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A 24-hour recording of Radio New Zealand National. The following rundown is sourced from the broadcaster’s website. Note some overseas/copyright restricted items may not appear in the supplied rundown:
30 July 2015
===12:04 AM. | All Night Programme===
=DESCRIPTION=
Including: 12:05 Music after Midnight; 12:30 One in Five (RNZ); 1:05 Discovery (BBC); 2:05 The Thursday Feature (RNZ); 3:05 Heart of Darfur, by Lisa French Blaker (4 of 12, RNZ); 3:30 NZ Books (RNZ); 5:10 Witness (BBC); 5:45 The Day in Parliament (RNZ)
===6:00 AM. | Morning Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand's three-hour breakfast news show with news and interviews, bulletins on the hour and half-hour
=AUDIO=
06:00
Top Stories for Thursday 30 July 2015
BODY:
Aviation expert says if part from 777, plane part likely to be from MH370. Russia rejects MH17 tribunal. Housing Minister forecasts 'unprecedented' construction activity. Confidence NZ won't sell its soul for sake of Trans Pacific Partnership this week. The Taliban's leader confirmed dead, in 2013. Fire at a block of flats in Auckland. Calls for preventive detention getting louder.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 28'52"
06:06
Sports News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'05"
06:10
One injured and three others rescued from house fire in Auckland
BODY:
A woman had to be given CPR and three others have been rescued from a house fire in Auckland.
Topics:
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: fire
Duration: 1'15"
06:19
Pacific News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
The latest from the Pacific region.
Topics: Pacific
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'42"
06:22
Morning Rural News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sector.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 4'12"
06:27
Te Manu Korihi News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
Embracing te reo and tikanga Maori is paying dividends for a the Taranaki arm of an international accountancy firm; The Maori Party is supporting the Minister of Corrections because it says he's prepared to consider rehabilitation programmes for Maori prisoners; The first stage of the 1080 drop on Auckland's Hunua Ranges begins today with the support of the Wharekawa marae at the foothills of the range.
Topics: te ao Maori
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'22"
06:42
Builders worried about skill shortage amid 'unprecedented growth'
BODY:
Builders say they're concerned about a shortage of skilled tradespeople ahead of unprecedented growth in construction forecast for the next six years.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: building
Duration: 2'32"
06:47
Reserve Bank rules out large interest rate cuts
BODY:
The Reserve Bank says further interest rates cuts are likely, but it's not entertaining the notion of significant reductions.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: RTeserve Bank
Duration: 2'16"
06:49
Abano expects to grow by acquisition
BODY:
Abano Healthcare Group is expecting to continue to grow, by buying dental businesses in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: haelthcare
Duration: 1'50"
06:51
Fed leaves door open to September rate hike
BODY:
The Federal Reserve in the United States has left the door open for a possible rate hike.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: Federal Reserve
Duration: 35"
06:53
Investors aim to keep listed firms honest
BODY:
A group of institutional investors is aiming to keep listed firms honest by making sure their rules and processes are open and fair, and ensure their decisions can be accounted for.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'31"
06:55
Mainfreight takes a swipe at the Treasury
BODY:
Mainfreight has taken a swipe at the Treasury's call to shut down KiwiRail.
Topics: business, transport
Regions:
Tags: Kiwirail
Duration: 42"
06:56
Ryman buys Hamilton site, close to buying in Melbourne
BODY:
The retirement and aged care provider, Ryman Healthcare, has bought more land in Hamilton and is close to confirming a third site in Melbourne as part of its plan to increase its resident numbers by 70 percent in the next five years.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: healthcare
Duration: 1'29"
06:57
IkeGPS considers plans to attract American investors
BODY:
IkeGPS is considering plans to attract American investors, including the option of listing in the United States.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'40"
06:58
Morning markets for 30 July 2015
BODY:
Wall Street is up after a meeting of the Federal Reserve.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 1'04"
07:08
Sports News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'02"
07:15
Aviation expert says plane part could be from MH370
BODY:
Mary Schiavo is an aviation lawyer and a former inspector general of the US Department of Transportation.
Topics: transport
Regions:
Tags: MH370
Duration: 5'20"
07:20
Russia rejects MH17 tribunal
BODY:
The United Nations' Security Council is voting on a bid for an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of downing the Malaysian Airlines plane, MH17, over the Ukraine last year.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: MH17, Ukraine, Russia
Duration: 3'16"
07:24
Housing Minister forecasts 'unprecedented' construction activity
BODY:
A new Government report shows construction activity during the next six years is expected to top two-hundred billion dollars.
Topics: housing, politics
Regions:
Tags: construction
Duration: 5'02"
07:29
Confidence NZ won't sell its soul for sake of Trans Pacific Partnership this week
BODY:
New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy, Mike Petersen, is confident the Trans Pacific Partnership can be wrapped up this week.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: TPP
Duration: 4'58"
07:37
The Taliban's leader confirmed dead, in 2013
BODY:
The government of Afghanistan have confirmed that the reclusive leader of the Afghan Taliban movement, Mullah Omar, is dead.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Taliban, Afghanistan
Duration: 3'43"
07:42
Fire at block of flats in Auckland
BODY:
As we reported earlier this morning firefighters rescued four people from a blaze at a block of flats in Remuera.
Topics:
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: fire
Duration: 2'35"
07:45
Calls for preventive detention getting louder
BODY:
A former Police detective and the father of a murder victim are backing calls for preventive detention to be made an option for some offenders when they've completed their prison sentence.
Topics: law, crime
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'18"
07:48
A former US trade representative talks TPP
BODY:
The wide-ranging TPPA deal involves 12 Pacific Rim countries and covers such diverse areas as investment rules, intellectual property protection and market access.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: TPP
Duration: 5'07"
07:53
More details come to light on Cecil the lion
BODY:
The outrage over the killing of Cecil the lion is continuing to dominate social media around the world.
Topics: law
Regions:
Tags: hunting, Cecil the lion
Duration: 3'26"
07:57
Another ineligibility scandal for New Zealand Football
BODY:
New Zealand Football is facing fresh allegations of using ineligible players less than a fortnight after the team's disqualification from the Rio Olympics qualifying tournament in Papua New Guinea.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags: football, soccer, All Whites, FIFA
Duration: 2'46"
08:07
Sports News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'10"
08:11
Wiping Japan's high tariffs the focus of Beef and Lamb NZ during TPP talks
BODY:
New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy, Mike Petersen, is confident the Trans Pacific Partnership can be wrapped up this week.
Topics: politics, business
Regions:
Tags: TPP
Duration: 4'01"
08:16
TPP documents suggest clampdown on SOEs
BODY:
Guyon Espiner talks to Auckland University law professor Jane Kelsey.
Topics: politics, business
Regions:
Tags: TPP
Duration: 4'08"
08:20
Master Builders encouraged but wary of new construction forecast
BODY:
The Master Builders Association says while it's encouraging to see construction activity is forecast to peak at an all-time high, New Zealand has an unfortunate history of compromising on quality during a boom.
Topics: housing
Regions:
Tags: construction
Duration: 4'14"
08:24
Majority of our packaged foods unhealthy - study finds
BODY:
A new study has found more than 80 per cent of packaged foods available in supermarkets are ultra-processed - and are the least healthy option.
Topics: health, food
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'15"
08:27
1080 drop begins in Auckland's Hunua Ranges today
BODY:
The first stage of the 1080 drop on Auckland's Hunua Ranges, home to 60 per cent of the city's water supply begins today.
