Nine To Noon for Monday 7 April 2025

09:05 Mental Health Foundation calls for halt to police withdrawal

The Mental Health Foundation says plans for police to scale back attending mental health callouts must be halted.The Police currently receive 70,000 mental health callouts a year, but the government has said police are not mental health workers and need to focus on their core job. Last November, police announced a four phase plan to reduce the the time spent on mental health callouts. Currently, police do not stay with patients once they have been taken to an emergency department voluntarily, and have wound back on transport requests and attendance at mental health facilities. The next phase of the withdrawal is expected to begin mid this month, although police declined a request from Nine to Noon to set out what that would involve and when.The Mental Health Foundation says there is no adequate plan in place to support the transition and it must be halted until an alternative service is in place. Chief Executive of the Foundation, Shaun Robinson, speaks to Kathryn.

09:20 New push to rein in political lobbyists

A new campaign launching today wants political lobbyists subject to a mandatory code of conduct and a new Integrity Commission established to enforce the code.  Health Coalition Aotearoa, the Helen Clark Foundation and Transparency International are behind the campaign, saying more balance and accountability is needed in public policy-making. It is seeking a new law which would also include a register of lobbyists and a "cooling off" period of 1-3 years between someone being in government and commencing lobbying. Kathryn speaks with chair of Transparency International, Anne Tolley - a former National Cabinet Minister, former Chair of the Commission overseeing Tauranga City Council , and former local body politician. Also public health scholar Boyd Swinburn, from Health Coalition Aotearoa.

09:35 The retirees helping high schoolers to read

An Auckland reading programme matching volunteers with young high schoolers struggling with literacy wants to expand to more schools. First piloted in 1997 at One Tree Hill College - the Rotary Reading Enrichment Programme has grown to cover eight schools, and two more set to begin on Waiheke Island next term. The programme operates during school hours and volunteers who are typically retirees are paired with year nine or 10 students who want to build their reading confidence. The organisers behind the programme say secondary school students can get left behind at the start of their learning at high school because they may come from a low literacy background. They say individualised support is what is needed. They are looking for schools around West Auckland to expand the programme to, with a lot of volunteers ready to go in that area. Ann Dunphy is a former principal of One Tree Hill College and has led the reading programme since its early days. Kathryn also speaks to Nigel Brown - an accountant who is a volunteer coordinator for Otahuhu College and often works as a reading tutor.     

09:45 Europe correspondent Seamus Kearney

The European Union takes its time to react to Trump's tariffs, seeking unity, France's Le Pen vows to fight court ban on running for president, Hungary pulls out of International Criminal Court as it hosts Israeli PM, and the Danish Prime Minister has made a trip to Greenland.

10:05  Award winning scientist Robyn Dynes's campaign to bridge the gap between research and farming 

Connecting with farmers is one of the attributes Robyn Dynes -- the latest recipient of Lincoln University's prestigious Bledisloe Medal - is most proud of. She's a principal scientist  for AgResearch and has been recognised for her outstanding contribution in her field. She advises on global trends and the latest science in her work with farmers, which spans climate change and farming systems. She joins Kathryn to talk about growing up on a Southland farm, the possibility of a career in harness racing and listening to the challenges of those on the land.

10:35 Book review: The Paperbark Tree Committee by Karys McEwen 

Joanna Ludbrook from Chicken and Frog Bookshop in Featherston reviews The Paperbark Tree Committee by Karys McEwen published by Text Publishing

10:45 Around the motu: David Williams in Christchurch

The Ngāi Tahu court case has concluded with the judge's decision to come, there were 21,334 red light runners detected at just five Christchurch intersections last year, the latest updates in the Christchurch Boys' High case, and there has been a battle over the lease of land at Mt White Station.

David Williams is Newsroom's Te Waipounamu South Island Correspondent.

11:05 Political commentators Neale Jones and Brigitte Morten

Neale Jones was Chief of Staff to Labour Leader Jacinda Ardern, and prior to that was Chief of Staff to Andrew Little. He is the director of public affairs firm Capital.

Brigitte Morten is a director with public and commercial law firm Franks Ogilvie and a former senior ministerial advisor for the previous National-led government, a National Party member and currently volunteering for the party's deputy leader, Nicola Willis.

11:30 The Hutt Valley local making hāngī available to everyone

A craving for a good hāngī, and finding nowhere to buy one, led to Hutt Valley local CJ Collier to set up his own business. The young father started preparing the traditional Māori meal in his family garage four years ago. Now CJ's makes hundreds of hāngī a week and sells them at six locations around Lower Hutt, and has an ambitious goal to make them available within a 10-minute drive for the whole Wellington region. CJ, who affiliates to Te Aitangaa-Māhaki, told me about the journey this business is on. 

11:45 Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne

The magnificent new book about huia and the artist who has been painting them for 60 years. The Huia and our Tears is written and compiled by legendary bird painter Raymond Ching. Ching is frank about the difficulties he's experienced trying to paint this iconic bird, writing: "Perhaps above all, they are made difficult to paint because huia are so very much more than just beautiful forest birds; we have all of us so much invested in these birds; pride that such birds be born to these islands or ours and guilt that we should have allowed them to be lost." Kennedy also has a new shark story: For the first time sharks have been recording vocalising. An Auckland shark researcher recorded rig (the shark whose flesh often ends up in fish and chips) making clicking sounds.