Morning Report for Wednesday 13 May 2020

6:08 AM.Children will face a new set of playground rules and classroom practices when they return to school on Monday.

Principals are figuring out how to apply the level two regulations to things like… Read more Audio

8:58 AM.You think you're desperate for a haircut some are so keen they'll be watching as the clock ticks past 11:59pm.

At midnight, as soon as Level 2 officially begins, a Christchurch barber will open his… Read more Audio

6:11 AM.Community Housing Aotearoa is calling for a multi-billion dollar budget spend on housing in the wake of Covid-19.

It says investing in housing will stimulate the economy, support the construction… Read more Audio

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

6:25 AM.An employment law advocate says employers need reminding work rights have not changed because of the coronavirus crisis.

Thousands of people have lost their jobs and many more are expected to be made… Read more Audio

6:39 AM.MPs sat late into the evening last night debating critical legislation which will grant extraordinary powers to both the Government and police to combat Covid-19.

The proposed law allows authorities… Read more Audio

6:44 AM.Doctors are worried that despite a huge boost in health spending in the budget, frontline general practitioners will miss out.

A $4.3 billion cash injection has been announced for district health… Read more Audio

7:08 AM.Parliament continues in urgency this morning so MPs will meet under urgency this morning to continue debating extraordinary legislation granting the government sweeping powers to combat Covid-19.

The… Read more Audio

7:12 AM.RNZ has learned that police conducted a trial of a controversial facial recognition software without telling their new boss or talking to the Privacy Commissioner.

American software firm Clearview AI… Read more Audio

7:16 AM.In a pre-Budget announcement, the government has announced $4 billion will be spent on health care, including money to help catch up on the tens of thousands of surgeries and procedures delayed by… Read more Audio

7:19 AM.Housing groups are calling for a multi-billion dollar spend on housing, to echo the substantial housing build that followed the Great Depression.

The groups say that this is a unique opportunity to… Read more Audio

7:24 AM.MPs will continue debating today critical legislation which will grant extraordinary powers to both the Government and police to combat Covid-19.

The proposed law allows authorities to enforce the… Read more Audio

7:38 AM.America's leading infectious disease expert has warned States against lifting lockdown restrictions to soon, saying it could lead to a spike in deaths.

Speaking at a congressional hearing today, Dr… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.The country's Air Traffic Service provider - Airways New Zealand - is proposing to remove services from seven regional airports around the country.

Rotorua, Napier, New Plymouth, Gisborne… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.Airways New Zealand says passenger safety will be maintained if its proposal to remove air traffic services from seven regions goes ahead.

Airways, a state owned enterprise, wants to shut down its… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.Most iwi-led checkpoints will come to an end once Level 2 begins, but two remote Far North communities are planning to keep their patrols going.

They're convinced staying cut off and keeping… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.History was made at last night's Ockham Book Awards, with two first time writers taking out the top fiction and non fiction prizes.

Becky Manawatu's novel Aue, a raw and heartbreaking story of two… Read more Audio

8:09 AM.The government will put an extra $4 billion into the health system over the next four years, including funding to catch up on all the procedures that were cancelled because of the lockdown.

The… Read more Audio

8:14 AM.Up to a thousand Māori employees working for Māori tourism operators - and more than 17,000 Māori across the tourism sector as a whole - have lost their jobs due to Covid 19. 

Māori tourism operators… Read more Audio

8:18 AM.With unemployment expected to grow, beneficiary advocates are hoping Thursday's budget will deliver major changes to the welfare system.

Around 40,000 more people have ended up on the benefit since… Read more Audio

8:21 AM.The Reserve Bank will release its latest monetary policy statement this afternoon, with a touch of clamour in financial markets for a signal on whether it will move to negative interest rates.

The… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.Wellington's billion dollar road project Transmission Gully has blown its budget again, but who will pay the extra is unclear.

The 27 kilometre stretch of highway was supposed to cost $850 million… Read more Audio

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

8:30 AM.A union and a former Nelson mayor are raising questions over the employment of three members of one family at a council-owned firm.

But the Nelson City Council-owned maintenance firm, Nelmac, says… Read more Audio

8:39 AM.More than 30 documents released under the Official Information Act show RNZ sought another frequency for a youth channel for months, before dropping the idea.

The broadcaster scrapped its new plan to… Read more Audio

8:44 AM.New Zealand's success in stifling the spread of the virus puts our screen industries in a unique position internationally, according to those within the sector.

Across the world, lockdowns have seen… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.While most of the country has been staying home for the last six weeks, some medical workers have had to make tough sacrifices to keep their families safe.

A Whangarei nurse made the decision at the… Read more Audio

8:55 AM.Becky Manawatu's debut novel Auē pulled off a rare feat at last night's Ockham Book Awards, winning the country's top Fiction award as well as best first book of fiction.

The Westport based writer… Read more Audio