When he was 24 years old, Mike Lewis was working as a venture capitalist in the US, but that's not what he wanted to be doing with his life. He dreamed of becoming a squash pro.

He consulted people who'd 'made the jump' from one kind of life to another, and came up with a theory called the 'jump curve' or the process of making a big move.

He left his job, became a pro and then wrote a book. When to Jump contains 44 stories to inspire others.

Lewis spoke to Chris Lynch about the book and offered advice to anyone whose goal for 2018 is to make the jump themselves.

LISTEN TO MIKE'S INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS ABOVE

A local lobby group is welcoming a global drinks producer's announcement it's phasing out plastic straws.

International drinks producer Pernod Ricard is the world's second-largest alcohol and spirits producer and has announced it is banning plastic straws from its events worldwide.

Kiwis throw away half a billion single use plastic straws a year.

Many local bars and cafes are already on board.

Sustainable Coastlines co-founder Camden Howitt told Chris Lynch it's great news for our coastlines.

"These things make their way into the marine environment and they persist for a very, very long time and unfortunately they have huge impacts on marine life.

"Any move by businesses, by individuals, by policymakers makers that helps to reduce these plastics entering the marine evironment is great from our point of view.

Howitt says plastic straws is in the top ten of items picked up from our beaches.

LISTEN ABOVE AS CAMDEN HOWITT SPEAKS WITH CHRIS LYNCH

Some lifeguards on Auckland's west coast are feeling used and abused.

Bethells Beach patrol captain Adrian Jenkins says he was called the fun police and told to f**k off when he warned a man with two small children about a rip.

On another occasion a woman expected him to stay an extra hour at the beach to make sure her daughter was okay in the water.

Adrian Jenkins told Chris Lynch it's a bit much.

"I think just the lack of respect, we're just taken for granted a little bit. We've seen so much go on at that beach, we know what happens if you don't adhere to the flag situation."

The poor behaviour prompted patrol captain Adrian Jenkins to write a letter to the Herald about the treatment of those who give up their time to keep others safe.

"Unfortunately for the first time in the 12 years since I have been volunteering a respectable member of the public (holding his two small children by the hand) launched into my approach with "you're just the fun police" and told me to 'f' off. My only crime was to let him know the area he was walking his two girls into had a strong pull around the island," he wrote.

"Generally, the public are very good and most appreciative. But do I wonder if all realise that we are volunteers and have lives too."

Jenkins was on patrol at Bethells Beach on January 7 when the man abused him.

"I went, 'Hang on, you don't need to be like that - I'm not being rude I'm just trying to explain'," he told the Herald.

"But he wouldn't let me talk. These two little girls he had with him on each arm were quite embarrassed."

Rather than copping more abuse Jenkins decided to retreat, and lifeguards kept a keen eye on the trio from afar.

A couple of days ago Jenkins was caught by surprise once again, when a woman at the beach expected the patrol team to stick around for an hour after they clocked off.

"She was asking us to stay and make sure that her daughter was okay in the water, and I said 'No, that's not going to happen'.

"I tried to explain why this was in a nice way and she said 'Look I don't want a lecture, just tell me if it's dangerous'."

Wild, rugged and beautiful Bethells Beach on Auckland's west coast can be dangerous for swimmers. Photo / File

Jenkins, a volunteer surf lifesaver with the Bethells Beach Surf Life Saving Patrol for 12 years, said the incidents were belittling and left him feeling "undervalued".

The behaviour was particularly grating, he said, after a chaotic Sunday on patrol.

Three rescues, a dislocated shoulder, a head slashed open by a surf board and a handful of jellyfish stings were among the dramas Jenkins and his team dealt to.

National lifesaving manager Allan Mundy said as a lifeguard there was "nothing worse" than trying to help a member of the public and having them take it the wrong way.

"There are unfortunately sections of the public that take offence to the people that are trying to help them."

Jenkins' appeal for the public to respect for surf lifesaving patrols comes after a fraught few days in our waters.

At Muriwai, 41 people were rescued over the weekend including 13 in a mass rescue on Saturday afternoon. Nine were rescued at Karekare and 30 people needed help. Sunset Beach lifeguards rescued one and help nine others.

Some patrols had extended their hours because of the large numbers still on the beach after 5pm.

