Morning Report for Wednesday 22 April 2020

6:07 AM.Businesses wanting to re-open next week when the country moves out of lockdown are trying to figure out what contact tracing they need to do.

The Government has said collecting information about… Read more Audio

6:11 AM.New Zealand's largest courier company expects parcel volume to remain about 30 percent lower than usual when the country moves into Alert Level 3 next week.

That's despite a surge in demand from… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.A brief update from the business sector. Read more Audio

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

6:38 AM.Food banks around the country say they have been operating at levels similar to Christmas during the four weeks of lockdown.

Auckland City Missioner, Chris Farrelly says more and more people - some… Read more Audio

6:40 AM.Government ministers arrived all but empty-handed when they fronted the country's online equivalent of Question Time yesterday.

Small Business Minister Stuart Nash, Employment Minister Willie Jackson… Read more Audio

6:53 AM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Read more Audio

7:09 AM.After four weeks in lockdown, food banks around the country are seeing a dramatic rise in the number of people needing help to put food on their tables.

Demand for food parcels has jumped nine-fold… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.The Police have now charged nearly 4000 people with breaching lockdown restrictions, many in last weekend just before the Prime Minister announced the country will move next week to Alert Level 3.

To… Read more Audio

7:16 AM.The Reserve Bank is considering removing restrictions on bank loan-to-value ratios - which require most new borrowers to have a sizeable deposit.

Economist Cameron Bagrie says there will be buyers… Read more Audio

7:25 AM.Simon Bridges has heavily criticised the Government's response to Covid-19, saying it didn't do enough groundwork to get the country out of Alert Level 4 restrictions this week.

He says work has only… Read more Audio

7:40 AM.In a late-night tweet, US president Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order to temporarily suspend all immigration to the US because of the coronavirus.

Citing an "attack from the… Read more Audio

7:46 AM.Convicted double murderer David Tamihere wants the Court of Appeal to give him a chance to clear his name in a retrial after he was granted a rare Royal Prerogative of Mercy.

Tamihere served twenty… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.Businesses are desperate to know what minimum amount of contact tracing they must provide when the country drops down to Alert Level 3 next week.

An app developer says technology allows this to be… Read more Audio

7:54 AM.Whanau with three generations under one roof say the lockdown has given them time to transfer whakapapa knowledge and return to living off the land.

Nannies, koroua, tamariki and mokopuna have come… Read more Audio

8:09 AM.The National Party says small to medium businesses are paying the price for the extension of Alert Level 4 restrictions to next week.

It's been calling for more of the economy to be opened up sooner… Read more Audio

8:19 AM.Businesses hoping to open under Alert Level 3 next week are still uncertain about exactly what they can and can't do.

They've got questions about how to stick to the rules when they go back to work -… Read more Audio

8:25 AM.Top level government advice to oppose bail for prisoners on the grounds they may have Covid-19 is unlawful and turns prisons into quarantine facilities, according to leading defence lawyers.

The… Read more Audio

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

8:36 AM.Shopping for non-essential items will be allowed again under Alert Level 3, as long as it's contactless.

But what will that look like?

Auckland University professor Ilan Oshri specialises in global… Read more Audio

8:39 AM.Queenstown is facing a new wave of rental challenges as some tenants face high rents with limited to no income.

While the district council and some landlords are offering rent relief, many say… Read more Audio

8:44 AM.The Reserve Bank is looking at removing the limits on home loans to low-deposit borrowers to help counter the economic downturn.

Deputy governor Geoff Bascand says loan-to-value ratios were designed… Read more Audio

8:49 AM.The National Party is calling for clarity on the legality of community checkpoints.

Iwi in regions such as Te Tai Tokerau, Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Manawa have been running checkpoints to restrict… Read more Audio

8:52 AM.Volunteers at community coronavirus checkpoints agree with the the National Party that clarity on their legality is nescessary.

Iwi in regions such as Te Tai Tokerau, Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Manawa… Read more Audio