Nine To Noon RNZ Radio

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton looks at how Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken on Elon Musk, calling him an "arrogant billionaire" over his refusal to take down videos of a stabbing attack on an Assyrian priest in Sydney last week. Mr Albanese is on a two-day walk on the Kokoda Track with his PNG counterpart James Marape to mark Anzac Day - but also reinforce Australia's commitment to its northern neighbour. And Kathryn looks at the furore over a comedian's decision to kick out a mother and baby from his gig. Karen Middleton is political editor of the Guardian Australia

Another batch of New Zealand's most precious pasture seeds have been delivered to a doomsday mountain vault in Norway. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, 120 metres inside an Arctic mountainside, has more than 930-thousand varieties of crops. It means they can be retrieved and regrown should a disaster wipe a crucial plant species out. Last month, seeds for ryegrass, a standard clover and a subterranean clover were sent over. Kioumars Ghamkhar is the director of AgResearch's Margot Forde Genebank in Palmerston North - our very own, albeit smaller, seed bank.

From tomorrow the amount of finfish and shellfish recreational fishers can take from inside Fiordland will be reduced while takes in the oceans outside the fiords will be encouraged. It's been a five-year journey to get here for the Government-appointed Fiordland Marine Guardians. The group is a statutory advisory board appointed by the Minister for the Environment and is required to monitor the Fiordland Marine Area and to advise ministers on rule changes. The fishing watchdog was warned in 2019 by long-time local fishers that stocks in the fiords of hapuku/bass, blue cod and paua were seemingly much lower and harder to catch than in the past. A particular focus to for the Guardians was to reduce fishing in the vulnerable inner fiords but also the entrances to them, where stocks appear depleted. The new rules include both in the same restricted area. Rebecca McLeod, chair of the Guardians, talks to Kathryn about the need to restrain fishing inside the fiords.

The Police Association warns officers will not be able to confiscate gang patches in real time, under a proposed law change. The Gangs Legislation Amendment Bill is in front of a justice select committee as part of the coalition's crackdown on crime. It includes banning gang patches in all public places, giving police special powers to break up gang gatherings, and allowing courts to stop gang members associating with each other. Association president Chris Cahill says while he broadly supports the bill, the public should not expect officers to take gang patches on the spot.

Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge is ruling out sacking coach Rob Penney mid-season, despite the team sitting at the bottom of the table. In league, the Warriors' wheels are wobbling heading into their rare home game on Anzac Day. Kiwi swimmer Lewis Clareburt is joining the chorus of disapproval over the leniency of a group of Chinese competitors who failed a drug test. And Scott Dixon pays a special tribute to motorsport icon Sir Colin Giltrap, after his first win of the Indycar season.

Stats NZ figures in the year to January show more than 250,000 people arrived in New Zealand. Massey University Professor Paul Spoonley says the volume of arrivals has contributed a significant net gain of more than 131,000. He joins us to discuss the record levels of migration, the challenge for processing visas, and the government's response. Professor Paul Spoonley is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Honorary Research Associate in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University.