Show Notes
Holidaymakers are being asked to do a little homework this long weekend to help one of New Zealand's endangered birds. Labour weekend happens to coincide with the start of the mating season for the often secretive Australasian Bittern, or matuku-hurepo. It means its distinctive booming calls will be a little more prevalent around wetlands in the coming weeks. There are fewer than a thousand left in the wild. So conservation group Love Bittern is asking for Kiwis to put aside a couple of hours to listen out for it and record what they hear. Love Bittern's Wendy Ambury spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
More from Morning Report
Chloe Swarbrick discusses increase in threats to; ACC requests for historic patient notes add to GP workload; Lillian Hanly on Labour's response to candidate's gang; Heather Keats previews Labour Weekend's weather
We cross the Tasman to talk to our correspondent Richard Willingham from ABC in Victoria.
For this week's regional spotlight, we're heading to a tiny community called Ross, south of Hokitika. And while Church attendance may be decreasing generally, all pews will be filled this Sunday in Ross's St Patrick's Catholic Church, as it celebrates its 160th anniversary. The building is the oldest surviving structure on the West Coast, Parishioner Biddy Manera spoke to John Campbell.
If you've stayed in an Airbnb before you might be familiar with it. You're left with a list of chores to do before you leave, and then handed a cleaning fee on top of that. Airbnb is taking some steps to change that. RNZ money correspondent and host of the No Stupid Questions podcast, Susan Edmunds spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.