Checkpoint

There's been no waddling about at Oamaru's Blue Penguin colony .. they have been busy ...very busy with a boomer of a breeding season. Nearly a thousand penguin chicks fledged ..way up from last year's 600. The colony lives in what was originally a rock quarry in the south-east corner of the Oamaru harbour Henry Elsom is the environmental team lead at Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. He spoke to Lisa Owen.

After a years-long inquiry into the death of an Auckland construction worker, a coroner was clear. The braking system used by a piece of heavy machinery that failed, causing Graeme Rabbits' death, is inherently unsafe.The coroner made a series of recommendations to reduce the chances of further deaths, but what becomes of them? Jimmy Ellingham filed this report.

David Seymour's thinking about giving tens of millions of dollars away to teenagers. You heard right, but its not quite that simple. The ACT leader's floated the idea of giving every 15 year old school student $500 to invest. It would be supervised as part of a programme to raise financial literacy to encourage kiwis to diversify their investments. The money would come out the of the government's annual Kiwisaver subsidy. ACT leader David Seymour spoke to Lisa Owen.

New Zealand police are facing serious integrity and conduct issues and a reset is mission critical according to a scathing review by the Public Service Commission. The report details a perceived culture that holds seniors to a lesser standard than juniors and calls for urgent action. Tribalism at senior levels is also indentified as an issue along with a complaints system that can fail at all levels. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers spoke to Lisa Owen.

Damaged walls and floors are being ripped out of homes across Wellington, as residents and business owners survey the destruction left by Wellington's flash flood on Monday. One Berhampore couple is stripping their home and relocating their business after floodwaters inundated their house in the early hours of the morning. The cost of the damage could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Wellington's Mayor estimates, as authorities appeal to the community for donations of money and furniture. Ellen O'Dwyer reports.

Petrol station owners admit they are profiling people at the pump before letting them fill up amid a surge in fuel drive-offs. The war in Iran has sent prices soaring, with data from Stats NZ showing fuel prices rising nearly 19 percent for petrol and 43 percent for diesel in the last couple of months. Police say they've laid more than 370 charges over the thefts since last month, and are urging petrol stations to start using pre-pay only. But some retailers say that's not a solution. Finn Blackwell has the story.

Two of New Zealand's A-League football teams have their sights set on silverware and the other is still to confirm who will be in charge beyond this weekend. With such a big few days of action ahead, sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen.

Christchurch based company Spicy Boys make a sauce called, "you did this." The key ingredient; the Carolina Reaper. It comes with a warning, don't eat it, yet everytime they make a limited run of the stuff it sells out. Spicy Boys owner, Jay Madgwick-Pamment spoke to Lisa Owen.

As the war in the Middle East enters its 55th day, a path to end the conflict remains unclear. That's despite President Donald Trump extending a temporary ceasefire with Iran. But no further peace talks between the US and Iran are confirmed. So what's the hold up? Washington DC correspondent Todd Zwillich spoke to Lisa Owen.

"Enabled and entitled". That's how one political commentator described Shane Jones remarks about a "butter chicken tsunami". The New Zealand First minister made the comments while condemming New Zealand's free trade agreement with India. Despite strong criticism, he refused to apologise. A new poll from Horizon Research asked adults whether they agreed with the use of racial remarks in politics in order to increase party votes. Thirteen percent did, while 59 percent didn't. Massey University politics professor Richard Shaw spoke to Lisa Owen.