Morning Report for Tuesday 20 December 2011

8:56 AM.Christmas is nearly upon us and if you've still got a pile of presents to wrap, spare a thought for the country's professional gift wrappers. Over the last month they've wrangled everything from 50… Read more Audio

8:53 AM.There's anger in a South Auckland community that a small grocery store wants to sell alcohol in the same suburb where a liquor store owner, Navtej Singh, was shot and killed two years ago. Audio

8:50 AM.The Maori Students' Association says it will be before the Waitangi Tribunal next year to fight government legislation, which it says has breached the country's founding document; The Labour Party MP… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.The forestry workers' union is calling for urgent improvements to industry regulation to stop more on the job deaths. It follows criticism by a coroner of the health and safety practices at Pelorous… Read more Audio

8:39 AM.A Northland principal who blew the whistle about the background of one of the Ministry of Education's school advisers says he's still waiting for an explanation - and an apology. Audio

8:36 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

8:29 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:24 AM.The death of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, has unsettled some countries in the region. Audio

8:19 AM.Urgent food supplies will be shipped to about 100 residents of Nelson's Cable Bay, who are still cut off by a large slip after last week's torrential rain and flooding. Audio

8:10 AM.The Labour Party leader, David Shearer, says he is prepared to shuffle his caucus again if the current line-up does not perform. The post-election shake-up has catapulted some back benchers up through… Read more Audio

7:55 AM.Auckland ratepayers are having to chip in $100 million to cover a temporary funding shortfall at the government's Transport Agency. It is the first time a local body has stepped up to keep the flow of… Read more Audio

7:51 AM.The teachers council wants a review of the law that usually keeps it from naming teachers who appear before its disciplinary tribunal. The tribunal recently took the unusual step of allowing two… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.A top lawyer believes the police may have fresh grounds to extradite an American woman following the release of a coroner's report into an assisted suicide. Audio

7:45 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:36 AM.The Maritime Union says the Ports of Auckland is deliberately trying to undermine negotiations to resolve an industrial dispute at the country's largest port. The union says the port company is… Read more Audio

7:29 AM.The chief inspector of coal mines in Queensland has been seconded to New Zealand to head the Government's newly-established High Hazards Unit. The unit was set up in response to the Pike River Mine… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.The State of Emergency in the Nelson Tasman District is likely to continue through Christmas. About a hundred homes in the region that are damaged or destabilised by slips have been red stickered and… Read more Audio

7:16 AM.The Labour Party's MPs have fallen in line behind their new leader after the announcement of the revised caucus rankings, saying there is no bad blood following the leadership race. Audio

7:09 AM.North Korea has called on its people to rally behind their new leader Kim Jong Un following the death of his father Kim Jong-il. Audio

6:46 AM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

6:40 AM.Labour Party MPs are insisting there is no bad blood after the announcement of the new caucus line-up. Publicly, they're saying they intend to rally around David Shearer as leader, with the aim of… Read more Audio

6:27 AM.The Labour Party MP, Shane Jones, says he needs to work harder during question time in Parliament, now he's back on the Opposition front bench; The Maori Students' Association says it will be before… Read more Audio

6:22 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Audio

6:18 AM.The latest from the Pacific region. Audio

6:11 AM.The Labour MP, David Cunliffe, says although he would have liked to have stayed on in the finance role, he'll now work for the good of the party. The leader, David Shearer, named David Parker as the… Read more Audio

6:00 AM.Uncertainty over what's next for North Korea; Queensland's chief mines inspector seconded to New Zealand; Labour MPs fall in to line; State of Emergency in the Nelson likely to continue; Queensland's… Read more Audio