Nine To Noon for Tuesday 30 July 2019

 

 

09:05 ENT surgeons say funding lack means deafness for many

Ear Nose and Throat Surgeons say they're frustrated and dismayed over a lack of government funding for cochlear implants for adults  - saying 200 people a year are eligible but only 40 will receive the life-changing surgery. A cochlear implant is a surgically-implanted electronic device that restores hearing for those with profound hearing loss. The government currently funds 40 adults operations nationally every year, but this base figure hasn't changed for more than five years and surgeons say it needs to be trebled. The New Zealand Society of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery has written to the Health Minister and the Prime Minister imploring them to approve more funding - and the Society has the backing of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Kathryn speaks with cochlear implant recipient Nikki Cleine and Neil Heslop, General Manager of the Southern Cochlear Implant Programme, who says on current referral rates, 500 adults could be waiting for cochlear implants in just a few years, and will more than likely never hear again.

9:20 Drones give 3rd dimension to marine bio-security

Dangerous and murky waters in our ports and marinas can make it hard for divers to carry out biosecurity checks for introduced organisms.  Niwa has been doing marine surveillance on behalf of MPI for more than 15  years.  It's pioneering the use of specially customised underwater remote operated vehicles (ROVs), or drone cameras, which are adding a third dimension to the images and information divers are currently able to  get.  Niwa marine ecologist and scuba diver Leigh Tait explains to Kathryn Ryan.

09:45 Mueller testimony fallout

From the US, Susan Milligan with news that has followed from Robert Mueller's latest testimony. The chair of the Judiciary committee has commented that President Donald Trump "richly deserves impeachment". The Democrats are divided on the issue.

10:05  New Zealand Football's 'first' woman

Dr Johanna Wood is President of New Zealand Football - the first woman to hold the role. She is the only woman on the FIFA Council - the strategic body that sets the vision for FIFA and global football, and the first New Zealander on that body in two decades. Dr Wood's rise to the top comes at a time when NZ Football, like many other sporting codes, tackles issues of sexism, diversity and bullying in the game. And at the international level - the ongoing fight against corruption in the global game. When she's not doing all of that, Dr Wood works with her husband on the family dairy farm. She has been a teacher, a school principal and earlier this year completed a PhD in Education.

10:35 Book review - Landfall Magazine 237

Harry Ricketts from quarterly review periodical New Zealand Review of Books Pukapuka Aotearoa, reviews Landfall Magazine 237:Autumn 2019, edited by Emma Neale.

10:45 The Reading

Pearly Gates by Owen Marshall, read by Gavin Rutherford. Episode 7.

11:05 Business commentator Rod Oram - signatories to the Climate Leaders Coalition

Rod talks to Kathryn about a mix of business stories, including the Climate Leaders Coalition having signed up more than 100 companies in its first year, the founding CEO of the Icehouse entrepreneurship centre, Andy Hamilton is stepping down, and Fonterra's latest announcement about its energy emissions.

11:30 Electric shock?  Preparing for disruption in the energy sector

The electricity sector is ripe for disruption by new technologies and new business models. Are we ready for the likes of Amazon or uber to provide us with our power ? What could it mean  for consumers ?

Dr Richard Meade was commissioned by the  Electricity Retailers' Association  to produce an independent study of how New Zealand's electricity sector regulation should be adapted for new technologies, business models and players, in the long-term interest of consumers. Dr Meade is Principal Economist at Cognitus Economic Insight, a Senior Research Fellow in Economics at Auckland University of Technology, and Vice President Auckland of the Law & Economics Association of New Zealand.

11:45 Squeeze on Facebook and Google

Gavin says recent moves in the US, France and Australia suggest  a squeeze is coming on Facebook and Google.  Also a look at Stuff's Homicide Report, and a research review for the BSA emphasises the major role that parents must play in protecting children from the effects of nudity and sex on screen.

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

Music played in this show

Artist: Leisure
Song: Too Much of a Good Thing
Time: 09.39