Nine To Noon

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Kathryn to talk about the final two weeks of Parliament as Prime Minister Scott Morrison faces a revolt from his own ranks by conservatives who want him to override state government's vaccination rules. There's renewed attention on the William Tyrrell case, as his former foster parents appeared in court over alleged mistreatment of another foster child. And Tim Paine may've stepped down from his captaincy, but there are questions for Cricket Australia over its handling of the scandal before it became public.

From next week all default KiwiSaver funds will have had to quit investment in fossil fuels. But a recent analysis shows when it comes to retirement funds, Kiwis are still well invested in the fossil fuel industry to the tune of $1.5 billion in Kiwisaver, and another $1.3 billion in retail funds. The analysis was done by Mindful Money, a charity that promotes ethical investment. CEO Barry Coates believes many Kiwis are unaware of the extent to which their KiwiSaver is helping to prop up the fossil fuel sector, even as financial risks of doing that - let alone the climate risks - become clearer.

What is the future for contact tracing as the delta outbreak continues its spread around the country? As of Monday there were nearly six and a half thousand active contacts being managed in conjunction with just over four and a half thousand active cases. Of those contact, though, only 69 per cent had received a call from contact tracers - either to confirm testing or isolation requirements. There are three weeks to go til the Auckand border is opened, and health officials say the worst case scenario is 16 thousand COVID cases per week during January. So how can a contact tracing system which appears unable to keep up with the current number of cases, manage with a surge over summer? Kathryn speaks with Professor Philip Hill, a public health expert at the University of Otago.

Massey University has just released their Retirement Expenditure Guidelines which show the difference between what retirees need to spend in retirement and their income from NZ Superannuation. Financial planner, Liz Koh talks to Kathryn about the size of the gap and how people can plan ahead to close the gap.

The extremes of temperature, short summers and high rates of erosion are making for an uncertain environment for the flora and fauna in alpine areas, and also for the people who explore it. Sir Alan Mark is an emeritus professor from the Botany Department of the University of Otago.

Rebecca talks to Kathryn about why Christmas shopping means more than ever this year for the retail sector.

Phil Vine reviews Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas, published by Allen & Unwin.

Two years ago, as Covid was just beginning its deadly spread across the world, another crisis was reaching its peak in Australia. Known as the Black Summer, devastating bushfires ripped through many states, but were particularly catastrophic in the south-east, following a record-breaking drought.

The not guilty verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two people and injured one other person, all of whom were protesting following a police shooting in Kenosha Wisconsin, has been celebrated by far-right extremists.

Wellington entrepreneur Jeremy Bank was was inspired to create sustainable shoes after his daughter found plastic all over what had been a pristine beach in Hawai'i.