Nine To Noon for Wednesday 4 September 2019

 

09:05 Historic Brexit showdown

There's turmoil at Westminster as opposition and rebel Conservative MPs attempt to take control of the parliamentary agenda from the government. If the vote passes, tomorrow morning they will bring forward a bill designed to stop the UK leaving the  European Union without an agreement. The Westminster showdown could have huge implications for when, if, and how Britain leaves the EU on 31st October, as well as increase the prospects of a snap general election. Lynn Freeman discusses the ramifications with Helen Thomas, who used to be an adviser to the former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.

09:20 New therapy could help stop age-related blindness

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of legal blindness in New Zealand, but a now therapy being developed in Australia may offer sufferers some hope.  It will affect one in seven people over the age of 60 and has few warning signs. Joshua Chu-Tan is a researcher at Australian National University and has taken microRNA and injected it straight into the eye. He joins Lynn to explain what his research discovered.

09:30 Why breast milk deserves inclusion in the GDP

Should breast milk be included in our gross domestic product? Dairy contributes 3.5 per cent or $7.8 billion to New Zealand's GDP - but what value do we - or should we  - put on the hours and litres of human milk produced every day by women? Dr Julie Smith has crunched the numbers for Australia and says the 44 million litres of breast milk produced each year is worth $3 billion Australian dollars.

09:45 Controversy over Tamil family's deportation from Australia

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton reports on the growing public and political demands for the government to let a Tamil family, including two Australian-born children, stay in Australia. Even members of Scott Morrison's own party have joined the chorus of outrage. She'll also talk about new child sex laws, how the donations scandal is getting worse for the Labor Party in New South Wales and the foal born yesterday to race horse royalty.

10:05 Travis Elborough - Atlas of Vanishing Places

British historian and social commentator, Travis Elborough has taken an in depth look at parts of the world that are no longer on contemporary maps. He talks to Lynn about his book - The Atlas of Vanishing Places, which looks at the world as it once was.

10:35 Book review - The Nancys by R.W.R. McDonald

Jessie Bray Sharpin reviews The Nancys by R.W.R. McDonald, which is published by Allen & Unwin.

10:45 The Reading

Part three of Purple Heart by Ta’afuli Andrew Fiu read by Eteuati Ete. (Broadcast only, no online reproduction)

11:05 Music with Charlotte Ryan

Charlotte looks at Fleetwood Mac's upcoming New Zealand shows, the latest album Neil Finn's released with his son Liam and Kenyan singer/songwriters J.S Ondara.

11:20 The Negotiators: The ordinary Kiwis who took on the Crown

Over the past 20 years nearly two and a half billion dollars ($2.5b) has been paid by the Crown to settle historical claims under the Treaty of Waitangi. The claims by Maori mainly centre on injustices in the way tribes lost their land and associated resources, and the amount paid to settle is just a fraction  of what the country spends each year - which is roughly $80 billion.Behind each treaty settlement is a team of negotiators - in many cases, ordinary people who happened to end up in the extraordinary position of trying to secure redress from the Crown for what was done to their people. It's the subject of a new series, The Negotiators, starting on Maori Television this week. Chris McKenzie and Jamie Tuuta talk to Lynn about how they ended up in their roles.
 

11:45 Redefining the international definition of 'museum'

Arts commentator Courtney Johnston looks at the debate stirred by the International Council of Museums releasing an update to their decades-old definition of what a museum is. She'll also talk about photographer and video artist Joyce Campbell's full-gallery exhibition at the Adam Art Gallery at Victoria University.