Author: Press Room

All Black Jordie Barrett and girlfriend Alice Marshall have announced their engagement online. The 28-year-old midfielder shared a picture of himself and his fiancée grinning at the camera while showing off a new diamond ring on Marshall’s left hand. The caption simply tagged Marshall’s account, accompanied by a ring and heart emoji. All Blacks players including Wallace Sititi, Cam Roigard and Leroy Carter were quick to congratulate the couple. Ardie Savea wrote: “Cheeehooo congrats team.”The All Blacks are on the final leg of a long season, with the first stop being a clash with Ireland in Chicago on November 2.The…

Schools and residents are being evacuated in Kaikōura this afternoon as Fire and Emergency NZ battles “multiple large fires” in the area.Police said a number of cordons were in place, and multiple roads have been closed.”Police are also assisting with the evacuations of schools and residents in the surrounding areas.”It advised members of the public to travel to Kaikoura High School or the Kaikoura Golf Course if they had been evacuated.Meanwhile, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said it had also received multiple calls to damage caused by strong winds.”Firefighters are prioritising incidents where life is at risk.”Firefighters from both Marlborough…

Outgoing Carterton mayor Ron Mark has hung up his mayoral chains – but his life in the public eye could be far from over.The former NZ First MP, who chose not to run again for the mayoralty, hasn’t ruled out a possible return to the Beehive, or even a role further afield.Mark has held a wide range of senior public roles following a lengthy career in the New Zealand military.He was the Minister of Defence between 2017 and 2020. He was the Carterton mayor between 2010 and 2014, before returning in 2022.”I rule nothing out,” he said.”There is too much…

Canterbury’s family-owned Carrfields Group is developing a multimillion-dollar research and development farm for seed and plant innovation. The farming, property and agribusiness company exports to more than 40 countries and has about 300 employees and contractors throughout New Zealand and India. Carrfields has bought Spring Farm in Winslow, previously owned by NZ Tractors, to convert it into a research and development facility for its Winseed brand. A house, office and sheds on 20ha will be remodelled into the innovation hub for research, breeding and seed technology. The farm will include a breeding centre featuring glasshouses, nurseries, grow houses and trial…

Three new cases of measles have been reported in Manawatū and Nelson today, including two children.In a statement, Health New Zealand said he was dealing with an “escalating national risk of measles” following confirmation of the new cases.These new cases – two in the Manawatū and one in Nelson – follow another case in Auckland confirmed yesterday, bringing the total number of measles cases nationally to four. Locations of interest that the Nelson case and Manawatū cases visited while infectious are being investigated, and will be published online on the Health NZ website here.National Public Health Service public health medicine specialist…

Sustainability will be the guiding principle behind the EU’s first-ever tourism strategy, European Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas told the audience at the Global Tourism Forum in Brussels. “Sustainability means reducing emissions, including from travel to and within destinations. But it also means managing resources wisely, protecting cultural and natural assets, and ensuring that tourism contributes to balanced regional development across Europe,” the Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism said during the two-day event on Monday and Tuesday. Europe remains the world’s top tourist destination, welcoming 758 million visitors in 2024 — a sector that generated over 20 million jobs and contributed…

Scott Technology has posted a record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (ebitda) result of $31.5 million for the 2025 financial year, driven by a strong second-half performance and a focus on higher margin contracts. Group revenue was $275m, compared to $276m the previous year and highlighted the momentum built in the second half as it was down 14% at the half-year. That was supported by multiple contract wins across the group and improved sales for standard products and recurring revenue streams, the company said in a statement to the NZX. Net profit after tax was up 84% from…

The Pentagon is “positive” about New Zealand’s increased defence spending, which includes the purchase of US helicopters, according to Defence Minister Judith Collins.She spoke to 1News after her meeting with US President Donald Trump’s Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, in Washington DC today.“We discussed all sorts of opportunities that we have working together – particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, but also the very close relationship we have – there are the Sea Hawk Helicopters that we are buying [from the US], we also talked about some of the issues that we have in relation to some of the foreign military…

It’s a Dawn deal. Alliance Group’s farmer shareholders have voted in favour of selling a 65% stake in their co-operative to Irish meat company Dawn Meats for $270 million. Once the final regulatory and legal steps required were obtained, the new joint venture would become operational and the transaction completed in mid-December. The transaction required a minimum of 75% shareholder acceptance of those who vote, and greater than 50% of the total shareholding voting yes. A special shareholder meeting was held in Invercargill on Monday and 2675 shareholders voted, representing 92,495,558 shares, or more than 88% of all shares on…

Alliance Group’s sale of a 65% stake to an Irish investor has brought relief to the chairperson and confidence to some shareholders.After weeks of voting, 87% of votes were in favour of the $270 million sale to Dawn Meats, in a result announced today by New Zealand’s largest lamb processing company.The money will help Alliance pay between $188-200 million in debt to six banks by a December deadline.Today chair Mark Wynne said he was, “relieved and excited when I saw the results”. “Relieved that we got such a clear mandate from our shareholders. And excited about the future that is…