Author: Press Room

Unemployment edged up to a near five-year high as businesses halted hiring, but slack in the jobs market increased, and wage growth slowed further. Stats NZ numbers showed the unemployment rate rising to 5.2 percent in the three months ended June, from 5.1 percent in the previous quarter. The data was a shade below expectations. It’s the highest unemployment rate since 2020. Unemployment has been steadily rising as business either sacked staff or stopped hiring because of the weak economy, while the workforce has increased despite a slowdown in migration. “Labour market conditions have changed considerably in the last few…

Police say there is a “very high chance” of serious injury or death amid incidents of powerline tampering and theft across the Christchurch region in recent months. “This is not only frustrating to when essential services are disrupted, but this also comes with a serious safety risk,” Christchurch Tactical Crime Unit Acting Detective Sergeant Steph Trengrove said. “While nobody has been seriously injured while attempting to steal the copper from these lines yet, there is a very high chance that serious injury or death will occur if this activity continues.” The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, new report into submersible…

A woman in her 80s has died after a crash involving a pedestrian and a bus in Auckland’s Onehunga on Monday.Police were called to Church Street at around 11.20am on August 4 after reports that a bus had hit a pedestrian. A woman in her 80s was taken to Auckland Hospital in a critical condition. “Sadly, she has succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday afternoon,” Detective Sergeant Wayne Gear said. The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, new report into submersible implosion, body found in Auckland park, and mixed injury news for the Warriors. (Source: 1News)“Police extend our sympathies to her…

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ New Zealand businesses owe more than $1.4 billion in unpaid GST and PAYE from the 2025 tax year, in what commentators say is a sign of the stress many parts of the economy are still under. Inland Revenue has provided a breakdown of PAYE and GST still unpaid for the tax years 2018 through to 2025. There is still almost $48 million unpaid from 2018 – and $1.471 billion from the most recent year. Of 2025’s number, $432.9m relates to employer activities and $1.047b to GST. Just over $66m of the debt was from businesses…

Police are investigating whether a man’s unexplained death in Mt Wellington early this morning could be linked to a burglary in the area 20 minutes earlier.Detective Senior Sergeant Anthony Darvill said officers were called to a hardware retail store on Ellerslie-Panmure Highway after an alarm had been activated around 1.30am. He said police units arrived on scene and established cordons around the store. “Eagle had also deployed and located a man lying in the grounds of nearby Sir Woolf Fisher Park,” Darvill said. “It appeared the man was not responsive, and units were directed to his location.”CPR was commenced but…

A Dunedin family is cobbling together a family dynasty by going against the grain of today’s disposable society. Greg Paul is taking over the Country Cobbler in Mornington after buying the business off retiring owner Greg Fox. Mr Paul, who was taught by his father to cobble, is taking the opportunity to buy the shop to teach his 17-year-old son George the trade. “My father taught me, he was a cobbler, so we’re third generation which is pretty unusual in this trade,” Mr Paul said. His son was taking to cobbling well, he said. “He likes it and his girlfriend…

Ozzy Osbourne died of a heart attack and had coronary artery disease in addition to suffering from Parkinson’s disease for years, his death certificate said.The singer had suffered from coronary artery disease as well as Parkinson’s, according to the certificate filed at a register office in London and obtained by The New York Times on Wednesday. Osbourne died on July 22 at 76.An email from The Associated Press requesting confirmation from the registry office in Hillingdon Council in northwest London, which covers the district where the Black Sabbath singer was reportedly officially pronounced dead, was not immediately returned. Osbourne’s representatives…

The body of a diver missing in Wellington Harbour has been found this afternoon.Police said in a statement they were called to Lowry Bay in Lower Hutt at about 11am after the diver failed to surface when they were due to.”The Police National Dive Squad searched the area and located the body of the diver around 5pm this evening,” a police spokesperson said in an update. “Police are providing support to the next of kin.”

Homeowners will soon be able to build small structures like garden sheds, sleepouts and garages closer to their property boundaries without requiring building consent following regulatory changes announced by the Government today.Cabinet agreed to remove the minimum distance required between single-storey buildings under 10sqm and a property boundary or other residential building, and reduce it to one metre for buildings between 10 and 30 square metres.Previously, these structures needed to be set back from boundaries by at least their own height unless a building consent was obtained.The changes, which would be made by amending Schedule 1 of the Building Act,…

The Government is forging ahead with plans to change the law governing New Zealand’s foreshore and seabed, despite a Supreme Court ruling last year that appeared to undercut the rationale for the change.The proposed legislation stems from a clause in National’s coalition deal with NZ First, which promised to revisit the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act.That commitment was driven by fears that a 2023 Court of Appeal decision could have made it significantly easier for Māori groups to win recognition of customary rights over parts of the coastline.The Government introduced a bill to Parliament last year to prevent…