Author: Press Room

Part of State Highway 1 north of Dunedin has reopened this afternoon, hours after a collision involving two cars — one reported to be towing a caravan. Emergency services were called to the crash site at the Waikouaiti River bridge on Waikouaiti-Waitati Rd near Waikouaiti, north of Dunedin, around 10.20am this morning.The road was reopened at 2pm.”Road users are asked to drive with care through the area.”New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) earlier said traffic was being diverted onto McGrath Rd to the south, and Ramrock Rd to the north, for light vehicles only. The scene of the crash…

A person has been rescued after issuing a mayday call from a yacht in the Marlborough Sounds.Maritime New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCCNZ) said it received a distress beacon alert from a yacht in Cook Strait around 1am on Sunday. Maritime radio confirmed to RCCNZ the yacht was sinking with one persona board, approximately 24km from Cape Koamaru.Two commercial vessels and Marlborough Coastguard were sent to the location. The Seapatroller vessel rescued the uninjured person on board, who was taken back to shore. Maritime NZ said the rescue took about five-and-a-half-hours, with challenging weather conditions affecting access to the vessel.…

Immigration New Zealand says 1000 people each week submit photos that have been filtered or airbrushed.The agency receives about 20,000 visa requests per week, so about one in 20 photos has been altered.On Friday, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment deputy secretary Alison McDonald told the Association for Migration and Investment conference in Auckland that the number of touched-up pictures was increasing and was creating big problems.She told immigration advisers they may have to find a diplomatic way of telling clients they do not look like their photos.McDonald said she could see through her children’s social media that altering photos…

Proposed changes to New Zealand’s earthquake prone building system may trigger the possibility of reopening Rotorua’s famous Blue Baths, according to Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell.Last month, the government proposed changes to New Zealand’s earthquake-prone building rules which would result in 55% of buildings being removed from the current national earthquake prone building register.Current regulations, introduced after the Canterbury earthquakes, require buildings below 34% of the new building standard (NBS) be strengthened or demolished.As Rotorua is in a medium-risk seismic zone, a timeframe of 10 years for initial assessment and 25 years for strengthening existed. These deadlines were extended by four…

Another round of severe weather is forecast to hit today in both the North and South Islands, with travellers urged to “drive to the conditions” when heading home from the long weekend. Yesterday, the forecaster said an active low pressure system would sweep over large areas of the country from this afternoon into Tuesday, bringing rain and severe gales just as holidaymakers were likely to be heading home. A state of emergency remained in place for Southland, the Clutha District, and the Kaikōura District as nearly 15,000 properties in the lower South Island were without power following last week’s weather…

A 33-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly fleeing police in west Auckland yesterday afternoon. Police received reports of a vehicle with a firearm being driven erratically through Westgate around 4.20pm on Sunday. Ground units followed the vehicle through Huapai and Kumeu, and the Eagle helicopter was deployed to follow the vehicle through Massey and Henderson.”At around 5.40pm road spikes were deployed which brought the vehicle to a stop within minutes, on Te Kanawa Crescent, Henderson,” a police spokesperson said.Police said a man was taken into custody, and a range of driving-related charges were being considered.

An early morning magnitude 4.5 earthquake has jolted the Hawke’s Bay region near Napier and Hastings. GeoNet reported the tremor struck at 1.08am around 5km south of Napier, at a depth of 24km. Nearly 2000 people reported feeling the “moderate” shaking, according to GeoNet’s website. One person wrote on social media that their house was “jolted horrifically” during the quake. Another commenter said the shaking felt “a bit more than moderate” near Bluff Hill, Napier. GeoNet encouraged people to remember to “Drop, Cover and Hold” during the event of an earthquake. “In the event of a big shake and when…

The former operator of a Balclutha health store has been put into liquidation owing $220,000. The director of Ibbotson 2020 Ltd, which formerly operated Health 2000 Balclutha, attributed the insolvency to competition with online sales and the effects of Covid-19. The liquidators’ first report said the company had operated the franchise natural health store for nearly five years, retailing health products and supplements from a leased premises in Balclutha. The company’s sole director, listed as Stacey Hill, cited several factors as contributing to the insolvency, “including the ongoing effects of Covid on retail operations, competition from discount outlets/online sales, as…

Police are seeking help from the public following a burglary in the early hours of Saturday morning in Palmerston North. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Deegan said the residential burglary in the Stoney Creek Rd area was reported to police on Sunday evening, and likely occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning.”A Polaris Ranger 1000 all-terrain vehicle was stolen, along with the trailer it was on,” he said. Deegan said police wanted to hear from anyone who may have been in the Stoney Creek Rd area at the time who may have seen the vehicle and the trailer, or had…

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has arrived in Malaysia along with other world leaders for the start of the East Asia Summit amid tight security. Thousands of police officers have been brought into Kuala Lumpar and a lockdown is in force in the central city with only official vehicles allowed to travel in the area. On arriving Luxon’s motorcade passed one of the numerous pro-Palestine protests that were being held in the city. US President Donald Trump was attending the ASEAN meeting this year, primarily to observe the signing of a further peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia after cross-border military…