Nine To Noon for Wednesday 9 October 2019

 

09:05 Exclusivity contracts with corporate giants shut out smaller producers

Local health beverage producer, Florence Van Dyke from the Chia Sisters says her company is unable to become a mainstream player in the non-alcoholic beverages sector in this country because an exclusivity contract model that forces out competition. She claims nearly every major seller of food in New Zealand, from cafe chains to airlines, movie theatres, supermarkets, hospitals and schools, are tied up in exclusivity contracts with big global players such as Coca-Cola Amatil  and Pepsi owner Frucor. Recently, while negotiating with Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) and Air New Zealand, she says the Chia Sisters experienced the sharp end of exclusivity contracts

09:30 Review finds years of ineffective monitoring by NZTA

A government review has found years of ineffective monitoring at the Transport Agency led to road safety regulation failings. The review was set up by the Transport Minister last year after RNZ reported failures by the agency to clamp down on companies issuing Warrants of Fitness to vehicles that did not reach the standard. In one case, a motorist died when a faulty seatbelt failed in an accident after the car was given a WoF. The review report lists at least ten reasons for the failures, including the agency being focussed on customer service at the expense of its policing functions. Kathryn talks with RNZ reporter Phil Pennington at parliament.

09:30 Hong Kong protesters right to fear surveillance - expert

Surveillance technology expert Ray Walsh of Proprivacy.com says the use of video recorded by protesters in Hong Kong could end up coming back to bite them. The city has experienced 18 weeks of protests, initially sparked by plans for an extradition treaty with China. Emergency legislation enacted late last week to curb the unrest included a ban on the wearing of face masks at public gatherings. Protesters have been wearing masks to combat the use of tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets by police - but also out of fears about the use of surveillance technology. Kathryn talks to Ray about whether their fears are founded.

09:45 Former PM criticises Liberals on the environment

Australia correspondent Annika Smethurst looks at the criticism former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has heaped on the Liberal Party for failing to address climate change, the new annual record for asylum seekers arriving into Australia by air, and negotiations between the US and Australia to boost law enforcement cooperation. 

10:05 Tama Waipara - Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival

Tama Waipara is festival director for the inaugural Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival, which started last week and runs until October 20th.  Featuring writers, performers and artists such as Nancy Brunning, Rob Ruha, Teeks, Anika Moa, Annie Crummer, Maisey Rika and Dave Dobbyn, it's "steeped in the local while connected with stories from across the country and the Pacific". Tama Waipara is of course an award winning performer himself.  Once ranked as one of the world's top clarinet players, Tama's singer-songwriting career was jump-started when a fuse box fell on this head in New York.  In 2014 Fill Up the Silence won the New Zealand Music Award for Best Roots Album.

10:35 Book review - Big Ideas for Small Houses by Catherine Foster

Phil Vine reviews Big Ideas for Small Houses by Catherine Foster, which is published by Penguin Random House.

10:45 The Reading

Witches + On Breathing from the collection Can You Tolerate This, written and read by Ashleigh Young.  

11:05 Music with Yadana Saw

Music journalist Yadana Saw joins Kathryn to share the latest earworm she can't stop playing on repeat, a new local track that's perfect for the coming summer season and a slightly off-centre tribute to the late Ginger Baker.

11:20 Finding the bells of old Tokyo

American author Anna Sherman lived in Tokyo for seven years, and became fascinated with the nine bells that would ring out over the city during the Edo period, helping to keep time for the public. In her book, The Bells of Old Tokyo, she documents her travels through the city to find the bells and examines how the concept of time in Japanese culture changed. She also details her encounters with some of the city's colourful residents - including the owner of her beloved coffee shop.

11:45 Mutating monarchs, app eye scans and tsunami fungi

Science commentator Siouxsie Wiles joins Kathryn to talk about the three mutations it can take for Monarch butterflies to feed on poisonous milkweed and use the poison on its predators. She'll also look at a smartphone app that can scan everyday family photos to check for eye disease in kids, and a new study which suggests contaminated shipping ballast and a tsunami moved a deadly fungus from the temperate forests of the Pacific Northwest right up to Alaska.

Associate Professor Dr Siouxsie Wiles is the head of Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at the University of Auckland.