Morning Report for Tuesday 12 February 2019

6:00 AM.Top stories this morning... Junior doctors walk off the job again this morning for a two-day strike Wakefield residents are back home but the fight against the big Nelson fire is far from over… Read more Audio

6:06 AM.Australian footballer and refugee Hakeem al-Araibi will return to Australia within the next 24 hours, after an extradition case against him in Thailand was dropped. Audio

6:09 AM.Firefighting crews expect to remain on the ground in Nelson for at least the rest of the month. They say the fire is yet to be contained and while evacuated Wakefield residents were allowed to return… Read more Audio

6:12 AM.Northland's Transport Committee chair John Bain says he's not going to step down just to keep Shane Jones happy. The New Zealand First minister says Mr Bain keeps pushing for a four-lane highway to be… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.An early look at the day's business news and a catch up on overnight action on global markets.

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

6:40 AM.A Wakefield resident who was evacuated from her property for four days, says she wasn't sure if she'd ever make it home. Thousands of people in the area were given the all clear to return to their… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.A mother whose teenager has painful benign bone tumours in two parts of her body is desperately hoping district health boards and junior doctors will settle their dispute soon. Junior doctors are… Read more Audio

6:45 AM.A mother who gives her son cannabis for his violent seizures is terrified he'll be without medicine after what growers call a massive aerial cull by police. Medical cannabis campaigners say upwards of… Read more Audio

6:49 AM.Contact Energy says going carbon free will be a long and tough journey. Briscoe Group defies soft retail trend. Local ethical investment firm Pathfinder being taken over by British firm. Global… Read more Audio

7:06 AM.Craig Foster, a former Australian national football captain and TV host who spearheaded the campaign to free Hakeem al-Araibi, an Australian footballer and refugee, has slammed FIFA, high profile… Read more Audio

7:10 AM.Junior doctors are on strike again this morning for two days as tension mounts in public hospitals from strikes. The strike from 8am Tuesday until early Thursday is the third such strike by the… Read more Audio

7:15 AM.Life can start returning to normal for the two-and-a-half thousand residents of Wakefield after their town was declared safe for now from nearby forest fires. They were forced to leave on Friday after… Read more Audio

7:19 AM.There's been some light rain in Nelson overnight but so far not on the Tasman fire that has now been burning eight days. About 2,500 residents of Wakefield in Tasman were able to return to their homes… Read more Audio

7:23 AM.National says the Government needs to come clean on how much involvement it had in a government department asking New Zealander's about their political persuasions in a survey. Inland Revenue has… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern discusses Inland Revenue's political question in its recent survey, and New Zealand's relationship with China. In relation to the Air New Zealand plane that was turned… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.Senior doctors at Palmerston North Hospital say they are tired and frustrated by the strikes and have warned acute services might not be able to be fully covered this week and patients are being put… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.A mother who gives her son medicinal cannabis for his violent seizures is terrified he'll be without medicine because of police operations against illegal growers. Medical cannabis campaigners say… Read more Audio

7:49 AM.A woman charged with the cultivation of 58 marijuana plants was discharged without conviction on Monday after a judge ruled a conviction could stop her becoming a supplier of medicinal cannabis… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.Isaac Giesen is attempting to become the first New Zealander to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. He left the Canary Islands two months ago, and he's roughly ten days away from reaching Antigua. Mr… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.The New Zealand men's cricket coach Gary Stead has given no indication if he's likely to play a World Cup type lineup in the three one-dayers against Bangladesh. Audio

8:10 AM.Labour has leapfrogged the National Party in the latest political poll. For the first time in more than a decade The Newshub Reid Research poll last night had Labour ahead on 47.5 percent. National… Read more Audio

8:15 AM.Wakefield residents have spent a night back in their own beds after being allowed to return home yesterday afternoon. But they have been warned to remain ready to evacuate - for days, if not weeks… Read more Audio

8:18 AM.The Crown is calling its first witnesses in its case against Malcolm Rewa - accused for the third time of murdering Susan Burdett. The 65-year-old has been convicted of raping Ms Burdett in her South… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.The vaping industry says electronic cigarettes should not be included in a looming ban on smoking in cars carrying children. The ban is likely to come into force by the end of next year. According to… Read more Audio

8:30 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:41 AM.Elderly people living in rentals are skimping on food and doctors' visits to pay for skyrocketing accommodation costs. A Victoria University study published this week has found poorer health in… Read more Audio

8:45 AM.Authorities dealing with the Tasman fire have just given their first media briefing of the day. Chief reporter Sharon Brettkelly is there. She talks to Susie Ferguson. Audio

8:49 AM.A leading shorebird ecologist is calling for more investigation after tests found chemical contamination of the marine environment. The contamination comes from toxic chemicals used in Defence… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.A landlords group is defending a register it keeps of people with court convictions. The South Canterbury Property Investors' Association has been collating court case information published in the… Read more Audio