Morning Report for Tuesday 12 September 2017

6:00 AM.Labour's fortunes have been turned around in six weeks but questions remain over their tax and fiscal plans, Napier families are kicked out of their rental accommodation for taking in homeless… Read more Audio

6:12 AM.Hurricane Irma has been downgraded to a tropical storm but not before battering Florida and flooding cities right across the state. US correspondent Giles Gibson is in Fort Lauderdale where there's… Read more Audio

6:19 AM.The outspoken Northland doctor Lance O'Sullivan is backing Mana's two-for-one campaign for the Te Tai Tokerau electorate. Mana leader Hone Harawira is trying to win back the seat he lost to Labour's… Read more Audio

6:36 AM.With more than three months to go, 2017 is already the most expensive year for storm damage in New Zealand. Scientists say it's now beyond doubt climate change is having an effect, and such bad… Read more Audio

7:14 AM.Hurricane Irma has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. It cut a devastating track across Caribbean islands, killing at least 38 people and in the past 24 hours has pummelled Florida. Audio

7:17 AM.Florida has been hit hard by Hurricane Irma, which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. Low-lying Tampa will have a lot of cleaning up to do, local reporter Amy Hollyfield says. Audio

7:20 AM.New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says he has no idea why candidate Kym Koloni has promised the party will scrap the Waitangi Tribunal and remove all treaty references from laws. He says that is… Read more Audio

7:22 AM.Harsh sanctions proposed by the United States on the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have been watered down at the UN as it resolves to punish Pyongyang for its hydrogen bomb tests. Audio

8:18 AM.A bikie about to be deported from Australia is demanding the Labour Party make the detention of hundreds of New Zealand citizens over the Tasman an election issue. Audio

8:25 AM.Invercargill's Southern Institute of Technology is working on a new lure for students after Labour promised to abolish tertiary education fees for first year students if it wins the elections. Audio

8:36 AM.The tussle for Te Tai Tokerau sees Mana's Hone Harawira and Labour's Kelvin Davis going head to head for the fifth time. Audio

8:40 AM.Two former prime ministers are urging schools to teach more New Zealand history, with one, former National Party leader Jim Bolger, warning that ignorance of the past is behind the rise of racism. Audio

8:47 AM.Young Māori graphic designers are dismissing criticism that they have gone too far by modernising historic Māori figures in contemporary art. Audio

8:55 AM.Farmers say it's been a fantastic season for lamb, as a global shortage of the meat is pushing up the prices. Audio