Morning Report for Friday 29 January 2021

6:20 AM.Streams in the Hawke's Bay have dried up after being deep enough to swim just one week ago.

Authorities say conditions are starting to track close to last year's drought, which was described as a… 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

6:42 AM.Prominent sectors of the transport industry are unhappy about a proposed new Clean Car Import Standard.

The Government has announced strict fuel economy limits aimed at helping New Zealand hit its… Read more Audio

6:48 AM.Fonterra is blaming an open valve for a spill of 170,000 litres of skim milk into the Tasman Sea from its Whareroa plant in Taranaki.

The leak left globules of fat dispersed along the foreshore of… Read more Audio

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

7:09 AM.A Covid-19 shadow is hovering over this weekend's Auckland Anniversary holiday.

The mystery continues as to how three people caught the virus at the city's Pullman Hotel.

The government response has… Read more Audio

7:15 AM.A Covid-19 shadow is hovering over this weekend's Auckland Anniversary holiday.

The mystery continues as to how three people caught the virus at the city's Pullman Hotel.

Epidemiologist Michael… Read more Audio

7:21 AM.The Covid-19 community cases in Northland and Auckland haven't pushed health officials into raising alert levels, but some businesses have still been hit hard.

Tourism operations in the far north… Read more Audio

7:25 AM.The former New Zealand First MP, Tracey Martin, has quit the party saying it has become less democratic and has trouble recognising women in leadership roles.

She says she gave her resignation to the… Read more Audio

7:28 AM.Satellites spotted the crater of Whakaari/White Island collapsing in the days before the deadly December 2019 eruption.

Scientists believe this could be another significant warning signal that helps… Read more Audio

7:35 AM.Returnees who are now out of managed isolation say it's unlikely people will stick to the rules and self-isolate once they leave quarantine.

The government is considering imposing a period of… Read more Audio

7:42 AM.Critics are calling the Government's imported vehicles emissions target impossible to meet, claiming the penalties will cost importers millions and drive up car prices.

The Government has announced… Read more Audio

7:46 AM.Wellington's derided water infrastructure has endured another horror week, capped by a burst pipe yesterday that created a spectacular geyser in the busy central suburb of Aro Valley.

More serious… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.Te Tai Tokerau won't be running any Covid-19 checkpoints in Northland today.

Spokesperson Hone Harawira had hoped to have three such checkpoints in operation, but one of them, just south of Kawakawa… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.The defending champion Black Ferns will meet Australia at Eden Park in their opening game of the Rugby World Cup in September. Read more Audio

8:11 AM.Schools have not yet reopened for the year and already they are having to plan for an emergency shut down.

Principals say the latest Covid-19 cases have reminded them just how important it is to be… Read more Audio

8:14 AM.Australia has extended a ban on quarantine-free travel across the ditch for New Zealanders for another 72 hours, with anyone arriving from Aotearoa now being put in hotel quarantine.

Authorities are… Read more Audio

8:21 AM.American Magic are back on the water after their spectacular capsize and are ready to race the consistent Luna Rossa in the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series semi-finals.

The winner of the… Read more Audio

8:25 AM.Mana whenua on Waiheke island are placing a 2 year rāhui around the island in a bid to stop four species of kaimoana from disappearing.

The iwi, Ngāti Pāoa, has been worried for years about declining… Read more Audio

8:28 AM.Residents of Aro Valley in central Wellington were treated to a breathtaking 20-metre geyser on their doorstep when a water pipe burst yesterday.

Despite its force, the spectacular torrent didn't… Read more Audio

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

8:37 AM.As vaccine delays threaten to disrupt the Covid-19 response in Europe, attention is turning to whether New Zealand could manufacture one on-shore.

Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca have both warned of… Read more Audio

8:42 AM.The Mt Hutt skifield has had a dumping of snow afternight, just two days after temperatures reached 30 degrees at the mountain.

James McKenzie is the ski area manager at Mt Hutt and speaks to Susie… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.It's been revealed one of New Zealand's deep sea trawlers has accidentally destroyed a large amount of coral and sea sponges, forcing the temporary closure of a Tasman Sea fishing area.

The… Read more Audio

8:48 AM.Mātauranga Māori and western science are being combined to save the humble mussel - or Kuku - in the Ohiwa Harbour.

Since 2007 the mussel population has fallen from 112 million to just 80,000.

… Read more Audio

8:52 AM.Record numbers of tui and kererū are stretching the services of a Wellington bird rescue charity from antics such as falling out of nests, flying into windows and getting crunched in the jaws of… Read more Audio

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