Midday Report Essentials for Tuesday 17 December 2024

In today's episode, Shops on Wairoa's main street are flooding after heavy rain hit the area overnight -- with 80 millimetres estimated to have fallen, the minimum wage will rise by 35 cents next year to $23.50 an hour in what the government describes as a "modest increase", Orana Wildlife Park will stop taking new animals for the next six months while staff work on changes recommended by two reviews, and approximately 140 police officers have been deployed to monitor a tangi for slain gang member in the Lower Hutt suburb of Wainuiomata on Tuesday.