Nine To Noon for Wednesday 5 February 2025

09:05 Funding DOC facilities as the government drives for more tourists

It's mid-way through the summer season, but early indications at the Department of Conservation are that it's been a busy one. As DOC faces funding shortfalls, it has been floating new money raising ideas such as charging at carparks and is consulting on fees for access to some public conservation land. The need for money is serious. DOC administers New Zealand's largest recreation network including more than 14,000km of tracks, 326 campsites, approximately 950 backcountry huts and numerous heritage sites across one third of the country. DOC's Director General, Penny Nelson in the last annual review said the department was spread too thin. Now as part of the government's growth strategy, the Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon has focused on tourism as a priority, along with mining. Penny Nelson talks to Kathryn about how DOC is coping and if it can support a rise in the number of tourists visiting already our National Parks.

09:20 Seven new charter schools set to open their doors   

Seven new charter schools are opening throughout the country this week. Charter schools are publicly funded and privately owned. $153 million has been set aside by the coalition government for 15 new charter schools and the conversion of 35 state schools over this year and next.  Associate Education  Minister David Seymour says they provide parents and children with more choice, and educators with more autonomy around things like governance, funding, finances, and their curriculum. However, there are questions about the effectiveness of charter schools, and concerns over how they'll be monitored and student achievement measured. Kathryn is joined by Jane Lee, who is chief executive at the Charter Schools Agency overseeing and monitoring the schools. Also Chris Abercrombie, president of the secondary teachers' union, the PPTA.

09:45 Australia: Queensland flood recovery, crackdown on neo-Nazi online network

Australia correspondent Chris Niesche has the latest on the devastating floods that have hit northern Queensland, and the government's effort to crackdown on online networking tools that are used by the far-right in Australia amid a spate of anti-semitic attacks.

10:05 VR game developer Sam Ramlu's optimism for the sector's future

Imagine this: it's an apocalyptic future where climate change has brought the world to ruin. You're given a wristwatch that can travel back in time, and you've got to go to key moments in history to try and revert the pathway to destruction. That's the task in the virtual reality game Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate a game created by New Zealand studio Mighty Eyes - and which is getting a re-release soon on the Playstation VR and Quest platforms. The game brought rave reviews when it had its original release in 2022 - including being nominated for VR game of the year at a major international awards. The studio Mighty Eyes is just one of three ventures being led by creative tech entrepreneur Sam Ramlu. She also runs Method, which works on digital experiences such as Hector's World, a cartoon created with Netsafe to educate kids about being online. The company was also contracted to create Ātea Nuku Time Walk Paihia - an immersive heritage walking tour of Paihia. And there's a second gaming company under her umbrella - Mad Carnival - which is working on a more family-friendly genre of games.

10:35 Book review: Three of the best from 2024

Paul Diamond reviews three of his favourite books from last year: Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery: A Whanganui Biography by Martin Edmond, published by Massey University Press, On James Baldwin by Colm Toibin, published by  Brandeis University Press, and Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art by Deidre Brown and Ngarino Ellis, with Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, published by Auckland University Press.

10:45 Around the motu: Kirsty Pickett in Te Anau

Kirsty discusses the latest in Te Anau including debates around the airport, hundreds turn up for a nine-year-old's street party, the Te Anau teen who helped the NZ clay target team to victory, and the Adventure Racing World Series.

Kirsty Pickett is the co owner of the Southland App Southlandapp.nz based in Te Anau, covering Southland and Fiordland.

11:05 Unemployment tops 5 percent

The unemployment rate has reached it's highest point since 2020. Figures just out from Stats NZ show the jobless rate climbed to 5.1 percent in the three months to December. It rose from 4.8 percent in the previous quarter. The last time it topped 5 percent was September 2020. RNZ business editor Gyles Beckford joins Kathryn in the studio.

11:10 Music with Ian Chapman: Family brands

Within the space of the last five months the second-oldest members of both the Jackson 5 and the Osmonds have passed away. Although overshadowed by the success of younger siblings, Michael and Donny respectively, Tito Jackson and Wayne Osmond were crucial members of these hugely talented 1970s family bands. Today Ian Chapman salutes these departed icons and also features other family-based acts, The Pleasure Seekers (feat Suzi Quatro), CocoRosie and The Clean.

Ian Chapman is a Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Music at the University of Otago. 

11:25 Relationships: when sex is painful

Jo Robertson is a therapist, educator and researcher and a regular on Nine to Noon. She talks with Kathryn about painful sex in a relationship - the causes, the impact, when to seek help and what treatment looks like.

11:45 Looking for a new job in the new year? Seek's career coach has some tips

For many, the new year may have arrived with the need or desire to find a new job. The latest job ad numbers show a decline of 22 percent for the month of December compared to the year previous.  The figures from Seek NZ also showed December was down two percent on November - with the number of ads down four percent in Auckland, three in Wellington and five percent in Canterbury. So will there be an uptick in employment opportunities for the new year? Is now the best time to start looking, and what's the best approach? Joining Kathryn is Leah Lambart - she runs an employment consultancy called ReLaunch Me and she's also Seek's resident Careers Coach.