Morning Report for Monday 19 April 2021

6:09 AM.Thousands of travellers are expected to fly between Australia and New Zealand today, the first day of quarantine-free travel between the two countries since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tens of thousands… Read more Audio

6:11 AM.Canada's most populous province of Ontario has been put into lockdown and then taken out of it rapidly due to a disagreement over enforcing the new rules.

Authorities last week announced sweeping… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was laid to rest early on Sunday morning in a dignified funeral ceremony that honoured his lifetime of service to the crown and to his wife, Queen Elizabeth the… 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

6:38 AM.Quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand has resumed for the first time in more than a year.

Air New Zealand expects more than 5000 people will travel today across roughly 30 flights… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.A bar owner in downtown Rotorua says emergency housing is "killing" the town, and brazen crime is rampant.

The short-term motel stays by those urgently needing somewhere to stay have been partly… Read more Audio

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

7:09 AM.The first flights to Australia have officially taken off after the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble.

Thousands of travellers are expected to fly between Australia and New Zealand on Monday, the… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.The trans-Tasman bubble is officially operational.

Reporter Tess Brunton is headed to Australia on one of the first quarantine-free flights.

The flight, from Auckland to Sydney, is set to take off… Read more Audio

7:16 AM.After months of discussions, the trans-Tasman bubble is officially open.

The Prime Ministers of New Zealand and Australia are describing it as a world-leading arrangement that promotes travel between… Read more Audio

7:23 AM.Emergency housing is been described as dangerous and terrifying for some, with families mixed in with gang members, and many places rife with crime and intimidation.

Official documents show ministers… Read more Audio

7:29 AM.Emergency housing is been described as dangerous and terrifying for some, with families mixed in with gang members, and many places rife with crime and intimidation.

Official documents show ministers… Read more Audio

7:40 AM.Travellers are already in the sky en route to Sydney in the first flight out of New Zealand, which has departed Wellington.

Auckland Airport traveller Machellle was waiting to depart Auckland Airport… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.Auckland principals in some parts of the city are expecting confusion and hostility when they introduce enrolment zones for their schools for the first time.

The schools are part of an unprecedented… Read more Audio

7:46 AM.After months of false-starts and disappointments, the trans-Tasman bubble has finally opened.

It's been touted by some as the saviour for the hollowed-out tourism industry.

Paul Button is the… Read more Audio

7:52 AM.The Dunedin cricket and rugby commentator Iain Gallaway, known as the Voice of Carisbrook, has died aged 98.

Iain Gallaway provided rugby commentaries for 26 years and cricket for 40, until signing… Read more Audio

8:09 AM.Thousands of people will today fly freely between Aotearoa and Australia, with the trans-Tasman bubble officially open.

It's been over a year since there was quarantine-free travel between the two… Read more Audio

8:13 AM.Queenstown is a-buzz with anticipation - ready to greet today's Qantas flight carrying much-needed Australian visitors.

It's the first International flight into the resort town since the Covid-19… Read more Audio

8:17 AM.Auckland principals are bracing for some pushback when enrolment zones are introduced for the first time at some schools next month.

The Ministry of Education says the zones are needed to deal with… Read more Audio

8:22 AM.Ahead of a nationwide rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to kaumātua and Māori with comorbidities, many whānau are still trying to convince their own it is safe. 

It's not just a tidal wave of… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.A law expert says claims by Police that officers did not know they were breaking the law when they used roadblocks to get information on gang members, doesn't stack up.

Last week the Independent… Read more Audio

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

8:39 AM.After an agonizing wait, the Samoan election results have been confirmed.

It's a tie.

The incumbent HRPP and newcomers FAST both hold 25 seats each in the final count, which means the selection of… Read more Audio

8:42 AM.The Dunedin cricket and rugby commentator Iain Gallaway, known as the Voice of Carisbrook, has died - aged 98.

Iain Gallaway provided rugby commentaries for 26 years and cricket for 40, until signing… Read more Audio

8:45 AM.The 2021 ANZ netball premiership season got underway last night, and it looks like it could be a tight battle for the title, with last year's finalists both losing their opening games.

Central Pulse… Read more Audio

8:55 AM.Passengers were able to travel internationally from Wellington Airport for the first time in a year on Monday.

The first commercial flight took off heading for Sydney just after 6am, with the… Read more Audio

8:57 AM.The 23-year-old golfer snatched the trophy at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii yesterday.

It made for her 16th LPGA victory, but it was her first such win in three years.

New Zealand golfer and… Read more Audio

8:58 AM.A New Zealander living in Adelaide will today get to introduce her new daughter to her grandparents for the first time.

Jane Myers had a travel agent ready to find flights for her as soon as the… Read more Audio