Author: Press Room

More jobs are on the line at Kāinga Ora and a staffer has told RNZ they are stressed, exhausted, and disheartened by leaders telling them to stay positive.Last year the state housing agency shed 540 roles in a bid to meet government savings targets, and earlier this month the government released a Kāinga Ora “turnaround plan” to ensure its financial sustainability.RNZ has obtained copies of information given to staff via the intranet last week announcing a “redesign” of the organisation, called the “Reset, Resize, Renew” programme, as the turnaround plan is implemented.”We expect it may result in changes to some…

Daniel Bracken. Photo: Supplied / Michael Hill via RNZ The head of New Zealand-founded jewellery retailer Michael Hill International has died. Daniel Bracken died overnight after an adverse reaction to a treatment for an underlying medical condition, the company said in a stock exchange statement. The board said he had given seven years and devoted and outstanding leadership to the Australian based company. It described him as a passionate retailer, innovative and strategic thinker who had transformed the company, which operates 300 stores on both sides of the Tasman and in Canada.

The New Zealand motocross community is mourning the death of a young rider who suffered a serious head injury while racing earlier this month.Eli Hankins suffered the injury while racing at a track in Tuakau, near Pukekohe on February 16 and was flown to Auckland’s Starship in a critical condition.Pukekohe Motorcycle Club advised with “heavy hearts” on social media today that Eli had died.He had been in an induced coma and was surrounded by his family.The club had set up a Givealittle page to help Eli’s family.”The MX world is one big family — it’s what makes our sport so…

Stargazers will be in for a treat over the next few nights, with all seven of the other planets in the solar system visible across the night sky.  The rare phenomenon, called a “grand planetary alignment”, will be visible over the next few evenings. It will be the last time Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury and Saturn can be simultaneously seen so clearly until 2040. How do you catch a glimpse of the alignment? Stardome astronomer Josh Aroaki said the alignment would be visible in New Zealand on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evening this week. He said all the…

International tourist spending has returned to pre-Covid levels, while domestic tourism has dipped, according to the latest figures. StatsNZ has released its annual tourism satellite figures, showing international tourism expenditure was up 60% to $16.9 billion, returning to levels similar to 2019 ($17.2b). The largest increase on 2023 came from Asian visitors, a 168% increase year on year, followed by visitors from the Americas, up 59.1%, visitors from Europe up 25.9% and visitors from Oceania, an increase of 18.4%. International student expenditure (studying less than 12 months, which meets StatsNZ’s definition of a tourist) also leapt up on 2023 – by…

Retailers and members of the public will soon have beefed-up rights to detain and arrest suspected thieves by using “reasonable force”, the Government has announced.It says the measures will help tackle retail crime.Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the coalition would implement the first suite of recommendations from its retail crime advisory group.The changes recommended by the group included:Amending the Crimes Act so that citizens can intervene to stop any Crimes Act offence at any time of the dayRequiring that a person making an arrest contact police and follow police instructionsClarifying that restraints can be used, when reasonable, when making an…

Belgium’s inflation rate is one of the highest compared to its neighbouring countries, report by FPS Finance shows. ADVERTISEMENTMore and more Belgians are shopping across the border in France, as they are able to save up to 30% on certain products, as Belgium’s inflation lies higher than many of its neighbouring countries. Belgium’s inflation rate rose to 4.4% in January, according to statistics based on the European harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP). While Belgium’s inflation has increased, it has gone down in neighbouring countries, such as Germany, France and the Netherlands, the Federal Public Service (FPS) Finance of Belgium…

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ Borrowers taking an extra interest in their home loans as rates fall are putting additional pressure on banks. The country’s biggest bank, ANZ, said last week’s official cash rate cut and subsequent reductions to floating and fixed rates had resulted in an increase in calls to the bank’s contact centre, and longer wait times. One customer told ANZ she had been told she would have to wait an hour to talk to someone on the phone. She could not refix through the app because she wanted to divide her loan into smaller parts. The bank branch told…

Students at an Auckland high school have finished work on a former state house which is now up for grabs after almost a year of work. One Tree Hill College bought the 1970s house from Kāinga Ora for just $1 in May last year as a project for its trades education students. It was moved to the school. The house, which was at the end of its life, has now been completed and is ready to go up for auction. The course is an effort by the school to build a connection between the classroom and the trades sector. “This…

The West Coast is preparing for a mining boom, with the Resources Minister recently announcing the Government’s plans to double mineral exports by 2035. With the current price of gold at a record high, things are going well, but there are questions about how towns in the region will benefit. Development West Coast CEO Heath Milne told 1News the region had been thriving over the summer, with a good tourism season thanks to sunny weather. He hoped to keep that momentum going as mining operations ramped up in the region. “With the gold price, it’s over $5000 an ounce. We’ve…