Nine To Noon for Tuesday 6 May 2025

09:05 Prison officers union on full prisons and underfunded support services

The Corrections Minister has asked officials to look at shorter prison sentences and how they relate to higher levels of re-offending and whether longer sentences allow better rehabilitation for offenders, even if it leads to a big jump in prisoner numbers. But the prisoner officer's union says there is already a lack of funding for support services for prisoners to help them turn away from crime and that prisons are already full. He says recent figures indicate the prison population is heading towards 11 thousand. Last year Corrections' budget was  $1.9 billion and cost for each prisoner is between $160 and $205,000 a year. The Correction's  Association President, Floyd du Plessis joins Kathryn to talk about what is needed now

09:20 82,000 smokers need to quit by year end to meet Smokefree 2025 goal: researcher

82,000 people would have to quit smoking before the end of the year in order to meet the goal of Smokefree 2025 - and public health researchers say there is precious little chance of it happening. Since it was adopted in 2011, successive governments - including the current one - have had the goal of making New Zealand Smokefree by the end of this year. That goal aims to reduce daily smoking prevalence to less than 5% across all population groups by the end of 2025. Last year, the Coalition government repealed three areas of Smokefree law including denicotinisation of tobacco products, and banning the sale of tobacco products to those born after January 1, 2009. Latest data from the Annual Health Survey shows there are currently 300,000 daily smokers, and University of Otago Research Fellow Calvin Cochran, says to meet the Smokefree goal by New Year's Eve, more than 80,000 would need to quit. He says the government initiative providing free vape 'starter' kits to smokers wanting to stop will help fewer than 500, according to his team's research. Associate Health Minister Casey Costello says getting 80,000 smokers to quit by year end is a big ask, but not impossible.

09:35 Technological play laboratory for adults 

A new play-based learning programme for adults uses virtual reality, 3D printing and other new tech. It is an initiative set up by academyEX - the education institute behind The Mind Lab - a space in Auckland where professional teams can go and learn with hands-on experimenting. The organisation offers micro-credentials to Master's degrees on subjects like technological futures as well as organisational resilience. At the Play Lab the tools available will include 3D printers, robotics, sensors and artificial intelligence. The organisation is taking bookings from teams that want to have a go. Frances Valintine is the founder of academyEX. 

09:45 US correspondent Ximena Bustillo 

The US President wants to put 100 per cent tariffs on foreign made films - what will that do to the global film industry? The President continues to chip away at immigration courts and he wants to reopen Alcatraz after being closed for 60 years.

Ximena Bustillo is a NPR politics reporter based in Washington 

10:05 Tim Friede injected himself with snake venom 856 times

Tim Friede has injected himself with snake venom 856 times over the last 18 years, and has he's helped create an almost universal antivenom. It all began when the former truck mechanic from Wisconsin was building a home collection of venomous snakes, and began self-administering diluted venom as a means of establishing immunity in case he was ever bit accidentally. Realizing that he had achieved a level of hyperimmunity that was unusual for a human, he began reaching out to the therapeutic community asking to be researched in order to generate a universal antivenom. Tim Friede is now Director of Herpetology at Californian vaccination research company Centivax.

10:35 Book review: The Secret Painter by Joe Tucker 

Leah McFall reviews The Secret Painter by Joe Tucker published by Canongate

10:45 Around the motu: David Hill in North Canterbury

David discusses the latest events in North Canterbury including updates in Kaikōura's annual plan, Environment Canterbury is boosting bus services and raising fares, and the restored Soldiers' Block in Hanmer Springs was officially opened on Anzac Day.

David Hill is a Local Democracy Reporter with North Canterbury News, based in Rangiora.

11:05 Members bill to ban social media for u16s

A National Party MP has introduced a members bill to ban children under 16 from using social media platforms. Tukituki MP Catherine Wedd says the country needs to do better at managing the risks of social media to young people and her bill would put the onus on to social media companies to verify a users' age. There are no legally enforceable age verification measures for social media platforms in New Zealand. Catherine Wedd speaks to Katherine.

11:10 Business commentator Dan Brunskill

New Zealand's substantial film industry awaits details on US President Trump's planned 100 per cent tariffs on foreign-made movies. The Green Party has released an industrial plan that includes converting Kinleith Mill into a cross-laminated timber plant. And the Reserve Bank has done an nalysis on the risks artificial intelligence poses to financial stability. 

Dan Brunskill is an economic policy reporter for Interest NZ

11:20 Shoshana McCallum on her darkly funny Comedy Fest show, Merely Beloved

Death's not usually a topic for a comedy show, but Shoshana McCallum's managed to turn it into something darkly funny and compassionate. She's an award-winning screenwriter, and one of the creators of the international Emmy Award-winning show INSiDE - which starred Kiwi Morgana O'Reilly and was filmed during Covid lockdown. Shoshana's also got writing credits on a host of popular shows: Westside, Creamerie, My Life is Murder and most recently Madam. She's about to take the stage for the New Zealand International Comedy Fest with a show she debuted last year during the Auckland and New Zealand Fringe festivals called 'Merely Beloved' - which explores love, loss and life after death.

11:45 Sports correspondent Joe Porter

Moana Pasifika took a thrilling win against the Highlanders to edge into the playoff spots. More disappointment for Liam Lawson after the Miami Grand Prix, while the Black Sevens cap a stellar season with another big title. 

RNZ Sports reporter, Joe Porter.