Checkpoint for Monday 19 December 2011

6:51 PM.Jockeys are threatening to disrupt New Year's Day races across the country because they're refusing to accept the latest pay offer from Thoroughbred Racing. Audio

6:48 PM.Labour's Shane Jones is back on the Opposition front bench - after the party's new leader selected his top team; The Hawke's Bay DHB's Maori Health Director says education is the key to reducing Maori… Read more Audio

6:37 PM.To London, where our correspondent Barney Burnham has the latest news from the UK. Audio

6:33 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:28 PM.The Auckland City Mission says its food stocks are coming under pressure as hundreds of people start lining up for help - five days from Christmas. Audio

6:26 PM.Consumer confidence has plummeted as the reality of the ongoing European debt crisis sinks in. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence index fell 11 points to 101 in the three months to… Read more Audio

6:15 PM.State media in North Korea are reporting the counrty's leader, Kim Jong-Il, has died of a heart attack at the age of 69. Audio

6:11 PM.The Department of Labour says up to a thousand people die ever year because of work related illnesses. Audio

6:08 PM.The big mover in the Labour Party caucus re-shuffle today is the list MP Jacinda Ardern, who has jumped 15 spots to fourth on the party's front bench. Audio

5:56 PM.Five people have been arrested after one-million dollars worth of cocaine was seized at Auckland international airport. Audio

5:51 PM.The Whangarei principal who first challenged the appointment of a disgraced principal as a highly-paid schools advisor - says many questions remain to be answered. Audio

5:48 PM.Some of Labour's Maori MPs have been given key roles in the party; For Shane Jones, it's a return to the front bench; The Hawke's Bay DHB's Maori Health Director says education is the key to reducing… Read more Audio

5:42 PM.The police say the man who shot a hunter near Wanaka early this morning is distraught at having killed his friend. Audio

5:39 PM.Our political reporter Julian Robins is with us. Audio

5:35 PM.The leader of the Labour Party, David Shearer, has taken the finance portfolio from his rival David Cunliffe, but kept him on the front bench. Audio

5:32 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:28 PM.A payrise of nearly 70 thousand for the Christchurch City Council's chief executive has stunned people in the community, many of whom have been struggling financially since the earthquakes. Audio

5:25 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:16 PM.The mother of a woman who was shot by a hunter while brushing her teeth says the man's early release from prison is an insult to the family's lifetime sentence of grief. Audio

5:11 PM.We're joined by the Civil Defence's group controller for Tasman Nelson, Jim Frater. Audio

5:08 PM.Tonight civil defence engineers are closely monitoring a massive slip on Nelson's Tahuna-nui hillside to see whether it may slide further, forcing more evacuations. Audio

5:00 PM.Fears Nelson's Tahunanui hillside may slip further, forcing more evacuations. David Shearer promotes one David and demotes another and anger at the early release of a hunter who shot a woman dead… Read more Audio