Author: Press Room

Work on the Wellington Town Hall’s $329 million redevelopment continues, with the new National Music Centre under construction in the building’s basement.Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith announced an additional $2 million funding injection for the National Music Centre in the Budget last month and toured the site alongside media on Tuesday.”We’re very delighted that the works, obviously as you can see, are underway,” said Goldsmith. “There’s been real pressure around the overall funding, so this extra two million dollars will help get this project over the line.”Once completed, the centre would house recording studios, rehearsal spaces, a…

ADVERTISEMENTA future without human workers seems out of question, at least for now.Despite the growth of digital technologies, manual labour will still likely be in highest demand in the next five years, according to World Economic Forum research.The highest number of new positions – over 35 million worldwide – will be created for farmworkers and other agricultural employees.There could also be almost 10 million additional jobs for truck drivers (including delivery drivers), plus over 5 million new app and software developers, as well as building framers.Speaking about the fastest-growing sectors however and it’s all about tech.Big-data specialists top the chart…

Hamilton Airport is gearing up for its first international boarding call since 2012 ahead of overseas flights returning on June 16. The refurbished terminal included full border controls, a new duty-free store and a café.The first Jetstar flight from Sydney touches down in Hamilton in less than two weeks, and would operate three return flights a week to the Gold Coast and four to Sydney.Hamilton Airport chief executive Mark Morgan said the region had “matured” in the last 10 to 20 years.”It’s the fastest growing city, the importance of the upper North Island, connectivity, we have 1.3 million people within…

ANZ has announced cuts to some of its fixed home loan and term investment rates.The country’s biggest bank will cut its 18-month fixed rate by 10 basis points to 4.89% — its lowest rate since April, 2022.The six-month special and standard terms will drop 20 basis points to 5.29% and 5.89% respectively.Twenty basis points will be cut from its standard four and five-year home loan rates, as well as the special three-year term.The bank’s one-year special term would drop four basis points to 4.95%.ANZ managing director for personal banking Grant Knuckey said the changes would provide relief for customers taking…

If you popped the heater on before you got out of bed this morning, you might have pondered what your next power bill will look like.The middle months of the year are often the most expensive for household electricity.But the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority says there are some energy-saving things that you can do that could help cut your bills, without denting your lifestyle too much.”We’ve really tried to focus on things which are either no cost or at least very low cost and try to quantify the benefits of each measure,” said Gareth Gretton, EECA’s lead adviser on…

Four-year-old Ashton Cresswell was a tiny, vulnerable child who should have been treated with the utmost care. Instead, he died from “shameful” violence and neglect — and yet, no one was charged with causing his death. Warning: This story contains graphic details of violence against children. Helplines are provided. Sitting astride a balance bike, a grin on his face, four-year-old Ashton Cresswell is a picture of joy.It’s April 1, 2017. Ashton is at a birthday party in Masterton, in the lower North Island. For a boy whose brief life has been marked by endless hospital stays, a party is still…

Published on 03/06/2025 – 7:45 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTA false news report has gained traction online and fuelled conspiracy theories that recent Russian airstrikes in Ukraine were targeting a European paedophile ring.The fake report, published by a website called Real Raw News, claims that President Vladimir Putin ordered the assault on a child-trafficking cartel formed of Ukrainian, Albanian, French and German paedophiles, prompting anger among Western governments.The strikes were supposedly what prompted US President Donald Trump to take to his Truth Social platform to blast Putin as “crazy” for intensifying attacks on Ukraine.The article says that the intel about the paedophile ring came…

Whakatāne District Council plans to bring in strict penalties for those who continually put incorrect items in their recycling and green waste bins.Three strikes and perpetrators will have their large yellow or green lidded bins confiscated for three months.Solid waste manager Nigel Clarke recently presented the mayor and councillors with a plan for how to tackle the high amounts of unrecyclable waste making its way to the Material Recovery Facility in Tauranga every week and into the compost being made at the Keepa Road greenwaste facility through kerbside collections.The Tauranga facility reports incorrect items can sometimes make up as much…

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has responded after comments made by senior minister Chris Bishop at the Aotearoa Music Awards last week prompted criticism.And today Bishop said he was “frustrated and annoyed by the overt politicking” around a performance, but reiterated earlier comments that he should have kept his views to himself. Video footage from the awards evening on Thursday in Auckland showed Bishop responding during a performance by Stan Walker, which featured a large Toitū Te Tiriti banner on stage. Bishop admitted afterwards that he said something about performative acclaim and said, what a lot of crap. He said his…

MetService is urging people to make the most of any good weather today, as heavy rain and strong winds are forecast for many parts of the country from tomorrow. The forecaster has issued orange heavy rain warnings, rain watches, strong wind watches and heavy snow watches for various parts of New Zealand. MetService meteorologist Surprise Mhlongo told 1News a deep flow was expected to pass across the country late Wednesday into Thursday. He said the week so far had brought “relatively quiet weather, especially in the eastern areas”, and this was set to change to more unsettled weather. “You can…