Author: Press Room

An emergency operations centre has been activated by the Grey District Council this afternoon as heavy rain lashes parts of the South Island. Watches and warnings are in place for Tararua, Wellington, Buller, Tasman and Canterbury. Several areas were still under heavy rain or strong wind alerts until Saturday or Sunday.In a post to social media this afternoon, Grey District Council said it had activated an emergency operations centre and urged people to “stay out of floodwaters, and avoid non-essential travel”. Flooding has closed some roads, as pictured by Grey District Council. (Source: Supplied)”Floodwaters are rising quickly so plan for…

A leading senior police officer has become the first Māori member of the Victoria Police to wear a moko kauae.Senior Constable Marlene Drummond, who is of Ngāpuhi descent, received her moko kaue after years of consideration and reflection.”I feel anchored to my heritage and ancestry, like I’m carrying my Nanny with me,” she said.The moko kauae is a sacred taonga (treasure) for wāhine Māori, representing their whakapapa (genealogy), whānau (family), tūpuna (ancestors), and cultural heritage.Leading Senior Constable Marlene Drummond honours her Ngāpuhi heritage with the traditional Māori tattoo. (Source: Victoria Police.)Drummond said it was a visual representation of her cultural…

The leader of a secretive religious group has announced he’s stepping back from his role, citing a “tough year” and “constant pressure”.Wayne Dean, who oversees a church commonly referred to as the Two By Twos or The Truth – though it has no official name – has been leading its New Zealand branch for the past three years. Originally from Western Australia, Dean is now returning home for what he describes as “an extended break”.The church is currently under investigation by New Zealand police for alleged sexual offending.In a letter emailed to the group’s roughly 2500 members, Dean wrote: “Constant…

Tāmaki Makaurau is recording the lowest voter turnouts in the country, with one day left of local elections to go.According to statistics from Local Government New Zealand, 983,466 votes had been received around the country as of October 9, which represented 28.49% of all eligible votes.This figure excluded voting results for Chatham Islands and regional councils.Auckland had the lowest voting percentage of 21.8%, followed by Hamilton City with 22.98% and Porirua City with 25.11%.According to Auckland Council figures, 261,500 votes had been cast, out of 1,195,533 eligible voters.Council Governance and Engagement general manager Lou-Ann Ballantyne encouraged people to go vote,…

More than half a tonne of cannabis was seized by police in Auckland yesterday, following a series of raids across the city’s inner west. A man was also arrested on a raft of charges. Detective Senior Sergeant Anthony Darvill said the searches were part of a police effort to crack down on criminals profiting from the sale of drugs. “During the searches of the properties, significant commercial cannabis grow set-ups were located,” Darvill said. More than 500kg of cannabis was seized, as well as a “significant amount” of cash, MDMA, and ketamine. Some of the cannabis seized by police. (Source:…

A teenager who evaded police for nearly three hours after allegedly stealing a car in Whangārei has been arrested and now faces multiple charges.Police were called when a Whangārei woman reported her vehicle stolen while she was visiting friends in Dargaville at around 4.45pm.Whangārei-Kaipara area commander Inspector Maria Nordstrom said officers quickly located the stolen car, but the driver fled.”The vehicle’s driver was quickly identified by officers, and members of the public directed police to a rural property they believed the youth was at. Police attended but the youth had already fled into nearby bush.”A police dog team was sent…

The Reserve Bank has announced a new official cash rate (OCR), choosing a more aggressive rate-cutting option than some had forecasted. The announcement was the second-to-last before the end of the year, with economic experts expecting the central bank to be responding to indicators of inflation and lacklustre economic growth.

An economist says the Reserve Bank’s aggressive 0.5% cut to the official cash rate (OCR) highlights how much work is needed to turn the economy around.The monetary policy committee today reached consensus on the jumbo-sized 50-basis-point reduction, bringing the OCR down from 3% to 2.5%. The decision means the cash rate has plummeted from 5.5% to 2.5% in just over a year. The Reserve Bank also signalled that it was “open” to further cuts in the medium-term. Several bank economists, including those at ASB, Westpac and Kiwibank, had expected the 0.5% cut, while ANZ and BNZ economists had forecast a…

Two people stuck down a cliff face off Tindalls Beach, in the north of Auckland, have been plucked from the precipice this afternoon. Police said they were called to the scene on Whangaparāoa Rd around 2.50pm.”Both were unable to get back up the cliff after climbing down to retrieve an item they had dropped,” a police spokesperson said. The Eagle police helicopter “is monitoring the pairs’ location and have confirmed neither have sustained any injuries”.A Fire and Emergency NZ spokesperson said five trucks were at the scene “assisting in a level 3 lines rescue”.”Crews were sent from Manly and Silverdale…

A federal judge tossed out a defamation lawsuit that Drake brought against Universal Music Group on Friday, ruling that lyrics branding the superstar as a paedophile in Kendrick Lamar’s dis track Not Like Us were opinion.Judge Jeannette A. Vargas rejected the suit in a written opinion that began by citing “the vitriolic war of words” and saying the case arose “from perhaps the most infamous rap battle in the genre’s history”.Filed in January, the lawsuit alleged that UMG published and promoted Not Like Us even though it included false paedophilia allegations against Drake and suggested listeners should resort to vigilante…