Nine To Noon for Monday 3 April 2023

09:05 First bid on the table for Ruapehu Alpine Lifts

At least two potential bidders have emerged for Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, which collapsed last October, going into voluntary administration. Administrators have been working since October trying to find a long term solution for the business, which runs both Whakapapa and Turoa ski fields. RAL has debts of $35 million, and the government has put in $10 million to keep the business running while a solution is sought. Now at least two separate bids for all or part of the business are in the offing. Kathryn speaks with John Sandford who is leading a new entity - Turoa Alpine Limited - which lodged a bid for Turoa's assets last week. Also with Life Pass Holders' representative and local Sam Clarkson.

09:25 Eastwood Hill: our national arboretum where money doesn't grow on trees

Our National Arboretum has lost some endangered species and, reliant on visitor fees and donations, is struggling financially in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.   A botanical phenomenon, Eastwood Hill's mission as an arboreal arc is to help preserve forestry diversity.  The arboretum at Ngatapa outside Gisborne nurtures more than fifteen thousand rare and threatened trees from all over the world. But the cyclone tore through the haven, felling trees and ripping them apart, including endangered American Elm, Magnolia and one hundred-year old oaks. Takings at the gates have dwindelled as tourism dries up and cancellations swell, and financial straits are beckoning. Kathryn is joined by EastwoodHill Arboretum horticulturalist Anthea Dalton and board chair Jane Williams.

09:45 Germany correspondent Thomas Sparrow:  King Charles' debut on the world stage

Germany is the first international destination for King Charles since he taking the throne. His Majesty spent three days in Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg in a visit full of symbolism: King Charles is the first foreign head of state to be welcomed with military honours at the emblematic Brandenburg Gate, in central Berlin. He also became the first monarch to deliver a speech before the German Parliament, delivery part of it in fluent German, Thomas say the visit helped Germans to momentarily forget some of the major problems the country is facing, including Germany's biggest strike in decades.
 

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

10:05 Rebuilding a future after mountaineering cut short by life-altering injury 

Dave Vass is an adventurer, mountaineer and owner of a canyoning business whose life changed in an instant. Climbing was an obsession and he was particularly captivated by Fiordland's natural beauty spending more than 30 years adventuring and exploring. His time as one of the country's leading mountaineers climbing in Mt Aspiring National Park and Darran Mountains in Fiordland was cut short in 2015 when nearing the end of a climbing trip in a storm he slipped down a bank. Dave speaks to Kathryn about how his adventuring, and the accident which resulted in a broken neck and incomplete tetraplegia. 

10:35 Book review: Ahuahu: A conservation journey in Aotearoa New Zealand by David Towns

Harry Broad reviews Ahuahu: A conservation journey in Aotearoa New Zealand by David Towns, published by Canterbury University Press

10:45 Around the motu : Todd Niall in Auckland

The government's big push to get a new harbour crossing project underway, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown 
commissions another review of options for the future of the council-owned Ports of Auckland and the issue of the wealthy and their helicopters and the flights they generate, especially in sensitive environments like Waiheke Island.
 

11:05 Political commentators Gareth Hughes and Ben Thomas

Gareth Hughes and Ben Thomas join Kathryn to look at the departure of Stuart Nash and the questions left for the Prime Minister's office to answer, Jacinda Ardern's valedictory speech this week, Marama Davidson's comments about cis men and her refusal to apologise, options for a second harbour crossing, National's electrification policy and the granting of new oil and gas permits.

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

Ben Thomas is a former National government press secretary, a columnist and a director of public affairs firm Capital.

11:30 Two Kiwi telcos sign up for satellite service to improve coverage

Two of the country's big telecommunications companies have signed deals with satellite providers to improve mobile coverage. One New Zealand, previously known as Vodafone, has signed a deal with US firm SpaceX, meaning its mobile network will work with the company's Starlink satellites from late next year. It says it means 100 percent mobile coverage across the country, eliminating any blackspots, although it will initially only apply to text. Meanwhile, 2degrees has announced a trial with the satellite provider Lynk, allowing its customers to connect from remote areas. One New Zealand CEO Jason Parris joins Kathryn.

11:40 From a world of meat to plant-based meat snacks

Jade Gray spent most of his career working with meat, but his attention is now firmly focused on innovative plant-based meat products. Starting up Off Piste Provisions and teaming up with researchers at Massey University, he developed vegan jerky which has the same meaty flavour and chewy texture of beef jerky. There's also plant-based bacon and biltong, and even a pork crackling product in the pipeline. The former farm manager and supermarket butcher is determined to make his business even more sustainable, investigating the potential of biowaste to create other meat alternatives. Jade joins Kathryn to discuss the science behind his snacks, and what drove the shift from meat lover to plant-based meat innovator and producer.

11:45 Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne : From mountain to sea

 Kennedy discusses about the historic decision to restore the mana of Mt Taranaki by dropping the name "Egmont" from the mountain and its associated national park and recognising the entirety of the park and its peaks as a legal person. He will also talk about the imminent launch of a four-year circumnavigation of the Pacific by double-hulled waka, the goal of which is to "ignite a movement of planetary navigators."