Nine To Noon

09:05 New public sector guidelines on sexual harassment complaints

A former volunteer firefighter who spent a decade fighting for her sexual harassment complaint to be taken seriously says new standards from the Public Service Commission are progress, but whistleblower protections remain inadequate. The new standards follow a survey of public servants, which found 12 per cent of respondents had experienced harassment or bullying in the last year. Of those, 37 per cent decided not to report it. The new rules will require agencies to communicate regularly with complainants, provide legal support in some circumstances, and set out ways for complainants to raise concerns outside their organisation. In May, Fire and Emergency apologised unreservedly to Sarah Hullah for failing to properly investigate a series of complaints over 10 years. She's calling for an independent body for whistleblowers in both the public and private sectors. Kathryn speaks with her, Public Service Commissioner, Sir Brian Roche, and employment lawyer Barbara Buckett.

09:30 New self requested  "wellness testing" - empowering or unnecessary?

Labs have offered tests you can request yourself for some time, but private provider Awanui, is now offering 'wellness testing' with bundles costing more than $500. The lab says the BodyiQ service, described as 'a next-generation self-requested testing service,' is in response to customer demand driven by an increased interest in being more proactive about health information. Along with being able to request straightforward tests for things such as pregnancy, customers will also be able to order, among other tests, a nutritional health bundle, a fatigue bundle or a male hormone bundle. If there is a critical result customers will be contacted immediately, otherwise, it is up to individuals as to whether a doctor looks at the results. Awanui says the service is an evolution in self-testing and gives people more access to their health. But GPs question the worth of these tests, and if they will get any follow up. Angus Chambers, a Christchurch GP and chair of GenPro, speaks to Kathryn. 

09:40 Super spreading gold clams two years on

Trout fishing season has just kicked off and for anglers in Waikato, there are warnings to watch out for the super-spreading invasive golden clam. The clam first turned up in Waikato waterways - first found at Bob's Landing at Lake Karapiro - two years ago. From southeast Asia, the clams are able to produce 400 juveniles a day and up to 70,000 juveniles a year. They can damage hydro schemes -  Mercury says it continues to find the clams in its schemes along the Waikato river, but they have not yet caused damage to operations. NIWA, now called Earth Sciences New Zealand, is carrying out dive surveys to check populations as well as testing the impact the clams are having on aquatic plants. Trout fishing season began on Wednesday, and MPI's director of pest management John Walsh, is urging boaties to follow check, clean and dry rules to prevent the spread of the clam. 

09:45 Asia: Japan PM; China's new carbon target & South Korea boosts defence spending

Japan will soon have a new prime minister, potentially its first woman, with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party selecting a new leader this weekend;  Xi Jinping has released a new and conservative carbon emissions target for the next decade, but China is still emerging as a global leader on climate change and South Korea has increased its defence spending amid pressure from Donald Trump.

 Ed White is a correspondent with the Financial Times based in Shanghai

10:05 Digital twins and testing possible treatments - leading bioengineer, Merryn Tawhai 

The era of personalised medicine is getting ever closer and already genome sequencing, clinical and lifestyle data is all playing into treatment options. But what about stepping into a world where a digital twin will help test treatment options before  they are tried out? New Zealand is said to be at the forefront of global research in this field - where virtual digital replicas of patients are built from their health data. Professor Merryn Tawhai is the director of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute - based at Auckland University - and is "reimagining healthcare with human digital twins."

10:35 Book review: My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Eden Denyer of Unity Books Wellington reviews My Friends by Fredrik Backman, published by Simon & Schuster. 

10:45 Around the motu: Piers Fuller in Wairarapa 

Piers discusses the impact of changes to earthquake strengthening on buildings in rural areas, the demolition of Masterton's town hall goes ahead and Wairarapa's wine industry has a bumper year for production.

11:05 New music with Grant Smithies 

Twenty-five years ago, a largely unknown Detroit punk-blues duo The White Stripes played a handful of extraordinary shows in Aotearoa as part of their first international tour. Grant plays two early classics from them today, followed by dreamy slow-burning soul from Auckland's Crystal Chen, and sun-dappled cosmic jazz from Joe Kaptein.

11:30 Sports commentator Sam Ackerman 

Sam previews the All Blacks test against the Wallabies in Perth. There's also cricket: the White Ferns are at the World Cup in India while the Black Caps play Australia in the second of a three-match T20 series tonight. 

11:45  The week that was with Donna Brookbanks and Elisabeth Easther 

Our comedians Donna Brookbanks and Elisabeth Easther with some of the funnier stories of the week including the case in Northern California, where police pulled over a driverless taxi after it made an illegal U-turn, only to find no driver behind the wheel and therefore, no one to ticket.