Author: Press Room
In a surprise move, the sale of polytechnics will be on the table when the national institute of technology Te Pūkenga is disestablished.Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds today announced the Government would go ahead with its preferred option of re-establishing stand-alone polytechnics.She told RNZ the legislation to do that would include the possibility of sale, but the Government was not likely to use that option.”It is unusual. It was just really to have a full range of actions that could be taken but it’s not one that I would hope we would be having to move to but certainly if…
More than half the country’s historic landfills could be exposed to the risks of climate change, according to a new report.The report, commissioned by the Ministry for the Environment in the wake of the Fox River disaster in 2019, is the first time there has been an in-depth level of data on a national scale. It looked at three factors of climate change: coastal inundation, proximity to the sea, and flooding. It found 1797 of the country’s historic landfills could be impacted by at least one of the three factors and 176 are exposed to all three. “Historically our work…
KiwiRail has announced it’s bringing back a popular passenger rail journey more than 20 years after it ended.The Southerner connected Christchurch and Invercargill via Dunedin between 1970 and 2002.Great Journeys New Zealand will run daily return trips from May 17 to 20 next year.”The Southerner was renowned for offering a comfortable and scenic journey, making Invercargill the southernmost passenger station in the world. Its legacy as one of New Zealand’s most beloved train services endures, and now it is returning to offer a new generation the chance to experience part of this historic route once again,” Great Journeys New Zealand…
Former Labour MP and mayor of Auckland’s North Shore City Ann Hartley has died.Members of the family posted on social media that Hartley died Friday surrounded by family.Hartley was the first mayor of the newly created North Shore City in 1989, and went on to be elected to Parliament in 1999, winning the Northcote Electorate.Hartley went on to be the Deputy Speaker and Assistant Speaker and a member of multiple committees.She left Parliament in 2008 and served on the North Shore City Council.”Ann was the shining light of our family, we were all so proud of her endless support for…
A car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday evening. Two people have been confirmed dead and at least 68 injured. ADVERTISEMENTAt least two people, an adult and a toddler, have been killed and 60 others injured after a car ploughed into a crowd at a busy outdoor Christmas market in Magdeburg, a city in eastern Germany. Authorities are describing the incident as a “deliberate attack.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser are scheduled to visit Magdeburg on Saturday. Faeser has confirmed that federal police are actively supporting the investigation into…
The release of fast-track application documents has revealed plans for a hotel and student hostel at Auckland’s Eden Park stadium.The description of the proposed Eden Park 2.1 project included a 105-bed boutique hotel and potential accommodation for 150 students.The hotel would sleeve the stadium’s North Stand and face Walters Road, “providing unique accommodation with rooms overlooking the field of play”. The exact location of the student accommodation was not mentioned, but the document did say the accommodation would be in conjunction with the University of Auckland.Other components of the Eden Park 2.1 project, such as a retractable roof and pedestrian…
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) has crunched the data to find holiday congestion hotspots in Waikato and Bay of Plenty – but people might be surprised at the way they are responding to help.In the Waikato, the busiest spots are expected to be on SH25 around Tairua township, on SH1 between Tairua and Karāpiro and on SH2 between Pōkeno and Matamata.In the Bay of Plenty, the busiest spots are likely to be on SH2 between Paeroa and Waihī, on SH2 between Tauranga and Katikati and on SH29 on the Kaimai range.To help traffic flows, NZTA Waikato journey manager Andrew…
New Zealand’s housing market obsession, the Reserve Bank’s response to Covid-19 and the ramifications of Trump’s imminent presidency were on the agenda as three of the country’s leading journalists sat down to discuss the political and economic state of the year. In this episode of Roundtable, a three-part series on TVNZ+ hosted by John Campbell, he was joined by Q+A host Jack Tame and 1News’ business correspondent Katie Bradford for a chat on all things economy.A major point of concern for many New Zealanders in 2024 remains the housing market, particularly the impact of high, though falling, interest rates.Two-thirds of…
If you’ve been supermarket shopping recently, there’s a good chance your trolley contained milk and toast bread, and maybe some bananas and avocados.Foodstuffs has released data for the year showing Value two-litre standard milk was the most-purchased item across the North and South Islands.There were 18.9 million bottles sold in the North Island in the year and 4.4 million in the South Island.In the North Island, Bluebird chips original cut were next with 13.6 million bags sold. Third was a 500g Pams butter, with 11.5 million. The bread category accounted for eight of the top 20-selling products with over 51…
Two earthquakes in quick succession have shaken the lower North Island overnight.The first, a 4.3 magnitude quake 10km east of Whanganui, struck at 10.20pm Friday. It had a depth of 52km.One minute later, a 4.2 magnitude quake struck 10km north-east of Taihape, at a depth of 31km. GeoNet said it had received more than 3700 ‘felt’ reports for each.The earthquakes caused only light shaking, GeoNet said.rnz.co.nz