Nine To Noon for Thursday 28 August 2025

09:05 Auckland CBD shop vacancy rate highest in country 

Tough times for Auckland retailers with a new report finding a 13 per cent vacancy rate the national record. Bayley's New Zealand Retail Market Update highlights the difficult circumstances of many shops in our biggest city. This compares with a vacancy rate of 5.3 per cent in Wellington, 3.9 per cent in Tauranga, 3.3 per cent in Christchurch and 1.9 per cent in Dunedin. Disruption from the City Rail Link construction is cited as one factor and the post pandemic economic slump another. This comes as the Prime Minister says the government is concerned about the so-called two speed economy - with cities doing it tougher than provincial towns, and pointing to $7 billion of projects coming which he says will boost the Auckland economy, and the country in general. Bayley's National Director for retail sales and leasing, Chris Beasleigh, says there is hope on the horizon.

09:20 Three club ski fields call it a day for 2025

After nearly 100 years in operation Mt Cheeseman ski area in Canterbury will not open this year due to poor snowfall. The club field has only had one other closure year - during the second world war. Rainbow ski area decided yesterday it will not open, and Temple Basin is in the same situation. Other club fields are open but with minimal snow. All the club fields are non profit organisations, generally run by volunteers, with large assets to maintain and insure, with diminishing revenue. Mt Cheeseman Operations Manager Cam Lill, says the ski area is now ramping up efforts to market itself as a destination for mountain biking, hiking, weddings and events. He speaks with Kathryn Ryan, along with Marke Dickson, Manager of Rainbow Ski Area.

09:30 The impact city lights and sounds have on birdsong 

Just like when we struggle after a poor night's sleep, a new study reveals birds also suffer when their sleep is disrupted, which shows in their birdsong. Researchers at the University of Waikato found that even short-term sleep disturbances can affect how much and how well birds vocalise. In many species, birds that sing more frequently and with a greater complexity can attract better mates and defend territories. Therefore, a poor-quality song can seriously affect a bird's ability to reproduce and survive. Juli Gaviraghi Mussoi is Lecturer in Animal Behaviour at the University of Waikato and she speaks to Kathryn Ryan.

09:45 UK: Reform's deportation plan, energy prices up, hottest summer on record

UK correspondent Matt Dathan look at Nigel Farage's Reform party's plans for mass deportations - 600,000 illegal migrants over five years if Reform wins the next general election, which polls suggest could happen. Energy prices are back up again in the UK - wind farms are being blamed. And less than a week of summer left - and it's been the hottest one on record.

10:05 KiwiFibre founders find fresh success on Forbes list

If Ben Scales had one harakeke leaf for every time his company KiwiFibre was featured in Forbes, he'd have enough fibre to make a snowboard. (That's two harakeke leaves). The first was the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch List in 2024, and now Ben and his business partner William Murrell have been recognised on the prestigious 30 Under 30 Asia list. Ben and William met at the University of Otago while studying degrees in Industrial Product Design, and KiwiFibre began in 2020 when a prompt for a group project inspired them to explore the possibilities of native harakeke flax as a sustainable alternative to carbon fibre and fibreglass. By 2023, KiwiFibre had raised $1.5 million from investors. Two years later, that number has grown to $5m. Harakeke is extremely strong and robust, containing not only fibre, but gels, oils and other extracts that can be used to make a variety of products. So far, KiwiFibre have produced race cars and snowboards, experimented with car bumpers and they've even tried their hand at crafting pale ale using harakeke oil.

10:30 Big Sing Finale gets underway in Dunedin 

For more than 30 years secondary school students from around the country have taken part in the largest choral event - The Big Sing. Regional competitions across 10 centres involving around 8,000 students from over 200 schools, culminate in the Finale - which kicks off shortly today at the Dunedin Town Hall. The Finale showcases the top 24 secondary school choirs, where they compete for gold, silver and bronze awards. Finale co-ordinator is Rosemary Tarbotton.

10:35 Book review: Nor The Years Condemn by Robin Hyde

Elisabeth Easther reviews Nor The Years Condemn by Robin Hyde, published by Otago University Press.

10:45 Around the motu: Kelly Makiha from the Rotorua Daily Post

Kelly reports on a high profile murder trial plus the relaunch of the Lakeland Queen paddle steamer and Steven Adams lends a bit of advice to school children during a basketball camp.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist with the Rotorua Daily Post

11:05 Tech: Voicemail phish, Operation Serengeti, Insider's kill switch

Tech commentator Tony Grasso joins Kathryn to talk about the big news in the cyber-crime world, including a highly-successful phishing campaign using Voicemail emails. He'll look at Interpol's Operation Serengeti that resulted in the arrest of over one thousand people in 18 African countries and recovery of US$97m, and the four years' jail earned by a former software developer who'd inserted a "kill switch" in his former employer's computer network.

Tony Grasso is Principal Consultant at cybersecurity firm TitaniumDefence. He worked at GCHQ in the UK and is a former Intelligence Officer in New Zealand.

11:25 Parenting: How to help 'covid babies' as they start school

Babies born during Covid-19 lockdowns developed and moved through early milestones under challenging and unique circumstances. They were likely to experience less physical contact with others, interactions with loved ones via masks and FaceTime calls, and less exposure to public places more generally, like the hubbub of a playground or cafe. Now those babies are starting school and with it, those different development circumstances are beginning to show through. Not all children are the same, but Plunket says things like social skills, emotional regulation, and anxiety are challenges that many whanau are working through, likely as a result of the pandemic social restrictions. Whānau Āwhina Plunket Chief Nurse is Zoe Tipa - she's in to talk about what families can do to help their 4 and 5 year olds as they start or prepare to start school. Send us your questions text in on 2101 or email ninetonoon@rnz.co.nz.

11:45 Screentime: The Thursday Murder Club, Pee Wee as Himself, Devo

Film and television reviewer James Croot joins Kathryn to look at The Thursday Murder Club's (Netflix) translation from page to screen - with some of the biggest names in British film and TV, can it possibly fail? Pee Wee as Himself (Neon) is a documentary series that follows the life and career of Paul Reubens and Devo (Netflix) traces the rise of the band perhaps best known for "Whip It".  

James Croot is film and television reviewer for Stuff