Author: Press Room

A 100% natural leather restoring balm has qualified four Dunedin high school students for a national business award. Nature’s Prime was named the Otago regional winner for this year’s Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) awards, announced by Business South at the University of Otago’s Business School on Thursday. A total of 338 students from 14 schools throughout Otago were involved in the programme this year, with eight teams competing in the regional finals. The “100% natural” leather restoring balm was developed by St Hilda’s Collegiate students Ellie Templeton, Emi Martin, Greer Egan, and Meg Miller. They were “ecstatic” to come out…

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says his suggestion Fonterra should face more regulation is not a threat but rather “Parliament’s duty”.ACT’s David Seymour says politicians should leave the decision to those “milking cows”, to which Peters bit back: “we know what one end of the cow looks like”.Peters penned an open letter to farmers on Friday morning, having earlier criticised Fonterra’s proposal to sell retail brands like Mainland and Anchor, and other assets, to French company Lactalis.The letter accused the company’s executives of not being transparent and warned that if the deal progressed “then perhaps we need to revisit…

University of Otago law student Bryn Dingemans first became involved in service clubs while at secondary school. That included the XSProject which supported Indonesia trash pickers and also a peer support programme. Getting involved and giving back to his community was important to him and so becoming involved with Ignite Consultants Otago when he started university was a natural step. Ignite Consultants Otago is a student-led voluntary not-for-profit organisation which offers free consulting services by students, to not-for-profit organisations. It was started more than 15 years ago after Polish exchange student Agnieszka Nazaruk recognised a disconnect between students in the…

Three people have been charged after a young man was left with “critical, life-threatening injuries” in what police called a group attack in Hamilton. The assault occurred at a residential address on Northolt Rd in the Hamilton suburb of Fairview Downs at around 9.25pm on Monday.The victim, who police described as a young man, underwent surgery today for his injuries. He remained in a serious condition. This afternoon, police said two 20-year-old men and an 18-year-old woman were arrested over the incident. The trio faced charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and aggravated burglary.The men were…

An 11th-hour plea has been made to Alliance Group farmer shareholders to vote against selling 65% of their co-operative to Irish meat company Dawn Meats. But Alliance chairman Mark Wynne has reiterated the alternative plan put forward by a group of Southland-based shareholders to recapitalise the company and keep it wholly in farmer ownership still had two fundamental principles the board does not agree with. On Monday, a special shareholders meeting is being held in Invercargill, where shareholders will vote on the proposed Dawn Meats deal. In September, a group of Southland-based shareholders wrote to fellow shareholders proposing an alternative…

The clean-up after days of heavy rain and widespread flooding has begun as the Ruapehu district counts the cost of the damage.Ruapehu District Council has warned of health risks from floodwater, and key state highways remain closed after the rain left roads damaged and small settlements cut off.Early indications suggest roading repairs will cost millions of dollars.The council has stepped down its emergency response, downgrading its Emergency Operations Centre to Level 1 and signalling that the immediate emergency has passed.Civil Defence controller Clive Manley said the recovery would take time and caution was still needed.”Calls for welfare assistance have dropped…

MTF Finance has completed its ninth public securitisation, achieving one of the strongest results in its history. The $269.7 million class A notes (the highest tranche of an asset-backed security) were rated AAA (sf — structured finance) and were met with what it described as “exceptional demand”, receiving bids for more than double the amount on offer. More than 90% of investment came from “real money” domestic institutions including KiwiSaver providers. Three new investors joined the programme, alongside several returning institutions. In a statement, chief executive Chris Lamers said it was a strong endorsement of the company’s credit performance and…

ACT Leader David Seymour has handed back a couple of portfolio responsibilities and picked one up in some quietly revealed changes.1News approached Minister’s Seymour’s office after noticing two entries in the Prime Minister’s recently released titles of advice revealed delegation changes in his associate finance portfolio and the addition of responsibilities in associate health.Seymour was responsible for the Natural Hazards Commission, but told 1News in a statement: “In the case of the Natural Hazards Commission, I was required to make joint decisions with the Minister of Finance. This was overly complicated, and the Commission deserves timely decisions. I asked to…

Published on 17/10/2025 – 16:44 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT The European Commission has called on Israel to lift restrictions on the delivery of aid to Gaza, one week after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force. The agreement, brokered by US President Donald Trump, stipulates that Israel must grant passage to 600 aid trucks daily. So far, Israel has limited the flow of aid with authorities only allowing the entry of half the agreed-upon amount daily. Israel says that’s in response to Hamas allegedly breaching the truce agreement by returning the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages too slowly. For instance,…

Liquidators are counting up the debts of Christchurch glass and plastic jar supplier Croftpak Ltd as estimates climb to more than $914,000. Unsecured creditors are unlikely to be repaid as the company is short on funds to cover debts to 39 creditors. Rodgers Reidy insolvency practitioners Lynda Smart and Derek Ah Sam were appointed liquidators of the company by shareholder Gregory Croft on October 1 and have put out a first report. The company, formed in 2003, has ceased trading, with the liquidators taking possession of assets to be sold. Mr Croft, who is the sole director, told them the…