Author: Press Room

Lower Hutt’s Popeyes chicken is proving to be so popular among the community that it has had to bring in traffic management to prevent long queues from spilling onto the road.But not everyone is onboard. So far the Hutt City Council has received two complaints from the public and one official has raised concerns about public safety caused by traffic disruptions.The restaurant is so popular that when it opened its Lower Hutt outlet earlier this month, customers were queueing from as early 3am, and the queues did not stop there.These customers explained why they were in the queue.”We’re big fried…

A tongue-in-cheek Dunedin campaign is targeting professionals sick of big city living and offering a higher quality life in the South. Enterprise Dunedin’s new ‘Dunedin Works Better’ campaign offers Dunedin as a solution to professionals from Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown who are tired of spending their salaries on rent, lives stuck in traffic and on the edge of burnout. The campaign suggests the Dunedin lifestyle gives more time to take the dog out for a walk and play with children before dinner. Dunedin City Council Economic Development Committee chairman Andrew Wiley said Dunedin was fast becoming a hub for entrepreneurs,…

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has revealed the date of this year’s Budget, teasing “bold steps” which will be “squarely focused” on economic growth.Budget 2025, now christened by Willis as “the Growth Budget”, will be held on May 22, and “go beyond the traditional Budget focus on spending and savings initiatives,” she said. Amid falling interest rates, the Government has seized on “growth” as a key message going into its second full year in power — with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon using his first speech back in Parliament yesterday to lay out what he called a “growth agenda”.Willis said today: “Budget…

Aleksandar Vučić says he will invite everyone for consultations regarding the formation of a new government. ADVERTISEMENTSerbian President Aleksandar Vučić says that Prime Minister Miloš Vučević’s resignation on Tuesday could lead to an early parliamentary election or to the ruling majority trying to form a new government.Speaking at a news conference hours after Vučević resigned, Vučić said that the decision would be made within the next 10 days. He has rejected an opposition request for a transitional government and warned that Serbia’s stability has been shaken.”Serbia will preserve stability, Serbia will preserve peace,” Vučić told journalists in Belgrade.”Rage is mounting…

“Forests” of red coral have been filmed for the first time off Fiordland’s coast, thrilling researchers. The footage was captured by researchers from Victoria University of Wellington, who said the communities of protected red coral had not previously been seen in such large numbers. They said tens of thousands of corals were seen. The research team used a remotely operated vehicle to capture the footage at depths greater than 100 metres. It showed the bright red coral scattered across the rocks with other marine life swimming and crawling around it. The species discovered is Errina novaezelandiae, more commonly known as…

Fears of ram-raids and rising retail crime has spurred a Dunedin supermarket to take action by installing bollards. Parking outside the front entrance to Woolworths Dunedin Central will be temporarily affected as more than 30 bollards are erected between carparks. A Woolworths New Zealand spokesman said the 34 bollards being installed at the front of the supermarket were for “the safety of our team and customers”. “We have, unfortunately, seen a significant increase in retail crime and the bollards will reduce the risk of ram-raiding on our store.” Installation would take about two weeks, depending on weather, and would mean…

One person has died following a serious crash in Paengaroa, Bay of Plenty overnight.Police were called to the single-vehicle crash at the Kelly Rd and Te Tumu Rd intersection, about 11km from Te Puke around 1am. “One person was located deceased at the scene,” a police spokesperson said. The Serious Crash Unit has examined the scene and inquiries into the crash were ongoing.

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ  A first-home buyer who went to withdraw her KiwiSaver and found it was $800 less than she expected has been told it’s due to time she spent overseas. Sarah, who did not want her surname used, said she was told by her KiwiSaver provider that $800 had been taken to repay government contributions put into the scheme while she was out of the country. “Bear in mind I have only ever been out of the country for an extended period of time twice – for my gap year straight after school – not eligible for…

ANALYSIS: Many New Zealanders remember the state asset sales of the 1980s and ’90s, and the transfer of public wealth into private hands. By Massey University professor of politics Richard ShawState asset sales have been a political dividing line in New Zealand for decades now, and it seems voters are again being asked to decide which side they’re on.In his state-of-the-nation speech last week, ACT Party leader David Seymour advised New Zealanders to “get past their squeamishness about privatisation” and ask themselves: “If we want to be a first world country, then are we making the best use of the…

The European Commission had proposed to suspend the visa-free travel regime for Georgian diplomats and officials in response to the violent crackdown on protesters, who took to the streets for weeks to denounce the ruling party’s gradual pivot away from Europe and towards Russia. ADVERTISEMENTGeorgia has reacted angrily to the suspension of a mutual visa-free travel agreement by the European Union. The development may lead to Georgian diplomats and officials having to apply for visas when travelling to an EU member state. Speaking to Euronews a day after the announcement of the suspension, Georgian foreign minister Maka Botochorishvili called the decision “politically…