Morning Report for Friday 27 August 2021

8:56 AM.It's Friday so we cross the ditch to Canberra to talk to our correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh. Read more Audio

8:52 AM.Shouted at and even pushed - Claire Dale says challenging anyone over illegally using a mobility park is a risk.

But as a person who suffers pain simply to walk, she is determined to fight for her… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.New Zealand's management of the pandemic over the past eighteen months has been followed with interest around the world - but so, too, will the country's apparent lack of an exit strategy from the… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.You're trying to work from home but your flatmates are partying in the lounge.

Or you've just started a Zoom call and your kids are running riot in the kitchen.

Or you're alone and can't see the… Read more Audio

8:33 AM.What does or doesn't constitute an essential business has been a debated question ever since the first lockdown last year.

If the latest lockdown is anything to go by, it hasn't been fully resolved.

8:27 AM.As the country waits today for news on any moves of alert levels - particularly for the South Island - wastewater testing is again centre stage.

Covid-19 has been detected in Christchurch's… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.Pacific peoples have been carrying a particularly heavy load with the Covid-19 outbreak.

Part of the community has been targeted by abusive messages after it was revealed that a church service just… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.An Afghani man who saved a New Zealander's life - and even named his daughter after Jacinda Ardern -has been left to die as the Taliban encircle his home. Wellington man Dwayne Wilkins says he's tried… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.US officials are in crisis talks after Kabul's airport was rocked by twin bomb blasts overnight.

At least 60 people have been killed and more than 140 injured.

The attacks come after numerous… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.Orana Park has set up webcams for Kiwis in lockdown to get the full zoo experience.

Fans can check out their favourite animals - otter, meercats and rhinos at the Christchurch animal park.

The… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.New Zealanders are now going to be surveyed to help track reactions to the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

A text message will be sent from the Ministry of Health to about 10 percent of randomly selected… Read more Audio

7:46 AM.Residents living near Wellington International Airport are considering their options now an independent commission has been given conditional approval for a massive expansion.

The plan - intended to… Read more Audio

7:40 AM.A new international study shows the airborne spread of viruses has been "vastly underappreciated".

Previously the small droplets we coughed and sneezed were thought to be the culprits in the spread… Read more Audio

7:35 AM.New Zealand paralympic swimming star Sophie Pascoe has won our first medal of the Tokyo Games, in an event that she says she entered at the last minute.

Pascoe claimed silver in the 100 metres… Read more Audio

7:28 AM.A second Auckland quarantine hotel will start taking people with Covid-19 in a few hours time.

The Novotel in Ellerslie has to take on some of the load because the Jet Park is filling up fast.

… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.Leaders from the South Auckland church at the centre of the largest sub-cluster in this outbreak have spoken out about the strain it has put on their community.

The Samoan Assembly of God Christian… Read more Audio

7:21 AM.Pasifika now lead the way in full vaccinations among people aged 40 and above.

The community has been targeted by abusive messages after it was revealed that a church service just days before… Read more Audio

7:17 AM.New Zealanders will today learn whether everyone outside of Auckland will soon move out of the toughest lockdown level.

On Monday, the Prime Minister signalled alert level 4 would expire at midnight… Read more Audio

7:10 AM.Two explosions just outside Kabul's overcrowded international airport have killed at least 60 people, with US soldiers and Afghan civilians including children among the victims.

More than 140 people… Read more Audio

6:53 AM.The country has lost one of its first television stars - Max Cryer died on Wednesday aged 86.

He spoke the first words on nationwide TV in 1969, and went on to produce the shows Mastermind and… Read more Audio

6:50 AM.A wahine Māori with incurable breast cancer believes a new telephone service can help others in her position.

The digital service, called ABCpro, is being trialed out of the Waikato DHB. It allows… Read more Audio

6:45 AM.The country finds out today whether everyone but Aucklanders will move out level four lockdown at midnight.

Many Mainlanders want to see a move straight to level two or at the very least a good… Read more Audio

6:18 AM.A pharmacy on the Coromandel Peninsula's calling on its community to get jabbed against the flu to make more space for Covid-19 vaccines in its freezers.

The Tairua-Pauanui Pharmacy, on the… Read more Audio

6:15 AM.Some families with disabled children are struggling under the lockdown and need more help.

People who work with the children want an alert level 4 rule change so teachers and specialists can visit… Read more Audio