Nine To Noon for Friday 1 September 2017

 

 

09:05 Survival of soil organisms a wake-up call for bio-security

Tiny creatures in soil that attack plants have shown the ability to survive for at least three years in new research, giving new insights into the bio-security threats posed by passenger travel and trade between countries. The creatures, called nematodes, are very small worm-like organisms – and are estimated to cause billions of dollars of crop damage worldwide each year. They can survive in dried out, seemingly harmless soil attached to a shoe or a freight container coming across the border – and can be extremely hardy and have both beneficial and detrimental impacts. Lynn Freeman speaks with a research scientist at AgResearch, Mark McNeill.

09:20 The power of prefab

It's predicted that the country will need 100,000 new homes by 2030 – 70,000 in Auckland.
Last week, it was reported that Fletcher Living has built a 170 square-metre house in just nine-and-a-half hours at Auckland's Hobsonville Point made largely of panels constructed off-site and put together on-site. The industry body, Prefab NZ, says prefab houses are 60 percent quicker to build, cost 15 percent less, have fewer defects than traditional builds and are more sustainable. Lynn Freeman speaks with Chief Executive Pamela Bell.

09:30 2017 Election countdown

RNZ Political Editor Jane Patterson on the the first major TV election debate and the latest polling.

09:45 Asia correspondent Anna Fifield

North Korea says its missile launch over Japan was a prelude to more military operations directed at the American territory of Guam, what happens next? And the latest from the flooding across South Asia.

10:05 A journey to better understanding: Israel & Palestinian

Journalist and author, Nir Baram, spent a year and a half traveling through the occupied territories around East Jerusalem and the West bank speaking with Arabs and Jews, Jewish settlers and Palestinian activists,extremists and pacifists, the young and the old, left and right, with the simple goal of listening. His aim for the project, which became a booked, called A Land Without Borders was to go out and challenge his political beliefs against the reality of the West Bank.

10:35 Book review

Laura Caygill reviews "Gather the Daughters" by Jennie Melamed.

10:45 The Reading

In the Air by Henare te Ua (part 10 of 10).

11:05 Music reviewer Grant Smithies

Sheffield synth-pop pioneers The Human League are on their way to New Zealand for the first time, and long-time fan Grant Smithies is chuffed. We revisit their extraordinary debut single from 1978 and another classic from their 1981 breakthrough album, Dare. And you might as well roll back the carpet: we'll also be hearing dance-friendly gems from Wellington producer Estere and Philadelphia's Evelyn "Champagne" King.  

11:30 Sports commentator Brendan Telfer

A week of upsets in Cricket, Netball and Rugby.

11:45 The week that was with Te Radar and Alice Brine

A lighter look at the week including the Christchurch cycleway contractors who were banned from riding bikes during work hours, and the 78 year old's pink hat which was too much for Masterton District Library.