Author: Press Room

IKEA’s long-awaited arrival in New Zealand hit the ground running on Thursday, with more than 18,000 people visiting the new Sylvia Park store on its first day – and shoppers wasted no time filling their trolleys.The most purchased item of the day was the retailer’s iconic FRAKTA blue carrier bag, with a total of 4200 snapped up – making the $1 tote the top-selling product among New Zealand shoppers.Furniture favourites were quick to follow. The white BILLY bookcase, a global IKEA bestseller, was also the first item purchased when the store opened its doors. Other popular sellers from the Swedish…

Firefighters were called to a blaze in East Tamaki on Saturday afternoon after pallets and a shipping container went up in flames.The blaze off Lady Ruby Dr in the industrial area of East Tamaki was reported at around 4.54pm on Saturday.”Crews have found pallets and one shipping container on fire measuring 20m x 40ms,” a Fire and Emergency NZ spokesperson said.”Currently there are three crews in attendance from Papatoetoe and Otara.”Footage captured by 1News shows firefighters tackling the flames from close range and from a truck positioned at the end of the driveway.The cause of the fire was not yet…

Charities say they are struggling financially in the lead up to Christmas – with a stark drop off in donations that is being felt across the country.It’s being blamed on the high costs facing households, prompting GiveALittle to create a special “day of giving”.At Diamond Harbour School near Christchurch, a comedy night fundraiser had been planned to fund a new paint job for the pool.However, the parents running it had to pull the pin.“In the end I think we sold at most 40 out of a maximum 300 tickets,” said Diamond Harbour School Education Charitable Trust secretary Liv Sinclair.“Largely it…

A mobile health clinic in Central Otago is fighting the ongoing measles outbreak by offering free MMR vaccinations to seasonal workers before the busy summer harvest season.Uruuruwhenua Hauroa in Alexandra is running the programme, travelling to orchards across the district to make the vaccinations accessible for Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers.The programme was run through the mobile bus or late-night drop-in clinics.Nurse Lana John said the workers come from a variety of different immunisation programmes, with a vaccine offered if they have a gap in their record.”What we do here is take the safe approach of checking where they may…

Ex-top cop Andrew Coster says ministers went too far in alleging there may have been police corruption involved in the Jevon McSkimming case, defending his own actions as honest mistakes in an exclusive Q+A interview.READ MORE: Exclusive — Coster says he told Hipkins and Mitchell about McSkimmingSpeaking out for the first time since the release of a damning report, Coster told Q+A he couldn’t understand why commentary suggesting he and his colleagues were taking part in corruption had been made, when the IPCA’s inquiry did not use those words.Watch the full interview at 9am on Q+A with Jack Tame on…

Former police commissioner Andrew Coster has made explosive claims that senior figures knew more about the Jevon McSkimming case than they have previously said.Coster spoke to Q+A’s Jack Tame in his first interview since the release of a damning IPCA report and his subsequent resignation from his government role this week. He accused former PM and ex-police minister Chris Hipkins and current police minister Mark Mitchell of both having knowledge of aspects of the case before it became public.The former police boss said he told Hipkins in 2022 and Mitchell in 2024 about the case surrounding McSkimming, the disgraced former…

A recent study suggests our nurses are trained to view elderly patients in a narrow, impersonalised way. Senior nursing lecturer Samantha Heath reports.Life expectancy in New Zealand has increased dramatically over the past five decades. In 1970, men lived on average to 68. Today, it’s over 80.These gains reflect major advances in public health and medical technology. But living longer can mean more years with multiple chronic conditions and disabilities, because age is a significant risk factor for most disease.This demographic shift will reshape healthcare. Future health professionals will need to be aware of the increasingly complex social, technological and…

Lucy Griggs, a 24-year-old social media manager from Wellington, spoke to 1News’ Polly Wenlock about her experience after moving overseas.Griggs is one of many thousands making the move to Australia – Stats NZ data released this month showed a net migration loss of 46,400 Kiwis in the September 2025 year. That was the result of a record departure of 72,700 Kiwis – primarily across the Tasman. ‘Why did I move? Why wouldn’t I move?’Griggs moved to Brisbane in March and has no regrets, citing opportunities, a positive culture, and reasonable pay as key factors in an easier life on the…

The Green Party is criticising the $8 million cost to set up the Government’s traffic-light system for beneficiaries, which includes new non-financial sanctions, calling it “smoke and mirrors”.The Greens have drawn attention to the number, after Ministry of Social Development (MSD) bosses revealed, during Scrutiny Week, that just 12 people had received non-financial sanctions in the six months they’ve been available.Nearly 13,000 sanctions were issued in total in the September quarter this year.Green social development spokesperson Ricardo Menendez March said Minister Louise Upston had been “wasting everyone’s time” and money to create more layers of bureaucracy and “effectively unworkable” new…

Te Pāti Māori will gather for its long-awaited Annual General Meeting in Rotorua today, after months of turmoil that led to the expulsion of two of their six MPs.Mariameno Kapa-Kingi will now attend the full AGM following a high court ruling reinstating her to the party, while Tākuta Ferris remains expelled and won’t be in attendance.Ferris told RNZ he wasn’t surprised Kapa-Kingi was reinstated, and it was just “the next step in unfolding this big fat mess”.He said the AGM agenda was “sterile”, suggesting it would be shut down following the updates provided.In a letter, the former leaders said the…