Nine To Noon for Friday 12 July 2019

 

 

09:05 'Not our first rodeo'. Capital's bus users want change not consultation

Some commuters in Wellington are questioning the need for more consultation about failures within the bus network, saying if the regional council doesn't know what the problems are by now there must be something seriously wrong. From today an online forum set-up by the Regional Council and Metlink is going live which will be accompanied by public meetings and city-wide drop-in sessions. It's a year this month since new bus companies took over with new timetables and new routes in Wellington and with that has come driver shortages, delays, cancellations, full buses, inaccurate timetable information and route complaints. Kathryn Ryan assesses the situation with Greg Pollock, Metlink's General manager of Public Transport and Wellington City Councillor in the Eastern Suburbs Sarah Free.

09:29 Driving youth into employment: more money needed

Some rural mayors and city councillors are calling for a big increase in funding for a scheme to help young people become more employable by learning to drive. Last month Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern launched a youth drivers scheme in Porirua, for young people on benefits or in care. One of the biggest barriers to getting a  job is not passing a driving test.  Although welcoming the scheme, critics say it's massively underfunded and comes at the expense of others, suggesting at least four times the amount is needed to sufficiently address high youth unemployment in cities like Porirua and rural districts like Otorohanga.  Kathryn Ryan speaks with MSD Wellington Regional Commissioner, Gagau Annandale-Stone, Porirua City Councillor and former mayor of Otorohanga Dale Williams, and Noa Woolloff from the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs.

 

09:45 Asia second trade war & Hong Kong protests

Asia correspondent Ed White with the latest from Hong Kong as weeks of protests continue and a serious dispute is brewing between Japan and South Korea with its roots in Japan's treatment of South Korean women and workers during its colonial rule.

Ed White is a correspondent for the Financial Times, based in Seoul.
 

10:05 Finding peace under Camino Skies

What happens when you take six pilgrims from New Zealand and Australia and film them walking 800 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago? You get a great film that documents six very personal, and often emotional, stories. Director Fergus Grady joins Kathryn to talk about the challenges of making 'Camino Skies', while Mark Thomson and his father-in-law Terry Wilson talk about their reason for walking: the death from cystic fibrosis of Mark's daughter.

 

10:35 Book review - The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie​

Cassie Richards from Unity Books reviews The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie, which is published by 4th Estate. Winner of the 2019 Stella Prize.

 

10:45 The Reading

The Quiet Spectacular by Laurence Fearnley told by Katherine McRae (final episode)
 

11:05 Music of Joy Division, Jon Savage & Sharon Van Etten

Jeremy Taylor from SlowBoat Records finds that forty years on from its release, Joy Division's debut is still a towering achievement, also a Jon Savage compilation of the 60s and Sharon Van Etten gets happy.

11:30 Sports commentator Brendan Telfer - World Cup cricket

Brendan and Kathryn chat about the Black Caps improbable win over India in the CWC semi-final, and now face off against England in the final. Also women's football is growing rapidly, numbers are up for the Women's football cup.

11:45 A flying vindaloo & Choppy McChopface

The week that was with Te Radar and Irene Pink with the mystery of the exotic bird in England, that turned out to be not so exotic at all. And the Wellington City Council has invested $68,000 in a remote controlled lawn mower, already tentatively dubbed, "Choppy McChopface".