Nine To Noon for Monday 13 February 2023

09:05 Cyclone Gabrielle: power cuts, downed trees and surface flooding

Northland, Auckland and Coromandel remain under red weather warnings, with forecasters urging people not to be complacent - the worst of the storm is yet to come. In Northland and the Far North thousands of homes have no electricity, and bad weather is hampering efforts to repair power lines. The cuts are also affecting some mobile phone towers. Electricity providers say more outages are inevitable and it may be several days before some connections are restored. Metservice says winds which have already been very strong will be picking up for some areas today and rain will intensify as the cyclone moves south. Kathryn speaks with Far North District Council Mayor Moko Tepania and Northpower CEO Andrew Mcleod.

09:35 As ransomware attacks increase: should paying up be banned?

Ransomware attacks are becoming more sophisticated and they're growing in number - there were 64 cases reported to government agency CERT last year. Over half of reported cases to CERT were at the end of the year when Mercury IT  - a service provider for some big government departments including Justice and Health - was attacked. Data stolen in that event has been found on the dark web. Late last year the Australian government said it was considering whether new laws were needed to stop ransom payments being made to hackers,  in the wake of a massive breach of customer data from medical insurer Medibank and telco Optus. Kathryn speaks with Dr Jeffrey Foster,  an associate professor in Cyber Security Studies at Sydney's Macquarie University - who says there's pros and cons to a ban on ransom payments - and that perhaps a better option would be to ban insurance payments to companies hit by these attacks. She also talks to Jordan Heersping, threat and incident response manager for CERT about the rise of such attacks in New Zealand.

09:45 Europe: Turkey quake response in spotlight, Ukraine braces for Russian offensive

Europe correspondent Seamus Kearney joins Kathryn with the latest on the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria which has left at least 28,000 people dead. The majority of the deaths were in Turkey, where President Erdogan is facing growing unrest over his government's response to the quake, just as he was preparing for presidential and parliamentary elections. The government says it will investigate the collapse of new buildings - but will that quell the anger? And Ukraine is bracing for a new Russian offensive in the east. 

10.05 Northland pounded by Cyclone Gabrielle

Northland is getting a pounding from Cyclone Gabrielle. The intense tropical storm is sitting to the northeast of Cape Reinga and is expected to track down the northeast coast. A state of emergency was declared in Northland last night. 17,000 homes across the region are without power. Trees are down and the coast is being battered by a strong storm surge. Kate Malcolm from Tutukaka Dive joins Kathryn to talk about the conditions and concerns of what's still to come.

10:10 Why good people do bad things

Social psychologist Daniel Effron studies hypocritical behaviour and says inconsistency doesn't necessarily mean someone is a hypocrite. His research examines the psychological processes that allow people to act unethically without feeling unethical, and also how people form judgements of others' wrongdoing. Daniel Effron is a Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the London Business School.

10:35 Cyclone Gabrielle: Vector, Kaipara and Coromandel

As Cyclone Gabrielle bears down on the upper North Island, Kathryn speaks with Auckland lines company Vector's spokesperson Peter Ryan and Maungaturoto Civil Defence committee member Terri Donaldson in Kaipara.  Also RNZ reporter in Whitianga Andrew McCrae, where residents are experiencing their fifth severe weather event of the year. A team of 150 Defence Force and ambulance staff have been brought into the region to help with the response.

10:50 Book review: The Story of a Treaty | He Kōrero Tiriti by Claudia Orange

Nicky Walker reviews The Story of a Treaty | He Kōrero Tiriti by Claudia Orange, published by BWB

11:05 Political commentators Neale Jones & Tim Hurdle

Neale, Tim and Kathryn discuss how much central government funding should Auckland get for its flood and cyclone clean-up.Also, where National is left after Labour's so-called policy "bonfire". And how is the Act-National dynamic might play out this election year?

Neale Jones was Chief of Staff to Labour Leader Jacinda Ardern, and prior to that was Chief of Staff to Andrew Little. He is the director of public affairs firm Capital.

Tim Hurdle is a former National party advisor and was campaign director for National at the 2020 election. He was briefly acting Chief of Staff for Wayne Brown as he transitioned into the Auckland Mayoralty

11:30 Tips for entertaining

Cherie Metcalfe is a food writer and chef who's latest book Together has recipes for shared food. She's also the founder of the food brand Pepper and Me, producing a range of products including rubs, spices, butters, pastes and grinds. Her first book Keepers was a best seller. She joins Kathryn from Tauranga with a recipe for Chorizo-Loaded Queso.

11:45 What are some practical flood solutions for towns and cities?

Urban issues commentator Bill McKay joins Kathryn to talk about what recent weather events might mean for city planning into the future. Which parts of the infrastructure network held up well and which ones need a rethink? Do we need to forgo the urge to concrete over green spaces and plant water-loving natives instead?