Deborah Robertson on what inspired her to write her new novel, and to set it in 1953 – the year of the Tangiwai disaster. A group of six girls in purple T-shirts are sitting on a log. Well, not really a log. It’s an equestrian hurdle that has been carved

In this 2 Sense episode of The Australian Property Podcast, six-time author Pete Wargent and Blusk founder Chris Bates are BACK! Every week, Chris Bates and Pete Wargent jump on the Australian Property Podcast airwaves to answer your questions or cover the top 3 property news stories of the news. Don’t forget to send Chris and Pete your questions! In this week’s episode, Chris and Pete cover:1 – Rezoning changes afoot in New South Wales2 – Global inflation pulse is starting to fade now3 – Housing market limping into Xmas

A pedestrian has died after being struck by a bus at Albany Bus Station on the North Shore this afternoon. A pedestrian has died after being struck by a bus at Albany Bus Station on the North Shore this afternoon. “Earlier this afternoon our teams were informed of a fatal collision between a bus and a person at the Albany Bus Station,” said Stacey van der Putten, AT Director of Public Transport and Active Modes. Police are investigating after the fatal accident at Albany Bus Station this afternoon. Photo / NZME“The Albany Bus Station will be closed while police conduct their scene investigation.

The fire on Fruitgrowers Rd near Clyde Dam. Volunteer firefighters from Clyde, Alexandra, Tarras, Dunstan and Luggate, as well as career fighters and staff from Dunedin and Queenstown and skilled helicopter pilots attended. The fire in Fruitgrowers Rd, a short distance from Clyde Dam, had reignited about 4.20pm from an earlier fire started by fireworks on Friday night. Mr Lamont urged people to think twice about letting off fireworks in windy conditions, and to be aware that it only took one spark to cause a wildfire. Elsewhere in the South Island, firefighters were continuing to work on fires at Templeton in the Selwyn District and at Glenham in Southland.

By David Cunningham*Since 2020, the story of New Zealand house prices has been a truly wild one. This limited supply, plus ongoing demand from a growing population, has supported house prices – keeping them at all-time highs. Those people all need somewhere to live – and that’s helped to push up both house prices and rents. What’s interesting to note about UK house prices is just how steadily they’ve increased over this time. The extraordinary monetary policy easing the world over was behind this, instead supporting house prices.

It was the highest level recorded since August, largely driven by positive shifts in the expected path of inflation. All this run of positive data has markets pulling back on their enthusiastic expectation that the Fed will be cutting rates in 2024. It will be interesting to see whether the industry responds with generally lower savings rate offers, or higher lending and deposit rates. The UST 10yr yield is on the rise again, up +12 bps from yesterday at 4.23% on the jobs data. That all means our TWI-5 starts today just on 70.2 and -40 bps lower from this time yesterday, -50 bps lower than a week ago.

Markets with Madison: Best of businessYou didn’t think I’d attend the best event in business and not bring you along with me, did you? Join me at the Deloitte Top 200 Business awards to find out what’s on executive’s minds and how they’re positioning for 2024. Video / NZ Herald

Police take a man into custody after the incident in Mitchell Ave. Photo: Gregor RichardsonA knife-wielding man ignited a large police response after allegedly demanding money from a pedestrian in Dunedin. A police spokesman said officers arrested a man on Mitchell Avenue in Maryhill today. About 11.20am, police received a call that a person was walking around the streets armed with a knife. The 35-year-old man allegedly pointed the knife at a passerby while demanding money. He was arrested at the scene and faces charges of assault and wilful damage.

Deborah Robertson on what inspired her to write her new novel, and to set it in 1953 – the year of the Tangiwai disaster. A group of six girls in purple T-shirts are sitting on a log. Well, not really a log. It’s an equestrian hurdle that has been carved

Winston’s arrogant smug Parliament Speech is riddled with conspiracy theories and bile because Winston is the new King of the Conspiracy Swamp Kingdom that allowed him to scrape back over the 5% threshold and haunt us all with Qanon conspiracy theories masquerading as legitimate social policy. This Hard Right Government has turned us from New Zealand into Q Zealand because the feral antivaxx movement are deeply entrenched within NZ First and have pushed crazy conspiracies to the forefront of our national policy platform. We should all feel deeply embarrassed about becoming Q Zealand. TDB Recommends NewzEngine.comIncreasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice going into this pandemic and 2020 election – please donate here. If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media.

Emma Raducanu's return destination is set and it can be perhaps seen as a puzzling one at that in the ASB Classic in Auckland from January 1-7, 2024. The belief was that the slippy indoor courts played a part which she was forced to play on due to heavy rain. Also read Emma Raducanu's tennis return set for ASB Classic in Auckland as road to 2024 Australian Open beginsIt was a setback that she never quite recovered from needing surgery on both wrists and her ankle in the middle of the year. "So to be stopped by a freak injury, rolling an ankle, is pretty disappointing, in the first week as well. All in all though, it could've been a necessary evil as such for Raducanu, with a stacked field in Brisbane and the United Cup limiting options for her in terms of her tennis return.

Car theft is a serious crime that, in many cases, doesn’t have a happy ending. “The first time I thought I was losing my mind because I’d just walked inside,” Chada told the New Zealand Herald. “[There was] no damage to the car,” Chada said. The thief even wrote Chada an apology letter from the thief on the truck, along with some toys for his son. In the letter, the thief apologized to Chada for “borrowing” the truck, claiming that they were intoxicated and needed a ride home.

Esk Valley couple waiting for insurance payoutCyclone Gabrielle flooded the Esk Valley home of Mackenzie Wiig and fiancé Michaela Tait. They are living in limbo as they wait to see what sort of pay out they will receive. Video / Warren Buckland

New York Stock Exchange published this video item, entitled “Future of STEM Scholars Initiative (FOSSI) Rings The Closing Bell®” – below is their description. The New York Stock Exchange welcomes the Future of STEM Scholars Initiative to the podium. To honor the occasion of their participation at AIChE’s 2023 Gala, Darlene Schuster, Executive Director and CEO, will ring The Closing Bell®. New York Stock Exchange YouTube ChannelGot a comment? Please note comments are moderated before publication.

A young Kiwi dad died after falling face down in sand while walking his toddler on the beach. Andrew Bradshaw, 25, was found unresponsive on Raumati Beach, Paraparaumu, north of Wellington by a member of the public with his young daughter Skyla by his side. “Andre Bradshaw (Skyla’s Dad) passed away suddenly on the 28th of June 2023. We are still unsure of why he passed,” the mother of his daughter Skyla, Meya Cameron, wrote. “Andre passed away doing what he loved the most and that was walking on the beach with Skyla and Skyla witnessed it.