First Up Podcast Options

5:52 AM.National says Labour is sugarcoating a bleak economic outlook - but Grant Robertson says he's being more realistic by not promising an acceptable level of debt for the government to manage by the end… Read more Audio

5:47 AM.The Mayor of Waipa, Jim Mylchreest tells Indira Stewart what's going on in his district and why you should visit. Audio

5:36 AM.Today a Queenstown man is attempting to set the world record for the most number of Canyon Swings in a day. Jason Medina is attempting the record at Shotover Canyon Swing in Queenstown to fundraise… Read more Audio

5:34 AM.Primary sector employers are worried that legalisation of recreational cannabis could heighten health and safety risks. The sector already has one of the highest workplace accident and death rates in… Read more Audio

5:31 AM.A Pacific youth-led activist group has kick-started a campaign aimed at increasing Pasifika engagement in the upcoming election. Pacific Climate Warriors based in Auckland and Wellington are leading… Read more Audio

5:24 AM.The New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox isn't concerned about taking on a new course at this week's US Open in New York. It will be his third US Open and 10th major of his career. Winged Foot is known as one… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.Joining Indira from across the Tassie is our Australian correspondent, broadcaster and former Alliance MP Pam Corkery - Melbourne's Covid-19 numbers seem to be flattening, slipping below 50 cases over… Read more Audio

5:52 AM.National has pledged an extra $30 million a year for the 'My Smile Tamariki Niho Ora' programme to improve children's oral health. The scheme aims to initially help at least 100,000 children and… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.Olympic marathon runner and chief executive of Athletics New Zealand Pete Pfitzinger, says he's gutted to have to exclude Aucklanders from running in the Rotorua Marathon. The race is scheduled to go… Read more Audio

5:38 AM.Next month's Waikato A&P Show has been cancelled due to the uncertainty around Covid-19 alert levels. The show, which last year marked its 127th anniversary, was meant kick off in Hamilton on October… Read more Audio

5:34 AM.Thousands of cheap air fares are being snapped up following relaxed physical distancing rules on flights, but travel agents say Auckland is losing visitors. Air New Zealand sold 110,000 tickets on… Read more Audio

5:24 AM.It's that time of the week now where we take a look at a unique New Zealand business - our producer Ellie Jay has been talking to Alice Brooking of 'Wool Mother maternity' They make felted merino wool… Read more Audio

5:16 AM.President Donald Trump is back in Washington after a visit to California to see the destruction of the massive forest fires on the West Coast. This morning he presided over the signing of a peace… Read more Audio

5:50 AM.Restaurant and bar owners around the country say they need more government help if they are to survive another 10 days of the current Covid-19 restrictions. Yesterday's Alert Level announcement means… Read more Audio

5:47 AM.Efforts to stop Covid-19 are having at least one welcome side effect, the flu season is almost non-existent in the southern hemisphere. That's according to data from the World Health Organisation's… Read more Audio

5:44 AM.Landlords are being warned to play by the rules when it comes to setting rents, as the rent-freeze draws to an end next week. Tenants are bracing themselves for hike, with one tenant RNZ spoke to… Read more Audio

5:36 AM.Forest & Bird is alarmed that some conservation land where Tahr numbers need to be reduced is excluded from this year's control operations plan. There's been a lot of disagreement on how best to… Read more Audio

5:26 AM.In 2011, the MV Rena ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty resulting in the worst ever maritime environmental disaster in New Zealand's history. And for a few thousand dollars a piece… Read more Audio

5:14 AM.To the UK where yet another former Prime Minister has come out against Boris Johnson's plan to override the Brexit withdrawal agreement. This time it's David Cameron - the man who insigated Brexit… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.When oil company Tamarind Taranaki abruptly abandoned the Tui oil field in December, it left taxpayers facing a bill of at least 155 million dollars to plug the undersea wells. Now a whistleblower… Read more Audio

5:52 AM.A covid-tracer alert was sent over the weekend after an infectious person attended a fitness class at a gym on the North Shore. It comes just hours before Cabinet meets to decide whether or not to… Read more Audio

5:47 AM.On this day in 1972, 30-thousand signatures were delivered to Parliament by the group Nga Tamatoa calling for te reo Maori to be taught in schools. It was a defining moment for Aotearoa and it sparked… Read more Audio

5:37 AM.Hoot, hoot - this story is cute. Over the weekend, First Up visited a baby barn owl who was born about a month ago. The nameless bird is being hand-reared by Noel Hyde at Rotorua's Wingspan National… Read more Video, Audio

5:24 AM.Joining Indira from the produce markets is our Minister of Fruit and Veges Glenn Forsyth: telegraph cumumbers are good buys with plenty around, pickers are needed for the upcoming kiwifruit and apple… Read more Audio