Nine To Noon for Thursday 18 December 2025

09:05 Family carers cases seek decision after Supreme Court ruling 

Cases brought by family carers that have been on hold for years in the Employment Relations Authority are now waiting for direction after a final ruling from the country's highest court was delivered last week. The Supreme Court has confirmed the two parents who care for their disabled adult children should be considered “homeworkers” as defined under employment law - and eligible for compensation including the minimum wage. The case was brought by Christine Fleming and Peter Humphreys, who each care for their severely disabled adult children, Justin and Sian, whose physical and intellectual disabilities require constant supervision and around-the-clock care. The decision comes more than two decades after family carers first went to court complaining they had the right to be paid for the care they provided when their disabled adult children lived at home with them. Jane Carrigan is a long-time disability and family carer advocate and Paul Dale KC is Christine Fleming's lawyer and has represented other family carers in the past.

09:20 Auckland Airport braces for busiest time of year - as well as $4b makeover

If you're one of the tens of thousands travelling through Auckland Airport this Christmas you may notice a few changes as it embarks upon a ­major facelift. The airport's $3.9 billion project to integrate the domestic and international terminals is underway, with a temporary check in pavilion being built next to the international terminal ahead of the upgrade to the departures hall. In September the Northern Airfield that'll provide an apron for more jet parking space was opened by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. The Airport's already getting busier - with an extra 207,000 additional international seats expected this summer through to March, lifting total capacity to 5.8 million. Some of those seats are being provided by the new Shanghai-Auckland-Buenos Aires route that opened earlier this month - with the ambitious journey time of 29 hours. To talk through the big changes and what they mean for the Airport as well as the Auckland economy, Kathryn is joined by Auckland Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui.

09:35 Marilyn Waring on take her pay equity fight to the people

When the government passed a law change under urgency in May, effectively wiping out 33 pay equity claims affecting 150,000 people - mainly women - it caused an uproar. The claims were from female-dominated industries, seeking remuneration that was on a par with similar male-dominated sectors. The passage of the law under urgency bypassed the usual public input - that led former National Minister and academic Marilyn Waring to set up the People's Select Committee to do the work instead. With cross-party support from nine former MPs, public hearings were held from August through to October and the Committee's report will be out next year. In the meantime, at least two unions have sought to continue to progress their claims with the higher thresholds the new law requires, five unions have filed a legal challenge to the pay equity law and Auckland Council went ahead and raised its pay for the city's librarians, who'd been among the 33 claims affected. Marilyn joins Kathryn with an update on her progress.

10:05 UK: Doctors' walkout, Abramovich warning, inflation drop

UK correspondent Natasha Clark joins Kathryn to talk about junior doctors walking off the job for five days, which the PM has labelled "dangerous and utterly irresponsible". The former oligarch owner of Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, has been given a final warning over making good on a pledge to release £2.5bn from the sale to Ukraine. And inflation's dropped in the UK - so could the Bank of England deliver some further relief before Christmas?

Natasha Clark is political editor for LBC London

10:15 Floods and job losses - Tasman District Mayor Tim King

It's been a rough year for the Tasman District with two severe storms bringing flooding and destruction to the region. A state of Emergency was declared in late June and extended when another round of extreme rain hit in early July. To top things off, the closure of  Carter Holt Harvey's  Eves Valley sawmill was confirmed with 142 job losses. But just months later, the region is looking forward to a bumper summer with tourism and hospitality reporting an upswing. Tasman District mayor, Tim King, joins Kathryn to talk about how the recovery is going.

10:35 Book review: The Funeral Crashers by Joanna Nell

Cynthia Morahan reviews The Funeral Crashers by Joanna Nell, published by Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand.

10:45 Around the motu: RNZ's Libby Kirkby-McLeod in Hamilton

Libby talks to Kathryn about progress on a new medical school in Waikato and looks back at the big stories of the year including job losses in Tokoroa and Kinleith, and Hamilton becoming an international airport.

Libby Kirkby-McLeod is a senior RNZ report based in Hamilton

11:05 GDP data shows bounce in September quarter

The economy rebounded in the September quarter, after contracting in the June period. Stats NZ data showed gross domestic product (GDP) -- the broad measure of economic growth -- rose 1.1 percent in the three months ended September, to be 1.4 percent higher than a year ago. It follows a revised 1 percent contraction in the three months ended June. Business editor Gyles Beckford is in the Wellington studio.

11:15 Tech: What big tech developments might we see in 2026?

Tech journalist Bill Bennett looks at how 2025 became the year tech giants became deeply entangled in geopolitics. While Australia was the first to make moves to protect young people from social media harm, digital platforms are shaping the world, while cybersecurity is becoming a bigger battleground. The race to develop AI continues, while there's mounting concern about an "AI bubble" what happens if it bursts. Have quantum computing advances been overhyped? And is satellite connectivity could be a boon for NZ, but does it leave us dependent on foreign companies?

Bill Bennett is an Auckland-based technology journalist

11:25 Parenting: 'I'm bored'

Summer holidays come with plenty of opportunities for children to utter that often heard complaint - "I'm bored". Zhenlin Wang unpicks whether that's a bad thing and if parents can, or should, do anything about it. A former early childhood teacher, with PhDs in developmental psychology, she's now Associate Professor at Massey University. 

11:45 Screentime: The top five TV shows and films for 2025

Film and television reviewer Tom Augustine joins Kathryn with his top five picks of the best film and television from this year - his full list will be up on View Magazine from tomorrow.

Tom Augustine is a Tāmaki based filmmaker and critic. He writes for Rialto Channel's View Magazine and Metro Magazine. Tom is the co-programmer of the Capitol Cinema Film Club, which shows rare and underseen gems from throughout cinema history monthly.