Author: Press Room

By Russell Palmer of RNZ The government is shifting its work and safety regulator’s priorities from enforcement to advice, saying this will help address concerns about underfunding and a “culture of fear”. First steps include updating more than 50 guidance documents and launching the hotline – announced in March – for reporting excessive road cones. The restructure goes much deeper than that, though, with Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden issuing a new letter of expectations, rearranging the regulator’s finances and redefining its main purpose in legislation. The government has cut $2.2 million from the agency’s funding since 2023…

Days away from learning if she would be New Zealand’s next Prime Minister, 37-year-old Jacinda Ardern was wrestling with insecurities and a few odd physical symptoms when her friend handed her a pregnancy test. In an extract from her memoir, out today, she reflects on that unforgettable evening. I was in a standard bathroom. The kind you’d find in a 1950s timber home just about anywhere in New Zealand, with a dark linoleum floor and small handbasin – enough of a bowl to wash your hands, but not enough to contain all the water while you do it. I had…

By Gavin Blackburn with AP Published on 02/06/2025 – 21:05 GMT+2•Updated 21:11ADVERTISEMENTPoland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said he would ask parliament to hold a vote of confidence in his coalition government after his ally, the liberal Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, lost Sunday’s presidential runoff.Conservative Karol Nawrocki won the election, finishing with 50.89% of the vote.”Regardless of how we evaluate the winning candidate, we should acknowledge his victory and congratulate his voters,” Tusk said in a televised speech on Monday.”I want to declare to you that I will not stop for a moment as prime minister of our government. The presidential elections…

WorkSafe has launched a new road cone hotline as part of sweeping reforms by the Government that aim to “significantly refocus” the agency’s scope from strict enforcement to greater collaboration with businesses and individuals.Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said she heard “many concerns” during public consultation from a wide range of Kiwi businesses and workers about WorkSafe’s “inconsistency, culture and lack of guidance”.”For too long, businesses and employers have asked for more guidance and help from WorkSafe on how to comply with health and safety legislation, only to be told it’s not WorkSafe’s job.”A culture where the…

Published on 02/06/2025 – 17:50 GMT+2•Updated 17:53ADVERTISEMENTNATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday denied any indication that the United States was reviewing its military presence on the continent, saying instead Washington would maintain “a very strong conventional” deployment in Europe. “What we know is that the US, next to Europe, of course also has to take care of the Middle East, has to take care of the Indo-pacific and it is only logical that over time as we are building up that the US will pivot so much more towards Asia,” Rutte told journalists at a press conference in Vilnius…

A pedestrian has been critically injured following a collision with a vehicle in Hamilton East this evening.Emergency services are at the scene near the intersection of Clyde and Fox streets.Police said they were alerted to the incident around 7.12pm.”Initial indications are the pedestrian has received critical injuries,” a police spokesperson said. The road is closed and diversions are in place. Motorists have been advised to avoid the area if possible.

The deaths of children in driveways is “all too common” in this country, says a coroner, after a 6-year-old in Waikato was run over by the reversing car of a neighbour.Coroner Ian Telford has found Terase Wylie died from blunt trauma to the head, and ruled it an accident.At about midday on October 3, 2023, Terase was playing on her electric scooter outside her Tuakau home. At the same time, a neighbour was reversing her car down the driveway.At the bottom, she hit and reversed over Terase, who went under the left rear wheel of the car.Terase’s mother Narissa “ran…

One person has been seriously injured after an animal attack at a farm east of Marton this afternoon.Police said they were notified of the incident on Makino Rd, Halcombe at around 2.15pm on Monday.The animal involved had been destroyed.St John said one ambulance, one rapid response unit and one manager were sent to the scene.”Our crews assessed and treated one patient in a serious condition who was transported to Palmerston North Hospital.”It was currently unknown what kind of animal was involved in the incident.Manawatū District Council has been approached for comment.

A woman has been airlifted to hospital in a critical condition after falling 20 metres onto rocks from Musick Point in east Auckland this afternoon.Emergency services responded to the incident in Bucklands Beach at around 3.40pm.St John said it responded with one ambulance, one rapid response unit, one manager and one helicopter.The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked to Musick Point at 3.50pm.”Our crews assessed and treated one patient who was transported to Auckland City Hospital in a critical condition.”First responders at the scene in Musick Point. (Source: Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust)The woman was taking a walk with friends when…

ADVERTISEMENTExercise Griffin Lightning has deployed 26,000 multinational troops across frontline NATO states, including Poland and the Baltic states, testing NATO capabilities and readiness for a potential invasion by Russia within the coming months or years. In Estonia alone, almost 18,000 national troops led Operation Hedgehog, along with twelve other nations, as part of the overall Gryphon Lightning structure. “When you hear the sound of the NATO jets around here, it may be loud, but to us we say it’s the sound of freedom,” Lieutenant Colonel Koosa of the Estonian Defence Forces told Euronews. “When I went to school, we heard the sound of…