Author: Press Room

A real estate agent has been busy fielding inquiries about iconic Otago Harbour property Lewis Cottage which is on sale after being in the same family for nearly 120 years. Tall Poppy Real Estate owner Andrew Berryman said the property was on the market for just two weeks, during which time it received nine offers before deadline. “This has been my busiest-ever listing in nearly 10 years of real estate. “Over 120 Tall Poppy digital leads have been received, there were 38 email inquiries from other websites, there were 15,070 unique website views and 26 groups viewed the property.” The…

Neither the Whakatāne District Council, the Government, nor the board of Te Rāhui Herenga Waka are able to put a figure on how much money has been lost to a failed Whakatāne boat harbour project.Both the council and the ministry told Local Democracy Reporting that Te Rāhui Herenga Waka Whakatāne Board was now developing a wind-down plan, and part of that process would identify what had been spent to date and what might be available for redistribution to partners.When asked how long this was expected to take, Local Democracy Reporting was told the Te Rahui general partner was seeking advice…

A new pacemaker being tested in New Zealand could help patients with heart failure feel and move better.The device has been designed to copy the heart’s natural rhythm, speeding up and slowing down in sync with breathing.The first trial patient got one at Waikato Hospital just before Christmas.Cardiologist and University of Auckland medicine Professor Dr Martin Stiles, who was overseeing the trial, said the new pacemaker showed promising results in a study with sheep with heart failure.The university tested whether sheep’s ability to exercise was improved by a variable heart pacemaker.Sheep’s heart functions were similar to humans.”Sheep with this respiratory…

By Penny Miles of RNZ Skyrocketing butter prices have forced a commercial bakery in the dairy heartland of Southland to scour the global market for cheaper alternatives. Kaye’s Bakery in Invercargill sells Belgium biscuits, afghans and other sweet treats in supermarkets and dairies nationwide, often using butter from Australia to make its products. Luella Penniall owns the family business started by her parents Lois and Evan in the 1970s and says she orders in 10 tonnes of butter at a time. If the bakery is making large quantities of butter shortbread to order that increases the requirements. Penniall said it…

You earn it, spend it, invest it.Many of us spend quite a bit of time worrying about it. But do you know where money actually comes from?Here’s a rough guide to how it all works.Most money is created by retail banksIf you’ve ever heard people talking about home loans being “fake” money you might have wondered what was going on.While it sounds a bit like a conspiracy theory, there is a little truth to this idea.Retail banks create money through lending.In a recent paper, the Reserve Bank explained how, with an example of someone who wanted to buy a house…

A Whanganui councillor is condemning a decision to move a mining company’s South Taranaki seabed application into the next stage of the fast-track approvals process.First-term councillor Charlotte Melser is urging affected councils and iwi to unite in opposition to the proposal by Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) to mine 50 million tonnes of iron sand per year for 35 years over 66 square kilometres of the South Taranaki Bight.”At what point is enough, enough?” Melser said, speaking to Local Democracy Reporting.”Despite significant opposition from all coastal communities, multiple declined consents and massive gaps in the application in terms of environmental mitigation, the…

New Zealand has joined 23 other countries calling out Israel and demanding a full supply of foreign aid be allowed into the territory.Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says it’s “intolerable” that Israel has blocked any aid reaching residents for many weeks.The UN is warning that 14,000 babies were estimated to be suffering severe acute malnutrition in Gaza and ideally they needed to get supplies within 48 hours.The UK, France and Canada have expressed their frustration, with the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy telling Parliament the war in Gaza has entered a “dark new phase” and the UK was cancelling trade…

By Farah Hancock and Mary Argue of RNZ  Animal advocates are calling for a halt to future government funding of octopus aquaculture research, saying farming the wild, solitary creatures is an “atrocious idea”. In 2022, $1 million in taxpayer dollars was awarded to a three-year research project by the University of Auckland aimed at improving knowledge surrounding the rearing and feeding of the larvae of a native octopus species. Raising octopus larvae in captivity was described as a “bottleneck” to the viability of commercial aquaculture in the university’s proposal to secure the funding. Animals Aotearoa’s Jennifer Dutton said farming octopus…

A man who was a facilitator on a website which hosted “unspeakable” computer-generated child sexual abuse images has been jailed. Warning: Some may find details in this story upsetting. Helplines are provided with the article.Donald James Sarratt, 35, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of possessing objectionable material relating to children and knowingly making and/or copying objectionable material relating to the sexual exploitation of children.A forensic examination of his electronic devices also uncovered child sexual abuse images of real children.He was identified in the wake of Operation Dark Orchid, which began in 2022 following a referral…

A real estate agent has been busy fielding inquiries about Lewis Cottage over the past two weeks, almost as busy as life in the two-room dwelling with a family of 17. Tall Poppy Real Estate owner Andrew Berryman said the property was on the market for just two weeks, during which time it received nine offers before deadline. “This has been my busiest-ever listing in nearly 10 years of real estate. “Over 120 Tall Poppy digital leads have been received, there were 38 email inquiries from other websites, there were 15,070 unique website views and 26 groups viewed the property.”…