Nine To Noon

UK correspondent Matt Dathan joins Susie with developments in the sleaze scandal engulfing the Conservative Party, even as Prime Minister Boris Johnson denies the UK is a "corrupt country".

How will a major merger in the wool sector help prices and farmers out of the doldrums? Wools of New Zealand and Primary Wool Co-Operative, which have about 700 and 14-hundred grower shareholders respectively, have agreed to merge, and shareholders gave the deal the green light earlier this week. Strong wool prices have been depressed for many years now, currently selling for about $2 a kilogram, which is less than the cost of shearing for most farmers. There's also concern from many in the sector about the amount of pastoral land being converted to forestry. Susie Ferguson discusses the rationale for the merger and prospects for wool growers with Wools of NZ chairman James Parsons and Richard Young, chairman of Primary Wool Cooperative.

A climate economist says the introduction by Tower Insurance of a new pricing model for flood risks is just the beginning. Tower is the first insurance company to offer customers a low, medium or high flood risk rating for their home. It says 90 percent of its customers will receive an average reduction in the flood risk portion of their premium of $25, and 10 percent will see an average price rise of around $50. Susie speaks with Tower Chief Executive Blair Turnbull, and climate economist and modeller Belinda Storey whose research suggests 10,000 homes in coastal and flood plains are at risk. She says premium hikes in high risk areas will continue.

Performing arts commentator Lyne Pringle joins Susie to talk about the challenges dance companies have faced, and decisions they've made, in the Delta outbreak with shows cancelled or postponed. Many companies, including Black Grace, have upped their online offerings, and she'll talk about how the Royal New Zealand Ballet's truncated season of A Midsummer Night's Dream can still be viewed by fans.

Since Todd Karehana's brother died 21 years ago, the Auckland filmmaker has reflected a lot on how the loss has affected his family. When his mother Alma said she couldn't come to his graduation because she had to look after some stray cats. To try and understand why Todd joined Alma on her night-time missions. The result is the short film Night Ride.

Quentin Johnson reviews Walking With Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne, published by Pan Macmillan.

Bernardine Evaristo won the Booker Prize two years ago for her novel Girl, Woman, Other, but she has been writing plays, poetry, short stories and novels for over four decades. She's just published her memoir called Manifesto: On Never Giving Up. She describes her childhood in south east London - the fourth of eight children, to her English mum and Nigerian dad and the racism they regularly experienced. She also writes about the freedom she found in the theatre as a young woman, the tumultuous relationships she's had over the years, and how her life has shaped her creativity and how that creativity has been shaped by her life.

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Susie to talk about rising Covid case numbers in schools and how Canberra is at 90 per cent double vaxxed, meaning restaurants and nightclubs can reopen. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has begun campaigning, reinventing himself as environmentally conscious. Controversial broadcaster Alan Jones is off the airwaves with his last media gig cancelled and the country has recorded its first fatal shark attack of the season.

West Coast street lights are turning off at night again this summer to protect the Westland Petrel - or taiko. Waka Kotahi has settled on darkness on a short section of State Highway 6 through Punakaiki from this week until January. The Westland petrel breeding colony is just south of Punakaiki. Fledglings nesting in burrows there can get disoriented by bright lights under their flight path, causing them to crash land. This phenomena is known as fallout. Last year was the first season Waka Kotahi turned off the LED street-lights in Punakaiki, seemingly with some success. Susie Ferguson is joined by Chairman of the Westland Petrel Conservation Trust Bruce Stuart-Menteath and Senior Network Manager for Waka Kotahi Colin Hey.

A South Auckland doctor is concerned the death rate of people with Covid isolating at home will rise, as many GPS don't have the resources or equipment to monitor them. Around 2000 people with the virus are living at home, and with hospitals in Auckland already struggling to cope, Dr Maryann Heather from the Pasifika Medical Association says it falls back on primary care. Currently her practice which has more than 5000 patients, has no pulse oximeters, which are key to monitoring the oxygen levels in the blood of patients isolating at home. She says getting the right resources takes time. Susie talks to Dr Maryann Heather, Debbie Sorensen, the chief executive of Pasifika Futures and Pasifika Medical Association, and Europa Kupu, Whanau Ora manager for The Fono.