Author: Press Room

The Commerce Commission has moved to lower interchange fees paid by businesses to accept Visa and Mastercard payments.The regulator has issued a final decision, saying the cost was too high, and their decision would save businesses around $90 million a year.It said the average business would save around $500 each year in lower fees, but individual businesses could save more or less, depending on the mix of transactions they accept.The Commission put the overall cost of interchange fees at around $1 billion for businesses, which were often passed onto customers through surcharges and higher product costs.”This is an important step…

Too many people are still ending up sick and in hospital from contaminated fresh chicken meat, public health professionals say.New analysis released by the Public Health Communication Centre (PHCC) on Thursday shows hospitalisation rates for campylobacter infection have increased by almost 70% in 17 years. The study found contaminated fresh chicken meat remained the dominant source, causing an estimated 77% of infections.But the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has disputed the figures and is accusing the researchers of scaremongering.The PHCC study noted that, in 2007, regulatory measures were introduced to reduce contamination levels in fresh chicken meat tested in processing…

ADVERTISEMENT A French court ordered the conditional release of a Lebanese pro-Palestinian communist militant on Thursday after more than 40 years in detention in France. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah was serving a life sentence for complicity in the murders of two diplomats, one American and one Israeli, in Paris in 1982. The Paris Court of Appeal ruled Abdallah, who has been imprisoned in France since his arrest in 1984, can be released next Friday on the condition that he leaves France and never returns, judicial authorities said. His lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, told reporters that Abdallah wants to return to Lebanon upon…

Two people have been charged with neglect, 10 years after the unexplained death of a four-year-old girl in Northland.Alestra Kepa-Hati died in Kaikohe in October 2015. The girl had suffered a broken arm, broken pelvis and two separate head injuries in the weeks leading up to her death.Detective Sergeant Natalie Syddall today said police have now arrested a man and woman in relation to the ongoing investigation.“Today we arrested a 60-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman, who have both been charged with four counts of neglect of a child under 18.“Three of those charges relate to Alestra and one to…

A rural Western Bay of Plenty community is “in shock” as a controversial local industrial park is greenlit.Te Puna residents have been rallying against the development since 2021, as they say the culturally significant, flood-prone wetland is inappropriate for the business.Resource consents were granted for the industrial park by an independent commission whose decision was released last week.Te Puna Industrial Limited bought 12ha of industrial-zoned land at 297 Te Puna Station Rd for $4.7m in 2021 and applied for consents from the Western Bay of Plenty District and Bay of Plenty Regional councils in 2022.The company is half-owned by shipping…

ADVERTISEMENT Poland will remain the biggest beneficiary of the EU’s proposed €2 trillion budget for 2028-2034, officials said Wednesday after the European Commission unveiled its draft multiannual financial framework. Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domański called Poland “the biggest beneficiary of the biggest ever EU budget” with further funds available for security, cohesion, agriculture and innovation. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the proposal as “a budget for a new era that matches Europe’s ambitions,” designed to “strengthen our independence and respond to the challenges facing the union.” The budget allocates €300 billion for agriculture and €218 billion for…

A Waiuku woman who died in a crash alongside her daughter and niece has left behind three children, including an eight-week-old baby. The three died after their car left the road and landed in a creek on Masters Rd in Waiuku on Tuesday afternoon.Police formally named the three on Thursday afternoon as Frances Mildred Latu‑Vailea, 35, her five-year-old daughter Oneahi Vailea and her seven-year-old niece Marly Tulua. A Givealittle page said the “devastating accident” has left Latu-Vailea’s husband Amanaki “suddenly widowed and the sole caregiver to their three sons”.The three children are aged eight weeks old, 2, and 12. “We…

A 15-year effort to fill gaps in the Taranaki health workforce has almost doubled the proportion of Māori working for the region’s public health service.As New Zealand struggles to attract doctors and nurses in a global shortage, and regions are forced to compete with the big cities for health workers, Taranaki has nurtured a homegrown response.Whakatipuranga Rima Rau (Generation 500) was set up in 2010 to attract 500 Māori into the region’s health sector over a decade.Back then, Māori were 6.6% of the workforce at Taranaki District Health Board.These days, 11.3% of Taranaki staff are Māori at what’s now Te…

ADVERTISEMENT The European Commission unveiled a record €2 trillion budget—its largest ever—signalling significant changes and reductions to EU agricultural funding compared to the current 2021–2027 period. The proposal confirmed earlier reports that agricultural subsidies and regional development funds would be merged into a single mega-fund worth €865 billion. Within this new single fund, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is ringfenced—meaning a fixed amount is protected from reallocation—for income support totalling €300 billion. The term income support no longer refers exclusively to direct payments, which have traditionally made up the bulk of the CAP, but it also includes co-funded initiatives that…

Members’ bills from opposition MPs are more often than not doomed to fail, but there have been exceptions to the rule this term.Tracey McLellan’s Evidence (Giving Evidence of Family Violence) Amendment Bill received unanimous support at its second reading, with all six parties in Parliament voting in favour.Deborah Russell’s Companies (Address Information) Amendment Bill is being supported by National and ACT, but not by New Zealand First.Others, like Camilla Belich’s Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Bill, have passed thanks to the support of one of the smaller coalition parties (in this case, New Zealand First).But only one opposition bill has…