Sunday Morning for Sunday 28 April 2013
8:12 Insight: Trading with China
The Prime Minister, John Key, has just returned from a trade and diplomacy mission to China, rating it a 10 out of 10. He received red carpet welcomes and meetings with four of China’s most powerful leaders, including the new President and Premier. The 100-strong trade delegation was one of the largest ever taken to China, as New Zealand tries to gain leverage from its five-year-old Free Trade Agreement with the fastest growing economy in the world. Political reporter Liz Banas looks at what more New Zealand business needs to do to secure deals, and ensure it has an ongoing and ever more lucrative relationship with China.
Produced by Sally Round
8:40 Gideon Haigh – On Warnie
Gideon Haigh is a freelance journalist and the author of 27 books, most of them about cricket. In 2012 he published On Warne – a biography of Shane Warne, the greatest cricketer of his era.
Gideon Haigh is appearing at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival
9:06 Mediawatch
Mediawatch looks at this weekend’s digital TV switchover in the South Island. Are viewers getting their money’s worth – and will the local TV broadcasters survive the switch? Mediawatch also asks whether satire should be taken so seriously, and looks at how racism generated lots of media debate this week, but few facts.
Produced and presented by Colin Peacock and Jeremy Rose.
9.40 Gordon Weiss – Siege in Sri Lanka
Gordon Weiss was the former UN Spokesperson in Sri Lanka, author of ‘The Cage – The fight for Sri Lanka and the last days of the Tamil Tigers’ and is an expert consultant with International Criminal Evidence Project. He talks to Chris about the war in Sri Lanka when up to 40,000 civilians were killed when the Sri Lankan government forces crushed the Tamil Tigers in 2009 – the response of the international community and what has happened since.
Gordon Weiss is in New Zealand to speak at Amnesty International’s Human Rights Conference at the University of Auckland on Saturday, May 4.
10:06 Ideas: Jim Bolger – His life and influences
In the latest in our occasional series of interviews with influential New Zealanders about the individuals, writers and thinkers who have influenced them, we hear from former Prime Minister Jim Bolger. Jim Bolger tells Chris about his Irish Catholic parents; reflects on the legacy of Margaret Thatcher; talks about the profound impact of meeting Nelson Mandela; and explains how Stephen Kinzer’s book ‘All the Shah’s Men’ convinced him that US intervention in Iran in the 1950s has been disastrous for the region and the world.
Produced by Jeremy Rose.
10.55 Today’s Track
Today’s track comes from Malian singer-songwriter and guitarist Rokia Traoré. Her father was a diplomat, which allowed her to travel widely and be influenced by Western styles of music so that although based in the traditional girot or story-telling folk style, her music includes vocal harmonies and western chorus-styled song structures. Today we play Lalla, from her recent album, Beautiful Africa.
11.05 Down the List
Where does the real power in New Zealand lie? That’s right, with a bunch of bureaucrats, underlings, officials, and lowly-ranked list MPs that you and I have never heard of. Whether it’s in sport, politics, commerce, education or the arts, the only way to find out what’s really going on in this country is by going ... Down the List. Written by Dave Armstrong and produced by Radio New Zealand’s Drama department. Today, the Greens and Labour put up a united front with their cheap power for consumers scheme. But how united are they?
11.12 Jane Ridley – King Bertie
Albert Edward, or “Bertie” was Queen Victoria’s first son, who became Edward VII. He had a reputation as a man with many mistresses, which prompted Jane Ridley to write a book about the women in his life. Then she got access to the royal archives at Windsor castle – and found so much material she decided to write his biography. She talks to Chris about Bertie’s difficult childhood – and how he became a far more effective king than he has been given credit for.
Professor Jane Ridley teaches History and runs the MA in Biography at the University of Buckingham.
Her book, Bertie: A Life of Edward VII, is published by Random House.
11.40 Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint
Wayne Brittenden has been Radio New Zealand’s correspondent in several capital cities over the years. Each week he gives fresh insights into a wide variety of topics of national and international concern, followed by Chris Laidlaw’s discussion of the issue with guests. Visiting Danish politician Marie Krarup’s offensive remarks on Maori culture were widely reported earlier this month. This week Wayne looks at the paradoxes of her party, the Danish People’s Party, and the wider political landscape as the boundaries between left and right become more blurred. Chris follows up with two guests - Jesper Hansen, a Dane who’s a teaching fellow at the Scandinavian Studies Department of University College London, and in Auckland Mike Treen, National Director of Unite Union, and someone who’s long researched and written about the shifting ideologies of political parties.
