Author: Press Room

Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust has begun legal proceedings in the High Court over freshwater rights in Wairoa.The trust is requesting a legal declaration that the beds of significant rivers and lakes in their area – such as the Wairoa River, Hangaroa River, Mangapoike River, Ruakituri River, Waiau River, Waikaretāheke River, Whakakī Lake and its surrounding tributaries, as well as Lake Waikaremoana – are held subject to customary title.The move follows the same framework as Ngāi Tahu’s 2020 statement of claim seeking recognition of its rangatiratanga over the freshwater resources in its rohe (area).The Ngāi Tahu claim began to…

Passengers on an Air New Zealand flight from Wellington to Dunedin on Saturday were told 13 volunteers would need to get off the plane to lighten the load or all the baggage would be left behind.One of the passengers told RNZ he and other passengers were paid hundreds of dollars each to get off the overweight Air New Zealand flight, which the airline blamed on over-fuelling.Michael Reddell was on the plane to Dunedin to take his daughter to the University of Otago on Saturday when the airline announced passengers would need to disembark or the baggage be unloaded.Passengers were told…

Film production in Canterbury is getting a boost with the opening of a new studio facility at the City’s university. Kōawa Studios recently hosted its first commercial feature film, Holy Days. And it’s not only providing opportunities for movie producers but students too.For Daniel Davy, who is in his third year of a digital screen degree, he’s getting a hands-on look at cutting-edge film production tech. “Most of it’s practical studying here… So we get to use the brand new state-of-the-art technology here and film equipment and the camera gear and stuff like that, which is really pretty lucky,” he…

The Defence Force has taken the Selwyn District Council to the Environment Court over its refusal to ban residents living near an army rifle range from complaining about its noise.A hearing began today in Christchurch.The military wanted new properties and developments built near the West Melton Rifle Range to be subject to a “no-complaints covenant”, to protect itself from neighbours raising issues about noise at the range.The Selwyn District Council declined to include the covenant in its district plan, and the Defence Force has appealed to the Environment Court to reverse this decision.In an opening submission, the lawyer for the…

It’s the Reserve Bank’s first official cash rate (OCR) decision of 2025, and you betcha, it’s likely to be another cut, writes 1News Business Correspondent Katie Bradford.Homeowners – or those dreaming of owning their own slice of Kiwi land – are yet again looking to the central bank’s big call at 2pm tomorrow.In fact, you could almost bet the house, or that eye-watering mortgage, on it being another cut of 50 basis points or 0.5%. That would take the rate from 4.25% to 3.75%.It’s pretty much a done deal, three months in the waiting.Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr made it…

After three years of Wayne Brown at the top, mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni wants to offer Aucklanders a “different style” of leader — pitching herself as a grassroots consensus-builder even while carrying her Labour credentials.If successful, the 44-year-old mum of twins would make history twice over – becoming the supercity’s first woman mayor and the first Māori mayor of Auckland. It’s a prospect that both energises and daunts the rookie Whau councillor, who’s not standing for re-election for her ward and spoke to 1News about her candidacy.”The feedback that I’ve had is that Aucklanders would like to have someone who’s…

There are three steps New Zealand could take now to make the community safer from homemade guns, says Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law at the University of Waikato.It’s an unfortunate fact that bad people sometimes want guns. And while laws are designed to prevent guns falling into the wrong hands, the determined criminal can be highly resourceful.There are three main ways to source an illegal weapon: find a lawful owner willing to provide one unlawfully, buy one from another criminal, or make your own.The first two options aren’t as easy as they sound. The buyer might “know a guy” willing…

Euronews went dumpster diving—not literally, don’t worry—through the EU Commission’s discarded legislation to see what’s been scrapped as outdated, stale, or just plain unworkable. Somebody had to do it, and here’s what we found. ADVERTISEMENTLast week, the Commission rolled out its 2025 work programme—essentially a to-do list for the year ahead.There weren’t many surprises: we already knew about things like the Competitiveness Compass and the Clean Industrial Deal, with the sole exception of seasonal time changes which had been scrapped in earlier drafts, now back on the table.What really stands out, though, is what the Commission has decided not to do…

The top four parties’ chancellor candidates, Friedrich Merz, Olaf Scholz, Robert Habeck and Alice Weidel took to the stage for a fiery, televised debate on Sunday evening. ADVERTISEMENTA fiery final election debate between Germany’s four leading chancellor candidates featured the economy, Ukraine, migration and US Vice President JD Vance. The quartet sparred on Ukraine, with Friedrich Merz, the chancellor candidate for the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), saying Germany was “not neutral; we are on the side of Ukraine.”Alice Weidel, the pick for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, insisted that “peace and war will decide this election”. She…

NZX-listed company Bremworth is beginning a strategic review of its ownership structure following recent approaches from parties interested in the wool-carpet manufacturer. The announcement also followed finalisation of the company’s $104.2 million insurance settlement earlier this month, following the damage and disruption caused by Cyclone Gabrielle at its yarn-spinning plant in Napier two years ago. In a note to the NZX yesterday, Bremworth said the review was expected to take several months and there was no certainty any transaction or other change would result. Independent investment banking firm Montarne had been engaged to assist with the review. The company would…