Nine To Noon for Thursday 2 April 2020

 

 

09:05 Kiwibank on business loans: 'Talk to us early'

Businesses struggling during the Covid-19 crisis will now be able to apply for a loan from a $6.2b scheme being backed by the government. Nine banks have been approved to offer the loans of up to $500,000 over a three year term, with the government guaranteeing up to 80 per cent of each loan. To qualify, businesses will have to have an annual turnover between $250,000 and $80m. As the scale of the Covid crisis becomes clearer, banks are increasingly being called on to help ease the potential burden on their customers. Nine to Noon will be talking to the heads of each of the major banks in the next week or so  - and this morning Kathryn is joined by Steve Jurkovich, the chief executive of Kiwibank.

09:25 Fincap wants brakes on payday lenders during Covid-19 lockdown

 A nationwide budgeting service wants online payday lenders shuttered during the country's lockdown period amid concern people desperate for money will turn to loan sharks. An interest rate cap on high-cost lenders kicks in in June and will include a 100 % repayment limit. But some social agencies fear that people struggling to make ends meet will spiral into debt before then. Kathryn discusses with Fincap Chief Executive Tim Barnett , Emeline Afeaki-Mafile'o Executive Director of South Auckland based youth social agency, Affirming Works and Susan Taylor, Chief Executive of Financial Services Complaints Limited.

09:35 Truckies say they can't shift vital equipment

The commercial road transport industry is pushing back on the government classification of freight as non-essential, saying storage facilities for full containers are reaching capacity, and there are inbound containers with police cars and fire engines on board which will be unable to be unloaded. Under the rules of the Covid lockdown freight can only be moved if it food, beverages and health products, as well as a limited list of consumer goods such as heaters and computer equipment for home use. The Road Transport Forum,  says the restrictions on moving freight mean containers cannot be unloaded, clogging up storage areas, and contributing to the worldwide shortage of empty containers. Chief Executive Nick Leggett says there are shipments on the water due to arrive containing police cars, fire engines, farming and irrigation equipment, train carriages and large transformers - none of which can be unloaded.

The Ministry of Transport Chief Executive Peter Mersi responds.

09:45 UK Covid deaths up to 2352, Wimbledon cancelled

UK correspondent Harriet Line joins Kathryn to look at the UK's increase in Covid cases - up 4,324 since yesterday. Wimbledon is cancelled for the first time since World War II.

10:05 Auckland University professor takes home 'Oscar' of the space sector

The first head of the Auckland Space Centre has won an award for demonstrating new technologies that could catch and reduce space debris. Guglielmo Aglietti joins Kathryn to talk about that research, and the work of the centre based at Auckland University.

10:37 Bauer media to close, magazines to go

The German company, Bauer Media Group,  which publishes many magazine titles, including The New Zealand Listener and the New Zealand Woman's Weekly, Metro, and North and South - has shut down its operations here citing the severe economic impact of Covid-19. Yesterday Mediaworks, which owns TV3, several commercial radio stations and Newshub, asked staff to volunteer to take a 15 percent pay cut across the board. Earlier in the week NZME took Radio Sport off-air.  Kathryn discusses the dramatically altered landscape with media commentator Andrew Holden, a journalist for 30 years, and former editor of The Melbourne Age and The Press (Christchurch).

10:35 Book review - Hello Strange by Pamela Morrow

Louise Ward of Wardini Books reviews Hello Strange by Pamela Morrow, published by Penguin Books New Zealand.

A fast-paced, future-fiction action romance, from an Aotearoa New Zealand author with a gift for imagining the 'yet to be'. 

10:45 The Reading

Goneville, episode 4. Written and read by Nick Bollinger.

11:05 Tech during Covid brings out the bad, the ugly...and the good

Technology Mark Pesce looks at the highly strained boundary between public health and privacy - citing the visual tracking of the mobile phones of people who attended a Spring Break party in Florida, the bosses buying spyware to keep tabs on their home-bound employees. He'll also look at the global movement underway to crowdsource and repair medical equipment in short supply.

11:25 Toddler Whispering. Sharlene Poole

Parenting coach, author, and mum-of-two Sharlene Poole has tips for parenting toddlers during the lockdown. Her new book, Toddler Whispering, covers everything from sleeping, eating, and toilet training, to screen time and adjusting to a new baby brother or sister.

11:45 Cinemas closed? No problem. The new way to watch what's new

Film and TV correspondent Sarah McMullan joins Kathryn to talk about how you don't have to miss out on the latest movies. She has tips for how you can watch what's new, how much it'll cost and the range.