Author: Press Room

There are concerns those most impacted by proposed cutbacks to postal services will struggle to have a say in any changes.The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) wants to reduce rural postal deliveries from a minimum of five days a week to three days. City postal deliveries could also be cut down to two days per week.It said the move was in response to plummeting mail volumes — but the Postal Workers Union of Aotearoa is rejecting the proposal entirely, claiming rural communities which need it most will be cut off.The union’s John Maynard told Breakfast the move will…

Recent ballots in Georgia and Moldova have shown how the Kremlin is working to counter the EU’s eastern expansion. ADVERTISEMENTAn annual assessment of candidate countries’ progress towards becoming EU members, unveiled by Brussels on Wednesday, showed none of the hopefuls making big strides despite a renewed sense of urgency to expand the European bloc eastwards.Ten states are waiting in the wings to join the European Union, nine of which have been recognised as official candidates. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has injected new impetus into the process of integrating them into the European bloc to avoid the so-called ‘grey zone’ on…

A substantial overhaul of the under-funded attendance system is needed, says the Education Review Office, as chronic absence reaches crisis point.In a report published today the office said 80,000 children were chronically absent in term two this year, generally the worst of the four school terms in terms of attendance.It said that meant one in 10 students missed more than 30% of class time that term, double the figure 10 years ago.”We are really worried. We think chronic absence has reached crisis levels,” head of the ERO’s education evaluation centre Ruth Shinoda told Morning Report.”Its doubled in the past decade…

The commission has strongly criticised Antoni Macierewicz for his role in cancelling prominent defence projects ADVERTISEMENTThe head of a special commission investigating Russian and Belarusian interference in Poland announced on Wednesday that he is referring a former defence minister to prosecutors. General Jaroslaw Stróżyk, who also chairs the Polish Military Counterintelligence Service, accused Antoni Macierewicz – the defence minister from 2015-2018 under the right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) – of impairing Poland’s defence capabilities before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Stróżyk was appointed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk to head the commission when it was established in May.…

The Government is set to make redress payments to a group of Lake Alice survivors after “inequities” in a 2001 settlement were identified.From 1972 to 1980, hundreds of young people were sent to Lake Alice Hospital, where they suffered paralysing injections and electric shocks as punishment at the hands of head psychiatrist Dr Selwyn Leeks.In 2001, the Crown reached a $6.5 million group settlement with 95 survivors. They had been subjected to abuse at the facility.”Law firm Grant Cameron and Associates (now GCA Lawyers) represented the group and deducted an estimated $2.6 million in legal fees from the total settlement…

The number of companies opened across the EU is higher than those closing, with 3.4 million new companies created in 2022 versus 2.8 million that went out of business. ADVERTISEMENTAccording to the most recent Eurostat data, the EU’s business ecosystem seems to be in good health.In 2022, 3.4 million new companies opened across the block, while 2.8 million closed down.The countries that launched the most new businesses — compared to the size of their markets — were Lithuania (18.3%), Portugal (16.7%) and Estonia (16.6%).Austria (6.2%), Denmark (7.4%), and Italy (7.9%) reported the lowest rates of enterprise growth.The countries with the…

Health New Zealand is feeling the heat from its minister after revelations of a second significant spend-up on catering at conferences in the past year.In response to questions from RNZ, Health NZ confirmed it hosted up to 400 finance staff at a conference at Auckland’s Eden Park on 30-31 October last year.The overall catering costs totalled $95,584. The venue hire was an additional $20,067.It comes after RNZ revealed Health NZ racked up a $60,000 catering bill — including $9200 on canapés — during a three-day meeting for 300 managers in late March.In a fresh statement to RNZ, a spokesperson for…

The European Commission president told reporters in Brussels that the EU will assist in coordinating rescue efforts through its Copernicus geo-monitoring satellite system. ADVERTISEMENTAs Spanish rescue services continue to deal with the devastating impact of flash floods, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels that the EU will assist by using its Copernicus geo-monitoring satellite system “to help coordinate the rescue teams.”The chief of the EU executive said that the bloc stands ready to activate a civil protection mechanism offering the combined assistance of the other 26 member countries should Spain request assistance. “Europe is ready…

A supervising police officer’s behaviour towards a junior female colleague amounted to sexual harassment, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) said today.The IPCA was alerted to the junior police officer’s complaint in October 2023.”Police notified us of a complaint made by a junior female officer (Officer B) about sustained inappropriate behaviour, including comments of a sexual nature towards her, by a senior male officer who was also her supervisor (Officer A),” the authority said in a summary report today.”The inappropriate behaviour occurred throughout Officer B’s two-month secondment to Officer A’s section but intensified towards the end.”While Officer A’s behaviour was…

A primary school and a preschool near where a child was indecently assaulted last week say police didn’t alert them to what had happened.Police said a girl was approached by an unknown man near Aronia Park in Goodwood Heights, in the South Auckland suburb of Manukau, at about 8pm on Friday.The man indecently assaulted her in nearby bushes before fleeing.Everglade Primary School Principal John Robinson told RNZ police came to ask about CCTV but did not mention what had happened.”I found out about it last night,” he said.”My wife said ‘hey, this is on the Herald website, that’s near your…