Midday Report Essentials for Wednesday 4 December 2024

In today's episode, testing for bird flu is underway at a small free range farm in Dunedin, the Children's Commissioner has found evidence of "inhumane treatment" at a facility for intellectually disabled children, where one tamariki was held in seclusion for 62 days, Project Jonah volunteers are at Farewell Spit attempting to refloat a pod of pilot whales which stranded overnight, and MetService has issued its first heat alerts for the summer - with Nelson, Blenheim and Napier all in for soaring temperatures.