Morning Report

News from the rural and farming sector.

A brief update from the business sector.

Māori business advisors are worried that the government has no vision for the future of the Māori economy.

Before Covid-19, the Māori economy was worth more than $50 billion.

But many Māori businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic, and some say there is no clear direction about what they should do to survive.

RNZ Māori news correspondent Leigh-Marama McLachlan reports.

Navy veterans who witnessed the French atmospheric nuclear explosions in 1973 have higher rates of cancer while many of their children are also suffering fertility problems.

That's the conclusion of new University of Otago research published today in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

The study focused on members and family of the crews of HMNZS Otago and HMNZS Canterbury who were sent to witness the nuclear explosions at French Polynesia's Mururoa atoll.

The survey found 37 percent of the veterans who took part had suffered some form of cancers while 40 percent of the veteran's children reported issues with getting or staying pregnant.

Recruitment to the study was voluntary and only received 148 responses.

Gavin Smith, President of the Mururoa Nuclear Veterans Group, says there now needs to be wider research.

A nurse from a busy Covid-19 testing centre says the work is stressful and she deserves a pay rise.

Primary care nurses, who work in GP surgeries and community testing centres, are seeking the same pay as hospital nurses.

They've just turned down the latest offer which is less than half of what they want.

Denise Moore works at a busy Christchurch emergency clinic and testing centre and told RNZ health correspondent Rowan Quinn it's been a full on few months.

The Health Minister says its up to the nurses to negotiate with the practices that employ them.

But nurses say the government has the power to give them - and GP surgeries - targeted funding and it needs to act.

Another bad poll result damages Simon Bridges ahead of todays vote on the National Party leadership, and A lifelong friend of the man shot and killed by police in Waitara this week says he doesn't bear a grudge against the officers involved.

As calls grow for many more people to wear protective face masks, will there be enough to meet demand?

Well, one of New Zealand's oldest companies has already switched its production from headware to facewear in a bid to corner the market.

Hill's Hat's has been making fashionable headware for 145 years, but redirected its resources to produce reusable face masks with a trendy twist at the beginning of Alert Level 3.

Since then, the masks now accounts for 70 percent of its business and staff have had to work overtime to keep up with sales.

Simon Smuts-Kennedy is the general manager of Hill's Hats.

The Prime Minister hasn't ruled out creating another public holiday, despite Winston Peters making it clear he does not support it.

The prospect has got lots of people excited, with many already calling for a public holiday to mark Matariki - the Māori  New Year.

Te Aniwa Hurihanganui reports.

The future of rentable e-scooters in Wellington is on the line today.

Councillors will vote this morning on whether to allow companies such as Flamingo to continue to operate in the city.

A survey done by the Council shows the vast majority of people want them to stay but those opposed are warning they are dangerous for riders and pedestrians.

Harry Lock reports.

As lockdowns ease New Zealand and Australia, the political fortunes of the leaders of both countries have soared.

While Jacinda Ardern's success in the polls has lead to a leadership coup in the National Party, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also surged in the opinion of the public.

A recent poll put his approval rating at sixty-six percent - one of the highest for any Australian leader in years. So is a crisis the best thing an incumbent can hope for?

Morrison's new-found popularity marks a stark change from the bushfire crisis earlier this year, when he was skewered for taking a secretive holiday to Hawaii while fires burned across the country.

Stephen Dziedzic is a political reporter for the ABC in Canberra.