Nine To Noon for Monday 18 December 2023

09:05 Intellectually disabled people neglected & forgotten: report

A new report paints a grim picture of almost every aspect of the lives of intellectually disabled people, finding they die up to 20 years earlier than the rest of the population, and experience more deprivation, unemployment and crime. The advocacy organisation for intellectually disabled New Zealanders, IHC, commissioned the report, frustrated that the last official look at their health status was in 2011. That's despite a call 20 years ago from a national advisory committee for an end to neglect, saying many adults with an intellectual disability have "treatable health conditions, yet receive inadequate medical management."  The new report uses data from the Stats NZ's large research database which holds de-identified microdata about people and households. It finds intellectually disabled people overwhelmingly live in more deprived areas, have poor health outcomes, achieve fewer qualifications, experience more poverty, violence and crime, have low internet access and have extremely low levels of employment. IHC says at a minimum, funded annual health checks for people with IDs should be introduced immediately. Kathryn speaks with IHC Advocate Shara Turner.

09:30 The man who built an app to compare supermarket food prices

Amid the increasing cost of living spiraled higher through the pandemic and inflation that followed, Aucklander Roc Wong got to thinking. Maybe there was a way to compare the costs of various products at different supermarkets? So the software developer got to work - building an online tool to do just that. In his spare time. It's called Grocer - and it's free. Roc joins Kathryn to explain how it works.

09:45 South Africa correspondent Debora Patta

Debora wraps up the big stories of 2023 across South Africa and also Ukraine, where she has spent much time. It's been an unstable year for Africa with several coups, and in Ukraine, a counter-offensive has failed to make any headway. Debora also discusses her investigation into child labour in Ghana, on cocoa plants.

Debora Patta is a CBS News foreign correspondent based in South Africa.

10:05 Food writer Kelsi Boocock on bringing the world to your kitchen

Since the release of her first cookbook in 2021 Kelsi Boocock has travelled to more than 20 countries, set up a food app and completed a diploma in plant-based cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in London. She's also just released a second book, heavily influenced by the places she's been, called Healthy Kelsi Travel Kitchen. In it, she brings the tips she learned from local chefs and street food vendors to the pages. She joins Kathryn to talk about some of her favourites, including pink pasta from Venice, crunch gado gado-style salad from Indonesia and a kumara tangine from Agadir.

10:35 Book review: Why Memory Matters: 'Remembered Histories' and the Politics of the Past by Rowan Light 

Dean Bedford reviews Why Memory Matters: 'Remembered Histories' and the Politics of the Past by Rowan Light published by Bridget Williams Books

10:45 Around the motu: David Williams in Christchurch

David reviews what the international catamaran race series SailGP meant for Christchurch this year against a backdrop of the The city's economic development agency  paying millions of dollars for the hosting rights. And last week, the biodiversity and biosecurity committee of Canterbury's regional council, aka ECan, considered a recommendation to spend an extra $200,000 on the Canterbury Biodiversity Strategy. David backgrounds the issue and also looks at partial asset sales that could boost the Christchurch City Council coffers.

David Williams is Newsroom's Te Waipounamu South Island Correspondent

11:05 Political commentators Neale Jones and Brigitte Morten

Neale and Brigitte discuss the 'mini-budget' due to be released on Wednesday, during Parliament's final week of the year. And the first post-election poll showing NZ First overtaking Act.

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.

Brigitte Morten is a director with public and commercial law firm Franks Ogilvie and a former senior ministerial advisor for the previous National-led government, a National Party member and currently volunteering for the party's deputy leader, Nicola Willis.

11:30 The power of creativity: How to pick up a new hobby as an adult

Katina Bajaj found herself in the depths of burnout, when she picked up a journal and started writing. For the San Francisco resident it was a hobby she was fond of as a child, but lost touch with - something many adults can likely relate to. The impact of picking up her childhood creative hobby again, on her mental health was profound, and Katina soon realised how flexing her own creativity settled the chaos in her brain. It led to a career change, to training in clinical psychology, and now establishing her platform `Daydreamers.' Katina Bajaj has spent the past two and a half years researching our creative health, a side of the wellbeing spectrum she believes is often overlooked.

11:45 Cutting red tape: New Government eyes RMA reform

The new Government is canning Labour's RMA reforms, but has vowed to cut red tape. So change is coming - but what form could it take? Bill will talk about the options.

Music played in this show

Track: Levitating
Artist:Dua Lipa
Time played: 09:28

Track: It's on
Artist: Nesian Mystic
Time played: 09:40

Track: That's Where I'll Be
Artist: Rob Ruha
Time played: 10:06