Checkpoint for Thursday 21 May 2020

5:09 PM.National MPs have been subject to a mad-dash stumping campaign, as Simon Bridges and Todd Muller each made a desperate pitch for the party's leadership.

The two are in a bitter showdown accelerated… Read more Audio

5:10 PM.The director-general of health is anticipating he will recommend the government consider loosening level 2 restrictions, or even a move to level 1.

New Zealand has recorded its fourth consecutive day… Read more Video, Audio

5:17 PM.The Prime Minister's comments encouraging employers to explore a four day working week are being met with a flurry of mixed reactions from the business and tourism sectors.

Jacinda Ardern floated the… Read more Audio

5:20 PM.A damning ministerial review into the Civil Aviation Authority released on Thursday reveals a toxic culture of bullying and harassment.

The agency, which is tasked with the job of keeping New… Read more Audio

5:25 PM.Bars are able to open from Thursday without the need to pretend they are a restaurant and serve food to patrons. Forced to wait a week longer before they could open under level 2, they still have to… Read more Video, Audio

5:30 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Video, Audio

5:40 PM.A Defence Force helicopter has now joined the search for two trampers missing in a remote part of north-west Nelson.

Jessica O'Connor and Dion Reynolds, both 23 and from the Tasman area, started out… Read more Audio

5:46 PM.The head of the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Council says Australia is outstripping New Zealand on the economic comeback from Covid-19, and we need to assemble an 'A team' on the economy if we… Read more Video, Audio

5:47 PM.A Dunedin family wants answers after a 23-year-old man tried to take his own life just 10 hours after being discharged from a psychiatric hospital during lockdown.

The man's mother says she was… Read more Audio

5:56 PM.With schools back, antsy students are wondering when they can pull on their boots and get back on the sports field.

Schools and amateur sports bodies are hopeful competitions can return in about a… Read more Audio

6:09 PM.On Friday National Party leader Simon Bridges' fate will be decided after he forced the hand of potential challengers calling all his MPs back to Wellington to decide the issue.

Bay of Plenty MP Todd… Read more Video, Audio

6:12 PM.The National Party under Simon Bridges has just 29 percent support according to the latest poll from TVNZ.

The figure is a 17 percent fall for the opposition party from the previous 1News Colmar… Read more Video, Audio

6:20 PM.Please buy a beer - that's the plea from bar owners in Wellington as they reopen their doors today for the first time in almost two months.

Lockdown has taken a serious toll on the finances of many… Read more Video, Audio

6:25 PM.The 1 News Colmar Brunton poll shows Labour at 59 percent and National at 29 percent.

While it was all bad for National, it's a different story for ACT who is up at around two percent.

Leader David… Read more Video, Audio