Author: Press Room

The Chase New Zealand kicks off tomorrow, featuring two of the show’s biggest international stars, Anne Hegerty (aka The Governess) of the UK and Issa Schultz (aka The Supernerd) of Australia. But how much do the pair know about Aotearoa? Emily Simpson asked each of them the same five questions to find out who knew more. What do you give the person who knows everything? A question about New Zealand of course. Despite our nation’s ongoing claims that a pop star or sports team has really “put us on the map”, we remain largely off the map, or at least…

The asbestos-filled and abandoned Fitz student bar in Palmerston North was burning, black smoke billowing on Thursday, around the same time that work safety experts were nutting out submissions on a Government move they warn will erode controls around the dangerous substance.”We don’t want a watered-down system,” said Helina Stil, president of the Demolition and Asbestos Association. “We told them [WorkSafe].”The Fitz fire was out just after midnight but several nearby schools kept children home on Friday, and were testing for any asbestos fibres that might have been released into the wind, and settled aroundabout.A text alert sent out widely…

Pasifika councillor Victoria Short dreamed of representing her community, but first she had to overcome a major fear.When Short first stood for the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board at 28, she nearly didn’t make it to her first candidates’ meeting.”I cried before my speech,” she recalled. “Public speaking terrified me. I didn’t think the Shore was ready for someone like me.”She went anyway, encouraged by her husband.”He’s my biggest supporter, my voice of reason, the love of my life,” she said. “He told me, ‘Just do it’. So I did.”That decision set her on a path that would lead, five…

Four people have been rescued after a boat capsized on the Raglan bar in Waikato this morning. Surf Life Saving New Zealand said a mayday call was made just after 10am for a capsized vessel on the north side of the Raglan bar with four people on board. Raglan surf lifeguards responded in an inflatable rescue boat and rescue water craft alongside Coastguard.Four people were retrieved from the water and returned to shore. Hate Hone St John also responded to the scene with one ambulance. Two people were in a moderate condition and two people were in a minor condition.…

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown and the city’s 19 councillors were sworn into office on Friday evening.The colourful inauguration ceremony held at the Auckland Town Hall began with the Earth, Wind, and Fire hit song September.In his inauguration speech, Mayor Brown – who won the mayoralty by more than 100,000 votes or, as he described it, “four-and-a-half full stadiums at Eden Park” – shared his plans for the city.”It is a great honour and privilege to be here at this rather long and weirdly organised event, but it’s an important one, so settle in, as this is my chance to outline…

Rural communities worried about the fire and pest risk from forestry hope a series of meetings with rural National MPs will result in legislation changes to better protect them.A huge forestry fire near the Central Hawke’s Bay village of Pōrangahau last week took days to extinguish, and was the main talking point on Thursday, during a timely visit from National MPs Mike Butterick and Carl Bates.The MPs are travelling to rural areas in New Zealand to discuss the wildfire risk and invasive pests associated with forestryLast week a fire burnt through about 250 hectares of forestry near Pōrangahau, owned by…

More cheaper houses are changing hands, as the housing market finds its feet, new data indicates.Property research firm Cotality has released data that shows property values across the country lifted 0.2% in October, the second monthly rise in a row.Across the main centres, Auckland fell again, down 0.2%, with Hamilton flat in October. Tauranga and Wellington both lifted by 0.2%, while Christchurch, up 0.4%, and Dunedin, up 0.7%, were stronger.The national median value is now $811,662, but the median sale price for the third recent quarter was $761,000, indicating that more homes in the lower price brackets are changing hands.Cotality…

Pasifika medical providers are mobilising to vaccinate their community most at risk as the number of measles cases increases to 16 nationwide.While herd immunity needs to be at 95% to prevent an outbreak, data on fully vaccinated kids from a public health specialist shows that’s not being met.Cook Islands, Samoan and Tongan communities are all in the low eighties and only 73% of kids of Fijian ethnicity are immunised.Health providers have told 1News vaccine hesitancy is having a major impact in Auckland.Chief operating officer for The Fono Sally Dalhousie said its hugely concerning as it’s often the Pacific babies that…

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the change in the trading environment has been a “wake-up call” for many countries and there’s “huge momentum” from other leaders to stick to the rules-based order.Luxon said the “real shifts” in geopolitics shouldn’t be something to be frightened about and New Zealand should see it as an opportunity as much as a challenge.Speaking at the end of his week in South East Asia, Luxon pointed out that, more than ever, New Zealand needed to advance its own national interests.He also pointed to the need to “renew our institutions that govern international rules”.”We need to…

The Education Minister is standing by recent changes to the school maths curriculum, despite concern from some educators who say they’ve been “blindsided” by the scale of the updates.Several teachers and academics are calling for the rollout to be delayed, saying schools need more time to prepare for what they see as substantial changes to the content being taught for years 0 to 10.Porirua College’s head of mathematics, Jennifer Crisp, said she was surprised at how different the final version was from the draft she and other teachers had provided feedback on.“This is a new new curriculum. I wrote many…