Morning Report for Friday 30 October 2020

6:17 AM.A population expert says Auckland schools' rapid growth this year is likely to ease next year before ramping up again.

The Education Ministry is expecting Auckland schools to grow by 60,000 children… Read more Audio

6:19 AM.A Marlborough Sounds watchdog group says it's time that Tory Channel was closed to all shipping and an alternative inter-island route put in place before the arrival of the new, larger passenger… 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

6:32 AM.France is on high alert after three people were knifed to death in a terror attack at a church in the southern city of Nice.

The incident - at the Notre Dame Bascilica - has prompted French… Read more Audio

6:45 AM.Almost two of every three new entrants in some low-decile primary schools in Christchurch have poor language skills with some speaking like toddlers.

Household stress, too much screen time, and a… Read more Audio

6:53 AM.Jacinda Ardern is being urged to consider a lifeline for young Hong Kong students too scared to return home.

Labour's Louisa Wall and National's Simon O'Connor have written to the Prime Minister in… Read more Audio

7:20 AM.MPs from both Labour and National are urging the Prime Minister to consider a lifeline for young vulnerable Hong Kongers.

Labour's Louisa Wall and National's Simon O'Connor, who both represent New… Read more Audio

7:22 AM.Preliminary results for the cannabis legalisation and euthanasia referenda will be out today.

It will be another week before the official count is announced, along with special votes, on 6 November.

7:35 AM.A Marlborough Sounds watchdog group wants an alternative route to Tory Channel in place before the arrival of the new, larger passenger ferries in 2024.

The narrow, rocky gap which ferries ply daily… Read more Audio

7:46 AM.The electoral commission will release the provisional results of the two referendums voted on during the general election at 2pm on Friday.

Polling told different stories before the election.

The… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.Porirua is now the most expensive district in the country to rent a house.

That's according to the latest Trade Me Rental Price Index, which found Porirua rents climbed to a record $625 per week in… Read more Audio

7:54 AM.Have you ever wanted to see a man in a full firefighter's uniform run a half marathon?

Well if you're in Auckland on Sunday then this is your chance.

The Auckland Marathon will go ahead this weekend… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.The All Blacks are hoping to keep the Bledisloe Cup for the eighteenth year in a row this weekend.

If they win the match in Sydney on Saturday it will be the first time they've secured the trophy on… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.A leading child literacy expert is warning more children are starting school with poor language skills.

The director of the Child Wellbeing Research Institute, Professor Gail Gillon, says teachers… Read more Audio

8:15 AM.People in a Rotorua suburb can apply to take part in a make-or-break trial of a Covid-19 contact tracing card from Friday.

Health officials still can't say if the tracing tool will cope with real… Read more Audio

8:19 AM.More than 17 million Americans who didn't cast a ballot in the 2016 election have already voted in this year's presidential election.

A record surge in early voting has seen more than 75 million… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.A twitter bot has been working overtime to find and combat abusive tweets aimed at female candidates in the New Zealand elections.

During the election campaign, ParityBOT picked up thousands of toxic… Read more Audio

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

8:36 AM.The Silver Ferns will meet the England Roses in the second Test in Hamilton tonight, looking to right some wrongs from the first Test, despite coming out on top.

The Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline… Read more Audio

8:38 AM.Ensuring the survival of their language for future generations is why the Tokelauan community in Porirua are keen to have it included in the New Zealand school curriculum.

Tokelau is a New Zealand… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.The failings of the state care and protection of tamariki Māori are being laid bare in front of the Waitangi Tribunal - but claimants are also bringing a range of ways to overhaul the system. 

The… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.Faced with axing one of its premier events due to Covid-19, the Taranaki creative community has instead combined its celebrated Garden Festival with its lesser-known cousin - the Taranaki Arts Trail.

8:53 AM.A public toilet in Auckland's Hunua Ranges has taken the throne and been named the country's best loo.

The competition was run by Keep New Zealand Beautiful.

Heather Saunderson is the chief… Read more Audio

8:55 AM.It's Friday so we cross the ditch to Canberra to talk to our correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh. Audio