Checkpoint for Wednesday 8 October 2025

5:45 PM.The minister in charge of fisheries says more ocean space is needed for the farming of kai moana, so that aquaculture can one day rival New Zealand's beef sector. Shane Jones opened the industry's… Read more Audio

5:45 PM.United Kingdom correspondent Lucy Thomson spoke to Lisa Owen about UK opposition leader Kemi Badenoch being forced to defend attendance at her party's conference, as well as Nigel Farage who has been… Read more Audio

5:35 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

5:30 PM.A stern warning has been sent to rugby and league players considering a switch to R360. The rebel league is reportedly set to launch in October next year and claims to have agreements in place with… Read more Audio

5:25 PM.The temperature is rising, so are sea levels, and the weather is getting more extreme. So if that iis what the science is showing us, why aren't we adapting more quickly to the risks? That is the… Read more Audio

5:15 PM.The outgoing Wellington mayor has taken aim at her critics in and outside the council in her final speech today. In her last three years in the hot seat, Tory Whanau has been outspoken about her own… Read more Audio

5:08 PM.The Reserve Bank has cut wholesale interest rates by 50 basis points to 2.5%. It has also left the door open to a further cut in November. It considered a less aggressive move..but noted stronger… Read more Audio

4:48 PM.Grain farmers are being ground down by rising production costs. As of July, the amount of all harvested crops was down 2% on last season - and the amount of unsold grain was up by almost 21,000… Read more Audio

4:45 PM.Police say a fatal house fire in the East Auckland suburb of Bucklands Beach last Thursday was deliberately lit. A father and his son are the two believed to have been killed at the Murvale Drive… Read more Audio

4:37 PM.For detection dogs, sniffing out predators in remote South Westland is just part of their day job. But they're a key part of the Predator Free South Westland mission to eliminate every possum, rat and… Read more Audio

4:30 PM.An Auckland teenager has made history at the Weightlifting World Championships in Norway. Olivia Selemaia's eighth place finish is the best-ever by a New Zealand female lifter. However she had mixed… Read more Audio

4:25 PM.National has dipped into the twenties, while New Zealand First has hit double-digits, in a new poll. The latest Taxpayers Union-Curia poll has National down 3.5 percentage points to 29.6%. Labour has… Read more Audio

4:06 PM.New Zealand Post has approval to cut the number of mail deliveries it does in a week. In urban areas, two days a week will be the minimum, down from three. But the cuts are deeper in rural areas… Read more Audio