Author: Press Room

The Otago Regional Council could receive a nearly $60 million cash injection from Port Otago over the next three years. Port Otago will present its statement of corporate intent (SCI) for the next three financial years, to June 30, 2027, at an Otago Regional Council meeting tomorrow. The company is wholly owned by the council and operates across four sites including Dunedin Bulk Port, Dunedin Depot, Fiordland and Port Chalmers — the primary South Island port for cruise ships. The meeting’s agenda said the port had “substantially revised” its SCI format in line with a move to integrated reporting and…

Health NZ has accepted just over 400 applications from staff to take voluntary redundancy.It called for voluntary redundancies in August as it tries to cut costs to head off a huge deficit. Its chief executive, Margie Apa, said they were continuing to assess applications.She said front-line clinical staff were not eligible.Health NZ said it was unable to talk about what effect the redundancies would have on budgets while the process was ongoing.Voluntary redundancy was offered to a limited number of staff working in administration, policy advisory and specialist services.Junior doctors warned losing admin support would hurt patients as they would…

A family-owned Milton timber company has axed five staff in what was described as an “emotional” process. The redundancies of the five — on the operational side of Gorton Timber Co — were down to “significant industry challenges” leading to a reduction in demand for finished timber products for construction. The change leaves the company with 23 staff, down from 28. A spokeswoman for the firm said the job losses affected several long-standing members of staff, in what had been a difficult and emotional process. “The company underwent thorough internal discussions and explored various options to retain staff and keep…

Police have appealed to the public for information after a “hit and run incident” left a man critically injured in Auckland’s Pukekohe last week.A member of the public located an injured and unconscious man lying on Wellington St around 2.47am on Friday.Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Taylor said the victim was taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.”We are asking for the public’s assistance for any information which may help us to help us locate the driver or the vehicle involved.”Anyone in the area who may have witnessed this incident or who has any information – including CCTV…

Reports that the small eastern European country is being considered a potential site for migrant camps have triggered a wave of misinformation. ADVERTISEMENTCalls by some EU leaders to consider establishing migration processing centres outside the bloc’s territory have triggered the spread of misinformation designed to undermine support for the 27-country bloc in EU candidate countries.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen first floated the idea of “return hubs” in a letter to EU heads of state and government last Tuesday, and it was discussed during a leaders’ summit on Thursday.Whilst currently scant on details, the proposal is believed to be…

The PM says Commerce Minister Andrew Bayly “understands he got it totally, utterly completely wrong” over an interaction where he allegedly called a worker a “loser” and told them to “take some wine and f*** off”.Bayly apologised publicly over his conduct on Friday. The senior minister said he thought he was having a “light-hearted exchange” during the business visit in early October.Speaking to media today, Christopher Luxon said the incident “caused insult” and that Bayly’s behaviour “didn’t meet the standards” he set for ministers.The Prime Minister said he told Bayly on Friday, “you’ve clearly got this horribly wrong”.Commerce Minister Andrew…

Nearly half of Māori, Pacific and Asian psychologists and interns surveyed in a new report experienced racism at work in the past 12 months.New research from the University of Waikato and Working to End Racism and Oppression (WERO) “highlights psychology’s failings to provide a culturally safe environment” for psychologists, academic staff, and students.The Kia Whakapapa Pounamu Survey – which had 293 participants and was conducted from March 25 to June 30, 2023 – surveyed psychologists, academic staff, and students about how racism manifests in different areas of psychology.Researcher Dr Kyle Tan (Malaysian Chinese) said the study doesn’t reveal something “new”,…

Over the past twelve months youngsters across the block have struggled with rising costs, particularly in France, the Netherlands and Greece. ADVERTISEMENTThousands of EU citizens have been unable to cover rent costs over the past 12 months, an average of 6.3% across EU nations*.The number doesn’t even include people at risk of poverty or social exclusion.Greece has the highest rate of people who are struggling, 17.7%, followed by France (16.7%), Slovenia (10.5%) and the Netherlands (10.4%).The 16 to 29 age range is the most troubled, accounting for nearly 15% of all people in the EU who haven’t been able to…

The Christchurch terror attack was foreseeable and successive governments failed to close the loophole that allowed the gunman access to military-style firearms, the inquest into the 51 worshippers murdered at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre has heard.The inquest is examining gun laws at the time of the March 2019 shootings.University of Waikato terrorism and firearms expert Professor Alexander Gillespie told the inquest the “system for both the licensing of firearms and the regulation of particularly dangerous firearms platforms before 15 March, 2019 was critically flawed”.”What occurred was foreseeable in terms of both the lax controls around both the…

A King’s College staff member has resigned after admitting to what the board is calling “inappropriate online behaviour”.In a statement, the board said the staff member – who was involved in football and in boarding – had acknowledged being involved in inappropriate online activity, where he was under the impression that he was engaging with a minor.”The staff member has resigned today with immediate effect,” the statement said.The school notified police, and contacted parents and guardians on Monday night, asking them to talk with their child if they had any concerns.Boarding students were also notified, and pastoral care services were…