Radio One 91FM

Keep New Zealand Beautiful has announced the return of its annual Clean Up Week, Aotearoa’s largest movement against litter, scheduled for September 17th-23rd. Last year over 30,000 volunteers took part in the event, collecting approximately 300 tonnes of litter over the course of the week. KNZB Deputy Chairperson and Zone 5 Representative Mandy Mayhem-Bullock joined to fill us in on the details and importance of the event.

A new study out of the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health at the University of Otago has outlined the struggles and experiences of low-income solo mums to provide food for their families. Previous research has shown that 19% of New Zealand children are living in households experiencing severe-to-moderate food security. This study, published in the Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand, explores the stressful reality of women skipping meals and neglecting their personal health to feed their families.

We spoke to Dr Mavis Duncanson, Senior Lecturer with the Department of Women’s Health at the University of Otago, about the causes and implications of food insecurity, and what needs to be done to prevent it.

New Zealand is now one of the 50 countries reporting cases of viral zoonotic disease monkeypox, after a person returning home to Auckland from overseas was diagnosed with the virus. 

We spoke with Kurt Krause, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Otago, to hear more about the public health implications of monkeypox, and how prepared for an outbreak Aotearoa is. 

This week on Off To Market, Otago Farmers Market Manager Michele Driscoll tells us what's in season right now, the local produce available at the market, and shares some feast ideas for celebrations this winter. 

International science journal Wellbeing, Space, and Society has recently published findings from University of Otago researchers which indicate that Aotearoa New Zealand needs to increase the diversity and quality of its housing stock to meet the needs of the population and the Government’s 2030 carbon reduction targets.

We spoke with Dr. Crystal Olin from the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities about Aotearoa’s current development style, and how a more sustainable future can be achieved through changing housing, public transport and developing communal spaces.

On Business as Usual this week, Murat Üngör (Department of Economics, University of Otago) speaks to R1 News reporters Amiria Pianta-Price and Zac Hoffman about Aotearoa's economic growth since the start of the pandemic, the pandemic’s cost on the global economy, stagflation caused by the war in Ukraine and the high likelihood of a global recession.

The French Film Festival kicked off today in Ōtepoti, as part of the two month festival across 15 towns and cities in Aotearoa. We spoke with festival director Fergus Grady about the 21 films showing in the festival this year and the significance of French cinema.

An Instagram account named “Teens against TERFs” has quickly gained traction after posting a selection of slides titled ‘What you need to know about the Nelson Anti-Trans Conference’. The conference in question is being hosted at the Rutherford Hotel by the Child and Adolescent Therapist’s Association, and is entitled “Children, Adolescents and Gender - the Negative Impacts of Transgender Ideology.” Amiria Pianta-Price spoke to founding members of Teens against TERFs Willow Heron and Will Irvine about their opposition to the conference.

As of June 1st, West Coast electricity distributor Westpower is re-pitching a hydro-scheme for Waitaha River, previously rejected by the Government in 2019. The proposal is controversial in the community -  some groups support the scheme for the jobs and power it would bring, while others are worried about  environmental, ecological, cultural, and recreational impacts of the scheme.

We spoke with Dunedin representative of Whitewater New Zealand, Blake Hornblow, to discuss the group's opposition to the Westpower's development on the Waitaha River.

We spoke to Otago Farmers Market Manager Michele Driscoll about what's in season at the moment, facts about parsnips, what watermelon radishes are, as well as honey and other spicy preservatives available at the market.

Each Friday, we catch up with Otago Farmers Market Manager Michele Driscoll to find out what's hot at the market this weekend.

Trent Smith (Department of Economics, University of Otago) speaks with Amiria about the supermarket duopoly in New Zealand. They cover how a market duopoly works, what their potential impacts are, as well as Foodstuffs' and Woolworths latest price freeze schemes.

One in four adults in New Zealand have still not gotten their COVID-19 booster vaccination. Just over 71% of eligible New Zealanders have received their COVID-19 booster shot, compared to the 95% who are double vaccinated.

Karl Metzler, who leads the Covid-19 vaccination rollout for the Southern District Health Board spoke with us about these low booster vaccination rates, why people aren't getting vaccinated, and what can be done to increase the uptake of booster shots. 

The annual inflation figures for the tax year ending this March hit 6.9%, making it the highest in New Zealand since 1990. We spoke with Trent Smith from the Department of Economics at Otago University about what it means to have a high inflation rate, how it got this high, and what could be done to combat the effect of inflation.

We caught up with Otago Farmers Market General Manager Michele Driscoll about what's good at the market this week.

Dr Kimberly O’Sullivan from the University of Otago spoke to Amiria Pianta-Price and Zac Hoffman about the new study on students living conditions. The survey, which involved 522 students, found 65% of respondents said they often or always felt cold in their homes and 74% of respondents said they cut down on heating to save money.

Photo: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

We are talking about tax: reflecting on the last tax year, tax evasion and what we pay tax for.

Photo: Wikipedia

The DCC is leaving Communities 4 Local Democracy, an anti-three waters lobby group. The Green Party sends an open letter to PM Jacinda Ardern calling for rent control. We spoke to Dunedin Mayor, Aaron Hawkins.

Amiria Pianta-Price catches up with Otago Farmers Market General Manager Michele Driscoll about what's good at the market this week.

This week for Business as Usual, Economics Lecturer Trent Smith joins Amiria Pianta-Price to discuss the impact of the new minimum wage of $21.20.