Checkpoint

Families are booking holidays a year in advance to get an affordable escape and airlines and accomodation providers are wise to people sneaking off a day or so before official school holidays, one travel agent told Checkpoint. Air New Zealand expects more than 745,000 to take to the skies over the july break; 465,000 domestic and 280,000 international travellers. Associate Minister for Education David Seymour has previously warned parent condoned truancy, like taking days off to bag cheap flights, could result in prosecution. Managing Director of World Travellers Motueka Silvana Gottini spoke to Lisa Owen.

Asia correspondent Katie Silver spoke to Lisa Owen about Thai citizens being banned from crossing the land border into Cambodia as relations between the Southeast Asian countries break down, as well as a tourist who fell from an active volcano in Indonesia who has been found dead.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

After being humiliated in their first two FIFA Club World Cup games, Auckland City produced a miracle in Nashville, drawing 1-1 with South American giants Boca Juniors. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen.

Parents who raised concerns about what they say is a dangerous school bus stop near Nelson have been told most of their children dont qualify for the free ride. Some students have to cross the busy 100km/h state highway 60 near Mapua to get to the bus, something parents believe is an accident waiting to happen. They asked for the Ministry of Education to move the stop one kilometre up the road, to a safer area for kids taking the bus to Waimea and Garin colleges in Richmond. Since then one of the schools has told families the Ministry is looking at taking most of the students off the free school bus service because they dont actually qualify for it. Sarah Taylor, a mum of two who's been leading the charge to change the bus route, spoke to Lisa Owen.

Rangitahi whose parent, or parents, have been locked away in prison say more needs to be done to ensure they're not punished for the crimes of their mothers or fathers. They've formed a youth advisory panel which today met with Children's Minister Karen Chhour on the steps of Parliament. They handed her an open letter calling for the establishment of a whanau navigator role in criminal district courts to help those left behind when someone's sent to jail. Louise Ternouth reports.

Retirement commissioner Jane Wrightson believes the government should be considering means testing what is currently a universal benefit, an idea she concedes is unpopular. Data from the 2023 census shows more than 9000 people aged over 65 earn more than $200,000 a year. Another 33,000 earn between $100,000 and $200,000. Treasury estimates superannuation costs the government about 18 cents of every dollar it collects in tax, or more than 24 billion dollars this year. Honorary Associate Professor of Economics at Auckland University, Susan St John, spoke to Lisa Owen.

Some Aucklanders have received Watercare bills that claim they have not used a single drop of water in the past month, or in some cases for months, no showers had, no toilets flushed, no house plant watered, no kettles filled; nothing. Online forums confused customers are asking about receiving zero use bills, others say they've had enormous catch-up accounts months after getting zero bills, all due to Watercare's smart metres. Checkpoint spoke to a few customers.

A detective giving evidence in the murder trial of Julia DeLuney says he locked down the scene when he saw the amount of blood around the house. And for the first time, the court has heard from the murder accused herself in the form of her initial statement to police, as the trial wraps up its third day. Kate Green reports.

The Whanau Ora commissioning agency is being issued a 'please explain' after it launched an ad campaign encouraging Maori to sign up to the Maori electoral roll. It's prompted concern from senior ministers who say government departments should not be pushing political objectives. The agency has two contracts with Te Puni Kokiri for Whanau Ora services, one of which expires on Monday. Deputy political editor Craig McCulloch reports.