Nine To Noon for Wednesday 1 March 2023

 

09:05 Cyclone Gabrielle: What does recovery look like for Tairawhiti and Hawke's Bay?

A multi-sector rural coordination group met in Gisborne yesterday to draw up a blueprint to help farmers, growers and families work through the monumental challenges left in Cyclone Gabrielle's wake. The group includes representatives from MPI, industry bodies, animal welfare, local government and MSD. Kathryn speaks with farmer Sandra Matthews who attended the meeting - she's the Tairawhiti-based national board chair of Rural Women and on the Beef and Lamb NZ farmer council. Also joining the conversation is Di Roadley, who farms in the Ruakituri Valley inland north of Wairoa, and retired farmer Bel Gunson from Rural Support Trust Hawkes Bay.

09:25 How much can spy balloons see?

The Chinese surveillance balloon shot down over the United States earlier this month set off a flurry of action with three more unknown objects taken down by the airforce in the following weeks. After initial worries all four objects were linked, US President Joe Biden later explained there was nothing to suggest they were linked to the Chinese Balloon or were even from outside of the United States. China has denied the balloon was for anything else aside for for scientific purposes but  the Americans are still firm in their belief it was part of a sprawling intelligence collection programme. Debris from the balloon, including its payload, have been recovered and are being studied by the US military. So what are spy balloons, how do they work,  how much can they can see,  and was the panic they caused justified? Kathryn asks Iain Boyd, a professor of aerospace engineering sciences and the director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado

09:45 Australia: Super change, benchtop ban, women's T20 win, staying young

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Kathryn to talk about a controversial move by the Albanese government to change the tax treatment of retirement incomes - despite an election campaign promise there'd be no "major" changes to superannunuation law. It's targeting those with more than $A3m in their super accounts. Federal and state governments are considering a ban on engineered stone, commonly used to make kitchen and bathroom benchtops because the high silica content is deadly to stonemasons who breathe it in while cutting it. There's been another great win for Australia's women's cricket team and a new report finds there are six major states of life - and adolescence isn't over until 28.

10:05 Prestigious award for renowned opera star Phillip Rhodes 

Acclaimed Kiwi opera singer Phillip Rhodes (Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Kahungunu) has been appointed the first Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation Laureate in recognition of his outstanding achievements as a classical singer, both in New Zealand and overseas. The Hawkes Bay-born baritone has been back in Aotearoa performing with New Zealand and Wellington Opera. After a difficult early childhood, Rhodes was placed in a foster home where he discovered a love of music. He won the New Zealand Aria Competition and the Lexus Song Quest in 2005, later going on to perform at Covent Garden and with opera companies around Britain. He's currently in rehearsal for Wellington Opera's Lucia di Lammermoor which opens next month. Phillip joins Kathryn to talk about his new award, his career and what lies ahead.

10:35 Book review: A Horse at Night On Writing by Amina Cain

Kiran Dass reviews A Horse at Night - On Writing by Amina Cain, published by Daunt

10:45 Around the motu: Lee Scanlon in Westport

Westport has escaped the weather disasters that have hit the North Island but the town knows too well how those affected are feeling and also how long recovery can take. Locals are increasingly worried that their plea for government help for a comprehensive flood protection scheme will be overtaken by help needed up north. For the first time since the July 2021 floods, no Westport flood victims are living in motels.  A new 20-home village for flood-displaced families is less than half full. Lee also talks to Kathryn about Transpower pausing a 427 percent increase to Buller Electricity. And the Government’s plans to make good its 2017 promise to stop all new mining on conservation land which has upset local leaders and the mining industry. Mining contributed over $183 million to the West Coast’s GDP in the year to March 2022.  

Lee Scanlon is Westport News' Chief Reporter 

11:05 Music with RNZ's Charlotte Ryan

RNZ 101 host Charlotte Ryan joins Kathryn to look at the 40th anniversary of the U2 album war and play a track from Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Kiwi singer Ny Oh. 

11:20 The Wellington rebel sisters behind Evil Twins Coffee

Two years ago twin sisters Nat and Steph Chin took a leap of faith and opened a cafe in a pandemic. They were nearly 20, and felt the pressure to go to uni and get jobs just wasn't really for them. Instead, they were keen to get into the coffee business. An Instagram poll helped deliver the name - Evil Twins - and the pair deliver high-grade coffee and matcha drinks in designer jars from their Wellington base. They've branched out into clothing and jewellery - and recently hosted an episode of Sik Fan Lah! on TVNZ, which celebrates Chinese food and culture in New Zealand. They join Kathryn to talk about the little act of rebellion that got them to where they are.

11:45 Is a lack of confidence eating into women's retirement savings? 

 Personal finance expert David Boyle joins Kathryn to talk about how worries about the current economic climate could be having an effect on the long-term financial planning of women in particular. Investor confidence has been hit by the Ukraine war, inflation and rising interest rates - but are those concerns equally applied to men and women? David doesn't think so, and looks at the reasons why.