Surf Life Saving Northern Region chief executive Matt Williams said lifeguards were "limping off the beach after an almost 12-hour day".

Others have not been so lucky. The Police National Dive Squad pulled a body from the Rangitikei River on Monday, believed to be a missing 16-year-old who was swept away on Sunday night.

One man died and another man and a woman were rushed to hospital on Sunday after they were caught in a flash rip at Waimarama Beach, Hawke's Bay.

The body of 35-year-old Taupo woman Amy Jenny Brown was found last Wednesday after she went missing near the Haumoana river mouth the day before.

And American t...

Bold statements made by our Foreign Minister over North Korea have one expert worried.

Winston Peters wants more sanctions imposed on North Korea to push them towards denuclearisation.

He will be attending a summit today in Vancouver attended by ministers from 21 other countries.

It aims to find a solution to Kim Jong-un's nuclear ambitions.

Director of Otago University's National Centre of Peace and Conflict Studies, Professor Kevin Clements told Chris Lynch Peters' comments aren't helpful.

"If you're looking for a negotiated solution, this is not the way to go about it. Winston Peters is going for sanctions and pressure, and then dialogue second hoping to flow out of that."

Peters, however, is hopeful the talks will play out.

"Every effort should be made now as this crisis escalates to turn the current events around. I think it's possible, we're got to be positive about it."

Peters said the international community's willing to help North Korea if it abandons its nuclear ambitions.

LISTEN TO KEVIN CLEMENTS TALK WITH CHRIS LYNCH ABOVE

The call for a sugar tax has been strengthened by a new study of New Zealand's soft drinks, which shows our fizzy drinks are amongst the worst in the world when it comes to sugar content.

A Waikato University study has found they contain more sugar than those in most other western countries.

FIZZ founder Dr Gerhard Sundborn told Chris Lynch on average, we have one and a half times more sugar in our fizzy drinks and juice than the likes of Canada, Australia and the US.

He said it's time for sugar to be regulated.

"There's no real regulation around sugar or industry and that's where we need to see the Government take the lead and bring in some meaningful legislation around sugar, especially for drinks."

He said New Zealand's statistics speak for themselves.

"We've gone to the third highest obesity rate for adults in the OECD and also we've got the third highest childhood obesity rate in the OECD, so it's not really that surprising that we have very high sugar intake."

LISTEN TO DR GERHARD SUNDBORN TALK WITH CHRIS LYNCH

The Prime Minister says the Australian Government is within its right to deport a criminal to New Zealand - despite him never setting foot here.

40-year-old Alex Viane, who has a racked up a string of convictions across the ditch, is being forced out of Australia - where he's lived for 25 years.

READ MORE: Australia 'ripping people's lives apart' by deporting NZ citizen

However Jacinda Ardern told Chris Lynch our Government's using diplomatic channels to urge Australia to reconsider.

"To send someone back to New Zealand where they have no connection, where they were not raised, where they did not learn their criminality, is something different entirely.

"At the moment, they are within their rights to do what they are doing."

Viane was born in American Samoa and moved to Australia as a 15-year-old when he was adopted by an uncle living there.

Thus he became a New Zealand citizen because his uncle held New Zealand citizenship.

Viane has been in and out of jail since he moved to Australia, and he now has a wife and two children there.

Iwi in Oz founder Filipa Payne says it is an issue that the government here has to address.

"Families are being torn apart. The Australian government is ripping people's lives apart and taking them away from everything they know.

"It's morally wrong, and where is the integrity?"

LISTEN TO CHRIS LYNCH'S FULL INTERVIEW WITH JACINDA ARDERN ABOVE

The Prime Minister is taking a stand against Donald Trump's latest scandalous remarks.

There's been outrage over statements the President of the United States is said to have made at a meeting on immigration policy.

"Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" He reportedly said at a meeting last Thursday local time.

The comments were made about African nations alongside El Salvador and Haiti.

The 55-nation African Union are calling on him to retract the remarks, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Chris Lynch the no one should expect an apology.

"The issue is that he seems to have said it multiple times so clearly he believes what he said. I'm not sure if we've seen an apology come out of him."

She called the comments offensive.

"What would New Zealand do if we were labelled in that way? He was referring both to the place and the people. I think we would rightly be offended by that."

Ardern joins the global outrage at the President's latest remarks.

