Author: Press Room

Food and fibre exports are set to reach $56.9 billion dollars in the year to the end of June 2025 driven by strong dairy prices and rebounding prices for red meat and logs. This was an increase on the $54.6 billion the primary industries earned in the year to June 2024 – but was down 7 percent on 2023’s record of $57.4 billion for export revenues. Dairy export revenue is forecast to increase 10 percent to $25.5 billion due to the combination of higher dairy prices and tighter global supply. Just last week, Fonterra announced a record forecast milk price payout…

The new Minister of Rail Winston Peters has poured scorn on ACT leader David Seymour’s hopes of privatising the Cook Strait ferry service — and says Seymour was “wrong” about the cost of the new project.Yesterday, Seymour said indicative costings were “approximately half the at least $3 billion cost” of Labour’s proposal.He shared that information despite Minister of Finance Nicola Willis’ caution about disclosing costs.Asked on Morning Report if the Government had a sum in mind, Peters said it would be “stupid” and “imprudent” to name the price.”I said [on Wednesday] it would be most imprudent, politically and business-wise, stupid,…

The North Island is in for more wet weather from today, with watches in place for some areas.MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne/Tairāwhiti from 7am today until 6pm this evening.Areas of heavier falls and thunderstorms were also possible for Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Taupo, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne/ Tairāwhiti, according to the forecaster.Heavy rain is likely in several areas, with thunderstorms and localised downpours possible until 6pm.

Tauranga councillors have been flooded with emails opposing iwi representatives being appointed to council committees.The emails poured in ahead of Tuesday’s Tauranga City Council meeting where the decision was made.Councillor Hautapu Baker said the majority of the 2500 emails were from members of Hobson’s Pledge, a lobby group that opposed “special” Māori representation in Government.In October, the council was asked to reinstate tangata whenua appointments and their voting rights on council committees by Te Rangapū Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana chairwoman Matire Duncan.Matire Duncan chair of Te Rangapū Mana Whenua o Tauranga Moana. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)Te Rangapū represented the…

Ukrainian prime minister Denis Shmyhal urged Germany to help create safe conditions for the return of Ukrainian refugees to their homeland. ADVERTISEMENT”We are interested in bringing all Ukrainians back”, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at a press conference attended by Euronews and a handful of other media, which took place on the sidelines of the German-Ukrainian Economic Forum.Shmyhal also emphasised that security remains a key factor for these refugees. “They’re waiting for the war to finish,” he explained, urging Germany to help create safe conditions to go back when that happens.The creation of mutual joint infrastructure between German authorities…

Military personnel have had their Christmas and New Year leave cancelled to fill gaps left by strikes, says a lobby group.Defence Minister Judith Collins last month invoked a rarely-used power to allow uniformed service men and women to fill in for striking civilian staff.But the Mission Homefront group has written to her, saying this was unprecedented and unacceptable.”The orders had led to Christmas and New Year leave being cancelled for many in uniform,” said the group this week.”More time away from their families adds to existing stress and contributes to a decrease in morale for people who are already managing…

In an exclusive interview with Euronews in Budapest, Georgia’s new Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili questioned whether the protests by pro-EU groups in her country could truly be described as “peaceful”. ADVERTISEMENTMass protests in Georgia are about to enter their third week, with thousands of Georgians taking to the streets to demonstrate against the recent decision by Tbilisi to put EU accession talks on hold. Protesters vowed to continue to demonstrate for as long as it takes until their demands are met, despite the intensifying violent nature of the clashes. Police have resorted to more heavy-handed tactics in an attempt to…

This week has seen a ratcheting up of pressure from the political right and car industry, which want the EU to ease regulations designed to cut emissions and promote a switch to electric vehicles. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Commission must take action “as soon as possible” as the automotive sector faces huge fines as a deadline to reduce the average emissions of cars and vans looms, the centre-right European People’s Party reiterated today.Stricter CO2 emissions standards agreed in 2019 come into force next year, but carmakers are blaming sluggish sales of electric vehicles for their inability to comply when the limit tightens…

A strange signal that has been interrupting a South Island council’s water monitoring system is being investigated by a government department.Waitaki District Council said its water and wastewater plants send data back to Oamaru but that the information from Hampden, Herbert and Moeraki had been recently disrupted.”We’ve had a strange signal interruption that sounds like a machine-gun like thudding.”In a statement, Waitaki District Council confirmed to 1News the disruptions have been “occurring for the past two months or so but is intermittent”.The council said it did not occur every day but that it crashed its systems for the entire day…

A delicate compromise has been struck to balance fishing activities and resource conservation in the Mediterranean, following intense negotiations that placed the sector under significant scrutiny. ADVERTISEMENTEU fisheries ministers reached an agreement on fishing limits for 2025 after two days of discussions in Brussels ended on Wednesday night, with wrangling over Mediterranean stocks leading to reduced quotas.These measures decided at the EU level aim to safeguard the long-term health of fish stocks and marine ecosystems in the Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean, and Black Sea while ensuring the livelihoods of fishing communities.The debate over fishing days—also known as fishing efforts—in the…