Nine To Noon for Wednesday 11 June 2025

09:05  Are property valuations still  the best way to allocate rates?

As Aucklanders digest their new property valuations, questions are being raised over whether using these CV's are the best way to work out rates. The calculations released yesterday are already 12 months old,  and council staff say they are not necessarily a true reflection of a homes value. The valuations showed an average drop of 9 percent across the city's 630,000 homes. But they will be the basis of rates calculations over how to distribute payments among ratepayers. Some have suggested that there might be better ways to work out how much each household should be contributing toward the cost of running the council. So are CV's useful as a rating tool? Kathryn speaks with Nick Goodall of Cotality, formerly CoreLogic.

09:20 Healthy homes standards in full next month

All rentals must meet healthy homes standards from next month, so what do tenants and landlords need to know ahead of the deadline? Healthy homes standards first became law in 2019 and require rental properties to have sufficient heating, insulation, moisture controls and drainage, and draught stopping. Up to now the standards have been staged, with newer tenancies needing to meet the standards earlier, but now all tenancies must meet the standards. The Sustainability Trust is concerned that even with the healthy homes standards coming into force, there are likely still homes that are inefficient, leaving tenants with large power bills to keep them warm. MBIE's head of tenancy is  Kat Watson. and Sustainability Trust's Fair Energy Manager is Phil Squire.

MBIE's Tenancy Services has a tool on its website for landlords to check their properties are compliant. 

09:30 Study reveals high rates of opioid use in NZ pregnancies

In unexpected findings New Zealand has one of the highest rates of prescribed opioid use during pregnancy, according to new research. The data comes from a study led by the University of New South Wales, which tracked prescribed opioid use across 13 countries since the year 2000. Of the countries - which included Australia, Canada, the US, Denmark and the UK - New Zealand had the third-highest rate. Almost 8 per cent of pregnancies in New Zealand were exposed to an opioid, compared to only 4 per cent in Canada and 0.4 per cent in the UK. Co-author of the research is Dr Sarah Donald, of the University of Otago.

09:45 Australia: Watchdog takes dating site to court over subscriptions

Australia correspondent Chris Niesche looks at why the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken e-Harmony to court over subscription traps. He'll also detail comments by Australia's defence chief about the country's preparedness for war and look at reaction to former PM Scott Morrison's King's Birthday Honour.

10:05 The paleontologist leading the dig for thousands of dinosaurs buried in a forest in Canada 

Seventy-two million years ago in Alberta, Canada thousands of dinosaurs were killed by one devastating event. The mass grave is hidden beneath the slopes of a lush forest and appropriately nicknamed the "River of Death". A group of paleontologists have embarked on a mission to try solve the mystery of what happened at Pipestone Creek Paleontologist Professor Emily Bamforth is Curator at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Alberta and is leading the dig. She joins Kathryn Ryan.

10:30 The New highway replacing the Manawatū Gorge road is now open to travellers  

The four-lane Te Ahu a Turanga highway is now open to drivers, becoming the new State Highway 3.The first commuters are now driving over the 11.5 kilometre highway that connects Ashhurst and Woodville.It replaces the old Manawatū Gorge Rd, which closed in 2017 following slips, and took five years to build. Joy Kopa from with Positively Woodville, speaks to  Kathryn about what the new road will mean for the town.    

10.35 Day one at Fieldays 

It's day one at Fieldays at Mystery Creek south of Hamilton. More than 100,000 people are expected through the gates at the pinnacle business event of the year for farmers. It comes at a time when New Zealand's dairy sector is booming and red meat exports are up. There are more than 1200 exhibitors at Fieldays and one of those is Shelley Houston, founder of KiwiLeather Innovations, a company turning kiwifruit waste into leather products. 

10:35 Book review: Poor Ghost! by Gabriel Flynn 

Lisa Finucane reviews Poor Ghost! by Gabriel Flynn published by Hachette 

10:45 Around the motu: Kelly Makiha in Rotorua

Kelly updates Kathryn on the latest events in Rotorua including rough sleepers setting up camp on Amohia street, a Rotorua 11-year-old has defied the odds by scoring the lead role of Annie in an Auckland theatre production, and a Taonga was presented at a league tournament for slain teen.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist with the Rotorua Daily Post.

11:05 How music can let you be your true self

Music correspondent Dave Wilson joins  Kathryn to talk about how music can give artists, listeners and communities ways of being who they are that might not be available in everyday life.

Dave Wilson is a saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and interdisciplinary scholar, a Senior Lecturer in Music at the New Zealand School of Music-Te Kōkī.

 

11.20 Are young people having less sex? Why it matters

 Generation Z - people born between 1997 and 2012 - are much less likely to be having sex. One study done by the Kinsey Institute found the median number of times Gen Z-ers reported having sex in the past three months was three - compared to 5 for Millennials and Gen X. 37 percent reported no sex in the last month- compared with 19 percent of Millennials and 17 percent of Gen X. So why is it happening? Does the answer lie in their being the first generation to fully come of age in the era of smartphones and social media? And is it a bad thing? Therapist, educator and researcher Jo Robertson will  take your questions - text them to 2101 or email ninetonoon@rnz.co.nz.

11:45 What causes dizziness and vertigo - and what are the treatments?

It's estimated forty percent of people over the age of 40 will experience some kind of dizziness or balance problem at some point in their life. For some, it will go beyond that. Vertigo can come on suddenly and it can last for a few minutes or even up to a few months. It's often due to issues within the vestibule, the part of the inner ear responsible for the body's orientation in space. What can set it off? And what are some of the treatment options for sufferers? Kathryn speaks with Rebekah Miller, a vestibular physiotherapy specialist, and the director of Christchurch based company Balance Works.