Nine To Noon for Wednesday 11 February 2026

09:05 RMA de-prioritises drinking water - researcher

A public health researcher says protections over the sources of our drinking water - only recently prioritised - are at risk of being stripped back under changes the government is proposing. Otago University's public research fellow Marnie Prickett, says the health of waterways, and of drinking water, were clear priorities in the national policy statement on freshwater, issued in 2020, after the deadly Havelock North campylobacter outbreak four years earlier. Marnie Prickett says the government's draft legislation weakens the current protections over drinking water sources, such as aquifers, rivers or lakes. RMA reform minister Chris Bishop says the policy landscape has changed significantly since the Havelock North outbreak, and decision makers will need to 'have regard to the actual and potential effects of proposed activities' on drinking water sources. 

09:25 Spinal rehab centre re-opens after five-year closure 

More than five years after Auckland's Laura Ferguson Trust closed its Greenlane rehabilitation centre, a new purpose-built centre has opened for those recovering from spinal injuries. In 2024, 264 people acquired a spinal cord injury in New Zealand. The Trust had provided rehabilitation therapies for disabled people since the 1970s. And when it closed its facility in 2020, citing its precarious financial position after years of deficits, it was a blow to those reliant on the services, and their families. Since then the Trust has had a complete overhaul of its leadership - and as well as re-opening the new rehab centre - now has an ambitious plan to also build over 160 permanent and transitional homes for physically disabled Aucklanders. Ray Finch is Trust chief executive. 

09:35 Rethinking how economics is taught

The way economics education is taught in New Zealand is narrow and outdated, say researchers, who want it to move to include a focus on wellbeing and environmental limits. As part of its wider review of the education curriculum - the Government is reconsidering how economics is taught at high schools. The Wellbeing Economy Alliance has released a paper by co-authors Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann and Sally Hett, with strong influence from the British economist Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics concept. It prioritises human needs and environmental limits over pure economic growth. Sally Hett explains the five shifts to economic education her report lays out, and why now is the time to do it.

09:45 Australia: Herzog protests, Coalition reunited, US biometric demands

Australia correspondent Bernard Keane joins Kathryn to talk about protests at the visit of Israel's President Isaac Herzog. There's been a last minute deal between the Liberal and National leaders to save the coalition, following a walkout by National MPs over the government's hate speech laws. And Australia's yet to clarify whether it will acquiesce to a US demand for biometric data under its visa-free waiver.

Bernard Keane is political editor for Crikey.com.au

10:05 Duck Pond: Australian circus company reimagines the classic Swan Lake

It's Swan Lake - but not as you know it. Australia's premier circus company, Circa, is bringing its version of the well-known ballet to the Auckland Arts Festival next month. It's called Duck Pond and blends the classic Swan Lake and Ugly Duckling stories into a high-energy, acrobatic visual feast. Circa was formed in 2004 and is homed in Brisbane. It's toured to over 45 countries and has performed for more than two million people. The brains behind it, is Yaron Lifschitz. He took over Brisbane's Rock 'N Roll Circus, transforming it into Circa - he was also the creative director of Queensland's Commonwealth Games in 2018 and last year he won the Distinguished Artist Award from the International Society for the Performing Arts in New York. He joins Kathryn to talk about how circus continues to evolve. Duck Pond premieres as part of the Auckland Arts Festival from 12-15 March at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre. 

10:30  Christchurch AI start-up raises more than $4m in seed funding 

A Christchurch AI start-up that turns meeting notes into documents has just announced it has raised $4.1m in a seed funding round. Contented AI records meetings and conversations and turns them into actionable documents, not just a transcript. The company says it already has more than 200 customers including Synlait, Craigs Investment Partners and Christchurch Airport. Co-founder Lucy Pink talks to Kathryn.

10:35 Book review: Three of the best from 2025

David Hill reviews three of his favourite books from last year: Groundwork: The Art and Writing of Emily Cumming Harris by Michelle Leggott and Catherine Field-Dodgson, published by Te Papa Press, He Puawai: A Natural History of New Zealand Flowers by Philip Garnock-Jones, published by Auckland University Press, and New Zealand Photography Collected by Athol McCredie, published by Te Papa Press.

10:45 Around the motu: Kereama Wright, Director of Mairanga Media proving news for  Whakatane radio stations Tumeke FM and Sun FM

11:05 Music with Kirsten Zemke: Songs for Valentines

Music commentator Kirsten Zemke plays four 'torch' songs in time for Valentines, ones that are particularly sentimental and often about unrequited or lost love.

Kirsten Zemke is an ethnomusicologist at the University of Auckland's School of Social Sciences.

11:20 A refresh for Queenstown's iconic Rātā restaurant

For 14 years Queenstown's Rātā restaurant has been a constant in the township. And after a rough few years restaurateur Fleur Caulton says a recent refresh and renovation of the establishment signals a turning point in the tourism town's fortunes. Fleur has quietly shaped Queenstown’s hospitality scene over more than 30 years. She’s behind iconic establishments such as  Rātā, Madam Woo, and Hawker & Roll, building venues rooted in generosity, and with a commitment to seasonal, regional produce.  

11:45 Money: Slow economic recovery, warnings of further power price rises

RNZ's Susan Edmunds looks at why the economic recovery has been so slow to take off. She also looks at warnings from Consumer NZ that power prices are likely to rise by about 5 percent this year - on top of the rises that have already occurred due through increases to lines charges.

Susan Edmunds is RNZ's Money Correspondent