Morning Report for Wednesday 6 May 2020

6:16 AM.The UK has passed Italy to have the highest death toll in Europe from Covid-19. 

It comes as the number of Covid-related deaths globally exceeds 250,000, with over 3.5 million cases worldwide. 

A… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.A brief update from the business sector. Read more Audio

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

6:40 AM.Restaurants and bars are gearing up with the tech industry to use a multiplicity of Covid contact tracing apps in Alert Level 2.

Jonny McKenzie runs point of sale hospitality software company… Read more Audio

6:44 AM.The Foreign Minister says he'd fully back starting direct flights between New Zealand and Tasmania ahead of travel with mainland Australia if that would be more straightforward.

Tasmanian Premier… Read more Audio

6:50 AM.Government MPs on the Epidemic Response Committee are blaming Simon Bridges for the lack of Māori voices at the committee meetings. 

The committee whose job it is to challenge the government's… Read more Audio

6:53 AM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Read more Audio

7:09 AM.Restaurants and bars are gearing up with the tech industry to use a multiplicity of Covid-19 contact tracing apps in Level 2.

A software leaders says signs are the Government will be happy without… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says work is underway to update the Government's systems, but it will take a while.

He told Morning Report work is underway to move the system to a less… Read more Audio

7:17 AM.As Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison try to manage expectations of a trans-Tasman travel bubble, Tasmania's Premier and New Zealand's deputy prime minister are already planning new direct flights.

… Read more Audio

7:22 AM.Adrian Littlewood is the chief executive of Auckland International Airport. He chaired the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum for five years.

That's the group now overseeing the group of experts… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.There has been criticism of the lack of Māori appearing before the Epidemic Response Committee.

In the six weeks it's been sitting only two Māori organisations, and no iwi, have been invited to… Read more Audio

7:37 AM.Tourism Industry Aotearoa has been surveying tourism businesses about how they are being affected by the drop in business since the borders closed and the lockdown began.

Almost 80 percent of tourism… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.A draft US government report has projected the number of Covid-19 cases in America will surge to 200,000 per day by 1 June.

The forecasting ends at the beginning of June, but it suggests the numbers… Read more Audio

7:49 AM.Europe's first coronavirus case is now thought to have occurred in December, after a doctor in France re-tested a swab for a patient who had been treated for pneumonia.

Until now, the first three… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.The Transport Agency has admitted that sections of Wellington's $1 billion project, Transmission Gully, need to be re-laid after an error. It's another bump in the road after a number of delays on the… Read more Audio

7:57 AM.There was some surprise when All Black coach Ian Foster named Sam Cane to lead the side.

The 28-year-old Chiefs loose forward has been given the honour ahead of the Crusaders lock Sam Whitelock.

… Read more Audio

8:09 AM.The Green Party wants the Government to introduce legislation to enable Fair Pay Agreements for people doing essential work, such as retail, cleaning, security and transport.

The Covid-19 pandemic… Read more Audio

8:25 AM.New Zealand's museums and art galleries are concerned that government and philanthropic funding sources might dry up, with the money instead diverted to health and social causes related to the… Read more Audio

8:29 AM.Live music venues have launched the careers of our most talented performers, but now many of the hot spots are holding on for dear life.

Forced to close during lockdown they face an uncertain future… Read more Audio

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

8:38 AM.Australia and New Zealand have both committed to introducing a Covid-safe travel zone between the two countries.

Tasmania's Premier and New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister are already planning new… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.The film and screen industry has emerged as one of the candidates to help rebuild Queenstown Lakes' shattered economy.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy sealed the district's reputation as a stunning… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.Some people may have taken the opportunity during lockdown to catch up on their reading, but sales of New Zealand books have crashed during the Covid-19.

The Publishers Association says the risk to… Read more Audio

8:53 AM.This year's New Zealand Agricultral Show in Christchurch has been cancelled because of Covid-19.

Its the first time the show will NOT go on since the end of the second World War.

The announcement… Read more Audio

8:56 AM.A remote corner of New Zealand, Golden Bay, is once again relying on its ability to be self-sufficient.

Two years ago the only road over the Takaka Hill was blocked by a storm, leaving the area's… Read more Audio