Author: Press Room

Auckland motorists are being told to expect “substantially longer than usual” delays across the city for IKEA’s opening on Thursday next week.Transport authorities warned of a worst-case scenario of 40-plus-minute queues at the motorway exit near the store’s Mt Wellington location. The long-awaited Swedish furniture store will open to the public on December 4 in Sylvia Park. Both Auckland Transport and the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi urged road-users to “plan ahead and allow plenty of extra time for their journeys”.“We expect the opening day, and subsequent weeks or even months to draw big crowds to the Sylvia Park area,…

Police and Customs have arrested eight members of the 28 Brotherhood MC gang, including their president, as part of an operation into “corrupt baggage handlers” helping import drugs through Auckland Airport. This morning, Detective Inspector Tom Gollan provided an update on Operation Matata, which was launched earlier this year following a police and Customs joint investigation into drug smuggling at Auckland Airport. Previous phases had seen dozens of arrests, including current and former workers employed by baggage handling agencies at the airport, accused of organising and carrying out the smuggling of class A drugs – meth and cocaine – through…

Westpac NZ has been fined $3.64 million in the Auckland High Court for breaching lender responsibility laws after multiple failures meant thousands of customers did not receive key information on their loans and agreed interest rate discounts.The penalty – handed down under the Credit Consumers and Consumer Finance Act – was the largest ever imposed under the legislation.The legislation said lenders must disclose specific key information during the loan to borrowers and, in some cases, guarantors. Disclosure must be given at different times, including when it was first set up, on an ongoing basis, and if a loan was varied.Commerce…

As she steps into the role of weeknight presenter of 1News at Six, Melissa Stokes looks back on a career packed with adventures and the odd disturbing moment. I grew up in Tauranga which at the time was, I wouldn’t say sleepy, but it wasn’t a bustling city. We weren’t a family who’d argue politics around the dinner table but my parents had quite a global view and the news would be on every night at our house; always 1News – I might have dabbled in TV3 at broadcasting school, you know, John and Carol – but yeah kind of…

Police are searching for two vehicles after a shooting in Hamilton left a 37-year-old man seriously injured. Emergency services were called to Sapphire Pl in Chartwell around 11.50pm on Thursday after reports a man had been shot. Hato Hone St John responded with an ambulance, an operational manager and a rapid response vehicle.Police said the man was found in a serious condition with gunshot wounds and was assessed at the scene.He was taken to Waikato Hospital, where he remained in a stable condition. Detective Senior Sergeant Reece Durston said police were appealing to the public for information of the incident…

More than 170 indigenous, business and global leaders from across Aotearoa and around the world are set to converge on Hamilton tomorrow for what is being touted as the first-of-its-kind economic investment summit hosted by Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po.The invite-only Ōhanga ki te Ao summit was announced by Te Arikinui during her first national address in September. She urged Māori to attend to make global alliances with those keen to work with Māori.”Ko te kotinga tēnei i te whakawhirinaki o tātou ki te kāwanatanga, ko tētahi huarahi pea tēnei ki te mana motuhake kua roa…

As the Tiaki Maniototo project reaches the final round of its initial funding, business and rural editor Sally Rae checks in to see what has been achieved over the past four-and-a-half years. When Janine Smith heard a pair of tui chortling with their distinctive song at Tiaki Maniototo’s base at the old Patearoa School, it made her own heart sing. She had always hoped that an eventual outcome of the Tiaki Maniototo project would be the regular song of more native birds and to hear the cough and wheeze of the tui was “enormous”. Alongside that, wood pigeons and bellbirds had been…

A severely overgrown sheep has been rescued from an Auckland lifestyle block after being found carrying nearly 6kg of matted wool.The ewe, dubbed Fiona in a nod to the world famous Shrek whose 27kg fleece once made global headlines, had been abandoned at the property for two years.She was struggling under the weight of an overgrown fleece that was matted and caked with dirt, faeces, and insects.The fleece removed from Fiona weighed 5.95kg. (Source: SPCA)SPCA inspector Amanda said the ewe was clearly uncomfortable and overheating when she arrived at the SPCA’s Māngere Centre. Staff provided food, water, and shelter before…

Repairs will finally begin on the Tinwald Viaduct in Canterbury next week, almost four months after it was closed due to damage.The country’s most hit rail bridge was damaged after being struck by an excavator being towed on a trailer on June 30.It was temporarily closed to traffic on July 29.KiwiRail said contractors will begin the repairs to the damaged wooden impact beams from December 1-19.The viaduct, located under the main south railway line, has a clearance height of 2.39m.It gets hit at least 13 times a year, according to KiwiRail.The closure, requested by KiwiRail, was to avoid further damage…

The Estonian start-up DefSecIntel has developed a mobile radar system that detects enemy combat drones. For this, the company received the innovation prize at the Milipol security technology trade fair in Paris. The idea for a drone defence wall on the EU’s external border also comes from DefSecIntel CEO Jaanus Tamm: “This will allow us to intercept drones in the border region. It is a networked platform of systems mounted on trailers or minivans.” DefSecIntel has entered into a cooperation agreement with the Latvian drone manufacturer Origin Robotics. The central element is the Blaze interceptor drone, which is already in…