Nine To Noon for Wednesday 12 October 2022

 

09:05 Ruapehu Alpine Lift governance 'appalling': shareholders

A group of Ruapehu shareholders and life pass holders says appalling governance by the board of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts is to blame for the company going into voluntary administration. RAL which runs the Whakapapa and Turoa skifields on the mountain, has put itself into voluntary administration as it tries to figure out whether it can survive. It blames the pandemic, coupled with this winter's terrible ski season. The news has left local businesses and residents reeling. Sam Clarkson is a spokesperson for the Ruapehu shareholders and Life Pass Holders group, and owner of the Skotel at the foot of Whakapapa ski field. He says the board of RAL have made a series of poor decisions and have pursued a corporate approach, which has put the mountain and region in jeopardy. Kathryn also talks with John Fisk -  of PwC, one of two appointed as the voluntary administrators and Leigh Berry, who runs Ruapehu Mountain Lodge.

09:30 Taranaki freight business turns to coastal shipping

A New Plymouth based freight trucking and warehousing business is entering the coasting shipping market - with a cargo ship capable of running on methanol - if and when the biofuel is available. MOVE Logistics Group - formerly known as TIL Logistics - is one of the country's largest freight and warehousing businesses. It has received $10 million in co-investment funds from transport agency Waka Kotahi,  and is in the process of procuring a roll-on, roll-off cargo vessel to be in use by November next year. The company says even without switching to so-called "green fuel", the ship will reduce MOVE's carbon emissions by 2000 tonnes per year. The vessel will initially sail 3 times a week between Nelson and New Plymouth but will be able to access at least 13 New Zealand ports, without the need for any new infrastructure to be built. Kathryn speaks with MOVE executive director Chris Dunphy. 

09:45 Australia: Fraudster's jewellery auctioned, sport anti-siphoning, more floods

Australia correspondent Chris Niesche looks at efforts to recoup millions from victims of Sydney fraudster Melissa Caddick by auctioning her jewellery collection. He'll also talk about a plan to restrict digital streaming services from having access to certain live sports to ensure Australians can continue to watch major events on free-to-air TV. And more rain is forecast for a flood-weary New South Wales.

10:05 Queen of country music, Tami Neilson 

Fresh off the back of Americana Fest in Nashville, Tami Neilson is back in Aotearoa, and will soon pick up the last leg touring her new album; Kingmaker. The album centres on themes of female empowerment, feminism, equality, and exposes the toxic structure of the music industry. Tami Neilson has won almost every music award possible, and has just been nominated for seven awards at the Aotearoa Music Awards, and is one of five finalists for the coveted Silver Scroll Award. Tami Neilson comes from good country stock; her music career started in her homeland of Canada, where she toured with the Neilson Family band from the age of 12, opening for Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and singing with Queen of Country music Kitty Wells.

10:35 Book review: The Crown in Vogue by Robin Muir and Josephine Ross

Sonja de Friez reviews The Crown in Vogue by Robin Muir and Josephine Ross, published by Hachette

10:45 The Reading

Part one of Calamity Jane by Suzi Pointon, told for us by Denise O'Connell.     

11:05 Music: Cosmically great songs about space

Today music correspondent Kirsten Zemke takes us out of this world, with a deep dive into songs about space. Sure, she could talk about the great and iconic orchestral pieces (Space Odyssey, Star Trek, Holst, Dr Who), but today it's all about weird and wonderful space rock/pop. Kirsten Zemke is an ethnomusicologist at the University of Auckland's School of Social Sciences.

11:20 Scott Bainbridge on digging into New Zealand's biggest swindle

In 1966 Robert 'Skip' Gardner hopped the Tasman and brought a small group of grifters with him to run a company that was looking distributors to sell its cosmetics through dairies and milk-bars. Investors paid over one thousand pounds  - around $70,000 dollars in today's money - to become distributors. But as the launch day neared - the product failed to materialise. As the grifters tried to skip the country - with varying degrees of success - the police had an uphill battle to piece together the elaborate scam and try to get justice for the victims. It's an incredible tale that also takes in corrupt Sydney cops, scams in multiple jurisdictions and even a brush with Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs. It's all neatly wrapped up in The Fix: The story of New Zealand's biggest swindles, by true-crime author Scott Bainbridge - who's also written Without Trace and Still Missing.

11:45 Auckland Theatre Company releases 2023 lineup ahead of 30th anniversary

It's been a rough couple of years for the arts sector, but things are getting back to normal - with the Auckland Theatre Company releasing its line-up for its 2023 season this morning. It'll be a big year for the company as it marks 30 years of making theatre in Tamaki Makaurau. There are six works in next year's programme, and to go into detail, Kathryn is joined by the ATC's artistic director Jonathan Bielski.