Author: Press Room

Former finance minister Grant Robertson has defended turning down an invitation to appear at public hearings of the Covid-19 inquiry, describing the process as a “show trial” and saying he’s already given hours of interviews.A second week of public hearings at the inquiry was cancelled after former prime minister Dame Jacinda Ardern, current Labour leader Chris Hipkins, Robertson and former health minister Ayesha Verrall all turned down invitations to appear. Commissioners opted not to use their powers to summons the four ex-ministers.Grant Robertson (file image). (Source: 1News)Robertson told Q+A the second phase of the inquiry, initiated by the National-led government…

Marlborough District Council says repairs to the region’s roads after the recent back-to-back storms are likely to cost $20 million, with the Government agreeing to fund most of the cost.Marlborough Roads staff and contractors have been working to fix more than 780 faults across the road network caused by the storms in June and July. Of those, 133 faults have so far been fixed.The council said emergency repair work response activities have cost $8m and recovery activities are expected to cost $12m, with NZ Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi agreeing to increase its funding assistance rate for response work to 91% ($7.28m)…

The Opportunities Party is looking for a new leader, and has taken to Seek to find them.TOP has been leader-less since 2023, and has taken the unusual approach of an open-call job ad to recruit the person it hopes will lead them to success in 2026.The job ad was uploaded on Seek on Thursday evening.The ad said the party was “not fussy” about a candidate’s CV.”PhD in economics? Tremendous. Self-employed builder? Fantastic. Nurse? Magnificent,” it said.”What matters is your ability to lead us towards a better future, live our values (fearless honesty, equitable opportunity, ingenuity, and results that matter), and…

A four-day working week might sound like a dream, but for some businesses, it’s already a reality – and the pressure to make it the norm seems to be growing on the other side of the Tasman.Now, Australia’s biggest union body is calling for the model to become the norm, reigniting debate across the ditch and prompting comparisons to New Zealand’s early trials.The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is leading the charge, saying a shorter work week without a pay cut can lead to higher productivity and a better quality of life.“You get better performance. Workers are healthier. They’ve…

A newborn girl whose body was found at a recycling plant in 2021 has been farewelled today. The baby, named baby Anahera by the community, was found at an Onehunga recycling facility exactly four years ago, on the evening of August 16, 2021.In the years since, an “extensive investigation” has been ongoing to identify the mother, father or wider family — to no avail. Police appealed to the public for information, released images of clothing found and combed through hours of CCTV footage and DNA databases, but her identity has never been uncovered.An inquiry into Anahera’s death was carried out,…

The Government’s ban on protesting outside someone’s home will rebalance the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy, a law professor says.But another academic has questioned whether a new law is necessary, and says police may struggle to enforce it.Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced on Friday that protesting outside someone’s home would become an offence, punishable with a fine or jail time.While it would apply to all residences, Goldsmith said there had been increased reports of demonstrations targeting the homes of public figures like MPs, judges and other officials.Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis said current laws…

Police hope that a trial for a new genetic investigative tool could provide new leads into the 45-year-old cold-case murder and rape of 6-year-old Alicia O’Reilly. Alicia was found raped and murdered in her bed on the morning of August 16, 1980, just metres away from where her 8-year-old sister Juliet was sleeping in the same room of their home on Canal Road in Auckland’s Avondale. After 45 years, nobody has been convicted for her death. Police reopened the case in 2020 as part of an operation called Operation Sturbridge.This morning, Detective Inspector Scott Beard said a DNA sample had…

When a Whanganui SuperValue displayed some dodgy maths recently, shopper David Bradbury argued he should have been able to choose to pay the lower of the prices on offer.He spotted bacon that was advertised as selling for a different price per 100g than the main display price.Shoulder bacon was 200g for $4.69 but then 94c per 100g, and middle bacon was 200g for $5.79 but $1.16 per 100g.”I pointed out to the closest person in a shop uniform the poor arithmetic … He said the big number was the right one. I said I should be able to choose. He…

“Frustrated locals” have vandalised parking machines in Tauranga in an attempt to stall paid parking, a business owner believes.Four Tauranga City Council parking terminals have been damaged in the past 10 days and will each cost about $2000 to fix.Rutherford Signs director Matt Batchelor believed the two machines on Glasgow St and Third Ave were damaged with hammers.”Frustrated locals have now resorted to vandalising the new, very expensive-looking paid parking terminals with hammers in an effort to delay progress [of paid parking].”Paid parking in the city centre fringe begins on Monday, August 18. It was meant to start on August…

Five flights across the country were delayed and others were grounded following a power outage affecting air traffic control this afternoon.Air traffic service provider Airways New Zealand “experienced a disruption to its main oceanic air traffic control system which temporarily disrupted air traffic services operating across the Tasman”, CEO James Young told 1News in a statement. “At 4.30pm, the main oceanic air traffic control system experienced an outage and operations were switched to a back-up system. During this time, flight plans for the Tasman sector were unable to be processed through the system, causing delays.”Five flights were held in the…