Author: Press Room

Rural communities worried about the fire and pest risk from forestry hope a series of meetings with rural National MPs will result in legislation changes to better protect them.A huge forestry fire near the Central Hawke’s Bay village of Pōrangahau last week took days to extinguish, and was the main talking point on Thursday, during a timely visit from National MPs Mike Butterick and Carl Bates.The MPs are travelling to rural areas in New Zealand to discuss the wildfire risk and invasive pests associated with forestryLast week a fire burnt through about 250 hectares of forestry near Pōrangahau, owned by…

More cheaper houses are changing hands, as the housing market finds its feet, new data indicates.Property research firm Cotality has released data that shows property values across the country lifted 0.2% in October, the second monthly rise in a row.Across the main centres, Auckland fell again, down 0.2%, with Hamilton flat in October. Tauranga and Wellington both lifted by 0.2%, while Christchurch, up 0.4%, and Dunedin, up 0.7%, were stronger.The national median value is now $811,662, but the median sale price for the third recent quarter was $761,000, indicating that more homes in the lower price brackets are changing hands.Cotality…

Pasifika medical providers are mobilising to vaccinate their community most at risk as the number of measles cases increases to 16 nationwide.While herd immunity needs to be at 95% to prevent an outbreak, data on fully vaccinated kids from a public health specialist shows that’s not being met.Cook Islands, Samoan and Tongan communities are all in the low eighties and only 73% of kids of Fijian ethnicity are immunised.Health providers have told 1News vaccine hesitancy is having a major impact in Auckland.Chief operating officer for The Fono Sally Dalhousie said its hugely concerning as it’s often the Pacific babies that…

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the change in the trading environment has been a “wake-up call” for many countries and there’s “huge momentum” from other leaders to stick to the rules-based order.Luxon said the “real shifts” in geopolitics shouldn’t be something to be frightened about and New Zealand should see it as an opportunity as much as a challenge.Speaking at the end of his week in South East Asia, Luxon pointed out that, more than ever, New Zealand needed to advance its own national interests.He also pointed to the need to “renew our institutions that govern international rules”.”We need to…

The Education Minister is standing by recent changes to the school maths curriculum, despite concern from some educators who say they’ve been “blindsided” by the scale of the updates.Several teachers and academics are calling for the rollout to be delayed, saying schools need more time to prepare for what they see as substantial changes to the content being taught for years 0 to 10.Porirua College’s head of mathematics, Jennifer Crisp, said she was surprised at how different the final version was from the draft she and other teachers had provided feedback on.“This is a new new curriculum. I wrote many…

The clock is ticking fast for the European Union to find a way to support Ukraine’s financial and military commitments before the flow of foreign assistance, severely impacted by the Trump administration’s pullback, runs out. The stakes could not be higher: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his country will need funding from the “very beginning” of next year. “I don’t know if it’s possible. Not everything depends on us,” Zelenskyy said. Last week, Belgium held up a groundbreaking plan to use the immobilised assets of the Russian Central Bank and issue a €140 billion loan to Kyiv. As the prime…

After reading about sometimes-controversial New Zealand broadcaster Paul Henry, The Chase UK star Anne Hegerty wasn’t sure what to expect when she met him for dinner last year.The best way to proceed, she decided, was to make fun of him.”I realised that I could take the mick out of him and he would let me, basically. He seemed to absolutely love it. He really enjoyed being teased,” Hegerty told RNZ’s Saturday Morning.The English game show The Chase -in which a team of four contestants compete with a Chaser (professional quizzer) for a cash prize – is wildly popular with New…

An earthquake rebuild with a budget of just over $600,000 has been named New Zealand’s best house at the 2025 ADNZ Resene Architectural Design Awards. Mitchell Coll of Fabric took out the Supreme award for his redesign of the earthquake damaged villa in the Christchurch suburb of Somerfield. Working within the design and budget constraints, many elements of the original building were retained including the patinaed garage, fences and driveway.ADNZ judges said the ‘Red Pine Villa’ stands as a testament to sustainable design and contextual sensitivity. (Source: Supplied)”We considered the owner’s environmental based values and tight budget; our initial discussions…

1News weather expert Daniel Corbett explains what we can expect to see as a La Nina weather pattern takes over.It’s that time of year again – tropical cyclone season, which runs from November 1 to April 30.The recent, catastrophic Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean Sea has put the devastation major storms can bring back in the forefront of our minds. The continuing warmer than normal seas around the globe are adding fuel to the fire for the development of tropical cyclones.Elevated risk of ‘tropical troublemakers’ – Watch on TVNZ+The 2025-2026 southwest Pacific cyclone season could be an interesting one in…

The biggest Lotto draw of the year has a $33 million Powerball jackpot up for grabs this Saturday night.The prize pool swelled after Wednesday night’s draw when four players split a $1 million First Division win, while the Powerball jackpot rolled over once again.A central Auckland dairy owner told 1News it had been busy in his store.”When it’s over $20 million, everyone’s coming in to get Lotto tickets.”Despite the excitement, Lotto NZ urged players to keep their expectations in check.”Powerball always offers the same one in 38.3 million chance to win First Division per line, regardless of the jackpot amount,”…