Eighteen weeks after playing their last game, the Wellington Phoenix resume their A-League season against Sydney FC in Sydney tonight.

The Phoenix have spent a month in Sydney preparing for the resumption of the season, but doubt remains over the competition because of the second spike in coronavirus cases across the Tasman.

Sports reporter Barry Guy reports.

Mobile clinics have helped drive high Covid-19 testing rates for Māori, and Māori health providers want them to become a regular part of primary health care practice. 

As well as testing for the virus, the clinics have been doing check-ups and flu vaccinations. 

The response means Māori Covid-19 testing rates are now well above the national average.

Meriana Johnsen reports.

National's new leader Judith Collins isn't ruling out the possibility of running National candidates in Māori seats, something previous National leaders including Todd Muller and Simon Bridges have been vehemently against. 

It comes after a re-shuffle of her frontbench, including the promotion of two Māori MPs to her top five. 

Te Aniwa Hurihanganui reports.

A South Island charity, Meat the Need, has sent more than four tonnes of minced venison to Rotorua in order to help support families in need.

This week the volunteer organisation Kai Rotorua has handed out over 4250 one kilogram packs of the meat to churches and schools.

Te Rangikaheke Kiripatea founder of Kai Rotorua, organised the distribution and speaks to Philippa Tolley.

Frustrated Air New Zealand customers who've been waiting for months to get a refund may finally be able to at least access and manage their credits online.

Air New Zealand last month apologised for the system - set up to refund eligible customers whose flights were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The airline has admitted it isn't user-friendly but says an online tool will finally be available at the end of July to allow customers to manage their credits.

Chen Liu reports.

A brief update of movements in the financial sector.

A prominent entrepreneur is frustrated an alternative to the troubled Covid-19 app has hit a roadblock with officials.

Since March, TradeMe founder Sam Morgan has been working as part of a team to test the ability of a bluetooth contact tracing 'CovidCard'.

Six weeks ago they delivered a report to officials after field trials, but are yet to be given any indication of a decision. The project would cost $100 million and take about five months to roll out, which is why Morgan says a decision needs to be made quickly.

Meanwhile, politicians are continuing to push the public to use the Covid Tracer app, which only has about 10,000 scans a day.

Morgan told political reporter Charlie Dreaver people only have to carry the CovidCard and don't have to download or scan anything.

New modelling shows the risk of an infectious person slipping through the border undetected remains very low - but only if stringent border controls remain in place.

The new numbers from Te Punaha Matatini - a team of mathematicians and scientists - suggest New Zealand could expect only one person over the next 18 months to be released into the community while still infectious.

Michael Plank is a professor in Mathematics at the University of Canterbury.

A defence barrister says the three strikes law is a "complete and abject failure" that has had little effect on the country's crime rate.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that it cannot overturn a seven-year prison sentence for a man who tried to kiss a stranger in Wellington's Cuba Street in 2016.

The offence would not normally have lead to a jail term, but it was the third strike for the man who has mental health problems and a long history of drug and alcohol abuse.

Christopher Stevenson is the co-chair of the New Zealand Defence Lawyers Association.

The inner-city Auckland Central seat will be a fierce battleground this election, after the departure of the National Party's former deputy leader, Nikki Kaye.

Kaye announced her decision to leave politics yesterday morning, the latest in a series of shocking developments for the beleaguered party.

Auckland journalist Simon Wilson and Auckland University lecturer Lara Greaves speak to Corin Dann.