Nine To Noon for Tuesday 26 November 2024

09:05 Fifty new senior doctors roles funded as Health NZ plans other cuts

50 new senior doctors and extra specialist nurses are to be employed by Health New Zealand at a cost of $30 million. The Health Minister Shane Reti has just announced the funding, saying it will help fill critical workforce gaps particularly in regional or provincial hospitals. He says the senior doctors will help reduce wait times and support vulnerable specialties like dermatology. The extra specialist nurses are intended to help critical shortages in rural areas and particular specialties, such as mental health, maternity and critical care. Meanwhile, Health New Zealand has begun consulting on cutting jobs in the National Public Health Service and data and digital teams. Kathryn speaks with Sarah Dalton, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists.

09:15 Physiotherapists call for ACC to fund more sessions

Physiotherapists say too many patients are quitting treatment before they've recovered from injury because ACC funding is 20 per cent too low. A quarter of all first injury claims to ACC are treated by physiotherapists - in the last year ACC paid out on just over 754,000 claims at a cost of $164 million. There are two pathways for physios to claim funding from ACC, but practitioners say neither pay enough and their part-charges have had to rise to the point where many cannot afford treatment. An independent review of ACC funding for the sector is about to get underway. President of Physiotherapy NZ, Kirsten Davie, says it's been a long time coming. ACC deputy chief executive of System Commissioning and Performance John Bennett says it has no control over how much practitioners charge for sessions, and while the contribution percentage has remained 60 percent, the per consultation prices that it pays providers has increased.

09:25 Highly touted supercritical geothermal resource's pathway to power 

New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world with access to a resource that could become a major new provider of reliable, low emissions energy. Supercritical geothermal is touted to be able to supply about 2000 megawatts of new electricity generation from 2037 - and likely without emissions. It is water that is super hot and at very high pressure, able to provide three times the energy of conventional geothermal sources. But it is still early days for the technology required to develop an industry. The fluids are found at depths greater than 5 kilometres, and the uncertainty around that temperature and behaviour of these fluids pose challenges. Geothermal is crucial to the country's energy mix, but adding supercritical is expected to be more than a decade away. At that time it could provide 35 per cent of the country's electricity needs, according to a recent report. Kathryn talks to Dr Isabelle Chambefort - who is leading GNS' programme into the future geothermal energy. Kathryn is also joined by John O'Sullivan, co-director of the Geothermal Institute at Auckland University, about the country taking a leading role in research around the world. 

09:45 USA correspondent Ximena Bustillo

Incoming President Donald Trump continues to announce appointments for his administration, including several to lead health and food administration policies. Meanwhile Trump's criminal trial is officially put on hold as his plan to deport undocumented immigrants is already having an effect. 

Ximena Bustillo is a multi-platform reporter at NPR covering politics out of the White House and Congress on air and in print.

10:05 Former cabinet minister Nikki Kaye dies

Former National Party Minister Nikki Kaye has died. She was 44 years old. Ms Kaye retired from politics in 2020 after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2016. She served in the John Key cabinet and held multiple portfolios including Education, Immigration, Food Safety, Civil Defence and Youth Affairs. RNZ's political editor Jo Moir joins Kathryn.

10:15 The debilitating experience of contamination phobia and OCD

Wendy Parkins had just hit a career milestone when she lost control, gripped by depression and a debilitating phobia and OCD which convinced her everything she touched was contaminated. A shift to the UK to pursue her academic career in Victorian literature led to an intense fear of everything from door handles, to raw meat, to the air inside a bus. Struggling to find therapy that helped, she started writing as a way to process her frustration...which eventually turned into her memoir, called Every morning, so far, I'm alive. Wendy Parkins is also a writer of Victorian-style novels, the first of which is out today. The Defiance of Frances Dickinson is based on a true story of a women who braved public disgrace to gain control over her own life in ther 19th century. Wendy speaks to Kathryn from her home in Dunedin.

10:35 Book review: The Season by Helen Garner 

Jane Westaway reviews The Season by Helen Garner published by Text Publishing

10:45 Around the motu: Jonathan Leask in Ashburton

Jonathan discusses Ashburton's road to repair, the mayor backs Christmas spend, and counting the cost to keep score in Ashburton.

Jonathan Leask  is a Local Democracy Reporter with the Ashburton Guardian

11:05 Business commentator Rebecca Stevenson

Business commentator Rebecca Stevenson discusses Jaguar's rebrand - where it ditched the presence of any cars in an advert posted on X. Rebecca also discusses the end of annual meetings season as well as some interest company results.

Rebecca Stevenson is a senior journalist at BusinessDesk.

11:30 Who's arriving in NZ and who's leaving?

Demographer and Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley discusses how immigration and emigration have changed in the past two years. In 2023, New Zealand had the highest net migration ever, but latest figures from Stats NZ show this year immigration is down, and the number of Kiwis leaving is extremely high. The largest group leaving are in 20s and tend to be highly qualified.

11:45 Sports correspondent Joe Porter 

RNZ sports reporter Joe Porter on the All Blacks final game of the season - a win against Italy. Joe also discusses cricket; Australia being humiliated by India in a test match at Perth, and the New Zealanders picked up in the latest Indian Premier League option.