Morning Report for Friday 21 May 2021

6:10 AM.The Salvation Army says the government's boost to benefits doesn't go far enough to lift families out of poverty.

Benefits will increase by $20 a week in July, with a further increase next April… Read more Audio

6:15 AM.When all added up, the budget promises $2.3 billion to be spent on projects to reduce carbon emissions.

But environmentalists says this is woeful, and time is running out to take steps to reduce our… Read more Audio

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

6:27 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Read more Audio

6:37 AM.The Government is being accused of leaving middle New Zealand behind in the Budget - as political leaders butt heads at Parliament.

Front and centre in yesterday's announcement is the $3.3 billion… Read more Audio

6:41 AM.Campaigners say people with rare illnesses have been put on the "losers list" and left to die because Pharmac hasn't been funded enough.

The government has boosted spending for its drug buying agency… Read more Audio

6:45 AM.A patient advocate for people living with epilepsy has called just-released coroners findings a "wasted opportunity".

The chief coroner has this morning released her report into six deaths that… Read more Audio

6:47 AM.Migrants working remotely overseas and their New Zealand companies are calling on the government to let them back in - after 16 months of working from another country.

One man stuck in Brazil is… Read more Audio

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

7:11 AM.It's being billed as a once in a generation increase to benefits that will lift thousands of children out of poverty.

But those at the sharp end say it won't go far enough to help the worst-off… Read more Audio

7:15 AM.Beneficiaries are one of the biggest winners out of the 2021 Budget, with welfare boost billed as the "biggest in a generation".

This is Grant Robertson's fourth Budget, but it is his first without… Read more Audio

7:24 AM.The embattled chief executive of the Ports of Auckland has been bullied out of his job, according to a business leader.

Tony Gibson announced he would be stepping down yesterday after months of… Read more Audio

7:36 AM.Heartbroken, scared and angry.

Just some of the reactions to the findings of the chief coroner who has ruled the deaths of six people were not linked to a recent epilepsy medication change.

Judge… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.The government's calling it unprecedented - more than a billion dollars of targeted funding for Māori in the Budget.

Health and housing are at the top of the list but there's one complaint,  Whānau… Read more Audio

7:44 AM.The National Party says the Budget delivered by Finance Minister Grant Robertson yesterday afternoon is simply papering over the cracks.

In its first unconstrained Budget in decades, Labour hiked… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.The response to the 2021 budget is testament to the fact that you can't please everyone.

Changes to benefits and investment in Maori housing are being welcomed in some quarters - while others say… Read more Audio

7:58 AM.It's been over 400 days since the Wellington Phoenix's fans last marched into their home stadium.

With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing them to be based in Wollongong, Australia for the A-League season… Read more Audio

8:12 AM.The police are appealing a High Court ruling that could stop them issuing formal written warnings to people who they consider to have acted wrongly, but aren't having charges pressed.

More than… Read more Audio

8:15 AM.The Labour government says it will lift tens of thousands of children out of poverty with its increases to the benefit.

Under plans announced in the budget, beneficiaries will recieve increases of… Read more Audio

8:29 AM.After a year of zero visitors, the Cook Islands is now pondering just how many visitors it actually wants to return.

Until Covid-19 shut the borders in March, the country was seeing record numbers… Read more Audio

8:30 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Read more Audio

8:41 AM.The number of new cars available for sale is at its lowest in decades.

Stock is at a quarter of normal levels and a global crunch on carmakers - thanks to a shortage of computer chips - shows no sign… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.People in Dunedin are delighted to see the Hillside railway workshops coming back to life - the Budget has earmarked $85 million to build a wagon assembly plant. 

The workshops effectively closed in… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.The head of the Secondary Principals Association, Deidre Shea, says the government's wellbeing budget will make teachers' job easier.

She says the increased social spending in the Budget will help a… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.A French court has ruled that thousands of victims of defective breast implants are entitled to compensation.

The case was brought by 2700 women who said they suffered long-term physical and mental… Read more Audio

8:54 AM.Rotorua shot putter Lisa Adams is thrilled to be heading to her first Paralympic Games in Tokyo in just over 90 days.

Adams, who has cerebral palsy, broke her own F37 shot put world record three… Read more Audio