Author: Press Room

It took a few minutes for Karen Teague to get out of her daughter that she had swallowed the two ends of magnet jewellery about 30 minutes apart.Her then 11-year-old daughter India had been at a sleepover party in 2021 and called her mum to pick her up earlier due to abdominal pain.”‘Well, we’re going in for major abdominal surgery,'” Teague responded to her daughter, predicting what was about to happen.”When I got that information that she had swallowed [the magnets] and a reasonable time apart I knew the clock was ticking.”On Tuesday, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment…

The EU and Gulf countries will held today, 15 October, their first ever summit in Brussels. ADVERTISEMENTToday marks the first-ever summit between the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, part of the EU’s new strategy to strengthen ties with Gulf countries, focusing on climate and trade relations. Radio Schuman brings you a part of our colleague Shona Murray’s interview with Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf. There’s also a brief comment by European Commission spokesperson for foreign affairs…

Sluggish growth conditions are set to stick around well into 2025, ahead of a possible uptick in the unemployment rate, an economic survey forecasts.The latest leading index by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute reports while the growth rate has increased slightly, it remained in negative territory.The index, which forecasts the growth rate three to nine months in the future, showed it lifting from -0.26 per cent in August to -0.15 per cent in September.Westpac’s head of macroforecasting Matt Hassan said the negative trend is expected to continue into the new year.”Growth will improve over the coming year, but remain relatively…

Two people who were arrested following the death of a man in Te Awamutu overnight have been released. Emergency services, including St John personnel, were called to a disorder incident on Te Rahu Rd, near Picquet Rd, shortly before midnight where the victim was found unconscious.”Despite receiving immediate medical treatment, he sadly died at the scene shortly after police arrival,” a police spokesperson said. Police arrested a 27-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman at the scene and they were taken into custody without incident.The pair have now been released but “continue to assist us with our inquiries”, a police spokesperson…

After Aiden Sagala’s death, manslaughter-accused Himatjit Singh Kahlon tried to retrieve the cans of “Honey Bear House Beer” he’d given him, a witness said today.Kahlon gave Sagala trays of beers early last year, including some that contained meth, the Crown said. After drinking from one of the cans, 21-year-old Sagala fell ill and later died.At the time of his death, Sagala was living with his sister Angela Sagala and her now-husband Billy Anelusi.Anelusi told the jury at Kahlon’s trial in the High Court at Auckland that Aiden said he’d got the beers from “a guy named Jimmy” at work. The…

Tens of thousands of extra tradies are needed for meet Australia’s home building goals. (Source: Getty/AAP)More than 83,000 extra tradies are “urgently needed” to achieve Australia’s target of building 1.2 million homes over the next five years. Carpenters, electricians and plumbers are among the most in-demand workers, with jobs paying up to $110,000 a year on average.New modelling from the Housing Industry Association (HIA) found the trades workforce needs to grow by at least 30 per cent in order to meet the Housing Accord’s goals. That’s up from the current 278,000 workers currently employed.An extra 22,000 carpenters, 17,300 electricians and…

The Accident Compensation Corporation has slumped to a $7.2 billion full-year deficit, as the scheme blames court decisions for expanding its boundaries and as it expects higher costs. The huge bottom line deficit was largely driven by an $8.7 billion increase in ACC’s Outstanding Claims Liability (OCL) calculation to $60.2 billion. The OCL represented the expected future costs of injury claims on ACC’s books. The result marked a big turnaround from the previous year’s $911 million surplus. “[The OCL increase was] a result of court decisions which have expanded scheme boundaries, expected increases in claim volumes and costs of claims,…

Workplace culture expert Tammy Tansley said the request was “unusual”, with companies usually fronting up the cash themselves. (Source: Getty/Reddit)An Aussie business has come under fire after asking to dock staff’s pay to fund the work Christmas party. A workplace expert told Yahoo Finance the request was definitely “unusual”, while others slammed the move as “downright insulting”.An Aussie worker sparked debate online after sharing their workplace was asking staff to pay for the upcoming Christmas party. The worker questioned whether this was “normal in big companies”, having previously worked in small businesses where staff were expected to pay their own…

The deputy Health and Disability Commissioner has found that a St John 111 call-taker breached protocol when responding to reports of a man suffering a heart attack, who later died en route to the hospital.In a decision released on Monday, Commissioner Deborah James concluded that the man’s rights had been breached under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights.The investigation centred on St John’s management of two 111 calls from a woman about her husband who was suffering “heart attack symptoms”.The report said the woman made an initial call to 111, informing that her husband was breathing but…

Origin Energy is pumped on gas being a key part of the energy transition but faces a push by China for lower prices for Australian LNG.”We continue to have really strong medium- to long-term conviction that LNG will play an important role in the energy transition,” chair Scott Perkins told shareholders on Wednesday at the annual general meeting in Sydney.He confirmed customer and significant shareholder Sinopec had triggered a price review of its long-term LNG contract, with any change to be effective from January 1, but declined to comment further.Amid ongoing high prices for oil and gas, Mr Perkins defended…