Morning Report for Wednesday 25 November 2020

6:14 AM.More than a hundred pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins have died after becoming stranded on the Chatham Islands.

Commercial diver and photographer Sam Wild, who is currently in the islands, says… Read more Audio

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

6:38 AM.Critics have been quick to pick holes in the Government's surprise plea for the Reserve Bank to help cool the rampant housing market.

The Bank's Governor has told the Finance Minister it already… Read more Audio

6:45 AM.Nelson residents have been getting the detail on how their homes could be submerged by sea waters rising as much as two metres.

Last week, 4500 property owners in Nelson City received letters telling… Read more Audio

6:49 AM.Every year the Oxford English Dictionary chooses a Word of the Year that captures the spirit of the past 12 months. But in a year like 2020, just one word didn't cut it.

Instead, the Dictionary has… Read more Audio

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

7:09 AM.The Government's plea for help to cool the housing market has had a tepid response from the Reserve Bank.

It's told Finance Minister Grant Robertson it already takes house prices into consideration… Read more Audio

7:19 AM.The handover from the presidency of Donald Trump to Joe Biden has begun - three weeks after the presidential election.

Trump took to Twitter to say that while he acknowledged that the handover is… Read more Audio

7:24 AM.Qualifications Authority figures show teenagers ended October with about 300,000 fewer NCEA results in the bag than at the same time last year.

The figures also show big variations in the way… Read more Audio

7:28 AM.Finance Minister Grant Robertson's public query to the Reserve Bank, asking how it might do more to stabilise house prices, has the support of the National Party.

In fact shadow treasurer Andrew… Read more Audio

7:41 AM.Scientists are waiting for a sample from the Air NZ crew member who tested positive for Covid-19 after a flight to China.

The crew are due back in New Zealand this morning, and will be isolated and… Read more Audio

7:46 AM.A Dunedin mother of three says she doesn't even expect to hear an apology from the neighbour who's smouldering fire pit destroyed her home and possessions.

Fire investigators have now confirmed that… Read more Audio

7:49 AM.Covid-19 has brought an end to the rocketing rental prices in Queenstown and Wanaka but the waiting list for affordable housing continues to grow.

While those on the frontline of what was described… Read more Audio

7:54 AM.The head of Oranga Tamariki will concede that structural racism in the care and protection system has had adverse effects on tamariki Māori. 

This is what the Waitangi Tribunal Urgent Inquiry which… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.Tributes are flowing for former France rugby wing Christophe Dominici, who has died aged 48.

Dominici won 67 caps for France between 1998 and 2007 and was well known by All Blacks fans after he… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.Finance Minister Grant Robertson wants the Reserve Bank to tell him if house price stability should be a bigger part of the bank's thinking.

Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says he'll get back to… Read more Audio

8:13 AM.Kiwibank's chief economist says the Reserve Bank inflated house prices on purpose in their efforts to boost the post-pandemic economy.

New Zealand's overheated housing market was the subject of a… Read more Audio

8:19 AM.Māori Party supporters and candidates are in gathering this morning to pass the mauri of the Māori Party campaign to the newly elected MPs - Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

They've been… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.Access to gender affirming medical services is a postcode lottery and healthcare workers say it's harming transgender and gender diverse New Zealanders.

A person living in Northland may have access… Read more Audio

8:29 AM.Wellington bus passengers with an iPhone can rejoice on Wednesday - they can finally top up their Snapper cards without having to hunt down a dairy or supermarket.

The new app goes live at 10am and… Read more Audio

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

8:38 AM.The Law Commission is calling for an overhaul of how DNA is obtained and used for criminal investigations - something that is long overdue according to Tikanga Māori advocates.

A report by the… Read more Audio

8:42 AM.Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga has weighed into a long-running access rights battle at a historic pā site in Taranaki.

The Crown agency says fragile archaeological remains at Hauranga Pā are… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.New Zealand's falling literacy levels have come as no surprise to those who run our school libraries.

A Ministry of Education report this week showed the reading capability of the country's year-five… Read more Audio

8:54 AM.Poetry, written during the nationwide lockdown, is being inscribed on utility boxes dotted around central Auckland.

The normally drab metal boxes, now a canvas for literature, are used to house… Read more Audio