Author: Press Room

Vehicles will soon be banned from accessing a scenic stretch of South Wairarapa coastline for at least two years, but pedestrians and cyclists will still be allowed.At a bylaw deliberations meeting on Wednesday, South Wairarapa District councillors agreed to scrap its initial proposal which aimed to ban all access to an unformed legal road in the Cape Palliser area for three years.Council chief executive Janice Smith said the initial proposal would not have been enforceable and “could have led to legal challenge”.The paper road, which gives public access to a stretch of South Wairarapa coastline, traverses both privately-owned Māori land…

Fonterra is “confident” it can get another double-digit payout over the line after handing farmers a record $10.16 for each kilogram of milksolids produced in 2024/25. Last season will go down as a record year for the dairy giant after the highest ever payout was combined with a record dividend of 57 cents per share. This topped the $9.30/kg payout of 2021/22. Overall, a total $10.73/kg was paid to farmer shareholders for a record $16.2 billion in cash payments. A full-year result released yesterday included $26b in revenue, up 15%, on just over 1500 million kilograms of milk solids collected…

Does the research really show a link, as the US president claims, between paracetamol use in pregnancy and autism? Academics at The School of Women’s and Children’s Health in Sydney, Nicholas Wood and Debra Kennedy, look into the data. United States President Donald Trump has urged pregnant women to avoid paracetamol except in cases of extremely high fever, because of a possible link to autism.Paracetamol – known as acetaminophen or by the brand name Tylenol in the US – is commonly used to relieve pain, such as back pain and headaches, and to reduce fever during pregnancy.Paracetamol is marketed as…

The former operator of a popular Dunedin restaurant has been liquidated owing the IRD $650,000. The directors of PSVC Limited, which operated the Lone Star Dunedin franchise for a number of years, blamed Covid-19 and the George St roadworks for the insolvency. The liquidators’ final report said the company was placed into liquidation after the restaurant was sold to new owners. The restaurant continues to trade under new management. “However insufficient funds were realised to pay all company creditors in full,” the report said. Hospitality New Zealand Otago branch president Mark Scully said the news was a little bit surprising,…

Millions of cigarettes are being intercepted at the border each year, and the methods criminal organisations are using to smuggle them are growing more sophisticated. According to numbers released to 1News by Customs, over 3 million individual cigarettes have been caught at the border in 2025 so far. Over 8 million were intercepted last year, and it’s expected to hit similar levels by year’s end. The size of the shipments also appear to be growing, with the “overwhelming majority” of seized items destined for the black market. In late August, customs investigators seized nearly one million cigarettes imported illegally, evading…

House prices are generally flat, but values are starting to pick up in some of the cheaper parts of the country, Cotality says.The property research firm – formerly Corelogic – has released data showing the performance of suburbs around the country.Over the three months to September, 56% of suburbs recorded falls in house prices.But about 40% of these had falls of less than 1%.In total, 33% of suburbs had house values drop at least 1% and 44% had values rise or remain flat.Some areas had house price rises of more than 5%, including Cobden, in Grey District, Springs Junction, in…

A huge Auckland cannabis bust has led to the arrests of 30 people, 10 tonnes of the drug being destroyed, and 120 grow houses shut down. The investigation, which took place between late July and August, saw police search 128 properties nestled in suburban and rural communities. Police said the houses were “hidden in plain sight” and appeared to be “average-looking” rentals. Some of the properties were found in areas like Pōkeno in the south, Pakuranga in the east, Henderson in the west and Torbay in the north.Police said the houses were “hidden in plain sight” and appeared to be…

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including a serious crash closes roads in central Auckland, how smugglers try to sneak cigarettes into the country, and Zelensky’s message at the UN. A serious crash closed a major road in central Auckland, disrupting the morning commute. Smugglers are getting increasingly sophisticated about how they try to bring cigarettes into New Zealand. A series of busts has shut down more than 120 cannabis grow houses across Auckland.Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has urged world leaders to help end the war n Ukraine, or he says Russia will try to expand the conflict. Typhoon Ragasa…

ADVERTISEMENT Young people in the European Union left their parents’ house at an average age of 26.2 years in 2024. This figure is slightly down from 26.3 years in 2023, according to the latest Eurostat figures. People in southern and eastern Europe wait the longest to leave the parental home. Croatia leads, at 31.3 years, followed by Slovakia at 30.9 years, Greece at 30.7 years, Italy at 30.1 years, and Spain at 30 years.   In contrast, young people leave the nest at a younger age in Finland (21.4 years), Denmark (21.7) and Sweden (21.9).  More than 80% of young people…

A person has died and another is seriously injured after a vehicle fire in Taitā overnight.Police said they were called to Taitā Drive, Lower Hutt, at around 1.30am.One person was taken to hospital.The death was not thought to be suspicious.An RNZ reporter at the scene at Fraser Park said a tent had been set up behind police tape.There were a number of emergency service vehicles at the scene.The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including a serious crash closes roads in central Auckland, how smugglers try to sneak cigarettes into the country, and Zelensky’s message at the UN. (Source: Breakfast)rnz.co.nz