Nine To Noon for Wednesday 6 December 2023

 

09:05 International assessment of NZ teens' maths prowess shows slippage

15 year olds nationwide have recorded their worst ever results in an international assessment of reading, maths and science ability. The Programme for International Student Assessment - known as PISA  examines average scores of OECD teenagers. New Zealand ranked above average in all three subjects - though, only just so for math. There's been slippage year on year since 2009 but it has been more dramatic in recent years. And the global average has also been on a slow decline since 2018, in line with the Covid-19 disruption. To explain what this means for students beginning NCEA - founder of the Education Hub, Dr Nina Hood.

 

09:20 Pharmacists dread to return to prescription co-payments

Community pharmacists say they're baffled by the government's decision to once again make pseudoephedrine an over the counter product as stipulated in the coalition agreement. They say they're far more concerned about the expected return of prescription co-payments which they say will hurt patients. Agreed to in the coalition agreement with the ACT party,  pseudoephedrine, known as the cold and flu medication Sudafed, will be allowed to be sold over the counter.  The drug, which is a key precursor ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine, has been prescription-only since 2011.  Gemma Parry is a pharmacist, owner of Sanders Pharmacy in Te Awamutu and a spokesperson for the Independent Community Pharmacy Group.  She says the cold medication stipulation is strange and baffling and she and other community pharmacist are far more worried about National's pledge to get rid of free prescriptions, which she says will hurt patients.

09:35 RBNZ to trial new cash systems in rural areas

The Reserve Bank wants to try bringing back cash services in rural communities next year. The central bank says smaller regional communities are lacking commercial over-the-counter or ATM cash services. It says cash is more convenient and has lower costs for individuals and businesses. The Reserve Bank wants two or three districts with communities with populations smaller than 10,000 that have lost most or all of their banking services. The bank's director of money and cash, Ian Woolford, says the trial will confirm what cash services these communities need and then what solutions could fit those. He expects the trials to run for 18 months and the research from them to be used for future work on the cash system. 

09:45 Australia: Detention disaster, French deal, rates relief

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Susie to talk about the government needing to ram legislation through Parliament to set up a regime of re-arresting foreign citizens convicted of serious violent or sex offences beyond their sentence, in response to a High Court ruling invalidating indefinite immigration detention. The government had been under massive pressure from the Opposition over the issue. Meanwhile it's all l'amour again between Australia and France with a new defence cooperation deal that will see each country able to access the other's military bases. And there's been some relief from continuous interest rate rises. 

Karen Middleton is chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper

10:05 Amanda Palmer: 'I nearly lost my mind in NZ'

Amanda Palmer calls herself an "accidental New Zealander". The American musician - one half of the punk cabaret band The Dresden Dolls - is also a best-selling author and TED speaker, who spent over two years here after the borders closed due to Covid. It was a particularly torrid time for her personally as her marriage to British author Neil Gaiman ended, and she elected to stay here with their young child, while he left the country.  Amanda Palmer says of that time:  "I lost my marriage, I lost my country, I lost my artistic identity, and I very nearly lost my mind" But she continued writing songs....which she has released as an EP and is bringing back to New Zealand for three shows in January, touring with Fur Patrol's Julia Deans, with whom she has recorded a duet, Little Island.

10:30 Book review: The In-Between by Christos Tsiolkas 

Phil Vine reviews The In-Between by Christos Tsiolkas published by Allen & Unwin

10:35 Short Story Winner: Bunnies in Space by Robert Fisherman

A Kiwi farmer is startled by a strange light coming under his door one night. It’s aliens who have come for the world's rabbits, as they think that rabbits are cute and they have built a moon for them. A humourous story about a dinkum Kiwi cow-cockie coming up against some bunny loving Aliens.  Bunnies in Space is written by Robert Fisherman and told by William Kircher, and is one of the 2023 Nine to Noon Short Story Competition winners.

10:45 Around the motu: Peter Newport, Queenstown Lakes District 

Peter talks to Susie about the cost of bringing non-compliant water supplies across the district up to scratch. Also the massive community reaction to news that Takahē chicks have hatched in the wild near Glenorchy in Greenstone Valley. And a professional hunter has been hired to kill over 50 rabbits in Queenstown's main public gardens.

Peter is the Managing Editor,  Crux, based in Arrowtown.

 

11:05 Music with Dave Wilson: Songs that empower

Music commentator Dave Wilson joins Susie to talk about songs that serve to empower people and help them over come - not just through lyrics - but through many of their musical elements. He'll play a track from K-pop group Blackpink, whose members (including a Kiwi citizen) were recently awarded MBE honours by King Charles. He'll also play a song that was popular with teenage millennials and one of Aretha Franklin's most powerful ballads.

11:20 Record migration : NZ set to top OECD

The population looks set to grow between 2.4 and 2.6% this year, and Massey University demographer Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley says it looks like we'll end the year with the highest net population gain in the OECD. Meanwhile New Zealand citizens are departing in droves - equal to the high years during 2011 and 2012. Professor Spoonley says a Productivity Commission report last year highlighted the need for more services and infrastructure to keep pace with migration, but has had little impact on policy.

Professor Paul Spoonley is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Honorary Research Associate in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University.

11:45 Personal finance: Making your Christmas dollar go further

It's that time of year that can really put the squeeze on your finances. Lisa Dudson joins Susie to talk about how to budget for the season and reduce your stress levels.

Lisa Dudson is the owner of Acumen.co.nz. Her advice is of a general nature