bite-sized Samoan comedy Meeps (Vimeo/YouTube).

Music played in this show

Title: This Must Be The Place
Artist: Ben Bridwell & Iron and Wine
Time: 10:40am