Nine To Noon for Tuesday 12 December 2023

09:05 Would-be EV owners rush to buy as the clean car rebate ends

Would-be EV owners are flocking to dealers around the country and rushing to get their applications in for the clean car rebate, ahead of its demise on December 31. Anyone applying for the rebate on the Waka Kotahi website is met with a message that it could take up to 20 working days to process, but the agency says applications file before the 31st will be processed. The end of the Clean Car Discount, although not unexpected, has disappointed advocates - including lobby group Drive Electric - which wrote to new Transport Minister Simeon Brown about the expect effect of ending the policy and urged a staged phase-out. Kathryn speaks to Drive Electric chair Kirsten Corson, director of Auckland City EVs Nick Jackson and Aimee Wiley, CEO of the Motor Industry Association.

09:25  Aucklanders asked to conserve water this holiday season 

It's shaping up to be a hot dry summer in the City of Sails and Aucklanders are being urged to be mindful of their water use. With the El Niño climate pattern upon us, there's confidence from weather forecasters that warmer and drier conditions lie ahead. With that in mind Watercare is appealing to residents to be selective about how much water they use. Water demand in Auckland usually skyrockets on hot dry days. Watercare head of production Peter Rogers talks to Kathryn about the various ways people can be careful about their water use.

09:45 USA correspondent Ron Elving

Donald Trump has changed his mind about returning to the witness stand to testify in his own defense at his civil fraud trial in New York. And in Texas, the Supreme Court has temporarily halted a lower court's order that would have allowed a pregnant Dallas woman, whose fetus has lethal abnormality, to get an abortion.

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

10:05  Award winning Kaikohe design studio with a focus on the community

Kathryn speaks with Ana Heremaia, Felicity Brenchley and Jo Walsh from  ĀKAU studio in Kaikohe, in the Far North. They have designed marae, learning centres, civic spaces and housing developments in the region. But ĀKAU Studio is far more than an architecture practice. They also have a design school for rangitahi that takes them through NZQA accredited courses to Level 3. Since they founded the studio nearly a decade ago, their mission has been to do something about the high rates of truancy, drug and alcohol abuse, youth offending and high unemployment in the Far North.  ĀKAU Studio has just won this year's Institute of Architects' John Sutherland Practice Award.

10:35 Book review: Behind the Seams by Dolly Parton with Holly George-Warren; Curated by Rebecca Seaver 

Gina Rogers reviews Behind the Seams by Dolly Parton with Holly George-Warren; Curated by Rebecca Seaver published by Penguin Random House

10:45 Around the motu: Lee Scanlon in Westport

The Westport News has just turned 150. It is believed to be the oldest independently-owned paper in New Zealand and  was set up in November 1873 by politician Eugene O’Connor. Lee talks to Kathryn about the company behind the West Coast’s new heavy mineral sands industry which says it’s a world class resource with the potential to create about 300 jobs. And the Buller District Council is trying to pull back a potential rate rise of over 30 percent.

Lee Scanlon is the Westport News Chief Reporter.

11:05 Business commentator Dileepa Fonseka

Dileepa discusses a China Business forum which he attended this week, as well as newly appointed trade minister Todd McClay's upcoming trips to Singapore and India, to establish deeper trade relationships.

Dileepa Fonseka is a Senior Correspondent with BusinessDesk

11:30 Mental health platform Clearhead reaches 180,000

Angela Lim is a doctor and tech entrepreneur who founded the mental health and wellbeing platform Clearhead five years ago. In the past year,  it has supported 180,000 New Zealanders,  through some of the country's biggest workplaces. These are in-person and on-line therapy sessions with qualified clinicians around the country. Clearhead boasts a two to three day wait time for a session,  and offers therapy times outside of normal working hours, to suit the client. Dr Lim says Clearhead has never been funded by Te Whatu Ora, nor has it shown any interest. She says it's frustrating to see how little has changed in the publicly funded mental health sector. RNZ news is reporting today that most of the staff recruited to the 664-million-dollar scheme putting mental health advisers into GP clinics and other primary care settings have come from within the mental health sector, creating gaps in other areas.  Clearhead has just released statistics from the past year - showing what the key concerns of its users are. Not surprisingly perhaps, anxiety is number one.

11:45 Sports-chat with Sam Ackerman

The new Super Rugby board has officially formed with marketing whiz Kevin Malloy the new chair - and the hunt for the new CEO has already seen them indicate the role is more centred on someone with marketing experience than sports or admin background. Sam gives his take on this. The  quality of cricket pitches has been high in sporting conversations recently. Sam says the Black Caps salvaged a series draw against Bangladesh on a dog of a pitch - the worst captain Tim Southee has seen in his career.