Nine To Noon for Thursday 27 August 2020

 

 

09:05 Professional firefighters "no confidence" in FENZ CEO

The union representing career firefighters says it has no confidence in the CEO of Fire and Emergency New Zealand or FENZ on the handling of sexual assault and bullying complaints. The comments follow interviews on Nine to Noon recently with three volunteer firefighters who laid complaints of sexual assault, sexual harassment and bullying against other volunteer firefighters, which they say were met with inaction, coverup and minimisation by FENZ. There are 14000 volunteer and 1800 paid firefighters within FENZ, and in the past six years, 21 complaints of sexual harassment were brought against volunteer firefighters, none against professionals. The Professional Fire Fighters' Union says on the issue of culture and conduct it has no confidence in FENZ's CEO Rhys Jones or senior leadership. Kathryn speaks with National Secretary of the NZPFU Wattie Watson, and Rhys Jones.

National Secretary of the Professional Fire Fighters' Union, Wattie Watson.

09:35 Air New Zealand posts after tax lost of $454 million for the year ended June. 

The airline has posted an after tax loss of $454 million for the year ended June. It comes after the airline was was all but grounded by Covid-19. Much of the loss was because of write downs in the value of planes, and restructuring costs as it cut costs and sacked about 4,000 staff. Business Editor Gyles Beckford joins Kathryn to discuss the results. 

09:40 How will Canterbury DHB cuts impact vulnerable in community?

There are fears over looming cuts to community health and well being programs funded by Canterbury DHB, as it attempts to get itself out of a fiscal black hole,  amid a leadership crisis and a pandemic.  In its annual plan the DHB is looking to slash nearly 57 million dollars of savings, including $1.175m to community services. Vince Barry is Chief Executive of Pegasus Medical Group. He is worried about cuts to primary care, including funding for GP services for vulnerable populations and education and healthy lifestyles programmes.

09:45 Exams chaos fallout, Tony Abbott's trade role, Proms row

UK correspondent Harriet Line looks at the resignation of the head of the Department for Education following the exam results fiasco earlier this month, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reportedly been given a top Brexit trade role and facemasks will be compulsory in communal spaces for high school students - a day after the government said there were "no plans to review the guidance". Around 1,100 new Covid cases are being recorded each day, with around 10 deaths on average. And why has the BBC decided to drop Proms' classics Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory?

10:05 How clean is too clean?

Is our obsession with soap is obstructing the micro biome that keeps us healthy? Specialist in preventive medicine Dr James Hamblin says it maybe time to break the rules of traditional body cleanliness - but stresses we should keep washing our hands. He is also a lecturer at Yale School of Public Health, and co-host of the Atlantic's 'Social Distance' podcast.

His new book is called, 'Clean: The New Science of Skin and the Beauty of Doing Less.'

10:35 Book review - Sisters by Daisy Johnson

Jessie Bray Sharpin reviews Sisters by Daisy Johnson, published by Penguin Random House.

10:45 The Reading

An Extraordinary Rendition, part 4 by Steve Danby.

11:05 What's behind the NZX outage, and the growth of Sharesies

Technology correspondent Peter Griffin joins Kathryn to talk about the NZX outage which appears to have been a denial of service attack. Does the NZX have the means to protect itself in the face of a determined attack? Sharesies now has 200,000 users - what's behind its popularity? Peter will look at Robin Hood, a free share trading platform in the US, which has been criticised for its "gamification".

11:25 Where can parents get help if they think their child's dyslexic?

For most children, learning to read is a challenge. For a small number of children, it can be especially difficult. Carla McNeil is the director of Learning Matters, which helps parents and teachers to support children who experience dyslexia.

Some helpful links for parents:

NZ Dyslexia Factsheet

School Check Chart 

Student Profile sheet for school discussions

11:45 Dispatches from Elsewhere, John was Trying to Contact Aliens

Film and TV reviewer Chris Schulz joins Kathryn to talk about Dispatches from Elsewhere, created by and starring Jason Segel, the interesting true story behind John was Trying to Contact Aliens and World's Toughest Race: Eco-challenge Fiji.