Checkpoint for Tuesday 20 February 2024

6:17 PM.Boys as young as ten are reported to be involved in tribal fighting in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province, in which at least 50 people have been killed. Police say the massacre occurred when one tribe… Read more Audio

6:14 PM.Auckland Councillors have lamented a funding crisis faced by local government at a meeting to set out the consultation for council's ten year budget. They met today to adopt the consultation document… Read more Audio

6:08 PM.Chasing tax evaders rather than targeting beneficiaries would offer a better return on investment for the government. That's the assessment of an expert in business studies. The government's launched… Read more Video, Audio

5:50 PM.An investigation has been launched to try get to the bottom of a hideous smell plauging the Canterbury town of Timaru. Hundreds of complaints have been received about a stench described by some… Read more Audio

5:43 PM.A legal rematch is pending between High Performance Sport New Zealand and some of it top athletes. The agency is appealing an Employment Relations Authority decision requiring it to collectively… Read more Video, Audio

5:37 PM."Consumers expect the food they buy to be safe". The auditor general wants a government ministry to crack down on food importers bringing in high risk products that could be making people sick. Last… Read more Audio

5:29 PM.Welfare advocates are pleading for the government to back down from its crack down on beneficiaries. Social Development Minister, Louise Upston has ordered MSD to use the full force of sanctions, to… Read more Audio

5:26 PM.High Performance Sport New Zealand is appealing an Employment Relations Authority decision which would grant athletes collective bargaining power. Sports reporter Jonty Dine speaks to Lisa Owen… Read more Video, Audio

5:21 PM.Passengers and councils in the Wairarapa are outraged by a Kiwirail debacle that has left them with a worse train line than they had and more delays. Old tracks on the Wairarapa line have been… Read more Audio

5:16 PM.The former Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson has announced he will quit politics in late March to instead head up Otago University. The Labour MP says it was time for him to call time. Deputy… Read more Audio

5:08 PM.Is it time DOC introduced user pays charges for all Aotearoa's national parks great walks and conservations estates including for day trippers? At the moment, overnight adventurers pay to use huts… Read more Audio