Author: Press Room

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…

An aviary at a wildlife sanctuary in financial strife has had its doors stripped in a stoush over an unpaid bill for almost a quarter of a million dollars.Pūkaha Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre on the border of Tararua and Wairarapa districts has issued an urgent plea for financial help, without which it faced imminent closure.At the heart of the plea was an invoice for an under-construction aviary for the endangered shore plover bird.Board co-chair Mavis Mullins said the breeding sanctuary needed to find $600,000 by the end of the week to avoid shutting its doors, after it was unable…

Air New Zealand has welcomed two new Airbus A321neo into its fleet, a move which the airline says will contribute an additional 70,000 seats into its network each year.Both A321neo hold up to 214 passengers, and are configured for flying to Australia and the Pacific Islands.Air New Zealand said the aircraft represents the latest innovation in narrowbody jet technology, offering improved efficiency and additional capacity to the airline’s fleet.The first A321neo arrival, ZK-NNH, is due to arrive in New Zealand tomorrow, and enter service in the coming weeks.The second aircraft will enter service in the next few months, the airline…

Pacific Edge has raised $16 million of new equity in a placement of new ordinary shares — $1 million more than it sought — after directors resolved to accept over-subscriptions. On Friday, the cancer diagnostics company announced a $20 million capital raise, saying it was about ensuring it had the cash reserves to capitalise on recent clinical and commercial milestones, grow in non-Medicare channels in the United States and regain Medicare coverage of its tests. It comprised a placement of $15 million of new ordinary shares offered to selected investors and an offer of $5 million of new shares to…

A Waikato share milker has been slapped with a $40,000 fine and 140 hours of community work after the council accused him of having dairy effluent repeatedly flow from a family farm into a waterway near Te Awamutu.Daniel Warren Lund appeared in the Hamilton District Court facing five charges under the Resource Management Act, according to the Waikato Regional Council. A spokesperson said compliance officers found effluent storage ponds overflowing into the tributary of the Puniu River on two separate occasions during inspections in 2022.”On another occasion, they found effluent ponding and runoff from an irrigator. An abatement notice that…