Saturday Morning

7.11 Breaking down the Budget with Max Rashbrooke

This week the budget dominated the news with Finance Minister Nicola Willis promising no frills after cutting new spending nearly in half.

There have been savings made through reforms to the pay equity legislation and KiwiSaver.

But boosts for businesses with a tax incentive, learning support in schools and roading.

Max Rashbrooke is a senior research fellow in the School of Government at Victoria University, he has written extensively on inequality and talks to Susie.

7.20 Pay equity claims binned to make numbers work?

The government has been accused of taking money out of women's pockets - to make its Budget work.

The Prime Minister has previously disputed this suggestion, saying changes to pay equity is about having legislation that is workable and not complex.

Earlier this month, the government binned dozens of existing pay equity claims and raised the bar for future claims to be successful.

Paula O'Kane is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management at the University of Otago and speaks to Mihi.

7.26 Increasing tensions between international community and Israel over Gaza

International pressure has ramped up this week on Israel - to end its aid blockade on Gaza - and stop its military offensive. 

Late Friday, Save the Children's Humanitarian Director in Gaza said 20 children have died in Gaza of malnutrition this week.

Now 23 countries, including New Zealand, the UK and France are all calling on Israel - to allow a full resumption of aid.

The UK announced it would suspend trade talks with Israel and imposed some sanctions.

Rory Challands is an international news correspondent based in London and talks to Mihi.

7.34 Tauranga drone company wins big at tech awards

Tauranga based drone manufacturer Syos Aerospace won the top prize at the Hi-Tech Awards last night in Wellington.

The company makes uncrewed vehicles for land, sea and air and recently won a big UK defence contract.

CEO and founder Samuel Vye talks to Susie.

7.40 The battle for Auckland's Western Springs Stadium

The battle for Auckland's Western Springs Stadium - the home of the Ponsonby Rugby Club - is heating up with two former All Blacks on either side of the debate.

One proposal - by a group including former All Black Lock, Ali Williams is a privately funded 12 and a half thousand seat sports stadium.

Another - from All Black legend Sir Bryan Williams, is pushing for the ground to retain its current character and public access.

Mihi speaks to Sir Bryan and Ashley Stanley, daughter of former all Black Joe Stanley - she's a parent at the Ponsonby Rugby Club.

7.51 Using waiata as a point of connection and learning

When the Blues take on the Waratahs at Eden Park next Saturday, the Australian and New Zealand anthems won't be the only waiata being sung.

After organising the world's largest haka last year and reclaiming the Guinness World Record, Dame Hinewehi Mohi is back - with the first ever Waiata Singalong series.

Designed to bring people together through waiata, and help them learn te reo Māori, rugby fans will have the opportunity to belt out the classic 'Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi' and Six60's 'Pepeha' before the game.

Dame Hinewehi talks to Susie.

8.11 Keith Scholey: 44 years working with the 'creative genius' that is David Attenborough

Over the past 100 years, oceans have progressed from being a complete mystery to being regarded as vital for our survival, according to Sir David Attenborough.

That's almost Sir David's lifetime.  The 99-year-old's latest film Ocean with David Attenborough showcases the beauty, life and wonder of the ocean, as well as the increasing threats it faces.

But the film also provides hope and a glimpse at what a revived ocean could look like in just 50 years.

The film was released in cinemas to coincide with David Attenborough’s 99th birthday.

Keith Scholey is an Emmy and Bafta award-winning natural history and environmental filmmaker who has worked with Sir David for 44 years. Keith directed Ocean with David Attenborough and speaks with Susie.

8.35 Tuki Laumea: battle for influence in the Pacific

A new docuseries investigates the escalating power struggle between China and the US in the Pacific, climate displacement and colonial unrest. For Fight for The Pacific​ journalists and partners, Tuki Laumea and Cleo Fraser travel to ten Pacific nations capturing raw and real untold stories of those impacted by the global fight for power in their backyards.

BAFTA-nominated Tuki Laumea has previously filmed in Gaza, Lebanon and across Africa for Al Jazeera, and has in recent years turned his camera in the direction of the Pacific. He speaks with Mihi.

9.06 Susanna Clarke: coming back from a vanishing act

Booker Prize long-listed English author Susanna Clarke is one of the most influential fantasy writers of our time.

Twenty-one years after the publication of her smash-hit debut fantasy novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, bestselling author Susanna Clarke is returning to this world with several short stories.

There has only been one other large piece of writing in two decades. Her novel Piranesi won the Women's Prize For Fiction in 2021. In between, a bit like the magic she writes of, she vanished. 

After writing Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in 2004 Susanna was diagnosed with ME, finding herself unable to write or even think of herself as a writer anymore. Susanne speaks with Susie.

9.25 Holly Arrowsmith wins Best Country Music Song

Last night the APRA Country Music Honours were held in Gore, bringing the country's - best country crooners under one roof.

The award for the Best-Country-Music-Song was awarded to singer/songwriter Holly Arrowsmith for her song Blue Dreams.

The track delves into life as a first-time parent, surviving those early days of chronic exhaustion while managing the burden of responsibility and bringing life into such a turbulent world.

Holly speaks to Mihi Forbes.

9.43 From cops to bookshops, and cosy crime

Cosy crime became massively popular thanks to Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club, and Amanda Hampson's The Tea Ladies. New Zealand adds to the genre with Gareth and Louise Ward's The Bookshop Detectives.

Gareth and Louise are ex-cops turned book shop owners, uniquely positioning them to write about bookselling and crime-fighting.

They tell Susie about The Bookshop Detectives 2: Tea and Cake and Death.

10.06 Raynor Winn: The Salt Path

What do you do when you lose everything?   After being forcibly removed from their home, for Raynor Winn and her husband Moth, the answer was to set off on a 630-mile trek along the rugged Cornish coastline - a walk that changed their lives.

Documented in Raynor's best-selling memoir and adapted into a feature film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, The Salt Path is in cinemas now. Raynor takes Mihi on the journey.

 

10.20 This Compulsion in Us - Tina Makereti

Award-winning novelist Tina Makereti has written her first nonfiction book. A collection of essays, This Compulsion In Us brings Tina's perspective as wahine Māori - that of a teacher, daughter, traveller, and parent. and confronts experiences with alcoholism and breast cancer. In her writing Tina also likes to explore unknowability and the uncanny.

Tina Makereti is the author of three acclaimed novels: Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings, The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke, and Ockham-shortlisted The Mires.

10.45 Overtourism: ruining it for everyone

The OE is considered a rite of passage for many, and Instagram boasts all the hot spots. But many locals are feeling squeezed out.

Spain's Canary Islands have seen protests against mass tourism, demanding a curb of visitor numbers to protect residents from soaring housing costs, traffic congestion and overburdened services.

Dr Susanne Becken is Professor of Sustainable Tourism at Griffith University, Australia, and founder of the Griffith Institute for Tourism. She speaks with Susie Ferguson.

11.00 Playing Favourites with Roger Hall

New Zealand’s most produced playwright and still writing at 85, the legendary Roger Hall's work is back on stage this June.

The Auckland Theatre Company is presenting End of Summer Time, an ode to Auckland and a coming-of-age story of senior life reinvention.  

Roger Hall plays the tracks that have shaped his life.