Author: Press Room

The film industry is paying tribute to acclaimed Kiwi filmmaker Lee Tamahori, who passed away aged 75 on Friday.Tamahori’s family confirmed the Once Were Warriors director passed away surrounded by family after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. Tamahori (Ngāti Porou) forged a successful career in Hollywood and Europe largely due to the phenomenal success of his first feature film, Once Were Warriors, which was released in 1994.Tributes have poured in from many film stars who worked with the Kiwi. Among them was fellow Once Were Warriors star Temuera Morrison, who described his close friend as “just an amazing man”. “I…

Fishery officers have caught two separate groups of illegal pāua gatherers in consecutive nights – confiscating a total of 456 shellfish from a closed area in Taranaki. Three people were caught on Wednesday night with 118 pāua, and another three people were caught Thursday night with 338 pāua – all of it taken from a closed area. All six people were likely to be prosecuted, said Fisheries New Zealand district manager Aaron Mendoza. In the first incident on Wednesday, the 118 pāua were taken near Ōpunake, with 16 undersize.Mendoza said officers then received a call on Thursday night reporting suspicious…

Cocaine worth a street value of $12.25 million has been seized by Customs from a shipping container at Port Chalmers in Dunedin.Officers discovered 35kg of the drug on a container that had originated from South America. It was flagged by Customs intelligence for inspection before it arrived at Port Chalmers on October 26.When inspected, offices found the drugs hidden inside the empty container’s refrigeration unit. Customs, with the assistance of police, removed 35 bricks of cocaine branded with the Lacoste logo.Customs maritime manager Robert Smith said the seizure was a strong reminder that Customs puts pressure across the entire maritime…

Published on 07/11/2025 – 21:48 GMT+1 EU officials and the Belgian government have failed to break the deadlock over the proposal utilising of immobilised Russian assets to fund Ukraine reconstruction over the next two years. A technical meeting between the Commission and the offices of Prime Minister Bart de Wever and Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot took place on Friday. According to sources close to the discussions there’s growing concern in the Belgian government at the lack of alternative proposals from the European Commission to using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. The EU is pushing for a plan to use…

By Mary Argue of RNZ Callaghan Innovation’s shutdown has so far cost taxpayers more than $10 million in redundancy payouts for 209 roles lost, according to recently published documents. The crown-owned science and innovation entity has been a casualty of the Government’s overhaul of the science sector, which has also seen the merging of Crown Research Institutes into Public Research Organisations and a newly established advanced technology institute. While some functions of Callaghan Innovation were retained, other parts have been wound up over the past year, with all funding expected to end by mid-2027. Documents released to the Public Service Association (PSA) under…

Global catering giant Compass Group will not be a supplier in the next round of the Government’s school lunch programme, with new regional providers set to charge up to $5 a meal for participating primary schools.Ten regional suppliers have been selected to deliver lunches to 188 contributing primary schools (years 0-6) from the beginning of Term 1, 2026 – a shift from last year’s centralised model under the School Lunch Collective in which Compass was a major component.Associate Education Minister David Seymour said the two-stage roll-out of the programme was agreed to by Cabinet in 2024.Suppliers had been invited to…

Firefighters are battling a bush fire north of Auckland.Emergency services were called to the rural property in Wainui just before 1pm on Friday afternoon.Michelle, who lived on the property and asked to keep her surname private, told RNZ she heard fireworks in the middle of the day and later found her paddock ablaze.”I actually heard somebody letting off firecrackers, I didn’t really understand it because it’s daytime,” she said.”Suddenly, I heard all these fire engines pulling up the road and thought I had better go and check, and sure enough… It’s down the end of my paddock, so it’s not…

A South Otago business has bullishly talked of expansion — with plans for wind and solar farms, and major infrastructure projects — as it brings up 70 years of existence. Calder Stewart marked its 70th anniversary on Thursday with 500 current and former staff, and others, celebrating at the company’s headquarters just north of Milton. The New Zealand Herald reported there were scenic helicopter rides and New Zealand country star Kaylee Bell entertained the crowd. Calder Stewart director of property Ben Stewart said the celebration was about marking a milestone with its team and setting the foundation for the next 70 years.…

Not like us? More like him: Kendrick Lamar leads the 2026 Grammy Award nominations, announced Friday.The rapper is up for nine trophies at February’s ceremony: record, song and album of the year — marking the third time he’s had simultaneous nominations in those big categories — as well as pop duo/group performance, melodic rap performance, rap song and rap album. He’s also nominated twice in the rap performance category.Lamar, who is riding the success of last year’s blockbuster GNX album, has 22 Grammy career wins and 66 nominations. GNX is his fifth consecutive studio album to be nominated for album…

Just when you thought it was safe to dust off the barbecue for summer, it may pay to hold off one more weekend.Temperatures well into the 20Cs were recorded around the country this week, as Kiwis began to celebrate the arrival of warmer weather – but MetService warns that celebration may be a little premature.”A slow-moving front in the north is set to bring a burst of heavy rain tomorrow afternoon and evening,” it posted on Friday.”Northland has a high chance for thunderstorms to develop, with localised downpours and hail also possible.Further south in Auckland, the risk of thunderstorms developing…