09:05 Are community pharmacies under threat?

Some pharmacies are charging consumers 20 cents to $1 more per prescription than their contract entitles them to.

Some pharmacies are charging consumers 20 cents to $1 more per prescription than their contract entitles them to. Photo: 123RF

What does the future hold for community pharmacies numbered as competiton ramps up from a large Australian super-store chain and Countdown supermarkets? The Australian giant, The Chemist Warehouse, has launched in Auckland - slashing prescription charges to zero and heavily discounting merchandise. Meanwhile pharmacies located in Countdown supermarkets around the country are also cutting charges. Kathryn talks with Wellington pharmacist Ben Latty, Andrew Gaudin from the Pharmacy Guild and Alison van Wyk from Green Cross Health.

9:20  Survey shows schools keen to dump donations

An NZEI survey of more than 600  primary and intermediate schools has shown that despite the pressure on school operational budgets, four in five could scrap donations. About 82 per cent of the respondents said they planned to take up the Labour Party's campaign pledge for $150 per student in compensation, with three-quarters saying their school would be better off.The poll also found that 44% of respondents plan to cut teacher aide hours to meet budgets in 2018, while 14% expect to be short of teachers. Kathryn speaks with NZEI President Lynda Stuart, Berhampore School principals, Mark Potter, and Wayne Jenkins, principal of Ross Intermediate School.

09:45 Australia correspondent Peter Munro

A high-profile Opposition Senator has resigned from federal parliament over his controversial links to China, the first same-sex couples planning to marry in Australia have set January 9th as their wedding date, and former Netball NZ chief Raelene Castle has been announced as Rugby Australia's new chief executive.

10:05 Jack Charles v The Crown

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Photo: Photo credit: Bindi Cole

At 74 years of age, indigenous activist, member of the stolen generation, thief, musician and actor, Jack Charles (Boonwurrung and Wiradjeri) has quite the tale to tell. His yarns, spoken in his own words, sung and accompanied by a three-piece band, are coming to the Auckland Arts Festival next year.

10:35 Book review

Leah McFall reviews A Pleasure To Be Here: The Best of Clarke and Dawe by John Clarke, published by Text.

10:45 The Reading

11:05 Music with Graeme Downes

A celebration of top Kiwi female music artists, featuring music from Nadia Reid's 2017 album Preservation. Graeme Downes is a founding member of the Verlaines, songwriter, musicologist, senior lecturer in the Department of Music at the University of Otago.

11:20 Ruatoria pushing to be first medicinal cannabis grower

Ruatoria-based charitable trust Hikurangi Enterprises is looking at developing hemp as a potential industry for medicinal cannabis. Last year they planted a trial of 5,000 low-THC hemp plants as a field crop. A group of students are now involved in the first-ever low-THC hemp course. Kathryn Ryan speaks with the trust's managing director Panapa Ehau.

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Photo: Hikurangi Enterprises

11:45 Science commentator Siouxsie Wiles

The duck-like dinosaur Halszkaraptor escuilliei.

The duck-like dinosaur Halszkaraptor escuilliei. Photo: Supplied / Lukas Panzarin

This week sees the announcement that a fossil penguin discovered in New Zealand is a new species and one of the oldest known; new research suggests countries need to take heed of climate projections when planning how much to rely on wind energy; and researchers have discovered that microbes in Antarctica have a previously unknown ability to scavenge hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from the air to stay alive in the extreme conditions.

 

Music played in this show

Artist:   James Hunter

Song: Chicken Switch

Composer: Hunter

Album: Minute by Minute

Label: Fantasy

Time: 10:30 

 

Artist: Nadia Reid

Song: The Arrow and the Aim

Comp: Reid

Album: Preservation

Label: Universal Music New Zealand Limited

Broadcast Time: 11:06

 

Artist: Nadia Reid

Song: Hanson St Part 2 (A River)

Comp: Reid

Album: Preservation

Label: Universal Music New Zealand Limited

Broadcast Time: 11:15

 

Artist: Nadia Reid

Song: Right On Time

Comp: Reid

Album: Preservation

Label: Universal Music New Zealand Limited

Broadcast Time: 11:25

 

Artist: Ishay Shaer

Song: 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126: No. 4, Presto

Comp: Beethoven

Album: Late Beethoven

Label: Orchid Classics

Broadcast Time: 11:30