Nine To Noon

09:05 Budget 2025: How will the numbers add up?

No unicorns, no rainbows, no BS, but not austerity - this is how Finance Minister Nicola Willis has described her second budget to be revealed this afternoon. It will reveal the government's new spending, and the savings from its sudden pay equity changes and other cuts.  The government has given itself $1.3 billion of new money to use on day to day spending.  But already $2.5b is needed just to deliver current services, and more than $3b has been allocated in pre-budget announcements for health, defence, social investment, state abuse survivor redress and the screen production rebate. So what's going to give? Independent economist Cameron Bagrie joins Kathryn.

09:15 Younger workers won't want leadership roles: Deloitte survey

A new global survey of younger workers show few want to reach leadership positions and most prioritise work-life balance. The international consulting firm Deloitte has surveyed 23,000 Gen Z and Millennials, born between 1983 and 2006 ,  across 44 countries. This generation will make up three quarters of the workforce by 2030. The survey found that only 6% of Gen Zs are motivated by reaching senior leadership positions.  Both groups have high expectations for their employers, want career progression and will job hop to get it - as well as work-life balance. So what are the implications for employers, business and the economy ? Kathryn speaks with Deloitte Partner Lauren Foster,  and Business New Zealand Chief Executive Katherine Rich.

09:30 Lessons from Australia's energy transition

Australia is going through a massive energy transition as a system dominated by coal-powered stations is replaced by renewable energy alternatives. And this week the country's centre right opposition parties split from 80 years of operating as a single party, with its nuclear plan to put reactors in seven cities cited as one of the key reasons for the split. Elected Labour is proposing to double renewable energy to be 82 per cent of the country's electricity generation by 2030 - which is about where New Zealand is at today. A renewable energy underwrite scheme that started in New South Wales and has since been adopted for the wider Commonwealth Government - is having success with renewables hitting a record 46 percent of electricity generation in December. So, what does New Zealand have to learn from the lucky country? Luke Menzel is chief executive of the Australian Energy Efficiency Council and has just returned from a trip to New Zealand where he was a speaker at the Green Building Council's annual Housing Summit.

09:45 UK correspondent  Natasha Clark- political editor for LBC London.

Natasha discusses Britain's stance over Israel's blockade of aid into Gaza, the UK trade deal with the EU and a u-turn of sorts over winter fuel payments.

10:05 AI and the "next big thing" in astronomy

Artificial intelligence is increasingly a part of our daily lives and the more we use it, the more conversations there are about whether we use it too much, even among scientists themselves. Anna Scaife is a Professor of Radio Astronomy from the University of Manchester. She's in New Zealand for a lecture series at the invitation of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, Anna's talk is entitled 'How Artificial Intelligence is changing the way we do Astronomy - and why that's not necessarily a bad thing'. She joins Kathryn from Rakiura, Stewart Island to explain how AI could help astronomers solve one of the biggest scientific questions of all time.

10:35 Book review: Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent 

Carole Beu of the Women's Bookshop in Auckland reviews Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent published by Macmillan

10:45 Around the motu: Tess Brunton in Dunedin

Government data shows there are just three households in emergency housing across the whole of Otago and Southland, Dunedin student flats are under inspection, a comprehensive work programme to better understand the hazards and adaptation options in the Glenorchy area has reached a significant milestone, and the dismantling of a historic Dunedin Gasworks chimney is underway.

Tess Brunton is a RNZ reporter in Dunedin covering Otago and Southland.

11:05 New technology with commentator Bill Bennett

Bill has been at the TUANZ conference in Hamilton where they've been  discussing why 100% of New Zealanders aren't connected. Bill also asks what happened to the much touted Metaverse and looks into ransomewear attacks on 3 top UK retailers.  

11:25 Tips and tricks for parenting a strong-willed child

Many parents will remember the "terrible twos" - when your toddler turns into a tiny tyrant whose favourite word is "no!". But what happens when they're a little bit older, but still tending toward being stubborn? What's under-lying the behaviour coming from a strong-willed child? And how can parents adjust their expectations and reactions cope with it? Jenny Hale is one of Parenting Place's Senior Parent Coaches. She's also author of the book Kind, Firm, Calm: Simple Strategies to Transform Your Parenting.  Parenting Place has just launched a new parenting course on this topic.

11:45 Screentime: with Perlina Lau the co-host of RNZ's Culture 101 programme

Perlina reviews Toxic Town from Netflix, Matlock screening on TVNZ+ and Over Compensating on Amazon Prime