Morning Report for Monday 19 February 2024

8:48 AM.Patient safety advocates warn scrapping the new Therapeutic Products Act will leave thousands of New Zealanders exposed to harm from dodgy medical devices.

The Act, which has yet to come into force… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.A Port Hills resident who suffered fire damage to his home seven years ago says plantation forestry is becoming too dangerous in the area.

Firefighters continue to toil round-the-clock in an effort… Read more Audio

8:24 AM.Lewis Clareburt has brought the curtain down on a historic New Zealand record haul at swimming world championships, winning gold in Doha this morning.

Clareburt powered through the field to win the… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.Principals warn schools will need more funding if they are to achieve the government's goals for reading, writing and maths.

It is now a requirement that schools teach children in Years 0-8 reading… Read more Audio

8:13 AM.The political week got off to an early start this week with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon over the weekend accusing Labour of leaving his administration a $200 billion hole in transport… Read more Audio

7:57 AM.Oppenheimer is set to ignite the BAFTA awards which are just about to get underway in London.

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, about the life of the man who helped develop the atomic bomb, is leading… Read more Audio

7:54 AM.The Black Caps have beaten South Africa two - nil in their recent test series, and fans are gearing up for the much anticipated Australian series.

But test cricket fans in Auckland are once again… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.It's going to be a tense couple of days for Karl Tiefenbacher as he awaits the final count from the weekend's byelection in Wellington City Council's Lambton ward.

Mr Tiefenbacher was leading his… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.Schools opting for a government grant instead of asking parents for donations are worse off than most wealthier schools who still ask families for money.

Results from an RNZ survey show some schools… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.Nor-westerly winds are expected in Canterbury today as firefighters work frantically to put out fires across the region.

As we've been reporting this morning, a large fire is now burning in Waikari… Read more Audio

7:36 AM.Researchers are looking at a new wind speed warning category for tropical cyclones, because they're getting stronger with global heating.

New Zealand's most damaging storms tend to start as tropical… Read more Audio

7:25 AM.The wars taking place in Gaza and Ukraine were the hot topics among politicians, diplomats, and defence industry representatives at the three day Munich Security Conference, which wrapped up… Read more Audio

7:21 AM.Properties near Waipara, in North Canterbury were evacuated overnight due to a large fire.

An evacuation centre was set up at the Waipara Hall.

Fifteen crews, alongside a bulldozer, fought the fire… Read more Audio

7:18 AM.The Finance Minister says the government is not catastrophising the country's financial position.

The Prime Minister Christopher Luxon labelled the country "fragile" during his first State of the… Read more Audio

7:14 AM.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is warning he will need to make unpopular decisions in order to turn around the country's fragile state.

Luxon delivered the blunt assessment during his first state… Read more Audio

7:10 AM.Fire crews are fighting a large scrub fire in North Canterbury.

Some residents in Waipara area have been evacuated. The affected areas included Waikari Valley Road, Shell Rock Road, and Glenmark… Read more Audio

6:47 AM.The early reopening of the cyclone-ravaged State Highway 25A on the Coromandel Peninsula increased GDP in the region by almost $86 million.

That's according to a new report out by Infrastructure New… Read more Audio

6:42 AM.Schools say they are having no trouble meeting the government's decree that they teach reading, writing and maths for an hour a day each on average.

And many have already adopted the government's… Read more Audio

6:22 AM.Sex work activists - The Fired Up Stilettos - are kicking up what they'd like to call a FUS.

Nineteen strippers were fired from Calendar Girls Wellington via a Facebook post in February last year for… Read more Audio

6:19 AM.The Green Party says Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears fixated on punishing people on the lowest incomes.

In a State of the Nation address over the weekend, Mr Luxon stressed the Government… Read more Audio

6:10 AM.The death of Alexei Navalny - an imprisoned and outspoken critic of Russia's president Vladimir Putin - is prompting human rights experts to ask who's next.

The penal colony where Mr. Navalny died… Read more Audio