Morning Report

The Green Party is calling for the end of an element of the rodeo industry, flank straps, after a video resurfaced showing a bull snapping its leg during the 2018 Gisborne Rodeo while apparently trying to get out of flank straps.

The Labour Party said it would ban flank straps, calf-roping and several other elements of rodeo if elected, but it hasn't yet followed through.

Green Party MP Gareth Hughes said the video is upsetting and the flank straps need to be banned. Rodeo Cowboys Association, Lyal Cocks.

The Green Party is criticising the government for failing to deliver on a promise to ban some aspects of rodeo.

A video of a rodeo show in Gisborne in 2018 has emerged which shows a bull bucking in an apparent attempt to get out of a flank strap, before snapping one of it's hind legs.

The investigation of that incident is also being criticised, because new documents show the only person interviewed was a sponsor of the event.

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor did not address the question of why Labour hasn't followed through on its promise to ban flank straps in his response but said an experienced vet is required to attend all rodeos and he's confident that rodeos are well regulated and generally function well.

Rodeo Cowboys Association president Lyal Cocks said in a statement the video shows a regrettable accident where the bull lands awkwardly on its leg.

He said this was not caused by the flank strap which he says was fitted correctly.

He added: "The flank strap is a piece of harness which is fully padded with sheepskin and does not hurt the animals. It is no different to harness used in other sports to ensure the animals are competitive".

Police are searching for a swimmer who failed to resurface at a swimming hole in Karekare near Auckland yesterday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the body of a diver was found at a beach east of Whangarei and the body of a 24-year-old Israeli man was discovered in the Whanganui River after he drowned on Sunday.

It means around 11 people have drowned so far this year.

Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Jonty Mills speaks to Corin Dann.

The Government is being told to take urgent steps to prevent the export of infectious diseases to the Pacific.

It follows a deadly epidemic of measles in Samoa that's killed 83 people since October after the disease spread from New Zealand.

Now health officials are anticipating the arrival in this country of the new coronavirus from China.

A public health professor at the University of Otago, Michael Baker, says the virus would be deadly for Pacific nations.

Mackenzie Smith reports.

The former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has claimed that President Donald Trump told him to continue freezing aid to the Ukraine until officials there helped him to investigate his political rivals.

Democrats have been seeking testimony from Botlon in the impeachment trial against the President.

The new information comes from a manuscript of Bolton's book, obtained by the New York Times.

RNZ's correspondent in Washington is Simon Marks.

New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is not backing down on his criticism of Ihumātao protest leader Pania Newton.

Jones called Newton a "young putiputi" - meaning a young flower - during his visit to Ratana last week.

A group of almost 100 Maori academics, activists, artists and political commentators have published an open statement calling him a bully, and some say he needs to apologise.

He told Susie Ferguson he stood by the comments, and compared those objecting to his language as namunamu, or geraniums, but also irritants.

New Zealanders living in Australia are being called on to take legal action to get federal laws declared discriminatory.

A class action is being looked into amid despair that lobbying against hard line Government policies has had little impact.

Any court action faces an uphill battle, like David versus Goliath - or Maximus versus Caesar.

Phil Pennington reports.

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The government will consider evacuating New Zealanders from China if it can be sure that poses no risk to New Zealand.

Fifteen Chinese cities are now fully or partially locked down because of the Coronavirus which has killed at least 80 people and infected almost 2,800.

Although most of the cases have occurred inside China, according to the World Health Organisation there have been 44 elsewhere.

Most have been in other Asian countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and and South Korea, and several in Australia and the US.

Speaking at a news conference in Beijing, Feng Luzha from China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, urged anyone who's been in Wuhan - the city at the centre of the outbreak - to stay indoors.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters says the government has to work within the confines of the total embargo on all travel in areas deemed to be high risk.

But it is considering all options to assist affected New Zealanders.

Meanwhile, health authorities here are trying to limit any potential impact from the virus.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield speaks to Susie Ferguson.

The Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios concedes he was beaten by a better man on the day as he went down in four sets to world number one Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open.

News from the business sector, including a market report.