Topics: environment
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: 1080
Duration: 3'21"
08:32
Markets Update for 30 July 2015
BODY:
A brief update of movements in the financial sector.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 1'20"
08:38
Former Conservative Party board member won't back down
BODY:
One of the men at the centre of a defamation claim by the former leader of the Conservative Party Colin Craig says he won't back down.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'41"
08:40
Graduates say their livelihoods haven't improved after university
BODY:
Earlier this week a survey has revealed the number of students in financial distress has more than doubled since 2012.
Topics: education
Regions:
Tags: students, university
Duration: 3'06"
08:47
Te Manu Korihi News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
Embracing te reo and tikanga Maori is paying dividends for a the Taranaki arm of an international accountancy firm; The Maori Party is supporting the Minister of Corrections because it says he's prepared to consider rehabilitation programmes for Maori prisoners; The first stage of the 1080 drop on Auckland's Hunua Ranges begins today with the support of the Wharekawa marae at the foothills of the range.
Topics: te ao Maori
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'54"
08:51
Miners families vow to fight for safer workplaces
BODY:
The family of two men who died in the Pike River mine disaster have taken their fight for workplace safety to Parliament.
Topics:
Regions: West Coast
Tags: Pike River mine, workplace safety
Duration: 2'28"
08:54
High mileage Hilux to be used as courtesy car
BODY:
A Kiwi ute with enough miles on the clock to have travelled to the moon and back three times, has found a new home in Christchurch.
Topics: life and society
Regions:
Tags: ute
Duration: 2'39"
08:58
Kiwi author Anna Smaill makes 2015 Man Booker long-list
BODY:
New Zealand author Anna Smaill has been long-listed for this year's Man Booker prize.
Topics: arts, books, author interview
Regions:
Tags: The Chimes
Duration: 1'33"
=SHOW NOTES=
===9:06 AM. | Nine To Noon===
=DESCRIPTION=
Current affairs and topics of interest, including: 10:45 The Reading: Five Sons and 100 Muri of Rice, by Sharyn Steel and Zoe Dryden (9 of 12, RNZ)
=AUDIO=
09:08
Pacific Islands Forum head on situation in Nauru
BODY:
The suspended Nauru opposition MP Roland Kun remains without a passport and separated from his family here in New Zealand. Mr Kun's passport was confiscated six weeks ago when he tried to leave the country for New Zealand - he had been involved in anti-government protests. There's been growing concern about the rule of law in Nauru with the recent expulsion of members of the judiciary, the suspension the MPs, and the removal of civil and political rights. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Dame Meg Taylor visited Nauru this week, where she met with Nauru's President, members of the judiciary, as well as the suspended MPs.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: Nauru
Duration: 9'42"
09:20
Govt halts abuse prediction study
BODY:
The Social Development Minister, Anne Tolley has put a stop to an "observational study" of children to assess a new tool to predict the risk of abuse. The Ministry of Social Development commissioned AUT economist Professor Rhema Vaithianathan to develop the model, which uses data about children and their families to identify those at risk of physical, sexual or emotional abuse before the age of two. But Ministry documents show officials tried to get ethics approval for a study which would risk-rate newborns and then keep a watching brief to check if the predictive tool worked.
Topics: health, crime
Regions:
Tags: child abuse
Duration: 17'27"
09:36
How to hack a car and take control
BODY:
Chris Valasek successfully hacked a Jeep Cherokee using only a laptop, taking over so that the driver no longer had any control. He's the Director of Vehicle Security Research at IOActive... the hacking was all part of an experiment to prove just how vulnerable many high tech cars are to being remotely controlled. The hacking was filmed by wired.com.
Topics: technology
Regions:
Tags: hacking
Duration: 9'10"
09:50
UK correspondent Kate Adie
BODY:
The Lord Sewell cocaine scandal and the state of politics in the U.K.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: UK
Duration: 11'38"
10:06
Building the future with exponential organisations
BODY:
Tech entrepreneur Salim Ismail discusses exponential technological growth and is optimistic about the impact on sectors like healthcare and finance as well as our systems of governance. He argues that it is time for a new model - which he calls the Exponential Organisation. He is an author and the founding executive director of the Singularity University, which is part think-tank, part business-incubator.
EXTENDED BODY:
Salim Ismail Photo CC BY 2.0 Jay Cross.
Tech entrepreneur Salim Ismail is the author of Exponential Organisations and Founding Executive Director of Silicon Valley based, Singularity University, which is part think-tank, part business-incubator.
He is about to visit New Zealand as a guest of Callaghan Innovation, to speak about how to build a start-up at a time when disruptive technologies and globalisation are transforming the way we do business.
Salim Ismail discusses exponential technological growth and is optimistic about the impact on sectors like healthcare and finance as well as our systems of governance.
He argues that it is time for a new model - which he calls the Exponential Organisation.
Details of Salim Ismail's talk are available on the Callaghan Innovation website.
Topics: technology, business
Regions:
Tags: climate, electricity
Duration: 33'51"
10:40
Book Review: The Predictions
BODY:
The Predictions by Bianca Zander.Published by Little Brown, RRP$29.99. Reviewed by Lynne Browning
Topics: books
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 5'05"
11:06
New Technology with Sarah Putt
BODY:
Ban the robotic arms race. Best cities for start-ups. Will connectivity influence house prices?
Topics: technology
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 12'23"
11:22
The benefits for children of working with animals
BODY:
Louise Bourne is a former early childhood teacher who has long felt that kids spend too much time indoors. She decided to set up a rural experience programme for children at her 3 acre farm in Horokiwi near Wellington. Under her tutelage, kids learn how to feed and care for animals - from guineapigs to horses, and spend time outdoors.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: children, animals, parenting
Duration: 16'41"
11:47
Film review with Dan Slevin
BODY:
Dan Slevin talks about Mr. Holmes, Self/Less and picks from the New Zealand International Film Festival.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: film
Duration: 11'47"
=SHOW NOTES=
09:05 Pacific Islands Forum head on situation in Nauru
The suspended Nauru opposition MP Roland Kun remains without a passport and separated from his family here in New Zealand. Mr Kun's passport was confiscated six weeks ago when he tried to leave the country for New Zealand - he had been involved in anti-government protests.
There's been growing concern about the rule of law in Nauru with the recent expulsion of members of the judiciary, the suspension the MPs, and the removal of civil and political rights. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Dame Meg Taylor visited Nauru this week, where she met with Nauru's President, members of the judiciary, as well as the suspended MPs.
09:20 Government halts abuse prediction study
The Social Development Minister, Anne Tolley has put a stop to an "observational study" of children to assess a new tool to predict the risk of abuse. The Ministry of Social Development commissioned Auckland economist Professor Rhema Vaithianathan to develop the model, which uses data about children and their families to identify those at risk of physical, sexual or emotional abuse before the age of two.
But Ministry documents show officials tried to get ethics approval for a study which would risk-rate newborns and then keep a watching brief to check if the predictive tool worked.
Auckland economist Professor Rhema and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley discuss.
09:30 How to hack a car and take control
Chris Valasek successfully hacked a Jeep Cherokee using only a laptop, taking over so that the driver no longer had any control. He's the Director of Vehicle Security Research at IOActive... the hacking was all part of an experiment to prove just how vulnerable many high tech cars are to being remotely controlled.
The hacking was filmed by Wired.
[video] https://youtu.be/MK0SrxBC1xs
09:45 UK correspondent Kate Adie
10:05 Tech Entrepeneur Salim Ismail on building a start up
Tech entrepreneur Salim Ismail is the author of Exponential Organisations and Founding Executive Director of Silicon Valley based, Singularity University, which is part think-tank, part business-incubator.
