Nine To Noon for Monday 20 February 2023

 

 

09:05 Cyclone Gabrielle : Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor

The under investment in infrastructure laid bare by the ravages of Cyclone Gabrielle is top of mind for Cabinet today. The Government is refocusing and reprioritising in light of the devastation, which comes with a huge price tag. 11 people are confirmed to have died, many remain unaccounted for, nationwide, 28-thousand homes have no electricity, roading has been washed out,  hundreds of farms are covered in deep silt, crops are destroyed and supply chains disrupted. Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor has visited the Hawkes Bay region.

09:15 Cyclone Gabrielle : Vineyards destroyed

Greg Miller is the restaurant owner at Linden Estate winery in Esk Valley, he says power may not be restored for a month and the front vineyard has gone, but the back one is fine.

09:20 Cyclone Gabrielle: Tukituki MP Anna Lorck

Anna Lorck is the Labour Party MP for the Tukituki electorate - which covers large parts of Hawkes Bay. She says an all of Government response is needed to build up stopbanks alongside the emergency response.

09:30  Cyclone Gabrielle: an Esk Valley survival story 

There have been so incredible survival stories in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, some are only just emerging as communications are slowly restored in the worst affected areas. Two Hawkes Bay brothers,Chris and Phillip Barber from the Esk Valley tell Susie about how they were reunited after a harrowing silence.  - 

09:45 Cyclone Gabrielle: Hastings Te Aranga marae

Shelley Pritchard is a volunteer at the Te Aranga Marae, in Hastings where they have been looking after more than 50 evacuees.

09:50 Cyclone Gabrielle: Land instability at West Auckland coastal settlements 

In Tamaki Makarau, Waitakere Councillor, Shane Henderson  is abreast of the still fragile situation at Muriwai where unstable land is causing concern, particularly on Domain Crescent and he also has an update on Piha, Bethells Beach and Karekare.

09:55 Cyclone Gabrielle: reporter Sam Gee in Tairawhiti

RNZ reporter Sam Gee talks to Susie from the Civil Defence headquarters in Gisborne.

10:05 Pacific health researcher, nurse and dancer Suli Tuitaupe

Suli Tuitaupe is an award winning doctoral public health researcher - whose dance videos during Covid lockdowns went viral. He is currently studying towards a Doctor of Health Sciences degree at Canterbury University,  focussing on how to improve health outcomes and achieve health equity for Pacific communities in Aotearoa / New Zealand. He's also has degrees in public health, physical activity promotion and nursing, as well as being a fitness instructor and running Island Dance Beats -  dance and fitness sessions with a Pacific flavour, which had tens of thousands of followers during lockdown. Suli was an international flight attendant in a previous career, and as a young man, struggled with his weight - which is part of his motivation for helping others.

10:30 Music feature : Kurt Cobain

Nirvana guitarist, singer songwriter Kurt Cobain died in 1994. He was born on February 20 1967 - meaning he would have now been 56 years old. Nirvana was the alternative Seattle rock group whose breakthrough album, Nevermind (1991), brought "Grunge" rock to the masses and in doing so became a major influence in the soundtrack for the post boomers -Generation X.

10:35 Book review: Letter for 'Oumuamua by James Norcliffe

David Hill reviews Letter for 'Oumuamua by James Norcliffe, published by Otago University Press

10:45 Around the motu : Diane McCarthy in Whakatane

Diane talks to Susie about local efforts to help the Cyclone Gabrielle relief effort in neighbouring areas hard hit.

Eastern Bay of Plenty Local Democracy Reporter, Diane McCarthy is with the Whakatane Beacon 

10:55 Cyclone Gabrielle : challenging lack of power in Napier

RNZ reporter Tim Brown has been driving around the city and is in the suburb of Maraenui surveying the damage and talking to locals.

11:05 Cyclone Gabrielle : Wairoa Mayor Craig Little

Craig Little says so many homes are uninhabitable, volunteers are out in force clearing away people's household items that are covered in mud, and silt is everywhere. The focus is on trying to get residents back in their houses after huge clean-up efforts.

11:10 Political commentators Jones & Hurdle 

Neale, Tim and Susie discuss the Government's reprioritisation and refocus in light of Cyclone Gabrielle's widespread devastation, and how the relief effort will be funded and crumbling infrastructure issues addressed.

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 "It's what we don't put in that makes it special"

Chocolate might not be at the top of the healthy eating list but a Bay of Plenty chocolate maker is out to change all that. Born and bred on a Zimbabwean coffee plantation, Glenn Yeatmann runs Solomons Gold in Mount Maunganui.Using beans from the Solomon Islands he makes organic, vegan chocolate which is dairy, gluten and nut free and has no refined sugar. Glenn joins Susie to talk about his family run business and the interesting road he's taken into chocolate making. 
 

11:45 Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne 

Kennedy joins the show from Urupukapuka in the Bay of Islands. He talks to Susie Ferguson about the overwhelming sense of Māori history in the area and also about  how the popular understanding of the significance of climate change has  changed in the past seven years. Back then, extreme weather were generally accompanied by the line "we can't be sure if this storm is related to human-induced climate change.". With Cyclone Gabrielle, no one says that today. 

11:55 Cyclone Gabrielle : reporter Jamie Tahana in Te Karaka

The community of Te Karaka, inland from Gisborne is among the hardest hit from the cyclone, with the entire township evacuated to a hill above the town at the height of the storm. Hundreds of people have lost their homes. RNZ reporter Jamie Tahana has spent the morning speaking to locals.

 

Music played in this show

Track: Just The Two of Us
Artist: Bill Withers
Time played: 11:42am