Author: Press Room

An Auckland woman says her life has been “changed forever” after being hit by an e-scooter on her walk to work.Michelle Mann was hit by a scooter in 2018 and was left with a severe brain injury.The average number of concussion-related ACC e-scooter claims since 2019 was 93 per year — and they could be life-changing.Mann wanted the introduction of an insurance tariff to hold e-scooter companies responsible for the cost of e-scooter related ACC claims.Seven years ago, she was walking to work from the ferry terminal on downtown Auckland’s Quay St when she was struck by an e-scooter.”This moment…

Wairarapa-based MP Kieran McAnulty has renewed a call for the whereabouts of potentially millions of dollars from a court settlement over Wairarapa’s defective hospital.In answering the call, Health Minister Simeon Brown said taxpayers had “already invested in remediating the buildings” at the heart of the legal battle.But McAnulty said that still didn’t answer the main question: “Where has our money gone?”The former Wairarapa District Health Board sued Masterton District Council for $90 million in damages, plus interest and costs, to remedy the defective hospital.The claim related to alleged defects in the construction and consenting process for Wairarapa Hospital between 2004…

While the flat housing market which dominated last year has rolled into 2025, QV operations manager James Wilson said there was the potential for more “substantial growth” later in the year.In the latest numbers from the QV House Price Index, residential property values have increased slightly, up 1.3% on average nationally in the January quarter.The average house is now worth $913,567 – 1.3% less than at the same time last year and 14.1% below the market peak in 2021.Wilson said the slow start has been expected, due to the economic factors at play such as high interest rates, credit constraints,…

Moutere Valley residents are proving bigger isn’t always better when it comes to wetlands thanks to a Tasman District Council rule that means landowners wanting to create smaller wetlands don’t need expensive consents.David Watts has created small ponds on his property, turning it into a new wetland.”We’re dry in summer, so I wanted a green oasis.”With a $600 grant for fuel and a full d’ays labour, Watts was able to create the wetland without bureaucratic hurdles.”I would have loved to do a larger wetland. Not possible. Too many hoops to jump over, and so this was a piece of cake.”Yachal…

Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale is yet to move to the city he leads because he says he can’t find a home in his desired school zone.After being elected in July Drysdale said he would commute from his current hometown of Cambridge, but aimed to be living in Tauranga by the end of the year.A ratepayers representative said the mayor needed to move to Tauranga to “to live up to his truths”.Drysdale lives in Cambridge with his wife Juliette and their three primary school-aged children, but finding a house within their preferred school zone in Tauranga was “proving to be very…

At least 51 people are dead after their bus plunged off a bridge Monday on the outskirts of Guatemala’s capital, said Hector Flores, who was helping coordinate the municipal government’s response.Firefighting spokesman Edwin Villagran said a multi-vehicle crash sent the bus off the bridge before dawn. Others were seriously injured.The bus fell 35m into a sewage-polluted stream. It landed upside down and half-submerged.The bus had come from Progreso, northeast of the capital. Volunteer firefighting spokesman Óscar Sánchez said children were among the victims.President Bernardo Arévalo offered his condolences and declared a day of national mourning.

US President Donald Trump moved to substantially raise tariffs on steel and aluminium imports on Monday, cancelling exemptions and duty-free quotas for major suppliers Canada, Mexico, Brazil and other countries in a move that could boost the risk of a multi-front trade war. According to Trading Economics, New Zealand exported about US$39 million (NZ$69m) worth of aluminium to the US in 2023. Trump signed proclamations that raised the tariff rate on aluminium imports to 25% from the previous 10% that he imposed in 2018 to aid the struggling sector. His action reinstates a 25% tariff on millions of tons of steel imports and…

A woman has been charged after a December incident where Napier police say a man was travelling on a mattress on top of a car before falling off and dying.Tamatea man Reif Cotter, 33, was found with critical injuries on a Marewa street on the night of December 27.He died at the scene.In an update, Detective Sergeant Stacey Bailey-Tran said police had now arrested and charged a 23-year-old woman over the incident.The woman was arrested in Hastings yesterday afternoon and charged with excess breath alcohol and reckless driving causing death.”Police are not seeking anyone else in relation to this incident,”…

Education technology is a major feature in Singapore schools with the Government aiming to transform learning to “prepare students for a technology-transformed world”.“We recognise the power and the affordance of technology to help our teachers bring out the best in students in the teaching and learning process,” Yusof Ishak Secondary School Principal Chen Ziyang told 1News.Yusof Ishak Secondary School is one of two schools the Ministry of Education Singapore approved access to after 1News made a request to see the country’s high-performing education system in action.In the latest 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment study run by OECD, Singapore scored…

Surviving on mince and sausages, and wearing second-hand clothes – that’s the plight some pensioners face as the cost of living crisis continues.Those living away from major cities are also feeling the pinch, even if they do not rely solely on the pension.The amount New Zealand’s pensioners are spending each week has been broken down in a recent report from Massey University.For Donald O’Meara and his partner, it is vital that they stick to their budget on their well-planned grocery shops or monthly trips to The Warehouse to stock up on essentials such as toilet paper on Gold Card special…