Nine To Noon for Monday 19 June 2023

09:05 Commerce Commission probe into HelloFresh after many complaints

The Commerce Commission is investigating whether food delivery service HelloFresh has breached the Fair Trading Act for charging customers for meal kits they haven't ordered, sometimes even sending debt collectors for payment of unwanted boxes. In the past 12 months, the Commerce Commission has received 104 complaints about HelloFresh, including problems with subscriptions, promotions, pricing, quality and refunds. People have also been frustrated by the company's poor customer service where complaints or questions have to go through a chat function on the app or website. Customers who do manage to find a phone number, say they encounter unhelpful customer service representatives, described by consumer advocates as being well-known tactics to make cancelling subscriptions as difficult as possible. Kathryn speaks with Aucklander Francine Cameron, one of the many customers who's had problems with HelloFresh, and Chief Executive of Consumer NZ, Jon Duffy.

09:30 Staving off cognitive decline : can hearing aids help prevent dementia?

 

 

University of Auckland Audiology Professor, Grant Searchfield says older people with undetected and untreated hearing loss are at risk of more rapid cognitive decline. With an ageing population, in the next 20 years, people with dementia is set to double. Professor Searchfield says multiple studies of ageing populations have shown that people with normal hearing, or with hearing normalised through the use of hearing aids have better cognition -  than those with hearing loss who are not using aids. He says a Government subsidy for the devices, while not a cure for dementia, could potentially reduce the escalating costs of dementia care.

09:45 Africa correspondent Debora Patta

Debora talks to Kathryn about whether Vladimir  Putin come to South Africa for BRICS? The summit comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will be held in Johannesburg in August. Also African leaders have been visiting  Ukraine and Russia with South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa says the war must end. And Debora discusses the reaction and ramifications of severe anti-gay legislation in Uganda, including potential death penalty 
 

10:05 Sarai Bareman - the Westie in charge of the World of Women's Football

The FIFA Women's World Cup kicks-off at Eden Park on July 20th.  It's in the league of being the most attended women's sporting event ever. Kathryn speaks with FIFA's Chief Women's Football Officer, Sarai Bareman who's running the show, and is the world leader in women's football.  Sarai's journey to FIFA towers in Zurich began in West Auckland, were she grew up in a rugby-mad family, herself playing at Massey Rugby Club, before switching codes and progressing as a footballer to represent Samoa. Today her goal is to have sixty million women involved in football.

10:35 Book review: Mana Wahine Reader 1987-2022 vols 1 and 2    

Michelle Rahurahu reviews Mana Wahine Reader 1987-2022 vols 1 and 2, published by Te Wananga o Raukawa   

10:45 Around the motu: Bernard Orsman in Auckland

NZ Herald Supercity reporter Bernard Orsman says it's been a few weeks of drama around the Auckland Council budget, which finally passed last week after months of public debate and contentious final meetings. Wayne Brown's first budget as Mayor was approved by a vote of 14-6, with one abstention. Majority agreement was reached to sell a 7 per cent stake in Auckland Airport. And it's a big day for motorists in the region today with the opening of the long awaited 18 kilometre, $880m Puhoi to Warkworth motorway.

 

11:05 ETS: time for an overhaul?  RNZ Environment Correspondent Hamish Cardwell

The Government has released its draft plan for the Emissions Trading Scheme to incentivise greater emissions reductions instead of just planting trees. The scheme is a government-run market where polluters buy credits to emit.Under current settings it is cheaper to for firms to buy credits from tree planting rather than actually cutting pollution. The Climate Change Commission believes the ETS in its current form is a threat to achieving the country's reduction targets. Hamish tells Kathryn the Government wants public feedback on its plan, as well as on how to treat  permanent forests planted in order to sell credits on the scheme.

11:15 Political commentators Neale Jones & Tim Hurdle

Neale and Tim join Kathryn to discuss the campaign for the rural vote, particularly between National and Act. National has put off pricing farming emissions until 2030 and there's been two failed auctions since the government rejected the Climate Commission's advice on carbon pricing. They'll also talk about the latest economic data and how political parties are spinning it and how potential post-election governing arrangements are shaping up.

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 senior adviser, was the National Party Campaign Director in 2020. He is a director of several companies, including Museum Street Strategies, a public affairs firm.

11:30 Rēwena: indigenous bread

Rēwena baker George Jackson's bread flies off the shelves of his Whanganui shop which opens three days a week. The Rēwena recipe has been in his family for generations. George Jackson says it's all about keeping it real and traditional.

11:45 Urban issues: Where Railways used to house its employees

Urban issues correspondent Bill McKay jumps back in history to a time when the Railways Department ran a successful building programme in the 1920s that ensured its employees had somewhere to stay. 1600 houses were built, often in the space of two weeks by 2 - 3 carpenters. It was a forerunner to the famous state houses of the First Labour Government. Could we learn something from this prefab period in our history?

Bill McKay is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland.