Morning Report for Thursday 11 June 2020

6:18 AM.KiwiRail admits it hasn't made the final payment on the latest Chinese made locomotives it bought last year, because they haven't met their performance target.

Since 2009, KiwiRail has bought 63 of… 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

6:23 AM.The Education Ministry is taking the blame for mistakes in delivery of modems and computers to school students during and after the lockdown.

Auckland secondary school principals say they have been… Read more Audio

6:39 AM.A former police officer and crisis negotiator says sponge bullets would be a useful weapon for front line police but have to be trialled properly first.

The AOS already have them and the Police… Read more Audio

6:40 AM.University of Waikato criminologist Juan Tauri said the weapons can be hugely damaging and suggesting them was a diversionary tactic.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster suggested police officers could… Read more Audio

6:44 AM.Small tourism operators are struggling as their clientele have almost been completely slashed, but the Department of Conservation is refusing to discount fees.

Those who use DOC land have to pay… Read more Audio

6:45 AM.There are concerns that universities are still churning out social workers who don't have the skills to work well with Māori. 

It comes as report by the Children's Commissioner reveals harrowing… Read more Audio

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

7:13 AM.Police said in a statement given to us last night that the Armed Offenders Squad and Special Tactics Group would continue to carry sponge rounds, and the weapons are under consideration as part the… Read more Audio

7:23 AM.The National Party is distancing itself from the controversial "Strike Force Raptor" proposal it floated last year, now saying it would not direct the police to set up such a unit.

The opposition had… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.Politicians in the United States are being called upon by the brother of George Floyd to do the right thing, and make sure his death was not in vain.

Philonise Floyd - the younger brother of the man… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.Police are investigating a racist attack on a wahine Māori with a moko kauae who was walking Ōwairaka, Mount Albert. 

Ngahina Hohaia says she was subjected to racial abuse, and smacked on the arm by… Read more Audio

7:42 AM.A senior doctor in Palmerston North says the hospital's operating theatres are so cramped the lights sometimes bump surgeons's heads.

RNZ reported yesterday that a stocktake of the country's… Read more Audio

7:49 AM.A group made up of electricity network companies and large consumers wants a decision on transmission pricing to be delayed.

The Transmission Pricing Group says the Electricity Authority should push… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.A resort owner in Rarotonga is calling for New Zealand to reopen travel to the Cook Islands, before opening up to Australia.

The managing director of the resort chain says the Cook Islands would be… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.David Seymour is calling for Kiwis to be allowed to go to the Cook Islands, as the risk of either country exporting Covid-19 to each other drops.

The Cook Islands has never seen a case of Covid-19… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.As the Police Commissioner in New Zealand touts the idea of the police using sponge bullets, in Denver, a lawsuit is taking place to get them banned.

Recent protest action across the US has led to… Read more Audio

8:16 AM.A Māori Party co-leader is calling for an inquiry to identify and remove colonial monuments, statues and place names that symbolise racism and oppression. 

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says some of the most… Read more Audio

8:22 AM.Further to our story yesterday about Auckland's Marist College removing Black Lives Matter posters.

Year 13 student Nia Cherrington stepped down as Marist College's cultural leader after teachers… Read more Audio

8:25 AM.In 100 days time, New Zealanders will wake up on a Saturday and be asked to choose the next government, whether to legalise cannabis and also whether to allow assisted dying.

Groups fighting on both… Read more Audio

8:28 AM.The mayor of Kaikōura says $1.5 million of funding to support Whale Watch Kaikōura is fantastic news for the town. 

Making the announcement yesterday, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis said the company… Read more Audio

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

8:36 AM.Small tourism operators using Department of Conservation land say the department is refusing to reduce their fees, despite them losing nearly all their visitors.

Businesses who use DOC land have to… Read more Audio

8:42 AM.The community housing sector is ready and waiting to construct nearly 3000 homes but desperately needs public cash to get building.

Housing providers have submitted their projects to the government… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.KiwiRail says it has no choice but to buy more Chinese made diesel locomotives even though they've been troublesome and unreliable for more than a decade.

The corporation says it needs another 10 of… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.Some Hawke's Bay businesses are coming up with innovative solutions to survive in the post-Covid-19 world.

Like in most of the country, the region's hospitality and tourism businesses have been the… Read more Audio

8:58 AM.Thousands of toy bears in windows and driveways greeted anyone walking the streets of New Zealand during lockdown. The bears were part of a movement kicked off by Christchurch woman Deb Hoffman, who… Read more Video, Audio, Gallery