Morning Report for Friday 24 February 2017

8:55 AM.It's Friday so we cross the Ditch to Canberra to talk to our correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh. Audio

8:47 AM.Aircraft new and old, from the F-16 fighter jets, to the Hercules; to the Catalina and Harvard - everything's on display at Ohakea airforce base tomorrow as part of the RNZAF's 80th anniversary. Audio

8:40 AM.As British researchers release new findings into global life expectancy, they find New Zealand life expectancy will rise an average of four years by the year 2030. Read more Audio

8:38 AM.Scientist Seth Shostak, a specialist in the hunt for extraterrestrial life, says the discovery of new planets opens up the possibility of alien life but there's no sign of it yet. Audio

8:30 AM.Hundreds of people who fled their homes during the Port Hills fires have been allowed to return, but when will Civil Defence remove the cordons that are keeping everyone else out? Audio

8:29 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:25 AM.Where do parents with young transgender children find help? From each other and pretty much nowhere else, it seems. Our Insight reporter Teresa Cowie investigates. Read more Audio

8:15 AM.Jenni Clark is campaigning for New Zealand farmers in Australia to get government support, but she's not expecting to see any changes soon. Audio

8:15 AM.Auckland's Long Bay College is shut this morning after a fire tore through its technology block. Our reporter Sally Murphy says investigations will start at daybreak. Audio

8:10 AM.Infometrics predicts NZ property values will drop by 12% in the next three years. Gareth Kiernan, the chief forecaster, says growth is not going to continue at the same rapid rates we're enjoying at… Read more Audio

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

7:55 AM.Journalist Nicky Hager is going to the Human Rights Review Tribunal over Westpac's release of his banking records to the police. Audio

7:40 AM.After first defending the country's tax rules, the Government is now promising to discolose details about those with New Zealand foreign trusts to other countries without being asked. Audio

7:37 AM.The Race Relations Commissioner and the Human Rights Commission wrote an open letter to the Government calling for an inquiry into historical abuse of children in state care. Dame Susan Devoy says the… Read more Audio

7:35 AM.Sky Television is looking at all options on the table now its planned merger with telco giant Vodafone has been rejected by the Commerce Commission. Audio

7:30 AM.The Environment Minister, Nick Smith, says the country's water quality is better than any time since the Second World War. He dismisses criticism that one in 20 people could get sick in "swimmable"… Read more Audio

7:28 AM."It is all about manaakitanga." Ngati Kahungunu say hosting the biggest ever Te Matatini kapa haka competition is hard work but fun. Audio

7:25 AM.Voters can go to the polls in Mt Albert tomorrow but talking to some locals, it seems quite a few don't even know the elections are on, or who they can vote for, if they decide to. Read more Audio

7:17 AM.The Green Party Co-leader James Shaw slams the Government's weakened water quality measures. Says "if you went into a restaurant and one in 20 people got sick would you eat in that restaurant... the… Read more Audio

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

6:49 AM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

6:35 AM.Auckland's Long Bay College is shut this morning after a fire tore through its technology block. Our reporter Sally Murphy says investigations will start at daybreak. Audio

6:30 AM.A dairy farmer who left Morrinsville four years ago for Australia says she and scores of New Zealand farmers have been reduced to charity cases across the Tasman. They say it is unfair they pay taxes… Read more Audio

6:22 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Audio

6:20 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

6:08 AM.Professor Jenny Webster-Brown from Canterbury and Lincoln universities' Waterways Centre says the new system is easier to follow than the previous system. She agrees the threshold has become less… Read more Audio

6:06 AM.A update from the team at RNZ sport. Audio

6:00 AM.New Zealand dairy farmers in Australia are surviving on food parcels while their neighbours get a 500-dollar-a week government allowance for each household. "I went in there just to explain to them… Read more Audio