Midday Report for Thursday 19 February 2026

1:45 PM.National U-turns on housing density; fearing a backlash in well-heeled parts of Auckland, the government drops its housing number ambitions, two million new homes was too much; how does 1.6 million… Read more Audio

12:52 PM.An update on the latest news and results from RNZ's sports team. Audio

12:48 PM.Forest and Bird will go to a State of the Nation speech from Opportunity Party - and the other big hitting environmental groups will go as well. Opportunity Party Leader Qiulae Wong spoke to Guyon… Read more Audio

12:44 PM.Four of the country's biggest environmental groups are boycotting the National Party's Blue Green conference this year. Richard Capie, the general manager of conservation policy & advocacy at Forest… Read more Audio

12:35 PM.The latest news from the United States with correspondent Laura Taglianetti in New York. Audio

12:35 PM.An update on the latest news from RNZ's rural team. Audio

12:20 PM.The latest news from RNZ's business team. Audio

12:13 PM.Scott Caldwell from the Coalition for More Homes responded to Housing Minister Chris Bishop's announcement and spoke to Guyon Espiner. Audio

12:08 PM.Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered his much anticipated speech on backdowns in housing density plans for Auckland. Political reporter Lilian Hanly spoke to Guyon Espiner. Audio