Nine To Noon for Wednesday 3 September 2025

09:05 Funding boost for eating disorder services 

The Mental Health Minister has announced a funding boost for eating disorder services of $4 million a year - a 20 percent lift on current funding levels. Matt Doocey says the funds will go to a combination of public and specialist clinical support, and to not for profit providers, many of whom don't currently get any government funding. The investment will also go toward putting so-called peer support workers in all regional eating disorder services, and services that target early intervention for eating disorders. The peer support workers  will be people who have had an eating disorder, and can offer that insight and support to those seeking help. 

09:15 Local cloud storage competitor sceptical of Amazon's data centre claims 

A New Zealand owned cloud data storage firm is sceptical about the scale of investment in New Zealand claimed by the tech giant Amazon Web Services. Yesterday Amazon Web Services launched its `infrastructure region' in New Zealand, saying it is part of a $7.5 billion investment over 15 years, which will 'support' 1000 jobs,  and add $10.8b to the economy. In 2021, AWS said it would build three data centres here.  It was not clear, under questioning at the launch yesterday, whether AWS will build physical data centres here, or base its technology in existing facilities. At yesterday's announcement,  attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Amazon said the data centres are `now live',  but was unwilling to say where they are - apparantly for security reasons. Don Christie is the managing director of Catalyst IT, the New Zealand owned cloud storage competitor to Amazon Web Services. Kathryn also speaks with Jonathan Milne is Managing editor of Newsroom Pro. 

09:35  Is major change needed in managing Conservation Estate?    

The Conservation Minister has just finished consulting with a selected group over plans that would see him become the sole maker of decisions concerning the conservation estate, a move that would relegate several statutory bodies to advisory status. The government is moving to update the Conservation Act saying it needs modernising and streamlining. The Prime Minister has spoken of wanting to unleash economic growth on conservation land. Earlieron Nine to Noon, Federated Mountain Clubs said the plans to give the Minister sole decision making powers would strip away democratic processes and prioritise commercial interests. The recent chair of the Southern Conservation Board - that could be sidelined under the new proposals - Shona Sangster, says some change could be helpful, but moves to increase commercialisation are all but impossible to undo. Kathryn speaks to Shona Sangster and Valentina Dinica of Victoria University, who thinks DOC should be looking again at the areas being protected.

09:45 Australia: Far right protests, hunt for alleged police killer continues

Australia correspondent Bernard Keane joins Kathryn to look at the anti-immigration marches that have happened in major cities across the country, attended by a number of opposition MPs - including one who threated to punch a journalist who asked he was there. The hunt for the suspected murderer of two police officers in Victoria continues - but did the media have a role in platforming for years before the alleged attack?

Bernard Keane is political editor for Crikey.com.au

10:05 Journalist Jared Savage on organised crime and its ties to Kiwi criminals

In his latest book, investigative reporter Jared Savage explains how the illicit drug trade, depicted in big budget movies or television like Netflix's Narcos, is happening here. Underworld is the third in his series delving into organised crime and the drug trade. It traces the cartels and organised crime groups who are fuelling much of the activity and at the same time it  becoming more sophisticated and ambitious. The Drug Use in Aotearoa report has found consumption has surged by 229% in recent years. Jared Savage joins Kathryn to talk about Underworld - a follow up to his bestsellers Gangland and Gangster's Paradise. 

10:30 Ditched fines bring people back to public libraries 

Librarians say since fines for overdue books were ditched visitors are flocking back to public libraries - whose role in a community now extends far beyond issuing books. Most public libraries no longer charge for overdue returns. Some councils have only recently made the shift, such as Whanganui who made the change last month - wiping $17,000 of debt - while others dropped the fee years ago including Auckland Council in 2021. Anne Goulding is Professor of Library and Information Management at Victoria University. Her research focus is on the management of public libraries and Dany Miller is the hub manager for libraries in South Auckland. 

10:40 Book review: Flashlight by Susan Choi

Lisa Adler from Unity Books Wellington reviews Flashlight by Susan Choi, published by Jonathan Cape.

10:45 Around the motu: Piers Fuller reports from the Wairarapa

11:05 Music with Ian Chapman: The best non-cheesy wedding songs

Committing to a life-partner in a marriage or civil union is a hugely significant event in anyone’s life. Highly emotional and always celebratory, it’s no wonder that carefully selected songs often play an important role in such ceremonies. According to the last census, there were close to 19,000 marriages and civil unions in New Zealand in 2023. Between a quarter and a third of these events were second time around (or more) for the participants. Today Ian Chapman discusses song choices for such unions, avoiding the obvious mushy and sickly sentimental ones so often chosen by first-timers and focusing instead on popular choices by those who kissed a few frogs on the way to the church. 

Ian Chapman is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Music at the University of Otago. 

11:20 The doulas helping people treat death as a journey 

It's a subject that many find uncomfortable, but is a necessity - how to handle the end of life.
Amid the grief and challenges of how to honour loved ones, comes the financial pressures - dying is expensive, with funerals estimated at an average of $10,000. It was the subject of a Health Select Committee report in May - which said current processes and regulations are imposing high costs on the public and creating a barrier for those who want to do DIY funerals. Joining Kathryn is Treza Gallogly, she's the chair of the End of Life Doula Alliance Aotearoa. It's a relatively new organisation - but the work she and other doulas do certainly isn't. She says the end of life process has become incredibly medicalised - but a growing number of Kiwis are opting to die peacefully at home. 

11:45 NZ's most common poisoning scenarios (+ how to handle them)

Roughly 20 percent of families with kids under five experience an accidental poisoning every year. More than half the calls to the National Poisons Centre are about this - and children aged 1 to 3 are the most likely group to be poisoned. Having said that, anyone of any age can be poisoned by anything from medicines, to household or garden products, plants, spiders or gases. Would you know what to do? Joining Kathryn is Adam Pomerleau - he's the director of the National Poisons Centre - which is based in Dunedin, but operational 24/7, 365 days a year. He discusses what the Centre does, the most common ways people are poisoned in New Zealand - and most importantly, the basics of what to do, if you or someone around you - has been poisoned.