Checkpoint

The Prime Minister has promised to take action in the coming months to tackle the cost of living crisis. Christopher Luxon has acknowledged it is still tough out there for too many kiwis and the government's focus is on unlocking economic growth. According to Stats NZ the price of food has gone up 4.4% in the last year. Electricity is up almost 9% and gas is up more than 15%. As of March last year house insurance was up almost 25 % and contents insurance up about 28%. This week figures from Centrix showed almost half a million people are behind on debt repayments. Finance Minister Nicola Willis spoke to Lisa Owen.

States of emergency remain in place for Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough this afternoon, but the sodden regions appear to have received less rainfall than feared. Torrential rain in Taranaki has caused widespread surface flooding, leaving parked cars submerged in water. The region has been under a red severe thunderstorm warning for much of the afternoon. Emergency operations centres have been set up in New Plymouth and Hāwera. Taranaki Emergency Management group Manager, Todd Velvin spoke to Lisa Owen.

Chorus have said phone and internet has been restored to most homes and businesses in Golden Bay, after a day-long outage affecting 111 emergency calls. Technicians found a severed fibre line running over Takaka Hill, knocking out more than a thousand connections. Reporter Keiller MacDuff was following developments and spoke to Lisa Owen.

More than a dozen Ministry of Social Development staff have walked off the job, refusing to return to what they say is an unsafe office with ''strong mould and sewerage smell'. Staff in the ministry's Thames office walked out of the office on Monday, leaving more than 10,000 clients without a face-to-face service. The office was supposed to be a temporary space, after MSD closed its main office in November 2023 due to damage. The Public Service Association has now issued MSD with a Provisional Improvement Notice under the Health and Safety at Work Act, which requires the employer to address concerns about health and safety. MSD has re-deployed staff to Paeroa which is 33km away and has upset community leaders. Thames Community Board chairman Adrian Catran spoke to Lisa Owen.

The amount of money Health NZ is spending on locum doctors to plug staff shortages is increasing and could reach $200 million this year. Checkpoint has obtained figures that show the spend on fill-ins is rising fast. A frontline doctor and the senior doctors union have said it is frustrating to see the increasing pot for temporary workers, when officials are saying money is so tight. Jimmy Ellingham reports.

A forensic scientist has told the jury in the Khandallah murder trial that, in her opinion, the blood in the hallway looked staged. Julia DeLuney is accused of murdering her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory, who was killed at her Wellington home in January 2024. Kate Green reports.

The first Dutch All Black, four debutants, a backline shuffle and a lock at loose forward are the talking points of the All Blacks team named to play France in this weekend's first test in Dunedin. Fabian Holland will become the first All Black from the Netherlands and joins captain Scott Barrett in the second row. RNZ rugby reporter Joe Porter spoke to Lisa Owen.

A former IRD prosecutor is calling for changes to the student loan system so that Kiwis living overseas aren't put off coming home because they're worried about being arrested at the border. In April, interest rates for overseas borrowers was lifted from 3.9% to 4.9% and the late payment interest rate for all borrowers to 8.9%. Tax barrister Dave Ananth says this is putting people off returning to New Zealand at a time we should be encouraging skilled people to come home. Bella Craig reports.

United States correspondent Todd Zwillich spoke to Lisa Owen about the latest updates in the Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial - Combs has been acquitted of the most serious charges in his criminal federal trial. However, the music mogul is set to remain behind bars after the judge overseeing the case denied him bail.

More than 1000 households have been left without internet or mobile coverage in Golden Bay during today's wild weather, with residents even unable to dial 111. So far, the weather doesn't appear to have been as bad as was feared for the already-sodden Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough regions still recovering from the weekend's floods. But wild weather has battered the rest of the country, thunderstorms ringing out in Taranaki, as the region experienced widespread surface flooding, with emergency operations centres being set up in New Plymouth and Hawera. Nelson Tasman Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group controller Alec Louverdis spoke to Lisa Owen.