Nine To Noon

The agricultural sector has recommended a farm-level levy, in its long awaited alternative to entering the Emissions Trading Scheme. The He Waka Eke Noa partnership of 13 members includes DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, Federated Farmers, the Federation of Maori Authorities, Dairy Companies of NZ, Horticulture NZ and Irrigation NZ. They considered two pricing options - a farm-level levy requiring emissions reporting by individual farm and a processor-level hybrid levy, calculated at the meat, milk, and fertiliser processor level, based on the overall quantity of product received from farms. Both had a split-gas approach, which means different levy rates would apply to short-lived gases like methane, and long-lived gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Farmers argued for the opportunity to devise an alternative to being included in the Emissions Trading Scheme, arguing it would not incentivise reduction of emissions and would also expose them to a broad based tax that would increase every year. Kathryn will speak to Kelly Forster, programme director of He Waka Eke Noa, Jim van der Poel, a dairy farmer from Ngahinapouri and the chair of Dairy NZ, and Nicky Hyslop, who has a sheep and beef farm in Canterbury and is a farmer director at Beef and Lamb.

An Auckland tech company says a newly signed deal with Meta - formerly Facebook - for use of its parking software is "game changing". Parkable was founded by Toby Littin, Brody Nelson and Warwick Beauchamp in 2016. Its technology enables the "hot-desking" of shared car park spaces - a kind of Airbnb of parking. The deal with Meta is not the start-ups first global customer - it also has a deal with the City of Los Angeles and KPMG globally. Kathryn speaks with Parkable CEO Toby Littin who signed the deal in California during the Prime Minister's recent US trade trip.

Media commentator Andrew Holden joins Kathryn to talk about the departure of Breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria and the challenge it's created for new TVNZ CEO Simon Power. The recent visit by China's Foreign Minister to the Pacific highlighted tensions between the country's approach to the media and local journalists covering it. And Sky TV is back on the block, with reports two private equity groups have been encouraged to look into a buyout. Andrew Holden is a journalist for more than 30 years including five as Editor of The Press (in Christchurch) and four as Editor-in-Chief of The Age in Melbourne.

Business commentator Pattrick Smellie joins Kathryn to talk about the Insurance Council's reaction to the climate change adaptation plan, why the hydro scheme at Lake Onslow has some flaws and Australia braces for an expected interest rate hike.

Home Affairs Editor at The Times Matt Dathan speaks to Kathryn from outside Downing Street on Boris Johnson surviving a vote of no confidence.

Lamia, Brigitte and Kathryn discuss the latest Kantar Public poll, Labour's turn towards negative attack ads, Three Waters legislation reaches the house and the PM's White House meeting. 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.

Louise Ward of Wardinis Bookshop in Havelock North reviews Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by AF Steadman, published by Simon and Schuster.

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee has been marked by a weekend of celebration across the UK and Commonwealth. Of all the reigns of British monarchs, Elizabeth II's has been the most well-documented, photographed and filmed. But how well do we really know her? It's a question Robert Hardman tackles in his latest biography of the 96-year-old: called Queen of Our Times. Robert has written extensively about the British royal family, in both books and for many television documentaries including ITV's The Duke: A Portrait of Prince Philip and BBC's Charles at 60: The Passionate Prince, which he also narrated. He's been a journalist and columnist for the Daily Telegraph and most recently, the Daily Mail. While he's written about the Queen's life before, he tells Kathryn Ryan this book is different.

US correspondent Kelsey Snell joins Kathryn to look at how the recent spate of gun violence in the US hasn't stopped, with at least 15 people dead and 60 wounded in eight states over the weekend. Lawmakers are under pressure to pass some kind of gun legislation - but options on the table don't meet the demands of the President who wants a ban on assault weapons or a rise in the minimum age to buy a gun. Meanwhile the House will begin public hearings this week on the investigation into the January 6th insurrection. Kelsey Snell is a congressional correspondent for NPR, based in Washington DC.

While New Zealand's response to Covid was lauded by many, its response to another critical public health issue is being labelled 'abysmal'. New Zealand is among the highest global users of pesticides, but Kathryn's next guest argues it lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to pesticide regulation and safety. Neil Pearce is a Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He's long held an interest in the health effects of dioxin; he was part of a delegation to Vietnam in 1995 to look at the effects of Agent Orange use and has studied former workers of the Ivon Watkins-Dow chemical plant in Taranaki. His new book is Pesticides and Health: How New Zealand Fails in Environmental Protection which looks at our ongoing shortcomings in environmental and occupational health.