Nine To Noon for Friday 14 November 2025

09:05 Advocate doubts new police oversight role

An advocate supporting people with complaints about Police misconduct doubts the proposed Inspector General of Police will make any difference. The government has pledged to establish the role following the damning IPCA report into how top brass at Police handled sexual assault allegations made against former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming. The IPCA has long-agitated to be given greater powers itself, so that it can undertake a wider range of investigations, and have prosecutorial powers. And in its report into McSkimming it advocates for more funding. Shannon Parker founded the Police Conduct Association in 2013, a non-governmental organisation that helps people resolve complaints against the police and navigate the IPCA process. She's skeptical of the plan to create a new role.

09:20 The price of building goods staying stable

The cost of living is still front of mind for many, but there is one area were there is positive news for households -  the cost of building goods. There were dramatic spikes during the covid years in 2021 and 22 when global supply chains were disrupted and material costs soared. That meant construction costs surged  almost twice as fast as inflation over the past decade. But in the last couple of years prices have stabilised and the economic downturn has meant suppliers are offering good prices as well. QV Cost Builder is a subscription service run by the state owned enterprise, Quotable Value. Martin Bisset is their Quantity Surveyor.

09:30 Should NZ register recreational boats?

All car owners have to register their vehicles - but if you own a boat, it's a different matter. Maritime NZ covers commercial vessels and international voyagers, but for most recreational boats registration requirements are patchy and there is no national data base. That means finding the owner of a drifting vessel, proving a boat is yours if it's stolen, or giving emergency services details of a boat are all difficult. Now a private group has set up the NZ Boat Register in an effort to establish a one stop repository of information about recreational vessels. Sam Allen is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of NZ Boat Register

09:45 Asia correspondent Ed White

Pakistan's strongman leader looks to have strengthened his grip on the country with legal and military powers added. Taiwan is making a fresh international diplomatic push with senior officials making their case for support in Europe. And a Chinese envoy in Osaka has made a bizarre decapitation threat after the Japanese Prime Minister made comments about Taiwan.

Ed White is a correspondent with the Financial Times based in Shanghai

10:05 The pair of donor lungs powering Kath Cross at this years' Lake Taupo cycle event

This time last year Kath Cross was in Auckland Hospital recovering from a double lung transplant. And in less than two weeks she will be lakeside at Taupo competing in the 30 kilometre Huka Teaser event. The 52 year old Rotorua woman is a keen mountain biker - prior to her surgery she would spend hours in the Redwoods forests. So when she started feeling out of breath on rides with her husband and then just walking to her letterbox, she knew something was wrong. The diagnosis was unclear at first but she was eventually diagnosed with Obliterative bronchiolitis . An irreversible scarring that occurs in the small airways of the lungs. It is associated with rheumatoid arthritis. But now with a donor's set of lungs, she is finally able to get back on her bike, and is raising awareness and funds in the process. 

10:35 Book review: Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith

Holly Walker reviews Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith, published by Penguin Random House.

10:45 Around the motu: Jared McCulloch in Queenstown

Jared updates on the storm damage to Fiordland's Great Walks, a new record average asking house price in Central Otago and Southern Lakes, an arrest over cell tower damage in Wanaka and the solar lights in Queenstown's skies.

11:05 Music reviewer Grant Smithies​

George D. Henderson has been releasing underground rock and pop gems for over 50 years, most recently with Auckland band, The New Existentialists. We'll hear two tracks from their new album Bad Astrology today, followed by gritty garage punk from Portland's Toody Cole and Peruvian salsa from Lima's Melcochita. 

11:30 Sports commentator Dana Johanssen

The All Blacks squad to face England is announced, while the Silver Ferns prepare for their next match on their Northern Tour. And the schedule for the 2028 LA Olympics is announced.  

11:45 The week that was

Irene Pink and Donna Brookbanks highlight some of the funnier stories of the past week.