Nine To Noon for Thursday 5 September 2024
09:05 Many more small towns could lose aged care beds: Association
Photo: NZ Photo
The Aged Care Association says many rural communities will end up with a complete absence of aged care facilities if the government doesn't come up with the right funding model. Yesterday we heard from a social worker in Wairoa about the more than 50 whanau she knows of who are caring for frail elders at home, because the town has no aged care beds, since Cyclone Gabrielle wiped out the last resthome. Tracey Martin says Wairoa is just the tip of the iceberg and says 200 small rural care providers who are on a "knife edge", due the current funding and regulatory settings.
09:30 More job losses coming as Te Pukenga unwinds: Minister
Minister for Tertiary Education, Penny Simmonds proposed significantly increasing the maximum rate a university can increase fees by annually. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The Tertiary Education Minister says it's inevitable the polytech sector will go through more job losses in the complex unravelling of Te Pukenga - the national Institute of Skills and Technology. Penny Simmonds says by January 1, she expects as many as five or six institutes to be ready stand on their own, with perhaps another three achieving that throughout the year. The less viable institutions of the 16 that went into Te Pukenga, and will now come under Open Polytechnic/ She says they will retain a physical presence in their communities. The minister is disputing the views of former polytech heads who say the sector has never been funded to achieve sustainability, while conceding funding next year will be tight. And the Minister is standing by her position that Te Pukenga has $250 million of debt despite the organisation's annual report putting the debt figure at about $50 million.
09:45 New Māori monarch about to be named
Photo: Supplied / Waikato Tainui
It's a momentous day in Māoridom with the final day of the tangi for Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero Te Tuawhitu taking place at Tūrangawaewae Marae - the citadel of the Kiingitanga movement. Shortly his successor will be annointed. RNZ will be broadcasting proceedings live just after the ten o'clock news. RNZ's Mihingarangi Forbes is at Ngāurawāhia.
10:05 RNZ Special from Ngaurawahia
RNZ's Mihingarangi Forbes presents a special programme as the new head of the Kiingitanga movement to replace Kiingi Tuheitia.
10:30 Wool coats and mortgages; Claire Williamson wins farming emerging leader award
Photo: Supplied by Claire Williamson
Claire Williamson is making her way in the rural sector by knitting together multiple talents. Just named at the Primary Industries Awards' as the sector's Emerging Leader, Claire is a mortgage broker helping rural people into their first home, but also a fashion designer with her own label - Velma and Beverley. That came about after wanting to boost the wool sector in New Zealand and her failure to find a colourful coat she liked. She is also a member of the Rural Women NZ board and co-host of the women in farming podcast Black Heels and Tractor Wheels. She talks to Kathryn about how she fell into the home loan business after starting her career in sports management.
10:50 Around the motu : Libby Kirky McLeod in Hamilton
Waikato councils are standing firm on their Maori Ward seats, meaning most of the region's residents will face, and be paying for a referendum on the issue next year. Cardiac surgeries are being delayed by up to eight weeks at Waikato Hospital. And there's been a scary discovery at a recycling and sorting plant in Te Awamutu.
Staff sorting items on the line at the Te Awamutu recycling facility, in August 2024. Photo: RNZ/ Libby Kirkby-McLeod
11:05 Tech: What next for Telegram? Brazil vs X
Photo: Public Domain
Technology correspondent Juha Saarinen looks at the arrest of Telegram's founder Pavel Durov and why so many free-speech absolutists have railed about it. He'll talk about what's on the platform and why a lack of encryption might be making a lot of people nervous. And Brazil's supreme court has blocked X (formerly Twitter), but Elon Musk's Starlink network has said it would comply with the ruling to remain operational in the country.
11:20 Kiingi Tuheitia brought to the waka on the Waikato River
The tangi for Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, 5 September, 2024. Photo: Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Kathryn speaks to RNZ journalist Ella Stewart as Kiingi Tuheitia is led towards the waka that will ferry him to Taupiri maunga.
11:25 With so many education apps - how can parents know which ones are actually good?
Photo: Pixabay
The phrase "there's an app for that" certainly applies in the education space - one estimate puts numbers available on the Apple and Google Play stores at nearly 400-thousand. But are they any good? If you're a parent looking for an EduApp to help your child learn, or an educator, looking for something useful in the classroom, - how can you choose something that meets quality educational standards? Adam Dubé is an Associate Professor of Learning Sciences based at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He says EduApps are a multi-billion dollar industry, but app stores don't provide consumers with the information they really need and that user ratings or reviews aren't that helpful.
11:45 Screentime: Thelma, Sherwood, Only Murders in the Building
Photo: IMDb
Film and TV correspondent James Croot looks at Thelma, in cinemas today, in which a grandma is scammed and sets out to get her money back. UK crime drama Sherwood (TVNZ+) is back for a second season, and Only Murders in the Building (Disney+) is into its fourth season - with yet another murder making investigative podcast fodder for Charles, Mabel and Oliver.
James Croot is the deputy editor of TV Guide