Nine To Noon for Monday 5 August 2024

09:05 Concerns online casino regulations don't protect young and addicted

Critics are concerned the government's first steps into regulating online casinos won't do enough to protect addicts and young people from savvy offshore operators. Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden announced last week the Government is going to auction off licences for online casinos. Until now there has been no regulation of online gambling - except for Lotto and the TAB. Legal online casinos will be taxed and allowed to advertise their products, which was previously banned. A select committee will hear submissions on the proposals and the new regime won't be in place till 2026. New Zealanders spend around $2.7b  a year in regulated gambling - but the total spent on online casinos is unknown. Westpac recorded its own customers spending nearly $137m in just three months last year on online gambling - half of that was with TAB and Lotto - but the rest was with unregulated online casinos. And just two percent was spent at physical gambling sites. Those in the gambling addiction sector say regulation is desperately needed, but they fear the government's approach focuses too much on the tax take, and not enough on protection from harm. Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden speaks to Paddy Gower about the proposal, and he also speaks to Maria Bellringer, the director of AUT's Gambling and Addictions Research Centre. 

Help for problem gamblers:

Gambling Helpline Services: 0800 654 655 or text 8006
Problem Gambling Foundation: 0800 664 262 text 5819
help@pgf.nz

Safergambling Aotearoa

09:20 Tough times on the farm - how is it impacting mental health?

Farmer confidence has remained at an all time low in the latest bi-annual Federated Farmers survey. More than two thirds of the 1,400 farmers surveyed consider the current economic conditions to be 'bad'. Debt, interest rates and banks causing the greatest concern to Kiwi farmers, and weather conditions are also feeding into the stress. So how is their mental health faring? Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford and Rural Support Trust national chair Neil Bateup speak to Paddy.

09:45 Middle East: Fears grow for widening of regional conflict

Middle East correspondent Sebastian Usher looks at calls by Western nations for their citizens to vacate Lebanon, as the possibility of a wider conflict in the region grows. Iran has threatened retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, and that could be aided by Lebanon-based Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

10:05 The Speedway Murders: Australian filmmakers attempt to solve 1978 US cold case

At the end of their Friday night shift in 1978 four young workers at a burger restaurant in Speedway, Indiana went missing. At first police thought they'd taken the petty cash and gone partying. But they didn't appear the next morning. By Sunday, the bodies of Jayne Friedt, Daniel Davis, Mark Flemmonds and Ruth Ellen Shelton had been found in the woods 30km away. The Burger Chef Murders, as the case came to be known, was never solved - although there were suspects. 45 years on Australian filmmakers Luke Rynderman and Adam Kamien have tried to piece together what happened that night, interviewing witnesses, police officers and family members in an attempt to turn up new evidence about the case. And they may have found something. Their film, The Speedway Murders, recreates the Burger Chef scene - with young Kiwi and Australian actors portraying the victims and running through the main theories of what happened that night. It's playing as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival.

10:35 Book review: The Garden Against Time: In Search of Common Paradise by Olivia Laing 

Kiran Dass reviews The Garden Against Time: In Search of Common Paradise by Olivia Laing published by Picador

10:45 Around the motu: Piers Fuller covering Wairarapa

The Wairarapa Times-Age has just launched a campaign to shine a spotlight on homelessness in region and helping to raise money to get a night refuge operational. And a nurse is speaking out about an overcrowding crisis at Wairarapa Hospital.

Piers Fuller is the editor of the Wairarapa Times-Age.

11:05 Political commentators Sue Moroney & Tim Hurdle

Sue and Tim join Paddy to talk about yesterday's National Party conference, where Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced plans to fast-track changes to the maths curriculum in the wake of what he labelled "appalling" results of Year 8 students. They'll also discuss the start to boot camps, removal of a controversial part of the Oranga Tamariki Act, bullying and personal attacks at Parliament, tax cut delivery and the shelving of eight recommendations from the royal commission into the Christchurch terror attacks.

Sue Moroney is a former Labour MP and now chief executive of Community Law Centres Aotearoa.

Tim Hurdle is a former National senior adviser, was the National Party Campaign Director in 2020. He is a director of several companies, including Museum Street Strategies, a public affairs firm.

 

11:30 An  Aussie fishmonger's tips on preparing and cooking seafood

Anthony Yotis is a second generation Melbourne fishmonger, always with an eye to seeking out quality produce. Anthony and and his wife Laura, run the popular shop - The Fishmonger's Son, in Carlton North. And now they have a book of the same name, which aims to provide a guide to buying, preparing and cooking seafood. It contains many recipes, and also helpful tips on what fish and seafood to use - for different styles of dishes and cooking methods.

11:45 Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne

Kennedy takes us into the mind of a Search and Rescue searcher and discusses the meaning of mana.