Nine To Noon for Monday 30 January 2023

 

 

09:05 Auckland floods: Ministers Wood and McAnulty on govt response

Steady rain has continued to fall on Auckland overnight, with another 50 to 60mm  settling on an already soggy city. That's well short of the unprecedented 249mm of rain that paralysed Auckland on Friday night, leaving four people dead, homes inundated or teetering on the brink of collapsed cliffs and hundreds of cars left abandoned on flooded Auckland streets. As the crisis quickly unfolded, emergency services fielded thousands of calls for help from all corners of the city. But the weekend has brought much criticism of the response of those at the top - particularly Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. Joining Kathryn to talk about what Auckland's immediate and long-term needs will be, and how central government can help is Civil Defence Minister Kieran McAnulty and Transport Minister Michael Wood.

09:30 Auckland floods: Did city officials respond fast enough?

Communities across the supercity have been devastated by the rain event - but were all responded to equally? Kathryn speaks with Manukau ward councillor Alf Filipaina who believes some emergency officials failed to react quickly enough to residents in southern suburbs. Waitākere Ward Councillor Shane Henderson was out directing traffic in Massey on Friday night,  he talks about the situation out west this morning and North Shore ward councillor Richard Hills updates Kathryn on the flooding there - particularly in the Wairau Valley where two of the four fatalities occurred.

 

09:45 Germany correspondent Thomas Sparrow:  combat tanks to Ukraine
 

After a lot of pressure, the German government  has authorised the delivery of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, both directly and via third countries. Chancellor Scholz had been criticised by allies who believed he was taking too long to decide and was not communicating his intentions properly. Scholz says it was necessary to coordinate closely with allies, in particular the United States, which has  also decided to send some of its own tanks to Ukraine. Also, Europe's economy seems to be performing better than previously thought with Thomas saying experts are predicting that the Eurozone will avoid a recession this year.

Thomas Sparrow is a political correspondent for Deutsche Welle, based in Berlin
 

10:05 From childhood roadside stall to avocado entrepreneur

Thorley Robbins is an avocado entrepreneur whose first foray into the horticulture sector was at age two - when he set up a roadside stall selling fresh tomatoes from his family’s orchard. He grew up in Katikati on the orchard and seven years ago founded The Avo Tree - delivering freshly picked avocados direct to consumers around the country. As demand grew, he found more and more small scale growers to pick, pack and dispatch for- he now has 140 on the books. But he's not just selling avos for eating - in 2017 he expanded into the skin care sector - developing a range of products derived from cold pressed avocado oil. Then came avocado tea, and now he's wood wool -  natural wood shavings used to pack the fruit to get it to customers in pristine condition. He tells Kathryn it's been a wild ride, but he's convinced the business has a long way to go.

10:35 Book review: Paul Diamond's top three from 2022

Paul Diamond reviews three of his favourite books from last year A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: A Collection of Narratives about Te Tai Tokerau Tūpuna by Melinda Webber and Te Kapua O'Connor, published by AUP; Te Motunui Epa by Rachel Buchanan, published by BWB and Better the Blood by Michael Bennett, published by Simon and Schuster

10:45 Around the motu : Peter Newport in Queenstown

Peter has been guaging what locals think of the billion dollar Australian development, Lakeview and whether it belongs in Queenstown. Also the picturesque town is often is often referred to as a "Resort" by people and media from elsewhere in NZ,  but many residents don't see it that way amid a belief that the the local economy must diversify away from tourism to other types of business. And worker accomodation in Queenstown and Wanaka remains in serious short supply.

11:05 Political commentators Morten & Hughes

Political commentators Brigitte Morten and Gareth Hughes join Kathryn to talk about the local and central government response to flooding in Auckland and other parts of the North Island. And as new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins cuts his teeth on his first crisis, they'll also talk about how the transition of power from Jacinda Ardern has gone and what changes we might see in a Hipkins-led Cabinet.

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. 

Gareth Hughes is a former Green MP and now works for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Aotearoa. 

11:30 Major Coromandel roads closed 

In the Coromandel, rain and slips have closed State Highway 25 in several places - between Coromandel and Whitianga; and Waiomu to Tapu. It's also closed State Highway 25A, which connects the east and west coasts of the peninsula. Kathryn speaks with Thames-Coromandel Mayor Len Salt.

11:35 Bay of Plenty flooding: train derailed, houses destroyed

The Bay of Plenty also received significant rainfall, where roads have closed, a train was derailed, and landslide caused a house to collapse, pushed into the road. Kathryn speaks with Alisha Evans, a Local Democracy Reporter in Tauranga with Sun Live.

11:45 Urban Issues : Pacific housing in Aotearoa NZ

Dr Karamia Müller discusses the issues facing Pacific people and their housing and the relationship to infrastructure, gentrification, housing supply and multigenerational housing. 

Dr Karamia Müller is a lecturer of architecture specialising in Pacific space concepts and architecture at the University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning and she is a Co-Director of MĀPIHI: Māori and Pacific Housing Research Centre.