Nine To Noon for Monday 11 December 2023

09:05 Auckland urban development: complex manoeuvrings in Mt Albert

What's in store for the massive patch of land in Carrington Road's residential development. Over the next decade more than 4,000 homes are destined for the almost 40 hectares site which is seven kilometres, or approximately 15 minutes from the CBD. Three Tāmaki Makaurau rōpū of Marutūāhu, Ngāti Whātua and Waiohua-Tāmaki are leading the project facilitated by the Crown. Two urban design advocates discuss the huge undertaking to create homes for tens of thousands of people in a coveted part of the city, next to the Unitec campus on the Mt Albert, Point Chevalier border. Matt Lowrie from Greater Auckland, and housing expert and urban strategist, Greer O'Donnell who is the managing director of the Urban Advisory talk to Kathryn.

09:25  Assisted dying two years on: is access equal for everyone?

Since November 2021 terminally ill New Zealanders have had the right to seek a medically assisted death, provisioned by the End of Life Choice Act. Since then, from more than 1400 applicants, 565 people have had an assisted death.  Not everyone with a terminal illness meets the criteria, but for those who do, researchers say access can be difficult to navigate. The Ministry of Health is required to review the law in November next year. Dr Jessica Young, a sociologist and senior research fellow at Victoria University, is leading a team of researchers examining the experiences of people who are using the assisted dying pathways. And fellow team member Dr Jeanne Snelling, a senior law lecturer at the University of Otago, is zeroing in on legal aspects of the legislation.  

09:45 Europe correspondent Seamus Kearney

Seamus Kearney discusses the EU's political deal on the world's first legislative rules governing the use of artificial intelligence, which comes after months of legal wrangling. And in Russia, Vladimir Putin is seeking a fifth term as president. Finally, in France, six teenagers have been given suspended jail terms in connection with the beheading of French history teacher Samuel Paty in 2020.

10:05 Chadden Hunter: Biologist and wildlife filmmaker    

Few of us live out our childhood dreams, let alone meet the hero that set us on our life path. Chadden Hunter, Australian biologist and wildlife filmmaker, has spent the better part of two decades in pursuit of the perfect shot. From living in a Bornean bat cave for a month, to scuba diving under Antarctic ice shelves and dodging death on the Arctic tundra - his mission is to tell nature's weird and wonderful stories. As a kid growing up in Northern Queensland, he was fascinated by Sir David Attenborough documentaries and the tropical world around him. Every dollar he earned went to dives on the Great Barrier Reef, and after graduating with a degree in Zoology, he pursued a PhD in Ethiopia.
There, high in the Simian mountains, he had a chance encounter with an Attenborough film crew, and the man himself.

10:35 Book review: Landfall 246: Spring 2023 Edited by Lynley Edmeades 

Harry Ricketts reviews Landfall 246: Spring 2023 Edited by Lynley Edmeades published by Otago University Press

10:45 Around the motu: Georgina Campbell in Wellington

Georgina talks to Kathryn about the rumour mill being in overdrive surrounding Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau admitting that she has a problem with alcohol. Also local reaction to Wellington's road cone Christmas tree, and an update on what's happening at Shelly Bay since Sir Peter Jackson's recent land purchase. 

NZ Herald Wellington issues reporter Georgina Campbell

11:05 Political commentators Jones & Hurdle

Neale Jones and Tim Hurdle take a look at how the opposition is challenging the new Government. And, how the three-way coalition makes seating in the House a little different. The panellists also discuss the mini-budget, due to be released on December 20.

Neale Jones was chief of staff to Labour leader Jacinda Ardern, and before that was chief of staff to Andrew Little. He is the director of public affairs firm Capital.

Tim Hurdle is a former National senior adviser, was the National Party campaign director in 2020. He is a director of several companies, including Museum Street Strategies, a public affairs firm.

11:30 Recipes: Mother to sons 

Wellingtonian Lis Cowey's  book 'A feeling for food' had its genesis in sending recipes to her sons who left home. There's a story behind every recipe which are cross cultural and intergenerational.

11:45 Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne

Kennedy is in Northland, where he recently took a visit to the Waitangi Treaty grounds on his recent National Geographic voyage.