Nine To Noon

A multi-millionaire octogenarian widow and her two children who have kept tight control of the Tour de France despite numerous hostile takeover bids, are the focus of a new book. The world's most famous cycling event generates an estimated $160 million New Zealand dollars a year, with a fifth being paid out in dividends for the Amaury family. Business journalist Alex Duff investigates the family in his book Le Fric or The Money: Family, Power and Money: The Business of the Tour de France. In it he argues that various cycling teams over the years have considered rebellions and breakaways to wrest some control and more of the money. But ultimately, they need the race more than the Amaury family needs them. Kathryn discusses with Alex Duff.

UK correspondent Harriet Line touches on the Tory leadership race and the heatwave raging across the country which led the Fire Service in London to have its busiest day since World War II. Harriet Line is Chief Political Correspondent Daily Mail.

Credit reporting agencies gather and sell information about individual's credit histories to get a sense of how risky you are in relation to money. This information can be used by lenders, landlords, insurance companies, even employers. Many people don't realise they have a problematic score. Kathryn speaks with Citizen's Advice Bureau's Andrew Hubbard.

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are the last candidates left standing following the final vote by Conservative MPs on who will replace Boris Johnson as their leader. Sunak, the former Chancellor, topped the final ballot with 137 votes and Truss, the Foreign Secretary, overturned a narrow lead held by Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt in the latest vote, securing her place in the run-of by 113 votes to 105. Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London, joins Kathryn to talk through what happens next.

Concerns the high cost of day-to-day living is seeing people taking an eye off their financial future, threatening the ability to afford to retire. This week we saw a thirty-two year inflation high, increasing 7.3 percent since the June 2021 quarter. The Retirement Commission has been gathering insights into the cost of living's impact on long term savings, finding a steady decrease in people actively saving for retirement, from 52% in 2021 to 47% in 2022. 93% of Kiwis' rank 'cost of living' as their biggest concern.

This year's winter illnesses are really starting to bite across a number of industries - but what happens if you're sick, and you've maxxed out your leave? Most employees - if they're on wages or salary - are entitled to at least 10 days' sick leave per year. It was increased last year by the government from five days' minimum entitlement. But it excludes those who are in a job less than six months, or those who are considered contractors. Nine to Noon's legal commentator today is Helen Pryde of Duncan Cotterill.

The popular ilabb brand started out fifteen years ago, in a garage in Picton. It's expanding, again, into Europe and further into Canada. It has teamed up with the world's largest mountain bike festival organiser, Crankworx, to supply a line of clothing for Kiwi and Canadian athletes. ilabb's got the attention of some pretty cool backers and is about half way to raising several millions of dollars to get the brand deeper into the northern hemisphere. Kathryn speaks with ilabb co-founder and chief executive Seadon Baker.

Louise O'Brien reviews Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, published by Penguin Random House NZ.

Best-selling British author Fiona Barton's new who-dunnit is Local Gone Missing. A cast of characters keep secrets and the reader guessing when a charismatic local man vanishes without trace from a small seaside town in southern England. It's being described as a "dark and twisty read". Fiona turned to fiction-writing in her early fifties, after a distinguished career in British newspapers (including The Mail on Sunday where she won Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards), followed by years of volunteer work in Sri Lanka training exiled and threatened journalists. Fiona speaks with Kathryn from the south of England.

Australia correspondent Chris Niesche joins Kathryn to talk about the death of a Sydney teen in a Syrian jail and whether it might spark renewed interest in the plight of Australian families stuck in Syria following the fall of Isis. He'll look at how Covid is tracking in the country and a new State of the Environment Report finds Australia has lost more mammalian wildlife than any other continent.