Nine To Noon for Tuesday 27 June 2023

 

 

09:05 Residents despair at foul stench from Tawa landfill 

A landfill in the Wellington suburb of Tawa has been fined for a foul stench described by local residents as "sulphurous" or like "sewage", and which has been tormenting them for years. The Porirua City Council was fined after dozens of complaints were made in just a few hours on Saturday the 10th June, and another fine is possible for another smelly incident a few days later. The odour from the Spicer Landfill has been the source of hundreds of complaints to the Greater Wellington Regional Council in recent years. It is majority owned and managed by Porirua City Council. There were 148 complaints in the year to September 2021, 422 complaints in the year to September 2022 - and 894 complaints in just the last 8 months to June. Residents are frustrated that that the smell has been getting worse, despite efforts from the Porirua City Council - and are worried about plans to extend the life of the landfill to 2050. Kathryn hears from frustrated Tawa resident Phil Doomen, as well as David Down, the Porirua City Council water and waste manager.

09:30 Review recommends public electoral rolls become a thing of the past

Private details of voters names and addresses will no longer be available publicly, or be allowed to be sold to third parties, if recommendations by the independent electoral review are adopted. These are part of a sweeping review into the country's electoral system including a proposal to lower the voting age to 16, lowering the threshold for a party to make it into parliament from five percent to three-and-a-half per cent and a public referendum on a longer Parliamentary term. The review is also recommending a proposed a cap on the total amount a donor can make to a political party or candidate, and that financial donations to political parties above $1000 should be publicly reported. Kathryn speaks with Professor Andrew Geddis, a panel member of the Independent Electoral Review and a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago.

09:45 USA correspondent Ron Elving

Ron talks to Kathryn about what the Biden administration is saying about the Wagner Group revolt in Russia and the implications for Vladimir Putin and his ability to hold onto power. Also the 'indictment effect' on Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
 

Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News.

 

 

10:05 Mountain Turks: Backcountry ski huts from Coronet Peak to Treble Cone

Camping on snowy mountain ranges in a tent, with ice falling into his sleeping bag during a mammoth ski traverse of the Southern Alps, mountaineer and adventurer Erik Bradshaw thought there had to be a better way to get out into the mountains. Erik had a simple but brilliant idea to convert a large plastic water tank into a four-bunk hut, which he called a Turk, and have it choppered into the back country. It was a crazy idea that was initially met with a lot of scepticism, but ever an optimist and a boundary pusher, he persevered. He established the Mountain Turk Club and found a community of people keen to help out and bring his vision to life. And what developed is an epic, five-hut ski trail from Coronet Peak to Treble Cone ski fields called the Mahu Whenua Traverse. A documentary has been made about Erik's mission;  Mountain Turks is currently screening at the New Zealand Mountain Film and Book Festival. Kathryn speaks with Erik Bradshaw and the documentary's director, Mark Johansson. 

10:35 Book review: Matariki by Gavin Bishop

Joanna Ludbrook from Chicken and Frog Bookshop in Featherston reviews Matariki by Gavin Bishop, published by  Penguin

10:45 Around the motu : Alisha Evans in Tauranga 

Local Democracy Reporter Alisha Evans talks to Kathryn about how the seaside community of Waihi Beach is now anxious every time it rains after a flash flood ripped through their town in late May.

Western Bay of Plenty Local Democracy reporter Alisha Evans based in Tauranga with SunLive

11:05 Business commentator Rebecca Stevenson

New Zealand banks are under fire for failing to protect customers from financial frauds, with losses from scams estimated at close to $200 million a year. Rebecca also talks about the banking study. She says the Commerce Commission has taken the media bull by the horns on this, cranking out lots of information, asking for lots of feedback, and defending the market study regime. Commerce Commission chairman John Small held a conference call with competition general manager Antonia Horrocks last week where he said the Commission's three market studies had already benefited NZ consumers.

Rebecca Stevenson  is a senior writer at interest.co.nz

 

11:30 Artist Bob Kerr on bringing his father's war story to life

Wellington-based artist and author Bob Kerr didn't have to look far for inspiration for his new book. He found it in a suitcase on top of a wardrobe. It was full of photos his father had taken on his journeys around the world as a merchant seaman, including during World War Two. Bob's incorporated those photos and stories in his new graphic novel Jack and Sandy: One War, Two Friends, Three Generations. The character of Sandy is loosely based on his father Robert, who was third engineer on the Sydney Star when it took part in Operation Substance, which helped supplies to Malta in 1941. Bob is well-known for his historical landscape paintings but is also an award-winning children's writer. He was the co-creator of Terry Teo and The Gunrunners, which was twice brought to the screen - first in 1985 and again in 2016.

11:45 Sports-chat with Joe Porter

Joe dissects the Super Rugby final, a tough loss for the Chiefs to take, but was it a fitting end for Crusaders coach Scott Robertson and veterans Sam Whitelock and Richie Mo'unga?. He looks ahead to Thursday to the Black Ferns first test of the year against the Wallaroos in Brisbane. Then in cricket, there's the White Ferns ODI and T20 series in Sri Lanka and Wimbledon begins this week, with the seeds revealed today.