Nine To Noon

New Zealand's Superfund celebrates its 20th anniversary today, as Baby Boomers hit retirement age. Former Minister of Finance, Sir Michael Cullen established the fund on October 11th 2001, in anticipation of a bulge in an aging population reitiring.

Emergency doctors throughout the country have been surveyed about how prepared they feel their respective hospitals ED facilities are equipped to cope. The results make for grim reading with specialists highlighting significant and worrying gaps in hospitals' ability to cope with the spread of infection.

Comedians Te Radar and Donna Brookbanks bring a few laughs.

Sam looks back on Benji Marshall's remarkable rugby league career and says he is easily the most admired NZ player ever in the eyes of most Australians. He also talks to Kathryn about the demise of Manu Vatuvei, women's rugby, and the NPC.

Briar Lawry from Unity Books Auckland reviews The Shut Ins by Katherine Brabon, published by Allan and Unwin.

Kath & Kim ran from 2002 to 2007 and was the highest-rated comedy series in Australia at the time - spawning a US remake, a telemovie called Da Kath & Kim Code and even a feature film - Kath & Kimderella.

The first of two repatriation flights of Cook Islanders stranded in New Zealand because of our lockdown left Christchurch last night. There are strict safety protocols around passengers and the ground crew who meet them in Rarotonga to keep the Cooks covid-free. And community mass vaccination events are picking steam in Auckland attracting large numbers of the community and commitment from Pasifika sports stars.

What do you do when the much vaunted takeaways, or a picnic in the double bubble under Covid restrictions alert level 3 just don't cut it? Waiheke woman Lisa Talbot has the answer. Get a friend or relative in living in level 2 to take you on a face time journey of the thing you are hankering to do most. Kathryn talks to Phill Palmer and Lisa about virtual reality op shopping.

A high tech project is underway to shed light on thousands of Māori stone artefacts, so they can be preserved for future generations. Funded by the MBIE, it involves archaeologists, bioengineers and computer scientists analysing large collections of stone items and fragments. The aim is to create digital repositories of New Zealand's cultural heritage that can be accessed by iwi and archaeologists around the world. Archaeologist Rebecca Phillipps is co-leading the project.

Business leaders are meeting government ministers are meeting shortly to construct a pilot programme allowing rapid antigen testing in workplaces. 25 large companies from sectors including freight, aviation, food production, and aged care have formed a coalition to urgently import 370-thousand rapid antigen tests - for work sites around the country. The head of Business New Zealand, Kirk Hope tells Kathryn Ryan urging the Government to act quickly.