Morning Report for Tuesday 19 December 2017

6:06 AM.A update from the team at RNZ sport. Audio

6:00 AM.Passengers killed as train derails near Seattle, Surgery tourists warned after patient's death, Ex-cop jailed for life after guilty plea for wife's murder, 'Oil companies need to be history' - Russel… Read more Audio

6:15 AM.A district councillor from Te Anau says the council needs to bite the bullet and treat wastewater from the town before pumping it away. The Southland District Council has resource consent to pump the… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.There are concerns the new standalone fisheries unit in the Ministry for Primary Industries won't be specialised enough to do its job properly. The ministry is losing its all-encompassing role and… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.The African National Congress has chosen Cyril Ramaphosa as its new leader after Jacob Zuma stepped down. The party has been in power since the country transitioned to democracy in 1994 under Nelson… Read more Audio

6:46 AM.The death of a Melbourne man after cut-price cosmetic surgery in Malaysia has sparked a call for a transtasman inquiry into medical tourism. Leigh Aiple, 31, died soon after two big operations… Read more Audio

7:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:16 AM.A trip to Asia to get a cheap operation that cost a man his life is being held up as a warning to New Zealanders looking for cut-price surgery. A coroner's investigation has faulted the standard of… Read more Audio

7:20 AM.Killer police officer Benjamin McLean was sentenced to life in prison in the High Court at Invercargill, for murdering his wife. The 48-year-old pleaded guilty last Friday to the murder of Verity… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.New 'waka-jumping' legislation has been introduced to Parliament, designed to ensure MPs who resign from a political party can't stay on in the House as independents or members of another party. The… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.The liquidators of a company that was supposed to clean up thousands of tonnes of toxic waste from the Tiwai aluminium smelter say the only solution will be to ship it overseas for processing. Taha… Read more Audio

7:55 AM.The Government has unveiled a new plan to reduce carbon emissions. And the first step will be public consultation leading to the introduction of a Zero Carbon bill to Parliament. The proposed law will… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

8:13 AM.Auditors have highlighted unusual and high spending at schools including one that bought a ride-on mower for a departing principal and another that collected thousands of dollars for disaster relief… Read more Audio

8:16 AM.Opponents of a plan to spray partially-treated sewage water from Te Anau around Manapouri airport are calling for the council to spend the money needed to do the job properly. The Southland district… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.A shake-up of the Ministry for Primary Industries is being criticised for not going far enough to fix the country's fisheries. Last week a new organisation, Fisheries New Zealand was unveiled as a… Read more Audio

8:24 AM.A desperately dry Christmas is in store for some Waiheke Islanders, with fresh water unable to be delivered to many homes for at least the next six weeks. As tourist numbers swell over the holidays… Read more Audio

8:39 AM.Tonga's Parliament has chosen democracy activist 'Akilisi Pohiva as the country's prime minister, a month after an unscheduled general election gave his party a landslide majority. The previous… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.Advocates for autistic children fear some schools may still be using seclusion rooms despite them being outlawed earlier this year. Miramar Central School in Wellington has been told to apologise and… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.A Hawkes Bay winery has apologised to local iwi, Ngati Kahungunu, for carving a walking track on land believed to be of huge ancestral and historical importance. The iwi was so outraged to find the… Read more Audio

8:54 AM.New Zealand Post's dedicated Santa Post Office has ensured more than 100,000 letters have got through to the North Pole. The office has two full-time Santa's helpers who open each letter and create a… Read more Audio