Nine To Noon for Friday 4 March 2022

 

09:05 Much closer scrutiny of chemicals needed: Environment Commissioner

A major new report calls for much closer scrutiny of chemicals approved of, and used, in New Zealand. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says on paper, there is a robust system in place to assess risks when a chemical is introduced. But of the 30,000 chemicals approved for use in New Zealand, but only around 200 chemicals are routinely tested for. Simon Upton says much of the science on the environmental impact of some chemicals has changed, and the current system is patchy and inadequate. Mr Upton says a common framework needs to be developed and used by all agencies dealing with chemicals, with a priority focus on high risk contaminants.

09:30 Silverlight Studios director Mike Wallis on Wanaka film complex plans

Last week Nine to Noon looked at plans to build a big film studio complex on the outskirts of Wanaka. The proposal, which was given the greenlight late last year under a fast-tracked consent process, would create the country's first purpose-built, large-scale film studio. The plan by Silverlight Studios, will include 10 sound stages, production facilities and the permanent backlots of Venice, a medieval village, Paris and New York all set around an artificial lake. In addition to a working film set, it'll include a film school and operate as a tourist destination. Kathryn previously spoke to Jerry Rowley and Julian Haworth about their concerns - including the appropriateness of the site and the fast-tracked consent process. Today Mike Wallis, one of the three founding directors of Silverlight Studios, joins Kathryn to talk about the project and how it's progressing.

09:45 Asia correspondent Ed White

China is being criticised by many in the west for failing to join international efforts to stop Putin's invasion. Ed talks to Kathryn about China's official response to Russia's invasion and to sanctions. And in Hong Kong there are grim scenes with mortuaries filling up and panic buying rife as the city's Covid policy reaches a fresh low. 

Ed White is a correspondent with the Financial Times.

10:05 Living in the age of disinformation

From "alternative facts" to the most outlandish fringe conspiracy theories - we're now living in the age of disinformation. We all became familiar with Russian groups using Facebook to spread fake news and sway the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election. But disinformation spreads far wider and much deeper. Ed Coper is an expert in disinformation and in his new book Facts and Other Lies, he explores how disinformation has fractured our society, and threatens democracy itself. He says the anti-mandate protests which have spread from Ottawa, to Canberra and Wellington are the end product of deliberate disinformation campaigns, which are fuelled by social media and seeded by shadowy forces with suspect motives. Kathryn speaks with Ed Coper from Sydney. 

10:35 Book review: The Recent East by Thomas Grattan

Melanie O'Loughlin of Lamplight Books Auckland reviews The Recent East by Thomas Grattan, published by Macmillan

Its 1989, the Berlin Wall is freshly down when an East German defector receives news that the family home she fled as a child has now been restored to her. Taking her children from New York to a seaside town in Germany, this transnational novel bursts with unique characters and tackles refuge, belonging and family love.

 

Characters in “The Recent East” are individual riddles, not just political integers. Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker.

10:45 The Reading

Stuart Devenie reads episode ten of Live Bodies, written by Maurice Gee.

11:05 New music with Jeremy Taylor

The third solo album from Don McGlashan, a tribute album to Yoko Ono, and a fond farewell to the great Mark Lanegan

11:30 Sports commentator Sam Ackerman

Sports commentator Sam Ackerman  with his take on the White Ferns World Cup changes, sporting sanctions against Russia, the Winter paralmypics and a week of celebrating some true sporting success stories in Aotearoa.

 

11:45 The week that was with

Comedians Te Radar and Pinky Agnew on why everyone needs good neighbours.