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Checkpoint with Lisa Owen is RNZ’s weekday drive-time news programme, Our people, stories and breaking news and interviews from 4-6pm.
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It's our final Checkpoint programme of the year, we've done 226 shows in 2024, that's close to 500 hours of radio and we've covered a lot of really remarkable stories from Aotearoa and around the world. Back in February, the show was expanded from 90 minutes to two hours and our time slot was changed to 4 - 6. There has been more than enough bad news out there this year, but we've also had plenty of fun. So to wrap things up, our producer Johnny Sutherland pulled together some of the lighter moments we've had here on Checkpoint in 2024.
Asia correspondent Erin Hale spoke to Lisa Owen about a woman who's just returned home to the Philippines after spending 14 years on death row in Indonesia, China looking to make travel more accesible for would-be tourists and Fukushima set to name and shame anyone who doesn't follow the city's strict rubbish policy.
You wouldn't buy your child a sibling as a present, so don't buy a companion animal without thinking very hard. That's the message from Mini Vadke from Mama Mini's rescue in Palmerston North, who knows too well how often animals are neglected or abandoned if they're given to friends or family as Christmas presents. Shih tzu-loving reporter Jimmy Ellingham paid Mama Mini's a visit.
News from the business sector, including a market report
Game one of the Rose Bowl series against Australia was abandoned and both teams will be hoping for a better weather forecast at the Basin Reserve for game two. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen.
In a surprise move, the sale of polytechnics will be on the table when the national institute of technology Te Pūkenga is disestablished. Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds today announced the government is going ahead with its plan to re-establish stand-alone polytechnics. She said the legislation to do that will include the possibility of sale, but it is not not an option the government is likely to use. Education correspondent John Gerritsen.
Lavinia Mahit in Port Vila, the acting country director for Save The Children in Vanuatu spoke to Lisa Owen about the 3.7 magnitude earthquake in Vanuatu.
Search and rescue including a specialist New Zealand team continue to scour rubble in Port Vila, with locals saying there were more than a dozen people were in the Billabong store that pancaked in quake. Communication remains patchy and electricity is being restored neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Back here on Aotearoa, there a number of ni-vanuatu working in seasonal jobs in horticulture or viticulture. 57 work at Cromwell vineyard Grape Vision, its owner James Dicey spoke to Lisa Owen.
There's a little bit of a penguin parade going on in Oamaru. They've been wombling around the town and in out of shops in their best all year round tuxedos. A local tourism group is keeping an eye on the wayward wanderers, making sure they are in tip top health and can find their way back to the water. Colony Science and Environmental manager for Tourism Waitaki, Phillipa Agnew spoke to Lisa Owen.
Hundreds of Manawatu residents at higher risk of developing bowel cancer have been told they won't get their regular check-up colonoscopies for at least six months. Te Whatu Ora MidCentral said it's prioritising patients with symptoms and those in the National Bowel Screening programme - but doctors and advocates warn there's a risk some people will fall between the gaps. Ruth Hill reports.
Being able to swim is often considered a life skill in a country like New Zealand - but tough economic times are forcing many families to pull their children out of swim lessons. A swim school in Wellington said they've had a large drop in the number of families paying for swimming lessons over the last six months. But water experts say Wellington waterfront is a hotspot for drownings, and if parents can't afford lessons, then something needs to be done. Bella Craig reports.
Lawson will return home to New Zealand over the Christmas period before getting back to work in the simulator in the new year, testing on track in Bahrain in February and getting on the starting grid in Melbourne in March. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen.
The popularity of Electric Vehicles in New Zealand has moved into the slow lane. With the end of the clean car discount, introduction of road user charges or new ACC levies - things have kept coming this year that might make less people want to go along for the EV ride. Sales for EVs have slumped, with some in the sector describing this year as "really hard." Money Correspondent Susan Edmunds spoke to Lisa Owen.
Someone once said a balanced diet is a cookie in each hand, they could have worked for Checkpoint. This week we've had our snouts in the good old fashioned biscuit sampler box that one of our producers bought and boy has it brought back the memories for us and you. The old family rules like being forced to take one plain one for every posh one, so you don't get left with all the rejects. It's proved controversial, there used to be a broader selection in the box and some of you don't agree with the designated survivors. Marketing Director for Griffin's NZ Hannah McKee spoke to Lisa Owen.
The Australian Government is seeking assurances from Malaysia that two men who took part in the 2002 Bali Bombings, now released from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, will be kept under supervision. Australia correspondent Nick Grimm spoke to Lisa Owen.
Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey didn't make a Budget bid this year for more mental health service beds, despite them being at or over capacity. The Opposition says this is a massive oversight, although health officials say they're concentrating on improving staff levels. Jimmy Ellingham reports.
News from the business sector, including a market report.
It's been a tough year for foodbanks with more people in financial hardship and funding hard to come by. But one foodbank in Porirua run by Wellington iwi Ngāti Toa says collaboration and connection is what helps them survive a tough year and keep feeding the community. Māori Issues Reporter Pokere Paewai visited Te Umu Ki Rangi-tuhi on one of their busiest weeks in the build up to Christmas.
Taupō International Motorsport Park hosted racing this year after New Zealand dropped off the schedule for a season. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen.
Corrections is slashing the amount of time prisoners can spend on jail phones talking to their whanau, and said some inmates have been abusing the system, resorting to violence and stand over tactics to monopolise the phone. Currently, prisoners make free calls to approved numbers for up to three hours a day, but in the new year that is being cut back to just half an hour. Corrections Commissioner for Custodial Services, Leigh Marsh spoke to Lisa Owen.
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thank you
disgusting :'(
Religions have been getting everything for free for far too long. A lot of people are sick of archaic religions having different rules than everyone else.
Has NZ received a official proof of the alleged chemical attack from independent international investigation organisations such as OPCW?