Nine To Noon

09:05 ACC explains plan to remove thousands from weekly compensation

ACC expects to save about $7 billion between now and 2029 by getting long term claimants off of weekly compensation. It's part of a suite of changes that, if were all implemented, would save the Crown entity about $25b over that same timeframe. The changes include cuts to social rehabilitation programmes, tightened penalties for non-compliance, and legislative reform. The agency says its role is to support people back to work and independence and people won't lose what they are entitled to under the law. But advocates for ACC claimants remain concerned that people who aren't ready to return to work are being exited from the Scheme, without proper rehabilitation. ACC has been under strict instruction from its Minister Scott Simpson to reduce the long term claims pool - which includes anyone who has been on weekly compensation for one year or more. The pool is currently the largest it has even been at almost 25,000 people. In the year to June 8,000 people were exited from the pool and by June 2026 ACC aims to have a further 11,675 off. Megan Main is the chief executive of ACC.

09:25 The Hawkes Bay startup offering tikanga guidance to companies using AI

Hawkes Bay startup MahiAI is offering companies using AI,  tikanga guidance on te ao Maori content. Founded earlier this year, the business works alongside companies generating AI content,  to check how that content aligns with tikanga. MahiAI's founder, Atarau Hamilton had noticed incorrect information, hallucinated content, and generic material that often misrepresented,  or ignored Māori perspectives, being produced by  AI generators, such as ChatGPT. He says they don't want people to stop using AI - rather to help them ensure their content is accurate and appropriate.  Atarau Hamilton joins Kathryn, along with Mahi AI Kaiārahi,  Grace Ropitini.

09:45 USA correspondent David Smith

President Donald Trump signs the Epstein Files Transparency Act and saw rising political tension as Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned and Democrats condemned his rhetoric calling for executions. Meanwhile, the President held an unexpectedly cordial meeting with New York’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and pushed forward a 28-point Russia-Ukraine peace plan through Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Washington bureau chief for The Guardian, David Smith.

10:05 Underwater cameraman Andrew Penniket 

From dancing with sea snails and being defecated on by a sperm whale, life as an underwater cameraman has led Andrew Pennaket to meet some weird, wonderful and pretty scary creatures. After earning biology and marine biology degrees at Otago University Andrew fell into a role filming for the old TVNZ Natural History studio in Dunedin. He soon fell in love with the work and it was to be his calling, ending up filming for studios around the world, including BBC and the Discovery Channel. It's work that has taken him from swimming with whales in Tonga, to hearing the chilling sound of the Weddell seal through the ice in Antarctica. Now at the end of his career, Andrew has written a book telling the stories of his time under the surface, Whales, Snails and Lobster Tales. 

10:35 Book review: Super-Frog Saves Tokyo by Haruki Murakami

Phil Vine reviews Super-Frog Saves Tokyo by Haruki Murakami, published by Penguin Random House.

10:45 Around the motu: Samantha Gee from Nelson

The latest news from the region, including a bench top manufacturer calling out use of potentially deadly engineered stone, a new supermarket creating 60 jobs, and Samantha looks back at a trip into the skies she took with the German Air Force.

11:05 Business commentator Rebecca Stevenson

ACC's investment targets overlooked small-cap market players.  Meanwhile, Turner's launches a new 'Tina from Turners' ad campaign, but a slower economic recovery has been a 'punch in the face'. 

Rebecca Stevenson is a senior journalist at BusinessDesk

11:30 Consumer: Yeah Nah awards, Fair Trading Act changes

Jon Duffy, head of Consumer NZ, joins Kathryn to discuss what's being proposed as part of planned changes to the Fair Trading Act - there's some bigger penalties for breaches, but what's been left out and why? He'll also talk about the "winners" of Consumer's Yeah Nah Awards - which recognise retailers or organisations are giving consumers a raw deal.

11:45 ABs season end, Lawson mistake 

The All Blacks beat Wales in a high-scoring affair, as Sam looks back on a mixed year for the ABs. Liam Lawson apologises for Las Vegas mistake. In cricket: Australia win a very short Ashes opener, while Kane Williamson will return to test match cricket for the Black Caps in December. 

Sports commentator Sam Ackerman