Checkpoint for Wednesday 27 March 2013

6:54 PM.Army Engineers have dug up the barrel of a rare so-called disappearing gun on the Miramar Peninsula in Wellington. Audio

6:50 PM.Legal action has delayed a decision by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust on whether to fund a series of Treaty claims in Northland; The people of Parihaka have told the Government to stop allowing… Read more Audio

6:43 PM.It will take years to give teeth to engineering watchdogs who have been proven powerless to penalise anyone over the CTV building collapse that killed 115 people. Audio

6:39 PM.In what is the death knell for traditional film making here, Peter Jackson's Park Road studio in Wellington is closing down the country's last film processing laboratory. Audio

6:36 PM.The Government will decide early next year whether drink driving limits should be reduced. Audio

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

6:28 PM.A Taranaki hermit has been allowed to continue living at his beach hut of 16 years after the New Plymouth District council has backed down over immediately evicting him. Audio

6:20 PM.News from the business sector. Audio

6:17 PM.Parliament has been told that there have been more than 700 accusations of fraud during the Christchurch rebuild. Audio

6:14 PM.A UK tourist has become the third swimmer to drown at Piha beach in a little over a month. Audio

6:11 PM.A few showers forecast for the drought-stricken North Island over the weekend are not expected to ease water restrictions in place in many cities. Audio

6:08 PM.Strong earnings from Fonterra look set to come to the aid of drought stricken dairy farmers who have watched helplessly as a lack of rain dried up their milk output. Audio

5:56 PM.The lawyer for a woman who beat up her former boyfriend with a mallet while she was drunk, causing injuries that later killed him, says she has admitted to making a mistake and is sorry. Audio

5:51 PM.Legal action has delayed a decision by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust on whether to fund a series of Treaty claims in Northland; The people of Parihaka have told the Government to stop allowing… Read more Audio

5:47 PM.A French woman in Queenstown who told police it was the fault of the laws here that she drove on wrong side of the road, is now in prison for two months and will probably be deported. Audio

5:45 PM.A helicopter has plucked an injured climber off Mount Awful in Mount Aspiring National Park this afternoon. Audio

5:42 PM.Job cuts at Department of Conservation has grass-roots environmental groups worried about the potential problems it may cause for their work. Audio

5:36 PM.The Building and Construction Minister has just come out of a meeting with engineering watchdogs over their powerlessness to penalise anyone over the CTV building collapse. Audio

5:34 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:24 PM.The Prime Minister admits he's known the head of the Government's spy agency from their school days, but says he wouldn't describe him as a friend. Audio

5:21 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:19 PM.The Earthquake Commission has laid a complaint with the police against the man who was wrongly sent an email containing details of more than 80,000 claims. Audio

5:15 PM.Civil Aviation authorities are rejecting suggestions that a Pacific Blue pilot, who put his passengers at risk flying out of Queenstown in failing light into a storm, was under pressure from the… Read more Audio

5:10 PM.The Prime Minister has been forced to defend himself after the Deputy Auditor-General contradicted his claim that her report on Sky City's bid to build an international convention centre cleared… Read more Audio

5:06 PM.Fonterra dairy farmers struggling with one of the country's worst droughts are getting an early cash payout of on average a hundred thousand dollars to help keep them afloat. Audio

5:00 PM.Struggling farmers get an early pay out from Fonterra. John Key is forced to defend himself on the Sky City bid and CAA says airline pilots not under company pressure to take risks. Audio