Checkpoint for Tuesday 27 March 2012

6:51 PM.A Christchurch lobby group is urging the Government to step in to get a deal done within four weeks to pave the way for a total insurance payout for homeowners. Audio

6:48 PM.A Waikato-Tainui kaumatua and historian says the Maori King movement is mourning the loss of a Royal blood relative of the pacific, the Tongan King, George Tupou, the fifth; Ruapehu District Council… Read more Audio

6:43 PM.Thames home owners on land contaminated with arsenic face new fears of lead in the soil at high levels. Audio

6:36 PM.Opposition politicians say they're shocked the Government hasn't asked Australia why it's banned a Chinese company that's part of the ultrafast broadband rollout in New Zealand. Audio

6:32 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:22 PM.News from the business sector. Audio

6:17 PM.A precedent setting court case - heard today in Christchurch - will determine whether regional authorities must take climate change into account when considering coal mining consents. Audio

6:13 PM.Researchers say they can now prove that marine sanctuaries work and that the one off Banks Peninsula has helped keep the endangered Hectar's dolphins alive. Audio

6:10 PM.Advocates for cancer patients say the botched screening of some patients with a family history of the disease has put them at serious risk. Audio

6:06 PM.The chairman of the ACC board has been called into Parliament by the ACC Minister, Judith Collins, to discuss the privacy breach involving Bronwyn Pullar. Audio

5:53 PM.The Green Party is demanding the Intelligence and Security Committee investigate Chinese company Huawei after the Australian Government blocked it from its national broadband network contracts. Audio

5:50 PM.Ruapehu District Council is being criticised by a local iwi for allowing a car rally to go ahead in Tongariro National Park; The Mayor of Ruapehu District Council couldn't be reached for comment; A… Read more Audio

5:45 PM.The Government's much-vaunted welfare changes have survived their first vote in Parliament. Audio

5:42 PM.The United States President, Barack Obama, has been overheard on an open microphone, privately telling Russia's leader he'd have more flexibility to deal with a controversial missile defense system… Read more Audio

5:40 PM.A major Canterbury property developer is warning a lot of land won't get subdivided because it's too expensive to do new tests on it. Audio

5:36 PM.The late Tongan King, George Tupou the 5th, has been buried in the royal tomb in the capital, Nuku'alofa. Audio

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

5:26 PM.The Government is pulling money out of nutrition and physical activity programmes to put into others targeting mothers and babies. Audio

5:24 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:17 PM.The Government's announced it's going ahead with overhauling the privacy laws, but just how much new power it will hand the Privacy Commissioner remains uncertain. Audio

5:13 PM.Twenty-eight people who were wrongly taken off an endoscopy screening programme for bowel cancer in 2005 may have missed out on critical treatment. Audio

5:10 PM.The Ports of Auckland has agreed to pay its locked out wharfies for a week, but it's still not clear if and when they will be allowed back to work. Audio

5:07 PM.The Prime Minister has said sorry and expressed his regrets to the President of Finland about Gerry Brownlee's critical descriptions of the Scandanavian country. Audio

5:00 PM.John Key apologises to the President of Finland. Locked out wharfies in Auckland will get a weeks wages from the Port and Government money to target mothers and babies instead of healthy eating and… Read more Audio