Author: Press Room

Secondary teachers have voted to accept the Government’s collective agreement offer. It brings negotiations between the Post Primary Teachers’ Association and the Government to an end – a process that involved strikes and a tense back and forward between the two parties.Bargaining was facilitated by the Employment Relations Authority. The settlement included a 4.7% cumulative pay increase for teachers on the top two steps by January 2027 (2.5% in Year 1 and 2.1% at the beginning of Year 2). Teachers who are growing in their careers and moving up the scale would continue to receive annual step increases, along with…

Invercargill’s Splash Palace has faced the unfortunate task of cleaning up two code browns on the same day.Last week, the learners pool closed for an hour and 45 minutes due to a faecal contamination incident, reopened for swimming lessons, and closed again due to contamination.The double dose of doo-doo comes at a time when details have surfaced about an uptick in code browns at the pools.Council manager aquatic services Stephen Cook said the recent incident involved a “small amount of additional matter” being found which prompted the pool’s closure for a further half hour.”It is not clear whether this was…

A North Canterbury man has been arrested for over 500 tags across Canterbury, Kaikoura and Dunedin.Police said the 23-year-old would appear in the Christchurch District Court on December 5 on charges of entering agricultural land with intent and wilful damage for graffiti.Senior Sergeant Stephen McDaniel said the offender not only sprayed his tag everywhere, he also took videos of his offending and posted them to social media, “benefiting from the notoriety”.The tag was located on public bridges, toilets, walls, rubbish bins, walkways, light posts, former gun emplacements, train tracks, water tanks and drainage pipes.McDaniel said, in some instances, the offender…

A worker who died after a retaining wall collapsed at a construction site in Brisbane has been named as a New Zealand father. Kimura Dixon, 45, was killed and the 19-year-old son of his partner became trapped after the wall toppled on Tuesday morning while the pair were digging a shallow trench in Brisbane’s West End.The younger man was pulled from the rubble more than 90 minutes later before being taken to hospital with serious leg injuries.”Six of those workers removed concrete from the injured man, and in doing so probably saved his life,” Queensland Police Inspector Chris Pemberton said.He…

The European Union’s plan to issue a reparations loan for Ukraine suffered a fresh setback on Friday after Euroclear, the main custodian of the immobilised Russian assets, said the proposal is “very fragile”, too unpredictable and could trigger an exodus of foreign investors away from the eurozone. The warning comes as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meets with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels in a bid to unblock the loan before a crucial summit on 18 December. “The proposal, as it stands, seems to have a great deal of legal…

After almost three decades of supplying Dunedin with exotic fashion from across the globe, a longtime George St shop-owner is excited for a new adventure — retirement. On January 31, Yaks n Yeti’s Dunedin store will close its doors after 28 years. Yaks n Yeti’s owner Nicole Bainbridge said at 63 years old, it was simply time to start winding down and go into semi-retirement. Every year she delayed was another year doing the heavy lifting while being a year older. She said it was “something that was always going to happen eventually”. “It’s an end of an era. “It’s…

Netflix struck a deal to buy Warner Bros Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind Harry Potter and Friends, in a US$72 billion (NZ$124.7 billion) deal that would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.Beyond its namesake television and motion picture division, Warner owns HBO Max and DC Studios. Netflix is ubiquitous with its vast selection of on-demand content, and its production arm has released popular titles such as Stranger Things and Squid Game.“For more than a century, Warner Bros. has thrilled audiences, captured the world’s attention, and shaped our culture,” David…

The fate of a proposed North Canterbury housing development is no closer to being known, more than two years after the Waimakariri District Council first rejected it.Rolleston Industrial Developments Limited has withdrawn its Environment Court appeal against the council’s November 2023 decision to reject a private plan change for the proposed 850 home sub-division.But the company is proceeding with an appeal against the Waimakariri District Plan, which was adopted in June.It is one of 21 appeals against the District Plan.The proposed Ohoka housing development was included for consideration in the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Act, along with proposed sub-divisions in west…

Enterprising Oamaru couple Shane Carter and Hayley Newlands-Carter are continuing to expand their involvement in the human waste industry. They talk to business editor Sally Rae about their flush with success.  They are in the business of bums on seats — literally. Dealing with human waste might not appear the most glamorous industry but Shane Carter and his wife Hayley Newlands-Carter provide a welcome service at some of the South Island’s most swanky functions and events. It has been a milestone year for the Oamaru couple who celebrated 15 years of ownership of their Laser Plumbing business and recently added Awamoa Sanitation to…

A Wairarapa council’s climate-change adaptation programme is showing early signs of success.From no-mow trials in public parks, to soft plastic recycling and addressing water processing issues, Carterton council is adopting sustainable practices across its business units.The council’s policy and projects subcommittee was updated on the programme’s progress at its meeting on Wednesday.“We are doing really well,” a spokesperson said.“There is some great stuff happening. Things like the composting trials, waste-minimisation and progress on our district plan. There are good things in there from a climate perspective.”A report presented to the committee described climate-adaptation successes in the council’s parks and reserves,…