Author: Press Room

A windy weekend is on the cards for parts of the North Island, with strong winds, thunderstorms and hail forecast across Te Ika-a-Māui in the coming days.MetService has issued multiple strong wind watches ahead of an active front that is expected to move across the area on Sunday, followed by southwest gales.Rain warnings, strong winds set to barrel across the country – Watch on TVNZ+In the lower North Island, a strong wind watch was in place for Hawke’s Bay south of Napier, the Tararua District, and Wairarapa north of Martinborough until midnight.Westerly winds may approach severe gale strength, and MetService…

About 200 people packed out the Mt Eden Village Centre in Auckland on Thursday night, furious over plans for high-density housing in the area.Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown directed Auckland Council earlier this year to allow for even greater housing and development around City Rail Link stations.The council was now consulting with local boards, iwi, and government ministries to allow for more apartments and terrace homes in walking distance of train and bus stations, more restrictive consenting requirements to increase resilience, and an increase in mixed housing suburban zones.The plan provided an alternative means for the…

A man has been arrested after allegedly throwing broken glass at a police dog and handler who were called to a crime spree in Hamilton last night. At around 9.30pm, police were alerted to a man who had reportedly stolen a mobile phone from a passerby walking near Alma St. Police said the same man had earlier been seen stealing cash from a restaurant on Victoria St. He attempted to do the same at another restaurant on Alma St before staff intervened. He then ran towards a river path, with police finding him outside a Mexican restaurant. “While police were…

A “very small live snake” was found at the home of a Christchurch traveller who had just returned home from Bali.Biosecurity NZ surveillance and incursion manager Wendy McDonald said trained handlers were sent to a Christchurch property after a report of a small snake found in the suitcase of a traveller who had recently returned from Bali.”A very small live snake was found wrapped around the toe of a jandal in the suitcase.”Preliminary identification by a herpetologist suggested it was a wolf snake, a type of non-venomous boa. The snake would be euthanised.McDonald said one or two snakes were found…

Invercargill parking wardens are facing abuse on the back of rising parking fines approved by central government.Last October, infringement costs rose by an average of 70% for overstaying or parking inconsiderately at council-controlled parking spaces.The jump in fees boosted revenue but also led to some unsavoury behaviour from the public, council manager consenting and environment Jonathan Shaw indicated.“Since the decision to increase parking infringement fees was made by central government, our compliance officers have noticed some pushback from members of the public, including several abusive incidents,” Shaw said.There were only a small number of negative interactions overall, he said, but…

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell has criticised Hobson’s Pledge for using her image without permission in a social media post critical of Māori wards.The post also used quotes from Tapsell, which she claimed were misrepresented to “mislead” people into believing she was aligned with the political lobby group’s messaging.”You do not have my permission to use my image or comments to mislead the public that I support your campaign,” Tapsell said on Facebook in a response to the post on Hobson’s Pledge’s page.The post used quotes from Tapsell from two separate instances, taking parts of comments from May 2021 and October…

Whether it’s award-winning Napier restaurant Pacifica closing its doors or Wellington brewery Fortune Favours shutting down, it seems barely a week goes by where there isn’t a high-profile hospitality business closing.Data supplied by Centrix shows there have been 297 hospitality businesses liquidated in the past 12 months, compared to 199 in the prior year.In the past 12 months, 2564 hospitality businesses have shut, 19% more than the 2158 a year earlier.Chris Wilkinson of First Retail Group said some businesses were reaching a tipping point that they could not get past.Costs were rising and there was only so much that retail…

KiwiSaver providers are backing calls to make it compulsory for employers to contribute to KiwiSaver – even if the employee is not contributing themselves.Because the scheme is workplace-based, people who earn more, or who are in the workforce for more of their adult lives, are likely to end up with more in their KiwiSaver funds.There were concerns that could exacerbate income inequality in retirement.University of Auckland associate professor Susan St John said the Pensions and Intergenerational Equity hub wanted compulsory employer contributions for all KiwiSaver members, regardless of their age, and whether or not they were on a contributions holiday…

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand board chair Neil Quigley has stepped down.Quigley was elected as chair of the Reserve Bank board in 2016, and had been on the board since 2010.In June 2024, he was reappointed for a further term of two years, until June 30, 2026.Finance Minister Nicola Willis this afternoon noted Quigley tendered his resignation from the board and as board chair “with immediate effect”.The resignation came after five months of scrutiny over the abrupt departure of former governor Adrian Orr.In June this year, Willis criticised the Reserve Bank over sharing information surrounding Orr’s sudden resignation in…

Ministers have temporarily given themselves special powers to hike Crown board members’ fees providing they fall within the fee ranges.The change in authorisation was revealed in a Cabinet paper that was released this week, which also included details of fee range increases of up to 80%.In the paper, Public Service Minister Judith Collins justified the change by stating there was too much administration in the previous scheme.”To manage the administrative burden in the implementation of the fee adjustments, I am seeking Cabinet approval for a temporary change to fee exception requirements for 12 months,” the paper stated. ‘Cronyism’ – Public…