Nine To Noon for Monday 8 August 2022

09:05 Golden Games - record Commonwealth gold medal haul

New Zealand has bagged a record gold medal haul at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. This morning cyclist Aaron Gate added to his own personal medal success, adding a record fourth gold medal and pushing New Zealand's golden total to 18. That beat the previous haul of 17 set 30 years at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland. Gate's success was soon followed up on the squash court, where Paul Coll and Joelle King won the mixed doubles, taking the number of gold medals won so far to 19. Susie speaks to team chef de mission Nigel Avery about how these Games are making history.

09:10 Is DOC missing the mark on new wild animal strategy?

Conservationists are concerned the Department of Conservation is standing by as wild animals such as deer, wild pigs, tahr and goats wreck havoc on New Zealand's biodiversity. Conservation group Forest and Bird says the number of wild animals on conservation land is out of control and overflowing onto farms, private land and Forest and Bird's own reserves.The group says DOC's new wild animal management strategy,  Te Ara Ki Mua, aimed at "improving monitoring, delivery, and evaluation of wild animal management" does nothing to address the issue and fails to do anything to cut down on carbon emissions. Forest and Bird's own report found controlling feral browsing pests would increase the carbon sequestration of native ecosystems by 8.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year, around about 15% of New Zealand's net emissions.  Meanwhile the Game Animal Council says the strategy has got the balance right, and provides a balanced framework for conservation and hunting. Susie Ferguson speaks with DOC's operations director Ben Reddiex, Chair of the Game Animal Council, Grant Dobson and Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki.

09:20 What's going on underneath Lake Taupō and should we be worried?

New research is giving scientists an exciting insight into what is happening within the magma chamber of the Taupō supervolcano. It last erupted 18-hundred years ago in the earth's most violent eruption in the past 5,000 years. Bringing together data from measurements taken over the past 42 years, the research shows underneath Lake Taupō things are on the move, with small ups and downs recorded in the elevation of the lake bed. Susie speaks to Dr Finn Illsley-Kemp from Victoria University about the significance of the research and what it tells us.  

09:45 Europe: Nuclear warning in Ukraine, heatwave ruins crops

Europe correspondent Seamus Kearney joins Susie to look at the warning from the UN atomic watchdog of a "real risk" of nuclear disaster in Ukraine following shelling at Europe's largest nuclear power plant in the country's south. Radiation monitoring sensors have been damaged, and there could be a problem detecting any leaks or faults. Meanwhile farmers across Europe are counting the cost of ruined crops as heatwaves continue to cause havoc, with France one of the countries saying it's experiencing its worst-ever drought.

 

10:05 Manawatu writer, poet and farmer Tim Saunders

Tim Saunders writes about his life and work on the land, the lessons handed down from his ancestors and the challenges of present day farming. The family sheep and beef farm at Glen Oroua, near Palmerston North goes back  five generations.  His new book Under a big sky : Facing the elements on a New Zealand farm  catalogues the ups and downs of rural life  the impact of environmental change, drought, financial pressures and farming during lockdown. Writing is a constant in Tim Saunders' life, his first book was This Farming Life and he has had poetry and short stories published. Tim can also be found performing poetry around Manawatu and beyond.

 

10:35 Book review: Picture You Dead by Peter James

Sally Wenley reviews Picture You Dead by Peter James, published by Macmillan

10:45 The Reading

11:05 Political commentators Lamia Imam & Brigitte Morten

 

Brigitte and Lamia join Susie to talk about National's two-day conference in Christchurch where it elected a new party president, Sylvia Wood. They'll also look at the reaction to the climate adaption report, National and Labour going tit-for-tat over tax and what Brian Tamaki might be planning in the run-up to local body elections.

Lamia Imam worked for two years for the Labour Party in the Leader of the Opposition's office under Phil Goff, David Shearer and David Cunliffe. She also worked for the Ministry of Justice, before gaining a Masters in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin. She currently works for a large technology company in Wellington.

Brigitte Morten is a director with public and commercial law firm Franks & Ogilvie and a former senior ministerial advisor for the previous National-led government. 

 

11:30 Birds and the bees: Manunui Honey

Bees are saving birds in a native bush sanctuary in Raetihi in the central North Island. Beekeeper and founder of Manunui Honey Blake Cole is also an ardent conservationist who monitors kiwi, and traps and eradicates pests.  Manunui, which means 'plentiful birds', is the name given to 250 hectares of restored native bush that provides sanctuary to a wide variety of New Zealand native birds, including the North Island brown kiwi.  Blake tells Susie Ferguson profits from Manunui Honey are invested into returning more of the land to native bush.

11:45 Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne - the Greenland experience

Kennedy is back in New Zealand but talks to Susie about his recent expeditionary cruise around the southern coastline of Greenland.
 

Music played in this show

Artist:     London Grammar
Track:     How Does It Feel
Time:      09:32

Artist:   Delicate Steve
Track:   Now I Know
Time:    09:42

Artist:   Greentea Peng
Track:   Stuck in the Middle
Time:    11:30