Author: Press Room

The sunny but crisp conditions experienced by much of the country this week are set to come to an end as a new system brings potentially severe rain and wind. MetService’s Heather Keats said: “Hasn’t this week been amazing? How good for the soul has it been? “We’ve had sunshine, it’s been cold, and we’ve had conditions that have allowed river levels to drop,” she told Breakfast. “It’s just not going to last, unfortunately.” She said today would be largely the same as the rest of this week, with frost set to “The high pressure that’s been responsible starts to…

Technology which allows cars owned by people evading paying court fines to be clamped or seized is now being used on the streets, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says.”If you haven’t paid your court fines, you may soon find yourself walking home or needing a lift,” he said.Bailiffs are now trialling handheld devices that scan the number plates of parked cars and determine whether the owners have overdue court fines or reparations.”If they do, the car may be clamped or towed away. It’s that simple,” Goldsmith said.”We promised to find new effective ways to force people to pay their court fines.…

A man has been fined for serious breaches of aviation safety rules — including flying without a pilot licence, flying an aircraft without a certificate of airworthiness, and operating in a manner that caused unnecessary danger last year. The defendant was on his own piloting the amateur-built Jodel D.11 aircraft when it took off from Feilding Aerodrome on 23 March 2024 and crash landed in a field approximately 1km south of the Marton township. He had been rebuilding the aircraft since it was involved in an earlier crash and it was damaged beyond repair. The unqualified aviator sustained serious injuries.The…

Nearly half of the New Zealanders applying for Australian citizenship weren’t born here, according to data from the Australian government.Between July 2023 and June 2025, more than 92,000 New Zealand citizens applied for Australian citizenship, its Department of Home Affairs said.The figures raised questions about whether New Zealand had become a launch pad for migrants aiming to settle in Australia.When Max Siqueira moved from Brazil to New Zealand in 2016, he had no firm plans.He arrived on a visitor visa, but after landing a job, he stayed long enough to gain permanent residency and eventually became a New Zealand citizen…

Thirty years since Dame Gaylene Preston’s award-winning documentary revealed the lives of women during World War II, she talked to Newsmakers about moment that inspired her. It was a song on the radio that gave the hint of something hidden that first prompted her idea for a documentary, War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us.”The song, You Must Remember This, came on the radio and my mother, who was approaching 80 at the time, looked dreamily at the window and said, ‘Oh, I remember that I remember… this song was very special to me during the war… with your father.” While Preston…

Federated Farmers’ dairy group chair says New Zealanders are lucky to have premium butter, but he hopes prices drop at the checkout as soon as the cost of milk solids do.The price of butter rose nearly 50% to the year ended May, Stats NZ data showed.Dairy giant Fonterra’s boss Miles Hurrell sympathised with households feeling the pinch but said price increases were a reflection of supply not being able to keep up with demand.Fonterra could not offer cheaper prices to local customers, he said.Federated Farmers Dairy Industry Group chairperson Karl Dean said New Zealanders had to pay the market rate.”We…

A woman missing in Canterbury was found last night by a member of the public after an emergency alert was sent to cell phones in the area. The 79-year-old woman was reported missing at approximately 7pm on July 24. She left her home in Bishopdale to do some shopping but failed to return.Officers responded by searching the Bishopdale and surrounding areas.Due to concerns for the woman’s welfare and forecast bad weather conditions, Canterbury police issued an emergency mobile alert to all enabled cell phones within the specified area about her disappearance. “EMAs are used sparingly, when there is immediate concern…

The Green Party is calling on the Government to extend the Auckland-Hamilton passenger rail network to Tauranga. However, Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s chairman said now was not the time for regional passenger rail.Green Party transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter was in Tauranga on Thursday launching a petition urging Minister of Rail Winston Peters to “Restore Regional Rail”.Te Huia, the Hamilton to Auckland passenger rail link, had proven the demand for the service, she said.”It’s time to extend that service to the people of Tauranga and some of the smaller towns in between.”Extending the service could be done “relatively quickly…

A collective of wāhine Māori carvers is creating a safe environment to support women who want to learn the craft.Te Ana o Hine is a recently established wāhine-led carving studio at Te Tuhi in Pakuranga, Auckland. Its name translates to “the cave of Hine”, referring to “all atua hine”.Carver and artist Ngaroma Riley (Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri) said having a safe space for wāhine to work in is “really important”.“There are a lot of people who have been told that they can’t carve, that they shouldn’t carve, that it’s not OK to carve. That something will happen to them if…

Police are investigating an aggravated robbery at a service station in Ngāruawāhia overnight.A vehicle arrived at the service station on Great South Rd at around 12.55am on Friday, with four offenders getting out of the vehicle and smashing their way into the premises.Police said a staff member was inside the store activated the fog cannons before making themselves safe in the rear of the store.”They were uninjured and are being offered support.”Items were taken from the store before the robbers took off in a stolen Nissan Navara ute which police said was last seen heading south on Great South Rd.”The…