Nine To Noon

An economic think-tank is warning our economy will suffer unless changes are made to the way maths is taught. Maths scores have been declining for the past twenty years, relative to other OECD countries.

Kennedy talks to Kathryn about the historic reserve connected to the Chelsea Sugar Refinery, on Auckland's North Shore and park's ongoing nature legacy. He also mentions a new book, Treasures of the Rising Generation" - "Hei Taonga ma nga uri whakatipu that celebrates four ethnological expeditions conducted by the then Dominion Museum (now Te Papa) in the early 1920s. The purpose was to record Maori life before it disappeared.

This week, Auckland food waste activist Veronica Shale launched the Zero Food Waste Challenge - a week-long campaign that kicks off in NZ businesses and schools on 22 September 2022 (the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste).

Stephen, Brigitte and Kathryn discuss the big decisions weighing on Cabinet over the loosening of Covid restrictions, the discontent in the rural sector evident in yesterday's countrywide protests and last night's Newshub-Reid Research Poll with its big rise for Act.

Laura Caygill reviews The Family by Naomi Krupitsky, published by Penguin Random House.

From the velocipede to the penny farthing, the Raleigh 20, Loline, Chopper and the BMX - millions of bicycles have been manufactured in New Zealand over the past 150 years. Cycling historian, author and all-round bike enthusiast, Jonathan Kennett, has written a history of locally made bikes, and industry that once thrived in every New Zealand city. The Bikes We Built highlights 60 bikes still in existence today, and the people and stories behind them. Jonathan Kennett says it's a celebration of kiwi ingenuity and passion which continues to this day.

Debora talks to Kathryn about the deteriorating security situation in Ethiopia. In South Africa, a new hub in Cape Town is starting a revolution, developing it's own vaccines for Africa fed up with waiting for Big Pharma to share its Covid vaccine formulas. And Oscar Pistorius is eligible for parole, but first he has to meet the parents of the woman he killed and ask for forgiveness.

NIWA meteorologist Dr Richard Turner has charted the average wind speed of our golf courses. Going off data from studies of wind patterns for research done for building codes Dr Turner helped Golf NZ figure out the difficulties of each course on a windy day, to funnel into course ratings and handicap rankings. Dr Turner also talks to Kathryn about where in the country the maddening spring winds are worse and where you can escape them.

An independent Police Conduct Authority has found major issues with the resourcing of small community police stations. A joint survey between Federated Farmers and police found more than half of farmers who responded to the survey had been the victim of a crime over the past two years. Kathryn discusses with Colin Hurst, Federated Farmers' rural security spokesperson, also Southern District Commander Superindendent Paul Basham and Billy Eivers, a sole-charge officer in Benneydale, Waitomo District.

Comedians Te Radar and Michele A'Court bring a few laughs.