Morning Report Essentials for Monday 16 September

On today's episode, the government has released a draft list of 35 minerals it considers essential to the economy, the Police Minister is hailing a 22 percent drop in serious assaults in the Auckland CBD compared to the same period last year, new tests are on the way to define whether workers are employees or contractors, Bird of the Year has been announced, and we chatted to Canberra correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh.