Morning Report for Thursday 20 May 2021

6:10 AM.An expert panel has warned that compulsory New Zealand history lessons next year could upset some children and lead to difficult classroom discussions.

The panel convened by the Royal Society of New… Read more Audio

6:14 AM.But first, to Japan where dozens of towns have cancelled plans to host Olympic athletes at the upcoming Tokyo games.

Amidst rising criticism and concern about the spread of Covid-19, Japanese locals… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.Teachers running out of classroom space in Northland hope the government has got them in mind in today's budget.

The region's population is growing at the second-fastest rate in the country and… Read more Audio

6:24 AM.A brief update from the business sector. Read more Audio

6:29 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Read more Audio

6:38 AM.Today's Budget will still be a Covid-19 one but the Finance Minister says it will looking more to recovery.

All signs are the government will target spending at lifting the incomes of beneficiaries… Read more Audio

6:41 AM.Older Cantabrians are ready and keen to get the Covid-19 vaccination.

But the rollout has hit a major hurdle in the region - there is not enough vaccine to start injecting the over 65s until July -… Read more Audio

6:44 AM.A New York prosecutor has launched a criminal inquiry into Donald Trump's business empire.

Initially an ongoing civil investigation, the case has now taken a more serious turn with the New York… Read more Audio

6:47 AM.With at least 60 children killed in Gaza over a ten-day period, UNICEF says humanitarian aid must be allowed into the Palestinian territory.

The UN agency estimates that nearly 30,000 children have… Read more Audio

6:55 AM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Read more Audio

7:09 AM.The Covid-19 vaccine rollout has hit a major hurdle in Canterbury - there is not enough vaccine to start injecting the over 65s until July - months behind schedule.

Under the government's plan almost… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.It's Budget Day and all signs are it'll deliver more money into the pockets of the country's poorest and those hit hardest by Covid-19.

There are big expectations around the usual areas - health and… Read more Audio

7:18 AM.It's D-Day for the government's Budget, with all set to be revealed this afternoon. Political editor Jane Patterson and business editor Gyles Beckford spoke to Morning Report. Read more Audio

7:27 AM.With their IT systems still down, staff at Waikato hospitals are bracing themselves for busy weekend shifts.

Five hospitals in the region are going into their third day without functioning IT… Read more Audio

7:31 AM.Compulsory New Zealand history lessons that start next year may need to come with a warning.

An expert panel has warned the draft Aoteaora New Zealand Histories Curriculum deals with traumatic… Read more Audio

7:36 AM.The demand for nitrate-testing of drinking water was so high in Canterbury this week that some people had to be turned away.

Tests were offered by the Canterbury Regional Council in the town of… Read more Audio

7:42 AM.Employers are being told they can get rid of workers who won't get a Covid-19 vaccine as long as they can show the sacking is fair and reasonable.

A support group for businesses says questions about… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.Children at a rural Te Tai Tokerau school are learning in the corridor, in the staffroom and sometimes even outside due to a lack of classrooms.

Tautoro School south of Kaikohe has doubled in size in… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.The Cook Islands is pondering how to entice an exodus of young people back to the country.

Depopulation has long been an issue for the Cook Islands, but those numbers have shot up in the past few… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.The embattled Waikato District Health Board is entering its third day today under high alert caused by a crippling cyber attack.

Among other things, it means that some patients needing time-critical… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.Tomer Hemed is free to play the Wellington Phoenix's homecoming A-League football match against Western United on Saturday. Read more Audio

8:12 AM.Experts appointed to scrutinize the new history curriculum say that while they welcome the focus on New Zealand history, they're concerned that divisive classroom debates could erupt over some of the… Read more Audio

8:19 AM.More than 50,000 Palestinians have been displaced in 10 days of violent clashes and rocket fire between Israeli military and Hamas forces in Gaza.

As the death toll rises - with at least 219 dead -… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.Details about the cyberattack that brought Waikato DHB to a screeching halt remain scarce.

Resident Doctors' Association national secretary Dr Deborah Powell told RNZ it was her understanding the… Read more Audio

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

8:38 AM.Pasifika work-force advocates are urging the government not to take their foot off the accelerator when it comes to addressing the ethnic pay-gap.

Pacific public servants are paid 19.5 percent less… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.Two of New Zealand's professional sports teams, the New Zealand Breakers and Wellington Phoenix, returned home to their fans this week after long stays in Australia.

Despite warm welcomes the teams… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.Revitalising te reo Māori in a region with no native speakers starts with individual whānau. 

That's the message being delivered to a sold-out audience of almost 500 people at Marlborough's first… Read more Audio

8:54 AM.Māori will be the focus of this country's first trial of screening for lung cancer.

It's been made possible by a grant of nearly $2 million from the Health Research Council and the Global Alliance… Read more Audio

8:59 AM.American popstar Demi Lovato has announced they are non-binary and will be using the pronouns they/them.

Lovato, now aged 28, was a Disney child star before entering the music industry. They are… Read more Audio