The Panel

Speaking of free speech, a mayor in Florida must now apologise to a couple who were fined thousands of dollars for having their home's exterior painted the wrong way. What the Panelists Janet Wilson and Ganesh Nana. NZ councils want an increase to the $10 waste disposal levy the Government currently charges on every tonne of rubbish disposed of in landfills. This is a very low levy by international standards, but if you raised it, in say Wellington, a trip to the tip wouold cost you $40 not $10. We are increasingly popular as a destination for Chinese tourists, behind Australia and Canada, and tied with France. That's the gist of a report in NBR this morning. There's a Tourism NZ "Long White Cloud" campaign running in China. So we can expect still more visitors, and by 2023 China will be NZ's largest tourism market by spend, with more than 900,000 Chinese coming annually. The Cliff Richard payout. 210,000 pounds for Cliff Richard after the police raid on his home in 2014, with live helicopter coverage by the BBC after it was tipped off by the police that a sex assault claim against him was being investigated.

Removalists in Australia earn the big bucks. $A93 an hour. Meanwhile, plumbers average $A83 an hour, electricians $A75 and general handypersons are on $A56. Jeremy Wyn-Harris of the Builder's Crack trades website talks about how much tradespeople earn in New Zealand and what influences their rates.

Whanganui man Karl Fulton was shocked to see an SUV drive along the beach and a man dump a load of rubbish right into the sea. It contained razor blades, old steel handrails and plastic bottles. Whanganui District councillor Jenny Duncan says illegal dumping is a common problem all over the region.

What the Panelists Damian Christie and Susan Hornsby-Geluk want to talk about.

A man who's joined the US Navy as a surgeon at the age of 63 says he feels he's in his prime. Do the Panelists fancy keeping going with that kind of energy until the day they drop? Or pehaps a four-day working week appeals?

New Zealand's remotest location doesn't have a name. It's in the Fiordland National Park. It's 30km from the nearest DOC hut, south of Doubtful Sound, and at the south end of a bay which the Coal River empties into.

The Police union is concerned a vacuum is being created because of the number of senior officers leaving the force. There are concerns there's not enough experience to mentor new recruits. The President of the Police Association Chris Cahill talks about why the officers are leaving and why its been a issue for decades.

The President of the United States of America says he mis-spoke in a press conference with his Russian counterpart. In the joint interview with Vladimir Putin he said he didn't "see any reason why" Russia would have interfered in the 2016 US election. His bad. Now he says he meant to say wouldn't. Doh! Our US political correspondent Karen Kasler tells us just how this is playing out with the American people.

The Justice Minister Andrew Little has spoken out against Australia's inhumane deportation laws. He was referring to sending New Zealand-born criminals back here, even if they've spent most of their lives in Australia.In an interview with the ABC he said detaining people for a length of time without charging them would not be tolerated in any democratic country.

A man who's joined the US Navy as a surgeon at the age of 63 says he feels he's in his prime. Do the Panelists fancy keeping going with that kind of energy until the day they drop? Or pehaps a four-day working week appeals? What the Panelists Damian Christie and Susan Hornsby-Geluk want to talk about. Whanganui man Karl Fulton was shocked to see an SUV drive along the beach and a man dump a load of rubbish right into the sea. It contained razor blades, old steel handrails and plastic bottles. Whanganui District councillor Jenny Duncan says illegal dumping is a common problem all over the region. Removalists in Australia earn the big bucks. $A93 an hour. Meanwhile, plumbers average $A83 an hour, electricians $A75 and general handypersons are on $A56. Jeremy Wyn-Harris of the Builder's Crack trades website talks about how much tradespeople earn in New Zealand and what influences their rates.