Author: Press Room

The Star is in a “pretty sad state” after the embattled casino operator got hit with millions of dollars in extra fines and had its Sydney licence suspension extended.The company received the $15 million penalty after a second probe revealed further significant failings, the NSW Independent Casino Commission said.It came two years after the casino first had its licence suspended and was fined $100 million following an earlier inquiry.”If Sydney Star fails, The Star group will fail,” chief commissioner Philip Crawford says. (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)Star Entertainment Group had started to clean up its act but huge questions remained around competence…

The number of ghost homes is on the rise in Tauranga, but the city still has fewer empty houses than another area in the region.Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale said Tauranga was facing a housing shortage and it was better to occupy current dwellings than build new ones.“It’s a very hard problem to solve. We’re a very attractive place to come and holiday, and it’s probably a problem a number of councils around the country grapple with.”Drysdale said he was keen to see if the council do anything about the empty homes in the future, but there were “other priorities right…

The one-day summit is expected to be heavily dominated by migration as member states look to “innovative solutions” to stem the flow of irregular arrivals. ADVERTISEMENTUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will present his ‘Victory Plan’ to European Union leaders on Thursday.The Ukrainian leader will then head over to the NATO headquarters where a meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers is taking place over the next two days. EU leaders, gathered for what is expected to be a one-day summit, will meanwhile then turn their focus to other topics on their agenda. These include the Middle East and efforts to engineer a…

The Advertising Standards Complaints Board has upheld in part complaints over an advertisement by Hobson’s Pledge which was published in the New Zealand Herald in August.The Complaints Board ruled the advertisement, headed “restore the foreshore and seabed to public ownership”, must not be used again. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a total of 672 complaints after the advertisement’s publication in the Herald on August 7. Of those complaints, 655 were accepted to go to the Complaints Board.The Board agreed it was an advocacy advertisement and had been sufficiently identified as such.However, the ASA added: “The Complaints Board ruled three…

MediaWorks says it will look to redeploy any staff facing redundancy to other areas of its radio business. MediaWorks owns well-known radio stations, including MaiFM, MoreFM, The Breeze, The Edge, and The Rock. The company is proposing job cuts for the second year in a row, after reporting a net loss last year, before significant items and tax, of more than $14m. In a statement, the company said: “The proposals have included changes of reporting lines, the disestablishment of some roles and the creation of new roles. “If roles are confirmed as disestablished we will also explore redeployment options in…

Perth mum Louise Connors said her grocery bill is the biggest financial stressor for her family of eight. (Source: TikTok/Supplied)A Perth mum-of-six has revealed the lengths she goes to keep her family’s weekly grocery bill down. Aussies have largely blamed the big supermarkets Coles and Woolworths for the soaring cost-of-living pressures being experienced around the country and many are looking for ways to claw back any cash they can.Louise Connors said she spends between $500 and $600 per week on her family’s grocery shop. She told Yahoo Finance the “astronomical” bill was the biggest source of financial stress facing her…

An area of high pressure over the country means there will be hints of summer in the air this weekend, MetService says.The forecaster said the dry spell may be long-awaited in parts of the country which have already broken their monthly rainfall record in October, such as southern regions of the South Island.MetService said the area of high pressure will bring with it warm afternoons and light northerly winds for most.”It should be noted that conditions are not entirely cloud-free,” it warned.”The ridge of high pressure over the country does a great job of preventing — or blocking — the…

Wendy narrowly avoided a $148 extra charge just for tapping her card. (Source: Instagram/Getty)Aussies are being reminded about how to avoid being stung with high card surcharges after a woman nearly added close to $150 to her bill. Using your card to pay for goods and services has become the overwhelming favourite payment method, but there’s a little-known hack to keep your bill as low as possible.A poll of more than 7,200 Yahoo Finance readers shows that 33 per cent will tap their card, smartphone or smartwatch when they’re paying for goods and services. Only 8 per cent will insert…

Threatening to prosecute parents will not solve truancy issues, Rangiora High School principal Bruce Kearney says.Kearney said school attendance is “highly complex” and there could be any number of reasons why a student is not attending school.Associate Education Minister David Seymour recently proposed a stepped attendance response (STAR) system, where parents are contacted after five days’ absence and schools meet with parents after 10 days’ absence.After 15 days absence it would be escalated to the Ministry of Education, and prosecuting parents could be considered.But schools say they already have similar processes.”There are some amazing parents who truly care about their…

Commonwealth Bank has copped a fine after it sent 170 million emails to customers without an unsubscribe option. (Source: Getty)Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has been hit with a $7.5 million fine for breaching Australia’s spam laws. This is the second time in 18 months the major bank has come under fire from the communications watchdog.The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found CBA sent 170 million marketing emails to customers between November 2022 and April 2024 that did not include a way to unsubscribe. A total of 34.8 million messages were sent to people who had either not consented or withdrawn…