Morning Report

Locals have left flowers at the cordon set up near the shore of Whakatane looking at Whakaari/White Island.

RNZ reporter Jessie Chiang is there.

She speaks to Corin Dann.

Whakatāne locals say the usually bustling little town has been extremely quiet since Monday's eruption on Whakaari/White Island.

Many people know someone who was caught up in what happened - and they say they are banding together to support those affected.

RNZ reporter Sarah Robson spoke to locals about the impact the eruption has had on the town.

A man whose brother died on White Island has been told by the Police Minister Stuart Nash he is not allowed to go there and get his body.

Mark Inman sent an email to the Prime Minister asking for a pardon to go and get the body of his brother, Hayden, himself.

His brother is Whakatāne tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman who was killed during the eruption on Monday.

Mr Nash says he understands how people are feeling but it is simply too dangerous to return to the volcano.

Mark Inman has called out the government's slow decision making and red tape.

Australia have targetted the wicket of Kane Williamson as a major key to them winning the Test series which starts in Perth this evening.

Regulators didn't ground the Boeing 737 MAX aeroplanes until after a second plane crashed.

Just under 350 people were killed in two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia just months apart.

The Federal Aviation Administration chief will testify today before Congress on the series of steps that must be completed before the agency will allow Boeing to resume flying the planes.

Andrew Charlton is an aviation lawyer.

He speaks to Corin Dann.

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison says 10 patients injured in the Whakaari/White Island explosion will be transferred to New South Wales and Victoria, possibly from as soon as Thursday.

Three Royal Australian Air Force aircraft are due here with a team of specialist aircrew and medical equipment.

Mr Morrison confirmed on Wednesday night 24 Australians were visiting the island as part of a cruise ship tour when the volcano erupted.

He said 13 were hospitalised and 11 are still unaccounted for. Meanwhile, families of victims have been criticising authorities for an early lack of communication.

Mark Reddie is a reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

He speaks to Kim Hill.

The government has activated its 'Multiple Complex Burn Action Plan' for the first time in New Zealand history as hospitals deal with an unprecedented level of critical burns patients.

Nearly thirty patients are being treated at six hospitals around the country, with operating theatres running around the clock.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield is the Director-General of Health at the Ministry of Health.

He speaks to Kim Hill.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson is promising a $12 billion boost to infrastructure over the next five years.

The announcement is part of a plan to counter slowing economic growth - with the latest opening of the government's books showing a deficit forecast for this financial year.

Grant Robertson speaks to Corin Dann.

Eight people are dead and another eight missing in the wake of an eruption of Whakaari/White Island.

White Island Tours had people on the island when it erupted.

Paul Quinn is the Chair of Ngati Awa Group Holdings and White Island Tours.

He speaks to Kim Hill.

Surgeons at Middlemore Hospital are working around the clock operating on survivors from the Whakaari White Island eruption.

Nearly thirty patients remain in hospital around the country this morning with many of them suffering severe burns - an unprecedented number in this country's medical history.

Such is the extent of their injuries that skin is being brought in from Australia and the United States for grafts.

Matthew Theunissen reports on how the country's hospitals are coping.