Nine To Noon for Thursday 22 June 2023

 

 

09:05 Anger at scale of Victoria University plan to cut jobs and subjects

Staff and students at Victoria University in Wellington have been shocked at the institution's cost-saving plans, which would involve axing hundreds of positions and getting rid of whole subjects. The university has a forecast $33m deficit, but the cuts would see 229 full-time roles cut and subjects like secondary teaching, German, Italian, Latin, tourism management, theatre, design tech and geophysics gone entirely. The TEU yesterday held a rally at the university and has pledged to fight the cuts. Kathryn speaks to Dr Sue Cherrington, who's head of the Wellington Faculty of Education, president of the VUWSA Jessica Ye and New Zealand School of Music student Cadence Chung. 

09:30 Danger of dumping into the sea: toxic waste under Kettle Park

Toxic landfill under a South Dunedin seaside sportsfield is presenting an expensive barrier to shoring up against coastal erosion.  Kettle Park tops a former landfill site, where rubbish was dumped in the first half of the last century. It's right next to the sand dunes at St Claire's Middle Beach.  As part of Dunedin City Council's long term Coastal Plan to protect the  wider St Clair to St Kilda coast from sea level rise, environmental and engineering consultancy Tonkin + Taylor has drilled 60 boreholes in Kettle Park to analyse soil samples.  They found copper, lead and zinc, some in very high concentrates. The Tonkin + Taylor report warns of the risk of exposing the waste following a series of storms which have eroded the dune system over the past ten to fifteen years. It's estimated excavating the site could run to tens of millions of dollars, unless alternative barriers are put in place to prevent the sea from clawing out the contents of the rubbish dump.  Kathryn speaks with Mayor of Dunedin, Jules Radich.

09:40 Frantic search for Titanic submersible continues

More "banging" noises have been heard from the ocean in the search for a missing submersible that had been visiting the wreck of the Titanic, but authorities still don't know what the sounds are. Rescuers are now focusing their search on a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean where the undersea noises were detected. Search and rescue teams are in a race against time to find the vessel with five people on board - it's estimated their oxygen will run out by tonight. A massive operation led by the US Coastguard is underway, but they are describing it as "extremely complicated". Kathryn speaks to Stefan Williams, a professor of Marine Robotics at the University of Sydney.

09:45 UK: Rishi skips Boris vote, lockdown party invite revealed, luxury cars gone

UK correspondent Matthew Parris joins Kathryn to talk about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opting out of endorsing a report that his predecessor Boris Johnson mislead Parliament over Partygate. It comes as an invitation for staff aides to "jingle and mingle" at a Christmas party in 2020 under lockdown restrictions surfaced. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is to haul Britain's lenders in as the mortgage rate crisis continues to bite and a gang targeting luxury cars in leafy Surrey suburbs has been busted - in some cases the cars were already being sold over the Channel before their owners woke up and realised they were missing.

10.05 Swimming toward Olympic glory: Lewis Clareburt

Kiwi swimming star Lewis Clareburt has his sights firmly set on next year's Paris Olympics and is considered a real medal prospect, but as a top international swimmer he's chosen an unconventional road as he chases Olympic glory. The 23-year old set the pool alight at Birmingham last year, winning two gold medals and becoming the first Kiwi man to win Commonwealth Games gold since Moss Burmester in 2006. Four years earlier he'd won Commonwealth bronze. But rather than pursuing his sport overseas or taking up a lucrative US college scholarship, the Wellingtonian chooses to live, work and train in the capital, swimming at local pools, often seen sharing a public lane. Clareburt, who is studying for a Bachelor of Commerce at Victoria University is coached by Gary Hollywood who says the medley specialist has the ability to be the best in the world if he wants to be. Lewis Clareburt joins Kathryn to tell her about his Olympic preparation and the challenges of being an elite swimmer based in New Zealand.

10:35 Book review: This Is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan

Laura Caygill reviews This Is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan, published by HarperCollins

10:45 Around the motu : Robin Martin in Taranaki

 

The New Plymouth District Council has pushed ahead with an average rates rise of 12.4 percent despite being faced with an at times hostile Civic Centre crowd. Robin also has the latest on what's happening with Whanganui's velodrome. And success of the National Indoor Bowls Championship, hosted in New Plymouth with more than 500 people taking part. 

11:05 Tech: Rural divide in comms, law firm hack, Reddit goes bonkers

Technology correspondent Bill Bennett joins Kathryn to talk about the Commerce Commission's Telecommunications Monitoring Report and why rural telecoms is now the main political and regulatory frontier for the sector. Starlink's entry to New Zealand has made some think problems with rural access to broadband is now solved - but is it? Bill also looks at the implications for the massive data breach at Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth after a ransomware attack and why Reddit has suddenly become extremely popular. 

11:25 Parenting: How to talk to neuro-divergent  children and teens about sex and pornography 

Sex therapist Jo Robertson on navigating the porn talk with neuro-divergent children, rainbow kids and children with disabilities. Jo is the Research and Training Lead for The Light Project, a charitable trust researching media influences on youth sexual culture and how to have positive conversations about it.

 

11:45 Screentime: Elemental, No Hard Feelings, Hijack, Stan Lee

Film and TV correspondent James Croot joins Kathryn to talk about a new offering from Disney, Elemental, which is in cinemas. Jennifer Lawrence has a new romantic comedy out called No Hard Feelings (cinemas). Idris Elba has a new airplane thriller series called Hijack, and Disney's Stan Lee documentary delves into the life of the man behind Marvel.