Author: Press Room
The PSA has filed legal action over what it says is a government ministry’s disregard of existing flexible work arrangements protected under the union’s collective agreement. The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment recently introduced a new flexible work policy intended to align with the government’s directive to restrict flexible work arrangements for public service workers, including reducing days working from home. That directive is also subject to legal action by the Public Service Association (PSA) and the union has filed proceedings with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA). “Cracking down on flexible work is the wrong approach from employers in 2025,” PSA national…
A man has been charged after 20kg of methamphetamine was discovered hidden inside vacuum-sealed green tea packets at Auckland International Airport yesterday.Customs said a 36-year-old foreign national arrived on a flight from Bali and was identified for a baggage search during processing.”An examination of tea packets inside the bag revealed a white crystalline substance that tested positive for methamphetamine,” a spokesperson said.Customs estimated the intercept prevented up to $21 million in social harm and the seized drugs had a street value of around $6 million.The man was charged with the importation of a class A controlled drug and was due…
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 percent 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…
Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell has spoken about the soaring cost of dairy in Christchurch this afternoon. The price of butter has skyrocketed by more than 60% in the last year, currently sitting between $8 and $11 for a 500g block.Earlier this week, Hurrell attended several meetings with various political parties including National, ACT, and Labour to discuss the matter.
It has been revealed that metal legend Ozzy Osbourne’s adopted son has been living a quiet life out of the spotlight in New Zealand. According to the Daily Mail, Elliott Osbourne and his wife, Dr Joanne Crawford, a health and safety academic at Victoria University, moved to Wellington from the UK five years ago. Elliott was the son of Ozzy’s first wife, Thelma Riley, and was adopted by the musician after the pair married. Elliott was five years old at the time. Osbourne went on to have two children with Riley, Jessica and Louis. Unlike Ozzy’s children with Sharon, all…
A Punakaiki café owner is urging the Conservation Department to rethink its plan to charge for parking at the famous Pancake Rocks on the West Coast.Grant Parrett told a meeting of the West Coast Tai o Poutini Conservation Board on Tuesday that parking charges create de facto entry fee to Paparoa National Park, which was unlawful.Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has asked for a trial of paid parking to boost revenue.DOC aimed to launch a pilot programme in October at Punakaiki, Franz Josef and White Horse Hill at Aoraki Mt Cook.Project manager John Dore told the board that DOC had serious…
More Dunedin businesses have slammed consultation on a central city cycleway, one describing the process as “a shambles”. Eureka Cafe and Bar owner Sharleen Smith also said explanations offered by the Dunedin City Council for why some Albany St businesses were not initially consulted about the Albany St Connection project included that paperwork “must have blown away in the wind” or was thrown in the rubbish. The project aims to provide a safe walking and cycling connection between the shared Te Aka Ōtākou harbour path, Dunedin’s tertiary area and the CBD. The council says it planned to contact the business…
Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell has defended the soaring cost of butter in New Zealand, saying the revenue generated from rising global prices represented a “good news story” for the national economy. Speaking after a meeting with the Finance Minister in Wellington on Tuesday, Hurrell said butter prices, which had surged by over 60% in the past two years, were driven largely by demand from overseas markets such as China.”Roughly 80% of the price of that is determined by that international market,” he said, adding the remaining cost included margins for retailers, processors, and distributors, plus GST.Hurrell ruled out a…
ADVERTISEMENT French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will recognise Palestine as a state amid growing global anger over people starving in the Gaza Strip due to restrictions on aid imposed by Israel. In a statement posted on X, Macron said that the decision will be formalised at the UN General Assembly in September. ″Given its historic commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the state of Palestine,” Macron posted. ″Peace is possible.” “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civil population…
Police are trying to identify a man after reports of “concerning behaviour” outside an Auckland school. The alleged “concerning behaviour” took place on Frost Rd in Mt Roskill at around 9.10am on Thursday, May 22. The man sought was in a hat and blue jacket, walking along the street. “If this is you, or you know who this man is, please update us online now or call 105,” a police spokesperson said. Police also wanted to speak to anyone present at the school around the time of the incident who “may have seen anything out of the ordinary”.