Nine To Noon for Wednesday 26 January 2022

 

09:05 Will the Children's Commissioner be scrapped?

The Children's Commissioner and one of her predecessors are speaking out against plans to scrap the Commissioner role and overhaul the monitoring of Oranga Tamariki. The bill would replace the Children's Commissioner role with a new Children and Young Person's Commission, which would be run by a board of three to six members. It also plans to set up a new monitor of Oranga Tamariki, bringing it within the purview of the Education Review Office. Kathryn speaks with Judge Frances Eivers, the current Children's Commissioner, and Dr Russell Wills, a paediatrician and former Children's Commissioner, serving from 2011 to 2016. 

09:30 Hundreds of thousands in savings needed to retire: guidelines

Warnings we can't afford to retire unless Kiwis save up to $800,000 to top up the pension are coming from a research centre interested in improving the financial wellbeing of New Zealanders. The latest Retirement Expenditure Guidelines from the New Zealand Financial Education and Research Centre say must expect to finance retirement over and above that which NZ Super affords retirees. The guidelines, produced annually, and based on Stats NZ data, calculate what retirees currently spend to maintain either a 'no frills' retirement, or a 'choices' lifestyle that includes some luxuries, calculating an extra $809,000  is needed to fund a 'choices' lifestyle for a couple living in a city. $511,000 would help for a couple living in the regions. Report author, Associate Professor Claire Matthews is from the Massey Business School, where the guidelines were produced speaks with Kathryn Ryan, along with Palmerston North retiree Mal Stone.

 

09:45 Australia correspondent Karen Middleton 

Across the Tasman, on Australia Day there is much finger-pointing over who is responsible for the inability to buy rapid antigen tests, or RATs, as parents prepare to send their kids back to school next week. The federal government has been copping huge criticism for not being prepared with an adequate supply of RATs when the omicron wave hit in December. 

10:05 The Secrets of the Night: Annette Lees

Night time for Waitakere-based author Annette Lees, is magical and beguiling. It transforms the senses and the landscape.  But most of us miss out on it most the time.  It's when the nocturnal world comes alive with night birds, singing insects, dancing moths, native fish, all under a canopy of stars.  And, says Annette, who's been an outdoor enthusiast since childhood, it's the perfect time to go tramping. She has, she says "a lifetime of night walking memories".  After Dark - Walking into the Nights of Aotearoa is Annette's latest book.

10:35 Book review: Three of the best from 2021: The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey by Julia Laite, The Forgotten Coast by Richard Shaw and James Courage Diaries edited by Chris Brickell

Paul Diamond reviews three of his favourite books from last year: The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey by Julia Laite published by Allen and Unwin; The Forgotten Coast by Richard Shaw published by Massey University Press and James Courage Diaries edited by Chris Brickell published by Otago University Press

10:45 The Reading

Shanghai Sheba: the China Monologues, part three. Written and read by Wellington cabaret performer, Sheba Williams.
 

11:05 Music with Kirsten Zemke

Ethnomusicologist Kirsten Zemke plays some tracks featuring lap steel guitar from across the decades, including  Buddy Merrill, Elmore James and the late Bill Sevesi.

 

11:20 Finding the weird and wonderful in nature's wildlife weapons

The natural world has always held a fascination for people, and James Ryan is no different - but he HAS taken it one step further than his peers. The 12-year-old Cantabrian has written a book about it, focused on the tools animals carry with them that allow them to defend themselves and hunt their prey. It's called Nature's Wildlife Weapons, and looks at the tusks, antlers, horns and claws of various creatures - some living, some extinct - and how they're used. James has been a regular at the Canterbury Museum for as long as he can remember, and he dedicates the book to the Museum staff who helped him access some of their artefacts. Canterbury Museum is also hosting the book launch tomorrow, as it coincides with its Fur, Fangs and Feathers exhibition, which showcases taxidermied animals from its collection. James joins Kathryn, along with Dr Paul Scofield, Canterbury Museum's senior curator, natural history.

11:45 Science commentator Siouxsie Wiles takes Omicron questions

With the advent of Omicron in the community, Science commentator Dr Siouxsie Wiles answers listeners questions  about this highly transmissable Covid strain.

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