Morning Report for Friday 17 July 2020

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.Former National Party leader Simon Bridges was the big winner in Judith Collins' reshuffle and it turns out he didn't even vote for her.

Yesterday Bridges got handed the foreign affairs and justice… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.New Zealand could host a multi-country rugby tournament, pending government sign-off that it will be safe.

Competition managers Sanzaar have been working on a hub to host the All Blacks, South… Read more Audio

6:48 AM.Midwives say a major funding boost announced on Thursday is heartening and long-awaited recognition of the vital work they do.

The $242 million injection was announced yesterday by Associate Health… Read more Audio

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

7:08 AM.Aucklanders will have to pay more in order to get less as the council tries to fill a $750 million hole in its budget.

Councillors yesterday voted in favour of increasing rates by 3.5 per cent and to… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.Judith Collins has a tough job ahead selling the party's 'strong team' brand to voters.

Putting two former National leaders in her top line-up is a lot of cooks in the kitchen, but it could also be… Read more Audio

7:17 AM.The new leader of the National Party, Judith Collins, had her work cut out yesterday - responding to resignations from two senior MPs on her first full day in the job.

Nikki Kaye and Amy Adams both… Read more Audio

7:27 AM.US, UK and Canadian security services have accused Russian spies of targettting organisations trying to develop a coronavirus vaccine in Britain.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre said the… Read more Audio

7:36 AM.More than 410 millimetres of rain has fallen in the Coromandel in the past 24 hours closing roads and stranding travellers. 

Local civil defence controller Garry Towler says many  have been… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.A farming couple in Hikuai on the Coromandel Peninsula have a big clean up on their hands after floodwaters submerged 70 percent of their farm.

Sam and Stacey Lee Clarke thankfully managed to shift… Read more Audio

7:41 AM.It's being called the most difficult budget in the city's history.

Last night, Auckland councillors voted to pass its emergency budget and impose a rates rise of 3.5 percent. The city coffers have… Read more Audio

7:49 AM.New Zealand has been confirmed as the preferred host of a centralised Rugby Championship later this year, pending government approval.

Competition managers Sanzaar have been working on a hub to host… Read more Audio

7:52 AM.It took Worksafe nearly eleven months to make any contact with Christchurch residents neighbouring a home destroyed in a gas explosion last July.

The blast instantly obliterated the Marble Court… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.The inner-city Auckland Central seat will be a fierce battleground this election, after the departure of the National Party's former deputy leader, Nikki Kaye.

Kaye announced her decision to leave… Read more Audio

8:17 AM.A defence barrister says the three strikes law is a "complete and abject failure" that has had little effect on the country's crime rate.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that it cannot overturn a… Read more Audio

8:22 AM.New modelling shows the risk of an infectious person slipping through the border undetected remains very low - but only if stringent border controls remain in place.

The new numbers from Te Punaha… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.A prominent entrepreneur is frustrated an alternative to the troubled Covid-19 app has hit a roadblock with officials.

Since March, TradeMe founder Sam Morgan has been working as part of a team to… Read more Audio

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

8:31 AM.Frustrated Air New Zealand customers who've been waiting for months to get a refund may finally be able to at least access and manage their credits online.

Air New Zealand last month apologised for… Read more Audio

8:39 AM.A South Island charity, Meat the Need, has sent more than four tonnes of minced venison to Rotorua in order to help support families in need.

This week the volunteer organisation Kai Rotorua has… Read more Audio

8:44 AM.National's new leader Judith Collins isn't ruling out the possibility of running National candidates in Māori seats, something previous National leaders including Todd Muller and Simon Bridges have… Read more Audio

8:50 AM.Mobile clinics have helped drive high Covid-19 testing rates for Māori, and Māori health providers want them to become a regular part of primary health care practice. 

As well as testing for the… Read more Audio

8:54 AM.Eighteen weeks after playing their last game, the Wellington Phoenix resume their A-League season against Sydney FC in Sydney tonight.

The Phoenix have spent a month in Sydney preparing for the… Read more Audio

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