He is about to visit New Zealand as a guest of Callaghan Innovation, to speak about how to build a start-up at a time when disruptive technologies and globalisation are transforming the way we do business.
He argues that it is time for a new model - what he calls the Exponential Organisation.
Details of his talk are available on the Callaghan Innovation website.
10:35 Book Review: The Predictions by Bianca Zander
Reviewed by Lynne Browning, published by Little Brown.
10:45 The Reading: Five Sons & 100 Muri of Rice by Sharyn Steel and Zoe Dryden
Read by Susan Wilson and Uma Giri (Episode 9 of 12)
11:05 New Technology with Sarah Putt
Sarah Putt discusses banning the robotic arms race; best cities for start-ups; and will connectivity influence house prices?
11:30 The benefits for children of working with animals
Louise Bourne is a former early childhood teacher who has long felt that kids spend too much time indoors. She decided to set up a rural experience programme for children at her three acre farm in Horokiwi near Wellington. Under her tutelage, kids learn how to feed and care for animals - from guinea pigs to horses, and spend time outdoors.
[image:44205:full]
11:45 Film reviewer, Dan Slevin
Dan Slevin discusses new releases Mr Holmes (Bill Condon); Self/Less (Tarsem Singh); and some more picks of the New Zealand International Film Festival.
===Noon | Midday Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand news, followed by updates and reports until 1.00pm, including: 12:16 Business News 12:26 Sport 12:34 Rural News 12:43 Worldwatch
=AUDIO=
12:00
Midday News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
A piece of the missing Malaysian airliner may have been found and the police watchdog finds women and children were illegally detained during a raid.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 15'28"
12:17
Housing consents have fallen
BODY:
Housing consents have fallen. Official figures show consents issued dropped a seasonally-adjusted 4-point-1 percent in June compared with the previous month.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: Housing consents
Duration: 1'13"
12:18
Briscoe Group says strong winter sales will drive profit growth
BODY:
Briscoe Group is expecting its half year profit to rise by at least 8 percent to 20 million dollars, on the back of strong sales and improved margins.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: Briscoe Group
Duration: 1'31"
12:20
Potentially significant oil find off the Canterbury Coast
BODY:
The oil and gas explorer, New Zealand Oil and Gas, is flagging a potentially significant oil find off the Canterbury Coast.
Topics: business
Regions: Canterbury
Tags: New Zealand Oil and Gas
Duration: 1'14"
12:21
Heartlands expecting to match forecast profit for the year
BODY:
Heartland New Zealand is expecting a profit of about 48 million dollars for the 2015 financial year, and expects next year's profits will increase to more than 50 million.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: Heartland New Zealand
Duration: 40"
12:22
Turners buys Southern Finance for $5 million
BODY:
Turners says it's bought the Christchurch-based Southern Finance company for 5 million dollars.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: Southern Finance, Turners
Duration: 1'07"
12:24
Midday marketsfor 30 July 2015
BODY:
For the latest from the markets we're joined by Angus Marks at First NZ Capital
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 2'17"
12:26
Midday Sports News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
The New Zealand men's basketball coach Paul Henare says they got the type of game they were hoping for as they went down 70-68 to Croatia in the latest game on their European tour.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'39"
12:35
Midday Rural News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sectors.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 7'54"
=SHOW NOTES=
===1:06 PM. | Jesse Mulligan, 1–4pm===
=DESCRIPTION=
Information and debate, people and places around NZ
=AUDIO=
13:06
Jesse Intro
BODY:
Today New Zealand's first gorillas. how did they get here? Air New Zealand premium economy?
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 4'16"
13:10
Songs You Have To Hear
BODY:
Baby Bye Bye by Kitty Daisy & Lewis, who are playing the Powerstation tonight.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 5'37"
13:16
Gorillas In Our Midst - Nathan Hawke
BODY:
Three gorillas have been unveiled in Christchurch's Orana Wildlife Park today - it's the first time a group of Gorillas has taken residence in New Zealand. We speak to Nathan Hawke to find out what their new six million dollar enclosure is like, how they're settling in and when the public will get to see them.
EXTENDED BODY:
Three gorillas have been unveiled in Christchurch's Orana Wildlife Park today - it's the first time a group of Gorillas has taken residence in New Zealand. We speak to Nathan Hawke to find out what their new six million dollar enclosure is like, how they're settling in and when the public will get to see them.
Related
Topics:
Regions: Canterbury
Tags: Orana Wildlife Park, gorillas
Duration: 7'25"
13:24
Social Anxiety - Jennifer Trew
BODY:
New research shows that helping an old lady across the street may help you cope better at a party. A study has found that small acts of kindness like giving to charity, or cooking dinner for a friend, can have a secondary benefit - helping to soothe your own social anxiety. We speak to Jennifer Trew from the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada.
Topics: science
Regions:
Tags: social anxiety, anxiety, mental health, psychology
Duration: 8'01"
13:32
The Tale Of The Mummified leg - Bryan Carberry
BODY:
One man's fight to recover his mummified leg from a guy who accidentally bought it at a storage-unit auction is now the subject of a new documentary. We talk to director Bryan Carberry.
Topics: media
Regions:
Tags: film
Duration: 7'58"
13:40
Feature Album
BODY:
'Gaucho' by Steely Dan (1980) chosen by Ian Blackman of Rotorua.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 19'55"
14:08
Roadmap - Geraldine
BODY:
We're in Geraldine where Sam Lees and an army of volunteers are 'edibilizing" the town centre, with a new spin on community gardens, and Gavin Oliver is sharing his passion for bees. Plus, we'll tell you where you can go if you want to do some burlesque dancing in Geraldine!
Topics:
Regions: Canterbury
Tags: Geraldine
Duration: 49'59"
15:08
The Expats - Rebecca Mayston
BODY:
This week on The Expats we're speaking to Rebecca Mayston who runs desert tours in Oman.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Oman
Duration: 14'14"
15:22
Masterpieces - John Reynolds
BODY:
John Reynolds joins us to discuss his favourite work of art - Big Yam Dreaming by Emily Kngwarreye.
EXTENDED BODY:
John Reynolds joins us to discuss his favourite work of art – Big Yam Dreaming by Emily Kngwarreye.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: John Reynolds
Duration: 7'31"
15:45
The Panel pre-show for 30 July 2015
BODY:
Your feedback, and a preview of the guests and topics on The Panel.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 14'51"
21:34
A Community Wind Farm for Blueskin Bay
BODY:
The Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust is working towards building three community-owned wind turbines that will help build the community's resilience and energy independence
EXTENDED BODY:
By Alison Ballance
“We’re not really discussing whether climate change is occurring. We can see that it is. This is the next step, which is that it’s one thing to say ‘this is terrible, this is bad’ but it’s harder to think about what you might do instead. And we’ve picked on the wind project as a way of showing that local communities can make a difference.”
Craig Marshall, Chair, Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust
While Tony Abbott, Prime Minster of Australia, has been loudly railing against wind turbines and solar power in his country recently, the residents of Blueskin Bay, just north of Dunedin, can’t wait to have the blades of their own wind turbines turning on their skyline. The turbines will belong to community-owned Blueskin Energy Ltd, which has been developing the idea of a community wind farm for the past eight years.
Wind farm proposals are often cursed with NIMBY or ‘not in my backyard’ opposition but Blueskin Energy Ltd’s Scott Willis says the reverse is the case in Blueskin Bay.
“We actually want them in our front yard. Many years ago there was a student here doing some research into small wind and he asked the question ‘what would you say about wind turbines in your environment.’ And he got “I really wouldn’t like them if they’re owned by a big corporate’, and “I love them, I want to have them – if they’re owned by us’.”