The African Union said the comments were "clearly racist", and the President of El Salvdaor, Salvador Sanchez, said the comments had "struck at the dignity of Salvadorans".

The UN has also called the comments racist.

LISTEN TO JACINDA ARDERN TALK WITH CHRIS LYNCH ABOVE

There's fear around a new sexual consent smartphone app that could be used by sexual predators.

The app, Legal Fling, allows people to choose yes or no to different categories like using condoms or explicit language.

Shine director Jill Proudfoot said she can't imagine the usefulness of it to anyone except sexual predators who want to protect themselves against rape allegations.

She told Chris Lynch two people might sign the app together then the abusive person might spike the other person's drink.

"And then have sexual activity while she wasn't really in the consenting state. That person would still have the evidence that she had consented."

Proudfoot said the app removes the human conversations people need to have and replaces them with pressing a button.

She said predatory people use all sorts of technology abusively, and this is another opportunity for them.

She said consent isn't a one-off decision.

"Someone might consent early in the evening to particular behaviours and then decide they don't want to do that, and then it's forced upon them but the person forcing them has evidence that they have consented."

Proudfoot said the app lends itself to huge dangers.

LISTEN TO JILL PROUDFOOT TALK WITH CHRIS LYNCH ABOVE

Tasmanian honey producers say the battle over Manuka honey is getting serious.

They're claiming to have evidence of the honey's production dating back to 1884 - eight years prior to it starting in New Zealand.

Things are becoming bitter now the UK has given New Zealand honey a certification mark, which gives consumers a guarantee of quality.

Tasmanian Beekeepers Association president Lindsay Bourke told Chris Lynch they're gearing up for a legal battle.

"Everybody knows that it is not true, it doesn't just come from New Zealand, it comes from Australia as well.

"Now it's getting serious, we're a little bit annoyed by this. Quite frankly, we're disappointed by it."

LISTEN ABOVE AS LINDSAY BOURKE SPEAKS WITH CHRIS LYNCH

An education professor says the timing's all wrong for a bid to require our kids to learn a second language.

The National Party is set to release a draft Bill on the matter today.

If successful, it could force every primary and intermediate school to teach at least one language from a yet-to-be-decided list.

Auckland University professor Peter O'Connor told Chris Lynch updating the curriculum's important - but it's a surprising move.

"Schools are in nothing short of crisis mode at the moment. There's a real problem about attracting teachers. Adding something extra right now, not necessarily the smartest move."

The bill comes from former Education Minister Nikki Kaye,

"The case for languages is really clear around cognitive ability," she told the NZ Herald."We need to legislate for this, it's not an optional thing to provide that access to languages, and that is a big shift as a country."

The proportion of all primary and intermediate students learning a second language, in addition to English and Māori, has more than doubled from 13 per cent in the year 2000 to 29 per cent in 2016.At least some study of te reo Māori has also become almost universal, increasing from 79 per cent of all primary and intermediate students in 2000 to 95 per cent.However the number studying foreign languages in secondary schools has dropped from 24 per cent of students in 2000 to 19 per cent.Kaye's bill would empower the Education Minister to issue a "national language policy" and to prescribe "a minimum of 10 national priority languages, which must include te reo Māori and NZ Sign Language".When she first announced the policy in August, she said Mandarin, French, Spanish, Japanese and Korean were "likely to be included".She is now calling for cross-party agreement on a long-term policy."We want to reach across parties. We realise this is not a short-term thing. In order to put the resources into this, you would need to build up to this over time," she said."My ideal would be that the government adopts the legislation or principles of effectively universal access to second language learning in schools."Current Education Minister Chris Hipkins said last August that it would cost $117 million a year to pay for a language teacher in every primary school - far more than the $160 million that National proposed to spend on the policy over four years.This week he said there were clear benefits to more students learning a second language, however, the Government's focus at this stage was on ensuring there were enough teachers for the subjects currently on offer."We've inherited critical and worsening teacher shortages across a range of subjects, including languages and addressing that is one of our top priorities."While Hipkins said he welcomed any opportunity to "find genuine common cause with the Opposition" it had not yet raised the matter of second language learning with him.

LISTEN TO PETER O'CONNOR TALK WITH CHRIS LYNCH ABOVE

- with content from NZ Herald