Nine To Noon for Friday 24 October 2025

09:05 Worksafe survey indicates violence and burnout for police and ambulance 

Police and ambulance officers are facing widespread threats of violence and suffering burnout according to research released by Worksafe. Over half of those taking part in the separate surveys reported at least one form of offensive behaviour such as threats or physical violence. The data for the surveys was collected last year and involved 1551 ambulance workers  and 229 individuals from police. Analysis of the information  gives both police and  ambulance staff a low score when it comes to having a safe psycho-social working climate. While ambulance workers reported finding a high level of meaning in their work and expressed a strong sense of being part of the team, police workers indicated a lack of social support from their supervisors and a reduced sense of of being part of a community at work. Steve Watts is the President of the Police Association and Mark Quin is National Secretary of the Ambulance Association which represents two-and-a-half thousand ambulance officers, paramedics and communications officers nationwide.

09:20 Calls for nurses to do limited colonoscopies

Calls for nurse practitioners to be trained to do some colonoscopies, as the number of bowel cancer cases in under 50 year olds rises. Currently, free bowel screening in the form of a home self kit, is offered every 2 years to 58 to 74 year olds. But Christchurch surgeon Phil Bagshaw, founder of the Christchuch Charity Hospital says there is a global rise in the number of people younger than 50 who are being diagnosed with the colo-rectal cancer. He says the cause isn't known, so bowel screening and early diagnosis of those with symptoms is vital. In an article published in the New Zealand Medical Journal today, he and other researchers say there are already delays in diagnosis, because of a shortage of endoscopists. They make the case for following the UK model, where nurse endoscopists are able to perform partial colonoscopies. Bryan Crump speaks with Christchurch surgeon Phil Bagshaw and nurse researcher Karen Gower , authors of the NZMJ report.

09:30 Rotorua biofactory for new fuels, proteins 

A $60 million biofactory opening in Rotorua next year will give small businesses the opportunity to create and test new bioproducts using materials such as forestry slash. It will also be available to big companies like paper producers to find ways to repurpose organic material into higher-value products. The factory's processors will take in low-value wood products, food waste, animal products and plastics and through fermentation and enzyme technology convert them into new products. These could be anything from alternative proteins to sustainable aviation fuel. The Biofactory is to be hosted at the Bioeconomy Science Institute - formerly Scion - and it's also been backed by forestry company Timberlands. The project is based on the Verschuren Centre in Canada, and its chief executive, Beth Mason, is in New Zealand helping with plans for the facility here. Alec Foster leads the bioproducts and packaging portfolio at the institute. 

09:45 Pacific correspondent Koroi Hawkins

RNZ Pacific Editor Koroi Hawkins 

10:05 Thrills and heartbreak in Fiordland: The Hollows Boys 

In the 1970s,  as the deer recovery era took off , the Hollows brothers - Gary, Mark and Kim were drawn from the north, one by one, to Fiordland. They were all helicopter pilots. Kim, the youngest, just 17 when he began flying. It was a wild time - the industry was growing quickly, huge sums of money were at stake, pilots and their shooters were competing with each other. Author Peta Carey first met Kim when she was 18 and working at a Hollyford Track lodge, then again through her late husband Dave Comer, who knew all the brothers. Her book, The Hollows Boys, tells the brothers' unvarnished stories  - and recounts an extraordinary time in New Zealand's history.

David Hill reviews He Puāwai A Natural History of New Zealand Flowers by Philip Garnock-Jones, published by Auckland University Press.

10:45 Around the motu: Alisha Evans is Sun Live's  Local Democracy reporter based in Tauranga 

Tauranga City council has a plan to help a waterfront neighbourhood plagued by drug use, burnouts and speeding. Elsewhere in the city, Pāpāmoa residents are fed up with the excessive road noise and in the Western Bay, voter turnout for the election rose despite the council spending $70,000 less on its election campaign. 

11:05 Music reviewer Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor of Slow Boat Records plays new music from indie band The Lemonheads, a new single from beloved Aussie singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett, a new album from UK singer songwriter Olivia Dean and Australian punk band The Saints.

11:30 Sports commentator Sam Ackerman

11:45 The week that was

Our comedians Te Radar and Donna Brookbanks with a few laughs to end the week.