User Articles

Warning over asbestos on beaches

Auckland Council is warning that fragments of fibre cement board washing up on beaches in East Auckland contain asbestos. The council said 5-10cm long pieces of asbestos-containing material (ACM) were found at Glendowie and Karaka Bays. It said small amounts of ACM were also found further up the Tāmaki River towards Panmure.

RNZ

Cost of living

Benefit cash used for admin

Nearly a quarter of the money spent on National’s flagship FamilyBoost policy has gone towards running the scheme, instead of helping families. Of the $62 million spent so far, just $48m has been paid out to parents, while $14m has gone towards...

RNZ

Tragedy

Boy, 10, killed in ATV crash

The Schick family is trying to come to terms with the devastating loss of 10-year-old son, grandson, and brother, Jimmy Schick in an all-terrain vehicle crash in Karapiro on Sunday. Jimmy’s brother Oli and his father Rodney remain in hospital. Another child is also still in hospital after the crash on a private property on French Pass Road outside of Cambridge.

RNZ

Government

Health NZ to outsource cases to private hospitals

Health New Zealand plans to cut its elective surgery waitlist by outsourcing thousands of simple cases to private hospitals, while asking public hospital doctors to work longer hours on the more complex cases. Surgeons have reacted to the plan with...

RNZ

Health

Measles outbreak in NZ would be ‘like a nightmare’

New Zealand’s latest measles case could have nightmare consequences from a medical perspective, a leading paediatrician says. Dr Owen Sinclair is among many medical experts with grave concerns for vulnerable groups if there is a measles outbreak in Auckland. Health alerts have been issued after a new measles case was confirmed on the weekend, with people in Auckland asked to check if they could have been exposed.

RNZ

Government

Boost for expert maths teachers, tests

Next week’s Budget will allocate $100 million over four years for expert maths teachers and maths tests at primary and intermediate schools. In a pre-Budget announcement, Education Minister Erica Stanford said most of the money, $56 million, would pay for the equivalent of 143 full-time maths intervention teachers to help primary school children who were struggling with the subject. She said $40 million would be spent on small group maths tutoring for up to 34,000 children in Year 7-8 each year.

RNZ

Politics

Mayor releases plan to supercharge Auckland

Auckland’s Mayor Wayne Brown has updated his manifesto for the city, focusing on areas he says need urgent attention for growth. Brown released his manifesto in 2023, calling on a different relationship between the super city and central government and going over a plan to “fix Auckland”. His updated manifesto, released on Monday, put the focus on Auckland as the driver for economic growth and a way out of recession.

RNZ

Technology

The rise of robots: Job takers or life savers?

The robots are no longer coming - they’re already here. From rice-sized brain surgeons to caregivers for the elderly, humanoid machines powered by artificial intelligence have begun performing jobs once thought to be uniquely human. But as companies race to replace human workers with machines, will robots free us from drudgery, or render us redundant?

RNZ

Technology

Luxon: Social media ban for kids to be investigated

The idea of banning young people from social media is to be formally investigated, the government has announced. The possibility of restricting under 16-year-olds’ access to social media would be looked into as part of the government’s work program, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said. The focus would be on reducing social media harm.

RNZ

Government

ACT invokes ‘agree to disagree’ clause over firearms registry

The ACT Party has formally invoked its “agree to disagree” clause in its coalition agreement with National over the firearms registry. ACT MP and Associate Minister of Justice (Firearms), Nicole McKee, said earlier this months she asked Cabinet to consider that the recent review of the firearms registry did not meet the commitment in ACT’s coalition agreement, and asked for a more thorough and independent review be conducted in the 2025/26 financial year. She said those proposals were rejected by National.

RNZ

Health

Cancer drugs get Pharmac boost

Cancer specialists and patients with advanced melanoma have welcomed the news that three potentially life-saving skin cancer medicines are to be funded from 1 June. The state drug-buying agency Pharmac announced on Friday it would fund more medicines for people with late stage skin cancer (stage 3B to stage 4 melanoma). The decision includes widening access to pembrolizumab (branded as Keytruda), and funding dabrafenib, (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist), for the first time.

RNZ

Human Interest

Call taker meets baby she helped deliver

There were tears, laughter and plenty of hugs when emergency call handler Anna Evans visited the Milich home to meet the newborn baby she’d helped deliver during a 111 call. Baby Luka Milich was born five days early, on 30 April, after his mother Lia Milich’s waters broke at home in Auckland. Milich experienced labour pains the night before but thought they were Braxton Hicks contractions.

RNZ

Government

Waitangi Tribunal review ‘won’t be predetermined’

The minister for Māori development says the government will not predetermine the outcome of a new review of the Waitangi Tribunal. The review is set to refocus the “scope, purpose and nature” of the tribunal’s inquiries back to its “original intent”, Tama Potaka said. It is part of the coalition agreement between New Zealand First and National, and will be led by an independent technical advisory group and supported by Te Puni Kōkiri.

RNZ

Safety

Highway reopens after slip cleared

State Highway 29 over the Kaimai Ranges has reopened to all traffic. The main road between Bay of Plenty and Waikato had been closed by a slip between Te Poi and Tauriko on Friday evening. Bay of Plenty was under a severe thunderstorm warning on Friday night, and intense bursts of heavy rain fell in the region.

RNZ

Safety

Asbestos discovery shutters war museum

Auckland War Memorial Museum says specialists will be working to remove asbestos dust this weekend after its discovery during renewal work. It has closed its doors to the public for the entire weekend. The dust was found in Te Marae Ātea Māori...

RNZ