Author: Press Room
Fifty-four per cent of voters think Chris Hipkins should remain as Labour leader, according to the latest 1News Verian poll.The future of the former PM, who served in the top job for nine months, has been the subject of speculation as the opposition party looks to rebuild following its defeat at last year’s election.In the poll, around half the respondents were asked: “Do you think Chris Hipkins should now remain as the leader of the Labour Party or step down?”The poll asked if Hipkins should remain leader of the Labour Party, with 54% saying yes he should, while 26% disagreed.…
Scores of banks have closed branches across the country in the last year as more people prefer to do all their banking needs online. (Source: Supplied/Facebook)Australia’s push to be a cashless society has driven hundreds of banks into closing and ATMs to be ripped out of the ground. New research from Canstar has revealed 230 bank branches shut over the 2023-24 financial year, while the death toll for ATMs over the last half-decade stands at more than 6,000.Big banks have said it’s the dominance of digital banking that has sparked these decisions, but they have major real-world implications for customers.…
A Waikato Hospital directive that nurses only speak English in a clinical setting has caused outrage with claims it’s a bombastic over-reach.Now the Minister of Health has shot down the memo saying nurses can speak in their own language when appropriate.And on Tuesday afternoon Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora appeared to back down saying it was up to healthcare staff to exercise their professional judgement on the appropriate language.The memo, issued on Friday, said English was the spoken language in clinical settings, and the use of one language reduced misunderstandings and enhanced safety.But New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) board…
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ About a million New Zealanders say they have purchased something from Temu – and the rise of the retail platform is forcing some local shops to rethink how they do business. A new survey by Tearfund New Zealand showed that 25 percent of New Zealand adults said they had shopped from Temu. Another 14 percent said they had bought something from Shein. “We have seen a huge increase,” said Tearfund fashion industry researcher Claire Gray. “We are seeing it skyrocket. It makes perfect sense, we are really feeling the squeeze financially so of course you look for…
Services Australia has revealed you soon won’t be able to make debt repayments via foreign currency or overseas cheques. (Source: Getty)Centrelink recipients who pay their debts with foreign cheques will soon have to find a new way to make their payments. Services Australia has revealed it will be phasing out the payment method from mid-DecemberThe government body announced the news via its Australian Pension News October newsletter. The directive has been handed down with a few weeks’ notice to allow Centrelink recipients enough time to find a new way to pay their debts.”From 19 December 2024, Services Australia will no…
Alan Mansfield, keyboardist with renowned New Zealand band Dragon, has died.Mansfield, 72 died in Sydney 16 October, with his partner of 40 years, musician Sharon O’Neill, and family by his side.He had been battling cancer, but succumbed to complications after his treatment.”Yesterday morning I lost the love of my life, Alan. His daughter Lauren and I were with him and he passed comfortably and peacefully.” wife, O’Neill wrote on Facebook.”Alan battled for three years and although he passed away cancer free, the ravages of his radiation treatment took a toll on his poor body. He was brave and fearless and…
An inquiry has been launched into the decision by Oranga Tamariki to axe or cut funding to nearly 400 community groups who support the country’s most vulnerable children and whānau.E Tipu E Rea Whānau, which helps hundreds of families and keeps tamariki out of state care, is among the organisations whose funding is being taken away.”We can show data — clearly — that we have stopped hundreds of our tamariki ending up in state care,” chief executive Zoe Witika-Hawke told 1News.”We’ve got them into mahi, we’ve got them into work, got them into housing.”To cut costs, as directed by the…
KiwiRail is offering voluntary redundancy to all staff from next week. In an email, KiwiRail Chief People and Communications Officer Andrew Norton said the move was designed to “reshape the business, lower our costs and create a solid footing for future growth”. The transport operator had been proposing job cuts for months in a bid to lower costs, and had previously offered some teams the opportunity to apply for redundancy. In the all-staff email, seen by RNZ, KiwiRail said it was extending the offer to all staff from Monday. Employees had two weeks to apply, and KiwiRail would decide which applications…
Motorists were warned this evening to expect delays on State Highway 16 near Auckland’s Whenuapai after a vehicle caught fire.Emergency services were called to the incident at around 6.05pm after receiving a report of a vehicle on fire on the road.”The fire has been extinguished and no injuries are reported,” police said.There were delays for about an hour while the vehicle was towed and the roadway cleared.The car pictured after the fire. (Source: Hunter Lee)A witness said they were driving towards the car and “saw it on fire underneath and loads of smoke”. “The lady then pulled over and when…
Finance expert Ben Nash said there are little things you can do each day that can massively build your wealth. (Source: Supplied/Getty)John and Gina* were a young couple in their early 30s and when we met they were struggling with one of the most common money challenges: they couldn’t seem to find a way to keep up today and get ahead for the future.They had a bit of random credit card debt they just couldn’t seem to shake. It seemed like every time they started making any progress in saving, something unexpected would come up that would throw off their…