Checkpoint for Thursday 4 May 2023

6:15 PM.The government has rolled out its long-awaited health plan to ease pressure on hospitals this coming winter season.

Wait times for emergency care were the worst on record last winter.

Now, a… Read more Audio

6:07 PM.Despite the best efforts of Parliament's speaker to explain exactly why defecting MP Meka Whaitiri still has a job, some of us are more confused than ever about the tangled web of rules, laws and… Read more Video, Audio

5:55 PM.Dozens of royal family mega-fans have set up camp near Buckingham Palace - braving the chilly London nights just to catch a glimpse of King Charles on Coronation day.

Final preparations are underway… Read more Audio

5:51 PM.A human rights lawyer is appalled at what she says is cynical behaviour from the Ministry of Social Development in offering compensation to victims of state abuse.

While survivors wait for an… Read more Audio

5:46 PM.School's out at Albany Senior High for two days as health workers trace the contacts of a measles case - but it could be longer.

A student with measles was at school while infectious last week… Read more Video, Audio

5:43 PM.The wet weather may have stopped in Whakatāne but its mayor is reminding residents not be complacent after a deluge of rain submerged parts of the town.

The district council is warning residents… Read more Audio

5:33 PM.It's no master move winning over defecting MP Meka Whaitiri according to the co-leader of Labour's Māori caucus Willie Jackson.

But he's still in the dark about her reasons for leaving because she… Read more Video, Audio

5:26 PM."Our little warrior" - a mother's words in court as the man who brutally killed her daughter was sentenced to life in jail.

Lena Zhang Harrap was murdered in September 2021, while out on her daily… Read more Audio

5:23 PM.The Black Caps have fallen to their third straight loss in a week as their testing tour of Pakistan continues.

After the T20 series ended in a stalemate, Pakistan have wrapped up the one-day series… Read more Video, Audio

5:15 PM.Tired, sore, and fighting hallucinations. Thirty-three-year-old Jono Ridler came ashore at Campbells Bay on Auckland's North Shore last night after a record breaking 33 hour swim, from Aotea Great… Read more Video, Audio

5:11 PM.Meka Whaitiri's explosive exit from Labour is still rocking Parliament - as Opposition MPs call on her to give up her seat altogether.

Parliament's Speaker though has reaffirmed the renegade can stay… Read more Audio

5:07 PM.A rural Bay of Plenty town is struggling so much to attract doctors, that its only GP is flying in unvaccinated South Island locums who can't find work elsewhere.

Bernard Conlon is currently the sole… Read more Audio