Saturday Morning

07:07 Weather update from Nelson Tasman

A state of emergency remains in place in Nelson Tasman after more heavy rain. RNZ's Mary Argue is on the ground in Riwaka just outside of Nelson and she talks to Mihingarangi Forbes about how locals are coping in the face of more evacuations. 

07:13 Overview from the Metservice

Oscar Shiviti  talks to Paddy Gower about the Nelson Tasman forecast for the rest of the weekend and what other parts of the country can expect. 

07:20 Latest from the Ukraine and Russia

Overnight Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian drone attack has hit a maternity hospital in the city of Kharkiv, injuring several women.

The UN's Human-Rights-Monitoring-Mission in Ukraine says June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years, with 232 people killed.

It comes against the backdrop of some landmark court rulings against Russia and increasing concern Ukraine will be split-up under a future peace plan.

Vitaly Shevchenko, the BBC's expert on Russia and Ukraine, joins Mihingarangi Forbes from London.

07:30 Nurses vote to strike

More than 36,000 Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora have voted to strike for 24 hours. The Nurses Organisation says the strike is due to Health NZ's failure to address safe staffing concerns.

Health NZ is offering a 3 percent pay rise over two years, plus two payments of $325. But the union said the agency was refusing to provide safe staffing levels in its latest contract offer.

NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter talks to Paddy Gower about what it would take to resolve their concerns. 

07:36 Royal Commission into Covid-19 response

The second phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand's Covid-19 response, got underway this week in Auckland.

The first phase was last year when Commissioners concluded that vaccine mandates were "reasonable" but were applied "more broadly than envisaged".

RNZ reporter Victor Waters speaks to Mihingarangi Forbes about what came out of this week's discussions which focused on Auckland and Northland. 

07:43 Using toxic fungus to fight cancer

Toxic fungus has been in the headlines this week - Australian woman Erin Patterson was found guilty of murdering her three in-laws by poisoning them with death cap mushrooms.

But there's a toxic fungus that researchers have been able to use to fight cancer. The same mould that has been linked to deaths, in the excavations of ancient tombs - has the capability of fighting leukemia cells.

Dr Sherry Gao, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania speaks to Mihingarangi Forbes about the significance of this discovery.

07:50 On the court and on the track - Wimbledon and F1

It's finals weekend at Wimbledon. 

Sports broadcaster Michael Weadlock joins Paddy Gower from London with his predictions and to discuss the big upset of the week in Formula 1.

8.10 Amelia Kerr: a role model beyond the wicket 

At 24, White Fern Amelia Kerr holds a bunch of cricket records, including for the highest individual score in a women's One Day International match.

But at the height of her cricket career, Amelia called time out and opened up about her struggles with mental health. She says the support of her family saved her life.

Now she's using her platform to speak out about youth well-being.  She recently joined Barnardos as an Ambassador, involved in the What's Up counselling helpline, the only helpline in Aotearoa for children as young as 5 and up to 19. 

8.30 Fatal Watch: Tim McKinnel and Bubba Cook on the dark underbelly of tuna fishing

The global trade in tuna is worth billions of dollars and provides much needed income for developing nations but the new documentary Fatal Watch, questions the human and environmental cost.

Several fisheries observers, contracted to monitor vessels for illegal fishing, have died or disappeared, presumed dead.

Environmentalists say the volume of fish being removed from the sea every year, is more than it can replenish at a sustainable rate.

Drawing on CCTV video, crime scene photos and insider interviews, Fatal Watch, screening at the Doc Edge film festival is an exposé of an industry that more often than not operates out of sight and out of the public mind.      

Conservationist Alfred "Bubba" Cook and high-profile New Zealand investigator, Tim McKinnel talk to Paddy Gower about the dark underbelly of the international fishing industry and the need for greater transparency, accountability and change.   

8.50 NZ Youth Choir conquers Europe

The  NZ Youth Choir took out top honours at the Grand Prix of Nations at the European Choir Games in Aarhus, Denmark. 

The choir's magic mix of waiata and songs from the Pacific earned them an incredible 97.50 out of 100 possible points in the Folklore section, the highest performance category at the Games, . 
 
In a very respectable second, they also scored 96.25 in the a cappella category.  

