Morning Report

Fires are now threatening houses in California's Santa Barbara County and thousands of people have been told to leave. The flames have burned through $230,000 acres in the past week and have destroyed… Read more Audio

The port workers' union says revelations the Lyttelton Port chief executive was paid 955-thousand dollars last year is a slap in the face for his staff. Peter Davie was paid a salary of $597,000 and… Read more Audio

The longest dry spell in Christchurch since records began is forecast to end today. Yesterday was the 46th straight day without rain in the city - eclipsing the record of 45 days that had stood since… Read more Audio

A top trainer could be kicked out of the greyhound racing industry if it's proved he used live animals as bait to train his dogs. The SPCA is investigating Brendon Cole after receiving photos in July… Read more Audio

Another "unfortunate experiment" is how one woman is describing New Zealand's handling of surgical mesh. Yesterday MedSafe announced that from January 4 mesh implants will not be used for pelvic organ… Read more Audio

The chief executive of the Superfund, Adrian Orr, has been appointed as the new Reserve Bank governor. Mr Orr was deputy governor and head of financial stability at the Reserve Bank from 2003 to 2007… Read more Audio

Tukoroirangi Morgan, the president of the Maori Party, has announced his resignation and has called for the party's co-leaders to follow suit. It follows a disastrous election result which saw the… Read more Audio

The Waikato District Health board has lost its accreditation to assess drinking water safety because it lacks competent staff. The country's accrediation agency IANZ says the DHB is chronically short… Read more Audio

Briefings to the new government's ministers have highlighted a series of problems they'll have to deal with. The documents were made public last week and show, among - other things - Auckland's… Read more Audio

The Bay of Plenty township of Edgecumbe has fallen well short of getting all its flood-hit families back in their homes for Christmas - but not for want of trying. About half of the 250 families… Read more Audio

Women who've suffered acute pain from surgical mesh say it should have been banned years ago. Medsafe yesterday announced New Zealand would be the second country to limit the way the mesh is used… Read more Audio