Morning Report for Wednesday 6 April 2016

8:56 AM.Wellington City Council's bus fare gamble has failed to attract the Christmas shoppers it hoped for. The council set aside two hundred thousand dollars to subsidise bus fares for a month, to try to… Read more Audio

8:49 AM.The relationship between Maori and the Government is under the microscope by Canadian officials keen to improve their own race relations. Te Manu Korihi reporter Leigh Marama McLachlan caught up with… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.New Plymouth's mayor is defending a new deal allowing leasees to freehold the land under their homes, which a leaseholders' representative says is racist. Andrew Judd is the Mayor of the New Plymouth… Read more Audio

8:44 AM.One of the country's largest house relocation companies says hundreds of homes demolished in Christchurch's red zone could have been saved. Tom Furley reports. Audio

8:40 AM.Australia's former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appears poised for a tilt at the job of UN Secretary-General too. Pamela Williams is an investigative journalist with The Australian, based in Sydney. Audio

8:36 AM.Experts on international relations say Helen Clark has a good chance of becoming the ninth Secretary General of the United Nations. Audio

8:32 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:29 AM.An amateur photographer was in the right place at the right time when a meteor lit up the sky across the country last night. Audio

8:24 AM.International dairy prices have risen in the global dairy trade auction, overnight, with the overall price index going up by two point one percent to $2,188 US. New Zealand's Special Agricultural… Read more Audio

8:14 AM.The Employers and Manufacturers Association says it's surprised Fisher and Paykel managed to stay manufacturing in New Zealand for so long. Kim Campbell is the EMA's chief executive. Audio

8:10 AM.A tropical cyclone alert is now in force for parts of Fiji. We cross to Fiji and meteorologist Neville Koop of the Nadraki Weather Service. Audio

8:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:57 AM.The Crown has acknowledged, but stopped short of apologising for, the role its played in the decline of the Maori Language. Haami Piripi is a former chief executive of the Maori Language Commission. Audio

7:53 AM.New Zealanders are trusting politicians less and less. A survey by Colmar Brunton shows just 8% of people polled trust MPs - only a few notches higher than bloggers who came last in the list. Audio

7:48 AM.A detainee and friend of a New Zealander who died under lock and key in Sydney is accusing authorities of lying to his family. 42-year-old Rob Peihopa died overnight on Monday at the Villawood… Read more Audio

7:42 AM.Winning the support of UN Security council members, Russia and China, will be crucial for Helen Clark to become the head of the United Nations. Auckland University of Technology's international law… Read more Audio

7:35 AM.Voting is about to get underway in Wisconsin in the increasingly chaotic US primaries. Joining Morning Report are the Republican commentator Lenny McAllister and the Democratic strategist, Mary Anne… Read more Audio

7:28 AM.The Army is calling time on a military rite of passage - basic training at Waiouru. Defence Reporter Kate Pereyra Garcia has more. Audio

7:26 AM.International dairy prices have risen in the global dairy trade auction overnight. Susan Kilsby is a dairy analsyt at Agrifax. Audio

7:23 AM.One person is dead and another is missing after widespread flooding hit Fiji over the past two days. RNZ International reporter Sally Round is in Lautoka just north of Nadi. Audio

7:19 AM.Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce on Fisher and Paykel closing its last factory and in the process laying off 180 workers. Audio

7:16 AM.One of New Zealand's oldest manufactuers, Fisher and Paykel, is closing its last factory that makes fridges and in the process laying off 180 workers. The E Tu Union's national secretary, Bill Newson… Read more Audio

7:09 AM.The Prime Minister of Iceland has resigned after the leaked Mossack Fonseca papers suggested he had concealed millions of dollars worth of family assets in an offshore company. Joining Morning Report… Read more Audio

7:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:58 AM.Wall Street is weaker; worries about Federal Reserve outlook and global growth. Audio

6:56 AM.The Shareholders Association says many small Diligent shareholders will have to swallow a bitter pill as the takeover of the document management software company seems certain to go ahead. Audio

6:55 AM.While companies surveyed by NZIER were less confident, sentiment among small- to medium-sized businesses has rebounded. Audio

6:54 AM.The strength of the New Zealand dollar may be a trigger for the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates further and possibly quicker than expected. Audio

6:52 AM.A fall in dairy prices led the overall fall in ANZ's Commodity Price Index last month. Rural economist at ANZ, Con Williams, says it's a mixed result. Audio

6:50 AM.Prices have risen modestly in the global dairy auction overnight, with more on this is rural news colleague, Alexa Cook. Audio

6:44 AM.The eminent Maori journalist, Whai Ngata, will be laid to rest today. Our Maori Issues Correspondent Mihingarangi Forbes has been listening to the final tributes from his colleagues. Audio

6:25 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Audio

6:22 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

6:17 AM.An acknowledgment by the Crown for the damage it caused to the Maori language is being criticised for not going far enough. Chris Bramwell reports. Audio

6:10 AM.Voting is under way in the Wisconsin primaries where the overall front runners to contest the American presidency, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, are both trailing in state wide polls. With more… Read more Audio

6:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:00 AM.Voting begins in Wisconsin primaries, Live analysis on dairy auction result, Iceland's PM resigns following Panama Papers, Fisher and Paykel cuts 180 manufacturing jobs, Joyce: Manufacturing jobs… Read more Audio