Author: Press Room

ADVERTISEMENT Europe’s coastal landscape could be completely reshaped in less than 100 years. Sea levels are rising at an increasingly faster rate, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has warned in one of its latest reports. It said that, between 2006 and 2018, levels rose by 3.7 millimetres a year, more than twice as fast as during the 20th century. If emissions remain high, sea levels could reach between 0.63 and 1.02 metres by 2100. EEA simulations also considered the worst-case scenario: a rapid disintegration of the polar ice sheet. This would lead to an increase in sea levels of up…

Council hopefuls are enduring a nervous wait in some centres as several races remain too close to call under provisional results.In Invercargill, the final seat at the table is currently held by a razor thin margin of seven votes.Westland’s mayoral race is separated by just four votes, while further north, Kaipara’s mayoralty is a three-horse race with 31 votes in it.Local authorities are still working their way through special votes and final results are not expected until later this week.So what happens if it’s a dead heat?Invercargill City Council has provided some clarification, saying the winner would be determined by…

The Speaker has set out plans to crack down on standards in Parliament after Oriini Kaipara’s maiden speech last week went well over time and was followed by an unsanctioned haka.Gerry Brownlee suspended Parliament for about 10 minutes and left the chamber last Thursday after Kaipara’s speech was followed by first a waiata from her supporters, then the haka.He delivered a ruling on the disruption caused as Parliament began sitting again on Tuesday afternoon.Supplementary questions would now be entirely at his discretion, he would make more use of the punishments Parliament’s speaker can hand down to MPs and he would…

The Reserve Bank is planning to relax lending restrictions that could help more first-home buyers get into the property market.It’s proposed from December 1 that banks will be able to lend to more people with smaller deposits, the central bank announced earlier today.Under the planned changes, banks would be allowed to give 25% of their new home loans to owner-occupiers with deposits of less than 20%, up from the existing 20% limit.The Reserve Bank has also proposed allowing an increase in lending to property investors with deposits of less than 30%, going from 5 to 10% of new loans.Reserve Bank…

The South Island’s largest supermarket was officially opened in Rolleston, in Canterbury, this morning. The 8100sq m Pak’nSave Rolleston cost about $50m to build and will be the largest retail outlet in the South Island. The Levy Rd supermarket has 485 car parks and employs about 250 staff.  The new supermarket is owned by Phill and Sarah Blackburn. The Blackburns have managed New World Wānaka, New World Balclutha, New World Ilam in Christchurch and Pak’nSave Riccarton. “We’re incredibly proud to welcome our community and customers through the doors today,” Phill Blackburn said. “Our team has worked tirelessly to get ready and…

Auckland’s Ponsonby Rd stalwart Sidart will close its doors effective immediately, the restaurant’s owner and chef Lesley Chandra announced on Tuesday afternoon.”After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close Sidart effective immediately,” Chandra wrote on Facebook.”This decision was not made lightly, and we are deeply grateful for the support, memories, and experiences we’ve shared with each of you over the years.”The fine dining restaurant was opened by Auckland hospitality icons Sid and Chand Sahrawat in 2009. In 2019 the restaurant was named Cuisine Good Food Awards’ Restaurant of the Year. In 2021 executive chef Lesley Chandra bought…

By Gyles Beckford of RNZ  The chances of first-home buyers getting a mortgage may improve, with a proposal to allow banks to lend more to low-deposit borrowers. The Reserve Bank (RBNZ) is consulting on easing loan-to-value ratios (LVR) – one of its policies to keep house prices and risky borrowing in check. Acting assistant governor financial stability Angus McGregor said the introduction of debt-to-income ratios (DTI) last year has improved the protections against risky lending, while the market was also subdued. “House prices are within our range of sustainable estimates. Growth in mortgage lending remains moderate and the share of high-risk lending…

A suspended building practitioner has been convicted and fined $10,000 plus court costs after doing restricted building work without licence or supervision.The Building Act 2004 required all restricted building work, which included design and construction affecting a primary structure, to be done or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP).Lucy Walsh’s LBP licence had been suspended since September 30, 2021 for non-compliance.When applying for building consent for a small dwelling in Central Otago, Walsh falsely claimed to be an LBP in the Certificate of Design Work, and used her employer’s LPB number and electronic signature without permission.The Central Otago District…

Police have reversed changes former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming instructed staff to make to the firearms vetting process.RNZ earlier revealed McSkimming instructed the changes be made after he was contacted by an acquaintance who told him they would lose their firearms licence, if they got any more driving demerit points.Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said he was of the view “better judgement could have been exercised and a more robust process followed” by McSkimming.The Te Tari Pūreke Firearms Safety Authority then confirmed it was considering reversing the changes.On Monday, Firearms Safety Authority director of business transformation Superintendent Richard Wilson confirmed…

Almost three in four young Australian workers, particularly those employed in the finance sector, worry artificial intelligence technology will shrink their job prospects, a study has revealed. But most working members of Generation Z (people born from 1997 to 2010) are not allowing AI concerns to stop them using the technology, with most given access to the tools by their employers and almost all using them weekly.  Microsoft Australia released the findings today in a survey designed to gauge opinions of generative AI technology from the “first AI-fluent generation”. The findings come as debate over AI regulations continues in Australia,…