Author: Press Room

The return of Hillside Workshops is a statement of the government’s “belief in the city of Dunedin”, deputy prime minister Winston Peters says. The refurbished South Dunedin railway workshops, which were first constructed in the 1870s, were officially reopened yesterday. KiwiRail had closed the facility more than a decade ago. Mr Peters told media yesterday the reopening of the workshops was a “tremendous day” for Dunedin, the city’s workforce and the South Island. “What you’re seeing here will be here for the next 50 years. “It’s very wise expenditure and it’s a statement about our belief in the South Island,…

A man was arrested in Auckland this morning as part of an FBI investigation into a group alleged to have scammed several victims out of NZ$450 million in cryptocurrency. It was alleged cryptocurrency had been fraudulently obtained by manipulating seven victims between March and August 2024. The proceeds were then laundered through multiple cryptocurrency platforms. The offenders allegedly spent millions of dollars on exotic cars, hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury handbags, watches and clothing, nightclub services, private security guards and rental homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami.”Over the past three days, search warrants have been executed…

ADVERTISEMENTEuropean Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen presented his simplification plan for the agricultural sector during a meeting organised by Euronews. The European Commission unveiled the plan, which aims to simplify the European Union’s agricultural rulebook, on Wednesday in Brussels. The measures are designed to reduce what the Commission sees as unnecessary administrative burdens in implementing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU’s farming subsidy framework.Hansen believes the proposed strategy should serve all stakeholders. The plan, therefore, aims to reduce the administrative burden for farmers and member states. “What is felt to be an administrative burden on the farm is not…

Rotorua, the birthplace of New Zealand tourism. Iconic for its history, culture and geothermal wonders — it’s also an adventure seeker’s playground. The city has worked to rebuild from the effects of closed borders and a heavily criticised emergency housing approach. In the wake of the country’s biggest visitor industry event Trenz, held this month in the city, Local Democracy Reporting looks at Rotorua’s path to tourism recovery.Five years ago, lives changed as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold and the world’s people stayed home.For Rotorua, which relied heavily on tourists, it was a blow.But now, the New Zealand Prime Minister…

ADVERTISEMENTRomanians will go to the polls on Sunday to choose between hard-right candidate George Simion and pro-European independent Nicușor Dan, in a presidential election redo expected to shape the country’s future.After coming fourth in last year’s cancelled race, Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) party, has been backed by surprise winner, ultranationalist Calin Georgescu, who was banned in March from standing in the repeat. Simion then surged to become the frontrunner in the 4 May first round, winning 40.5% of the vote, including a massive 61% of the Romanian diaspora’s ballots.Simion says he…

The Commerce Commission has identified seven more children’s products it considers unsafe as part of its ongoing investigation into bargain store Panda Mart.The items — a baby walker, doll, smartphone toy, fairy cake toy, sunscreen product and two car toys — have been added to a list of 40 children’s goods the commission declared to be unsafe in December.Recall notices have been issued for the 47 items sold in Panda Mart’s stores in Auckland and Christchurch.The commission has made “legally binding commitments” with Panda Mart for the first time, meaning the outlet needed to halt sales of the products identified…

ADVERTISEMENTPolitics is everywhere, including musicNew research on the past nine editions of the Eurovision Song Contest has revealed interesting voting patterns that reflect cultural and geographical proximity, with some notable surprises.The tightest bonds are among Mediterranean countries.Cyprus and Greece have had the strongest bilateral relationship, exchanging a whopping 267 points since 2016. Italy and Albania also showed steadfast mutual support, with 187 points, followed by the Malta-Italy relationship at 172 points.Balkans in ‘turmoil’, southern Europe in ‘love’, Caucasus ‘resilient’The report also breaks down the most common themes in Eurovision lyrics by region since 1956, revealing a diverse emotional map of…

Fourteen people have been rescued when their boat sank off Mōtītī Island, in Bay of Plenty. Coastguard were alerted at 1.40pm to a 18.2m vessel taking on water with 14 people on board. Volunteers from Maketū, Tauranga and Whakatāne responded, and all passengers were accounted for and transported to shore in Tauranga. A nearby boat and Customs vessel assisted with the rescue, a Coastguard spokesperson said. “The vessel is currently submerged. There are no serious injuries.”

The Waitangi Tribunal has recommended the Crown immediately halt the advancement of the Regulatory Standards Bill to allow for meaningful consultation with Māori.The recommendation comes from the Tribunal’s interim report into the bill, which follows a one-day urgent hearing earlier this week.Māori rights group Toitū te Tiriti have warned the introduction of the bill into law would diminish the Crown’s obligations to the Treaty of Waitangi.Around 18,000 people signed their online petition.The bill is part of the National and ACT party’s coalition agreement to pass a Regulatory Standards Act to ‘improve the quality of regulation’ and introduce principles of ‘good…

Hundreds of close contacts of the measles case in Auckland have been contacted by Health New Zealand over the past week, in an attempt to contain the risk of the virus spreading in the city.On May 11, Health NZ announced that it had identified a measles case in Auckland which was linked to overseas travel. The case was first confirmed on May 10.Measles is highly contagious and up to 90% of non-immune people (those who have not been vaccinated or have not already had it) will be infected if they are exposed to the virus.About 80% of New Zealanders are…