Morning Report

The Government is pouring billions of dollars into supporting businesses - but some Wellington retailers say their outlook is grim if civil servants don't return to the CBD.

Government departments say some staff may choose to work from home permanently, even if Cabinet decides to lift restrictions today Monday.

Ruth Hill compiled this report, which starts a Covid-19 advert.

The Australian victims of the Whakaari/White Island eruption are considering taking legal action against White Island Tours.

The passengers and family members are suing the cruise operator, Royal Caribbean, for alleged negligence, breach of contract, and breach of Australian consumer law.

The law firm representing the victims is now exploring whether the lawsuit can be expanded to include White Island Tours.

Rita Yousef is a lawyer at Stacks Goudkamp and is representing the victims and their families.

Weak building regulations mean it's hard to investigate the safety of crucial earthquake bracing used in schools, hospitals and supermarkets.

Authorities say the regulations are too unclear for them to take action or even test the braces to see if they are strong enough.

Phil Pennington is looking into this.

A brief update of movements in the financial sector.

Māori mothers of newborns involved with Oranga Tamariki say the child welfare system is dangerous, brutal and racist.

Their experiences have been detailed in a report from the Children's Commissioner, released today.

Judge Andrew Becroft is now calling for fundamental change at the Children's Ministry. 

He speaks to Kim Hill.

A security specialist says former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia - who are reportedly hiding in New Zealand - still have a target on their backs.

British newspaper The Sunday Times is reporting the Skripals are living here under new identities.

The pair were found to have been poisoned by Russian agents with a nerve agent in England two years ago.

Dr Paul Buchanan speaks to Corin Dann.

New Zealand's security intelligence agency, the SIS, carried out multiple clandestine raids, breaking into foreign embassies in Wellington in the latter part of the 1980s, in breach of the Vienna convention.

An RNZ podcast, The Service, launched today, reveals that one of the raids was on the Czechoslovakian Embassy in Wellington in 1986 and was a joint operation with Britain's MI6 to steal the Warsaw Pact codes.

At the time Czechoslovakia was an ally of the USSR and the code books would have allowed the Five Eyes partners to break the encrypted communications of the communist-aligned countries.

Professor Robert Patman is an international relations specialist from Otago University.

New Zealand driver Scott Dixon believes his team's simulator work during lockdown played a big part in his victory in the return of Indycars.

Hapū and locals of a small Bay of Islands town are vowing to fight a plan to build seventeen houses on land they want protected for a public park. 

The commerical arm of the Far North council got consent for a housing development in November last year and in March sold the three hectare site at Opua to a private owner. 

The council says it gave locals every chance to comment on the project but the community says it wasn't consulted. 

Meriana Johnsen reports.

Principals say some families have simply disappeared since the lockdown and the Education Ministry has stepped in to help.

Some parents are keeping children home because they remain fearful of Covid-19 but others have just can't be bothered sending their kids to school.

RNZ's education correspondent John Gerritsen reports.