Nine To Noon for Wednesday 26 July 2023

 

09:05 Auckland's flood costs soar, residents call for clarity

Flood affected West Auckland residents want clarity from the council about the status of their homes , six-months on from the Anniversary weekend event. Some are facing foreclosure on mortgages, unable to settle with insurers while they wait for category risk assessments, and meanwhile living in temporary accommodation - some paying rent as well as their mortgage. Auckland Council's emergency relief fund has been vastly oversubscribed, with more than $16 million in requests for help unmet. Meanwhile,  a new Auckland Council estimate is that the cost of the region's devastating flooding earlier this year could reach $4 billion, up from an earlier estimate of $1.2 billion. Kathryn speaks with Morgan Allen, spokesperson for the group West Auckland is Flooding, and Todd Niall, Stuff's senior reporter covering Auckland.  

 

09:20 St James Theatre: Cash from govt, threat from mayor

Auckland's dilapidated St James Theatre has been given a cash injection from the government - but the city's mayor says a matching Council payment won't be made unless construction is underway by next July. Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni announced a $15m contribution to the restoration of the St James - which has been closed for 15 years - to sit alongside funding from Auckland Council and the owner. But the New Zealand Herald reported this morning Mayor Wayne Brown had written to the Minister, to say the $15 million set aside by Council in 2016 would only be available until June 30 next year. He described it as "impetus" for the restoration to move forward and suggested if construction wasn't underway the Council would recommend the building is demolished. The St James is designated a Category 1 heritage building. So when WILL work begin on the St James? Kathryn talks to the building's owner Steve Bielby from Auckland Notable Properties Trust. 

09:40 RNZ board member resigns over Kiri Allan commentary

RNZ board member Jason Ake has resigned, after doubling down on public commentary about Kiri Allan. Mr Ake was appointed earlier this month.  RNZ's Deputy Political Editor Craig McCulloch with the latest.

09:30 Arts programme for recovering addicts faces funding squeeze

An arts programme that's been seeing great results through its work with recovering drug and alcohol addicts is concerned for its future when its funding runs out. Art-East is under the umbrella of Drug-ARM Christchurch and has been running since 2014. It provides a safe space and support for people struggling with drug and alcohol issues, and won recognition for its work in the community with the Arts Access Holdsworth Creative Space Award in 2021. In the same year it won over $241k from the Care Fund - a Covid response initiative run through the Ministry for Culture and Heritage - which allowed it to expand its operating hours to five days a week and the number of people. But the fund has now wound up - leaving Art-East with a shortfall from next year. Lis Rate-Smith joins Kathryn to talk about Art-East's work and the concerns many arts-based programmes have in trying to secure funding in a cost-of-living crisis.

09:45 Australia: Sex book pulled from shelves, cashless society a step closer

Australia correspondent Chris Niesche joins Kathryn to talk about why book store Big W has pulled a book for young people called 'Welcome to Sex' from its shelves. And the amount of cash in circulation in Australia's economy has declined for the first time since the introduction of decimal currency in 1966 - so is a cashless society closer to reality?

10:05 The 76 year old who's in the best shape of her life (and how she got there)

As Joan MacDonald hit 70, she was overweight, had high blood pressure, painful arthritis and found it difficult to walk up a flight of stairs. Concerned, her fitness-coach daughter Michelle said she had to make a choice: continue on the path and be worse off, or work with her and improve her health. Six years later, Joan's health has well and truly improved - the arthritis has lessened, she doesn't need to take any medication and she's ...well, really cut. Joan's journey - which she stresses was NOT easy - has inspired others, in fact she has a website called Train with Joan,1.8m followers on Instagram and earlier this year she released a book called Flex Your Age. Joan talks to Kathryn about her journey - and why it's never to late to start getting fit.

10:35 Book review: Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch 

Elisabeth Easther reviews Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch published by Hachette

10:45 Around the motu: Peter de Graaf in Northland

Peter talks to Kathryn about concerns from environmental and marine experts about the "ticking time bomb" of the Niagara wreck sitting off the coast. It's in deep water, with up to 1000 tonnes of fuel oil on board that could escape as the ship degrades. Far North Mayor Moko Tepania has been named one of five winners of the One Young World Politician of the Year for encouraging youth in politics. Kawakawa has been flushed with pride over the category 1 designation for its Hundertwasser toilets, and Whangarei has been celebrating the success of one of its own - Hannah Wilkinson for her historic goal in the Eden Park World Cup opener.

11:05 Music with Kirsten Zemke: Vintage vocal harmony

Music commentator Kirsten Zemke joins Kathryn to talk about the popularity of vocal harmony in the 50s and 60s, with its simple lyrics, nonsense syllables and little or no instrumentation.

Kirsten Zemke is an ethnomusicologist at the University of Auckland's School of Social Sciences.

 

11:25 Can a relationship survive affairs, infidelity and betrayal?

Auckland based sex therapist and porn researcher Jo Robertson tackles the thorny adult relationship issue of cheating. How do you come back from it?.

11:45 Science: Atlantic current shutdown, less polluting engines, 2000-year old curry

Science commentator Laurie Winkless joins Kathryn to talk about Danish research that suggests a key system of ocean currents could collapse in the next 25 years. Researchers from Washington State University have found a way to remove 90 percent of the methane that can be pumped into the atmosphere when you start up your car engine and excavations at a site in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam have found remnants of spices on ancient cookware that suggest the area was a rich cultural crossroads 2000 years ago.

Laurie Winkless is a physicist and science writer.