An enthusiasm for locally-produced renewable electricity generation isn’t the only thing that sets the Blueskin Bay communities apart from many others.
Newly defined coastal hazard zones, for example, which identify low-lying areas that will be at risk from sea level rise, have Christchurch and Kapiti Coast residents up in arms, but the low-lying Blueskin Bay communities have decided that denial and inaction are not options, and instead they are actively planning what their future might look like as rising sea levels begin to threaten their houses.
The residents are part of the Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust (BRCT), a group of concerned residents who were galvanised into action following severe floods in 2006 which isolated Waitati for several days.
“After the flood in Waitati in 2006 a small group of people got together and said ‘this is no good – we need to look after ourselves’,” says Purakanui resident Ross Johnston. “And as a result they started to do a number of things to support the sustainability of their community.”
Rising sea levels and other impacts of climate change are just some of many issues being discussed by the 1000-or-so households that are embraced by the BRCT. Energy literacy, warm well-insulated homes, community gardens and fruit trees, car-pooling and a desire for energy independence are also part of the community conversation.
“What would you do if we had another flood? But in the long term, what about energy resilience, what about the fact that we can’t continue to use resources the way we have. Should we consider continuing to live on the flat down there?” asks current BRCT Chair Craig Marshall. “Those are hard questions, and it’s not clear there are any obvious answers, but you should be starting to think about it anyway.”
Waitati resident Antony Deaker says that for him, as for many people, these conversations began in the playground as parents waited to collect kids after school. They expanded to become kitchen table conversations, and soon to public hall meetings. The Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust was formed in 2008, and it began a series of visioning and community engagement workshops, some of which involved Janet Stephenson and students from the University of Otago’s Centre for Sustainability.
“It’s an interesting community because it’s very varied and it’s open to new ideas,” says Craig Marshall. “One of the nice things about it is that people have strong views, and they do something about them. And that I think is the key thing about it – that people don’t just think about doing something, they actually do it.”
Community Wind
The most ambitious thing that the Blueskin Bay communities have done is to embark on a project to build three community-owned wind turbines. The Blueskin Energy project is being led by Scott Willis, and after years of planning Blueskin Energy Ltd has just signed an agreement with a local farmer to site the three turbines on top of Porteous Hill on the northern side of Blueskin Bay. The next step is to apply for resource consent. The turbines will be small, sub-megawatt turbines, and the key to the location is not just good amounts of quality wind but also close proximity to a substation which will allow the power produced to be easily fed into the national network. The three turbines will have a very small footprint on the ground and will not affect the day-to-day working of the farm
“This is one of the magical things about wind,” Says Scott. “Although it’s a costly development because you’ve got to build something up front it enables everything else to keep on going all around it, and it doesn’t cost through its lifetime because the wind is free of course.”
Originally the community wanted to produce and then use their own power, but eventually came to the realisation that with the way the electricity market is structured it made more sense to sell the power and then use the income from that to benefit the community.
The wind project will cost between five to six million dollars, and local resident and investment advisor Charles Abraham is planning to approach experienced investors to raise the capital required.
Community-owned renewable energy projects are common in the United Kingdom, where there are more than 5000, but rare in New Zealand. The only other community wind generator that I am aware of is Pioneer Generation in Central Otago, a community-owned organisation that has exclusive rights to generate, distribute and supply electricity to the wider Central Otago area. Pioneer Generation is just completing the 8-turbine Flat Hill wind farm at Bluff.
According to the New Zealand Wind Energy Association web site there are 19 wind farms either operating or under construction in New Zealand.
Solar
Many households in the Blueskin Bay area have already installed photovoltaic panels on the roofs and are selling the power back into the national grid.
Janet Stephenson from the University of Otago says the high uptake of solar in the Blueskin Bay area accounts for most of the solar installations in Otago, and that as prices for photovoltaic panels become more affordable rates of solar installation are rising rapidly nationwide.
Topics: science, environment, rural, energy
Regions:
Tags: electricity, power generation, photovoltaic cells, solar energy, wind turbine, renewable energy, climate change, home insulation, community gardens, energy literacy
Duration: 36'54"
=SHOW NOTES=
1:10 Songs You Have To Hear
Baby Bye Bye by Kitty Daisy & Lewis, who are playing the Powerstation tonight.
1:17 Gorillas In Our Midst – Nathan Hawke
Three gorillas have been unveiled in Christchurch's Orana Wildlife Park today - it's the first time a group of Gorillas has taken residence in New Zealand. We speak to Nathan Hawke to find out what their new six million dollar enclosure is like, how they're settling in and when the public will get to see them.
[image:44252:full]
1:27 Social Anxiety – Jennifer Trew
New research shows that helping an old lady across the street may help you cope better at a party. A study has found that small acts of kindness like giving to charity, or cooking dinner for a friend, can have a secondary benefit - helping to soothe your own social anxiety. We speak to Jennifer Trew from the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada.
1:34 The Tale Of The Mummified leg – Bryan Carberry
One man's fight to recover his mummified leg from a guy who accidentally bought it at a storage-unit auction is now the subject of a new documentary. We talk to director Bryan Carberry.
1:40 Feature Album
Gaucho by Steely Dan (1980) chosen by Ian Blackman of Rotorua.
2:10 Roadmap - Geraldine
We're in Geraldine where Sam Lees and an army of volunteers are 'edibilizing" the town centre, with a new spin on community gardens, and Gavin Oliver is sharing his passion for bees. Plus, we'll tell you where you can go if you want to do some burlesque dancing in Geraldine!
Incredible Edible Geraldine
3:10 The Expats - Rebecca Mayston
This week on The Expats we're speaking to Rebecca Mayston who runs desert tours in Oman.
3:25 Masterpieces - John Reynolds
John Reynolds joins us to discuss his favourite work of art – Big Yam Dreaming by Emily Kngwarreye.
3:35 Blueskin Energy project - Alison Ballance
The small community of Blueskin Bay, just north of Dunedin, has some big ambitions. They're planning for the future in a whole lot of different ways, and as Alison Ballance finds out, their most audacious idea is the Blueskin Energy Project, which aims to build a small community-owned wind farm.
Stories from Our Changing World.
3:45 The Panel Pre-Show
What the world is talking about. With Jesse Mulligan, Jim Mora and Zoe George.
===4:06 PM. | The Panel===
=DESCRIPTION=
An hour of discussion featuring a range of panellists from right along the opinion spectrum (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
15:45
The Panel pre-show for 30 July 2015
BODY:
Your feedback, and a preview of the guests and topics on The Panel.
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Duration: 14'51"
16:03
The Panel with Dita de Boni and Richard Poole (Part 1)
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What the Panelists Dita de Boni and Richard Poole have been up to. Part of an aeroplane wing has been found near Reunion Island leading to speculation it's from the missing Malaysia Airlines 777 jet. NIWA oceanographer Dr Phil Sutton talks to the Panel about sea currents that could have deposited the debris. The chair of the Game Animal Council Don Hammond joins the Panel to talk about trophy hunting as outrage about the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe circulates the world.
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Duration: 23'31"
16:05
The Panel with Dita de Boni and Richard Poole (Part 2)
BODY:
Cartoonist Garrick Tremain shares his thoughts on the flag the national anthem and the kiwi. What the Panelists Dita de Boni and Richard Poole have been thinking about. A lesbian couple found a young man to help them make babies. They chose him because he looked good and seemed intelligent. We ask Dr Richard Fisher of Fertility Associates if this is enough to go on. Kate the Duchess of Cambridge has had her hair scrutinised and flecks of grey have been detected. Now people are weighing in about whether she should dye or not. A committee's convened to decide on a brand for Auckland.
