Morning Report for Wednesday 31 May 2023

8:58 AM.New Zealand paralympian Women's C5 cyclist Nicole Murray has beaten her top rivals, winning two gold medals in the Time Trial and Road Race at a World Cup event in Huntsville Alabama.

Nicole spoke to… Read more Audio

8:55 AM.Black Caps batter Devon Conway was named man of the match in yesterday's Indian Premier League final.

Conway top scored with 47 runs from 25 balls for the Chennai Super Kings, helping them to a… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.A small West Coast community says fully reopening the Heaphy Track will breathe new life back into the town.

Last February, storms damaged the track and destroyed a vital bridge - making it… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.Less than half of academics surveyed as part of the second annual Academic Freedom Report say they feel free to state controversial or unpopular opinions.

The research found treaty and race issues… Read more Audio

8:40 AM.Gore's ratepayers are likely in for a rates hike of over 11.5% but will have little say in the matter, thanks to their dysfunctional council.

With months of strained relations between the mayor and… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.A local security expert says the government could significantly widen its definition of what constitutes a national security threat, if it accepts the recommendations of a major review of the… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.Business and trade advocates are applauding the start of the New Zealand-UK free trade agreement as an important milestone for the country.

The trade deal comes into force today, and is hoped to… Read more Audio

8:18 AM.The brother of a man who died after the tragic Whakaari/White Island eruption says a guilty plea by GNS Science means it's taking the rap for the failings of others.

The Crown Research Institute this… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.Wellington City Councillor Tamatha Paul says it isn't good enough that Loafers Lodge was only inspected twice in a decade, when it should have been checked once per year.

Councillors were briefed… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.This morning, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is expected to unveil his plans to address a $325 million budget hole.

That will include a bid to sell off the council's 18% share in strategic asset Auckland… Read more Audio

7:44 AM.The Housing Minister, Megan Woods, has extended several invitations to the National Party to meet and talk through National's ideas for housing.

This comes after National pulled its support for… Read more Audio

7:40 AM.A detective has told a Coroner's hearing that John Beckenridge was in a dire financial position at the time he went missing with his step-son, Mike.

The 64-year-old man and the 11-year-old boy… Read more Audio

7:38 AM.Assessors will continue work today to check buildings, roads and bridges after flooding in Waihī Beach this week. Intense rainfall quickly flooded baches, and 11 of 19 pensioner flats at the northern… Read more Audio

7:29 AM.Parliament's Privileges Committee is to consider whether Education Minister, Jan Tinetti, deliberately misled Parliament.

In February, she told the house she was not responsible for the release of… Read more Audio

7:24 AM.Countdown is promising it will again freeze some food prices this a winter.

But Foodstuffs, which followed suit last year, won't say whether it will bring back the same scheme.

Kirsty Frame reports.

7:24 AM.The Education Ministry has warned teachers not to use Chat GPT to mark students' work, saying it could be unfair and discriminatory.

The Ministry also says the technology, which generates written… Read more Audio

7:16 AM.After calling off a nationwide strike, primary teachers have a new pay offer to consider.

The potential deal includes a $4,500 lump-sum payment, and three pay rises.

NZEI members will consider the… Read more Audio

7:10 AM.Eight months before the Loafers Lodge fire, Wellington City Council was warned it wasn't completing enough fire safety checks.

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) found the… Read more Audio

6:50 AM.Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has suggested local communities could receive funding from a $20 million storm response fund as a way of improving resilience.

Many smaller communities have been isolated… Read more Audio

6:44 AM.Security workers have the go-ahead to begin bargaining for a Fair Pay Agreement.

It comes as hospitality workers also move on an FPA, which sets pay and conditions across entire industries.

E tū… Read more Audio

6:26 AM.News from the rural farming sector. Read more Audio

6:22 AM.State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Napier will be open around the clock from today, after first reopening to daytime traffic two weeks ago.

The stretch of road was heavily damaged in the wake of… Read more Audio

6:16 AM.Elon Musk has been welcomed to Beijing by China's foreign minister Qin Yang, at the start of the business magnate's first trip to China in three years.

The visit comes as tensions between the US and… Read more Audio