Author: Press Room

An 11th-hour plea has been made to Alliance Group farmer shareholders to vote against selling 65% of their co-operative to Irish meat company Dawn Meats. But Alliance chairman Mark Wynne has reiterated the alternative plan put forward by a group of Southland-based shareholders to recapitalise the company and keep it wholly in farmer ownership still had two fundamental principles the board does not agree with. On Monday, a special shareholders meeting is being held in Invercargill, where shareholders will vote on the proposed Dawn Meats deal. In September, a group of Southland-based shareholders wrote to fellow shareholders proposing an alternative…

The clean-up after days of heavy rain and widespread flooding has begun as the Ruapehu district counts the cost of the damage.Ruapehu District Council has warned of health risks from floodwater, and key state highways remain closed after the rain left roads damaged and small settlements cut off.Early indications suggest roading repairs will cost millions of dollars.The council has stepped down its emergency response, downgrading its Emergency Operations Centre to Level 1 and signalling that the immediate emergency has passed.Civil Defence controller Clive Manley said the recovery would take time and caution was still needed.”Calls for welfare assistance have dropped…

MTF Finance has completed its ninth public securitisation, achieving one of the strongest results in its history. The $269.7 million class A notes (the highest tranche of an asset-backed security) were rated AAA (sf — structured finance) and were met with what it described as “exceptional demand”, receiving bids for more than double the amount on offer. More than 90% of investment came from “real money” domestic institutions including KiwiSaver providers. Three new investors joined the programme, alongside several returning institutions. In a statement, chief executive Chris Lamers said it was a strong endorsement of the company’s credit performance and…

ACT Leader David Seymour has handed back a couple of portfolio responsibilities and picked one up in some quietly revealed changes.1News approached Minister’s Seymour’s office after noticing two entries in the Prime Minister’s recently released titles of advice revealed delegation changes in his associate finance portfolio and the addition of responsibilities in associate health.Seymour was responsible for the Natural Hazards Commission, but told 1News in a statement: “In the case of the Natural Hazards Commission, I was required to make joint decisions with the Minister of Finance. This was overly complicated, and the Commission deserves timely decisions. I asked to…

Published on 17/10/2025 – 16:44 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT The European Commission has called on Israel to lift restrictions on the delivery of aid to Gaza, one week after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force. The agreement, brokered by US President Donald Trump, stipulates that Israel must grant passage to 600 aid trucks daily. So far, Israel has limited the flow of aid with authorities only allowing the entry of half the agreed-upon amount daily. Israel says that’s in response to Hamas allegedly breaching the truce agreement by returning the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages too slowly. For instance,…

Liquidators are counting up the debts of Christchurch glass and plastic jar supplier Croftpak Ltd as estimates climb to more than $914,000. Unsecured creditors are unlikely to be repaid as the company is short on funds to cover debts to 39 creditors. Rodgers Reidy insolvency practitioners Lynda Smart and Derek Ah Sam were appointed liquidators of the company by shareholder Gregory Croft on October 1 and have put out a first report. The company, formed in 2003, has ceased trading, with the liquidators taking possession of assets to be sold. Mr Croft, who is the sole director, told them the…

If you fixed your home loan more than a few months ago, you might have mixed feelings as you watch interest rates continue to fall.While interest rates are likely to stay low through next year, you might worry you are missing out on some potential savings right now.From an average 5.59% for special one-year rates in January, banks are now offering rates below 4.5%.So what can you do if you now have rate regret?You really only have two options: Wait it out or break your fixed term.If you break a fixed term, this will come at a cost.The bank is…

ADVERTISEMENT Vladimir Putin is coming to Budapest. At least, that is what the invitation says. After a lengthy phone call with Donald Trump on Thursday, the leaders of the United States and Russia tentatively agreed to meet in the EU and NATO capital sometime in the near future to discuss a possible end to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Whether that tête-à-tête happens is still unclear, but the news itself sent shockwaves across capitals, as the trip could mark Putin’s first intrusion into the European Union’s territory since early 2020 and further undercut the Western effort to isolate him. But…

A St John worker who helped with the response to 2019’s Whakaari / White Island eruption says he had trouble sleeping for weeks after.At the Coronial Inquest into the disaster, which killed 22 people, he said what happpened was “a very challenging time”.”During the event I don’t think it really hit hit me until after the event, I didn’t sleep for quite a few weeks very well at all,” he said.The staffer, who was working on the St John Air Desk which coordinates and dispatches air rescues, cannot be identified.”I kept replaying over in my head, what decisions have been…

ADVERTISEMENT The Party of European Socialists (PES) has expelled the Slovak prime minister Robert Fico’s party from its political group in the European Parliament. The Socialist group’s assembly took the decision unanimously on Friday and it was announced by Secretary General Giacomo Fillibeck during the Socialist Congress in Amsterdam. “Smer has been taking over the past couple of years political positioning that contradicts severely and deeply the values and the principles our family stands for,” he said. “The message is clear: if you belong to the PES family, you share the same values we all do.” The move has been…