Nine To Noon

Ōranga Tamariki has been described as not fit for purpose and needing transformative change. A Ministerial advisory panel has just released its report into the agency and made three over-arching recommendations. The review was part of the government's response to widespread criticism of Ōranga Tamariki's policy of removing vulnerable children from their families. Kathryn speaks with RNZ's Māori News Director, Māni Dunlop.

The National Party is proposing opening up the borders under a traffic light system once at least 85 percent of the country's eligible population are vaccinated. National has today released its plan to avoid nationwide lockdowns and make it easier for most fully vaccinated people to travel to and from New Zealand. RNZ political reporter, Charlie Dreaver speaks to Kathryn Ryan.

David Hill reviews Conversatio: In the company of bees by Anne Noble with Zara Stanhope and Anna Brown, published by Massey University Press.

John Ruthven's book, The Whale in the Living Room tells of his expeditions and adventures during decades of documentary making about the mysteries of the ocean. John has worked on the BBC's Blue Planet and Blue Planet II nature series presented by David Attenborough. John Ruthven's other ocean films include episodes of Discovery Shark Week, and expedition films for National Geographic.

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Kathryn to look at how vaccination rates are rising, leading to hopes of a road out of lockdown and the expectation the Prime Minister will announce the reopening of international borders this summer.

Thousands of people each year with fetal alcohol syndrome are being denied access to support because they do not fit an arbitrary measure of disability, according to a damning new report. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder, or FASD, is a neurodisability caused by drinking during pregnancy, and each year between 1800 and 3000 babies are born with the disorder.

Summer music festivals are gearing up to add checking vaccine passports to the list of requirements for admission to large events. Yesterday Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson announced that work on a vaccine passport app was underway and would be ready in just over a month. However it's still a nail-biting wait for festival organisers as the summer season draws nearer, with most of the country still at alert level two.

At various times in our lives we take financial risks - buying a house, setting up a business, entering a new relationship. We also face other risks - job loss, illness, or the economic risks of high inflation and high interest rates. Financial planner Liz Koh has some tips for protecting yourself from these risks.

Mark Beehre has spent a decade working on his latest book - a collection of photos and stories of 27 young, gay men born after the passage of the Homosexual Law Reform Bill. He started the project while doing a Masters of Fine Arts, taking photographs and interviewing the men over a number a years. The result is A Queer Existence - The Lives of young gay men in Aotearoa New Zealand. The men may have been born into more accepting times than the generations before them, but many still describe the difficulties in coming out and feeling stigmatised.

Rebecca talks to Kathryn about the growing chorus of tech company founders, exporters, CEOs and business owners frustrated about New Zealand's closed borders and the tightness at MIQ. Rebecca Stevenson is BusinessDesk's head of news.