Nine To Noon

As the cyclone season gets underway in the South Pacific, it's hoped a new type of insurance on offer could help ease the burden of a storm's aftermath for those on lower-incomes. UNCDF programme manager Krishnan nd Tower's chief underwriting officer Ron Mudaliar.

Bill McKay updates us on Auckland's Queen Street, the City Rail Link and Panuku's plans for urban development around the stations - and points out a few problems. Bill McKay is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland.

Naomi Toilalo has always loved feeding people and absorbed cooking skills from her Nana and Mum while being raised on a farm in South Otago. With a background at Maori Television as a presenter, actor and director, food has increasingly featured in her life. A few years ago she was the runner-up in TVNZ's Great Kiwi Bake Off, and since 2020 she has hosted The Giving Series. It's an online show where people nominate recipients to receive her baking. Her latest venture is a cookery book - Whanaukai Feel-good baking to share aroha. The recipes including one for Iced Buns Paraoa Pani Reka are in English and te reo Maori.

Lamia and Brigitte join Kathryn to talk about Labour's annual conference this weekend, and the extension to the childcare subsidy. The changes kick in from next April - will it ease the squeeze on households...and the polls? The inflation bogeyman remains, while Labour is gunning for National's taxcut package. Meanwhile National's candidate selection is facing scrutiny. Brigitte Morten is a director with public and commercial law firm Franks & Ogilvie and a former senior ministerial advisor for the previous National-led government. Lamia Imam worked for two years for the Labour Party in the Leader of the Opposition's office under Phil Goff, David Shearer and David Cunliffe. She also worked for the Ministry of Justice, before gaining a Masters in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin. She currently works for a large technology company in Wellington.

Auckland City's budget woes, and the potential impact on ratepayers and services. The council has this morning made a statement to the NZX saying it is facing "increased pressure" on its budgets due to rapid rises in inflation and interest rates. Auckland's new mayor Wayne Brown has said the council is already looking at a budget hole of $270 million for the next financial year, but he has said rate rises will be limited and the deficit will have to be filled through savings and efficiences. Kathryn speaks with RNZ Auckland reporter Amy Williams.

Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb of University Book Shop, Dunedin reviews Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson, published by Penguin Random House.

Tony Armit was 18 when he began building a 28 foot wooden yacht. The year was 1951, and he was young man keen for adventure. Three years later, he christened the yacht Marco Polo and with old school mate Brian "Tig" Loe, set sail from Auckland on an epic voyage which would take them around the world, becoming the first New Zealanders to do so. 70 years later - Tony Armit has written a book about the journey.

Middle East correspondent Sebastian Usher joins Kathryn to look at how Iranians are continuing to defy a crackdown, as protests following the death of Mahsa Amini reach their 50th day. Benjamin Netanyahu is already trying to form a new government after his Likud party's decisive win in elections last week and 10 football unions have responded to a letter by Fifa to "focus on the football", amid concerns about the country's human rights record as the World Cup kickoff looms. Sebastian Usher is a BBC Middle East analyst, editor and reporter.

Delegates from nearly 200 countries have kicked off the U.N. climate summit in Egypt with an agreement to discuss compensating poor nations for mounting damage linked to global warming. New Zealand's climate change minister James Shaw and 13 officials are among the estimated 40-thousand attending. It's the first time the issue of compensation for developing countries has been on the agenda of the annual summit and comes as the UN weather and climate agency released a new report saying the past eight years were on track to be the warmest on record. Kathryn speaks with the Guardian's Environment Correspondent, Fiona Harvey from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

Eggs were once a cheap and cheerful way to fill your supermarket trolley, but prices have skyrocketed - up more than eleven percent on a year ago. For egg producers it's been a perfect storm of challenges. Not only has the cost of feed increased due to the war in Ukraine, but many have shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars transitioning their farms ahead of next month's deadline to stop battery cage egg production. The national laying hen flock has declined putting a squeeze on supply and many supermarkets have said they won't take alternative colony farmed eggs from 2025. So how ready is the industry for the changeover to battery cage-free farming and will the price of eggs keep on rising? Kathryn speaks to the Executive Director of the Poultry Industry Association Michael Brooks and the Ministry of Primary Industries' National Manager Animal Welfare Compliance Peter Hyde.