Midday Report

Te Pāti Māori won't be standing a candidate in the Tauranga by-election because of the threat from white supremacists.

Next month's election is to fill the seat left by National's former leader Simon Bridges who is leaving politics.

The Maori Party's president Che Wilson says its co-leaders have received threats and been the target of hate speech from Tauranga residents.

He spoke to Māni Dunlop.

Te Pati Maori won't stand in Tauranga - calling it a hot spot of white supremacy. And Covid-19 infections climb in Auckland.

Anti-waste organisation Takeaway Throwaways will deliver a petition to Parliament today asking for a ban on single-use containers for takeaways and to invest in reusable containers, cups and cutlery.

Takeaway Throwaways policy spokesperson Hannah Blumhardt spoke to Māni Dunlop about why a reuseable container system was needed.

The government has backed down on plans to stop primary schools enrolling foreign students.

The announcement in Auckland today is part of plans to rebuild the $5 billion/year international education industry which has been all but wiped out by border restrictions in the past two years.

RNZ's education correspondent John Gerritsen spoke to Māni Dunlop.

Brendon McCullum will take his own style into the England coaching job at a time when they need to have things changed.

Midday Business News for Thursday 12 May

The solution to stop young people creating headlines with so-called ram raids is not tougher punishment, according to the office of the children's commissioner. It says that risks perpetuating the status quo, which puts rangatahi into the criminal justice system often trapping them there for the long term. Youth justice statistics show crime rates have been steadily falling, except for a recent increase in ram raids. The Assistant Maori Children's Commissioner Glenis Philip-Barbara spoke to Mani Dunlop about what influenced young people to commit crimes and how to address that.

Nurses are flabbergasted they are excluded from a new fast track pathway for residency.

Highly skilled workers including doctors, scientists and engineers will be able to apply for residency within months of moving here.

But those in other critical roles - including nurses and teachers - will have to work for two years first.

The New Zealand Nurses' Organisation says staffing is already at crisis point.

The Health Minister spoke to Māni Dunlop about the decision.

Both the major political parties have committed to the country's first three emissions budgets.

A special Parliamentary debate on the budgets - which set a lid on the amount of greenhouse gases New Zealand can release in the coming decades - was held this morning.

A gondola has been proposed as a solution for the second Waitematā Harbour crossing in Auckland.

Engineering company Doppelmayr has a vision for "ropeways" to play a role in New Zealand's multi-modal public transport networks.

The company expects it would cost about $200 million; significantly cheaper - and faster to build - than the now discarded $785 million bike bridge proposal.

The chair of Bike Auckland Tony Mitchell spoke to Mani Dunlop