Nine To Noon for Tuesday 16 May 2023

 

 

09:05 Are efforts to cut truancy rates too slow to get off the mark?

The Ministry of Education has hired just fewer than seven attendance officers as part of its new centralised Attendance Service, set up to tackle record low school attendance. $74 million has been allocated to the service to employ 82 attendance officers. This followed reports from Term 3 of last year showed only 46 percent of students went to school regularly. But so far, six full time and one part time truancy officers have been appointed. The Education Minister Jan Tinetti says the Ministry is aiming to have all 82 employed by the end of next month. How likely or possible is that, and how will this new centralised model get students back into the classroom? Ministry of Education Deputy Secretary Operations and Integration, Sean Teddy.

09:20 Wellington Hostel Fire: At least six dead fears for others

Six people are thought to have died in a blaze at a Wellington Hostel over night, and many residents are missing. Police have not yet confirmed the number of fatalites but estimate fewer than 10 people are likely to have perished in the fire at Loafers Lodge in Adelaide Road. At least five people have been taken to hospital, two in a serious condition. Deputy District fire commander Brendan Nally says the number of deaths are expected to rise as firefighters search the building this morning. Kathryn speaks to RNZ reporter Jemima Huston who has been at the scene of the fire this morning

09:25 Mental load: How good do you feel when you wake up?

Five months into 2023 and the year has posed more than its fair share of environmentally-fuelled mental health challenges - with the fallout from January's floods in Auckland, Cyclone Gabrielle and the ever-present threat of the next event. On top of the pandemic and spiralling cost of living, recent surveys of how New Zealanders are doing paint a pretty grim picture of their state of mind. One of the most recent was done by Octopus Research for Tend Health, and found nearly half of the 1500 Kiwis surveyed feel somewhere on the spectrum of average to very bad when they first wake up. Just one in ten said they felt good. One in five of young people were most likely to see their GP to discuss their mental health. As for Tend, it's seen 184 per cent increase in patients seeking help for their mental health. Dr Mataroria Lyndon is Tend's co-founder and Director of Equity, he's also a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland and Board member of Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority. 

09:40 Weather-affected businesses offered free mentoring

Weather-related events have taken a massive toll on any number of people around the country this year. Many businesses have faced massive  - and sometimes repeat - clean-ups, disruption to operations, loss of access to customers  - even closure. Not-for-profit group Business Mentors New Zealand has announced $20-thousand dollars in grants to help support the ongoing recovery of businesses affected by recent weather events. It'll sponsor 66 business owners to have a year's mentoring with highly skilled advisors.  Kathryn is joined by Business Mentor New Zealand CEO Sarah Trotman. You can find details of how to apply here. 

09:45 USA correspondent Ron Elving

In the US, the debt limit crisis looms, and the immigration crisis threatens to derail President Joe Biden's bid for second term. More Donald Trump rivals emerge in the Republican Party but his numbers continue to go up even as his legal situations darken.  And Ron also talks to about Joe Biden's trip to Asia.

Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News.

 

10:05 From ancient times to AI: the history of knowledge

The information age has altered our relationship with knowledge; everything we could ever want to know is now instantly searchable through a small device that fits in our pocket. So what does that mean for our brains? Are we risking our ability to think? These are some of the questions journalist and author Simon Winchester has been pondering - as he delves into how humans have attained, stored, and spread knowledge through the ages. From writing on clay tablets in Babylonia to the machine-made genius of artificial intelligence today, technology continues to change our lives and our minds. Kathryn speaks with Simon Winchester about his latest book "Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge from Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic."

10:35 Book review:  Katherine Mansfield's Europe: Station to Station by Redmer Yska

Harry Ricketts reviews Katherine Mansfield's Europe: Station to Station by Redmer Yska, published by Otago University Press

10:40 Fire engineer highlights risks of short term housing like Loafers Lodge

A fire engineer,  who has studied short term residential accomodation, says they are four times riskier than houses.Dr Geoff Thomas's 2014 national study looked into housing similar to the 92 room Loafers Lodge in Wellington, which was destroyed by fire overnight, killing at least six people.Dr Thomas says the the lodge was not required by law to have sprinklers, but his study found low quality, unsprinklered hotel and backpacker accommodation have the highest fire fatality risk.

10:45 Around the motu : Logan Savory in Southland

It's a big day for the Gore District Council with a meeting this afternoon to vote on a no confidence in its 24-year-old mayor Ben Bell. The Mayor and the council's chief executive, Stephen Parry, aren't speaking and the fractured relationship is causing ructions around the council table.  A petition calling for Mr Parry to resign has gained thousands of signatures. Today the council will also vote to remove Mr Bell from all committees and to call for the Local Government Minister to intervene. And highest-polling councilor Nigel Skelt has resigned as an Invercargill city councillor after earlier resigning as Stadium Southland's general following a sexual harassment complaint. Logan also talks to Kathryn about Woodlands Rugby Club celebrating 125 years and a recent charity ride from Queenstown to Invercargill involving three former All Blacks.

Southland Tribune editor Logan Savory - based in Invercargill 

11:05 Business: What to do with embodied carbon in old buildings

Business commentator Nikki Mandow joins Kathryn to talk about the issue with greenhouse gas emissions from our buildings, be they operational (emissions from running the building) to embodied (what was used in its construction). How do we measure embodied carbon, and how should it be factored in to decisions about whether to retrofit a building or tear it down and start again? And Nikki also looks at Christchurch entrepreneur Adam Hutchinson of oVRcome, who's won a startup pitch at the Australian National Telehealth Conference in Sydney for his virtual reality software that helps people deal with their phobias.

Nikki Mandow is Newsroom's business editor 

11:30 Biotech company ZeaKal on mitigating climate challenges

Feeding the world has always been a challenge - but doing it amid a changing climate is only going to get more difficult. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates we'll need to produce 70 percent more food by 2050 to feed the world's population of 10 billion. ZeaKal is a biotech company with roots in New Zealand and California which has been working on how to increase crop yields without sacrificing nutrition, while also creating a smaller environmental footprint.  Its PhotoSeed technology modifies gene traits to increase a plant's ability to capture carbon and light.  This in turn, boosts yield, nutrient density and also increases carbon capture. Han Chen is the CEO of ZeaKal and joins Kathryn to explain more. He'll also be speaking as part of E Tipu, the Boma Agri Summit taking place next month.

11:45 Sports-chat with Joe Porter

Joe talks about New Zealand Rugby signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Japan Rugby, and where things are at with Super Rugby. Also the ANZ Netball premiership is down to the last round, and in cricket, more problems between India and Pakistan could threaten this year's one day world cup.
    
 

 

RNZ sports reporter Joe Porter