Morning Report for Wednesday 20 December 2017

6:17 AM.A Northland conservation group has lost its final court battle over swamp kauri. The Northland Environmental Protection Society took the Ministry of Primary Industries to the High Court last year… Read more Audio

7:10 AM.World Markets have been hitting new peaks in recent days ahead of a vote on tax reforms in the United States in just under half an hour. The House of Representatives is on the brink of passing a… Read more Audio

7:16 AM.A campaigner for medicinal cannabis says the government is downplaying expectations on its bill, which will come before Parliament today. Health Minister David Clark says the legislation is as broad… Read more Audio

7:24 AM.The government is being told its justification for ramming through its ban on foreign buyers is a total sham. National says the legislation is being rushed through on bogus pretences and the public… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.Officials under fire for spending millions of dollars on outside contractors have told the government they will cut it back. A leaked spreadsheet shows the Ministry of Business, Innovation and… Read more Audio

7:30 AM.The Edgecumbe homes that were red stickered after a wall of water burst through the town's stopbank in April are finally being demolished. More than 300 homes were damaged when the Rangitaiki River… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.News giants Fairfax New Zealand and NZME will work on ways to cooperate more in future in spite of the High Court backing the Commerce Commission's rejection of their merger proposal. The court upheld… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.Dairy farmers had been hoping for a lift in the milk powder prices in the last auction for the year but overnight they fell to a new low. Rural reporter Alexa Cook joins us with the details. Audio

7:50 AM.The Ministry of Primary Industries has been reprimanded by the Ombudsman's Office for refusing to give Forest and Bird information about its kauri dieback programme. The ministry has been told to… Read more Audio

8:12 AM.MPs are voting on whether to open the door to legal, medicinal cannabis. But the Family First lobby group says that while medicine is one thing, medicine you can smoke is quite another. Health… Read more Audio

8:26 AM.The United States' House of Representatives is about to pass Donald Trump's tax reform package. The bill must go to the Senate later but it's a near certainty to pass. Just ahead of the vote House… Read more Audio

8:36 AM.A popular Northland camping ground has banned paddling pools - and it's not just out of fear for the safety of young children. Waipu Cove campground is sold out most summer, and says the crowded space… Read more Audio

8:40 AM.Holidayers travelling around the South Island or Te Waipounamu this summer will be able to map their journey using a Maori Atlas developed by Ngai Tahu. The Ngai Tahu Archives Team spent more than… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.An award winning cartoonist detained on Manus Island has escaped Papua New Guinea with the help from the International Cities of Refuge Network. Ali Dorani, known as 'Eaten Fish', fled Iran in 2013… Read more Audio

8:53 AM.As Christmas Day draws closer there's concern about the possibility of a reindeer incursion. Rumours abound that St Nicholas may be planning to bring a group of the Northern Hemisphere natives into… Read more Audio