Author: Press Room

A New Plymouth Lotto player has won $8.3 million in last night’s Powerball First Divison draw.The winning ticket was sold on MyLotto to the person from New Plymouth.Their prize was made up of $8 million from Powerball First Division and $333,333 from Lotto First Division.The winner is the second Powerball multi-millionaire this year, Lotto said.”The win comes just weeks after a Wellington couple scored themselves $7 million – the first Powerball jackpot of 2025. The couple were driving to work when they found out they had won.”Two other players have won $333,333 in Lotto First Division. Those winning tickets were…

Michael Spindelegger, the director of the intergovernmental organization International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) told Euronews how Trump’s crackdown on immigration, including at the southern border of Mexico, could have consequences for Europe. ADVERTISEMENTDonald Trump’s immigration policies will likely influence the migration policy debate in Europe, the director of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Michael Spindelegger told Euronews in an interview featured for Radio Schuman today.During his inauguration speech, US President Donald Trump announced a large-scale nationwide deportation campaign. On Tuesday, his administration began deporting undocumented immigrants from the country. However, several NGOs and international organizations,…

A rural community advocate is rubbishing council reasons for removing public bins and says offering locals clean-up gear is an “insult”.Rotorua Lakes Council has removed 91 public bins over the past two years and may take another 54 as it sees potential for “significant savings” from encouraging people to take their rubbish home.Bins were removed from Tikitapu (Blue Lake) in early 2023 in what the council has described as the first “test” of this, and in response to a wasp problem.The move frustrated Rotorua Blue Lake TOP 10 Holiday Park staff collecting a bag of rubbish a day from the…

Poland has reframed the debate on migration through the lenses of national security, forcing the EU to change its tune. ADVERTISEMENTThere is an eerie silence at the Połowce-Pieszczatka crossing point.Heavily armed border guards stand still, one after the other, with their gaze fixed on the other side of the snow-covered forest. A five-metre high steel fence, decked out with thermal cameras and sensor cables, stretches as far as the eye can see. The large road in between, once used for shipping everyday goods, is firmly blocked with successive lines of concrete barriers and hedgehogs, interlaced with barbed wire. Infantry vehicles…

The Government will need to get its chequebook ready if it plans to welcome more tourists to our shores, the Mayor of Queenstown says.The new Minister for Economic Growth Nicola Willis has set her sights on a wealthier economy, and says attracting more tourists would help to make that happen.”I want all tourists because, ultimately, it’s not the Government that decides how much a tourist spends when they come to New Zealand. Tourists will make that decision,” she told RNZ.”Our job is to make it easy for them to come in the door, easy for them to come to New…

Auckland’s maunga authority is considering closing mountains to the public on holidays due to “unlawful” fires.It comes after two weekend blazes on Māngere mountain, with one scorching three hectares.The fires were being investigated by police and Fire and Emergency, but Tupuna Maunga Authority chairperson Paul Majurey believed the fires were intentional.Speaking to Morning Report, Majurey said there had been some “very sick behaviours” on Auckland’s mountains and it was hard to fathom why people would do it.”It’s a few individuals who are being reckless on these sacred spaces.”Fires on the mountains was very distressing for local iwi, he said.The authority…

Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka has denied the new-look Waitangi Tribunal is a “whitewash” as suggested by Te Pāti Māori.The minister appointed eight new members to the tribunal, removing some well-known Māori academics.Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer criticised the removal as a “whitewash”.Potaka told Morning Report, Te Pāti Māori’s comments were “unhelpful” and undermined the knowledge and experience of the new appointees.The new appointees included Philip Crump, who is a board member of NZ On Air, author Rex Edward Hale, councillor Grant Hadfield, former minister of defence Ron Mark and the first Pasifika dean of law Professor Tafaoimalo Tologata…

There were 72 drowning deaths recorded last year — one of the lowest totals on record — but a new report says there are some key areas that could reduce that total even further.The year’s drownings were a significant decline on the 90 recorded in 2023, and fell well below the 10-year average of 82.7, according to Water Safety New Zealand’s 2024 Drowning Prevention Report.It was the fifth-lowest annual total since records began in 1980 and the lowest since 2018.Water Safety chief executive Daniel Gerrard said the report was encouraging but it also identified areas to focus on.”This year’s deeper…

Wi-Fi on domestic Air New Zealand flights is one step closer after successful test flights using Starlink on an ATR aircraft.In a statement, aircraft manufacturer ATR said the tests were carried out on a 72-600 test aircraft in the past months, and the solution has been approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency.Air New Zealand has previously said it hoped to launch Wi-Fi on domestic flights in 2025, after first announcing the change in 2023.New Zealand’s national carrier is poised to be the launch customer of the technology. Soon after, ATR operators worldwide would be able to provide passengers with…

The number of people leaving New Zealand last year to live overseas reached its highest on record, according to new figures.According to Stats NZ, there were 127,800 migrant departures (up 28%) in the year to November 2024 — “provisionally, the highest on record for an annual period”. A total of 72,900 New Zealand citizens left the country to live overseas during that period, with 56% going to Australia. At the same time, the number of people moving to New Zealand dropped to 158,400, down 32% on the same period in 2023. That equated to an annual net migration gain of…