Nine To Noon for Monday 27 November 2023

09:05 Innovation to identify rare genetic disorders in NZ babies

The ability to identify rare diseases in critically ill babies is being rolled out at Auckland Hospital, allowing for quicker diagnosis and treatment. There are around five deaths for every 1000 live births in New Zealand each year, and at least one of these is due to an undiagnosed genetic disorder of a baby in intensive care. There are 150,000 children with rare diseases, with fewer than half of them are diagnosed by the time they turn one - and some families can wait more than 10 years for an actual diagnosis. A new genetic sequencing facility, established by the Liggins Institute means DNA sequencing for neo-nates who are critically ill,  and will no longer need to be done overseas, making the process less costly and quicker. Liggins Institute Director Justin O'Sullivan says the cutting edge genome sequencing technology will revolutionise the ability to diagnose rare diseases in infants. He says this will empower clinicians and whānau to deal with more than 300 known rare diseases where there are readily available treatments - an exciting development according to clinical neonatologist Auckland Hospital director for new born services Dr Mariam Buksh.

09:20 Bridging the digital gap in schools

Access to the digital world is now a necessity - however one hundred and twenty thousand Kiwi kids can't access a learning device at home. The 'Quadrent Green Lease' scheme is helping to close the digital equity gap by supplying school pupils in need of tech with refurbished ex-lease machines that otherwise might end up in waste. Since 2022 400 high quality ex-lease laptops have been donated. Rob Downie, is the Head of Health & Physical Education at Auckland's Tangaroa College, whose pupils are among the recipients of this scheme. The scheme is run by Quadrent, BNZ, and Te Puni Kōkiri. Gary Nalder, the General Manager of Quadrent New Zealand joins Rob Downie and Kathryn Ryan.

09:45 Europe correspondent Seamus Kearney

Seamus looks at a shock election result in the Netherlands, with the right-wing PVV Freedom Party scoring about 25 percent of the vote. Anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders would still need to build a coalition with at least two other moderate parties to govern. And in Dublin, Ireland, a heavy police presence remains after a rare outbreak of riots linked to far-right, anti-immigrant groups. Authorities say the violence, which followed a knife attack targeting children, saw the largest ever deployment of riot police in the history of the Republic of Ireland.

10:05 Tim Li:  showcasing and celebrating Aotearoa's underwater world

When Tim Li was growing up in Taupo, his parents owned a fish and chip shop and he spent many, many hours looking at the Seafood New Zealand poster, and drawing the different fish. He and the family would trout fish in the Waikato river, and later go on regular fishing trips to Te Kaha on the east cape, where Tim's love of the ocean began. He went on to study art and design at university, and after a teaching art in high school for years, has drawn together his love of marine life and art into a career. His hyper-real, larger than life, graphite drawings showcase and celebrate the underwater world. Tim also practices the ancient art of Japanese Gyotaku printmaking where ink is applied to the fish and the image transferred to rice paper.

10:25 Auckland A-League club's first CEO Nick Becker

Auckland will have an A-League mens football team in next season's iteration of the premier Australian football competition. The long awaited entry of an Auckland A-Legaue team was officially confirmed last week with a full A-League licence granted to American billionaire Bill Foley. The club will enter a team in the 2025/26 season of A-League Women. Foley owns Bournemouth's English Premier League club and in 2017 launched the ice hockey team Las Vegas Golden Knights who went on to win the Stanley Cup earlier this year. Foley also owns Foley Wines and the Wharekauhau lodge in Wairarapa. Nick Becker talks to Kathryn about what the next steps are after the licence was secured.

10:35 Book review: The Conversion by Amanda Lohrey 

Bel Moneypenny from Scorpio Books in Christchurch reviews The Conversion by Amanda Lohrey published by Text Publishing

10:45 Around the motu: David Williams in Christchurch

Newsroom South Island reporter David Williams unpacks the situation at Christchurch City Council, amid high-profile resignations and successive staff surveys revealing gripes about pay and toxic behaviour. And, a review revealing 26 roles were created either without a budget, without documentation, or without approval between 2019 and 2023.

11:05 Political commentators

Political commentators Tim Hurdle and Neale Jones discuss the recently formed government.

Neale Jones was Chief of Staff to Labour Leader Jacinda Ardern, and prior to that was Chief of Staff to Andrew Little. He is the director of public affairs firm Capital.

Tim Hurdle is a former National senior adviser, was the National Party Campaign Director in 2020. He is a director of several companies, including Museum Street Strategies, a public affairs firm.

11:25 New cabinet sworn in at Government House

New cabinet ministers are being sworn in by the Governor General at Government house. National leader Christopher Luxon was first and is now officially New Zealand's 42nd Prime Minister. RNZ's Deputy Political Editor Craig McCulloch with the latest.

11:30 Naked Nectar founder Tracey Moffitt on the benefits of blending

Tracey Moffitt had a rough ride with gut issues in her 20s, but without that experience - she may not have found her passion: to blend. Tracey is the founder of Naked Nectar, a company that makes ready-to-blend smoothies. They're 100 per cent natural ingredients, all pre-blended and packed into cubes then frozen. The simple and nutritious idea led her 'Morning After' smoothie to be a finalist in this year's New Zealand Food Awards. That flavour, along with three others - Macro Muncher, Energizer Bunny and Happy Chappie - all netted bronze at the 2023 Inspire+ NZ Artisans Awards. 

11:45 Off the beaten track with Kennedy Warne

Kennedy Warne speaks with Kathryn Ryan from a National Geographic ship offshore of Marahau, the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park. He is on a coastal voyage which began at Milford Sound and will travel as far north as Waitangi. the voyage has taken him back to Rakiura Stewart Island, where he spoke to Nine to Noon a month ago from another ship visit.