Checkpoint for Thursday 30 September 2021

5:08 PM.There has not been a lot of good news in Aotearoa recently, but on Thursday the tiny King Country settlement of Marokopa welcomed news a family of four missing for 17 days are safe and well. 34-year… Read more Video, Audio

5:15 PM.The Prime Minister says the government is giving full consideration to easing restrictions in Auckland, but the border will remain in place.

19 new community cases of Covid-19 have been reported… Read more Audio

5:18 PM.There will be no school holiday ski-trips or whānau visits for Aucklanders across the regional Covid-19 border, with the Prime Minister's confirmation that the city will remain shut-off from the rest… Read more Video, Audio

5:27 PM.Cabs, coupons and coffees are being offered as health authorities try to keep Auckland's stalling vaccination campaign rolling.

At least 83 percent of eligible Aucklanders have now had their first… Read more Video, Audio

5:32 PM.One of the country's most beloved athletes is considering picking up his shot and moving offshore because of the constraints of MIQ.

Tom Walsh talks to Lisa Owen.

  Read more Video, Audio

5:35 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6274847955001 Video, Audio

5:39 PM.The price of tropical fruits like pineapples, melon and mango could skyrocket this summer, due to soaring freight costs.

The pandemic means fewer flights are arriving - and ships are often facing… Read more Audio

5:42 PM.Those who fought tirelessly against the mining of tonnes of iron sands off the coast of South Taranaki believe the end of seabed mining is here.

The Supreme Court decision has dismissed an appeal by… Read more Audio

5:50 PM.After 13 years is the toxic relationship between pop star Britney Spears and her father over?

Journalist and entertainment correspondent Sean Mandell joins me now from Los Angeles.

  Read more Video, Audio

5:55 PM.Ohai is today closing the book on its more than century long association with coal.

The small western Southland settlement sprang up around large coal deposits discovered in the 1910s, but its time… Read more Video, Audio

5:55 PM.New Zealand will welcome five times the usual number of new residents by the end of next year.

In what the government describes as the biggest immigration decision in living memory, 165,000 migrants… Read more Audio

6:08 PM.Aucklanders can look forward to a staycation these school holidays with the Prime Minister confirming the region is likely to stay locked down for a while yet - even if restrictions inside the… Read more Video, Audio

6:13 PM.Police say a man pointed a gun at officers and the public multiple times during a police pursuit across several Auckland suburbs this morning.

Officers followed the car and its two occupants from… Read more Audio

6:17 PM.Another benefit sanction is on the scrap heap, but advocates are questioning how long it's taking for the government to make good on its promise to overhaul the welfare system.

A law change to remove… Read more Audio

6:22 PM.Psychologists say there's emerging evidence of long-term and in some cases 'severe' effects from time spent in MIQ, brought on by a lack of control, autonomy and social contact.

While many returnees… Read more Audio