Checkpoint for Wednesday 29 September 2021

5:08 PM.Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has not ruled out the possibility home isolation could be available for more than businesspeople before Christmas.

"I wouldn't rule that out, although I don't… Read more Video, Audio

5:15 PM.Hundreds of people have been allowed across the Auckland boundary today and leave lockdown behind.

People can now leave Tāmaki Makaurau if they are moving permanently, or heading to university… Read more Video, Audio

5:22 PM."A lottery in human misery" is how National's described the MIQ system. And it believes quarantine-free travel by Christmas is possible under its plans to open the borders.

Once vaccination rates… Read more Video, Audio

5:25 PM.The government is set to expedite thousands of residence visa applications, RNZ understands.

Thousands of existing migrants who want to settle in New Zealand permanently have been waiting months for… Read more Video, Audio

5:28 PM.While humans are still waiting for their trims and regrowth touchups, in alert level three Auckland pet groomers are back in action.

Five weeks in level 4 has left groomers with a backlog of pooches… Read more Video, Audio

5:35 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6274685130001 Video, Audio

5:39 PM.At least 31,000 people waited in the MIQ lottery line yesterday but missed out for possibly a second time.

Barry Smart is one of the lucky ones who nabbed a spot in MIQ yesterday. He travelled to… Read more Audio

5:43 PM.Legal action is brewing by Grounded Kiwis - which advocates for vast numbers of expats who want to get home, but cannot.

With the demand for MIQ rooms massively outstripping supply, the right to… Read more Video, Audio

5:49 PM.A report by the government-appointed advisory panel into Oranga Tamariki is being described as weak and not going far enough to prompt transformational change the Minister is promising to enforce.

… Read more Audio

5:54 PM.An app aimed at stopping restaurant quality food ending up in bin has launched in Wellington today.

Foodprint allows hospitality venues to make excess food available to buy at a discount.

It's hoped… Read more Audio

6:08 PM.Businesses are lining up to be part of the government's home-isolation trial that is due to get underway next month.

150 business people who will be charged $1000, stay in a self-contained house… Read more Video, Audio

6:13 PM.The National Party wants to open up the country with a plan it says will allow New Zealanders to return home for Christmas.

The party has released a three-step plan to open the borders and stop… Read more Audio

6:18 PM.Aucklanders are still largely locked off from the rest of the country, and an epidemiologist wants it to stay that way unless vaccination rates rise.

Professor Rod Jackson from the University of… Read more Audio

6:23 PM.The number of people living with dementia in New Zealand will double in the next 30 years - according to a new report from the University of Auckland.

It's estimated more than 167,000 people will… Read more Audio

6:25 PM.Pacific organisations are taking to the airwaves to try to address mental health concerns in the Pasifika community.

A new weekly radio segment, that will also run online, launched today - with the… Read more Audio