Morning Report for Thursday 25 May 2023

8:54 AM.A Wellington artist who wants to redefine what a portrait should be has won this year's Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award and a $20,000 prize.

Stevei Houkāmau's work is a five-metre-long sculpture… Read more Audio

8:49 AM.The country's first 'wet house' is about to open in Wellington - it's a shelter for homeless alcoholics that still allows them to drink on site.

Te Pa Maru has been decades in the making, bedevilled… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.A campaign to stop children being accidentally exposed to internet pornography is calling for tighter restrictions on illegal sexual content.

The Make Sense campaign's petition demands immediate… Read more Audio

8:36 AM.A witness has told the coroners court she feels let down by the police officers investigating the disappearance of John Beckenridge and his 11-year-old stepson Mike.

The pair were last seen in the… Read more Audio

8:28 AM.The great-grandmother tasered by New South Wales police at her nursing home last week has died.

95-year-old Clare Nowland, who had dementia, was hospitalised in a critical condition after falling and… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.Wellington's Adelaide road has reopened to all traffic this morning, for the first time since last week's fatal fire at the Loafers Lodge hostel.

The busy road has been open to just southbound… Read more Audio

8:14 AM.The pain of inflation may have peaked.

The Reserve Bank hiked the official cash rate by 25 basis points yesterday to 5.5%, and signalled that might be as high as it will go.

But it says we aren't… Read more Audio

7:52 AM.The Tertiary Education Union says it will fight for every employee as Victoria University considers up to 260 job cuts.

The university has a $33 million deficit to fill, citing declining enrolments… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.Nearly 30,000 patients waiting for elective operations - including hip replacements, hernias and fixes for incontinence - are about to receive letters from Te Whatu Ora asking if they still need… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.The National Party says the early childhood education sector's near total rejection of the Government's plan to provide 20 hours of free childcare to two-year-olds is a vote of no confidence in the… Read more Audio

7:37 AM.The Republican Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is expected to announce his run for the presidency live on Twitter.

A spokesperson for Mr DeSantis' office said he and Twitter owner Elon Musk will… Read more Audio

7:29 AM.Is this the beginning of the end of the mortgage rate misery for both homeowners and the Government? The Reserve Bank has bumped up the Official Cash Rate to 5.5%, up 25 basis points, but with a… Read more Audio

7:25 AM.Is climate change funny yet?

That's the question posed by award-winning comedian and podcaster Tim Batt, who is mining for laughs in a looming disaster.

Climate reporter Hamish Cardwell filed this… Read more Audio

7:25 AM.US-born singer songwriter, Tina Turner, has died at the age of 83.

Widely referred to as the "Queen of Rock'n'Roll" her soul classics and pop hits including 'The Best' and 'What's Love Got to Do With… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.The early childhood education sector has banded together to reject the Government's plan to extend the 20 hours fees-free scheme to two-year-olds.

A coalition of early childhood services says the… Read more Audio

6:42 AM.A worker's union says the Reserve Bank's decision to hike the official cash rate will worsen the cost-of-living crisis.

According to a household cost index done by First Union, 23% of the direct… Read more Audio

6:38 AM.An update on what's happening in the sports world with Nathan Rarere. Read more Audio

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

6:13 AM.Secondary school kids are saying 'yeah, nah' to alcohol.

That's the word from Otago University researchers, who, compared to 20 years ago, have found a dramatic drop in youth drinking.

Researchers… Read more Audio

6:07 AM.The family of slain 22-year-old Christian Glass have held a commemoration of his life, which was cut short after police officers shot him as he sat in his car in Colorado.

Earlier this week the Glass… Read more Audio