Morning Report for Friday 3 July 2020

8:55 AM.It's Friday so we cross the ditch to Canberra to talk to our correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh. Read more Audio

8:51 AM.Dire concerns are being raised about the early training ground for future Black Caps.

Those involved in youth cricket are frustrated by what they say is a lack of attention from the national body… Read more Audio

8:48 AM.Summer may be a thing of the past especially given the frost most of the country woke up to.

But if you'd like to revist warmer times with a nostalgic BBQ in your puffer jacket, hat and gloves or… Read more Audio

8:41 AM.Hamish Thompson, who runs the consultancy 'Heard vs Herd', says politicians borrow such phrases from their counterparts overseas.

Every year he compiles a "vexicon" - a lexicon of vexxing political… Read more Audio

8:37 AM.Despite changes allowing more people to come into the country many couples and families are still stranded on either side of the border.

The government has relaxed the rules so partners and children… Read more Audio

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

8:28 AM.At least five North-Island iwi will be severely affected by new restrictions to protect endangered dolphins.

 The new rules will - from October - extend areas where set-netting and trawling is… Read more Audio

8:24 AM.Chris Hipkins has picked up the health portfolio alongside his Minister of Education role.

Former Health Minister David Clark resigned from the role yesterday after a tumultuous few months.

RNZ… Read more Audio

8:18 AM.Chris Hipkins, the Minister of Education, is now also the Minister of Health - at least until the September election.

He replaces David Clark, who resigned on Wednesday after a tumultuous few months… Read more Audio

8:13 AM.After a disastrous few months for Health Minister David Clark, Jacinda Ardern sat down with him late last week and gave him little option but to give up his seat at the Cabinet table.

She'd already… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.After a three month wait, a date has been set for the sentencing of Brenton Tarrant, the man responsible for this country's worst act of terrorism.

In March Tarrant made a late guilty plea to 51… Read more Audio

7:52 AM.The winter school holidays kick off tomorrow and tourism operators grappling with the loss of international visitors are hopeful that the break might ease their pain.

Graeme Abbot is the general… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.Teachers are using more sick days than usual in the wake of the lockdown.

The Auckland Primary Principals Association says Covid-19 has made people a lot more conscientious about staying home.

The… Read more Audio

7:41 AM.Three influential New Zealand figures are urging the government to make a plan for how the border can gradually be reopened during in the time of Covid-19.

The former New Zealand Chief Science… Read more Audio

7:37 AM.The Carillon Tower at the National War Memorial at Pukeahu in Wellington will remain closed to the public after a new detailed assessment confirmed it was quake prone.

It reveals a third part of the… Read more Audio

7:33 AM.After just a year at the Blues All Black's back Beauden Barrett is off to Japan.

He has reportedly signed a multi-million deal with Japanese club Suntory and will move there in December.

Rugby… Read more Audio

7:22 AM.British socialite and heiress Ghislaine Maxwell, an ex-girlfriend of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, is facing charges in the US after being arrested by the FBI.

The six charges include enticing… Read more Audio

7:18 AM.A man known as New Zealand's worst recidivist drunk driver has again appeared before the courts, this time for assaulting his former partner after drinking.

Gavin Hawthorn has killed four people in… Read more Audio

7:14 AM.The south of the South Island could be in line for new quarantine and managed isolation facilities, but Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker isn't happy about it.

Walker put out a press release… Read more Audio

7:10 AM.National's Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker is standing by his warning that southern quarantine hotels will be flooded with New Zealanders from India, Pakistan and Korea.

The Government is looking… Read more Audio

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

6:49 AM.The Māori tourism body in Hawkes Bay is feeling unheard and left out of the region's tourism strategy.

It says there's a lack of communication with the key marketing body as the district tries to… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.New Zealand has a new Health Minister this morning, less than three months out from a general election.

David Clark is gone and Chris Hipkins, the Education minister, is his replacement.

On the… Read more Audio

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

6:20 AM.Questions are being asked about why a government initiative promised last year for Taranaki has yet to materialise with critics saying it's become bogged down in bureaucratic red tape.

RNZ Taranaki… Read more Audio

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

6:17 AM.The head of the Maori fishing authority Te Ohu Kaimoana says new restrictions to save endangered dolphins will destroy livelihoods and could undermine promises under the Treaty of Waitangi.

The new… Read more Audio

6:14 AM.Half of Fiji's population is experiencing extreme financial hardship due to the effects of Covid-19.

The global pandemic has been a disaster for the country with the tourism sector shedding a hundred… Read more Audio