Author: Press Room

New Zealand’s final voter turnout for the 2025 local elections has been confirmed at 39.42%, prompting renewed calls for urgent reform from Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ).The figure, which included 34,793 special votes, was boosted by a surge in election day voting with 185,078 ballots cast — accounting for 14.1% of all votes.LGNZ interim chief executive Scott Necklen said voting habits were shifting and the system needed to change to accommodate them.”We saw more people cast their ballots 10 days prior to election day, followed by a voting lull until election day itself — when almost 15% of all ballots…

Corazon Miller follows one family’s struggle to leave Gaza for New Zealand, and uncovers official documents indicating it might have been possible to evacuate more people trying to escape the conflict. The call came with two days’ notice on Ahmed Abusaleeq’s 26th birthday. His aunt Nima Alhaj, 54, and his 8-year-old brother Musa Abusaileek were being assisted out of Gaza, in a complex nighttime evacuation plan. They all knew embarking on a bus journey through an active conflict zone was no guarantee of safe passage, but it was the best chance they had of a life, outside of the occupied…

New Zealander Gary Cunningham was among the five journalists killed while reporting on the covert Indonesian invasion of Timor-Leste. Shannon Brincat reports on one of the most egregious examples of atrocities committed against war correspondents.On October 16, 1975, five journalists were killed in the remote Timorese town of Balibo. To this day, no one has been charged with their deaths.Known as the “Balibo Five”, the men were reporting on the covert Indonesian invasion of Timor-Leste. They were Greg Shackleton and Tony Stewart from Australia, Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters from the United Kingdom, and Gary Cunningham from New Zealand.From left:…

GrabOne’s recent slide into receivership is the latest in a series of shutdowns of Kiwi brands facing stiff competition from online rivals and better resourced overseas businesses.The deal website’s demise follows big names which have disappeared from our high streets, including Smiths City, Smith and Caughey’s and, earlier, kids’ clothing chain Pumpkin Patch.Looking back at Kiwi businesses that have died – watch on TVNZ+There have also been brands merged or renamed – ANZ and National Bank came together in 2012, and supermarket Foodtown rebranded as Countdown in the late 2000s, later to rebrand again as Woolworths.So are there common reasons…

Retailers are backing an ACT proposal to allow surcharges for credit card payments when customers have a free option available to them.ACT commerce and consumer affairs spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar has written to the chair of the Finance and Expenditure Committee and the Commerce Minister proposing an amendment to the Retail Payment System Amendment Bill.The Government announced in July a ban on surcharges on card payments in-store, such as PayWave, from no later than May 2026.Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson told RNZ’s Morning Report this week he’s hoping to press on with the charges at pace, and is looking…

New Zealand needs to come to terms with the fact that rising house prices are not a good thing, a new report says.The research, conducted by Motu Research and Victoria University, shows that renters’ wellbeing has fallen as property prices have risen.Between 2005 and 2021, house prices rose 142%. They have since fallen, but are only about 15% from their peak.Motu Senior Fellow and Victoria University professor Arthur Grimes said the increase had deepened inequalities in New Zealanders’ wellbeing.”People who own their house outright, who don’t have a mortgage, to some extent they benefit a little bit from house prices…

Large swathes of the South Island and eastern parts of the lower North Island are expected to face heavy rain and severe gales to kick off the working week. MetService said a front preceded by a strong and humid northwest flow was forecast to move over New Zealand from Monday into Tuesday.Potential for ‘highly impactful event’ as ‘volatile’ fronts move in – watch on TVNZ+Heavy rain was forecast for regions including Fiordland, Otago, Westland, Canterbury, Buller, Tasman, and parts of Marlborough. Rainfall totals could be significant, especially around the main divide and alpine areas, with potential for rising rivers, surface…

A union for primary principals has been able to secure a pay rise, because — according to them — it has not threatened strike action.The Primary Principals Collective Bargaining Union has accepted a 2.5% pay rise this year, followed by a 2.1% rise next year, after four months of negotiation with the Ministry of Education.Offered by Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche last week, the deal was set for the next 26 months.Of their 515 members, 85% voted on the proposal, 95% of them voting in favour.President Mark Ellis said the union never reached a point where it felt a…

Falling interest rates are expected to be shortlived with rates forecast to rise from the end of 2026.Infometrics chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan said annual economic growth was forecast to accelerate to 2.3% by early 2027, with annual per capita growth comfortably above the 1.4% average recorded during the 2010s.The outlook compared with the most recent Stats NZ data which showed GDP contracted by 0.9% in the second quarter ended in June, or by 1.1% on the year earlier.Kiernan said the official cash rate was likely to rise to 3% over the first half of 2027, though could edge up to…

The Government has gone on the offensive ahead of a planned mega-strike expected to involve around 100,000 workers this Thursday, with Public Service Minister Judith Collins publishing an open letter to New Zealanders.The multi-sector strike will see teachers, nurses, and other public sector workers walk off the job, demanding better pay, safer staffing levels, and improved working conditions.Collins, the Public Service Minister, issued a media release earlier this morning, setting the Government’s tone for the week ahead, decrying “unfair and unwarranted” action and saying the strikes appeared to be “politically motivated by the unions”.”To the patients, students and families affected…