Lisa Owen

People in parts of Waikato and King Country are seeing restrictions loosened slightly, to alert level 3 step 1, the same as Auckland's current settings.

Hamilton, Raglan, Waipa, Waitomo and… Audio

School is still out until November 15 at the earliest for some of the youngest students in Auckland and Waikato.

That is the provisional return date set by the government, but it is very much… Video, Audio

Ngāti Whātua is defending the management of the border between Te Tai Tokerau and Tāmaki Makaurau.

Northland will drop down to alert level 2 at midnight, following a Covid scare in which a woman who… Audio

Life in Australia is slowly getting back to normal, with more states releasing plans to open up and let people back in.

With high vaccination rates, a national plan and clear targets, states are… Audio

Christmas is just around the corner, but with Tāmaki Makaurau still in level 3, many are wondering if they should be making any plans at all.

The Prime Minister says Aucklanders should not be… Audio

Waiheke Local Board Chair Cath Handley told Checkpoint the new Covid-19 case on the island has "upset people here greatly".  Video, Audio

Health officials are thinking smaller and more nimble as they try to reach the half million people who have not had a first dose of the vaccine.

First were the 'Shot Bro' buses, now vaccine campers… Video, Audio

Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare has told many DHBs they need to do better in their vaccine rollout to Māori. 

  Video, Audio

To Australia, where an urgent search for a missing four-year-old girl feared abducted is being hampered by extreme weather.

Cleo Smith went missing from a campsite in a rural area on the coast of… Video, Audio

All Black hooker Codie Taylor choked back tears at an emotional All Blacks press conference today as he paid tribute to his teammate Sean Wainui.

25-year-old Wainui, who played for the Māori All… Audio

News from the business sector, including a market report. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6277785083001 Video, Audio

As Te Tai Tokerau prepares to move down alert levels, a Whangārei doctor is pleading with people to get vaccinated - saying the effects of not doing so, will be absolutely devastating.

There are… Audio

An Auckland theatre has drawn the curtains on the 2021 season - saying even level two would be too hard to operate in.

The Basement Theatre in the central city hosts performances from theatre makers… Video, Audio

Labour and National have put their differences aside to slash red tape around housing density, with the aim of making it easier and cheaper to build new homes.

New rules will allow up to three… Audio

The peak of Canterbury's social calendar has been scrapped this year - with the Addington Cup Week closed to the public for the first time in more than a century.

It's the latest in a slew of… Video, Audio

It's a record there is no medal for - 94 new cases of Covid Delta in the community.

Eighty-seven of those are in Auckland and seven in Waikato. It is the highest daily case count the country has… Audio

PhD students say it's unfair and short-sighted for the government to exclude them from the new fast-track residence policy.

They say they're being ignored even though they're highly-skilled and have… Audio

Health authorities are warning vaccination rates aren't high enough to loosen restrictions yet as they chase down the half a million unvaccinated people.

Auckland's just a whisker short of the 90… Audio

There's mixed feelings in the South Island over the government's continued decision to hold at alert level 2 despite more than a year since the last community Covid case.

Some say the safety-first… Audio

It's a step down the alert levels for Northland with the region moving down to alert level 2 at 11:59pm Tuesday.

But the north stays cut off from the rest of the country, with Auckland staying at the… Video, Audio