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Duration: 26'39"
16:07
Panel Intro
BODY:
What the Panelists Dita de Boni and Richard Poole have been up to.
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Duration: 2'36"
16:09
Reunion Island plane debris
BODY:
Part of an aeroplane wing has been found near Reunion Island leading to speculation it's from the missing Malaysia Airlines 777 jet. NIWA oceanographer Dr Phil Sutton talks to the Panel about sea currents that could have deposited the debris.
Topics:
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Tags: MH370, Malaysia, Reunion Island
Duration: 6'58"
16:17
Reaction to Cecil the lion killing
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The chair of the Game Animal Council Don Hammond joins the Panel to talk about trophy hunting as outrage about the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe circulates the world.
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Tags: Zimbabwe, lion, hunting
Duration: 13'35"
16:33
National emblems
BODY:
Cartoonist Garrick Tremain shares his thoughts on the flag the national anthem and the kiwi.
Topics: identity
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Tags: flag, national anthem, kiwi
Duration: 8'24"
16:41
Panel says
BODY:
What the Panelists Dita de Boni and Richard Poole have been thinking about.
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Duration: 4'07"
16:46
The risks with sperm donors
BODY:
A lesbian couple found a young man to help them make babies. They chose him because he looked good and seemed intelligent. We ask Dr Richard Fisher of Fertility Associates if this is enough to go on.
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Tags: sperm donor
Duration: 6'05"
16:52
Going grey gracefully
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Kate the Duchess of Cambridge has had her hair scrutinised and flecks of grey have been detected. Now people are weighing in about whether she should dye or not.
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Tags: Duchess of Cambridge, UK
Duration: 2'29"
16:55
Branding Auckland
BODY:
A committee's convened to decide on a brand for Auckland.
Topics: business
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: brands
Duration: 5'06"
=SHOW NOTES=
===5:00 PM. | Checkpoint===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand's two-hour news and current affairs programme
=AUDIO=
17:00
Checkpoint Top Stories for Thursday 30 July 2015
BODY:
It's part of a triple 7 jet but is it MH 370. Sir John Todd has dies at 88 and for the first time Gorilla's in our midst.
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Duration: 18'53"
17:10
Latest on plane debris found near Madagascar
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The ABC's Graeme Powell is following developments from Perth and joins us.
Topics:
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Tags: MH370, Malaysia
Duration: 3'42"
17:14
Child abuse risk study ethically flawed
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The Children's Commissioner says a study criticised for treating children like lab rats would never have got past an ethics committee.
Topics: politics
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Tags: children, ethics
Duration: 3'34"
17:18
Liquor shops cash in on Globug power purchases
BODY:
A Thames mother says it's disgusting that people who need to top up their pre-pay power deals may have to do so in a liquor store.
Topics: business
Regions: Bay of Plenty
Tags: Globug, Liquor
Duration: 3'28"
17:22
IPCA rules police illegally held a family
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Police watchdog the IPCA has ruled that officers held a family including a young baby illegally in a patrol car and a paddy wagon - but there's no sign they'll get an apology.
Topics: crime
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Tags: IPCA
Duration: 2'17"
17:24
People who want TPP documents only want to derail the deal
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The Government has hit back at the people calling for the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating text to be released - saying they just want to use it derail the deal.
Topics: politics
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Tags: TPP
Duration: 2'16"
17:26
New Zealand's first gorillas arrive at Orana Park
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New Zealand's first ever gorillas have mesmerised the lucky few who got to see them today at Christchurch's Orana Park.
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Tags: Orana Park, gorillas
Duration: 3'14"
17:33
Evening Business for 30 July 2015
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News from the business sector including a market report.
Topics: business
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Tags: markets
Duration: 2'10"
17:35
Sir John Todd has died.
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The veteran businessman Sir John Todd has died aged 88.
Topics: business
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Tags: Sir John Todd
Duration: 2'14"
17:38
Woman rescued from burning second floor apartment
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A woman is in hospital tonight in a serious condition after being rescued from a burning second floor apartment in Remuera early this morning.
Topics:
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: fire
Duration: 4'00"
17:46
Otago Peninsula quarry expansion opposed
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A hearing for an Otago Peninsula quarry that wants retrospective approval for breaching its resource consent conditions has heard about the city council's own mistakes.
Topics: environment
Regions: Otago
Tags: Otago Peninsula quarry
Duration: 3'14"
17:49
Early Te Reo activists say progress made
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Activists fighting for support and recognition of the Maori language say while progress has been made over the last 40-years, much more is needed. Te Kupu o te Wiki started in 1975 and it's been an annual feature on the calendar ever since. The movement to get Te Reo recognised took off during the 1970s led by a group of young, enthusiastic people, but their struggle for better acceptance of Te Reo was full of challenges, and one activist was arrested. Here's Te Manu Korihi reporter, Andrew McRae.
Topics: te ao Maori
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Duration: 3'44"
17:53
Cincinnati police officer indicted for murder of balck man
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In the US a University of Cincinnati police officer has been indicted for murder over the shooting of a black man in a traffic stop.
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Tags: US, shooting, University of Cincinnati
Duration: 4'38"
18:07
Sports News for 30 July 2015
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An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
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Duration: 3'31"
18:12
Plane debris washes up where MH370 modelling predicted
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The aircraft debris that's washed up on an Indian Ocean island is right where sea drift modellers expected wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 to end up.
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Tags: MH370, Reunion Island
Duration: 4'01"
18:15
DOC to meet iwi leaders on vexed question of kereru
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DOC's stopping short of prosecuting a marae that served kereru to Crown ministers.
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Tags: kereru, DOC
Duration: 3'27"
18:19
Bakery ordered to pay sacked worker $7000
BODY:
A baker wrongly fired after arguing with his bosses about his colleague seeing his payslip has won more than seven thousand dollars in lost pay and compensation.
Topics: law
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Tags: employment
Duration: 2'28"
18:19
Truck boss takes swipe at Treasury
BODY:
Trucking supremo Don Braid's taken a swipe at the Treasury's call to shut down KiwiRail because it's bleeding millions.
Topics: transport
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Tags: Kiwirail
Duration: 4'02"
18:26
Deadline looms for Australia to return rape accused
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A deadline's fast approaching for Australia to return three men accused of rape to Papua New Guinea.
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Tags: Papua New Guinea, Australia
Duration: 4'59"
18:37
MH17 tribunal veto - not the end of it, says McCully
BODY:
Foreign Minister Murray McCully chaired the UN Security Council vote. Our parliamentary chief reporter Jane Patterson asked him if how, given today's veto, a resolution setting up a tribunal might ever get passed.
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Tags: UN, MH17
Duration: 2'44"
18:42
Gorillas now in New Zealands midst
BODY:
It's not gorillas in the MIST, but gorillas in our midst. New Zealand's first ever gorillas have mesmerised the lucky few who got to see them today.
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Tags: gorillas
Duration: 2'51"
18:44
Te Manu Korihi News for 30 July 2015
BODY:
The tribe that served dead kererū to iwi leaders and government ministers says it approached the Department of Conservation as soon as questions were raised about how the birds had been used; The effectiveness of a new programme which monitors health inequality is proving bitter sweet for Taranaki Māori; Activists fighting for support and recognition of the Māori language say while progress has been made over the last 40-years, much more is needed.
Topics: te ao Maori
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Tags:
Duration: 3'35"
18:49
Today In Parliament for 30 July 2015 - evening edition
BODY:
Health and Safety Reform Bill passes second reading; Opposition fails to prise details of TPPA from government ministers as negotiations enter final hours.
