Nine To Noon for Monday 17 July 2023

 

 

09:05 Concern for workplace health and safety course

New Zealand has a dismal record of deaths and injuries in the workplace, and there are concerns about what could happen if a post-graduate health and safety course at Victoria University is among those dumped to save costs. The University is the only one in the country to offer a specialised post-grad programme in workplace health and safety, but the institution has been reviewing which staff and courses will need to be cut in order to make savings. The Workplace Health and Safety programme has been offered since 2020 - part of a push after the Pike River mining disaster to reduce harm at work. In the first four months of this year there have already been 28 deaths as the result of a workplace accident, and seven thousand injuries that resulted in people being off work for a week or more. And Worksafe estimates there are between 750 to 900 work-related health deaths each year.  Susie speaks with Mike O'Brien,  independent chair of the Health and Safety Association New Zealand and Joanne Crawford, who's WorkSafe New Zealand Chair in Health and Safety at Victoria University's School of Health - and is one of the programme's lecturers.

09:30 Third piece of unexploded WW2 ammunition found in Wellington Harbour

A group of volunteer divers with a mission to clean up Wellington Harbour have found their third piece of unexploded and potentially dangerous WW2 ammunition. Ghost Divers pulled up a small brassy object over the weekend - which a historian has confirmed is a fuze mechanism. The group called the Defence Force explosive ordnance disposal team to deal with it. Previously group founder and president Rob Wilson has found two unexploded artillery shells at Shelly Bay, and he says there's a growing list of things they're instructed not to touch.

09:45 Middle East correspondent Sebastian Usher

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been trying to calm tension with a visit ot the West Bank city of Jenin. Three government officers had been forced to leave a funeral for two fighters killed in a two day long Israel operation. They were driven away by angry crowds. There have also been protests across Israel after the Government’s push to overhaul the judiciary. The UN is speaking out about what it calls unacceptable conditions placed by the Syrian government on aid delivery to northwest Syria. And human rights groups are speaking out about Iran executing 354 people so far this year.    

10:05 Harnessing nature's hidden superpowers

From cat fleas to sequoia trees, nature's secret ingredients inspire new materials, some stronger than steel.  Susie speaks with Professor Oded Shoseyov, renowned for his work in plant molecular biology, protein engineering, and nano-biotechnology.  Along with his research team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem he focuses on creating 'bio-inspired nanocomposite materials', that is, materials that mimic the structures and properties found in nature, which can be used to create new materials for use in, for example, human tissue regeneration, food packaging and 3D printing.  Oded is the founder of eighteen companies, several of which are focused on engineering these new materials.  And not only that the Shoseyovs have been in the wine business for 130 years!  Oded's Ted Talk about harnessing nature's super powers has been translated into twenty-two languages and viewed by over 1.8 million people.

10:35 Book review: Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared  Hosein 

Kiran Dass reviews Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein published by Bloomsbury.

10:45 Around the motu : Diane McCarthy in Whakatane

Whakatāne District Council staff there are back in their own building after the controversial redevelopment. And an emotional day for Māori ward campaigners is being  commemorated on the walls of the refurbished building. 

Whakatāne has also been making national headlines this week due to the Worksafe NZ prosecution of six parties involved in tours of Whakaari White Island.

Diane McCarthy is with the Whakatane Beacon.

11:05 Political commentators Neale Jones & Brigitte Morten

Neale Jones and Brigitte Morten join Susie to talk about the devastating poll slump for Labour - which suggests rising odds of a change of government. Campaigning is kicking off, with Labour unveiling its first billboard and new "In it for you" slogan, while National pledged a half-billion dollar pothole policy. Where will Labour's tax policy go now Chris Hipkins has ruled out a wealth and capital gains tax, who's in Act's newly-revealed party list and what's happening with migration across the Ditch?

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.

Brigitte Morten is a director with public and commercial law firm Franks Ogilvie and a former senior ministerial advisor for the previous National-led government, a National Party member and currently volunteering for the party's deputy leader, Nicola Willis.

 

11:30  Mrs Miller's Mussel Fritters
 

It's a family affair for mother and daughter team, Rowan and Lucy Miller who sell their hugely popular fritters at the Packhouse Market in Kerikeri. The hot green lipped offerings from Mrs Miller's Mussel Fritters will also be on the menu this coming weekend at the First Brew of Islands' Craft Beer Festival in Kerikeri.

11:45 Concrete v Timber: the pros and cons from an environmental point of view

Urban issues correspondent Bill McKay joins Susie to talk about the differences between the use of concrete and timber in the building industry and the carbon footprint created by their use.

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

Music played in this show

Track: Superstition
Artist: Stevie Wonder 
Time played: 9:41am

Track: Lotta Love 
Artist: Nicolette Larson 
Time played: 10:35am

Track: Walk On
Artist: Neil Young  
Time played: 10:38am

Track:  What a fool believes
Artist: Doobie Brothers 
Time played: 11:42am