Author: Press Room

Bluebridge has announced it will buy a new ship to replace its 28-year-old Cook Strait ferry.The company currently sails its Strait Feronia and Connemara ferries through the route between the North and South Islands.Bluebridge will replace the Strait Feronia which first launched in 1997 with the Stena Livia which began sailing in 2008.The Stena Livia was currently sailing for the company Stena Line between Germany and Latvia.StraitNZ chief executive Shane McMahon said, as the owner of Bluebridge, the company was delighted to have secured the vessel as part of its continued commitment to upgrade services for customers using the critical…

New Zealanders have given the Government a rating of 4.2 out of 10 in the latest Ipsos Issues Monitor survey, the lowest on record since it started measuring in mid-2017.Falling concern about cost of living/inflation — down five percentage points to 50%, the lowest in three years — appears not to have done enough to buoy Government popularity.The Ipsos New Zealand survey was carried out between February 24 and March 2, and asked 1002 New Zealanders what they thought were the top three most important issues facing the country today.Health was still the second-biggest concern — its rating unchanged at…

Tasman District Council is proposing to hike most of its fees and charges for the next financial year by 10%, much higher than the current annual inflation rate of 2.2%.Some areas, such as dog registration fees and official information requests, might have even greater increases.Ahead of a full council meeting on Thursday, resident and representative of local lobby group Tasman Democracy Mathias Schaeffner told elected members that the increases made no sense.”We are all affected by inflation in the same way.”He was particularly concerned by the “shocking” increase to charges for Local Government Official Information Meetings Act (LGOIMA) requests.The council’s…

A man who died on Tuesday after being found critically injured on a roadside in Wellington’s Miramar has today been formally named by police.He was 63-year-old Abdul Nabizadah, originally from Afghanistan, Detective Inspector Nick Pritchard said.Nabizadah was found with serious head injuries at the intersection of Camperdown Rd and Darlington Rd around 2.20am on Monday, March 17.He was found near his vehicle by police carrying out inquiries following a serious burglary that happened a short distance away about 20 minutes earlier. Nabizadah died in hospital the following day.A post-mortem was completed on March 19 and found the cause of death…

A jet-skier who went missing in Cook Strait last month has now been named.Andrew David Walker, 68, of Paraparaumu, did not arrive at Plimmerton, north of Wellington, on his jetski as planned on February 3.Walker was trying to cross the Cook Strait, a trip the Kāpiti Boating Club said he had done many times.Waves in the area at the time were between half a metre to one metre high, but there were strong rips and currents in the seas around Cook Rock and the nearby Brother Islands.Police said hundreds of search hours were put into finding Walker including air, shoreline…

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ The Warehouse’s fortunes may have turned around, but the red sheds aren’t the only place New Zealanders can get a bargain any more, and that’s likely to be a problem, analysts say. The Warehouse Group reported a half-year profit of $11.8 million on Friday for the six months to 26 January. That is compared to a $27.7m loss a year earlier. But Paul Koraua, NZ equities analyst at Forsyth Barr, said “turnaround” was a stronger term than he would choose to describe the performance. “The sales declines are slowing, it feels like we’re finding a…

Police patrol puppies in Wellington have been named after three women’s sports teams to help shine light on women’s sport. Pulse, Phoenix and Poua were named after Central Pulse Netball, Women’s Phoenix Netball and Hurricanes Poua teams. The idea was police dog trainer Sergeant Matt Fage’s who wanted to acknowledge the local women’s sport teams.”I think the teams were quite chuffed to be part of this and have a dog named after them,” said Fage.The teams were invited to meet the puppies with Pulse centre-court player Whitney Souness saying it was a “cool experience” to see the training the young…

Food giant Talley’s has lost its High Court bid to force TVNZ to identify whistleblowers who complained about the business.In a ruling issued today, the court dismissed the company’s claim for to reveal the sources “in its entirety”.Talley’s is suing TVNZ for defamation over a series of 1News reports in 2021 on health and safety issues, which Talley’s strongly denies. During a court hearing in February, Talley’s lawyers argued that to get a fair trial they needed to know who the whistleblowers were so they could test their credibility and whether it was responsible for 1News to rely on those…

A group connected with Destiny Church has lost its legal challenge against a rainbow crossing in Wellington.The complainants originally took the Wellington City Council and Waka Kotahi to court over the rainbow crossing on Cuba Street, arguing it was a safety risk and in breach of road safety rules. They claimed the rainbow crossing was confusing as it looked like a “zebra” pedestrian crossing when it wasn’t — the crossing was controlled by lights.However, in a High Court decision released today, Justice Jason McHerron ruled there was no evidence that pedestrians were misled that they had an automatic right of…

Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Slovakia to participate in regular demonstrations against incumbent Prime Minister Robert Fico and his pro-Russian policies. ADVERTISEMENTLarge crowds again took to the streets across Slovakia on Friday to voice their opposition to populist Prime Minister Robert Fico and his pro-Russian policies.Over the last three months, tens of thousands of people have rallied every fortnight in Bratislava and beyond, demanding Fico’s resignation.The protests began in late December after Fico’s trip to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a rare visit to the Kremlin by a European Union leader since Moscow’s all-out…