Checkpoint for Friday 22 May 2015

6:50 PM.A signing between the Crown and Northland's Ngapuhi iwi has drawn outrage from a major group who opposes the agreement; The Maori Party is praising the Government's decision to inject 35-million… Read more Audio

6:35 PM.This week the Finance Minister, Bill English, delivered his seventh Budget and it included a surprise pay increase for beneficiaries with children. Audio

6:22 PM.A solar power magnate has lost 20 billion dollars in an hour as his firm's share price tanked. Audio

6:18 PM.There's growing pressure on Australia's top catholic clergymen to front and answer allegations that he tried to bribe an abused boy to stay quiet. Audio

6:14 PM.In Northland - where unemployment's running at nearly ten per cent - groups working with the poor say budget measures to help them will be swallowed up and barely touch the sides as they go down. Audio

6:12 PM.Blessie Gotingco's family is unhappy her rapist and murderer still can't be named. Audio

6:06 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:53 PM.A former dairy farm worker says he's given up on the industry because he can't find a decent boss. Audio

5:50 PM.The Crown and the country's largest iwi are just one step away from settling its Treaty of Waitangi claims; A leading Maori health researcher says the Government has missed a chance to cut smoking… Read more Audio

5:45 PM.Over a hundred fish hooks have been found scattered across a Northland playground in what appears to be deliberate act to hurt children. Audio

5:38 PM.A former Australian soldier and an advisor to the US General David Patraeus says Australia and New Zealand need to get on the front line in Iraq or get out. Audio

5:35 PM.The Labour Party leader, Andrew Little, is suggesting people who carry on working after 65 should not receive superannuation. Audio

5:32 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:29 PM.An Invercargill used-car salesman is counting the cost after a customer took a test drive and ploughed the Ford Falcon XRS into the ocean. Audio

5:20 PM.The government is being accused of short changing the Christchurch City Council by refusing to pay anything towards a 400-million-dollar cost over-run on repairs to quake damaged pipes and roads. Audio

5:16 PM.A father has admitted, in an Invercargill court, to mistakenly shooting dead his son on a hunting trip on Stewart Island in March. Audio

5:15 PM.Legislation allowing the Government to sell off thousands of state homes to community housing groups has passed through all its stages in Parliament. Audio

5:11 PM.Ruth Money is the spokesperson for Blessie Gotingco's husband and three children. Audio

5:07 PM.Blessie Gotingco's murderer and rapist still cannot be named even after a jury unanimously and in under two hours found him guilty this afternoon. Audio

5:00 PM.Guilty, but Blessie Gotingco's murderer still can't be named, trial has been horrendous - family, Social Housing bill passes third reading, Father admits mistakenly shooting dead his son, Govt accused… Read more Audio