The Wednesday with Paul Deady 17/03/10

1220 - Red Cross NZ operations director Andrew McKie: Fiji after Tomas

At 1220 we'll hear from Red Cross NZ operations director Andrew McKie - who I spoke to very quickly this morning. He's knee-deep helping to coordinate the clean-up and relief effort in Fiji following the destruction wrought by Cyclone Tomas. It's passed over the island now, and has left hundreds of thousands of people affected. Andrew gave me a quick update on the situation there, and spoke to me about the difficulties those affected now face, how the Red Cross relief effort works, and whether Bainimarama's military regime is likely to pose any obstacles.

1245 - Cr Paul Walbran, Auckland's State of the Region

At 1245, the chair of the ARC’s Regional Strategy and Planning Committee Paul Walbran will be on the line to discuss Auckland's latest environmental scorecard. The ARC's State of the Region report looks at Auckland’s air, land, water and biodiversity and as it's the last one before the rejig of local government in this city, will hopefully help the new Auckland Council to prioritise future decisions. It's not a particularly rosy picture painted, throwing up far more challenges than it does pats on the back. So what DOES the future hold for Auckland's environment?

1300 - Commonwealth Games in Auckland

At one I'm hoping to hear from Michael Barnett - he's the chief executive of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, and a loud voice in the push for this city to host the 2018 Commonwealth games. That push was nixed by the National government yesterday - they say they're not prepared to stump up the cash to make a bid possible. Michael's a bit gutted - he says standing aside doesn't send a good message and we've got to earn a reputation for hosting major events. But with the RWC coming next year and all the fluff that's entailed - can we really be bothered? Sure the 1990 games we're cool and all - Nicky Jenkins gold medal inspired the nation - but aren't the Commonwealth games just the Olympic's lame cousin? And anyway - we'll be a republic by then.

1320 - Counterclockwise

Lyndon Hood from the honed minds at scoop joins us for counterclockwise at twenty past one. Today he'll be taking a look at the justice minister Simon Power's appearance before the UN outlining our progress on human rights. And Lyndon will also ponder why the government - which used to be in such a rush, has suddenly slowed to a snails pace.
1340 - Jordan Carter, Policy Director at Internet NZ on DIA's Child Exploitation Filter

And at the end of the show we'll hear from (above) on the Department of Internal Affairs brand new Child Exploitation Filter. It's now "gone live" as they say, two small ISPs started using it as of February 1st. The DIA refuses to say which other ISPs will be joining the filter, claiming the right to negotiate in secret. It's understood that Telstra Clear, Telecom and Vodafone will also implement the filter, while Orcon, Slingshot and Natcom have said they won’t. So what does it do? Stops you from seeing rude pictures and objectionable material. Well, that's the aim anyway. But Internet NZ reckons it's actually pretty ineffective and along with giving concerned parents and the like a false sense of security, also GREATLY undermines the openness of the internet. We'll hear more at 1340.

ENDS

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