Nine To Noon for Friday 29 January 2021

 

 

09:05 1000 overseas students set to return - but is the cost a barrier?

Earlier this month the government announced it would allow 1000 international tertiary students back to study in New Zealand - but there are concerns the cost of returning will put them off. The border exemption will allow students who had studied here in 2019 or 2020 to return in stages, with priority given to those closest to graduation. In announcing the decision Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the economic value of the group returning to New Zealand would be about $49m  - including $27m in tuition fees. But he also said the expectation is that returnees meet their own MIQ costs, as well have $20-thousand dollars to support themselves - which is an increase on the $15-thousand that was previously required. Kathryn discusses this with Afiqah Ramizi, NZ International Students Association President and chief executive of Universities New Zealand, Chris Whelan.

09:20 Used car importers say new standards will be ineffective

Importers of second-hand cars say clean car standards announced by the government yesterday will be both costly and ineffective. Car importers will be required to bring in more fuel efficient cars to reduce overall emissions - and will face penalties if they don't. The government intends to pass legislation later this year to come into effect next year. Critics says the penalties will cost some firms millions of dollars, and consumers will foot that bill. Kathryn speaks with David Vinsen,  Chief Executive of VIA, the Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association.

09:30 Cranking it Up in Edendale

The annual vintage machinery showcase is cranking into gear in Southland this weekend.  Kathryn speaks with David Clark, co-founder of the Edendale Crank Up, who's taking twenty vintage tractors and two steam engines to the annual Crank Up himself this weekend. Some of David's machines took over from bullocks and horses back in the day on his family-run farm contracting business.

09:45 Pacific correspondent Koro Vaka'uta

The covid vaccine campaign is rolling out in the Pacific, there's confusion over Bougainville's pivotal Panguna mine, and Koro looks ahead to the Pasifika Festival.

10:05 Sarb Johal: Keeping calm in a world gone viral

With the threat of Covid hanging over the New Zealand summer, clinical psychologist Dr Sarb Johal's new book looks at how to keep mentally well during a crisis. His new book is Steady: Keeping Calm in a World Gone Viral and it covers how stress and anxiety created by the pandemic's uncertainty can be overcome. He joins Kathryn to talk about why humans are bad at dealing with threats - and especially extended ones - and what New Zealanders should be doing to minimise the Covid risk.

10:35 Book review - Best of 2020 - Rivers

Tilly Lloyd from Unity Books with her top picks from 2020:

Magdalena: River of Dreams by Wade Davis, Bodley Head paperback
Upriver: from the Sea to the Southern Alps by Colin Heinz
Upstream on the Mataura: a Fly Fisher’s Journey to the Source by Dougal Rillstone

10:45 The Reading

Sarah Boddy reading the fifth and final part of her own story 'Footprints In The Sand'.

11:05 Music reviewer Grant Smithies​

Big Star's debut album #1 Record was recently given an overdue vinyl reissue, so hopeless fanboy Grant Smithies plays two tracks from that today while shedding tears of joy. After that, a veer up to Stockholm for a track from self-described "techno boy band" Off The Meds, followed by a righteous summer classic from veteran Jamaican singer Sugar Minott. 

11:30 Sports commentator Sam Ackerman 

Sam looks at the elimination racing on the water in the Prada Cup and also at the Covid shadow hanging over the Tokyo Olympics and whether athletes should get preferential treatment for the vaccine.

11:45 The week that was

Comedians Te Radar and Elisabeth Easther with the story of the book that was 121 years overdue from the Cambridge public library.

Music played in this show

Artist:   Rhye
Song: Black Rain
Broadcast time: 09:45