Author: Press Room

Predator Free Wellington is facing a shortfall of $1.75 million annually, largely due to a decrease in government funding from next year.The group has successfully eradicated rats from the Miramar peninsula and turned its attention toward the central city, hopeful it can persevere.Yesterday, the team showed National Party MP Catherine Wedd, who chairs Parliament’s environment committee, and the media around its Wilton-based workshop.Operational field support officer Craig Keen said they were always chasing that last 1% of rats.”There’s the easy ones that you can get, and then it’s the hard ones at the very end,” he said.”There’s all these different…

Kiwi singer Lorde has announced an upcoming tour with dates in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.The international tour, titled Ultrasound, will follow the release of her new album Virgin on June 27.The tour is scheduled to begin in Austin, Texas on September 17 and wrap up in Stockholm, Sweden on December 9.New Zealand does not feature. Support acts include Blood Orange, the Japanese House, Nilüfer Yana, Chanel Beads, Empress Of, Jim-E Stack and Oklou.The singer described the tour as a collaboration between herself and her fanbase in an email this morning.”Every show I play is a collaboration between…

Invercargill’s council chambers played host to a testy conversation on Tuesday, including an accusation that democracy had gone by the wayside.The exchange involved long-standing councillors Ian Pottinger and Darren Ludlow — who was chairing the committee meeting.Following an impassioned presentation from a member of the public about a development impacting the wellbeing of hens at his poultry business, Pottinger questioned why he hadn’t received answers to questions he’d personally put to the council.Ludlow said that had Pottinger been listening, he would have heard the answer already.Following further exchanges and disagreement, Ludlow said he was chairing and asked for the next…

Capital expenditure — new money set aside in the Budget to maintain or upgrade assets — will be higher than originally forecast when the Government delivers its Budget in two weeks’ time.In a speech to Business New Zealand on Thursday, the Prime Minister said the money, which would be split mostly across health, education, defence, and transport, will total $6.8 billion.It meant the net capital allowance, once savings identified in the Budget have been accounted for, would increase from the $3.6b previously signalled, to $4b.Last week Finance Minister Nicola Willis cut the operating allowance by half to $1.3b.Christopher Luxon told…

New technology rolled out at New Zealand Post’s huge national packaging centre in South Auckland is being praised as a “game changer” for stamping out biosecurity threats and detecting drugs at the border. The Auckland Processing Centre (APC) in Wiri is the country’s international and domestic gateway for all parcels and mail entering and leaving New Zealand, using modern technology to make the process more efficient. Around $250 million has been invested in the Wiri centre and two others around the country. Wiri had been sorting domestic parcels since April 2024. Lesley McLinden from Customs said new 3D screening technology…

The Warehouse says it’s seeing encouraging signs as sales improved in the third quarter as it offered discounts, but that’s led to a lower profit.Key numbers for the 13 weeks ended April 27 compared with a year ago:Group sales $710.5m vs $695.5mGross profit $223.2m v $227.8mGross profit margin 31.4% vs 32.8%Interim chief executive John Journee said its February sales were strong, while March and April were softer, but were better than the same period last year.Persistent discounting in the retail sector, combined with mark-downs to clear seasonal merchandise, lowered The Warehouse Group’s gross profits and margins.”This positive headway is a…

Paul Joseph Dally — the man who raped and murdered 13-year-old Karla Cardno in Lower Hutt in 1989 — has been denied parole once again, but his lawyer argues he is “almost ready for release”.In a decision released today, the Parole Board remained concerned about the level of support available to Dally while he reintegrated, but work was underway to prepare him for that.He was sentenced to life imprisonment on March 8, 1990, and for the past year had been held in a self-care unit at Auckland South Corrections Facility, with a minimum security classification.When he appeared before the Parole…

Whakatāne District Council has agreed to waive airport fees for Air Chathams for the next six months but has said no to other forms of financial support the airline has requested.The council also voted to run an expressions of interest process with the aviation sector asking them to submit proposals for business-friendly Auckland and Wellington services.“We are not an airline,” Mayor Victor Luca told the airline’s owner and chief executive Craig Emeny and chief commercial officer Duane Emeny today.The Emenys had fronted up to a council meeting to field questions from elected members about their requests for financial support made…

ADVERTISEMENTGermany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz intends to declare a state of emergency on migration, the Welt newspaper has reported.Euronews has been told by government officials that Merz wants to declare a national emergency in order to step up the increased deportations of people attempting to enter Germany illegally via a safe EU country.Merz and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt want to invoke Article 72 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This would mean that national law would apply to border protection and internal security with immediate effect. However, Brussels would first have to decide on this. Ambassadors…

A large number of weather alerts have been issued for regions up and down the country as two active fronts approach New Zealand. You can find a full list of all weather watches and warnings below.According to MetService, the first front would be preceded by heavy rain and gale north-westerlies, and was expected to move northwards over the South Island today and tomorrow morning. Another active front, preceded by gale north-easterlies, was expected to move over the upper North Island tomorrow.Orange heavy rain warnings were issued for parts of the North and South Islands. 1News weather presenter Daniel Corbett said…