Morning Report for Friday 23 October 2020

6:09 AM.The US Senate judiciary committee has this morning approved a confirmation vote next Monday for Amy Coney Barrett - Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Ruth… 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

6:39 AM.Labour's Andrew Little wants to give the Treaty Negotiations portfolio another crack, saying his priority will be to reach a settlement with the country's largest iwi Ngapuhi if he's retained as… Read more Audio

6:42 AM.Businesess that want to tap into Māori culture are being told to consult with iwi advisors first.

This after Firth Concrete, a Fletcher Building company, commissioned a Māori and Pasifika design for… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.A park ranger living on the door step of Christchurch's Bottle Lake Forest Park says a spate of fires in the area is the worst he's seen in three decades.

Emergency services, locals and council are… Read more Audio

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

7:09 AM.Fear of another community covid outbreak has put pubs and restaurants on high alert for Labour weekend.

Hundreds of Aucklanders queued for hours to get tested yesterday after a covid positive person… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.Pubs and restaurants are on high alert ahead of the long weekend. Aucklanders queued for hours for tests yesterday after a person with Covid-19 visited a busy pub in Greenhithe.

Grady Elliot, the… Read more Audio

7:19 AM.The Race Relations Commissioner is pushing for prisons to be run by iwi and is looking first and foremost at Mangaroa Prison near Hastings.

Meng Foon says the way prisons are run is not effective for… Read more Audio

7:35 AM.Forty first time MPs have had a big first week in the capital, receiving a crash course on how to do their job.

While the results from the special votes are still yet to be revealed, Labour MPs will… Read more Audio

7:40 AM.America's Cup defenders Team New Zealand are incensed by the removal of two spectator-friendly courses that were to be used for next year's America's Cup.

The regatta's arbitration panel has said no… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.The construction costs for a new hut along the Milford Track in FIordland have nearly doubled to more than $3 million since work started on the initial design.

The 40-bed Mintaro Hut will replace the… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.Labour MP and LGBTQIA+ advocate Louisa Wall is calling on the Catholic church in New Zealand to support homosexual law reform in the Cook Islands.

Although a draft bill to decriminalise homosexuality… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.Fatigue's deadly effect on our roads is being countered in some areas by the use of manned "fatigue stops".

Hawke's Bay Regional Council introduced the concept a decade ago in which drivers are… Read more Audio

7:58 AM.Police are expecting congested roads over Labour Day weekend and are pleading with drivers to be patient.

With travel restricted to domestic holidays only - snarl-ups are likely in many parts of the… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.The Wellington Phoenix are reportedly set to confirm the creation of the football club's first-ever women's team which would play in the upcoming W-league season. Read more Audio

8:10 AM.The long weekend is almost upon us but the Director General of Health says it's business as usual.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield is urging all New Zealanders to use the Covid Tracer App as they travel round… Read more Audio

8:12 AM.One of the largest events on the Hawke's Bay calendar has had to make some big changes because of Covid-19.

With Friday being Hawke's Bay Anniversary Day and a public holiday, the A&P Show usually… Read more Audio

8:25 AM.The final debate in the US Presidential Campaign will begin just after 2pm on Friday (NZ time) in the city of Nashville.

And it could be one of the last chances for President Donald Trump to chip… Read more Audio

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

8:39 AM.The Race Relations Commissioner is calling for prisons to be run by iwi, believing the current model is not effective for Māori, who are over-represented in the prison system.

Meng Foon has Hastings'… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.The company running the restoration of Christchurch's Anglican Cathedral is confident it will be able to raise the extra $51 million still needed to finish the job, and says potential large donors are… Read more Audio

8:52 AM.It's semi-final weekend for women's rugby's Farah Palmer Cup with Canterbury, Manawatu, Waikato and Auckland vying for a place in the title decider.

Canterbury are favourites to advance and claim… 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