Author: Press Room

The cost of living for the average Kiwi household has increased by 3.8% in the 12 months to the September 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today, with interest payments and insurance the largest contributor. Measured by the household living-costs price indexes (HLPIs), the 3.8% increase follows a 5.4% increase in the 12 months to the June 2024 quarter. The most recent high was 8.2% recorded in the 12 months to the December 2022 quarter.It comes as inflation, measured by the consumer price index (CPI) was 2.2% in the 12 months to the September 2024 quarter.The HLPIs…

A person has been critically injured in a house fire in Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt.Emergency services, including fire crews from five stations, were called to a property on Hanson Grove just after 3am on Tuesday.One person was taken to hospital in a critical condition.The area was cordoned off, and police were working with Fire and Emergency to determine the circumstances.rnz.co.nz

Magnus Brunner, the nominee to be the next European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, said the bloc should remain “open-minded” to exploring “new ideas” to curb irregular migration. ADVERTISEMENTEstablishing so-called “return hubs” outside the European Union to host rejected asylum seekers can be done in a “humane and legally sound manner”, Magnus Brunner said on Wednesday during his confirmation hearing at the European Parliament.Brunner warned further reflections and consultations are needed, however, particularly with member states, to “find out what this kind of concept might look like” in practice.The 52-year-old Austrian is tipped to be the next European Commissioner…

The driver of a council work car who clocked at 145km/h may never be identified because the system didn’t log the person behind the wheel.Gore District Council revealed the incident was one of 165 speeding violations where people drove 10km/h or more over the speed limit during a six-month period.Both Southland District Council and Invercargill City Council have also released information on speeding in council cars, showing limits were broken by at least 40km/h at both councils.Across the three councils, drivers were recorded exceeding the speed limit by at least 10km/h more than 1400 times during a six-month period.A spokesperson…

The Hamilton councillor who wrote an expletive-laden public submission to neighbouring Waipā District Council will not face any further consequences.Andrew Bydder was censured by his councillor colleagues and ordered to apologise for ableist slurs and derogatory comments.Bydder was found in breach of the Hamilton City Council’s code of conduct for the comments, including telling Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan to get off her “fat arse” and do her job properly.Bydder also asked Waipā District Council staff: “What the f*** are you r******d s*****c c***s doing?”The public submission related to consultation for a third bridge in Cambridge, where Bydder lives, and attracted…

Riders and walkers will weave through the forest habitat of long-tail bats and native gecko in a new trail inspired by the insights of local iwi.Ngāti Rangi pou ārahi Helen Leahy says the iwi is excited to see the first stage of Te Ara Mangawhero brought to life.The 11.4km loop on Mt Ruapehu, opened on Friday, will eventually become a 21.4km section of the Mountains to Sea Ngā Ara Tūhono Great Ride taking cyclists and walkers through two National Parks, from the top of the mountain, along the Whanganui River to the Tasman Sea.Leahy says the trail is a phenomenal…

The Inland Revenue Department is stopping the use of custom audience lists with social media platforms amid public concern at the practice. Custom audience lists – which IRD asserted involved anonymising personal information – were used by the department for a decade with platforms such as Facebook and Google as one way to provide important updates to taxpayers.The practice was paused in September this year after privacy concerns were raised, which led to an internal review.Two instances of customer details being supplied in their raw form by Inland Revenue to a social media platform were discovered in the review.IRD commissioner…

The next Commission is to include a Mediterranean portfolio, highlighting the geopolitical importance the EU puts on its neighbouring region. ADVERTISEMENTJordan and Morroco are next in line to strike wide-ranging deals with the European Union in a bid to stem irregular arrivals of migrants and boost trade ties, the incoming Commissioner for the Mediterranean told lawmakers on Tuesday.Dubravka Šuica told European lawmakers in Brussels during a three-hour hearing that she will focus on signing so-called Strategic and Comprehensive partnerships with third countries if she secures a second term in the EU’s executive in charge of the Mediterranean portfolio. “We will…

A person is being sought by police after a fire was “deliberately lit” at a mosque in Auckland this morning. Emergency services were called to the mosque on Astley Ave in New Lynn at around 9am following a report of a fire, Detective Inspector Callum McNeill said.”Upon arrival, police and fire investigators have established the fire has been deliberately lit.”CCTV shows a person allegedly breaking into the building just before 1am and lighting the fire.The fire continued to smoulder “until just after 9am when it became visible and emergency services were called”.”The investigation remains ongoing, however police are following positive…

Police are investigating a fire at a previously targeted Lower Hutt property this morning that left an 81-year-old man in a critical condition.Emergency services, including fire crews from five stations, responded to a block of flats in Hanson Grove, Stokes Valley, at around 3.10am.Detective Inspector Haley Ryan said the area was cordoned and a forensic scene examination was being conducted alongside Fire and Emergency New Zealand and ESR.”The fire is being treated as suspicious and is suspected to be linked to two other fires at the same block of flats on Thursday 10 and Monday 14 October 2024, both of…