Topics: politics
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Duration: 5'11"
18:54
How best to protect sea lions
BODY:
New research shows that if endangered New Zealand sea lions are to be saved, there will have to be a ban on squid fishing around the Auckland Islands.
Topics: science
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Tags: sea lions, Auckland Islands
Duration: 4'16"
=SHOW NOTES=
===7:06 PM. | Nights===
=DESCRIPTION=
Entertainment and information, including: 7:30 At the Movies with Simon Morris: Current film releases and film related topics (RNZ) 8:13 Windows on the World: International public radio features and documentaries 9:06 Our Changing World: Science and environment news from NZ and the world (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
19:10
Samoan artist in residence Siliga Setoga
BODY:
Siliga Setoga grew up in a Samoan speaking household in Mt Eden. He still lives in the same house. Comfortably Samoan and Kiwi, Siliga is about to take up a Creative NZ artist in residency position at the University of Samoa.
EXTENDED BODY:
White Sunday (2014) by Siliga Setoga.
Siliga Setoga grew up in a Samoan speaking household in Mt Eden. He still lives in the same house. Comfortably Samoan and Kiwi, Siliga is about to take up a Creative NZ artist in residency position at the University of Samoa. Siliga speaks with Bryan Crump about embracing two cultures on the eve of his departure.
Topics: arts, Pacific
Regions:
Tags: Samoa, apia, Creative New Zealand, MAU Samoan Independence Movement
Duration: 21'27"
20:45
Pasifika arts
BODY:
Swaying to the broad range of arts and culture from around the Pacific is Samoan/Pakeha playwright and independent theatre producer Leilani Unasa. Our cultural ambassador looks at Pacific filmmaking and filmmakers, including Toa Fraser and Dianna Fuemana.
EXTENDED BODY:
Swaying to the broad range of arts and culture from around the Pacific is Samoan/Pakeha playwright and independent theatre producer Leilani Unasa. Our cultural ambassador looks at Pacific filmmaking and filmmakers, including Toa Fraser and Dianna Fuemana.
Topics: arts, Pacific, life and society
Regions:
Tags: Pasifika, Pacific arts, Pacific film, Tusi Tamasese, Toa Fraser, Dianna Fuemana, NZIFF, Nga Whanaunga, Maori Pacific 2015
Duration: 15'39"
20:59
Conundrum Clue Seven for Thursday 30 July
BODY:
Listen on Friday at 10 to Nine for the winner.
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Duration: 10"
21:59
Conundrum Clue Eight for Thursday 30 July
BODY:
Listen on Friday at 10 to Nine for the winner.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 24"
=SHOW NOTES=
7:10 Samoan artist in residence Siliga Setoga
White Sunday (2014) by Siliga Setoga.
Siliga Setoga grew up in a Samoan speaking household in Mt Eden. He still lives in the same house. Comfortably Samoan and Kiwi, Siliga is about to take up a Creative NZ artist in residency position at the University of Samoa. Siliga speaks with Bryan Crump on the eve of his departure.
7:30 At the Movies
=SHOW NOTES=
=AUDIO=
19:30
At the Movies 30 July 2015
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On At The Movies, Simon Morris reviews the latest incarnation of the movies' most-filmed character, Sherlock Holmes. Mr Holmes stars Sir Ian McKellen as a 93-year-old detective, American science fiction thriller Self/less, and, 20 years after Sam Neill's Cinema Of Unease, critic Tim Wong looks at New Zealand films from a very different angle in Out of the Mist.
EXTENDED BODY:
Simon Morris reviews the latest incarnation of the movies' most-filmed character, Sherlock Holmes. Mr Holmes stars Sir Ian McKellen as a 93-year-old detective; American science fiction thriller Self/less, and, 20 years after Sam Neill's Cinema Of Unease, critic Tim Wong looks at New Zealand films from a very different angle in Out of the Mist.
The big picture with Simon Morris
The Holy Grail in the movie business is the franchise, where the imaginative spade-work has already been done on one successful movie, now all you have to do is follow the formula. The trouble is that most successful stories are complete in themselves, and don’t stand up very well to unpicking, then re-piecing together. For instance, the Star Wars prequels were an object lesson that nobody seems anxious to learn from.
The best and most satisfying franchises - the ones that don’t require a fanboy’s obsession with all the details of all the prequels, sequels and “re-imaginings” - are simple series. James Bond is the most obvious example, of course – 23 films since Sean Connery first introduced himself back in 1962.
But the most successful movie character has been making films since they first started making films. Sherlock Holmes. A couple of years ago there were no fewer than three successful Holmes franchises running concurrently – a British modern-day version, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, another TV series, set in America with a female, Asian-American Watson, and Robert Downey Junior’s steam-punk romps.
A new version - Mr Holmes, starring Ian McKellen - is a satisfying postscript to Holmes’ career at the end of his life.
Later in the programme we chat to a modern-day detective - film-buff Tim Wong, who examines New Zealand’s film history, looking for clues about our national character and attitudes to art.
But first, Ben Kingsley returns. Last week he played a Sikh taxi-driver in Learning to Drive. This week he works for a rather different kind of Sikh – hack director Tarsem Singh in sci-fi thriller Self/less.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: film, At The Movies, film review
Duration: 26'37"
19:31
Selfless - film review
BODY:
Simon Morris reviews American science fiction thriller Self/less.
EXTENDED BODY:
Simon Morris reviews American science fiction thriller Self/less.
Sir Ben Kingsley only shows up at the start of Self/less, playing a dying billionaire. Fortunately, help is at hand – a shady organization that offers the chance for infinitely extended life. All he has to do is swap bodies – and sinister Matthew Goode just happens to have grown one in the laboratory. He comes out brand new – or rather, as Ryan Reynolds, an actor already familiar with body-swapping after the comedy The Change-Up. Trouble ensues.
As always in this sort of Twilight Zone sci-fi thriller, we wait with bated breath for the “Oh come on!” moment. To the credit of Self/less it takes over half an hour arriving, mostly thanks to the sterling spade-work Ben Kingsley had put in at the start of the movie, developing his character.
The problem is paying off a not unpromising idea. But it soon becomes clear the writers and director have no more idea how to do it than the rest of us. So they mark time with a few car-chases, body-swaps and general fluffing about, hoping that we’ll accept a mega-happy ending in place of any sort of logic.
The question is: who do we want to see at the end of this film - shallow movie-star Ryan Reynolds, or the character Ben Kingsley effortlessly built up in about ten minutes of screen time? Director Tarsem Singh picked the obvious answer, but as Sherlock Holmes could have told him, that’s generally the wrong one.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: film, film review, Selfless
Duration: 4'53"
19:40
Mr Holmes - film review
BODY:
Simon Morris reviews the latest incarnation of the movies' most-filmed character, Sherlock Holmes. Mr Holmes stars Sir Ian McKellen as the 93-year-old detective.
EXTENDED BODY:
Simon Morris reviews the latest incarnation of the movies' most-filmed character, Sherlock Holmes. Mr Holmes stars Sir Ian McKellen as the 93-year-old detective.
The latest incarnation of the great detective bravely discards just about all of the elements we associate with him.
In Mr Holmes, the real-life Sherlock Holmes has outlived his Victorian heyday, his friends and foes – even his mind is starting to fail him. Now in his 90s, he’s retired to become a bee-keeper. Still, even without all the familiar embellishments, it’s astonishing how well this Mr Holmes manages to remain true to Conan Doyle’s creation.
At the heart of the film, as it should be, is a brilliant performance by Sir Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes – as two Holmes, in fact. McKellen alternates between Holmes in his nineties, and the younger, more dapper Holmes 30 years before.
