Author: Press Room

A Tauranga councillor who was among those replaced by the commission has called for an independent inquiry into the decisions and transparency during their tenure.Councillor Steve Morris tried to gain support from the elected council for staff to provide options for an independent inquiry into the Government-appointed commission governance, decisions and transparency.Mayor Mahé Drysdale said while it was “frustrating” to deal with past decisions, “stringing the commissioners up” would not help the current council move forward.Tauranga’s council, elected in 2019, was replaced in 2021 by the four-person commission that led the city until the local election in July 2024.Morris’ push…

Property valuations are set to be posted to owners in the Queenstown Lakes and the average house value is now above $2 million. The values are updated every three years for All 32,604 properties in the district by independent valuers Quotable Value (QV) on behalf of Queenstown Lakes District Council. They reflect the likely price a property would have sold for on September 1, last year, not including chattels. Since the district’s last revaluation in 2021, the value of residential housing has increased by an average of 18.3%. The average house value is now $2,035,732, while the corresponding average land…

Gisborne residents who successfully petitioned for lower speed limits years ago say they are “absolutely disappointed” and “frustrated” stretches of State Highway 35 could return to higher speeds.New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) is consulting on the speed limit on a 10.5km stretch of road from Makorori to Pouawa after a Government rule change that requires speed limit reversals on some local roads and highways by July 1.The road will go from 80km/h to 100km/h unless there is enough public support to retain the current limits.Public consultation ends on Thursday.The road had been part of a petition in 2019 when locals…

The EU announced plans to send peacekeepers to Bosnia after the nation’s top court suspended laws adopted by its ethnic Serb regional entity. ADVERTISEMENTReserve peacekeepers arrived in Bosnia on Wednesday amid rising tensions in the country, a day after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reaffirmed support for the country’s territorial integrity and peace. Italian and Czech military personnel touched down at Sarajevo airport and were greeted by the EU force in Bosnia, known as EUFOR. Romanian troops, helicopters and military supplies will arrive in the coming days. Rutte had pledged NATO’s “unwavering” support for Bosnia’s territorial integrity after a series of Bosnian…

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ KiwiSaver members spooked by market movements have been shifting to more conservative funds, but not at the levels seen when Covid hit in 2020, providers say. ANZ Investments managing director Fiona Mackenzie said there a couple of hundred ANZ KiwiSaver members had got in touch wanting to shift to more conservative funds in recent days. But she said that was a fraction of the Covid-19 times. “This may in part be because we have been providing regular reminders – via our website and emails/letters to customers – about how to deal with short-term market volatility,”…

Residents in the Matamata area are in shock after a college student was hit and killed by a freight train.Matamata Mayor Adrienne Wilcock told Morning Report it was a tough time for the community following the death on Wednesday afternoon.”It’s always sad when these tragedies happen and you feel it quite emotionally — you know, I’m a mother and a grandmother — yeah, this is sad.”Wilcock said she was not aware of any safety concerns prior to the student being hit.”I do understand there will be investigations and enquires take in place and, you know, I think council will very…

Party leaders advocate for snap elections, which may occur on either 11 or 18 May. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is convening the Council of State tomorrow, will make the decision. ADVERTISEMENTNobody wanted early elections, but if they were to be held, they should occur as soon as possible. Today, the President of the Portuguese Republic listened to the parties with parliamentary seats in Belém to gather all the information necessary to determine the best solution to the current political impasse.Luís Montenegro was the first to be received. The Prime Minister advocated for the swift holding of elections alongside…

United States President Donald Trump is threatening to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, as major US trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers already erected by him. Just hours after Trump’s 25% duties on all US steel and aluminium imports took effect, Trump said he would impose additional penalties if the EU follows through with its plan to enact counter tariffs on some US goods next month. “Whatever they charge us, we’re charging them,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. Trump’s hyper-focus on tariffs has rattled investor, consumer and business confidence and…

Fires are being deliberately lit just outside of Christchurch this week to test new theories on how wildfires spread under various conditions. The experimental research is a collaboration between multiple organisations, including Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the United States Forest Service.A series of controlled stubble fires were lit in a dry field in Darfield – all in the name of research. “What we believe is that there’s a little bit of an old theory, which is fire uses radiation to spread, heats the fuels in front of it to the point of combustion. That’s happening out there, but…

Retailer Briscoe Group has reported near record full-year sales, though tight profit margins hit the bottom-line. The owner of Briscoes homeware and Rebel Sport said both brands delivered positive sales growth, though trading conditions were expected to remain tough. “Looking forward we do not underestimate just how tough trading will continue to be with the first half expected to be especially challenging,” managing director Rod Duke said. “We expect this will see second half profitability exceed that produced for the first half in a return to a more normalised shape of profitability. “We are hopeful that the economic recovery will…