Saturday Morning for Saturday 8 March 2025

7.11 Cyclone Alfred makes landfall

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is bearing down on Moreton Island just off Brisbane.

It's been downgraded to a category one system, but gale force winds are now lashing the area and up to 800 millimetres of rain expected. People are being warned to take shelter.

The ABC's Gavin Coote in Sydney has been tracking the storm and gives the latest.

 

7.16 Hamas rejects Trumps threats over hostages

Hamas has rejected threats by US President Trump - saying it will only free hostages in return for a lasting truce.  

Hamas also accused Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to back out of a ceasefire agreement.

Also this week, leaders from the region came together in the Egyptian capital, Cairo to develop a plan to rebuild Gaza. 

The BBC Middle East correspondent Sebastian Usher explains what's been happening.

7.24 School lunches and potential further cuts

An apology and the launch of a nationwide investigation were needed this week after a child received second degree burns from an over-heated school lunch.

And only yesterday a Bay of Plenty school reported lunches being so hot the containers exploded.

Act leader David Seymour called the Gisborne school where the student was hurt to say sorry and earlier in the week hit back at the critics of the scheme.

But the head of the country's largest education sector union - Ripeka Lessels says it's not good enough and she's got other concerns about whether there will be further cuts in schools.

7.34 The latest on Ukraine

This week European leaders scrambled to respond to unprecedented moves by the new administration of US President Donald Trump.

America has suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine - and Moscow took advantage with huge ballistic missile and drone strikes across Ukraine.

But the US president has also floated the idea of sanctions on Vladimir Putin's regime.

It's forced European leaders to come up with a ceasefire plan that would involve European and Nato peacekeepers on the ground.

Rory Challands is a UK based international correspondent and speaks to Susie.

 

7.43 The Gene Technology Bill

In August last year, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins announced new gene technology legislation, removing regulatory hurdles that have been in place for 30 years. 

The Gene Technology Bill is loosely modelled on Australia's Gene Technology Act 2000. Like in Australia, a regulator will be set up within the Environmental Protection Authority. 

The role is a big one. Supported by an office, a technical advisory committee, and a Māori advisory committee, the regulator will assess and manage the risks of GMOs, provide information to the public, guidance to regulated parties, and advice on technical matters to ministers. 

Most experts agree changes are well overdue. But there's been disappointment in how the bill appears to sideline Māori values, particularly because New Zealand has produced world-leading strategies for appropriately engaging these technologies with indigenous and under-represented communities. 

Explainer editor Katie Kenny talks to Susie.

7.49 Waka 'most important' find of all time in New Zealand

A waka discovered on Rēkohu / Chatham Islands has been described by one expert as the most important discovery in New Zealand, possibly Polynesian archeology.

Among the 450 pieces recovered, are some braided fibre lashed to timber and other textiles - which are incredibly rare.

RNZ first spoke to Maui Solomon in February but we have him back for an update - Maui is (Moriori, Ngāi Tahu) a well-known Indigenous rights activist, mediator and treaty settlement negotiator, as well as chairman of the Moriori Imi Settlement Trust.

8.11 Nigel Marchant: Lockerbie: A Search for Truth 

Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning producer Nigel Marchant is perhaps best known for Downton Abbey. His latest mini-series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth stars Colin Firth as Dr Jim Swire, who led a dogged investigation after his daughter's death in Britain's worst terrorist attack, the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people. Nigel tells Susie how the series came together.

Lockerbie: A Search for Truth is available to watch on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+. 

8.37 Andrew Darby's ancient tree odyssey

Prize-winning nature writer Andrew Darby takes us on an island odyssey to discover the world's oldest surviving trees in his latest book The Ancients. It tells the story of their exploitation and loss to fire, and the people fighting to protect them.

His second book, Flight Lines was an investigation of long-distance migratory shorebirds. It won the Royal Zoological Society of NSW's Whitley Award, the Tasmanian Premier's Prize for Non-fiction, and was short-listed for the Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards.

9.06 Ruby Wax: finding the funny side

Following a sell-out West End run and UK tour, Ruby Wax's critically acclaimed show I'm Not As Well As I Thought I Was is coming to New Zealand in April. Based on her bestselling book, Ruby shares her deeply personal journey trying everything she can to help manage her mental health and subsequent breakdown.  

With decades spent in comedy and television, Ruby uses her trademark wit and vulnerability to dismantle stereotypes around mental health and happiness in her show.

