Nine To Noon

09:05 Organised crime and mental health: Police Commissioner Richard Chambers

New Zealand is losing the fight against transnational, serious, organised crime. That's the finding from a Ministerial Advisory Report released this week which also shows methamphetamine consumption is sky rocketing. The two are of course connected - the meth trade is a financial lifeline for organised crime - with around 36 kilograms of the drug consumed by New Zealanders every week which is more than double what it was five years ago according to ESR wastewater testing. The challenges are just some of many that new Police Commissioner Richard Chambers is overseeing since beginning the top job in November last year. Another one is the police's response to calls involving people with mental health issues. From Monday police will further wind back their response involving those with a mental illness, as part of a year-long staged approach that will see police spend much less time on such calls, and get them "back to basics", which is the directive from the Government. 

09:30 Plans for a kānuka based, Māori-led industry, built on the plant's unique background  

Landcare Research and Hikurangi Bioactives have won a Science NZ  award for partnering to work on kānuka - a small tree probably best known for growing on scrubland. It's hoped an industry can grow by telling the story of its heritage in te ao Māori and of the land it grows on, much like the French have done with Champagne. Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Hikurangi Bioactives, who have been working together for 5 years, have found that a new kānuka industry has the potential to create employment and economic opportunities for Māori in remote areas. The partners have developed a new eczema cream that clinical trails showed significantly reduced the severity of the skin complaint. The collaboration also led to the creation of Hā Kānuka, a national entity that represents all kānuka producers in Aotearoa. Kathryn speaks to Nikki Harcourt (Waikato- Tainui) Kaihautū Māori Research Impact Leader at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research.

09:45 Pacific : US tariffs, Winston Peters visits

RNZ Pacific Editor Koroi Hawkins talks about the impact on Pacific nations of the US tariffs, Foreign Minister Winston Peters is on a weeklong trip through the Pacific,  and a look ahead to weekend sport in the region.

10:05 Chicago-sized iceberg breaks off to reveal a thriving Antarctic ecosystem

Giant foot-long sea spiders, icefish with milky-white blood, and 200 year-old coral communities - these are among the creatures a team of international scientists came across when an iceberg the size of Chicago broke off in January. A ship run by the US research organisation Schmidt Institute has been heading for Bellingshausen Sea when the iceberg broke clean from the George VI Ice Shelf, exposing 510 square kilometres of previously inaccessible ocean. The scientists spent eight days studying the seafloor with a remote control camera, and were surprised to find a thriving ecosystem. Thom Linley is a deep-sea fish expert and a curator of fishes at Te Papa, and he was the sole Kiwi scientist aboard the ship.

10:35 Book review: Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Cynthia Morahan reviews Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez published by Hachette     

10:45 Around the motu: Jared McCulloch in Queenstown

Jared discusses the Shotover wastewater treatment plant, NASA is back in Wanaka, an update on the Roxburgh Cinema and Town Hall, and there's been snow... in April!

Jared McCulloch is a 1 News Reporter in Queenstown

11:05 Music reviewer Jeremy Taylor 

Marlon Williams' first all te reo Maori album, Bon Iver's first album in 5 years, and Jeremy Taylor's celebrating International Record Store Day.

11:30 Sports commentator Sam Ackerman

Sam Ackerman talks about the death of sports doctor John Mayhew, the winners of the top cricket awards,  and looks ahead to the Super Rugby weekend ahead.

11:45 The week that was 

Comedians te Radar and Elisabeth Easter enjoy some of the funnier stories of the past week, including the Tiktok trend disrupting screenings of the Minecraft movie.