Nine To Noon for Wednesday 1 December 2021

 

09:05 Christopher Luxon: I will lead National for all New Zealanders

409 days from entering politics, Christopher Luxon is the new leader of the National party, promising a "reset" and to lead a party for all New Zealanders. The former Chief Executive of Air New Zealand and senior executive at Unilever, says he will bring his real world experience to the role, as he rebuilds the party torn apart by division and in-fighting since his mentor and friend John Key left office. Nicola Willis is deputy leader, but Mr Luxon is yet to allocate porfolios. He tells Kathryn Ryan his background in business rather than politics is a strength.

09:30 Managed retreat possible to protect Dunedin's coastline

Managed retreat is on the table for Dunedin's iconic southern coastline, which is being eroded by climate-related sea level rise. Dunedin City Council's recently released Whakahekerau-Rakiātea Rautaki Tai/St Clair-St Kilda Coastal Plan reviews four coastal management options, including coastal setback to shore-up the coast between these beaches. The plan also pays special attention to an old landfill site at Middle Beach, whose contents are at risk of being expose by the sea.  Among the aims here are improving beach access, to plan for planting and sand stockpiling and to continue modelling for longer term solutions.  The plan is out now for public consultation until December 17th. Kathryn is joined by Dunedin City Mayor Aaron Hawkins and City Council Coastal Specialist Tom Simons-Smith.

09:45 Australia: Landmark sex harassment report, short sitting year

Australia correspondent Bernard Keane joins Kathryn to talk about a report released yesterday which found one third of Parliamentary employees had been sexually harassed. The Parliamentary schedule was released yesterday and it's very light on sitting days ahead of next year's election, and a 40 year old report from an Australian spy agency detailed the concerns it held then about climate change.

10:05 Aotearoa's wild weather

Few conversations in Aotearoa pass without some reference to the weather. Is the rain coming in? Is the wind direction changing? Can the barbeque go ahead? Meteorologist and Head of Weather Communications at Metservice, Lisa Murray talks about the weather for a living. But she and her colleagues also carry a heavy responsibility when it comes to predicting severe weather events in time to save lives and livelihoods. Lisa is one of the authors of a new book put out by Metservice, which looks at the history and science behind our worst weather, called New Zealand's Wild Weather.

10:35 Book review: Middle Distance: Long Stories of Aotearoa New Zealand edited by Craig Gamble

Anne Else reviews Middle Distance: Long Stories of Aotearoa New Zealand edited by Craig Gamble, published by VUP

10:45 The Reading

'Men Behaving Sadly' by David Hill offers fictional portraits of five Kiwi blokes.. .Today - the slow male dawning of feeling and recognition of generational traits through life and death in 'Lending a Hand'.
 

11:05 Music with RNZ's Yadana Saw 

It's heading toward that time of the year, so RNZ Music correspondent Yadana Saw takes a look back on some of the year's best tracks.

11:20 What's inside Kiwi garages? 

 Author George Lockyer embarked on a mission around the country to find some of the more quirky uses Kiwis have for their garages. He found vintage cars, inventions, a military museum, a brewery - quite a successful one - a repair shop, sculpture studio and a radio shack.  The result is his book Kiwi Garages - Inside New Zealanders' Happy Places. George joins Kathryn to talk about how the garage is often a refuge from the world, and a good place to de-stress. He's joined by dominatrix Red Fox, whose garage is featured in the book and hosts a different kind of place to de-stress.  

11:45 Science commentator Siouxsie Wiles

Science commentator Dr Siouxsie Wiles joins Kathryn to talk about infections in immunocompromised people, and a new study which shows why it's a good reminder to be cautious and keep using masks, even when vaccinated. And an analysis from France during its first wave of Covid has found pregnant women were 60 times more likely to be admitted to ICU and 40 times more likely to die of the disease.

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