First Up Podcast Options

5:47 AM.An additional 2000 seasonal workers will be allowed into New Zealand next year to address labour shortages in the Horticulture and Wine growing sectors. The Goverment announced the scheme after… Read more Audio

5:42 AM.A Coromandel man who lives a few minutes from an ambulance station waited nearly 3 hours for his partner to be transported to hospital after reportedly suffering a stroke. It comes after 300 St John… Read more Audio

5:28 AM.Tasman will defend their national provincial Premiership title this weekend, but concede they're not the team they were last year. The Mako take on top qualifiers and favourites Auckland in the final… Read more Audio

5:20 AM.Joining Nathan Rarere for a look at the weekend in fresh produce, is our Minister of Fruit and Veges, Glenn Forsyth - looking today at courgettes and eggplants but hold off on summer stone fruit for… Read more Audio

5:08 AM.A Hawke's Bay beer accessory company was stuck without product this year, after Covid-19 stopped shipping dead in its tracks. But not wishing to deprive anyone of a Beer-Dispensing Fridge, they've… Read more Audio

5:52 AM.Yesterday we ran a story about the scourge of broken windscreens in Coromandel as a result of rocks and pebbles being flicked up at vehicles from loose road surfaces. We've been inundated with… Read more Audio

5:47 AM.Parts of the North Island were left underwater after torrential downpours yesterday, with Taranaki getting a particularly severe drenching. Flooding and slips caused widespread disruption in New… Read more Audio

5:42 AM.Black Friday is back again with promises of huge savings on just about everything, but are the bargains all they're cracked up to be? Data from price comparison watchdog Pricespy suggests the cost of… Read more Audio

5:31 AM.Former All Black captain Tana Umaga has lent his support to current coach Ian Foster. Foster has only been in charge of the All Blacks for 5 matches, but with a record of two wins, two losses and a… Read more Audio

5:22 AM.Each week we're talking to a small business owner around New Zealand - this week we've been talking to Hollie Ryan who runs Hark handmade. She makes Polymer clay earrings and other types of jewellery… Read more Audio

5:08 AM.Nathan Rarere speaks with our Europe correspondent Catherine Walbridge about Europe gearing up for its first coronavirus Christmas, the scaling back in some countries of the famous Christmas markets… Read more Audio

5:53 AM.The Government is calling on the Reserve Bank to step up and help cool the piping-hot housing market as it tries to push prices down. Many commentators had predicted house prices would plummet as a… Read more Audio

5:47 AM.Coromandel locals and holiday makers alike are getting fed up with number of times their car windscreens are being smashed by pebbles and stones that are flicked up from loose road surfaces. One… Read more Audio

5:37 AM.Today marks the 80th anniversary of the first flight of an iconic Second World War aircraft.. The very first de Havilland Mosquito took to the air on this day in 1940. And thanks to a farmer from… Read more Audio

5:33 AM.Joining us now is our expert on all things in the world of Kai Moana, Foodstuffs seafood operations manager Brett Sellers talks about Christmas prep, scampi and smoked salmon. Audio

5:25 AM.Former All Black captain Tana Umaga will coach the Moana Pasifika rugby team in next month's one off game against the Maori All Blacks in Hamilton. He hopes the team will signal the start of a new era… Read more Audio

5:58 AM.We're all up very early in the morning, and we wanted to find out who else is up with us at 5am and what are they doing? Last week producer Ellie Jay and cameraman Dan Cook went to Leigh, about an… Read more Video, Audio

5:52 AM.Cash-strapped Auckland Council is preparing to unveil its draft 10-year budget as the fiscal hole caused by Covid-19 threatens to exceed a billion dollars within a few years. The council lost much of… Read more Audio

5:24 AM.If Mad Max was a kid, he'd be lining up for one of TradeMe's auctions this week. Dubbed the "Doom Trike", it's a classic Kiwi plastic trike, pimped for the apocalypse. But first, TradeMe's Logan Mudge… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.Nathan Rarere speaks with our correspondent Henry Riley in London about a new 'covid winter plan' just announced by Boris Johnson and a mass testing regime is to be rolled out across the country. Audio

5:53 AM.The National Party did some serious soul searching at its AGM over the weekend, reflecting on its disastrous election result and considering how to give itself a fighting chance come 2023. Former… Read more Audio

5:42 AM.Pets are often the forgotten victims of Family Violence, and are targetted by abusive partners as a method of control and manipulation. They can also prevent victims from leaving harmful relationships… Read more Audio

5:32 AM.Seven-and-a-half thousand teenagers left school without a qualification last year. The figure represents 12 percent of 2019's school leavers, that's one percentage point up from the previous year. In… Read more Audio