Author: Press Room

Wellington’s ongoing efforts to address water infrastructure woes have reached a milestone with the region’s number of leaky pipes dropping under 400 for the first time in four years.The region has recorded just 399 leaks this month, marking a 75% reduction in the number of leaks in the past year.Last year, Wellington City Council had 936 leaks – a figure that has now fallen to 206. Hutt City Council’s number has dropped from 403 to 92, while Upper Hutt City Council’s lowered from 275 to 61. Porirua City Council, meanwhile, has gone from 106 to 40.Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau said…

One person has died in a two-vehicle crash on the outskirts of Christchurch this afternoon.Emergency services were called to Buchanans Rd in Hei Hei at around 1.40pm.”Sadly, one person died at the scene,” a police spokesperson said.”The road remains closed while the serious crash unit conduct a scene examination.”St John said it responded with one ambulance and one manager but was not required for transport.

A new documentary is putting the spotlight back on a 1979 dispute over a drunken haka.For more than 25 years, University of Auckland engineering students would perform a mock haka each capping week. By the 1970s, it had turned into an unruly pub crawl. “It was fun. You have to remember back in those days, society was pretty strict, so being able to run around and block traffic in the middle of the street and carry on, like a bit of silliness,” former Auckland University student Brent Meekan, who took part in the mock haka, said.”That was great fun, so…

The Prime Minister says he will refuse any demand from the Act Party for a referendum on the Treaty Principles Bill after the next election – even if he needs Act to form a Government.At Rātana commemorations on Friday Christopher Luxon repeated his mantra that National would vote down the Act-authored Government Bill at its second reading.Local Democracy Reporting asked the Prime Minister whether he would refuse if Act demanded a referendum in exchange for supporting a second-term National-led Government in 2026.Luxon’s response was terse and unambiguous: “Yes I would. It’s a no from me.”Act’s leader David Seymour, who wrote…

A coroner is calling for stronger warnings on helium after a mother died at her daughter’s first birthday party.The 20-year-old Te Puke woman bought a “parties for everyone” branded canister of helium to blow up balloons at her daughter’s party on September 24, 2022.During the party, her husband inhaled the helium to make his voice higher. The woman did the same, but fell to the ground and became unresponsive.She was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.The coroner found her death was caused by hypoxia, low blood oxygen levels caused by the helium displacing the oxygen in her lungs.”It can…

Reality TV couple Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are suing the city of Los Angeles after losing their Pacific Palisades home in the wildfires that have torn through Southern California in recent weeks.The couple, who rose to stardom on The Hills, a spin-off of Laguna Beach, filed the lawsuit Wednesday along with more than 20 other property owners and residents who were affected by the Palisades Fire. The complaint blames Los Angeles and its municipal water department for the water issues that hampered firefighting efforts and says it ultimately led to the damage to their properties.The Eaton and Palisades fires,…

A new study predicts the number of people with diabetes in New Zealand will be more than 500,000 by 2044.Using diabetes data from 2006 to 2019, a computer modelling system was able to predict what’s expected if trends carry on their existing trajectory.Researchers from University of Otago and University of Waikato found that New Zealand will experience a significant increase in the number of diabetes cases, with type 1 and type 2 combined rising by nearly 90% over the next two decades.The prevalence of diabetes would increase from around 3.9% of the population (268,248) to 5.0% overall (502,358) – an…

After the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill passed its third reading in Parliament in December, changes to tenancy laws are taking place from this month.The Government says the bill aims to encourage more rental properties onto the market.In a statement at the time of the bill passing, Housing Minister Chris Bishop said from 2017 to 2023 rent had risen by $170 per week, the social housing waitlist had increased by about 20,000 families, and thousands of families were living in emergency housing motels.He said the changes are part of the Government’s plan to fix New Zealand’s housing crisis.”The suite of sensible…

If you have ever felt as though you end up worse off when you work more, a new Treasury paper indicates you might be right.The analytical note, released this week, shows that 6% of all New Zealanders — and 30% of single parents — face effective tax rates of more than 50%.And some taxpayers could even have effective marginal tax rates of more than 100%.Effective marginal tax rates reflect how much of each extra dollar a person earns is lost due to higher rates of tax or the clawback of supports such as Working for Families and the Accommodation Supplement.Someone…

A tenant who sublet a one-bedroom apartment to three other people has been told by the Tenancy Tribunal to pay his landlord $1000 in damages.Jun Sugita rented the 55sqm flat in Quay Street, Auckland, from Thomas Morton from August 2022.It had one bedroom with a loft area about 1.5m high that was previously used for storage.His tenancy agreement stated that the maximum number of occupants was one adult, but said he could request in writing to add further occupants, which the landlord had the right not to permit.When Morton conducted an inspection in April 2024, Sugita was away but Morton…