09:05 Fletcher Building outlines major losses

Highrise construction generic, multistory building generic, construction generic

Photo: 123RF

New Zealand's biggest construction company Fletcher Building has announced further losses of over $660 million - more than four times what was projected in October. The announcement has triggered Sir Ralph Norris to stand down as chair. Kathryn speaks with RNZ's Business Editor Gyles Beckford and Professor Jilnaught Wong in the department of accounting and finance at the University of Auckland business school, who estimates that Fletcher Building may have destroyed up to $2.7 billion in wealth over the past nine years.

09:20 All change. No clear front runner to replace English

Bill English steps down as National Party leader.

Bill English steps down as National Party leader. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

The race for the leadership of the National Party is wide open - after Bill English's resignation - who's already said he has no preferred successor. Bill English will stand down as Opposition Leader in just two weeks, initiating a vote among the party's 56 MPs. The line-up of possible contenders to replace him include, Simon Bridges, Amy Adams, Jonathan Coleman, Judith Collins and Mark Mitchell. One has announced publically - Ms Collins, this morning. With National in Opposition maintaining its election night result of 44 percent support in the first polls , this is a critical juncture for the party. Kathryn Ryan discuses with political commentators Matthew Hooton and Stephen Mills.

09:45 Australia correspondent Peter Munro

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce could step down as soon as this week, with reports that his fellow National Party MPs will seek his resignation over his affair with a staffer; and Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull has admitted there is more work to do while releasing the 10th annual Closing the Gap progress report, which seeks to reduce Indigenous disadvantage.

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10:05 The US is broke, ready for new world order?

He's described the US as broke and is predicting its economy to go the way of the British Empire. Kathryn Ryan talks to the outspoken American economist Professor Laurence Kotlikoff about why he thinks that the biggest world hitters by the end of the century will be sub-Saharan Africa, then India, then the Middle East, followed by China.

Laurence Kotlikoff has been described as one of the 25 most influential economists in the world. He's also a New York Times best-selling author. He is in New Zealand as a Sir Douglas Myers Visiting Professor to the University of Auckland Business School.

10:35 Book review

Anchor Stone by Tony Beyer. Reviewed by Harry Ricketts, published by Cold Hub Press.

10:45 The Reading

The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate de Goldi (Part 3 of 5)

11:05 Music with Graeme Downes

The Fall

The Fall Photo: Alternative Nation

Graeme features the music of English post-punk band The Fall.

11:20 Grandfather time: 70 years a horologist

Ian Young has just turned 86, and his Kelburn based business repairing clocks and watches is still ticking over nicely. He tells Kathryn Ryan about 70 years in a business which like the sands of time is slowly running out, and shows her a chronometer which changed the way time zones were able to be told at sea.

11:45 Legal commentator Ursula Cheer

Media lawyer Ursula Cheer revisits rulings over racist cartoons and freedom of expression.