Lately for Thursday 2 July 2020

Photo: RNZ Andrew Robertson

10:20 Dr David Clark resigns and Todd Muller re-shuffles

A summary of this morning's announcements from Parliament where the Health Minister Dr David Clark threw in the towel, while National's leader Todd Muller brought former leader Simon Bridges back into the mix and moved Dr Shane Reti up the ranks following this week's resignation of Paula Bennett.

Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas

10:30 Hundreds of jobs promised for Whanganui 

The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $27 million in four projects at the Whanganui Port.

Karyn speaks with Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall about the impact this will have on the region.

Photo: Whanganui District Council

10:45 The Rest Is History: the search for the SS Ventnor 

It's time for The Rest Is History and this week we're looking at the story of a ship that sank to the bottom of the Tasman Sea almost 120 years ago.

The SS Ventnor left Wellington in October 1902 carrying the bodies of 499 Chinese men, back to China to their families. These men were mostly gold miners who had worked in the Otago, Greymouth area.

But the ship sank off the Hokianga Heads after striking a reef near Taranaki and trying to head north for repairs in Auckland. Most of the crew made it ashore, but 13, including the captain, drowned.

The wreck of the Ventnor was initially located in 2012 by a documentary crew who this week say they now have enough footage to make a documentary. 

Wellington writer and editor Kirsten Wong has been following the mission to find the Ventnor for over a decade.

The SS Ventnor sank in the Hokianga Heads in 1902. Photo: Auckland Library

The SS Ventnor sank in the Hokianga Heads in 1902. Photo: Auckland Library