Author: Press Room

A Dunedin restaurant and bar will have its liquor licence suspended for three days after patrons were filmed drinking excessive amounts of Champagne from an ice sculpture during a sponsored event last year.Vault 21, located on the Octagon, held a Moët et Chandon event at its premises in November that featured a large ice sculpture of a hollow oversized Champagne bottle set up on the footpath outside of the premises.”Staff of the licensee company allowed alcohol to be poured freely through this ice vessel that was drunk by people crouched before it,” Judge Spear said in a ruling by the…

Worries about a new Manutahi Park being mistaken for another Manutahi an hour’s drive away has New Plymouth’s council considering adding the name of a British Military Settler.The park is a planned green space in Lepperton village, about 15km from New Plymouth, on the site of a hall demolished three years ago.New Plymouth District Council asked mana whenua about a name for the park, and Manutahi was suggested by Puketapu hapū.Manutahi remembers the name of the Māori village where Lepperton now stands, as well as nearby Manutahi Pā which was built to defend against British invasion in the Taranaki Wars.The…

The Reserve Bank has revealed a dispute over funding was behind Adrian Orr’s abrupt resignation as governor. A raft of documents – released by New Zealand’s central bank under the Official Information Act – reveal an “impasse” as Orr argued that Finance Minister Nicola Willis was not providing enough funding for the next five years. In an accompanying statement, an RBNZ spokesperson said it became clear in late February this year that the board – chaired by Neil Quigley – was willing to agree to a “considerably” smaller sum that Orr thought was needed. “This caused distress to Mr Orr and the…

A 73-year-old man has been charged with murder following the death of a 77-year-old man at a Northland property last month.Daniel Hepehi — also known as Danny Whiston — was found with critical injuries at a home on Waikerikeri Rd in Horeke in the early hours of May 22. He received medical attention but died at the scene.Officers were sent to the property after speaking to a man who had arrived outside the Kaikohe Police Station around 8.30pm the previous day.Detective Inspector Rhys Johnston said police had now charged a 73-year-old man with murder, although some inquiries were still ongoing.”The…

Published on 11/06/2025 – 3:12 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTSeveral hundred people attended a mass after a former student opened fire at a school in Austria’s second-biggest city – Graz – on Tuesday, killing 10 people and injuring many others before taking his own life, according to authorities.There was no immediate information on the motive of the 21-year-old man, who had no previous police records. Two weapons were used to execute the attack, which the attacker is believed to have owned legally, police said.Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker as well as Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger attended the mass at Graz…

The government has unveiled how it plans to double the value of tourism exports by 2034 and boost visitor numbers. Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston said today $35 million was being invested in the first phase of a roadmap outlining what the sector needed to do to reach its goals. They included returning to 2019 international visitor arrivals – 3.89 million by 2026 – and doubling the 2023 value of tourism exports by 2034 to roughly $19.8 billion with international visitor arrivals sitting around 4.78 million. “International visitors bring billions of dollars into New Zealand, from big ticket spends to everyday…

One of New Zealand’s premier circus theatre companies has been left in shock following a devastating warehouse fire in Auckland over the weekend. Props, aerial equipment and bespoke costumes were lost in the massive blaze in Penrose on Sunday.Dust Palace chairman Grae Burton told Breakfast it was “devastating”.“It’s an important part of theatre history in New Zealand,” he told Breakfast this morning.“It’s impossible to value some of the hand-made costumes and set pieces. It’s really been quite a shock for the company.”Dust Palace’s props, aerial equipment and bespoke costumes were destroyed in a warehouse fire. (Source: Givealittle )The company has…

Motorists are being urged to take more care around accident scenes as it was “only a matter of time” before an emergency services worker was seriously injured. Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) Otago group manager Bobby Lamont said “near misses” were happening across the country, but particularly in FENZ’s Te Kei region, which encompassed Otago and Southland. He worried that “unsafe driver behaviour at incidents is so commonplace now that often our people won’t report the ‘minor’ incidents”. He said in February, a member of the public drove on the wrong side of the road past firefighters managing traffic…

One person has died following a house fire in Upper Hutt overnight.Emergency services were called to the property on Tararua St, between Ross Gr and Louis St, in Trentham at around 2.25am and found the house fully ablaze.Police said one person was found dead at the property.Fire and Emergency NZ responded with crews from Trentham, Remutaka, Silverstream, Thorndon, Wellington Crew and Avalon.The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including new corruption report, California protests, and Justin Baldoni’s legal loss. (Source: 1News)A scene guard was in place overnight and police and Fire and Emergency NZ investigators carried out a scene examination this…

Auckland commuters faced major delays across the city’s motorway network this evening as traffic ground to a halt amid a severe thunderstorm watch.All lanes have now reopened at Papakura following an earlier incident where debris spilled from the back of a truck, forcing a full closure. Meanwhile, separate breakdowns temporarily shut down lanes on both the Northwestern and Southwestern motorways.A fatal crash on the North Shore added to the congestion. Police said a vehicle left Onewa Rd and collided with a power pole on Seaview Ave just after 4.30pm. “Despite medical assistance being provided at the scene, sadly we can…