Nine To Noon for Wednesday 16 July 2025

09:05 Trades apprentice numbers down, workforce shortage warnings

Enrollments in plumbing and electrical apprenticeships have fallen significantly according to sector leaders, who warn of a workforce shortage when the economy begins to recover. Master Plumbers says there are half the number of apprentice plumbers this year than in previous years, while Master Electricians say apprenticeship rates are at their lowest levels since 2011. The warning comes as a survey of builder sentiment out this morning finds 50 per cent of builders are operating at less than half capacity. A trade apprentice learns on the job with an employer. Master Plumbers Chief Executive Greg Wallace, says the prolonged contraction in the construction sector is to blame, and jobs in Queensland ahead of the 2032 Olympics are luring qualified plumbers. He speaks with Kathryn, along with Master Electricians Chief Executive Alex Vranyac-Wheeler.

09:25 Farmer lobby group pushes back on Alliance's foreign investment plans

A group of South Island sheep and beef farmers are urging others to vote against a proposal for foreign investment in the red meat cooperative Alliance Group, which is the only 100 percent farmer-owned meat processor in the country. A series of financial losses in recent years has seen the board aim to raise $200 million dollars in new capital from the private sector. Some media reports have suggested an Irish meat supply group, Dawn Meats, is a contender. Alliance Group chair Mark Wynne says details are commercially sensitive but it's in the advanced stage of assessment, and Alliance is  working towards confirming a preferred option to take to shareholders to vote on. Dave Pinckney's family has farmed Glenaray station in the Waikaia valley, for 127 years and supplied AGL for 60 years. Kathryn speaks to him about why he and a group of shareholders are urging other farmer suppliers to vote against any external capital which would change the ownership structure of Alliance.

09:35 Can gas from food scraps fill an energy void?

A major international energy report has found biogases have the potential to cover a quarter of the world's current demand for fossil fuel gas. Biogas is typically produced using a process called anaerobic digestion - where organic matter is broken down with an absence of oxygen inside a sealed structure. New Zealand's first biogas facility to pump into the national gas pipeline opened in Reporoa in 2022 and can meet the demand for gas from about 7000 homes. Proponents of biogas say it has the potential to help fill the shortfall from declining gas fields in this country. But its current rate of uptake means the country is well behind that as a possibility. The Government canned a proposal to mandate food scrap collection for all councils, which critics have said has stymied investment in biogas generation. The head of the World Biogas Association, Charlotte Morton is in New Zealand as a keynote speaker at the Biogas Forum here. 

09:45 Australia: PM in China, Childcare case worsens, card surcharges to go?

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton talks about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's week-long trip to China, which comes amid a backdrop of tensions with traditional allies the US over trade and defence. Allegations of child sex abuse against a Melbourne childcare worker have added four more centres to the list of places where children may've been at risk, and told families of another 800 children to get them tested for STDs. The Federal Court has dismissed a class action by Torres Strait Islanders against the Australian government over climate change to their home. And the Reserve Bank has proposed a ban on credit and debit card surcharges.

Karen Middleton is a political journalist based in Canberra

10:05 New Kiwi comedy Workmates follows the fortunes of a struggling theatre

The show must go on, as they say in the theatre. New Kiwi comedy Workmates looks at the lengths two close colleagues will go to to keep their beloved indie theatre from going under. The film's been written by Sophie Henderson, who also plays main character Lucy and it's directed by her husband Curtis Vowell. It draws heavily on Sophie's experiences running The Basement Theatre in Auckland, which also serves as the location for the film's fictional theatre The Crystal Ballroom. The idea for it materialised during the pandemic, when many theatres struggled with repeated lockdowns.  This is Sophie and Curtis' third feature film together, after 2013's Fantail and 2021's Baby, Done. Workmates will have its premiere at the New Zealand International Film Festival before it goes for general release date from August 21.

10:30 Electric Kiwi calls for renewables projects

Independent energy retailer Electric Kiwi has put out a tender for 10 to 15-year power purchase agreements in a bid to shake up the electricity market and get cheaper prices to its customers. The company, which boasts just short of 60,000 connections, typically buys its power from the spot and forward markets. But high prices led Electric Kiwi last year to have to stop taking on new customers, because they would be loss making. It has since returned to taking new customers. The latest move from Electric Kiwi attempts to skirt around the high market prices by providing a long-term contract for a builder of a renewable energy plant - and at the same time getting cheaper prices for customers. Huia Burt is the chief executive at Electric Kiwi.

10:35 Book review: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

Renata Hopkins reviews I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger, published by Grove Press.

10:45 Around the motu: Kelly Mahika on Rotorua 

Kelly discusses how Rotorua's homeless are being taken at night to sleep in small pods at a remote area, street racer problems near Mamaku and the planned return of the paddleboat, the Lakeland Queen, to Lake Rotorua.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist with the Rotorua Daily Post

11:05 Music with Maggie Tweedie 

Maggie Tweedie unearths fresh new music from acclaimed artist, producer, and collaborator Mark Ronson and British singer-songwriter RAYE, who have recorded a special new track at London’s iconic Church Studios, alongside a new remix of Pale Jay’s classic Magnolia Tree, American soul singer Lady Wray’s gospel-inspired anthem You're Gonna Win, and Lumin Rain, a psychedelic gem from Sri Lankan–Swedish multi-instrumentalist Arc De Soleil.

Maggie Tweedie is a broadcaster and music commentator based in Spain.

11:20 After BASEjump tragedy, new doco follows Kiwi widow's journey

When Kiwi Shayni Couch met her future husband Micah, it was a match of adventurous souls. Raised in Tutukaka in Northland, Shanyi had been a dive instructor before moving to Dubai to work on superyachts. Micah was from the US, and working as a videographer for a skydive company Shayni went on to jump with. They married, but just two weeks after finding out they were to be parents, Micah died in a BASEjump in Norway. Shayni's story of returning to the site of Micah's last jump has been told in a new documentary screening as part of the DocEdge festival.  It's called Shayni in the Sky, and documents - not only Shayni's story with their young son Lincoln - but Micah's adventurous life with footage of his jumps around the world. Shayni joins Kathryn - along with the film's director Gabriel Garton.

11:45 Science: ChatGPT changes our language, nighttime light, leftie creatives

Science commentator Dr Jen Martin joins Kathryn to talk about a new study into how ChatGPT is changing our everyday language - have you found yourself using 'delve' more? The largest-ever study into how nighttime light affects heart health has found the more you're exposed to a night, the higher your risk of heart disease. And are left-hand people really brilliant creatives? Or is it just that both are rare?

Dr Jen Martin founded the science communication program at the University of Melbourne, runs the espressoscience.com blog and is also the author of Why Am I Like This?: The Science Behind Your Weirdest Thoughts and Habits.