Mr Holmes is an elegy if you like – not only to the well-loved character, but to all the previous Sherlock Holmes of the past. This is a Sherlock winding down - still prickly about his legacy but finally, at the end of his life, opening up to other people and becoming for the first time a human being, not a caricature. Obviously writer Mitch Cullin and director Bill Condon can take their fair share of credit for this. But above all, it’s a performance piece by one of the great screen actors of our time. I can imagine other people playing the role, but I can’t imagine anyone doing it better than McKellen. Sherlock Holmes is a part that’s been played by hundreds of actors over the years, but this one is definitely Top Three, if not better.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: film, film review, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Ian McKellen
Duration: 5'32"
19:50
Out of the Mist - film review
BODY:
20 years after Sam Neill's Cinema Of Unease, critic Tim Wong looks at New Zealand films from a very different angle.
EXTENDED BODY:
The New Zealand film industry has been around long enough not only to be worth celebrating but also to deserve being put under the critical microscope. Oddly, one of the very few documentaries about the subject was Sam Neill's Cinema Of Unease, which came out 20 years ago. Until now.
Out of the Mist - An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema, written, directed and produced by Lumiere Reader's Tim Wong, takes a rather different look at our films in a rather different time. Simon Morris asks him about his views.
Out of the Mist is screening as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival, before being available on-line later in the year.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: film, film review, NZIFF
Duration: 11'01"
7:30 At the Movies
Films and movie business with Simon Morris.
8:10 Windows on the World
International public radio documentaries - visit the Windows on the World web page to find links to these documentaries.
8:40 Pasifika
Swaying to the broad range of arts and culture from around the Pacific is Samoan/ Pakeha playwright and independent theatre producer Leilani Unasa. This evening, Pacific filmmaking and filmmakers, including Toa Fraser and Dianna Fuemana.
[video] https://youtu.be/w8SfJXNlprg
9:06 Our Changing World
=SHOW NOTES=
=AUDIO=
15:30
A Treasure Trove of Natural Sciences at Puke Ariki
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New Plymouth's museum Puke Ariki is catalogueing its vast natural sceinces collections to make them more accessible to the public.
EXTENDED BODY:
by Ruth Beran
Behind the exhibitions at New Plymouth’s museum Puke Ariki is a treasure store of natural history collections, and natural science cataloguer Jo Fitness has been brought in to make it easily accessible.
“We’ve got taxidermied animals, mostly birds. We’ve got a wet collection...a really awesome insect collection…a huge geology and fossil collection here,” says Jo. “Part of my job has been to find it and put it all together.”
The project is called Natural Wonders and Pouarahi Tukuihotanga/Heritage Manager Andrew Moffat describes it as bringing the amazing collection that is stored at Puke Ariki into the light.
“People often think of museums as perhaps exhibitions and whiz bang things out the front,” he says. “But…a very important part of what we do at Puke Ariki is caring for the collections and making those things available for all the great uses they can be put to.”
Part of what Jo is doing is cataloguing the collection.
“It’s a huge job, but it is a fun one!” she says.
The most exciting thing she’s worked on so far is the Ken Fox collection. Fox was a medical doctor who collected insects from the local area. “There’s thousands of insects in there and it’s all Taranaki related and really, really beautifully preserved,” she says.
The collection is stored in a cabinet made from native wood containing fourteen drawers of insects, although only eight are from the Ken Fox collection. In his obituary it was noted that Ken Fox had New Zealand’s greatest alpine collection of moths and there are over 1000 moths in the collection.
“So my job was to make sure each individual insect was catalogued,” says Jo. Photos were also taken which are now available online. “It’s an amazing collection that at some point I’d like to see on exhibit.”
Recently, Jo has been working on cataloguing a book of pressed ferns that she found by accident on a shelf. She is cataloguing each page and giving it a part number, and identifying the species. She’s also been putting tissue on top to help protect the plants from friction from the pages above and to help absorb moisture that might get in. “Although this room is temperature controlled and so that’s unlikely to happen, it’s just a safety precaution that we are carrying out to make it last,” she says.
Once catalogued, the book will be photographed and that will go online. This means people can go to the Puke Ariki website and search the database, and items like this will come up. “That’s one way that we want to be able to share our collection,” says Jo. Other ways are through education, events, and upgrading exhibits by knowing what is available to be used.
The ultimate goal, according to Jo, is to allow people to see what the museum has. “It can’t all go on exhibition because it’s only a small space over there,” she says. “It gives them the opportunity to come to us for more detail if they want to, or are interested in it.”
There is still more of the Natural Wonders project to go, but Jo says they are getting there. “We had a list of priorities to do, this is a huge collection,” she says, with the insects, most of the plants and out in the exhibition done. “The useful stuff is definitely well and truly on its way to being completed,” she says.
Topics: science
Regions: Taranaki
Tags: museum collections, Puke Ariki, New Plymouth
Duration: 19'41"
21:20
The Road to Paris - UN Climate Chief Christiana Figueres
BODY:
UN climate chief Christiana Figueres says a global, legally-binding agreement will be reached at Paris climate summit, but concedes it falls short of two degree target.
EXTENDED BODY:
by Veronika Meduna Veronika.Meduna@radionz.co.nz
United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres expects that a global and legally binding agreement will emerge from a climate summit in Paris later this year, but she concedes that the commitments countries have made so far fall short of keeping temperature rise below two degrees.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit will be held in Paris in December, and 196 countries will come together to nut out a new climate change agreement to set the world on a path to taming global greenhouse gas emissions.
Fifty countries, including New Zealand, have already submitted their national targets (pdf) ahead of the negotiations, but Ms Figueres says the sum total of these commitments, known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, is still above “what we should have in order to stay underneath the limit of two degrees”.
Since 1990, the world has already warmed by 0.9 degrees Celsius on average, with some areas such as the polar regions warming faster than others. The New Zealand government has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 11 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030, and has a gazetted long-term target of bringing emissions to 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Ms Figueres says keeping temperature rise globally below two degrees is an important goal because “anything other than that does not give any chance of survival to the most vulnerable”.
You sitting in New Zealand are very aware of the fate of all the Pacific islands very close to you and you know what it would mean for New Zealand for those islands to be under environmental pressure under sea level rise. You know what it would mean just in terms of immigration to start with.
She says she is certain the Paris meeting will achieve a legally binding agreement that includes all countries, but it will be just the first step.
“This agreement is more like building a very broad highway that has many different lanes in it, whereby some countries will get in the fast lane, some countries will get in the slow lane. It is a very broad highway where everyone will slot themselves into a particular pace … but it is a highway that goes in one direction towards climate neutrality and towards restoring the ecological balance between greenhouse gas emissions and the natural absorptive capacity of the planet.”
Each country’s commitment will become the baseline, and they will have to return to the negotiating table to increase their target over time. “Whatever you are putting in now is the floor and you are not allowed to go back down below that. It is a very important principle that has already been agreed to.”
Ms Figueres says another element of ongoing negotiations will be to work out how to make the agreement legally binding. “The agreement will be a complex arrangement where some components will be internationally legally binding and some domestically legally binding, but that’s still under consideration.”
The Paris summit is the 21st annual UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP21), and Ms Figueres says she is confident it will succeed because of several recent changes.
“Renewable technology has come down in price remarkably. Solar is down by 80 per cent in cost since 2009, wind is down in cost and efficiency in both has gone up. Combined with investments in battery storage, renewables are now truly competitive with fossil fuels even for grid-connected electricity.”
She says investment flows are also increasingly going towards renewable energy and “the markets are definitely beginning to understand the risks on not acting on climate change”.
