Morning Report

News from the business sector, including a market report.

Pro-democracy protesters have taken to the streets once more in Hong Kong, with 300 people arrested.

The protests have been staged in a response to two controversial laws being put through the legislative council.

The first, which was read today, would criminalise insulting the Chinese national anthem, and impose a fine of over 10,000 New Zealand dollars to anyone caught.

The second is a security law, being forced through by Beijing, which protesters say will strip citizens of basic freedoms.

Countries from around the world, including the US, UK and Australia, have raised concerns over the law, which have been dismissed by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam.

Marches took place in a number of districts across the city.

In response, police fired pellets of pepper spray to try to disperse the crowds.

Producer Harry Lock speaks to Beijing correspondent Patrick Fok.

Public health specialists are warning the pandemic has exposed a 'massive and hugely problematic shortfall' in investment.

This warning comes in a letter to the Prime Minister sent early this month signed by more than 50 specialists. They are calling for urgent changes, including much more training of junior staff.

The regional public health units have fewer than 200 specialist doctors to call on but the head of the College of Public Health, Felicity Dumble, told Phil Pennington she has had to turn away applicants for lack of funds.

The pilot who winched up the missing trampers says he felt a mixture of relief and euphoria upon rescuing them.

Dion Reynolds and Jessica O'Connor were located by search and rescue teams in Kahurangi National Park yesterday after they went missing for nineteen days.

The pair had got lost as a result of foggy conditions in the park, and Dion had sprained his ankle.

They were found just before 1pm yesterday after a search helicopter spotted smoke and saw two people waving at them. An Air Force helicopter was then called out to their location to winch them up to safety.

Today, pilots will continue to work to bring in the rest of the search and rescue volunteers who are in the national park.

News from the rural and farming sector.

A brief update from the business sector.

Waiheke Island residents fed up about a lack of social distancing on ferries and at the wharves have complained to the police and local politicians.

Ferry company Fullers reduced sailings to an hourly service during Alert Level 4 and halved the number of passengers allowed on board, marking available seats.

Local board chair Cath Handley told reporter Amy Williams despite those measures, rush hour is a problem.

House sellers and buyers are being encouraged to work together to find a solution, if a buyer is suddenly unable to settle an agreement due to Covid-19 hardship.

Legally, the developer or vendor can keep the buyers deposit on a property if they can't complete a purchase agreement.

The Real Estate Agents Authority's acting chief executive Phirak Appleton told housing reporter Eva Corlett that it could be tough time for buyers who have suddenly found themselves out of pocket.

A miraculous rescue as two trampers are found alive and well after spending 19 days in the bush,The Reserve Bank warns of looming bad debts and super-stressed household budgets, and the deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is frustrated the trans-tasman bubble isn't already up and running

The first results from a project that uses satellites to track thousands of penguins as they waddle across Antarctica have been published.

By studying the movement of Adélie penguins, scientists hope to better understand whether conservation efforts on the continent are effective.

A small team from New Zealand played a part in analysing the data returned by the tracking program, which involved more than 70 scientists over 25 years.

Dean Anderson is a researcher at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research.

He speaks to Corin Dann.