Nine To Noon for Wednesday 1 November 2023

 

09:05 Bad for business: New data shows more companies are going under

There's been some high profile business failures this week, including online supermarket operator Supie and another craft beer brewery, Deep Creek, going into liquidation. But new data out suggests they're not alone, with 40 percent more companies failing in September than a year earlier. The construction and retail sectors have been particularly hard hit. Credit Bureau Centrix has crunched the numbers and released its latest data. Managing Director Keith McLaughlin joins Kathryn to break it down and look at the pressure points.

09:15 New Chief Children's Commissioner: Claire Achmad

Kathryn talks with new Chief Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad, who begins in the role today. However what was the independent Office of the Children's Commissioner was disestablished earlier this year, and it now has no responsibility or power for monitoring or investigating. The change was opposed by all political parties, except the then Labour government. The new body,  Mana Mokopuna Children and Young People's Commission, is about advocating for the 1.2 million children and young people across the country, ensuring their rights are respected, and upheld and providing advice to government. Claire Achmad was Deputy Children's Commissioner, and previously worked for UNICEF, The Human Rights Commission, and children's charity Barnados.

09:30 Timaru company tackling how to upcycle and recycle work wear

Work safety wear is designed to be hardy - but even it will reach the end of its life eventually. What to do with it then became an issue of great concern to Annie Light. She and husband Nick were running Timaru-based Work Outfitters and knew what they sold would probably end up in landfills. Their solution is Workwear Recycled, which helps businesses recycle or upcycle PPE gear including boots, gumboots, gloves, hardhats and safety glasses. The venture has found great support from some big employers - and says expansion is on the cards. Annie joins Kathryn to talk about what that might look like.

09:45 Australia correspondent Bernard Keane

Australia's PM Anthony Albanese has held policy discussions with US President Joe Biden during his visit to Washington. Bernard says part of the rationale for the trip to the US was to minimise the impacts on investment in Australia of the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act. These provide mammoth subsidies for renewables and critical minerals manufacturing and processing in the US. And national carrier, Qantas is at the heart of another scandal after it defended itself in court against charges of selling tickets to ghost flights by claiming it doesn't actually sell tickets to flights, it sells "bundles of rights".

Bernard Keane is politics editor of Australia's Crikey website

10:05 Jade Kake on the release of her first novel

Jade Kake has a Masters in Architecture and specialises in designing communities and housing based on a traditional model of living known as papakāinga. She's the founder and director of Matakohe Architecture and Urbanism, but more recently has added fiction and non-fiction writing to her repertoire. She's co-authored a biography, Rewi: Āta haere, kia tere, about architect Rewi Thompson, looking at his profound impact on Māori design. Now her  first novel - Checkerboard Hill, has just been released. 

10:35 Book review: Fishes of Aotearoa by Paul Caiger

Elisabeth Easther reviews Fishes of Aotearoa by Paul Caiger published by Potton and Burton

10:45 Around the motu : Alisha Evans in Tauranga

Proposed plans for housing intensification in Mount Maunganui are being called irresponsible by Whareroa Marae. Alisha outlines the concerns. Meanwhile Tawhitinui Marae in Whakamārama has been given back four paper roads which will allow for four extra homes as part of their papakāinga project bringing the total to 20. And the Te Puna community is against a proposed development on culturally sensitive land.

Western Bay of Plenty Local Democracy reporter Alisha Evans based in Tauranga with SunLive 

11:05 Music with Charlotte Ryan

Music 101 host Charlotte Ryan joins Kathryn to talk about a new documentary focused on Fat Freddy's Drop that's been released through RNZ. She'll also play new music from Kali Uchis and talk about Sir Dave Dobbyn's re-issue of Lament for the Numb for its 30th anniversary.

11:25 Glen Humphries on the wild stories that tell a history of rugby league off the field

Rugby league is full of ridiculous stories. Australian journalist and author Glen Humphries has done his best to capture some of the widlest tales in his new book Jack Gibson's Fur Coat: Rugby League Oddities and Artefacts. Glen has written a wide range of books about topics like crossing beer, music and even the true crime story of the Kingsgrove Slasher in Sydney. Glen's latest book is a treasure trove of stories that show how much has changed around the sport over the years, but in some cases it hasn't moved on it all. Glen is a lifelong rugby league lover.

11:45 Science: Dust and dinosaurs, ultra-water repellence, chimpanzee menopause

Science correspondent Laurie Winkless joins Kathryn to talk about the role dust played in the demise of the dinosaurs, with research into a geological site in North Dakota that looked at what was floating around in the atmosphere after an asteroid hit Mexico 66 million years ago. Physicists at Aalto University in Finland investigating the friction between a solid surface and a water droplet, made some surprising findings that could have implications for self-cleaning surfaces. And a study of a Ugandan chimpanzee community made some surprising findings into females' fertility.

Laurie Winkless is a physicist and science writer.