The choir has moved on to wow Oxford and now Wales. New Zealand Youth Choir Music Director David Squire joins fresh from the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

9.05 The House Within: Dame Fiona Kidman on how she became 'the girl who wrote' 

The life and literary legacy of Aotearoa's internationally acclaimed writer Dame Fiona Kidman has been captured in the documentary: The House Within.

Author of eleven novels and multiple short story and poetry collections, Kidman has been honoured both here and abroad for her services to literature.

The House Within was directed by Joshua Prendeville. Charting Dame Fiona's evolution as a writer, it begins with the child who first realised the power of the written word to change her own life and ends with the author who has used it to help change the lives of others.   

Fiona and Joshua speak with Paddy Gower.  The House Within is in cinemas from July 17th

9.35 Relandscaping NZ farms for future generations

Over more than two decades John Burke and his family have taken what was considered the most environmentally degraded farm in the Western Bay of Plenty and turned it into an award-winning environmental farm.

Describes as a genuine trailblazer, John's now dedicated himself to training farming groups in the benefits of regenerating erosion-prone land and the need for our primary sectors (including forestry) to work together to establish an aligned vision and plan to re-landscape the Aotearoa farm for future generations.

John's been busy working on a paper about how the primary industry can make progress twice as fast for half the cost. He shares his findings with Mihi Forbes.

10.06 Chelsea Winstanley: TOITŪ Visual Sovereignty 

Toitū Toiora was the landmark exhibition held at the Auckland Art Gallery in 2020.  

It endured a number of obstacles before opening night, including Covid 19 and the public resignation of its Māori curator, Nigel Borrell.  

The exhibition is a major survey of contemporary Māori art from the 1950s to the present day and is the largest exhibition the Auckland Art Gallery has ever undertaken. 

It featured over 300 artworks by 110 Māori artists; the idea was to introduce the audience to new ways of approaching and engaging with Māori art.

Award winning producer and director Chelsea Winstanley returned home from Hollywood to make a behind-the-scenes documentary and found herself at the centre of a modern day stand for sovereignty.

The result is TOITŪ Visual Sovereignty,  is showing at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

10.30 Chasing Pacific Fire - Waka Lab

A spectacular voyage of discovery by waka has just taken place in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, merging modern and traditional technology, measuring emissions from far flung volcanoes. 

The Vanuatu-Solomon Islands arc of volcanoes is a 15-hundred km long chain, part of the Ring of Fire. A third of the world's volcanic gases come from them. 

Project leader Dr Ian Schipper's Marsden funded project is a unique science venture combining state of the art tools with a traditional double-hulled waka to reach these remote and under-studied active volcanoes. 

Using underwater and airborne drones and home-made devices to capture gases, Senior Lecturer at Victoria University, Dr Ian Schipper worked with other NZ and international scientists and a crew of waka navigators and experts to measure emissions in the hope of understanding global volcanism and its atmospheric effects. 

11.05 Stacy Gregg - The Last Journey 

International bestselling author for middle-grade readers Stacy Gregg's latest book The Last Journey was inspired by the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods.

Stacy's home was inundated with water, forcing a year-long relocation while it was repaired. Stacy got lucky and found a house to rent in a cul de sac where her little burmilla kitten named Alexander Pusskin inveigled his way into their new community.

The episode caused Stacy to consider what it means to lose everything and how, in being forced to turn your life upside down, sometimes you discover inner reserves of strength.

11.25 Kate de Goldi: Reading for Pleasure

There's no better time than the weekend to dig into a good book. 

Kate de Goldi is a novelist, children's writer, Arts Foundation Laureate, and the recently announced Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador. Kate shares what her new role entails as well as the latest books she's loved.

This week she's read: Under a Fire-Red Sky by Geraldine McCaughrean; Homework by Geoff Dyer; and Broadsword Calling Danny Boy by Geoff Dyer.

11.45 Celebrating the DIVA

Nowadays the word Diva likely conjures up someone who's difficult to work with; but the term was traditionally used to describe renowned and celebrated performers. Women who were fabulous both on and off the stage.

Auckland Museum's DIVA exhibition, explores some of the world's best-known divas; from opera goddesses and silent movie stars to Hollywood legends and today's global megastars. Performers who have shaped culture, challenged norms, and captivated audiences worldwide.

Kate Bailey is the mind behind the exhibition, she's the Senior Curator of Theatre and Performance from the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London where the show originated, and as it tours the world, she's currently visiting New Zealand.

Kate showed Mihi Forbes around the exhibition.