Author: Press Room

New Zealand businesses owe more than $1.4 billion in unpaid GST and PAYE from the 2025 tax year, in what commentators say is a sign of the stress many parts of the economy are still under.Inland Revenue has provided a breakdown of PAYE and GST still unpaid for the tax years 2018 through to 2025.There is still almost $48 million unpaid from 2018 – and $1.471 billion from the most recent year.Of 2025’s number, $432.9m relates to employer activities and $1.047b to GST.Just over $66m of the debt was from businesses or individuals who were bankrupt or in liquidation.Businesses collect…

There are concerns for the welfare of an Auckland man who was last seen more than two weeks ago. John Bagnall, 57, was reported missing from the Pt Chevalier and Mt Roskill areas on Thursday, July 31.He was last seen at 7.24am on July 20 at Kiwi Storage on Carr Road in Mt Roskill. An image from the last known sighting of John Bagnall. (Source: 1News)Today, police asked the public for any information that may help in the search for Bagnall. Police said it was looking for any sightings of Bagnall or his white Nissan van with the registration PSU806.The…

By Guyon Espiner of RNZ A leaked Cabinet paper shows the government was planning to restrict the hours bottle stores and supermarkets could sell alcohol but then backed away to focus on reforms more friendly to the alcohol industry. The Associate Justice Minister – ACT’s Nicole McKee – is reforming the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act and had said that part of her focus would be reducing alcohol harm, which currently costs the country $9.1 billion a year. But documents leaked to RNZ, including a draft Cabinet paper, suggest the minister is now switching the focus of her reforms…

A reclusive Christchurch man who was his mother’s sole caregiver killed her in bed with a sword, a coroner has found.Nicholas McIlraith, 46, then took his own life, with police only discovering their bodies in their Riccarton home weeks later, the day after his mother Beverley McIlraith’s 80th birthday.Officers had gone to the house to do a welfare check, after relatives could not reach her by phone. Flowers and a parcel had not been collected from the front door.In a report released on Wednesday, Coroner Katharine Greig found the McIlraiths died on or about 6-7 March 2022.Evidence from the scene…

Unemployment edged up to a near five-year high as businesses halted hiring, but slack in the jobs market increased, and wage growth slowed further. Stats NZ numbers showed the unemployment rate rising to 5.2 percent in the three months ended June, from 5.1 percent in the previous quarter. The data was a shade below expectations. It’s the highest unemployment rate since 2020. Unemployment has been steadily rising as business either sacked staff or stopped hiring because of the weak economy, while the workforce has increased despite a slowdown in migration. “Labour market conditions have changed considerably in the last few…

Police say there is a “very high chance” of serious injury or death amid incidents of powerline tampering and theft across the Christchurch region in recent months. “This is not only frustrating to when essential services are disrupted, but this also comes with a serious safety risk,” Christchurch Tactical Crime Unit Acting Detective Sergeant Steph Trengrove said. “While nobody has been seriously injured while attempting to steal the copper from these lines yet, there is a very high chance that serious injury or death will occur if this activity continues.” The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, new report into submersible…

A woman in her 80s has died after a crash involving a pedestrian and a bus in Auckland’s Onehunga on Monday.Police were called to Church Street at around 11.20am on August 4 after reports that a bus had hit a pedestrian. A woman in her 80s was taken to Auckland Hospital in a critical condition. “Sadly, she has succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday afternoon,” Detective Sergeant Wayne Gear said. The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, new report into submersible implosion, body found in Auckland park, and mixed injury news for the Warriors. (Source: 1News)“Police extend our sympathies to her…

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ New Zealand businesses owe more than $1.4 billion in unpaid GST and PAYE from the 2025 tax year, in what commentators say is a sign of the stress many parts of the economy are still under. Inland Revenue has provided a breakdown of PAYE and GST still unpaid for the tax years 2018 through to 2025. There is still almost $48 million unpaid from 2018 – and $1.471 billion from the most recent year. Of 2025’s number, $432.9m relates to employer activities and $1.047b to GST. Just over $66m of the debt was from businesses…

Police are investigating whether a man’s unexplained death in Mt Wellington early this morning could be linked to a burglary in the area 20 minutes earlier.Detective Senior Sergeant Anthony Darvill said officers were called to a hardware retail store on Ellerslie-Panmure Highway after an alarm had been activated around 1.30am. He said police units arrived on scene and established cordons around the store. “Eagle had also deployed and located a man lying in the grounds of nearby Sir Woolf Fisher Park,” Darvill said. “It appeared the man was not responsive, and units were directed to his location.”CPR was commenced but…

A Dunedin family is cobbling together a family dynasty by going against the grain of today’s disposable society. Greg Paul is taking over the Country Cobbler in Mornington after buying the business off retiring owner Greg Fox. Mr Paul, who was taught by his father to cobble, is taking the opportunity to buy the shop to teach his 17-year-old son George the trade. “My father taught me, he was a cobbler, so we’re third generation which is pretty unusual in this trade,” Mr Paul said. His son was taking to cobbling well, he said. “He likes it and his girlfriend…