Checkpoint for Thursday 12 February 2026

5:45 PM.Australian correspondent Nick Grimm spoke to Lisa Owen about political turmoil continuing in Australia with the country's opposition leader Sussan Ley facing a leadership challenge after less than a… Read more Audio

5:35 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

5:31 PM.Today started at the snowboard halfpipe and will end on the ski slope for New Zealand athletes at the Winter Olympics. This morning Cam Melville Ives qualified for the halfpipe final and now, like us… Read more Audio

5:24 PM.Some Mount Maunganui businesses are facing the equivalent of winter trading conditions in the middle of summer after the deadly landslip and the closure of the campground and hot pools, according to… Read more Audio

5:16 PM.Winston Peters has revived an old policy, promising to campaign on a referendum on the Maori seats. The opposition is calling it cynical race-baiting. Russell Palmer reports. Audio

5:09 PM.A Checkpoint investigation has revealed how easy it is to get potentially dangerous nitrous oxide or nangs in large quantities with virtually no questions asked. That's despite it being illegal to… Read more Audio

4:47 PM.A Bay of Plenty man has begun walking with a club in case he has to fend off roaming dogs. There are growing calls for an overhaul of the 30 year old dog control act in the face of increasing attacks… Read more Audio

4:44 PM.New Zealand First MP Casey Costello has told a Judicial Conduct Panel that the judge accused of disrupting a political party event must have known she was yelling at the then-Deputy Prime Minister… Read more Audio

4:35 PM.Wellington councillors, industry groups and workers are sounding the alarm over immigration settings for bus drivers, warning of a looming shortage. A residency pathway for bus drivers, announced in… Read more Audio

4:32 PM.Super Rugby Pacific kicks off tomorrow night in Dunedin, where the bruised Highlanders are facing the Crusaders. That's just one of a number of interesting clashes in the first round. Sports reporter… Read more Audio

4:25 PM.Cashing up clutter is becoming a national obsession. But there's still billions of dollars' worth of pre-loved goods lying idle in homes around Aotearoa according to a new report on the so-called… Read more Audio

4:16 PM.United States correspondent Todd Zwillich spoke to Lisa Owen about the FAA ordering the airspace above El Paso, Texas to be shut for ten days, only to be reopened shortly after, as well as the House… Read more Audio

4:06 PM.There have been two cases of nerve damage linked to the use of nitrous oxide or nangs in Hawkes Bay. Community leaders recently called a crisis hui after an apparent spike in recreational use of the… Read more Audio