Author: Press Room

Whangārei District Council is holding a sudden closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning about fluoridating its drinking water.The closed meeting comes just 19 days ahead of the Government’s March 28 deadline for the council to fluoridate its drinking water.The short-notice 9.30am emergency meeting comes after an unusual last-minute Friday change where an initial and also unusually, unadvertised open council meeting scheduled with the description fluoride as its purpose at 9am was canned at the last minute.About 80,000 Whangārei district residents will have their water fluoridated by that date if the council decides to change tack on its rebel stance against doing…

Sharemarkets have been volatile this week as the impact of US President Donald Trump’s on-again-off-again tariff war was felt.The Vix volatility index, which measures fear in the market, is up 60% this month.But commentators say, despite the upheaval, there are still investment opportunities worth considering.An investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene, Jeremy Sullivan, said market conditions were evolving. As well as tariffs, falling interest rates were changing the picture.He said there were some key trends to note. High-growth tech and speculative stocks were potentially overvalued at the moment, he said.”We’ve seen strong performance in certain technology and growth stocks, some…

Police are making inquiries after a crash at Ruapuna Speedway near Christchurch last night which left a competitor in a critical condition.Emergency services were called to the event in Templeton about 7pm.A sprint car competitor was injured in the single vehicle crash with following races cancelled.”To our loyal supporters, thank you for your understanding,” Ruapuna Speedway posted on Facebook after the incident.”Motorsport can be dangerous, this is an unfortunate reminder of that.”Our thoughts are with the drivers (sic) family as we wish him a speedy recovery.”The speedway also asked for those involved to be respected and to “think twice when…

Financial incentives are being offered to landowners for a quick sale in an effort to speed up major infrastructure projects under the Government’s planned “overhaul” of the Public Works Act.An incentive payment of 15% of the land value, capped at $150,000 will be offered to those who sell voluntarily before a notice of intention is issued, while a 5% payment, capped at $92,000, is in recognition of participating in an accelerated process.The changes will also see landowners who don’t want their land acquired for public works object to Land Information Minister Chris Penk directly, rather than through the Environment Court.”Public…

A man missing for almost three months was last seen in central Dunedin, with his vehicle found at Larnach Castle, police say.Police have appealed for information to help find 54-year-old Joshua.Joshua, who usually resides in Christchurch, was last seen in central Dunedin on December 11 and has not been in touch with his family.Police said Joshua’s vehicle was found at a café carpark on Camp Rd later that day. The only café located on that road was at Larnach Castle. He had not returned to the vehicle.Police and Joshua’s family had “serious concerns” for his wellbeing.”We are appealing for sightings…

Chris Hipkins still has no public position on a capital gains tax, but says Labour will be campaigning on “tax reform”.The party leader told Q+A that Labour would be announcing its tax policy later this year, ahead of the 2026 election.He said too much investment was going into property rather than “productive businesses that create jobs”. “We’ve got to rejig the tax system so that the burden of taxation is more evenly spread,” he said. When asked directly if the party would be campaigning on a capital gains tax, Hipkins said: “We’ll campaign on tax reform… now, the exact nature…

Auckland is pushing for increased female representation in governance, coinciding with International Women’s Day this weekend.The celebration highlights the movement that began with New Zealand’s suffrage 156 years ago.Despite progress, women are still underrepresented in leadership roles.While they account for 51% of Auckland’s population, women hold only 37% of elected positions in Tāmaki Makaurau.In the 2022 local elections, although fewer wāhine ran for office, a higher proportion of those elected were women (44% compared to 35% for men). Currently, 63 of Auckland’s 170 elected members are women.This year, two prominent women in governance, Manurewa-Papakura Ward Councillor Angela Dalton and Ōtara-Papatoetoe…

The National-led coalition government reintroduced five health targets, which had been scrapped by the Labour-led government. However, they did not include any targets around primary health.In his first interview with Q+A since replacing Dr Shane Reti as health minister, Simeon Brown said he asked officials to explore primary healthcare targets, and said in his view there should be targets in this area.”My view is, you should be able to get an appointment [at a GP] within a week. I think there’s far too many New Zealanders waiting more than a week, particularly in our rural communities,” said Brown.”I want to…

This article was originally published in Polish In a statement to parliament on Friday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk shared his plan as part of a wider effort to create a 500,000-strong army to deter Russian aggression. ADVERTISEMENTPrime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that Poland plans to provide military training to “every adult male” in the face of ongoing security threats.In a statement to the Sejm – Poland’s parliament – on Friday, Tusk shared his plan as part of a wider effort to create a 500,000-strong army to deter Russian aggression.”Work is underway to prepare large-scale military training for every adult male…

A petition with 400 signatures has been presented to Tasman District Council opposing plans for light industrial and mixed business zones in the small rural community of Hope, just south of Nelson.Hope resident and urban planner Timo Neubauer said he travelled door-to-door seeking signatures from concerned residents and saw “overwhelming” support for his petition, with only two people in favour of the council’s proposal.”Everybody else agrees that we need to treat Hope as a potentially lovely farming village and not turn it into the arse-end of Richmond.”With 188 physical signatures, and another 214 online, Neubauer said the engagement was significant…