Nine To Noon for Monday 22 January 2024

09:05 'Tipping point' for several councils as double-digit rates rises loom

Tough decisions lie ahead for councils up and down the country, some of which are facing rates rises in the double digits unless they tighten their belts. Several councils are citing pressure to upgrade water infrastructure, a responsibility which - for now - stays with them, after Three Waters was repealed by the new Government. Local Government New Zealand president Sam Broughton is calling for urgent reform to the way councils are funded, saying councils are at "tipping point" as they look to firm up long-term plans over the coming months. Last year, Buller District Council mayor Jamie Cleine warned a 31.8 percent rates rise could be on the cards, in large part due to the need to upgrade the water network. The Council has since figured out how to get that down to a 20-25 percent ballpark, but Jamie Cleine says they've had to defer several projects to get there. Sam Broughton and Jamie Cleine speak with Kathryn Ryan.

09:25 Retail crime: How tech can aid - and thwart - offenders

Technology and social media may be helping criminals but it's also being put to use to help retailers stem their losses. The latest Retail Crime Report put the overall cost of retail crime at over $2.5b. Roughly half of that - $1.4b - is what's stolen and the other half, direct costs of loss prevention. Kathryn speaks to Auror CEO Phil Thomson, about how his platform is helping retailers report crime and protect their staff. She'll also talk Retail NZ's Carolyn Young on some of the ways criminals are cheating the system with tech - and using social media to gain notoriety and pass on tips to others.

09:45 Germany correspondent Thomas Sparrow

More than 100,000 people took to the streets across Germany this week, in protest against the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, after it emerged that party members discussed mass deportation plans at a secret meeting of extremists. And further protests as thousands of farmers on tractors blocked streets across Germany, to oppose the government's plan to remove agricultural diesel subsidies. The government is struggling to recover from a budget crisis at the end of 2023, and is facing very low approval ratings.

10:05 Author Jane Smiley's personal reflections

Jane Smiley has written close to 20 novels, including the best seller, King Lear inspired A Thousand Acres, for which she received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992. Her non fiction includes a memoir, biographies, including one on Charles Dickens, an essay on knitting,  Why Bother and a celebration of fiction - with 13 Ways of Looking at a Novel.  Her latest work The Most Important Questions is a collection of essays  that explore  ancient Icelandic sagas; the paucity of maternal voices in literature; the radical muckraking; child development through examining Little Women, and history versus historical fiction. Throughout are personal reflections on Jane Smiley's own upbringing and its influence on her writing.  Jane Smiley will be in the country in February as a guest talker at the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

10:35 Book review: Three of the best from 2023 - Listen: On Music, Sound and Us by Michel Faber, A Thread of Violence: A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder by Mark O’Connell, and Blood and Dirt by Jared Davidson

Kiran Dass reviews three of her favourite books from last year: Listen: On Music, Sound and Us by Michel Faber, published by Canongate; A Thread of Violence: A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder by Mark O’Connell, published by Granta; and Blood and Dirt by Jared Davidson, published by Bridget Williams Books

10:45 Around the motu: Chris Hyde in Hawkes Bay

The death of Canadian tourist after a crash near Hastings late last year has left her surviving passenger questioning highway maintenance and Waka Kotahi is investigating. The public outcry is ongoing after Foodstuffs announced it will be closing the New World in Flaxmere, leaving a community of more than 10,000 people without a supermarket. And Chris talks about the plan for a major shake-up to Hawke's Bay Regional Council's rating system.

Chris Hyde is the editor of Hawkes Bay Today.

11:05 Political commentators Gareth Hughes and Ben Thomas

Gareth and Ben discuss the National Party's caucus retreat ahead of the Government's first year in office. And Prime Minister Christopher Luxon last week met with the Māori king but has drawn criticism for his absence at the 'unity hui' on Saturday. Also, a look ahead to what to expect at Waitangi Day.

Gareth Hughes is a former Green MP and now works for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Aotearoa. 

Ben Thomas is a former National government press secretary, a columnist and a director of public affairs firm Capital.

11:30 Kai and kindness

Siblings Paul and Jane Rangiwahia have teamed up to produce the book Kai and Kindness focusing on food to nourish the body and soul. Jane has come up with no fuss recipes for sharing with friends and whanau,  while her artist brother Paul has illustrated the hardback. The pair hope their collaboration will be a conversation starter about emotional wellbeing and healthy living.

11:45 Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne

Kennedy discusses the future of atolls, ahead of a visit to the Micronesian nation of Palau. He reflects on how the drowning atoll narrative has been a staple of climate-change journalism, though the rhetoric doesn't match the reality he sees.

 

Playlist

Track: Need you Tonight 
Artist: INXS
Time played: 10:35am