Nine To Noon

A look at some of the major events in public law this year, particularly some very important cases from the courts in the last few months. Dr Dean Knight, is an Associate Professor Faculty of Law and NZ Centre for Public Law Victoria University of Wellington

Last month, the podcast topping the charts in the popular business category in the US and Canada was -- unexpectedly -- created by two best friends recording from their Auckland bedrooms. Girls That Invest, hosted by Simran Kaur and Sonya Gupthan started back in August 2020, and has now grown to over 100-thousand listeners per month. The pair break down the world of investing and personal finance in a way that anyone - no matter their financial literacy or bank balance - can understand and access.

Yadana plays Tami Neilson's cover of the Willie Nelson Christmas song Pretty Paper, a summery track from Sorrento with Andy Lovegrove's honeyed voice and bassist extraordinaire Marika Hodgson. Plus an excellent state of mind to hold in the crazy season; Don't You Worry About a Thing by Stevie Wonder.

Joanna Ludbrook from Chicken and Frog bookstore in Featherston reviews The Uprising - the Mapmakers of Cruxcia by Eirlys Hunter, published by Gecko Press

Environmental artists and climbers, Martin Hill and Philippa Jones live and work in Wanaka, but have used the world as their canvas. They conceived of the Fine Line Project, 25 years ago. It consists of 12 ephemeral environmental sculptures, created on site in remote locations, including Iceland, Madagascar, Vanuatu, Canada and Antarctica. Each creation is connected to the next by a symbolic line drawn around the earth and is featured in their book Fine Line. Their endeavour has been showcased in the BBC4 series Nature and Us: A History Through Art, presented by art historian James Fox.

In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison is convening an emergency meeting with state & territory leaders today to receive updated Covid-19 transmission modelling as the Omicron variant takes off. New South Wales recorded more than 3000 new cases on Monday, while the NSW Premier, Dominic Perrotet resists growing medical advice to reintroduce restrictions.

There has been a soaring demand for food parcels across the country. Across Auckland demand peaked at four times the usual demand during lock-down, and has been met with a new drive-through festive food bank in West Auckland to meet the need there. The Vision West charity has delivered 16,000 food parcels in West Auckland in the past four months, during lock-down. By comparison it delivered 9,000 during the entire year before (from July 2020 - June 2021). The need for food support increased dramatically in the first weeks of the lockdown, before which Vision west supplied an average of 261 food parcels per week. During the recent lockdown the average was over 1,000 food parcels per week- a fourfold increase in demand. Vision West has instigated a drive-through Christmas food parcel service designed to meet Covid restrictions, which aims to preserve whanau dignity. The charity has just released a report detailing lockdown's impact on Aucklanders' need to seek help with basic necessities. Head of Service Development at Vision West Brook Turner speaks with Kathryn Ryan, along with Tric Malcolm, Pou Arahi (CE) of Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective, who says every food bank in Auckland, and across the motu has had a massive increase in demand for food parcels, not seen since the Global Financial Crisis of 2009.

In one of the most spectacular sporting achievements of the year, Black Caps spinner Ajaz Patel became only the third bowler in history to pick up all 10 wickets in an innings in international cricket.The feat was all the more special, taking place in Mumbai - the city of his birth. Kathryn speaks with Ajaz Patel about what was going through his mind as he neared that 10th wicket.

2021's extreme weather events have cost insurers and policy holders a record $304.9m so far this year. From May's flooding in Canterbury to a tornado in Auckland in June, flooding in July and August, and September's windstorm in the South Island, the Insurance Council is calling on the government to be more proactive on climate change resilience. Tim Grafton discusses with Kathryn what this means for policy prices and availability in the future.

Many people are doing it really tough financially this summer, says financial planner Liz Koh, and it may be some comfort that we now know money and happiness don't always go together.