Morning Report

The Opposition has sought to drive a wedge between the Greens and their government partners, saying they've once again been forced to swallow a dead rat.

The Government pushed a proposed law through its first and second reading in Parliament last night, paving the way for a new Covid-19 welfare payment.

The Green Party has been vocal in saying the bill does not go far enough, but National says it should then show some principle and vote it down.

RNZ's deputy political editor Craig McCulloch reports.

Auckland's water crisis is leading the city to look to its neighbour for help.

Hamilton has been asked to consider stepping in and lending the bigger city some of its unallocated water.

Hamilton's mayor has said any help would come with conditions to protect the Waikato river and the city's long-term interests.

Phil Goff is mayor of Auckland.

The missing trampers rescued from a remote spot in north-west Nelson survived almost two weeks without food during their ordeal.

Dion Reynolds and Jessica O'Connor, both 23, were tramping in the Kahurangi National Park when they became lost in fog and were rescued yesterday afternoon - 18 days after they set off - triggering an extensive search and rescue operation.

Yesterday, the two trampers were found and winched to safety by a Defence Force helicopter crew. Susie Ferguson spoke to pilot,

Flight Lieutenant Loic Ifrah, who told her they were in the area winching IN crews to conduct land searches, when another chopper spotted some signs of life.

The social media site, Twitter, has for the first time ever, fact-checked a tweet by Donald Trump.

The tweet-in-question was posted yesterday - in it, the President falsely accused the governor of California of sending mail-in ballots to undocumented immigrants.

In response to the posts, the social networking site posted a small blue exclamation mark below the tweet, and had a link, which said the claims were unsubstantiated.

Well, in response to that move, Trump threatened to either heavily regulate, or even shut down the social networking site.

In follow-up tweets, he accused the giant of interfering with the 2020 Presidential Election, and that they were stifling free speech.

Washington correspondent Simon Marks speaks to Susie Ferguson.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says he is frustrated at the speed at which a trans-Tasman travel bubble is emerging, saying it should have been up and running already.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is urging patience and says a group of government and business representatives are working hard to deliver a blueprint for action.

The Trans-Tasman Safe Border Group has been coordinated by the Australia New Zealand leadership forum and has involved representatives from both sides of the ditch.

Scott Tasker, from Auckland Airport, is the group's co-chair.

Public health units confronting the pandemic are in crisis because they don't have enough doctors.

Funding for training new doctors is so limited, applicants have had to be turned away.

RNZ's Phil Pennington reports.

More than 22,000 school teacher aides are looking at a substantial pay increase - as the Ministry of Education and union NZEI Te Riu Roa have agreed to a deal on their pay equity claim.

Along with Living Wage pay increases won during collective bargaining late last year, most teacher aides could now receive pay increases of $4 to $6.60 an hour.

If the settlement is accepted, the new rates will kick in by November, back-dated to February.

Chris Hipkins is Minister of Education.

In just over an hour's time, two US astronauts will be sent into space, aboard the Crew Dragon capsule.

It's a launch of particular consequence - the first to happen off of US soil since 2011, and the first done aboard a spacecraft built by the billionaire entrepreneur, Elon Musk's company, SpaceX.

While it's just a demonstration mission - to show SpaceX's ability to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station and back safely - it's being hotly anticipated across the world.

Brendan Byrne, the Space Reporter for the local radio station WMFE Orlando speaks to Susie Ferguson.

Bad debts and super-stressed household budgets are on the horizon.

The Reserve Bank says New Zealand's financial system is strong enough to withstand the impact of the Covid-19 virus.

Adrian Orr speaks to Corin Dann.

The discovery of two missing trampers alive and well after 19 days lost in bush north-west of Nelson is being described as miraculous. An intensive search and rescue operation has been underway to find Dion Reynolds and Jessica O'Connor, who've been in Kahurangi National Park since May the 9th. The police officer leading the rescue say the 23-year-olds are incredibly lucky to have survived. Reynolds speaks to Susie Ferguson.