Nine To Noon for Friday 12 July 2024

09:05 Wellington's regional council chair on Interislander ferries management 

Should a new entity be set up to run the Interislander ferries? Transport Minister Simeon Brown says the government has received recommendations by an independent advisory group on a range of options for new ferries and how they would operate. He won't confirm a report by 1News that the advisory group suggests Kiwirail no longer run the ferries, and that a separate entity, like a new State Owned Enterprise, be created. Mr Brown says Cabinet is considering the report. Kiwirails plans for new ferries and terminals were scrapped by the government late last year after massive cost blow outs. However no decisions have yet been made over what should replace the ageing fleet  - or who should run them. Greater Wellington Regional Council is a majority owner of Centreport where the Cook Strait ferries run from. It's chair is Daran Ponter. He's sounding caution over wholesale changes to Kiwirail.

09:20 Data shows gas reserves not able to meet demand 

The country is not going to produce enough gas to meet expected demand in at least the next three years, according to the latest data from MBIE. New Zealand uses about 150 petajoules a year - similar to the amount it consumes in electricity - but field operators expect to be able to extract only 140 petajoules in each of the next 3 years. While it is estimated the fields hold 1827 petajoules in total, only 70 per cent is commercially available, and only 7.5 percent is being drawn per year. Energy Minister Simeon Brown says the numbers are "very concerning" and will stifle economic growth and the Government has commissioned a study on options for ways to find new gas supply in the short term. Kathryn speaks with John Kidd, head of research at advisory firm Enerlytica.

09:35 Concerning decline in red-billed gull population

They're the squawking, chip stealing, icon of New Zealand beaches, but environmentalists say the red-billed gull is in trouble. There has been a sharp decline in their numbers over the past three decades with two of the three biggest colonies - on the Three Kings Islands and Mokohinau Islands - reducing in numbers by more than 80%. And of particular concern now, is the largest remaining colony, on Kaikōura Peninsula. Sabrina Luecht from Kaikōura Wildlife Centre Trust says she's finding dead gulls so emaciated, they're half the size they should be. And she warns the colony could vanish within the next 10 years, as its population ages - the birds not strong enough to breed, or outrun predators. Under the NZ Threat Classification System, red-billed seagulls are considered 'at risk - declining'.

09:45 Pacific correspondent Koroi Hawkins

RNZ Pacific Editor Koroi Hawkins 

10:05 Closing the digital divide for Tairawhiti elderly

Keeping connected - how a Gisborne based charity is helping elderly, kaumatua and the technically challenged across the Tairawhiti Region. TaiTech is a not for profit which offers a range of courses and social opportunities for people. Polly Crawford is the Operations Manager and says the trust aims to help anyone, but mostly the elderly, in learning how to set up and use devices. This includes mobile phones, ipads and computers. And 83 year old Nona Aston says Thursdays are her Taitech class days and what she's learning helps to keep her in touch with whanau living here and overseas. 

10:35 Book review: Coastal Fishes of New Zealand by Malcolm Francis 

Airini Beautrais reviews Coastal Fishes of New Zealand by Malcolm Francis published by Potton & Burton

10:45 Around the motu: Chris Hyde in Hawkes Bay

Chris discusses the ownership of Hawkes Bay airport, the 70th anniversary of the Pania of the Reef sculpture, and a big rugby game in Wairoa tomorow.

11:05 Music reviewer Grant Smithies​

Wellington band Terror Of The Deep have just reissued a long-lost album from 2010. Grant Smithies has two key tracks from that today, followed by a new single from Christchurch-based singer Holly Arrowsmith, and a slab of tropical soca-disco from Trinidad’s Barbara Hernandez.

11:30 Sports commentator Sam Ackerman

Can England end the All Blacks' 30-year stranglehold at Eden Park? Sam Ackerman looks at whether this is another record to be broken or will the fortress record stay intact? Sam also looks at the major sporting events around the globe coming to a conclusion in the Euros and Wimbledon.

11:40 Biden vows to fight on as Democratic candidate

President Joe Biden held an unscripted media conference at the end of the NATO summit in Washington DC declaring himself the best person to beat Republican candidate Donald Trump. The summit has been overshadowed by growing calls from fellow Democrats for him to pull out of this year's Presidential election.  Washington correspondent Simon Marks speaks to Kathryn.

11:50 The week that was Michele A'Court and Elisabeth Easther

Our comedic duo Michele A'Court and Elisabeth Easther look at the lighter moments of the week - including poor Larry the cat, of 10 Downing Street, who has outlasted another British Prime Minister. And debate online after a grandmother took her grandkids to Disney World for the first time, without their mother's knowledge - is she in the wrong?