Morning Report

Politics are never far away from the annual Waitangi commemorations, and this year has been no different.

Party leaders were welcomed onto the marae on the upper treaty grounds yesterday but it quickly turned into a slanging match between the opposition and the three governing parties.

The focus - as expected - was on what the Government has, or has not, delivered for Māori, but there were plenty of other dynamics swirling around.

RNZ political editor Jane Patterson speaks to Susie Ferguson.

The Government's record on delivering for Māori, has been called into question by Simon Bridges at Waitangi - prompting both sides of the marae atea to rebuke him.

Since her first speech as Prime Minister at Waitangi in 2018, Ardern has repeatedly told those assembled at the Treaty grounds to "hold her to account".

But the National Party leader's attempt to do just that was not well received.

Challenges to Bridges' speech came from both paepae.  

Shane Jones, who was set to speak on behalf of New Zealand First, kept his remarks brief and then stepped aside for his party leader, Winston Peters.

While the final speaker for the hau kainga, Waihoroi Shortland, said his harshest critique was reserved for Bridges and his party's decision not to stand candidates in the Māori seats.

Bridges speaks to Susie Ferguson.

It was touch and go for some New Zealanders in Wuhan trying to get through security checks and get last-minute permits to board the evacuation flight home overnight.

Lily Gao, who RNZ been following as she's made plans to escape the locked-down city, was held up at a checkpoint with her two-year-old daughter for more than three hours, while another Auckland woman decided that running the gauntlet to the airport wasn't worth the risk.

But at around 2am, the government-chartered Air New Zealand flight NZ1942 finally took off from the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, bound for Auckland.

Matthew Theunissen reports.

The government-charted flight from coronavirus-stricken Wuhan in China is in the air making its way to Auckland. The evacuation flight is being crewed by 16 Air New Zealand staff, carrying dozens of people who have managed to flee a city that has been in lockdown because of the virus.

Once the flight has landed, the passengers will go through Customs before being bused to the military camp at Whangaparaoa for quarantine. David Morgan is Air New Zealand's chief pilot.

He speaks to Corin Dann.

People in the Southland towns of Gore and Mataura have been told to evacuate their homes as the Mataura River levels continue to rise.

After three days of heavy rain the river is running between four and six metres above normal levels.

RNZ reporter Tim Brown is on the floodbank in Gore.

People in the Southland towns of Gore and Mataura have been told to evacuate their homes as the Mataura River levels continue to rise.

After three days of heavy rain the river is running between four and six metres above normal levels.

Residents in Wyndham and Riverdale are being asked to be ready to go to.

Southland Emergency Management chair Neville Cook speaks to Corin Dann.

The prospect of the Black Caps ending an eight game losing streak are in the balance following the withdrawal of captain Kane Williamson from the first two games against India.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says dirt floors and people living in tents was common for him growing up in Northland, and his family knows what poverty tastes, smells and feels like.

In a rare sit-down interview with Peters at Waitangi he spoke about his childhood and the job his former New Zealand First colleague and Ngapuhi stalwart Pita Paraone, never got to do.

RNZ political reporter Jo Moir began by asking Peters when he thinks Waitangi Day shifted from a day of national unity to a highly politicised event.

RNZ Political Reporter Jo Moir speaks to Winston Peters in Waitangi ahead of commemorations of the 180th anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.