Nine To Noon for Thursday 17 June 2021

 

 

09:05 Thousands of healthcare workers underpaid for seven years

Up to 15 thousand workers at the country's largest health care provider have been underpaid for seven years. HealthCare New Zealand provides nursing, disability, mental health and rehabilitation services nationwide and is the latest employer to have underpaid workers, due to the complexity of the Holidays Act. Other workplaces include Police - which underpaid 15 thousand employees around 40 million dollars, and schools around the country. The government plans to overhaul the law early next year. HealthCare NZ says up to three quarters of its 20, 000 workforce could be out of pocket, primarily those working variable hours, which includes 15,000 community support workers. Chief Executive Josephine Gagan says the company is in the process of contacting all current and former employees.

09:20 Are we failing to future-proof housing stock for disabled populations?

There are growing calls for the Building Act to require all new housing to be easily adaptable for people with disabilities and for our aging population. A recent study found that one in six New Zealanders need modifications to their home, and yet the key features of accessibility; level pathways and entrances, an easily accessible bathroom, and wide doorways, are only found in five percent of new homes. Australia has recently committed to incorporating universal design standards into their Building Code from the end of next year, meaning by 2050, half of their housing stock will be accessible. Prudence Walker, the chief executive of the Disabled Persons Assembly, and Paula Tesoriero, the Disability Rights Commissioner speak with Kathryn. 

09:30 Covid-related pressure crushing agribusiness leaders' morale

A KPMG Agribusiness Agenda report warns extreme pressure is crushing morale and causing fatigue in agribusiness leadership, citing Covid-19 related labour shortages and shipping challenges among factors thwarting agribusiness leaders. KPMG global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot tells Kathryn Ryan it's the toughest Agribusiness Agenda he's had to deliver in its 12 year tenure. And, he says, the message is clear: investment is needed to secure New Zealand critical seats "at the top table of the future food system."

09:45 UK: Covid restrictions extended, Aussie trade deal, Euros fever

UK correspondent Hugo Gye joins Kathryn to talk about the decision to delay removing the rest of the Covid restrictions thanks to the growth of the Delta variant across the UK, which has pushed infections up to 7,500 a day. Australia and Britain have signed a free trade deal, and farmers aren't happy. The first in-person G7 meeting of the Covid-era has ended - was it a success? And it's Euro 2020 fever across the UK...

10:05 999: The hidden story of the women on the first Jewish transport to Auschwitz

On March 25, 1942, 997 young, mainly middle class women boarded a train in Slovakia. They'd been told to report to central locations in the country's east to sign up for what was described as "government service". The women were unmarried, and they were Jewish. Their journey would be the first Jewish transport to Auschwitz - after their sale by the Slovakian government to Nazi Germany for 500 reichsmarks. The previously untold story of the women is recounted in Heather Dune Macadam's book 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz. The book builds on an earlier work, Rena's Promise,  which she helped write with Rena Kornreich Gelissen, who was on that first transport and survived 3 years and 41 days in Auschwitz. 

10:35 Book review: Checkmate in Berlin by Giles Milton

Harry Broad reviews Checkmate in Berlin by Giles Milton, published by Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand

10:45 The Reading

Images, by Owen Marshall. Read by Mick Rose.

11:05 GDP up 1.6% - NZ avoids recession

The country's economy grew by 1.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year - much higher than economists had predicted. The rise follows a 1 percent drop in the December 2020 quarter and captures the ten days of Auckland level 3 lockdown in February/early March. Kathryn speaks with Gyles Beckford, RNZ Business Editor.

11:10 AWS response, big tech regulation, agri-tech in Aotearoa

Technology correspondent Sarah Putt looks  Autonomous Weapon Systems and why the government is currently seeking feedback from the tech sector to help develop policy on it. Sarah will also look at the moves underway in the US to rein in big tech and with Fieldays underway, how is the agri-tech sector going?

11:25 Understanding Generation Alpha: Kids born between 2010 and 2024

There are the Builders, the Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. But what about the youngest kids today - and the ones that are yet to be born over the next few years? Mark McCrindle is a social researcher who helped create their moniker: Generation Alpha. It covers children born between 2010 and 2024, and when Gen Alpha is done, there'll be almost 2 billion of them around the globe, making them the largest generation in history. So what do we know about them? And what will their futures be like?

11:45 Pio Terei Tonight, The Beautiful Lie, Time

Film and TV reviewer Tamar Munch joins Kathryn to look at a local entertainment show hosted on Maori Television by Pio Terei, The Beautiful Lie (Netflix), a contemporary Australian drama starring Sarah Snook that's based on Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, and Time (Prime TV, SkyGo) a three-part prison drama starring Sean Bean.