Nine To Noon

Kim Pittar from Muir's Independent Bookshop Gisborne reviews Landlines by Raynor Winn, published by Penguin

A large number of candidates are standing in the Hamilton West by-election, but Andrew says interest is lukewarm. Also what's in the 50 year urban and business growth strategy for Hamilton, and opposition to plans for what is currently a public car park is heading to the Waitangi Tribunal.

Te Riu-a-Maui - or Zealandia - is the world's eighth continent and is right underneath us. It is the world's youngest, smallest, thinnest and most submerged continent, with about 94 per cent of it lying underwater. Geologist with GNS Science, Dr Nick Mortimer, has been at the forefront of discoveries about the hidden continent. He has recently been awarded a $100,000 James Cook Research Fellowship from Royal Society Te Aparangi to continue his work on Zealandia's geological make-up and ancestry. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Aparangi in 2017, and in 2020 received a Science New Zealand Individual Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr Mortimer says it has taken hundreds of years for the science behind the discovery of the continent to mature - and there is still much to explain and communicate about Zealandia.

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Kathryn to talk about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese getting Covid for a second time, which has delayed some crucial talks aimed at trying to resolve the gas crisis. Meanwhile his Defence and Foreign Ministers are in Washington at their first annual AUSMIN talks - this is bilateral discussion between Australia and US counterparts. Scientists in South Australia are testing a new system to deal with the 1.5 billion disposable nappies that go into landfill every year and a local council has issued an apology after a much-hyped tree lighting ceremony didn't live up to expectations.

The race is on in California to ensure enough infrastructure is in place to support expected wave of electric vehicles when all new vehicles sold in the state must meet zero fossil fuel requirements in 2035. At the front of the pack is Matt Petersen. He is the president of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator which aims to help accelerate the commercialisation of clean technologies. Previously he was the first Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Los Angeles, and helped create Climate Mayors, a network of more than 470 US city leaders. Matt is a keynote speaker at the Blue and Green Technology Conference in Auckland starting today.

Yesterday Nine to Noon looked at the impact of redundancies at AUT among academic staff - particularly on post-graduate students who are losing their supervisors. 170 academic positions are being cut by the university, but there are concerns about whether the criteria by which staff were selected to lose their jobs was fair. Legal proceedings have been launched by the Tertiary Education Union, which says the University has truncated the processes for dismissal set out in the collective agreement. It argues staff were selected because they failed to meet teaching and research requirements they didn't know they were subject to. Kathryn speaks to Damon Salesa, who is Vice-Chancellor of AUT.

Airlines are bracing themselves for fuel rationing during the busy Christmas travel period after a bad batch of aviation gas entered the country. Z Energy, which is the owner of the dud shipment, told airlines last night they'd need to conserve fuel in coming weeks. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment says routine fuel testing of a jet fuel shipment has raised some concerns and there is a potential impact to jet fuel supply. Since April this year - the country's only oil refinery based at Marsden Point ceased operations and became an import-only terminal for already-refined products. David Keat worked at Marsden Point Refinery for 27 years - becoming Refining Manager - second in charge under the CEO. He says if Marsden Point had retained the capacity to refine - the aviation fuel could be reprocessed, and he is concerned about the country's fuel security.

With the recent widespread coverage of the Black Ferns' road to victory at the Rugby World Cup, Sam discusses how sport is represented in the media, and how that emphasis compares to covering the arts. Also he casts an eye over contenders for vacant posts in Rugby coaching and looks ahead to the summer sporting calendar, is it a feast or a famine?

Andrew Hubbard from Citizens Advice Bureau joins Susie to talk through some tips for Christmas on a budget, and the support that's available if you're struggling.

Pattrick give his takes on the government's plan to legislate to make Google, Facebook and others pay for news. Also, why Auckland Council is looking to sell its stake in Auckland International Airport and is Christchurch likely to follow suit ? Pattrick Smellie is the editor and co-founder of BusinessDesk and has reported on the New Zealand economy and business since 1983.