Nine To Noon

Northland, Auckland and Coromandel remain under red weather warnings, with forecasters urging people not to be complacent - the worst of the storm is yet to come. In Northland and the Far North thousands of homes have no electricity, and bad weather is hampering efforts to repair power lines. The cuts are also affecting some mobile phone towers. Electricity providers say more outages are inevitable and it may be several days before some connections are restored. Metservice says winds which have already been very strong will be picking up for some areas today and rain will intensify as the cyclone moves south. Kathryn speaks with Far North District Council Mayor Moko Tepania and Northpower CEO Andrew Mcleod.

Comedians Te Radar and Michele A'Court with some of the lighter stories of the week, including the Australian man who pumped $600 dollars worth of petrol into his rod holder, rather than his fuel tank.

Sam examines the Razor show and how Scott Robertson's got the whole rugby world's attention, what to make of the upcoming All Black exodus, a big weekend for Maori rugby league and American sport's balance between pageantry and performance.

Matt has the latest on a recent crime wave in Blenheim where there's been a spike in house burglaries and car thefts. Also there's a fire ban in place across south Marlborough, a volunteer group has stepped in to provide vital health transport and the region's Wine and Food festival is on tomorrow after back to back cancellations. Matt Brown is a reporter for Marlborough News based in Blenheim

Marcus Greville from Unity Books Wellington reviews Dinosaurs: A Novel by Lydia Millet, published by W. W. Norton & Company. Millet's exquisite new novel is the story of a man named Gil who walks from New York to Arizona to recover from a failed love. After he arrives, new neighbors move into the glass-walled house next door and his life begins to mesh with theirs."

When Auckland went into Covid lockdown in 2021, Auckland actor Tainui Tukiwaho wanted to find a way to keep his five tamariki busy and help them with their written English. The result was an award-winning play. Hemo is Home will premier next month as the first production to be staged at Te Pou Theatre - a unique home for Maori performing arts. The ghostly comedy features a number of well-known Maori actors and stars the youngest of the play's creators, 10 year old Te Rongopai Curreen Tukiwaho. Te Rongopai and his mother - producer and actor Amber Curreen - tell Kathryn about the whanau-inspired play and the project to create a purpose-built, kaupapa Maori performing arts facility in west Auckland.

A transnational crime expert says although the record seizure of cocaine announced by New Zealand authorities on Wednesday is significant it is still just a drop in the ocean. There have been reports of unrest in Solomon Islands' Malaita Province where the outspoken provincial premier Daniel Suidani has been ousted in a motion of no confidence. An international law expert believes Japan is passing the risk of its upcoming release of treated nuclear wastewater into the ocean onto Pacific leaders. And the Oceania Football Confederation and the Asian Football Confederation have signed an agreement they say will see more matches between countries from the two FIFA regions. RNZ Pacific Journalist Koroi Hawkins

A Professor of Ecology says vulnerable native birds are threatened by a "staggering" number of escaped exotic parrots, and a ban on imports should be introduced. Auckland University's Professor Margaret Stanley and colleagues have just published a study on how many pet birds, particularly parrot species, are reported as lost by their owners. Listings from two popular websites were monitored daily for over three and a half years. Professor Stanley says from the results they believe at any one time in Auckland, for example, there are at least 491 escaped birds, including 136 potential breeding pairs. She says this is terrible news for native species.

As Auckland and Northland brace for more atrocious weather, city leaders are calling for funding to repair the city's broken infrastructure to be along the lines of the help given to Christchurch after the quakes. Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson says that the damage so far is equivalent to the biggest non earthquake event the country has ever had and should be treated accordingly. The Opportunities Party says the "alliance" model established after the earthquakes, was effective and would work for Auckland's rebuild, because it provides a structure that the Central Government can fund directly. ToP leader Raf Manji was a Christchurch councillor after the quakes and closely involved in the rebuild. He tells Kathryn Ryan it is vital to ensure water and transport infrastructure is repaired quickly and efficiently, especially with a view to future extreme weather events - and there is much to learn from the post-quake rebuild.

Film and TV correspondent Tamar Munch joins Kathryn to talk about the second season of Rurangi (Prime TV), the incredibly weird story behind Gunther's Millions (Netflix) and Shrinking (Apple TV) starring Harrison Ford.