Ruby holds an Oxford University Masters in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and was awarded an OBE for her services to mental health.

9.36 Russia will get what it wants: trade war and Oval Office fallout

World leaders have started to pick up the pieces after a trade war started by the US, and a shock showdown in the Oval Office between Zelensky and Trump.

Some US tariffs on Canada and Mexico have now been delayed by a month, but were slammed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "a very dumb thing to do" when first announced.

China, which was also slapped with US tariffs, has warned that if it was a war the US wanted, whether a trade or any other type of war, it was ready to fight till the end.

Back home in Aotearoa, our agricultural exports may also be hit with tariffs, sparking government officials to reach out to their US counterparts.

Meanwhile, European leaders have put on a show of solidarity for Ukraine, which will have talks with the US in Saudi Arabia next week.

For analysis - including where New Zealand fits in the global picture - is Nicholas Khoo, an Associate Professor of the Politics Programme at Otago University....

9.52 Live from the Pasifika Festival

This weekend, Pasifika Festival returns to Auckland's Western Springs park in all its vibrancy. Mihi speaks with RNZ Pacific reporter Coco Lance who's there for the whole event.

10.06 The Beths - how to survive a music festival 

Beloved Kiwi indie rock band The Beths are set to headline the main stage at WOMAD next weekend, ahead of their upcoming Australian tour.

Lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes and guitarist Jonathan Pearce unpack the highs and lows of life on the road, the magic behind their songwriting, and how to survive a music festival, come rain or shine.

10.30 Malia Johnston: a performance of air

Malia Johnston is a renowned director and creative. She directed the opening ceremony for the Fifa Women's World Cup 2023 and has been the show director for the World of Wearable Art since 2002.  

Her latest work Belle - A Performance of Air is a mesmerising melding of lights, aerial performance and theatre at the Auckland Arts Festival this month.  

Mihi caught up with Malia at TAPAC, where she was training the dance crew.

10.45 Autumn gardening with Hannah Zwartz

Autumn is a season of fruitfulness - but it's also the season for blights, mildew, rust, shield bugs and passion vine hoppers. Don't despair though, mildew is a bit like grey hair or wrinkles, nothing to freak out about! It's a natural sign of plants aging.  And getting to know insects' life cycles is the first step to managing them.

With over 30 years' experience gardening professionally, including looking after the herb and succulent areas at Wellington Botanic Garden and running community market gardens in the Hutt Valley, Hannah Zwartz is a seasoned hand with a green thumb. 

She joins to share her tips and tricks for managing a garden in changing seasons, and to answer your questions.

11.05 Carla Houkamau and Robert Pouwhare

From Polynesian navigators to contemporary business, Mana Moana documents the remarkable story of Māori fishing. It links ancient purakau stories to issues of sustainability and economic development.

Dr Carla Houkamau, who has written the English text, is a professor in the Department of Management and International Business, and the deputy dean for the Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau.

Dr Robert Pouwhare, who has written the reo Māori text, is a professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau.  

11.25 Scottish Ballet: pirouetting to NZ

The Scottish Ballet is sharing the stage with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, making its first visit to the South Pacific for performances in Wellington and Auckland.  

The Scottish ballet was one of the first to instigate intimacy coaches, important for performing dance based on classic texts, such as Streetcar Named Desire, which it's bringing to the Auckland Arts Festival.

It's a homecoming of sorts for maverick artistic director and CEO Christopher Hampson, who has a reputation for pushing ballet boundaries and who has worked with the RNZ Ballet in the past.

11.45 Mr Meatballs - Michael Dearth 

The 13th Hawkes Bay Food and Wine Classic festival is set to get stomachs rumbling with the inaugural Hastings Meatball Festival.

Meatball ambassador for the event, Masterchef judge "Mr Meatballs" himself, Michael Dearth joins Mihi with some meatballs fresh out of the oven.

Michael is the owner of  Italian-inspired Auckland restaurant, Baduzzi.

His other fine dining restaurant "The Grove" closed its doors last weekend.

 

 

Music played in this show

 8.40am - 'Big Yellow Taxi' by Joni Mitchell

10.06am - 'Expert In A Dying Field' by The Beths

11.07am - 'Tihore Mai & Sweetest Taboo' live recording from the 2024 Hear Me Roar concert featuring Betty-Anne Monga, Annie Crummer, Julia Deans and Boh Runga.