First Up for Wednesday 29 September 2021

5:53 AM.Tens of thousands of people logged in for the latest round of what's increasingly being referred to as "the MIQ lottery" last night to try and secure one of the 3,800 managed isolation spots that… Read more Audio

5:47 AM.Since Auckland was plunged into lockdown six weeks ago, families with plans to pack up and move to another part of New Zealand have been in limbo. They finally got some good news yesterday when the… Read more Audio

5:37 AM.A lack of MIQ rooms and shortage of overseas flights has led to a surge in business for charter plane companies. Luke Hampshire from Australian-based Airly.com says with seats on commercial flights a… Read more Audio

5:34 AM.Last night at least 27-thousand people gathered in the virtual MIQ lobby in a desperate bid for one of 3800 vouchers to come home before Christmas. UK-based Kiwi Sarah-Jane Taylor-Seres was to visit… Read more Audio

5:25 AM.The Government has this morning announced it's making 37.5 million dollars available to protect jobs in the arts and culture sectors. People who work in these areas have been particularly hard hit by… Read more Audio

5:16 AM.The latest series of the podcast 'Eating Fried chicken in the shower' is released today, The podcast features comedian James Nokise and guests sitting in a shower, eating fried chicken and discussing… Read more Audio

5:11 AM.Our next stop on our world tour takes us to Australia, where we're joined by our correspondent Pam Corkery. Audio