Midday Report

The son of a missing tramper in dense Tararua Ranges says he trusted his intuition and separated from Search and Rescue finding his dad less than an hour later.

Seventy-two-year-old Brent Harrison was missing in the bush for almost 3 days and was found at 7pm Wednesday night before being choppered out and taken to Palmerston North Hospital.

His son Luke Harrison had dropped him off for a day of hiking on Monday and got a phone call later that day from his confused, distressed and very lost dad.

Despite two days of thermal helicopters and sniffer dogs, Brent Harrison could not be tracked down.

But Luke says he always had a "inner feeling" that he would find him and followed multiple signs from the universe, including a goat, to track down his dad.

Luke Harrison spoke to Charlotte Cook.

The population of the North Island brown kiwi has increased by at least 7000 birds in the last four years, through the work of 25 conservation projects.

That's according to a survey by the umbrella group Save the Kiwi which supports Māori and community-led conservation projects across the North Island.

But there are fears the situation could quickly reverse if adequate funding is not earmarked for conservation.

Save the Kiwi chief executive Michelle Impey spoke to Charlotte Cook.

Rat free and open for business.

The rodent-plagued Woolworths store in South Dunedin has reopened on Thursday after it was forced to close almost three weeks ago to deal with a rat infestation.

Twenty-four rats have been captured since February 10th, with the last sighting on Saturday.

Woolworths New Zealand director of stores Jason Stockill spoke to Charlotte Cook.

Grain prices are continuing their downward trend, meaning some growers won't break-even this season in the face of high production costs.

Sally Murphy has the rural news.

Black Caps opener Devon Conway has been ruled out of the first Test against Australia starting at the Basin Reserve tomorrow.

Barry Guy has sports.

Telecommunications company Spark plans to invest for growth, as it copes with higher costs and weaker demand.

Anan Zaki has the business news.

Newshub, one of the key media companies in New Zealand, is to close its newsroom in New Zealand on 30 June.

Staff were told of the closure at an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning.

Reporter Rowan Quinn is outside Dalmation Hall in Auckland, where Newshub staff have been meeting.

Quinn spoke to Charlotte Cook.

One of the country's top media companies is closing down its news division, and will no longer screen news or news programmes.

Newsroom staff at Newshub were called to an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning.

The Newshub newsroom covers the AM Show, and the 6pm show and the late 10pm news.

It's understood about 200 staff are affected. Newshub is owned by global entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery which also owns Three, Eden, Rush, HGTV and Bravo.

Media commentator and the founder of The Spinoff Duncan Greive spoke to Charlotte Cook.

Beachgoers on the Māhia Peninsula in northern Hawkes Bay are being warned about the risk of shark attacks after a Great White ripped a whale from a rescuer who was trying to re-float it.

The incident happened as mother pygmy whale and her calf were stranding on Opoutama Beach on Sunday.

The shark killed the mother whale and the calf had to be euthanised.

Local Police officer Chad Prentice says while sharks are common in the area, this kind of story is not.

Prentice spoke to Charlotte Cook.

Legislation scrapping Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, is being described as a nail in the coffin for health equity.

As part of its 100-day plan, the coalition government will today introduce a bill under urgency to dissolve the agency.

It was set up in 2022 to work in parallel with the Ministry of Health and Te Whatu Ora to address the marked disparities in Māori health which see Māori die more than seven years earlier than non-Māori.

Grant Berghan has worked in Māori health for 35 years and is part of Health Coalition Aotearoa.

Berghan spoke to Charlotte Cook.