First Up Podcast Options

5:34 AM.It's almost Cook Island bubble o'clock.. After an unprecedented 14 months, New Zealanders will finally be able to travel to Rarotonga without having to quarantine from May 17. Air New Zealand will fly… Read more Audio

5:17 AM.Back to India now, where the New Zealand High Commission in New Delhi has had to apologise to the Indian Government after tweeting a plea for an oxygen cylinder to help several locally hired staff… Read more Audio

5:13 AM.The Cook Islands travel bubble announcement yesterday has given a lifeline to an airline planned by businessesman Mike Pero. Pasifika Air had been due to fly between Rarotonga and Wellington and… Read more Audio

5:50 AM.Flights between New Zealand and Western Australia can resume despite the region's latest Covid-19 scare. An MIQ security guard in Perth contracted the virus and is believed to have been infectious in… Read more Audio

5:46 AM.Today marks two weeks since the first quarantine-free flights between New Zealand and Australia. Tourism operators in both countries pinned hopes of an economic boost on the travel bubble, but how… Read more Audio

5:36 AM.Customs has fired nine border workers who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19. It says the move complies with public health regulations that came into force this month. Customs deputy chief… Read more Audio

5:21 AM.Anna Thomas took a look at what's good in the fresh produce market this week with our Minister of Fruit and Veges Glenn Forsyth. It's all about pumpkin and persimmons! Audio

5:12 AM.People aged over 65 or who have underlying health problems will start getting their Covid-19 vaccines this month. About a quarter of a million doses have been administered to New Zealanders so far… Read more Audio

5:07 AM.To Europe now where we join our correspondent Anita Purcell-Sjölund in Sweden where there are plans afoot for a Covid-19 passport so people can travel for the upcoming summer season. Audio

5:52 AM.Auckland Council will today meet with a group taking the council to court over its plan to turn much of Queen Street in central Auckland into a pedestrian space. Barriers originally put in place for… Read more Audio

5:31 AM.Joseph Parker's path back to the heavyweight world title reaches another crossroads this weekend when the New Zealand boxer fights British veteran Derek Chisora in Manchester. The former WBO belt… Read more Audio

5:15 AM.A woman who was excommunicated by the Exclusive Brethren Church when she was 20 likens it to becoming a refugee in her own country. Lindy Jacomb, who grew up in South Auckland, was cut off by her… Read more Audio

5:09 AM.Here at First Up we absolutely love native birds and April is Takahe awareness month. These Native taonga are slowly being brought back from the brink of extinction. Julie Harvey is Takahe Advocacy… Read more Audio

5:05 AM.We begin in the UK where Boris Johnson is under fire over a 115-thousand-pound renovation on his Downing Street flat paid for by a mystery donor. It comes in a week when it's been alleged the UK Prime… Read more Audio

5:49 AM.New Zealand Rugby holds its Annual General Meeting today where members will consider a bid by American company Silver Lake to but a 12.5 per cent stake in the organisation. It's seeking approval for a… Read more Audio

5:43 AM.Cook Islanders are patiently waiting for the travel bubble with New Zealand to open as the country's tourism operators shut shop ... but it keeps being put off ... and put off. A two-way travel bubble… Read more Audio

5:33 AM.The Covid tragedy is continuing to escalate in India with the official death toll now at 200-thousand. A second wave is devastaing the country, hospitals overrun and a lack of crucial life saving… Read more Audio

5:28 AM.It's less than 100 days to the Olympics and in the lead up we are speaking to Olympics athletes each week to hear how they are preparing for the upcoming Tokyo games. Surfing is one of the new sports… Read more Audio