Author: Press Room

Time to bring out the brolly – heavy rain and blustery winds are in store for the upper North Island ahead of the weekend.On Friday, a fast-moving rainband will cross the upper North Island, bringing a burst of heavy rain, with the risk of thunderstorms and strong winds gusting 80km/h, according to MetService.Heavy rain watches have been issued for Auckland and Coromandel Peninsula from midnight tonight to 9am tomorrow, and for Bay of Plenty ranges east of the Ōtara River from 3am to 6pm. A strong wind watch was in place for Northland from 2am to 9am tomorrow. “With the…

The Reserve Bank governor says the central bank faces a “test of trust and confidence” as an organisation. It comes after two messy departures involving its former governor Adrian Orr, and later board chair Neil Quigley, amid the fall-out from the Orr saga. In a speech to the Financial Services Council conference, Christian Hawkesby said the RBNZ had attracted unwanted attention during the year. He acknowledged it had been a “challenging period” for the central bank. Hawkesby was initially made acting governor after the departure of Orr, but was later made governor on a six-month basis, while a search for a long-term replacement…

The wife of former All Black and NZ Māori player, Tutekawa Wyllie, who is suffering from a brain disease caused by the game says it is hurtful that they have never heard from NZ Rugby, offering the organisation to “come and feed him off a teaspoon if they like”.Margaret Wyllie fought for years to get ACC to accept her husband had chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, a progressive disease that develops after repeated head injuries like concussions.All Black 823, Tutekawa Wyllie, known as Tu, suffered numerous head knocks playing top level rugby during the 1970s and 80s.In 2022, ACC accepted…

The Court of Appeal has turned down a bid to quash Scott Watson’s convictions for the murders of Olivia Hope and Ben Smart.Watson’s lawyer, Kerry Cook said Watson was “very disappointed” with the decision.”He maintains that he is innocent. He has instructed us to prepare an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.”Watson – who has spent a quarter of a century in prison for the murders of Smart and Hope – had his case heard by the Court of Appeal last June.The Blenheim friends, aged 21 and 17, were last seen stepping off a water taxi onto…

Taranaki music festival WOMAD will not run next year as organisers take a “purposeful rest” in 2026.The three-day festival, featuring local and international artists, had been a mainstay at New Plymouth’s Brooklands Park since 2003.Taranaki Arts Festival Trust, who organised the event, said the “incredibly tough decision” not to host the festival followed “much reflection and many thoughtful kōrero”.”Rising costs and shifting conditions mean that pressing pause for one year is the most responsible step we can take to protect the future of WOMAD Aotearoa, and ensure it continues to be the exceptional festival you know and love,” it said…

A South Island car dealer has been sentenced after dishonestly applying to get the Clean Car Discount rebate for nearly 120 electric vehicles.Between March and April 2023, Hamish Gardyne applied for rebates on 119 Nissan Leaf vehicles, claiming they were demonstration cars. The rebate for a Nissan Leaf would be of $3450 per vehicle, amounting to a total claim of $410,550. The Clean Car Discount rebate could be claimed from April 2022 to December 2023 by low emission vehicle owners. Dealers were allowed to claim a rebate only for cars they registered to themselves and used as a company car,…

Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris has doubled down on his controversial social media post about race – at odds with his party’s earlier apology.In the final days of the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, Ferris posted on Instagram, criticising Labour for having “Indians, Asians, Black and pākeha” campaigning for its candidate Peeni Henare.The post drew the ire of Labour’s Willie Jackson, who called it “racist”, prompting an apology from Te Pāti Māori, which said its movement had always been for “the people”.In a post to Instagram on Tuesday night, Ferris said seeing members of other ethnic communities campaigning for Peeni Henare…

ADVERTISEMENT A pamphlet pictured in several viral social media posts claims to show a Russian institute advising the wives of soldiers to refrain from denouncing domestic abuse. The contents of the pamphlet, translated from Russian to English by Euronews’ verification team, advises women not to publicise their suffering on social media, to “cover up bruises with make up” and avoid “colourful clothing and make-up” in order to not “further provoke” their husbands. “Why did your husband hit you? How did you provoke him? Ask your husband for forgiveness,” the pictured pamphlet reads. “Silence is not weakness, but wisdom,” it adds.…

Whakatāne District Council has confirmed that there is no Meet the Candidates event booked at the Whakatāne War Memorial Centre on Thursday.A Facebook post has been circulating on local community pages advertising a local government election event at the Whakatāne War Memorial Centre at 6pm.The event was first promoted two weeks ago on several community pages as being booked for the centre’s reception lounge and, in the past few days, it has been promoted as being held at the Whakatāne Little Theatre.The person who created the post said the council had been paid for the booking.However, the council confirmed that…

A teacher giving evidence at the trial of the woman accused of murdering her two children and leaving them in suitcases broke down in tears as she described to the court how they were adored at school.Warning: This story mentions suicide.It is the first week of the trial of Hakyung Lee, born as Ji Eun Lee, at the High Court at Auckland before Justice Geoffrey Venning, which is expected to last four weeks.The bodies of Minu Jo and Yuna Jo, aged six and eight at the time of their deaths in 2018, were discovered in suitcases almost four years after…