The coalition government is promising to "repurpose" the millions of tax payer dollars being spent on the fees-free policy for tertiary students. Winston Peters' confirmed the scheme, which has been through a few versions, will be scrapped. It was introduced in 2018, under Jacinda Ardern's government. Back then, students were eligible for their first year of study free and $194 million was paid in fees. Grant Robertson, was Labour's finance Minister when the fees-free policy was brought in and is now Vice Chancellor at the University of Otago. Grant Robertson spoke to Lisa Owen.

A landmark case has found that a veterans' brain cancer must be treated as service-related because of exposure to potentially carcinogenic burn pits on his deployment in Somalia. Open burn pits were used in many conflicts including Iraq and Afghanistan, where there wasn't infrastructure to deal with the large amounts of waste created by military operations. In the US, a long list of conditions are automatically considered to be related to burn pit exposure, including several cancers and respiratory issues. But here in New Zealand none of those conditions have been accepted as service-related, until now. Luka Forman has more.

The government has outlined who will get priority access to fuel if New Zealand should ever be forced to ration. It said Aotearoa continues to have sufficient fuel supply and it's highly unlikely it would need to prioritise supply. But phase four would be activated in case of a severe and prolonged disruption of fuel supply. David Birkett from Federated Farmers, Arable group chairperson and national board member spoke to Lisa Owen.

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National and ACT are downplaying a significant Budget leak from their coalition partner New Zealand First, as coalition tensions continue to bubble to the surface.

People might remember as a kid collecting glass fizzy bottles to return to the dairy for a bit of pocket money. Well, New Zealand First's keen to bring back a nationwide container scheme, to reduce litter and council costs. One of its MPs has put a bill into the biscuit tin, where it could be randomly drawn and head down the path to becoming law. Zero Waste Network said about four million drink containers go to landfull or end up as litter every day in Aotearoa. Sue Coutts spoke to Lisa Owen.

All kiwi sides, apart from Moana Pasifika, remain in the hunt, while the defending champions appear to be peaking at the perfect time. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen.

A YouTube channel is providing some income cream for a fourth generation waikato dairy farmer filming life on the land. Andrew Macky, who runs a 98 hectare family farm at Paterangi with 320 jersey cows, started filming and broadcasting his day to day in 2020. Now, more than 35,000 people subscribe to "The Once A Day Farmer." Waikato dairy farmer Andrew Macky spoke to Lisa Owen.

Middle East correspondent Lou Brown spoke to Lisa Owen about how President Donald Trump described Iran's response to the latest proposal by the United States to end the war as "totally unacceptable." She also spoke about how dozens of people were reportedly killed over the weekend in Lebanon and how Gaza flotilla activists were deported by Israel.

New Zealand officials are working on options to repatriate a New Zealander who's been onboard a cruise ship hit with the hantavirus. Passengers from the MV Hondius have been disembarking under complex evacuation protocols on the isalnd of Tenerife inn Sapin Caary islands. 149 passengers and crew will taken off the ship in small boats and flown home. The New Zealander however will be flown to Australia, with several Australian passengers. New Zealand's Director of Public Health Dr Corina Grey spoke to Lisa Owen.