Morning Report

A brief update from the business sector.

The union representing lab workers has hit back at accusations from the director general of health that it's using the coronavirus situation as leverage in an industrial dispute.

Some laboratory workers are due to strike for better pay and conditions this Friday - the same week health officials say they're ramping up testing.

The Director General Ashley Bloomfield used a press conference yesterday to say he was disappointed they were taking advantage of Covid-19's arrival.

Apex union advocate David Munro told RNZ Health Correspondent Rowan Quinn the strike was first planned at Christmas and the timing is unfortunate because lab workers want to help.

The next three rounds of Japan's Top League rugby competition have been suspended following the arrest of a New Zealand player for alleged illegal drug use.

World markets are taking their biggest hit in years as virus fears spread and oil prices plunge. Sharp falls trigger temporary halts to trading on Wall Street. Business leaders here say the Government needs to move faster to help. There are predictions coronavirus could spell the end for more airlines.

A Nelson man flying to Motueka yesterday was forced to make an emergency landing after his engine suddenly cut out.

Brent Ferguson had to land his Cessna on a sandbar - but that wasn't the end of his ordeal.

While he waited for a friend to deliver more fuel, he was up against the clock as the tide rolled in, threatening to swamp the sandbar and his plane.

He speaks to Susie Ferguson.

A New Zealand animal rescue charity is helping save kangaroos burned in the Australian bushfires.

The HUHA group - Helping You Help Animals - have secured a deal to house up to thirty injured roos.

Carolyn Press-McKenzie speaks to Corin Dann from New South Wales.

Due to increased uncertainty surrounding the duration and scale of the Covid-19 outbreak, Air New Zealand has just announced it will be withdrawing the full year 2020 earnings guidance it issued to the market on 24 February 2020 and reconfirmed at its interim results announcement on 27 February 2020.

In addition it's new CEO has offered to take a 15 percent pay cut.

Gyles Beckford has the latest.

A Taranaki farmer says if the government wants to plug an 'orphaned' oil well on his property it can pay for the work itself or stay off his land.

A report obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act outlines plans to plug the country's 36 most at risk 'orphaned wells' - but also spells out that the Government accepts no legal liability for the wells or the cost of their remediation.

RNZ Taranaki Whanganui reporter Robin Martin has more.

Satellite images detailling the destruction of thousands of hectares of New Zealand's native habitat is concerning Forest and Bird.

The organisation says just one native habitat type out of 13 has seen an overall increase across the country, while 12 have decreased.

Kevin Hague is the chief executive of Forest and Bird.

Could marae be used for isolation or quarantine if there's an outbreak of Covid 19 in Aotearoa? 

Marae have all the essential facilities and have been used in states of emergency before. 

Some iwi leaders say they could potentially be used as quarantine if things get worse here. 

As our Māori news correspondent Leigh-Marama McLachlan reports, not everyone is keen on the idea.