Morning Report for Tuesday 28 March 2023

8:57 AM.Hundreds of cheeses have been sniffed, tasted, and otherwise assessed to determine the country's 20th annual Champions of Cheese awards. 

Thirty judges took part, assessing 20 categories, such as… Read more Audio

8:50 AM.Wellington's bars and restaurants say the inner city desperately needs a spruce up for their businesses to stay afloat.

They say increasing supply costs and waning customer numbers are causing more… Read more Audio

8:44 AM.Humza Yousaf has been elected leader of the Scottish National party.

He succeeds Nicola Sturgeon as leader and Scotland's first minister after a vote of party members.

It was a narrow victory, after… Read more Audio

8:39 AM.Enrolments numbers have taken a hit at North Island universities, despite the return of more international students.

Victoria University has had the biggest drop, with 1470 fewer domestic students… Read more Audio

8:26 AM.Just $15 million of the $500 million allocated to build or upgrade 12 mental health facilities has so far been spent by the government.

Mass overhauls were promised in 2019 to upgrade  facilities… Read more Audio

8:17 AM.Drive-by shootings dramatically increased at the height of inter-gang conflict between the Tribesmen and Killer Beez last year. 

A report - from the inter-governmental Gang Intelligence Centre - also… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.A counter terrorism expert says it is no surprise to hear the government's security agencies foiled three possible terror attacks.

The director general of the Government Communications Security… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.NIWA has been called in to investigate increasing evidence of Snapper suffering from milky white flesh syndrome in the Hauraki Gulf.

A report from Biosecurity New Zealand, obtained by Newshub, says… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.A group of Queenstown workers fed up with the town's rental housing crisis staged a protest last night, calling for an urgent intervention in the market. 

About 70 people attended the lakefront… Read more Audio

7:44 AM.A new player in the lobbying industry is calling on her colleagues to clean up the sector and make it more transparent. 

Holly Bennett, who started the lobbying firm Awhi, has written to her peers… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says the polarised nature of debate over trans-rights in the last few days has not been helpful.

The issues were brought to a head over the weekend when controversial… Read more Audio

7:34 AM.The number of New Zealanders enrolling in universities has dropped. 

The fall in domestic enrolments is concentrated on the five North Island universities.

Between them they have 4500 fewer… Read more Audio

7:25 AM.New figures show the government has spent just 3 percent of the half a billion dollars it promised four years ago for new mental health facilities.

Just $15 million has been allocated from the fund -… Read more Audio

7:19 AM.Auckland Council has cancelled venue bookings for both an anti and a pro co-governance meetings that was due to take place at Mount Eden War Memorial Hall tonight.

At least four venues have now been… Read more Audio

7:10 AM."Not helpful". That's how the Prime Minister has descibed comments from Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson - that most violence is caused by white cis men.

Ms Davidson has now walked back that… Read more Audio

6:51 AM.The Mississippi town of Rolling Fork is still grapping with the aftermath of a tornado that's displaced almost every resident. At least 25 people died when winds blowing up to 320 kilometres per hour… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.Organisers of Queenstown's rental housing protest are worried about the southerly blast that hit overnight, given the growing number of people living in cars and tents. 

They say about 70 people… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.Germany's transport network is at a near standstill as the country experiences one of its largest strikes in decades.

At midnight local time staff at airports, railways, ports, busses and subways… Read more Audio

6:10 AM.The first heavy snow watch for the year is in effect for Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago. 

MetService says snow could fall as low as 500-metres above sea level from midnight this morning until… Read more Audio