Morning Report

A military training base in north Auckland is being turned into a quarantine centre for New Zealanders returning from Wuhan which is in lockdown because the Novel Coronavirus.

Dozens of people will be kept in isolation at the Defence Force site in Whangaparaoa for two weeks to contain any possible infection.

In keeping with the US and Australia, all foreign travellers from China are barred from entering the country for at least two weeks.

There are now ten countries, including New Zealand, who have denied entry to all foreign visitors who had recently been to China.

The other countries are the US and Australia, Russia, Japan, Pakistan, Iraq, Italy, Indonesia and Singapore.

That will make a significant dent in tourism from one of our biggest markets at the busiest time of year.

Jordan Bond reports.

The National Party has thrown down an electoral challenge - we won't make any deal with New Zealand First post election, so don't waste your vote on them.

It's a high-stakes gamble, attempting to knee-cap the government's coalition partner.

In response, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said he was "unfazed" and suggested that Bridges would pay a high price for the move - saying if National needs New Zealand First and if Bridges doesn't call him then another member of the National caucus will.

Mr Bridges speaks to Corin Dann.

Heavy rain has closed State Highway Six south of Fox Glacier and caused power cuts in south Westland.

MetService is predicting further heavy rain to fall on the West Coast until Tuesday night.

The West Coast Emergency Management Group says the highway from Haast to Fox Glacier is closed at Thirsty Creek, until at least 10am on Monday.

Power is off to Fox Glacier and south to Paringa after a fault on the line from Franz Josef.

Westpower is arranging alternative supply options.

There will be an update on the road closure at 10am.

News from the rural and farming sector.

A brief update from the business sector.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters have paid tribute to Mike Moore, the former Labour prime minister who died yesterday aged 71.

Moore led the country for two months in the run-up to the 1990 general elections, having made his mark in the Lange government as an energetic trade minister in times when protectionist barriers made life extremely difficult for agricultural exporters in particular.

After leaving politics he became the director-general of the World Trade Organisation from 1999 until 2002 -- the highest United Nations position ever held by a New Zealander.

Ardern and Peters spoke to reporters at Waitangi yesterday.

The Black Caps have ended their 5-match Twenty20 series against India without a win, collapsing to lose the final match by seven runs at Bay Oval.

Foreigners who've travelled from or through China are barred from entering the country from today. Simon Bridges rules out any post-election deals with New Zealand First. A Maori-led investigation into Oranga Tamariki reveals a string of failures.

It's Friday so we cross the ditch to Canberra to talk to our correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh.

Albatrosses have been patrolling the seas for illegal fishing as part of a new study lead by a French scientist.

Two hundred of the birds were fitted with GPS trackers that detect radar emissions from ships, and the results of the tracking were published this week.

Earlier I spoke to the lead author of the study, Henri Weimerskirch from the French National Centre for Scientific Research.