Author: Press Room

Safety improvements are being made to the rail corridor through Matamata following the death of a schoolgirl struck by a train earlier this year.Sarie Morton, 13, was fatally hit on the railway tracks alongside Firth St, near the intersection with College St, at around 3.15pm on March 12.KiwiRail and Matamata-Piako District Council announced they would remove around eleven trees that currently obstruct visibility for train drivers of anyone approaching the tracks.More than sixty others would have branches lifted and canopies trimmed to improve view lines, while vegetation along the embankment next to Swap Park would be removed.KiwiRail acting chief operations…

A debate on the Privileges Committee’s report into the actions of three Te Pāti Māori MPs – including their proposed suspension – has been adjourned until early June. The move was put forward by Leader of the House Chris Bishop, with government MPs voting in favour and opposition MPs against. In a statement, Bishop said: “Our position on the recommended punishments remains unchanged”.”Deferring consideration of the debate means all members will have the opportunity to debate and vote on the Budget.”‘Wasn’t what I expected’Prior to the motion, there was little indication the debate was going to be adjourned.Yesterday, Prime Minister…

Dunedin-born Glenn Renwick — described as a highly influential figure in the American insurance industry — has died in a car crash in Florida. Mr Renwick (69) attended Pine Hill School, Dunedin North Intermediate and Otago Boys’ High School before his parents moved to Christchurch at the end of his year 13 year. He attended the University of Canterbury, where he studied mathematics and economics, and later pursued a master’s degree in industrial and systems engineering at the University of Florida. He had two properties in Wānaka and a net worth of at least $115m, Stuff reported in 2022 In an…

Three Wairoa men are before the courts following three separate, unrelated incidents in the town this weekend. Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Darren Pritchard said the first incident occurred in Ruataniwha Rd at around midday on Saturday when a man allegedly presented a firearm.”Soon after, officers located the man in a vehicle and arrested him.”The 50-year-old man subsequently appeared in Gisborne District Court facing several firearms and drug-related charges.The second incident was a house fire in Frasertown, north of Wairoa, at around 7.30pm on Saturday.Pritchard said the house was totally destroyed, with the blaze determined to be suspicious.A 37-year-old man was…

With diagnoses of ADHD on the rise, the spotlight is on this most common of neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet our understanding about what causes ADHD and exactly how it’s defined is still murky. Alison Poulton reports.Neurodevelopmental disorders are a diverse group of conditions that affect the brain from early development. They include attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and learning disabilities, such as dyslexia.These conditions usually become more evident over time. This is because delays in the skills a child is expected to have developed at each age become more apparent.’A day in my life with ADHD’ – watch on TVNZ+ADHD is…

The controversial new sport Run It made its New Zealand debut in west Auckland last night, but some are concerned about the risk of brain injuries. The Run It Championship League took inspiration from the physical collisions seen during rugby league or union games as two participants – a runner and tackler – stand at each end of a 20m by 4m field and run toward each other at speed. Event organiser Billy Coffey said the goal was to “either run over your defender or take out the ball runner”. “There’s nowhere to hide, it’s you one-on-one. And usually as…

Children, pets and the effects of alcohol were the most common excuses given by New Zealanders needing a new passport over the past year.With the cost of new passports going up this month – above $1000 if an urgent, out of hours replacement is needed – not keeping a passport safe has become more expensive than ever.However, between May 2024 and April 2025, a total of 12,236 passports were reported as lost, numbers provided to 1News by the Department of Internal Affairs show. A further 6745 were reported damaged.The department, responsible for issuing the little black books, said it had…

The former partner of a man who committed two killings more than two decades apart says he should not have been released from a mental health facility five days before he killed again.She says there was a “massive” failure by the mental health system, both in protecting him, but also the wider community.”It failed him, it failed everybody twice.”RNZ earlier revealed the man — who was made a special patient under the Mental Health Act after his first killing — was recently found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity for a second time after killing someone he believed…

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ  With Budget 2025 set to be delivered on Thursday, you are going to hear a lot about government spending this week. But how does it actually work? Where does the money come from, and where does it go? The government pulls in money in a few different ways. Tax revenue is the big one. The government brings in about $120 billion in tax revenue every year. For the 2025 financial year, that was about $22,613 per person. It gets another $7833 per person from ‘‘other income’’ from things such as ACC levies, the emissions trading…

The Government will spend more than $600 million to upgrade the country’s rail network as part of this year’s Budget.The funding includes $461m to maintain and improve freight rail, and more than $140m to replace and upgrade metropolitan rail in Auckland and Wellington.Transport Minister Chris Bishop said rail services had been made less reliable by a backlog of overdue upgrades.Transport Minister Chris Bishop. (Source: rnz.co.nz)”Metro rail investment in Auckland and Wellington will improve the level of service for passengers by addressing overdue and critical renewals work. The poor state of our metro networks has flow-on impacts for performance.”For example, temporary…