User Articles

Kiwi workers lured to NT

Australian companies say they are not trying to poach NZ’s workforce, but anybody who does fancy upping sticks for ‘Straya’s Northern Territory is being fair dinkum promised a chunk a’ change that would make your Kiwi colleagues mad as a cut snake. Northern Territory industry leaders were at an Auckland job expo over the weekend to extoll the virtues of the vast region of Australia.

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Government

Parliament’s tiny laws

The bills Parliament considers that are heavily reported by the media are generally the most contentious, the most impactful or the most far-reaching, with special emphasis on the most contentious. As a result, it is easy to assume that all the things Parliament does are big and important. But sometimes Parliament manages the triple-whammy – a bill that everyone agrees on, which has negligible impact, and is also incredibly specific.

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Human Interest

Mobility permitholder protests parking fines

Derek Cossey has “old rugby player knees”, which significantly limit his mobility. A small relief for the 67-year-old Onehunga man is his parking permit, which – when displayed in his vehicle – allows him to park in dedicated mobility spaces or...

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Health

Bonuses promised for doctors in short-staffed areas

Health NZ is promising bonus payments to senior doctors who work in hard-to-staff areas, although the union is accusing it of failing to consistently pay allowances now. The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, which represents 5500 senior hospital doctors and dentists, has criticised Te Whatu Ora’s new offer to its members as amounting to “an effective pay cut” for 90 percent of them.

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Politics

Luxon to reassure party faithful

National Party members are gathering in Christchurch to cap off a week in which MPs attempted to steer public minds back towards the government’s cost of living policies. Members will also farewell a party stalwart, with former president Peter Goodfellow retiring from National’s board of directors. While leader Christopher Luxon will be speaking to the converted, he will be acutely aware the cost of living has become front of mind.

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Election

Nominations see last minute uptick

A last minute uptick in candidates means all councils will have an election for some or all of their seats. Just 48 hours out from local government nominations closing, 47 regional council seats across the country’s 16 regional and unitary councils...

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Trade

Tariff increase ‘disappointing’

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says New Zealand has been hit by a “very blunt formula” after the US announced a new 15 per cent tariff on exporters. The White House has revised its list of tariffs for particular countries and New Zealand has been put on a 15 per cent base rate, up from the original 10 per cent announced earlier. “This is a disappointing development,“ she said.

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Safety

Man relearning to use hands just one of many

A timber worker is having to relearn how to play the guitar and trumpet - and how to write - after losing two fingers in a machine without a guard, in just one of many cases brought to public attention in recent months, where machinery safety failings were only penalised or fixed after the fact.

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Emergency

Tsunami alerts ‘technical glitch’ causes confusion

Many New Zealanders have been woken up by an emergency mobile alert sent out in the morning at 6.30am but for some, the alerts have either come repeatedly or not at all. Officials say the risk of strong currents and unpredictable surges is still very high following Wednesday’s big earthquake in Russia

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Environment

Tsunami threat still in play

Emergency authorities say a tsunami threat to New Zealand from the giant quake off Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula is likely to remain in force until at least midday. An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s remote east coast, triggering tsunami waves on multiple country’s shores – including New Zealand, several Pacific nations, the US and Canadian coasts, and parts of South America.

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Odd Spot

Would you eat a genetically-modified purple tomato?

New Zealanders are being asked if they want to eat genetically-modified purple tomatoes. Food Standards Australia New Zealand said it had received an application to use and sell the fruit. It said the tomatoes contained genes from the snapdragon plant, Del and Ros1-N, that made it produce blue pigments, resulting in purple skin and flesh.

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News

Tsunami activity expected in NZ

Strong currents and unpredictable surges can be expected in coastal areas around New Zealand after a 8.8 earthquake near Russia, the National Emergency Management Agency says. All coastal areas around New Zealand are covered by the warning. The surges are expected to reach New Zealand about midnight. NEMA says strong currents and surges can injure and drown people.

RNZ

‘Gone for walk’: Tramper search exceeds 750 hours

Search teams have spent more than 750 search hours looking for missing West Coast beekeeper Roy Arbon. Arbon, 75, has been missing since he set out on a walk up Mt Davy to Mt Sewell near Greymouth a week ago. A large search operation involving police search and rescue teams, LANDSAR volunteers from Greymouth and surrounding areas and a Search and Rescue dog, has so far failed to locate him.

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Odd Spot

Oh la la: French-inspired pie New Zealand’s best

A swirled potato top pie with a centre core of fondant-style cooked potatoes finished in au gratin layers has been named the best pie in New Zealand this year. The fancy French inspired pie was crafted by Samraksmey (Sam) So, owner of Rosedale...

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Explainer

What is in the Electoral Amendment Bill?

The Electoral Amendment Bill had its first reading today in Parliament. But what does it actually say? The government has announced sweeping plans to change electoral processes before the 2026 election. In announcing the bill last week, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the government was “overhauling outdated and unsustainable electoral laws”.

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Weather

Wet, wild weather hits across NZ

Significant heavy rain and strong winds are hitting up and down New Zealand. Orange heavy rain warnings are in place for Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Central North Island mountains, Taranaki Maunga, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, the Westland ranges, and at the headwaters of Canterbury and Otago lakes and rivers.

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Housing

1 in 1000 without shelter

New data released by the Salvation Army shows 1 in every 1000 people in New Zealand is currently without shelter. The Salvation Army said other alarming trends included 14 in every 1000 people live in housing considered uninhabitable and that 57,000...

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