Nine To Noon for Tuesday 26 February 2019

 

 

09:05 Hanoi Summit

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are both headed Vietnam's capital Hanoi, for the second summit between the two leaders, which starts on Thursday New Zealand time. It's been eight months since the two leaders first met in Singapore to discuss denuclearisation. Ambassador Christopher Hill is the former Assistant Secretary of State, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and former head of the U.S. delegation in six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. 

09:20 Bus chaos in the capital : Regional Council blames bus company management

Wellington bus commuter chaos continues - with twenty morning rush-hour bus services across the capital cancelled for up to six months because of crippling driver shortages. The regional council, responsible for the bus network, says management failure by one of the contracted bus companies is partly to blame. As part of Metlink's scaled back timetables nine routes now have fewer services between 7am and 9am while six services on two other routes have been replaced by shuttle vans. Kathryn talks with Daran Ponter, Deputy Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council's Sustainable Transport Committee,  and Kevin O'Sullivan from the Tramways and Public Transport Union.

09:40   Primary healthcare failing high-needs patients

A new study from the University of Otago has found patients with multiple conditions aren't being well served by the current primary health care system. The majority of the conditions were mental-health related, and lead researcher Tim Stokes suggests better integration of mental health and social services with primary health care is needed to serve a high-needs population.

09:45 US politics wrap, Mueller, California push-back & Democratic candidates

USA correspondent Susan Mulligan on where things are at with special counsel, Robert Mueller's report into the Paul Manafort case, the Trump administration is at war with the state of California and a look at the starters in the Democratic presidential field.

10:05 Air Pollution - an invisible killer

Gary Fuller is an air pollution scientist at King's College London, where his research focuses on the sources of urban air pollution and also looks at the effect on people's health. Dr Fuller led the development of the London Air Quality Network, he writes the Pollutionwatch series for the Guardian and now he's authored a book, The Invisible Killer: The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution and How We Can Fight Back. New Zealand's air is good by world standards, but we rate a mention, particularly for our use of wood burners. Dr Fuller says the physiological consequences of air pollution potentially reaches across generations.

10:35 Book review - Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Gail Pittaway reviews Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson, which is published by Macmillan.

10:45 The Reading - Butlers Ringlet

Matthew Chamberlain has been reading Butlers Ringlet by Laurence Fearnley.

11:05 Demystifying monetary policy 

Business commentator Rod Oram talks to Kathryn about a substantial piece of work by the Reserve Bank to try to demystify monetary policy, which involves invoking Tane Mahuta to explain the system. Also, has the Tax Working Group shifted debate at all on tax reform?.

11:30 Thrashing it in Te Reo: Alien Weaponry

Kathryn talks with the Northland teenage band taking heavy metal to the world in Te Reo Māori. Lewis De Jong is 16, he's the band's lead singer and guitarist.  Henry De Jong is Lewis's older brother.  He's 18, on drums and vocals.  The band is made complete by their school friend, Ethan Trembath, who's 16, the bass guitarist and singer. But this is no ordinary high school boy band. This is Alien Weaponry, signed by one of Europe's biggest labels, Napalm.  Last year they toured Europe, and 2019 will take them to America. Check out this ten part RNZ Documentary web series about them.

11:45 Media commentator Gavin Ellis

Gavin Ellis says Steve Braunias demonstrated during the Malcolm Rewa trial that 'colour stories' still have a place in taking the public into the courtroom, but it's a special skill. Also there's speculation that iconic Australian editor Ita Buttrose will be the next chair of the ABC.

 

Gavin Ellis is a media commentator and former editor of the New Zealand Herald.  He can be contacted on gavin.ellis@xtra.co.nz