Nine To Noon

Thorley Robbins is an avocado entrepreneur whose first foray into the horticulture sector was at age two - when he set up a roadside stall selling fresh tomatoes from his family's orchard. He grew up in Katikati on the orchard and seven years ago founded The Avo Tree - delivering freshly picked avocados direct to consumers around the country. As demand grew, he found more and more small scale growers to pick, pack and dispatch for- he now has 140 on the books. But he's not just selling avos for eating - in 2017 he expanded into the skin care sector - developing a range of products derived from cold pressed avocado oil. Then came avocado tea, and now he's wood wool - natural wood shavings used to pack the fruit to get it to customers in pristine condition. He tells Kathryn it's been a wild ride, but he's convinced the business has a long way to go.

After a lot of pressure, the German government has authorised the delivery of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, both directly and via third countries. Chancellor Scholz had been criticised by allies who believed he was taking too long to decide and was not communicating his intentions properly. Scholz says it was necessary to coordinate closely with allies, in particular the United States, which has also decided to send some of its own tanks to Ukraine. Also, Europe's economy seems to be performing better than previously thought with Thomas saying experts are predicting that the Eurozone will avoid a recession this year. Thomas Sparrow is a political correspondent for Deutsche Welle, based in Berlin

Communities across the supercity have been devastated by the rain event - but were all responded to equally? Kathryn speaks with Manukau ward councillor Alf Filipaina who believes some emergency officials failed to react quickly enough to residents in southern suburbs. Waitakere Ward Councillor Shane Henderson was out directing traffic in Massey on Friday night, he talks about the situation out west this morning and North Shore ward councillor Richard Hills updates Kathryn on the flooding there - particularly in the Wairau Valley where two of the four fatalities occurred.

Steady rain has continued to fall on Auckland overnight, with another 50 to 60mm settling on an already soggy city. That's well short of the unprecedented 249mm of rain that paralysed Auckland on Friday night, leaving four people dead, homes inundated or teetering on the brink of collapsed cliffs and hundreds of cars left abandoned on flooded Auckland streets. As the crisis quickly unfolded, emergency services fielded thousands of calls for help from all corners of the city. But the weekend has brought much criticism of the response of those at the top - particularly Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. Joining Kathryn to talk about what Auckland's immediate and long-term needs will be, and how central government can help is Civil Defence Minister Kieran McAnulty and Transport Minister Michael Wood.

Te Radar and Elisabeth with humour to round off the week ,including the story of the library book which was more than 50 years overdue.

Sam looks into some unexpected comebacks, code-wide uprisings and turning points for pivotal figures in the sporting landscape this week. This includes the amazing story of rower, cyclist, Hamish Bond. Arguably he's one of the country's most competitive athletes and he's now turning out for Team NZ to defend the America's Cup in 2024.

Local Democracy Reporter David Hill talks to Kathryn about North Canterbury's building boom slowing down, dark sky and astronomy initiatives in the area and some interesting local developments in education.

Tilly Lloyd of Unity Books Wellington reviews her favourite books from last year: Guest at the Feast: Essays by Colm Toibin, published by Picador; Exiles: Three Island Journeys by William Atkins, published by Faber, and Edge of the Plain - How Borders Make & Break Our World by James Crawford, published by Canongate

The philanthropic organisation, Woven Earth, offers practical support to families surviving domestic violence, including gifting furniture, household items and toys. Aucklander Kerryn Thrupp founded Woven Earth three years ago and since then 400 families have been helped to set up home and start again. She says the idea for the organisation came to her when she was staying at a Womens Refuge in Australia with her two young children after fleeing abuse.

Koroi canvasses a range of Pacific issues, with the aftermath of the Fiji election, a big year ahead for the lucrative Pacific tuna industry, why Cook Islands tourism is in a bit of a slump and the Pacific Islands Forum secretary general Henry Puna interested in a second term.