Going into a low-carbon economy is … the mega-development project of this century. It creates many new industries, it creates jobs, it creates growth – and it is actually the engine of power and of growth this century.
Victoria University climate scientist James Renwick agrees that political will to act on climate change is on the rise, but he says the description of the COP21 meeting as the first stop on the "zero-carbon highway" is overly optimistic.
"It makes it sound as though we have ample time to get on top of emissions reductions."
He says the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report shows that the only future scenario that could keep us below a two-degree warming is the most ambitious pathway, which requires fast and radical reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
Beyond about 2070 we need to be actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, using technologies that have not yet been developed. Global emissions have risen 31 per cent since 1990 so this represents a major turn-around that needs to happen pretty urgently. If we start today, reductions of 1.5 per cent per year from today’s emissions would have us on track. The longer we wait, the steeper the average annual reductions need to be.
Former climate change ambassador Adrian Macey says the New Zealand government has not yet made the change to a long-term transition pathway of our economy and the 2030 target looks modest.
"It is highly hedged with conditions about future access to action by others, carbon markets, forestry rules etc. This delays certainty about our domestic direction since it will be ages before we know the answers to all these points - at least three years I would say.
"It contains no sense of our long-term pathway to carbon neutrality or a low-carbon economy and there is scant attention given to the possible, indeed likely, benefits to New Zealand of this transition."
Topics: science, climate, environment
Regions:
Tags: UNFCCC, United Nations Convention on Climate Change, climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, COP21
Duration: 16'57"
21:34
A Community Wind Farm for Blueskin Bay
BODY:
The Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust is working towards building three community-owned wind turbines that will help build the community's resilience and energy independence
EXTENDED BODY:
By Alison Ballance
“We’re not really discussing whether climate change is occurring. We can see that it is. This is the next step, which is that it’s one thing to say ‘this is terrible, this is bad’ but it’s harder to think about what you might do instead. And we’ve picked on the wind project as a way of showing that local communities can make a difference.”
Craig Marshall, Chair, Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust
While Tony Abbott, Prime Minster of Australia, has been loudly railing against wind turbines and solar power in his country recently, the residents of Blueskin Bay, just north of Dunedin, can’t wait to have the blades of their own wind turbines turning on their skyline. The turbines will belong to community-owned Blueskin Energy Ltd, which has been developing the idea of a community wind farm for the past eight years.
Wind farm proposals are often cursed with NIMBY or ‘not in my backyard’ opposition but Blueskin Energy Ltd’s Scott Willis says the reverse is the case in Blueskin Bay.
“We actually want them in our front yard. Many years ago there was a student here doing some research into small wind and he asked the question ‘what would you say about wind turbines in your environment.’ And he got “I really wouldn’t like them if they’re owned by a big corporate’, and “I love them, I want to have them – if they’re owned by us’.”
An enthusiasm for locally-produced renewable electricity generation isn’t the only thing that sets the Blueskin Bay communities apart from many others.
Newly defined coastal hazard zones, for example, which identify low-lying areas that will be at risk from sea level rise, have Christchurch and Kapiti Coast residents up in arms, but the low-lying Blueskin Bay communities have decided that denial and inaction are not options, and instead they are actively planning what their future might look like as rising sea levels begin to threaten their houses.
The residents are part of the Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust (BRCT), a group of concerned residents who were galvanised into action following severe floods in 2006 which isolated Waitati for several days.
“After the flood in Waitati in 2006 a small group of people got together and said ‘this is no good – we need to look after ourselves’,” says Purakanui resident Ross Johnston. “And as a result they started to do a number of things to support the sustainability of their community.”
Rising sea levels and other impacts of climate change are just some of many issues being discussed by the 1000-or-so households that are embraced by the BRCT. Energy literacy, warm well-insulated homes, community gardens and fruit trees, car-pooling and a desire for energy independence are also part of the community conversation.
“What would you do if we had another flood? But in the long term, what about energy resilience, what about the fact that we can’t continue to use resources the way we have. Should we consider continuing to live on the flat down there?” asks current BRCT Chair Craig Marshall. “Those are hard questions, and it’s not clear there are any obvious answers, but you should be starting to think about it anyway.”
Waitati resident Antony Deaker says that for him, as for many people, these conversations began in the playground as parents waited to collect kids after school. They expanded to become kitchen table conversations, and soon to public hall meetings. The Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust was formed in 2008, and it began a series of visioning and community engagement workshops, some of which involved Janet Stephenson and students from the University of Otago’s Centre for Sustainability.
“It’s an interesting community because it’s very varied and it’s open to new ideas,” says Craig Marshall. “One of the nice things about it is that people have strong views, and they do something about them. And that I think is the key thing about it – that people don’t just think about doing something, they actually do it.”
Community Wind
The most ambitious thing that the Blueskin Bay communities have done is to embark on a project to build three community-owned wind turbines. The Blueskin Energy project is being led by Scott Willis, and after years of planning Blueskin Energy Ltd has just signed an agreement with a local farmer to site the three turbines on top of Porteous Hill on the northern side of Blueskin Bay. The next step is to apply for resource consent. The turbines will be small, sub-megawatt turbines, and the key to the location is not just good amounts of quality wind but also close proximity to a substation which will allow the power produced to be easily fed into the national network. The three turbines will have a very small footprint on the ground and will not affect the day-to-day working of the farm
“This is one of the magical things about wind,” Says Scott. “Although it’s a costly development because you’ve got to build something up front it enables everything else to keep on going all around it, and it doesn’t cost through its lifetime because the wind is free of course.”
Originally the community wanted to produce and then use their own power, but eventually came to the realisation that with the way the electricity market is structured it made more sense to sell the power and then use the income from that to benefit the community.
The wind project will cost between five to six million dollars, and local resident and investment advisor Charles Abraham is planning to approach experienced investors to raise the capital required.
Community-owned renewable energy projects are common in the United Kingdom, where there are more than 5000, but rare in New Zealand. The only other community wind generator that I am aware of is Pioneer Generation in Central Otago, a community-owned organisation that has exclusive rights to generate, distribute and supply electricity to the wider Central Otago area. Pioneer Generation is just completing the 8-turbine Flat Hill wind farm at Bluff.
According to the New Zealand Wind Energy Association web site there are 19 wind farms either operating or under construction in New Zealand.
Solar
Many households in the Blueskin Bay area have already installed photovoltaic panels on the roofs and are selling the power back into the national grid.
Janet Stephenson from the University of Otago says the high uptake of solar in the Blueskin Bay area accounts for most of the solar installations in Otago, and that as prices for photovoltaic panels become more affordable rates of solar installation are rising rapidly nationwide.
Topics: science, environment, rural, energy
Regions:
Tags: electricity, power generation, photovoltaic cells, solar energy, wind turbine, renewable energy, climate change, home insulation, community gardens, energy literacy
Duration: 36'54"
9:06 Our Changing World
Science and environment news from New Zealand and the world.
10:17 Late Edition
A review of the leading news from Morning Report, Nine to Noon, Afternoons and Checkpoint. Also hear the latest news from around the Pacific on Radio New Zealand International's Dateline Pacific.
11:06 Music 101 pocket edition
A contemporary music magazine with interviews and music from New Zealand and overseas artists, coverage of new releases, tours, live sessions, music festivals and events.
===10:00 PM. | Late Edition===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand news, including Dateline Pacific and the day's best interviews from Radio New Zealand National
===11:06 PM. | Music 101===
=DESCRIPTION=
Music, interviews, live performances, behind the scenes, industry issues, career profiles, new, back catalogue, undiscovered, greatest hits, tall tales - with a focus on NZ (RNZ)