Midday Report

News from the business sector

Hundreds of people whose homes were wrecked by Cyclone Gabrielle have just found out if they are going to be able to rebuild on their flood damaged property. More than two hundred homes in flood-hit Hawke's Bay will not be rebuilt and a further two thousand properties need upgraded storm protection. The government has just announced it will work with councils to offer a voluntary buyout for owners of the most high risk residental properties those in in Category 3 and will co-fund flood protection work to protect category 2 homes. Sandra Hazlehurst is the mayor of Hastings, the area hardest hit by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Auckland's mayor has doubled down on his contentious plan to sell the council's shares of the Airport in a bid to rectify the city's big budget shortfall, In a speech this morning, Wayne Brown said this year's budget, is one of the hardest in Auckland's history. He also cherry picked the media he wanted in the room and described many of his council members as financially illiterate. I asked the Deputy mayor, Desley Simpson why several major media organisations weren't invited.

Hundreds of people have turned up to protest proposed job cuts at Otago University today. This is the second protest where staff, students and members of the public are marching through the campus pushing back against the university's request for staff to consider redundancies in a bid to save 60 million dollars. Our reporter Tess Brunton is at protest and joins me now.

An Auckland scrap metal yard could face disciplinary action if it is found it did not comply with environmental regulations A fire has been burning in the suburb of Favona since midnight and involves a ten metre high pile of scrap metal. Previous fires have broken out at the Sims Metal scrap yard in 2018 and 2017. Mervyn Chetty is Auckland Council's General Manager of Licensing & Regulatory Compliance.

News from the rural farming sector

Midday sports News for 31 May 2023.

News from the business sector Kiwifruit marketer Zespri's profit has fallen more than a third as sales volumes fell and costs rose. A Wellington-based tech company behind a carbon footprint calculator says it's disappointing that uptake has been slow among New Zealand banks. Buy New Zealand Made is using artificial intelligence software to help protect the kiwi country of origin logo, as well as that of its clients.

A report into Wellington's Loafer's Lodge building revealed the Council had failed to meet it's safety audit requirements. The regulator MBIE eight months ago warned the Council it was not up to scratch and should be looking at high risk builidngs, like hostels, yearly. The report released yesterday revealed, that was not happening. Wellington's Mayor Tory Whanau spoke with Charlotte Cook

Fire and Emergency has extended its smoke warnings for a large scrap metal fire in South Auckland. The blaze in Favona has been burning since midnight and involves a ten-metre high pile of scrap metal. This is the third fire at Sims Metals in the last few years, with fires in 2017 and 2018 . Phil Larcombe is Fire and Emergency's Incident Controller. He spoke with Charlotte Cook