Morning Report for Wednesday 21 March 2012

8:57 AM.Double-decker buses could be carrying Auckland commuters from as early as late 2012. Audio

8:54 AM.Private donations are being used to pay back small businesses caught up in the financial crisis affecting the Otago Rugby Union. Audio

8:49 AM.A Ruatoki kaumatua says legal action against the Crown over the 2007 police raid is unlikely to fix the damage inflicted on Tuhoe; The Government has given an assurance that Auckland Council's… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.The Ministry of Justice is under fire again from the Law Society over fixed legal aid fees -- this time for accident compensation cases. As part of the Ministry's attempts to trim legal aid spending… Read more Audio

8:42 AM.Voting is underway in the Illinois Primary. The former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is expected to win easily. Audio

8:31 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:28 AM.The Tongan Government has decided King George Tupou the fifth's body will be flown directly to Tonga from Hong Kong, without coming to Auckland. That decision has disappointed some Tongans here who… Read more Audio

8:22 AM.The Minister for Local Government has started meeting many of the country's Mayors to convince them of the need for reform. Audio

8:17 AM.Opposition MPs continue to pressure the Prime Minister to sack Nick Smith over a reference the former ACC Minister wrote for a friend battling the Accident Compensation Corporation. Audio

8:14 AM.The police are coming under fire for the amount of time and money spent on the Urewera raids case. Audio

8:09 AM.The four defendants in the Te Urewera raids trial face an anxious wait as the Crown spends the next four weeks deciding whether or not to go ahead with a retrial. Audio

7:56 AM.In France, the hunt for a serial killer is intensifying. The man believed to be involved in two earlier shootings, shot and killed three children and a teacher outside a Jewish school in Toulouse. Audio

7:53 AM.The Finance Minister has conceded the Government might have to borrow to retain majority ownership of the partially privatised energy companies. Audio

7:52 AM.Tame Iti, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara, Urs Signer, and Emily Bailey were found guilty of a range of firearms charges, but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the charge of whether they were part of an… Read more Audio

7:51 AM.Homes without power and more bad weather is on the cards for the North Island. While no more significant rain fell on an already sodden Northland overnight, that region is bracing itself for further… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:37 AM.Many of the radical changes proposed for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are likely to be scaled back considerably, or scrapped altogether, amid fears of mass staff departures and diplomatic fall-out.

7:35 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:27 AM.Labour's ACC spokesman Andrew Little talks about Nick Smith's reference letter to the ACC. Audio

7:24 AM.Opposition MPs are demanding the Prime Minister sack Nick Smith over a reference the former ACC Minister wrote for a friend battling the Accident Compensation Corporation. Audio

7:20 AM.Valerie Morse was one of 17 people arrested and charged in 2007 with firearms offences after police anti-terrorism raids in the Bay of Plenty. Audio

7:09 AM.The four defendants in the Te Urewera raids trial face an anxious wait as the Crown spends the next four weeks deciding whether or not to go ahead with a retrial. Audio

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

6:37 AM.The Te Urewera trial at the High Court in Auckland has concluded, with the jury hung on the most significant charge. The jury delivered its verdicts yesterday afternoon, finding Tame Iti, Te… Read more Audio

6:27 AM.A Ruatoki kaumatua says legal action against the Crown over the 2007 police raid is unlikely to fix the damage inflicted on Tuhoe; The Government has given an assurance that Auckland Council's… Read more Audio

6:21 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Audio

6:17 AM.The latest from the Pacific region. Audio

6:13 AM.The Queen has praised the strength of the Commonwealth in a speech to the British Parliament to mark her Diamond Jubilee. She promised to 'rededicate' herself to the 'service of the United Kingdom'… Read more Audio

6:11 AM.The lawyer for Sergeant Robert Bales, the US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, says his client has no memory of the shootings. Audio

6:00 AM.Crown has work to do before Te Urewara re-trial decision; Urewera supporter says remaining charge should be dropped; Ministers say they wouldn't have provided a reference; Labour puts pressure on Nick… Read more Audio