First Up Podcast Options

5:08 AM.The Department of Conservation have paid tribute to conservationist David Bellamy, saying the department was built on the shoulders of his work. Dr Bellamy passed away aged 86 on Wednesday. A well… Read more Audio

5:52 AM.Each week we speak to those leading our local communities around the country. Today we go to the smallest district council in the country, Kaikoura, and joined by Mayor Craig Mackle Audio

5:42 AM.Some of the survivors of the Whakaari / White Island eruption have suffered burns to all but the equivalent of four palm-sized areas of skin. Medical staff are working around the clock to treat the 29… Read more Audio

5:32 AM.A cafe owner in Whakatane says offering free food to Whaakari/White Island first responders just felt like the right thing to do. Taylor Ulufonua and his wife Lila Henareh run Cafe 4U and have been… Read more Audio

5:22 AM.The Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Brexit Party, the Greens, and the SNP. They're the major parties running in the UK general election. But in 24 of the UK's 650 consituencies… Read more Audio

5:12 AM.GNS Senior Volcanologist Graham Leonard, who is monitoring Whakaari, says sympathies lie with the families of those who haven't been returned. He says the volatility of the volcano at the moment means… Read more Audio

5:08 AM.In just under 15 hours time, polling stations will open their doors across the UK, as the nation holds its third general election in less than five years. Party leaders are touring the country on a… Read more Audio

5:50 AM.A mountaineer who survived a volcanic eruption says it will be a long road to recovery for those injured from Whaakari-White Island's deadly eruption on Monday. William Pike, who is the director of… Read more Audio

5:44 AM.Let's go now to Whakatane where police will continue their attempts today to get a drone across to the island to assess conditions so they can recover the 8 people still missing. The death toll from… Read more Audio

5:32 AM.Thousands of firefighters in New South Wales likely won't be home for Christmas as they continue to battle 87 large scale blazes. The fires have now ripped through more than 2-million hectares of land… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.Questions are being raised about how to manage the risks associated with New Zealand's natural and sometimes dangerous tourism attractions. Negative coverage about the safety of New Zealand's tourism… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.To the UK now where the general election is just one day away and according to our correspondent Alex Cadier, many around the UK are simply over it. Audio

5:52 AM.As you've been hearing throughout the programme - Police say there are no signs of survivors on whakaari/white island and are working urgently to confirm the exact number of those who have died. 23… Read more Audio

5:48 AM.A community museum in the Waikato needs help putting names to faces. More than 300 photographs depiciting life in 1950's Huntly have been donated to the Waikato Coalfields museum after being… Read more Audio

5:35 AM.Young people, Maori and single people are some of the most vulnerable people in the country because they are victims of repeat crime each year. The Justice Ministry has just released its latest report… Read more Audio

5:33 AM.Boutique chocolate company Ocho is ramping up business two years after a well-publicised crowd-funding campaign raised two-million dollars in less than 48 hours. Ocho was born in 2017 after Cadbury… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.What's hot and what's not for Christmas? Most definitely not socks and undies. But a new Bullitt Mustang would be high on the hot list. Our producer Jeremy Parkinson caught up with TradeMe's Millie… Read more Audio

5:10 AM.To the US now, where lawyers for the Democrats and Republicans are laying out the case for - and against - impeaching President Trump at a hearing. Early on in the proceedings, House Judiciary… Read more Audio