Author: Press Room

The grieving mother of a Canterbury student fatally struck by a truck when cycling through a roadworks site says negligent traffic management cut her daughter’s life short.Fyfa Dawson, 19, was travelling to her hairdressing course in Christchurch on the morning of October 30, 2019.When travelling through a 30 km/h traffic management site on Springs Road, near Prebbleton, she was hit and killed by a left-turning concrete truck.Coroner Ruth Thomas’ 22-page report, released on Thursday, has called for changes to traffic management planning and improved safety standards for heavy vehicles.In her findings, the coroner found errors in the “vehicle-centric” design and…

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A 22-year-old man has been arrested and charged in relation to a baby girl who was critically injured in Wairarapa in July.Police were first notified after the three-month-old was admitted to Masterton Hospital with critical injuries on July 25, and was shortly afterwards moved to Starship Hospital in Auckland.Detective Inspector Haley Ryan said a 22-year-old man was arrested in Hawke’s Bay yesterday, has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and contravening a protection order.”While nothing will undo this awful act of unnecessary violence towards a defenceless baby, we hope that these charges can bring a…

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An expert says he has concerns about privacy and data collection as the Government plans to expand the use of road user charges. Yesterday, the Government signed off on the first steps towards scrapping petrol tax and shifting all vehicles onto electronic road user charges (RUC).Currently New Zealanders help pay for the roads via their vehicle licence (or “rego”) fee, road user charges (RUC) and the petrol excise duty (PED).Minister of Transport Chris Bishop said the transition would ensure all vehicles pay based on actual road use (including weight) regardless of fuel type, and said eventually paying RUC would be…

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ADVERTISEMENT In July, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a defamation lawsuit against US alt-right podcaster Candace Owens. The couple’s lawyers accused her of being at the helm of an online crusade predicated on the assertion that she would stake “her entire professional career on the fact that Brigitte Macron is a man.” Owens is accused of “relying on discredited falsehoods” and “inventing new ones”, in a bid to “maximise attention and financial gain for herself”, with her podcast and video series, Becoming Brigitte, having amassed millions of views. However, the false claims about Brigitte Macron first…

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After years of swiping, ghosting, and dating app fatigue, a growing number of young New Zealanders are ditching the apps in favour of something that once seemed old-fashioned – meeting in person.According to a recent Forbes Health survey, 80% of millennials and 79% of Gen Z users in the United States reported feeling mentally or emotionally exhausted by dating apps.In Auckland, Thursday Dating is one example of this shift. The weekly event invites singles to put away their phones, grab a drink and talk to strangers.“Thursday Dating is all about in-real-life connections,” said organiser Jasmine Donaldson. “Rather than trying to…

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Hundreds of North Canterbury locals turned out to a fiery meeting in Culverden on Wednesday night, angry about a proposal to remove the town’s two police officers.A proposed restructure in the region could see rural police services focused around two 24/7 hubs in Rangiora and Rolleston.Residents who packed out the gym at Culverden’s Amuri Area School said this would leave them more vulnerable.They said the restructuring meant police were either an hour’s drive away in Rangiora or 90 minutes away in Rolleston and that was too far.Police said locals would be no worse off under the new model.The owner of…

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The Aratere will make its final journey across Cook Strait later this month, KiwiRail has confirmed. The ship’s final voyage would depart from Picton at 11am on August 18 2025. Its retirement comes as the Interislander ferry Kaiārahi was expected to return to service the same day after finishing its drydock maintenance in Singapore. “Freshly painted and with its hull cleaned, and a comprehensive maintenance schedule achieved, the ship is running well and currently making good progress towards Wellington,” a KiwiRail spokesperson said. The Aratere had faced problems since it entered service in the 90s. Among the more notable troubles…

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By Giles Dexter of RNZ The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury. The Treasury’s 2025 Long Term Insights Briefing said debt had risen in recent decades, partly because responses to adverse shocks were not met by savings between those shocks. The higher debt meant less capacity to respond to future shocks, like natural hazards, weather-related risks and biosecurity risks. Treasury estimated the total cost of the pandemic was $66 billion over the 2020-26 financial years and about 20.4% of GDP. The IMF and OECD estimated it was…

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The coroner says the employers of an Irish seasonal worker – killed when a digger touched with overhead powerlines – failed to brief workers on safety procedures ahead of the death.Sean Clear was electrocuted in February 2023 on Taurewa Station in the central North Island when an excavator being used to free a tractor and mower unit stuck in muddy conditions and came into contact with powerlines carrying 30,000 volts.In findings released on Thursday, coroner Mark Wilton said a WorkSafe investigation into the death had found Clear’s employer, NP & MA Coogan Partnership had breached Health and Safety obligations in…

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Total KiwiSaver assets rose nearly $9 billion in the second quarter with strong market returns across most funds.Financial research company Morningstar, which tracked the data, said KiwiSaver assets hit $129.1b in the three months ended June.Aggressive and growth KiwiSaver funds continued to outperform others.”Over 10 years, the aggressive category average has given investors an annualised return of 8.6%, followed by growth (7.8%), balanced (6.4%), moderate (4.6%), and conservative (4.1%),” Morningstar director and report author Greg Bunkall said.Still, most KiwiSaver funds produced positive returns, with all default funds, apart from Fisher Funds, returning more than 4%.”However it is worth noting that…

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