Morning Report for Wednesday 24 February 2021

6:16 AM.A prison reform lobby group is rejecting claims made by the Minister of Corrections that its pamphlet incites disorder at prisons.

A pamphlet produced by People Against Prisons Aotearoa that has… 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

6:41 AM.'Shocking and disappointing', Those are the words the Child Poverty Action Group are using to describe the state of child poverty in New Zealand following a new report from Statistics New Zealand.

… Read more Audio

6:47 AM.The charitable trust most notable for helping to raise over $11 million following the mosque attacks is in hot water over its finances.

A review ordered by the Christchurch City Council has… Read more Audio

6:51 AM.The immigration minister, Kris Faafoi, is considering a revamp of New Zealand's largest residence programme.

Faafoi says a review of the skilled migrant category is a priority. He says no decision… Read more Audio

6:53 AM.A proposed 25 percent rate increase by the Canterbury regional council's has many locals up in arms.

The increase is one of two options being released to Cantabrians in the region's draft long term… Read more Audio

7:09 AM.Three more cases of Covid 19 have emerged just hours after Auckland returned to Alert Level 1.

The three are from a family of six who are connected to the cluster around Papatoetoe High School.

They… Read more Audio

7:15 AM.Exhausted Covid-19 testers in South Auckland are bracing for a big surge today as more people turn up to be tested.

Staff and students at Papatoetoe High School are being asked to get tested again… Read more Audio

7:17 AM.A teenager who recently tested positive for Covid-19 worked two shifts at the Botany Kmart last week despite advice from their school for all households to stay home until they got a negative test.

… Read more Audio

7:20 AM.It's just over a day since Auckland went back to level 1 following last week's outbreak - now that sense of security is under threat.

Three new cases were announced yesterday - two teenagers and an… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.With the discovery of three new community cases in South Auckland, was the government too quick to move down the Alert Level ladder?

Three new cases were announced last night, one of them was a… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.The Opposition has launched an unprecedented attack on Police Commissioner Andrew Coster on Tuesday, with National Party MP Simon Bridges calling him a "wokester" and saying he is not tough enough on… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.Engineers who keep the country's truck fleet safe are crying foul over a goverment agency they say is broken, biased and rife with bullying.

The accusations contained in an 18-page letter to the… Read more Audio

7:52 AM.A prison reform group has hit back at the Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis over his claims their pamphlet on prisoner rights incites violence.

They say he is simply trying to distract attention from… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.The Reserve Bank will review the official cash rate in the first monetary policy meeting this year on Wednesday.

What changes, if any, can we expect?

Jarrod Kerr is the Chief Economist at Kiwibank.

8:06 AM.A couple of senior players are missing from the Silver Ferns' squad to take on Australia next week. Read more Audio

8:10 AM.Testing stations are expecting another rush today after a casual plus contact of the latest Covid-19 case tested positive for the virus.

Staff and students at Papatoetoe High School are being asked… Read more Audio

8:13 AM.The principal of Papatoetoe High School, Vaughan Couillault says he was initially crestfallen when he found about the three new cases of Covid-19 linked to his school.

But he says his team just… Read more Audio

8:17 AM.Kmart Botany has been closed for deep cleaning after a worker tested positive for Covid-19.

The teenager who recently tested positive for Covid-19 worked two shifts at the Botany Kmart last week… Read more Audio

8:19 AM.The banking sector's finances have taken their biggest annual hit in in a decade.

Business advisory firm KPMG's latest sector review shows bank profits fell 28 percent in the last year to $4.1… Read more Audio

8:24 AM.Canterbury Regional Council's proposal to raise its rates take by almost 25 percent has stunned locals.

It is one of two options being released to Cantabrians in the region's draft long term plan.

… Read more Audio

8:28 AM.Are modern classrooms any good?

Some teachers and parents don't like the open-plan classroom blocks that schools are building and now the Education Ministry is using electronic monitoring to assess… Read more Audio

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

8:38 AM.Millions of dollars in pokie proceeds are sitting in the bank and not being distributed as community grants due to legal changes pushed through because of the pandemic.

Societies that collect the… Read more Audio

8:42 AM.Iwi and the regional council in Hawke's Bay are at loggerheads over why streams are drying up this summer.

The council first told RNZ it's just a natural occurrence, but admitted there was more to it… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.Hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines have been handed out at the Environment Court in New Plymouth over ecological blunders.

The lapses include a 60-tonne fatberg that blocked a sewage pump… Read more Audio

8:54 AM.Moriori are one step closer to the settlement they say will help redress the damage done to their cultural identity over generations. 

The Moriori Claims Settlement Bill passed its first reading in… Read more Audio

8:58 AM.Bees can smell trouble - a skill that could give them a fighting chance against the deadly Varroa mite.

New research from the University of Otago shows some worker bees are able to sniff the parasite… Read more Audio