Morning Report Podcast Options

6:44 AM.Doctors are worried that despite a huge boost in health spending in the budget, frontline general practitioners will miss out.

A $4.3 billion cash injection has been announced for district health… Read more Audio

6:39 AM.MPs sat late into the evening last night debating critical legislation which will grant extraordinary powers to both the Government and police to combat Covid-19.

The proposed law allows authorities… Read more Audio

6:25 AM.An employment law advocate says employers need reminding work rights have not changed because of the coronavirus crisis.

Thousands of people have lost their jobs and many more are expected to be made… Read more Audio

6:22 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Read more Audio

6:11 AM.Community Housing Aotearoa is calling for a multi-billion dollar budget spend on housing in the wake of Covid-19.

It says investing in housing will stimulate the economy, support the construction… Read more Audio

6:08 AM.Children will face a new set of playground rules and classroom practices when they return to school on Monday.

Principals are figuring out how to apply the level two regulations to things like… Read more Audio

8:50 AM.The prime minister advised couples hoping to tie the knot soon to wait a while.

Alert level 2 allows them to go ahead, but with a limit on gatherings of no more than 10 people.

Paula Bevege is a… Read more Audio

8:40 AM.Donald Trump's plans to encourage Americans to return to work have been complicated by a Covid-19 outbreak in his own workplace.

The West Wing of the White House has been penetrated by coronavirus… Read more Audio

8:36 AM.A law change is desperately needed to stop non-Māori artists using Māori faces and traditional facial tattoos in their work. 

That's the view of a specialist in Indigenous cultural property, Aroha… Read more Audio

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

8:26 AM.Theatre companies will struggle to reopen during Alert Level 2.

Restrictions on audience numbers undermines the financial viability of shows.

Jonathan Bielski is chief executive of the Auckland… Read more Audio

8:22 AM.Thousands of people will return to work and school over the coming weeks.

But with physical distancing requirements in place, the capacity of trains and buses will be drastically limited.

In… Read more Audio

8:19 AM.While arts organisations welcome the news of Alert Level 2, the realities mean many are still hamstrung.

With 90 members of the Symphony Orchestra on stage, that would mean to not go over the… Read more Audio

8:15 AM.A lack of new international blockbusters will affect how many cinemas open later this week.

Mark Christensen, spokesperson for the New Zealand Motion Picture Exhibitors' Association, says major film… Read more Audio

8:08 AM.About a million children and teachers have the go-ahead to return to school after more than seven weeks away.

Now schools and early childhood education centres have to figure out how to fully re-open… Read more Audio

7:57 AM.The owner of the media company Stuff appears to have been taken by surprise by an announcement from NZME that it plans to buy it for just one-dollar.

NZME said it asked the government and the… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.Rules that allow us to burst bubbles, but only in groups of up to 10 people, will mean very little for mourners hoping to attend a funeral or tangi.

Under Alert Level 3, services were already subject… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.Churches and other places of worship will be able to open their doors on Thursday.

A limit of 10 people for on gatherings outside of the home has quashed hopes for a return to the traditional Sunday… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.Under Level 2, domestic travel will once again be allowed, including for tourism.

That's very welcome news for Rotorua, where tourism is the city's largest employer.

Steve Chadwick is the mayor of… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.Yesterday's announcement was disappointing news for the live music scene.

Under the Level 2 rules there should be no more than 100 in the venue and bars can't reopen until a week after the rest of… Read more Audio

7:38 AM.Watering holes will have to wait another week before pulling pints - with Cabinet reasoning bars pose the biggest risks for spreading coronavirus - as Jacinda Ardern spelled out yesterday.

Under the… Read more Audio