Midday Report

The former Police Commissioner, Mike Bush, will this week take over leadership of all Youth Justice and Care and Protection residences, following two serious allegations of Oranga Tamariki staff acting inappropriately towards young people.

The chief executive of Oranga Tamariki, Chappie Te Kani, made the announcement to media this morning.

RNZ's reporter Ruth Hill attended that media conference and spoke to Rowan Quinn.

New Zealand Football is backing the All Whites' decision not to take the field in the second half of their international against Qatar in Austria, after a player was racially abused.

The slur was directed at defender Michael Boxall by an opposition player - and heard by several All Whites players - shortly before halftime.

The New Zealand captain Joe Bell spent several minutes remonstrating with the referee over the matter, but no action was taken.

New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell told Rowan Quinn he's proud of the players' actions, which he says were fully justified given the nature of the slur.

The Government has just announced the Comerce Commission will investigate whether New Zealanders are getting a fair deal from the banking sector.

The regulator will do a market study into competition in the banking industry, following similar studies into construction, groceries and fuel.

RNZ's Deputy Political Editor, Craig McCulloch, spoke to Rowan Quinn.

Rural insurer FMG has paid out more than $120 million in claims relating to Cyclone Gabrielle.

Susan Murray has the Rural News.

New Zealand Football says several All Whites players heard defender Michael Boxall get racially abused during the match against Qatar in Austria this morning. 

Stephen Hewson has sport.

Consumer confidence remains deeply pessimistic as financial pressures weigh on consumers of all ages, income brackets and in every region.

Kim Moodie has business.

There's hope for parents and students who have faced weeks of industrial action by secondary school teachers.

Their union says it is prepared to go into arbitration with the Ministry of Education over its pay dispute, if the ministry agrees to accept the outcome of that process.

As part of the industrial action, two year groups at a time stays home, rather than whole schools.

Education correspondent John Gerritsen spoke to Rowan Quinn about the latest developments.

Police say they don't believe an axe attack on people in three North Shore Chinese restaurants last night was racially motivated. Two people remain in hospital following the attack, one with serious injuries.

A 24-year-old man, who police have identified as a Chinese national, was arrested at the scene.

RNZ reporter Chen Liu spoke to Rowan Quinn.

The Tairawhiti region is just trying to wait out a heavy rain system that's been battering the East Coast since midnight last night.

The Metservice has issued an orange rain warning for the region until 6 o'clock tonight - but rain is forecast to continue for much of the week.

The Gisborne mayor, Rehette Stoltz, spoke to Rowan Quinn.

Firefighters in Auckland say delays caused by the rapidly growing city could be the difference between life and death.

Documents obtained by RNZ have shown crews are sometimes struggling to reach burning houses in high density areas, and that access to water can be a problem.

Auckland fire fighter Martin Campbell is the Auckland secretary of the Professional Firefighters Union.

He told Rowan Quinn the situation is incredibly frustrating because every second counts.