Morning Report

The dairy industry is embarking on a push to encourage more people to try farming.

The industry already needs a thousand jobs but will need even more if the border continues to be closed to migrants, who make up 18 percent of the dairy workforce.

Kate Pereyra Garcia reports.

The NRL competition is underway again.

The Parramatta Eels won against The Brisbane Broncos to last night.

Tomorrow the Warriors make a long awaited return to the field - having become most Australian rugby league fans' second-favourite team because of their commitment to the NRL during the pandemic.

Felicity Reid reports.

An Auckland academic has criticised the government's funding boost for the arts, saying it lacks any vision for the future of the sector.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister unveiled a multi-million dollar package for the industry as part of its post-Covid recovery.

Peter O'Connor is the director of the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation at Auckland University.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that could allow US officials to punish social media companies for how they police their content.

The president was enraged by Twitter adding a fact-check label to two of his tweets this week, where he claimed mail-in voting would lead to extensive voter fraud.

The president says what Twitter chooses to fact check or ignore is politically motivated.

Washington correspondent Simon Marks speaks to Susie Ferguson.

A brief update of movements in the financial sector.

The Hawke's Bay drought fund set up by local mayors will be handed out to farmers from today.

A million dollars will be divided up between thousands of farmers struggling with one of the worst droughts in a century.

Tom Kitchin has been visiting farmers to find out what help they really need.

A plan to clean up pollution in the country's waterways is being met with a mixture of applause, eyerolls, and mild panic.

The long anticipated reforms set higher standards for swimming spots, create jobs for planting on riverbanks, and order regional councils to come up with freshwater plans.

But environmentalists say there's a glaring omission.

Rachel Thomas has the story.

While the Government is pouring money into Covid-19 recovery for businesses, government departments are coming in for criticism for keeping staff at home.

Some shops and cafes in Wellington's CBD say trade is up to 40 percent down.

Ruth Hill hit the streets of the capital to gauge the mood.

It is now game on for community sport as restrictions on gatherings are set to lift today in time for the long weekend.

The limit of 10 people per gathering will be extended to 100 at midday, meaning winter sports can resume training and return to games.

One Hawke's Bay bowls club is wasting no time to return back to competition, as it hosts what it believes to be the first sports tournament of any kind in the region on Saturday.

Dave Porteous from Bowls Hastings speaks to Susie Ferguson.

A popular tourist attaction in Rotorua has taken a new approach to drive business this long weekend. 

The Mitai Māori Village is offering a drive through hangi this evening, where cusomters can pre-book their orders before collecting them. 

The business, like many tourist companies, has been hit hard by Covid-19 since the coronavirus forced it to close its doors in March. 

Wetini Mitai-Ngatai is the chief executive of Mitai Māori Village. 

He speaks to Susie Ferguson.