Midday Report

Some property investors are cautiously optimistic the sector's on the right track after a Consumer New Zealand investigation found some rental managers are collecting unnecessary, and in some cases possibly illegal information, from prospective tenants.

Agents asked for bank statements, age, gender, relationship status, religion, ethnicity and more - in breach of the Privacy Commission's landlord guidance and a likely breach of the Privacy Act.

Auckland Property Investors Association general manager Sarina Gibbon spoke to Māni Dunlop.

Economists are predicting a price shock as the value of the dollar falls.

The NZ dollar has fallen 3.5 percent over the past three days to 56.3 US cents.

That would push up the price of some imports, but will also make exports more valuable.

Sense partners economist Shamubeel Eaqub spoke to Māni Dunlop about what that meant for New Zealanders, and also whether the Reserve Bank was making decisions in everyone's interests.

It's being described as a bittersweet day as Oranga Tamariki and Te Whānau O Waipareira sign a ground breaking agreement that is a crucial step in devolving power back to Māori to look after whānau.

Waipareira says it is writing a full manual of what care processes look like and what will be achieved.

It'll be trialled in partnership with Manurewa Marae and the wider Tāmaki collective.

Whānau o Waipareira chief executive John Tamihere spoke to Māni Dunlop.

As many as 400 patients have had to have their operations called off because of Monday's holiday to mark the Queen's death.

The impact varies across the country - with some hospitals only doing a quarter of their planned surgeries.

RNZ's health correspondent Rowan Quinn spoke to Māni Dunlop.

News from the rural farming sector

Midday sports News for 23 September 2022 National road cycling champion Olivia Ray has been banned from the sport for two and a half years for doping.

News from the business sector

School students have abandoned their books, teachers, and classrooms today - instead taking to the streets for the School Strike for Climate.

The first major event has just kicked off outside Parliament.

RNZ reporter Krystal Gibbens, and a year 12 Hutt Valley High School student Charlotte Hoffman, spoke to Māni Dunlop from the forecourt.

The United Nations' Security Council appears unable to fulfil its mandate and deal with one of the greatest security challenges of our time: Russia's illegal war in Ukraine.

The prime minister Jacinda Ardern says the council's permanent members have been protecting their own interests by preserving their veto powers - and reform is urgently needed. 

A former New Zealand ambassador to the United Nations Colin Keating spoke to Māni Dunlop.

Ngāti Maniapoto members have been at Parliament this morning to witness the successful passage of a Treaty Settlement Bill more than 30 years in the making.

The King Country iwi has settled with the Crown for $170 million and a range of cultural redress. 

Te manu korihi reporter Ashleigh McCaull spoke to Charlotte Cook from Pipitea marae.