Morning Report for Monday 11 December 2023

8:54 AM.We cross the Tasman to Canberra to talk to our correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh. Audio

8:49 AM.Gun clubs are glad the new government is rolling back parts of the Arms Act which they say added unpayable costs and unnecessary red tape to volunteers' workloads. The Labour government tightened… Read more Audio

8:39 AM.With New Zealand's worst ever results in the OECD's PISA tests, high truancy rates and National's coalition agreements - the new education minister has her work cut out for her. The government has… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.New high-powered electric scooters some of which can go nearly one hundred kilometers an hour are now being sold in New Zealand, but there's a problem. They are too powerful and too fast to be safely… Read more Audio

8:22 AM.The Retirement Commissioner is joining budget advisors in raising alarm over the steep rise in people withdrawing money from Kiwisaver as they struggle with rising prices and paying the mortgage… Read more Audio

8:15 AM.A leading New Zealand expert in international affairs says it is imperative the government keeps calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Professor Robert Patman, the University of Otago's director of… Read more Audio

8:11 AM.An OECD survey shows Kiwi 15-year-olds are more likely to say their classes are disrupted by bad behaviour and distractions than teens in any other of 37 developed nations. Is that because New Zealand… Read more Audio

7:54 AM.The weekend's southerly blast felt like Aotearoa could be in line for a snowy Christmas. Temperatures dropped to 10 degrees celsius in the capital yesterday, with downpours and blustery gales. Heavy… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.Australia is expected to significantly drop the number of migrants it allows into the country, due to the pressure it's putting on housing and infrastructure. In the last year, Australia's net… Read more Audio

7:37 AM.The Waitangi Tribunal has recommended that Crown land in much of Northland should be returned to Māori in a landmark report dealing with grievances suffered by the region's biggest iwi, Ngāpuhi. A… Read more Audio

7:27 AM.New Zealand's climate change minister says the commitment to "phase out fossil fuels" is primarily about coal, rather than gas. The International Energy Agency says current emissions reductions… Read more Audio

7:22 AM.Labour's two billion dollar spend on mental health over the last five years is under attack from patients and clinicians alike who feel very little has improved. RNZ investigative reporter Anusha… Read more Audio

7:16 AM.The violence is intensifying in southern Gaza with civilians now being told to leave the southern city of Khan Younis and head west. Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr Tedros Adhanom… Read more Audio

7:10 AM.An eight hour standoff with police in the Christchurch suburb of Avonhead ended late last night with a person taken into custody. Police were at the property on Beatrice Place since Sunday afternoon… Read more Audio

6:46 AM.Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for continued international support in the war against Russia. In a post on X, Mr Zelenskyy stressed the importance of the upcoming European Council… Read more Audio

6:42 AM.As climate talks at the COP28 summit in Dubai wrap up, a billboard near parliament is calling our country's leaders "climate extremists." Greenpeace has put the sign up in response to the government's… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.The new Workplace Relations and Safety minister has a busy two weeks ahead, with promises to axe Fair Pay Agreements by Christmas, and start work to reinstate 90-day trials. ACT's deputy leader Brooke… Read more Audio

6:15 AM.Marches will be held across the country on Wednesday protesting against the government's plan to repeal smokefree legislation. And more than 40,000 people have signed a petition calling for a change… Read more Audio

6:08 AM.An eight hour standoff with police in the Christchurch suburb of Avonhead ended late last night with a person taken into custody. Police were at the property on Beatrice Place from Sunday afternoon… Read more Audio