Author: Press Room

A homicide investigation has been launched after the death of a man in Parakao, Northland.Ambulance staff located the body of the 55-year-old on May 9, just before 4pm, at a rural property just off Mangakahia Road, on State Highway 15.Detective Senior Sergeant Michelle Harris said homicide inquiries were underway following a post mortem being completed today.Police said further information would be released about the victim once these processes were worked through.Appeal for informationHarris said the Operation Cossar inquiry team was appealing anyone with information to come forward in relation to a vehicle and person seen in the area.“We are particularly…

Labour says it was “inappropriate” for a post which depicted Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden as a Nazi to be reshared to one of the party’s Facebook pages.Van Velden announced changes to pay equity claims last Tuesday, saying the Government would discontinue 33 current pay claims.It was slammed by the Opposition and unions, who described it as “absolutely appalling” and a “dark day for New Zealand women” respectively.By the following day, a social media post was circulating with an image depicting van Velden wearing a military uniform next to a Nazi banner.The post referred to van Velden as Gauleiter,…

Next week’s Budget will allocate $100 million over four years for expert maths teachers and maths tests at primary and intermediate schools.In a pre-Budget announcement this afternoon, Education Minister Erica Stanford said most of the money, $56m, would pay for the equivalent of 143 full-time maths intervention teachers to help primary school children who were struggling with the subject.She said $40m would be spent on small group maths tutoring for up to 34,000 children in Year 7-8 each year.Stanford said the Government would spend $4m to develop and introduce a tests schools could use to check children’s maths ability.”From next…

ADVERTISEMENTPresident of the European Council António Costa has sought to reassure EU candidate countries in the Western Balkans by saying that the continent’s future stability and prosperity depends on the enlargement of the bloc.Speaking ahead of a tour of the region, Costa promised them that the EU was dedicated to relaunching the accession process, which has stalled of late, in part due to the hesitation of member states. In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Costa also urged candidate countries to commit to reforms.At the heart of his mission to the Western Balkans is the need for Brussels not to lose…

Police say they have made the “difficult decision” to pause search efforts in Milford Sound for a tramper missing for more than a week.The missing tramper had been named as 25-year-old Eli Sweeting who failed to return after a planned day trip to climb Mitre Peak last Sunday.The alarm was raised promptly, and a search and rescue operation began immediately, shortly before midnight on May 5.British 25-year-old Eli Sweeting. (Source: GiveALittle)Acting Southern District Commander Inspector Matt Scoles said police had been supporting the family of the tramper and acknowledged it was “difficult news for them to hear at what has…

The alleged driver of the car in a fatal collision between a car and a four-seater bike in Martinborough has died, bringing police inquiries into the crash to an end.UK resident Alison Korny was killed and three others on the bike suffered serious injuries in the crash on February 13.Korny’s LinkedIn profile listed her as working for the Royal Bank of Scotland as an operations support financial analyst.She had previously worked for the National Bank of New Zealand between 1995 and 2002 in both the Wellington and Canterbury regions.Police said no one would be charged in the incident as the…

A Christchurch eye surgeon who attempted to murder his former business landlord has been granted parole.After being declared bankrupt on August 4, 2022, prominent doctor Ian Dallison stormed into the Lyttleton home of Alberto Ceccarelli and attempted to shoot him while he was eating dinner with his wife, Antje Schmidt.Dallison was jailed for almost seven years in 2023.A Parole Board spokesperson confirmed Dallison appeared before the board on Monday and was granted release.He will be released next month.It was earlier revealed Dallison had been in an intimate relationship with District Court Judge Jane Farish.Farish was Dallison’s girlfriend at the time…

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has addressed his party’s recent disagreements with its coalition partner ACT, calling them “not emotional” and asserting the two parties are “aligned on the vast majority of things”.On Sunday, ACT formally invoked its agree-to-disagree clause over the Government’s work on the firearms registry review.The clause allowed parties to maintain differently held beliefs on particular issues in public, but stated “a Minister’s support and responsibility for the collective government position must always be clear”.Today, another disagreement continued to be a topic between the two parties. Luxon claimed in a Newstalk ZB interview this morning that ACT had…

From Kylie Minogue’s gold hotpants to a 19th century cloak worn by Dame Nellie Melba, costumes worn by Australia’s stars of the stage will go on show at a new museum.The NZD$3.79 million Australian Museum of Performing Arts is currently under construction inside Melbourne’s Hamer Hall, and set to open in December.The space will be used to show off the Australian Performing Arts Collection of more than 850,000 costumes, props, posters and other memorabilia.The treasures include AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott’s leather jacket, Dame Edna Everage’s The Scream Dress, and Divinyls singer Chrissy Amphlett’s tunic.Part of a ‘School Boy’ costume’…

A new members’ bill requiring overseas animal products to meet New Zealand’s welfare standards might result in only minimal price increases, Green MP Steve Abel says.Speaking to Q+A, Abel said Kiwi farmers are operating to very high animal welfare standards, but that doesn’t always mean consumers are getting cruelty-free products. “As a principle, we’ve set in place these high welfare standards in New Zealand,” he said.“There’s been great advocacy, and the public has demanded that we don’t have sow stalls for pigs that are cruel, we don’t have battery cages for chickens. “And yet, we’ve got a problem in that…