Author: Press Room

Consumer NZ wants the Government to crack down on what it calls a systemic problem of misleading supermarket prices.The consumer organisation said shoppers were too often being stung at the checkout and paying more than the advertised shelf price for items.New World and Pak’nSave owner Foodstuffs said it took pricing accuracy seriously and had invested in systems and staff training to reduce errors. RNZ has approached Woolworths for comment.Consumer NZ chief Jon Duffy said pricing errors might seem small for individuals but the practice was costing New Zealanders tens of millions of dollars a year.He said the Government needed to…

The man who was killed in Hamilton while celebrating his upcoming 21st birthday on Sunday has been named by police. He was 20-year-old Tyreece Te Pairi from Hamilton. Te Pairi died from injuries sustained in a fight on Alexandra St during the early hours of Sunday. Three others were treated for moderate and serious injuries. Police described the incident as a “senseless act of violence” and believed two groups of people were involved. Detective Inspector Daryl Smith said police were providing support to Te Pairi’s family “as they come to terms with this tragedy and prepare to farewell him”.Smith said…

The Foreign Minister has called for a ceasefire in Gaza in a statement delivered in Parliament, but the Opposition says more action is needed.Winston Peters stopped short of promising further aid funding for Gaza, or promising to join efforts to prevents weapons being sold to Israel, or to recognise Palestine as an independent country until there is a representative to negotiate it with.But he did promise a “considered answer” on whether New Zealand would support South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice, which claimed Israel has committed genocide.He concluded the debate in Parliament by noting “just how difficult…

Thousands have signed an open letter following Regulations Minister David Seymour’s scathing response to the United Nation raising concerns over the impact of Government legislation and policies on Māori. The letter to Albert Barume, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, invites him to “remain engaged” with Māori following Seymour’s intervention last week.Indigenous rights advocate Tina Ngata, an author of the open letter, said Seymour’s response was “quite alarming” considering no conclusion from Barume’s work has been made. She said on TVNZ’s Marae: “It is [Barume’s] job, where concerns are repeatedly raised to him, to inquire more deeply…

A Porirua man has been sentenced to more than two years in jail after being found guilty of poaching 619 pāua – more than 60 times the daily catch limit.In November 2022, fishery officers searching the home of Ruteru Sufia found 65 pāua in a freezer along with 554 shucked pāua in another freezer.”This was a large amount of pāua, more than 60 times the daily catch limit and more than 30 times the accumulation limit. Also, 45 of the pāua found were undersize,” Fisheries New Zealand regional manager, Fisheries Compliance, Phil Tasker, said. The seized pāua found at the…

An Invercargill businessman who was found dead while on a fishing trip in Fiordland is being remembered as full of energy and passion.Southland KIA confirmed on social media that its dealer principal Rick Murrell had died, calling him a much-loved figure in the Southland community, who was larger-than-life, quick witted, and “a character that everyone admired and enjoyed being around”.Police also confirmed Richard Charles Murrell, 60, from Invercargill, had died in the incident.A search was launched when two experienced fishermen did not return from a fishing trip on Lake Manapouri on Sunday night and failed to check in via radio.A…

Eleven stolen road signs have been returned to their rightful owners across the South Island after being discovered at a property near Greymouth.The signs were from Greymouth, Runanga, Timaru, Gladstone, Cameron, Rutherglen, Ōtira and Paringa — and included two street signs and a police sign.Some belonged to local councils, while others were owned by the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.Police located the haul while executing a search warrant at an address in Dobson, east of Greymouth, in March last year. Grey District Council was notified on June 11.“The signs have been returned to their relevant owners,” a police spokesperson said…

The Mama Hooch rapists’ High Court appeal has been heard in Christchurch, almost two years after they were jailed.At the one-day hearing yesterday, their defence team called for a retrial, claiming the way their six-week judge-alone trial was conducted led to a miscarriage of justice.The Jaz brothers were convicted on 68 of the combined 113 charges they faced, for stupefying and subjecting 17 young women to sex attacks. Danny Jaz was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison while his brother, Roberto, was jailed for 17 years. Danny Jaz (left) and Roberto Jaz were convicted of rape and…

Gore District Council has lifted the do-not-drink notice on the township’s water supply following a third day of testing beneath the national limit for nitrates.The municipal water supply has been off limits since Friday after a monthly sample breached the drinking water standards on Friday.Spokesperson Jason Domigan said nitrate levels in one well were still higher than normal, and the council would work with Environment Southland and water regulator Taumata Arowai to find out where the spike was coming from.More monitoring may be behind the notice to avoid the tap water, which was a first for the small Southland town. …

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ and Nine to Noon More than 50,000 people made withdrawals from their KiwiSaver accounts on the basis of hardship in the year to June – compared to about 18,000 five years ago. KiwiSaver provider Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said the increase started in 2023 and the reasons were easy to understand – the recession and cost-of-living crisis were putting ongoing pressure on people’s budgets. “But some context – the number of hardship withdrawals were 1.6 percent members, and 0.3 percent of savings. The hardship, as is true for the wider society, is concentrated pain…