Midday Report

An independent panel on local government thinks councils are losing the trust of their communities, and their consultation processes are excluding many people from participating. It comes amid three waters reforms, low voter turnout, and concerns about the amount of work needed to tackle climate change. Among the 29 proposals: it recommends lowering the voting age to 16, increasing term limits to 4 years, and have mana whenua appointees alongside elected Maori ward councillors. The chair of the panel Jim Palmer spoke to Charlotte Cook about how those ideas might get more people involved in local government.

A contingent of 10 police officers has arrived on a remote Island in Papua New Guinea - the scene of intense violence this week.

Clashes happened Monday after a dispute over a football match a month ago.

A police spokesperson says the number of dead has been revised and now stands at 22.

RNZ Pacific's Lydia Lewis reports.

Cruise ships are back, visiting ports around the country bringing with them more covid.

Health NZ is refusing to say if there are Covid-19 cases on the cruise ship Celebrity Eclipse currently docked in Lyttelton.

More than 130 people onboard the Ovation of the Seas have tested positive for Covid-19, and the ship had not been following current Covid isolation guidelines.

Aerosol chemist Dr Joel Rindelaub told Charlotte Cook he was definitely not surprised.

National population growth is predicted to slow to less than 1 percent each year for the next decade.

But what growth remains will be highest in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty.

And it will also continue to climb in the 65-plus age range, growing by 3.2 percent each year between 2021 and 2031.

Infometrics' chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan spoke to Charlotte Cook about the projections.

News from the rural farming sector.

Midday sports News for 27 October 2022. Black Ferns co-captain Kennedy Simon will finally get some World Cup action after being named on the bench for Saturday's quarter-final against Wales in Whangarei.

News from the business sector

Metservice has issued several severe weather warnings the first of which comes into force this evening.

Metservice says Aotearoa is heading into an unsettled period of weather with heavy rain kicking in on the West Coast of the South Island later today.

It says the severe weather works its way up the country through the end of the week and while temperatures look beach appropriate the wind and rain may say otherwise.

Thousands of community nurses are striking again over their employers' inability to deliver pay parity after a year of failed negotiations.

Primary Health Care and Plunket nurses have the same responsibilities and qualifications as their Te Whatu Ora counterparts but are paid significantly less.

New Zealand College of Primary Health Care Nurses Chair Tracey Morgan says in some cases they are paid up to 20 percent less than hospital nurses, while Maori and iwi provider nurses are worse off with 25 percent less.

She spoke to Charlotte Cook from the picket line in Rotorua.

A New Zealand couple who were held in Iran for four months are extremely relieved to be free.

Iranian authorities stopped Topher Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray from leaving the country for four months.

The New Zealand government used diplomatic channels to secure their release, with the Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta making a direct appeal to her Iranian counterpart.