Morning Report for Monday 4 October 2021

8:56 AM.Monday marks one year since a fire ripped through the Lake Ōhau alpine village, forcing people to flee in the middle of the night.

Roughly half the homes in the remote MacKenzie basin were destroyed… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.Contracting out Crown prosecutions to private law firms leads to a lack of accountability and transparency and the system needs to change, according to key players in the justice system.

Private law… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.New South Wales is looking for a new leader after Premier Gladys Berejiklian suddenly quit her job on Friday.

She made the announcement just one hour after the Independent Commission Against… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.As the borders stay shut and lockdowns go on, companies that are already dealing with losses are facing another problem - growing leave balances for staff.

Untaken leave is a liability on company… Read more Audio

8:38 AM.New Zealand legal history is about to be made today when the Supreme Court considers Peter Ellis's appeal against charges of sexual offending. 

The appeal continues despite the fact that the former… Read more Audio

8:28 AM.Afghan people living in Aotearoa are pleading with the government not to forget about people with connections to New Zealand who are still stuck in Afghanistan.

There are concerns the people who… Read more Audio

8:25 AM.The country's three residential special schools are costing taxpayers between $300,000 and almost a million dollars a child each year.

That's because the schools are half empty but are being funded… Read more Audio

8:22 AM.Reporter Katie Todd is in Hamilton. She spoke to Kim Hill from the testing centre at Claudelands Event Centre. Read more Audio

8:18 AM.Hamilton and Raglan have moved to alert level 3 after two new Covid-19 cases were detected in the region.

The lockdown will last at least five days, and covers not only Raglan and Hamilton but Te… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.Cabinet is due to meet today to discuss a possible move for Auckland from level 3 to 2 although the prime minister has made it clear that borders will remain in place around the city.

She says the… Read more Audio

7:54 AM.Proof of vaccination will soon be as necessary as a valid passport for international passengers flying on Air New Zealand.

The national carrier says vaccination is the new reality of global travel… Read more Audio

7:51 AM.It's a year today since a fire ripped through the Lake Ōhau alpine village, forcing people to flee in the middle of the night.

Roughly half the homes in the remote MacKenzie basin were destroyed or… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.The police hierarchy asked staff not to get vaccinated early in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, unless they did it through the police's chosen provider.

That's because the police were prioritising… Read more Audio

7:41 AM.School holidays plans have been scuppered for many families in Waikato as part of the region bounces up into level 3.

Clinical Psychologist Dougal Sutherland from Victoria University of Wellington… Read more Audio

7:37 AM.Ōtorohanga's mayor is shocked by what he's calling the "total disrespect for human life" when a man was killed during an apparent road rage-related brawl on Saturday night. 

The police have launched… Read more Audio

7:24 AM.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says ministers will be considering a road map that looks beyond single decisions when deciding on restrictions in Auckland today.

Ardern told Morning Report people will… Read more Audio

7:22 AM.Waikato, Raglan, Te Kauwhata, Huntly, Ngāruawāhia and Taupiri are now in Alert Level 3 after two cases were reported yesterday.

RNZ reporter Katie Todd travelled from Auckland to Hamilton yesterday… Read more Audio

7:17 AM.Public health experts want an urgent review of the strategy to tackle Covid-19.

They're calling for increased routine screening, mandatory vaccination for more groups of workers, an upgraded alert… Read more Audio

7:14 AM.The Waikato beachside town of Raglan is waking up under an alert level 3 lockdown after a Covid-19 case popped up in the community yesterday.

The case is one of two detected in the Waikato yesterday… Read more Audio

7:09 AM.There are growing concerns that Covid-19 found in Waikato - and other surprise cases - could be the tip of an iceberg of undetected transmission.

The government's set to announce its decision about… Read more Audio

6:48 AM.National Party leader Judith Collins says more breaches of the lockdown laws are likely, and the police need to apply the law with an even hand.

Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki is promising to… Read more Audio

6:46 AM.Hamilton's mayor is urging her residents to get vaccinated to stop the city returning to lockdown.

The city went back to alert level 3 at midnight and will stay there for at least five days.

Prime… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.Waikato health authorities are ramping up testing capacity and hoping two positive Covid-19 cases in the region will cause a rush on vaccinations.

The cases yesterday prompted the Government to put… Read more Audio

6:17 AM.Runners have pounded the UK capital's streets in a record-breaking London marathon.

The 42 kilometre race returned for the first full-scale staging of the race in more than two years, following the… Read more Audio

6:10 AM.Covid-19 vaccination rates among Māori are only about two-thirds of those of the general population, a figure which is worrying health officials.

Only 55 percent of Māori have had their first dose… Read more Audio