Nine To Noon

As planning rules are relaxed, the floodgates will open - but will we build what people need? Bill McKay looks at the nature and needs of the contemporary NZ household, and what our diverse population is looking for. Bill McKay is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland.

Vegetables are too often "the boring side thing" in a meal, says Rosa Flanagan of cooking duo Two Raw Sisters. She and her sister Margo hope the 70+ recipes in their new book Salads will inspire people to create more delicious plant-based dishes this summer.

Neale Jones and Brigitte Morten talk to Kathryn about the National leadership in disarray and the new front runners to lead the Party. Also Speaker, Trevor Mallard's criticism of the Government over the 'Traffic Light' legislation. And more worry on the Covid 19 front with the advent of a new strain, Omicron, which is surfacing globally and is in Australia.

RNZ's Business Editor Gyles Beckford explains how the markets have reacted the new variant.

Louise Ward of Wardini Books in Havelock North reviews Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee, and Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket.

Yorta Yorta woman Dianne O'Brien was raised in the era of the White Australia policy, a child of the stolen generation. Her memoir Daughter of the River Country - is a story of survival and triumph, raised by a loving adoptive mother and a distant and abusive father. She didn't find out she was Aboriginal until adulthood. Her adult life was marred with domestic violence, alcohol abuse and tragedy, but despite her troubles, she has been recognised for her community leadership and health programmes for people in need. Now in her seventies, Dianne O'Brien is the Chairperson of Mingaletta Corporation, which is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community hub. She has 37 grandchildren and great grandchildren, has previously been named New South Wales Grandmother of the year, and is commonly known as Aunty Di.

Europe is taking no chances with the new Covid 19 Omicron variant. EU states have moved quickly to restrict the arrival of passengers from numerous countries in southern Africa. Tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine and Belarus have gone up a notch, with the Ukrainian President claiming his government has uncovered an imminent Russian-backed plot to overthrow his government. Seamus also talks to Kathryn about the UK being disinvited from EU talks on the Channel migrant tragedy.

From combating Covid, to climate change action, plans for water reform, child poverty and the housing crisis - public policy attempts to solve a myriad problems. So why do some policies succeed and others fail? Kathryn speaks with Canterbury University public policy academics Sonia Mazey and Jeremy Richardson whose book, Policy Making Under Pressure, includes contributions from former government ministers, including Bill English and Lianne Dalziel as well as senior public servants and political advisors.

There are concerns more post-grad students at our tertiary institutions will abandon their research because they simply can't afford to continue. A new paper out today analyses how the stipend portion of scholarships and awards granted to PhD and Masters candidates haven't kept pace with minimum wage - let alone the living wage. It found from 2000 to 2010, PhD scholarships grew on average from $14,000 to over $24,476. But over the next nine years to 2019, only rose by $1000 dollars. The researchers say the cost-sharing of post-grad research is skewed in favour of universities, who have kept their financial contribution low relative to inflation and living costs. They say the overall effect may be to lock out certain groups from research careers. Kathryn speaks to Chrystal O'Connor, a PhD candidate at Lincoln University and one of the paper's authors, Dr Sereana Naepi.

Travel restrictions are being reintroduced around the world after a new Covid-19 "variant of concern" was detected. The World Health Organisation says Omicron has a large number of mutations, and early evidence suggests an increased reinfection risk. It's the first strain to be declared a variant of concern since the detection of Delta. Kathryn asks evolutionary virologist at the University of Otago Dr Jemma Geoghegan how concerned we should be about the outbreak of this new variant.