Nine To Noon

Sally Wenley reviews I Will Find You by Harlan Coben, published by Penguin Random House.

Krysten Cottrell definitely doesn't suffer from a boring nine to five, splitting her time between hunting for possums in Hawkes Bay during the week, then heading to Auckland to play for the Blues in the weekend. A former Black Fern, Krysten is the captain of the Hawkes Bay Tui and plays for the Auckland Blues during her weekends. During the week, she swaps her rugby boots for tramping boots, working alongside her husband Tipene for his business Te Ngahere. Hiking through the bush in the Kaweka Ranges, Krysten and the team trap pests such as rats and possums, in an effort to make swathes of Hawkes Bay forest predator-free. They also track and monitor kiwi, hoping to restore the kiwi population in the area.

Europe correspondent Seamus Kearney joins Kathryn to talk about French President Emmanuel Macron's refusal to budge over a plan to raise the pension age, even as demonstrations and strike action spreads. The police handling of the protests has attracted the attention of Europe's top human rights watchdog. And the EU will relax its plans to ban internal combustion engines in new cars from 2035 after pressure from Germany.

Scentian Bio is a local start-up developing a biological electronic nose that can detect human diseases. The company is harnessing insect smell receptors to help detect diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria and has been awarded a $2.7 million dollar grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Scentian Bio's Chief Technology Officer, Dr Andrew Kralicek, spent 19 years at Plant & Food Research researching how smell receptors in insects work, and how they can be used to create a biosensor that can detect and identify odours. He tells Kathryn Ryan about the potential for the technology. Andrew Kralicek will also be speaking at the The Boma Agri Summit in Christchurch in June.

A new survey finds family doctors are cutting services such as childhood immunisations due to chronic staff shortages and underfunding, amid what they are calling a crisis. The General Practice Owners Association (Gen Pro) survey warns GP services are at a critical crossroads. More than half (53%) essential family doctor clinics have reduced their services and over a third (36.5%) have completely withdrawn some services altogether. One-hundred and eighty five responses from member GPs across the country shows practices are struggling to find and retain doctors and nurses increasing waiting time for appointments, compromising patient health, and putting a burden on after hours and Emergency Departments. The survey found 55% of practices are not taking on new patients and three in every five general practices have a current vacancy for a GP. Nearly half (46%) say they've lost at least one nurse in the previous three months. My guest is Gen Pro CEO Philip Grant and Whangarei GP (and GenPro board member) Dr Geoff Cunningham.

Comedians Irene Pink and Kathryn Burnett with a few laughs

The Robertson name has been in the headlines for the right and wrong reasons this week - commentator Sam Ackerman looks at the fall from grace from Olympian now drugs cheat Zane Robertson and the long-awaited rise of Scott Robertson to rugby's top coaching post.

The issue of karakia at public gatherings has come to a head at a recent Otago Regional Council meeting. Also the Gore District Council has been sentenced on a WorkSafe charge of failing to perform a duty in relation to the death of 3-year-old Lachlan Jones in one of the council's sewage oxidation ponds. And Tim discusses Queenstown's rental woes and power outages in Otago following strong winds and heavy rain. Tim Brown is an RNZ reporter in Dunedin covering Otago and Southland

Mellissa Oliver from Unity Books Wellington reviews Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey, published by Harper Collins

In 2006, Albert Park College in inner city Melbourne was closed after enrollments plummeted. A group of determined parents rallied and convinced the education department to give the publicly funded school a second chance. The old buildings were bulldozed and a new school began to take shape. In 2010, Steven Cook was appointed principal of the new school which at that stage had no furniture, no staff or students or even a name. 11 years later Albert Park College was voted Australian School of the Year. Steven Cook has written a book about the turnaround, and how a successful school was created where a previous one had failed.