Author: Press Room

Whanganui District Council is sticking to an average rates increase of 2.2% following deliberations on its draft Annual Plan.Mayor Andrew Tripe believes it’s the lowest rise in the country for the year ahead.The plan for 2025/26 will go before the council in June to be adopted.Tripe said the council has focused on doing the basics well, investing in core infrastructure, and involving the community in decision-making.The big topics thrashed out by the council in this week’s deliberations were creating a standalone housing entity to grow housing stock, adopting a new strategy for Whanganui, changes to fees and charges, and increasing…

Artwork at a Nelson gallery featuring a New Zealand flag inviting viewers to “please walk on me” has been removed as a safety precaution.”Flagging the Future” was put on display at Suter Art Gallery in Nelson as part of a multimedia exhibit featuring the works of Māori artist and weaver Diane Prince.The piece was a 2024 recreation of an artwork which went on display at Auckland Art Gallery in 1995 which was also pulled due to controversy. In a statement posted to social media this evening, Suter Art Gallery said the piece has “generated significant public response” since the exhibition…

ADVERTISEMENTFar-right Chega party has become Portugal’s main opposition party, following a final tally of votes from the 18 May election. After the initial round of counting, the party was tied on 58 seats with the Socialist Party (PS), which received a slightly higher share of the vote. However, Chega — which means “Enough” in Portuguese — secured two more seats after overseas voting was taken into account, while the PS stayed on 58. “This is a profound change in the Portuguese political system,” Chega leader André Ventura told supporters after his party had overtaken the PS. The election results broke…

Desmond Adams knew his upcoming knee surgery would be tough – weeks in recovery and months before he’d walk normally – but what he didn’t expect was to be doing it all while facing eviction.A painter by trade, years of physical labour have taken a toll on the 52-year-old Hamiltonian.Scans in April 2024 revealed fractures in both knees, with overgrown bone that needed to be shaved. The bone was pressing into a tendon on his left side which needed to be cut and repaired.”My knees were poking out like nobody’s business,” Adams said.Post-operation, doctors told him to expect crutches for…

Lorde has joined the party with New Zealand’s top music stars at the 2025 Aotearoa Music Awards.Fresh from releasing a new single and music video, the singer arrived at the ceremony in a dark grey outfit with silver shoes.Lorde told 1News it was great to be back in Auckland and had enjoyed swimming.“I’ve been having the nicest swims, everyone’s been amazing. I’m staying with my parents, the vibes are good.” When asked if there would be a New Zealand tour, Lorde said: “This is a good question but I would go off the fact I have never missed a New…

Police have appealed for witnesses after a motorcycle was taken from the scene of a fatal crash in Whanganui over the weekend. The crash occurred at around 4.10pm on Sunday, 25 May, when a motorcycle crashed into a parked car on Seafront Road in Castlecliff. The rider, a 25-year-old man, died a short time later. Before emergency services could arrive at the scene, a group of people on motorcycles took the victim’s bike. This morning, police urged anyone who witnessed the crash or saw motorcycles in the Castlecliff area between 2pm and 6pm on 25 May to come foward. “We…

The death of a seven year old boy at a Whanganui public pool is a stark reminder of the speed at which children can drown, a coroner says.Gerrard-Junior Raunga Williams-Boglieka died at the Whanganui District Council run Splash Centre in July 2020.Robin Kay has recommended that an extra lifeguard be rostered on at all times the complex and that the council invest in technology which uses cameras and artificial intelligence to analyse the behaviour of pool users, and alerts lifeguards to potential drowning incidents via smartwatches and office dashboards.Chief executive David Langford said after reviewing the recommendations, the council had…

The head of the government’s retail crime advisory group is relieved police commissioner Richard Chambers has scrapped a controversial directive on shoplifting.A internal police memo obtained by RNZ told staff not to investigate crimes under a certain dollar value, prompting outrage from the retail sector before the directive was publicly scrapped on Tuesday.It included shoplifting under $500, petrol drive-offs under $150 and online fraud under $1000.Retail crime group chair Sunny Kaushal said the clarity was very reassuring for victims around the country.”The clear comments from the police commissioner show police’s commitment to responding to retail crime,” he said.”And the clarity…

Christchurch’s Mr Mod is going out on a high note with a pair of 1960s armchairs selling for a world record price at the auction of his large mid-century furniture collection. Ross Morrison is signing off as a collector and dealer after the two-day auction of 674 lots last weekend culminated in bidding reaching $13,500 for the teak armchairs by Danish designer Erik Kirkegaard. By the final bid the overall total matched the $500,000 netted from a previous Auckland auction, once after-sales and a buyers’ premium of just over 17% were added up. Among the highlights was another pair of…

Beloved Australian comedian Magda Szubanski says she remains in good spirits after being diagnosed with an “obscure” cancer.The Kath and Kim star announced she had stage-four mantle cell lymphoma, which she described as a “rare and fast-moving blood cancer”.Szubanski went public with the diagnosis in an Instagram post today in which her head was shaved, which she said was in preparation for her treatment in which it would fall out.”I won’t sugar-coat it, it’s rough,” the 64-year-old wrote of her diagnosis.”But I’m hopeful. I’m being lovingly cared for by friends and family, my medical team is brilliant, and I’ve never…