Spending cuts, tax rises and asset sales are among the most politically challenging policy decisions for any government. Little addressed these challenges in a speech to the ANZ-Kanga News Debt Capital Markets Summit today, which focused on debt. “Fixing these intertwined fiscal and economic challenges will require successive governments using the levers available to them,” Little said. “The current system creates economic costs and limits options to raise revenue efficiently,” he said. This is seen as preferable to borrowing money to acquire more assets before seeing whether the current lot are performing well.

Stalked is a three-part documentary series that will screen in New Zealand soon. It focusses on three women who were targeted and abused by stalker men. Video / Neon NZ and Sky NZ

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A day out to go and watch a football game turned to devastation for a family after a man lost control of his car, fishtailed and crashed into a tree, killing his wife. His wife, Julia, was sitting in the front seat and suffered severe chest and abdominal injuries. He then suddenly lost control, and the car slid sideways, crossing the centre line into the eastbound lane, rotating about 130 degrees before leaving the road. The front passenger door side of the car smashed into a tree, where the car came to a stop. A serious crash unit investigation found the cause of the crash was Organ losing control of his car on the curve and being unable to correct the car's rotation.

Luxon said though national fuel supplies were okay for now, the government would consider whether to move New Zealand up a fuel escalation level next week. "We have sufficient fuel supplies, but even in the unlikely event the ceasefire is announced tomorrow, the effects on global supply chains and fuel supplies won't be immediately resolved. She sought to reassure New Zealanders the government was taking the situation seriously in case future fuel supplies were disrupted. We're not just sitting back and saying, well, the fuel supplies are fine now. The government will give twice-weekly fuel supply updates, with the next due on Monday.

“It looks like it’s going to be quite a severe variant of the flu this year,” he said. He said while some schools offered flu vaccines to staff, most did not generally track vaccination rates for staff or students. Flu vaccines were free for eligible people, such as pregnant women or those over 65, and would otherwise cost between $20 and $40. Covid vaccines were free and boosters were available to people aged 30 or older. While many employers commonly funded flu vaccines for their employees each year, not many funded Covid boosters, Betty said.

The project aims to reduce structural steel imports, as well as the amount of scrap steel being exported. The site is 53ha and rural, at 61 Hampton Downs Rd, Te Kauwhata. The proposal is that scrap steel collected and processed by National Steel and now exported for recycling will instead be processed at Green Steel’s Hampton Downs site. To the north, across Hampton Downs Rd, is the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. Hampton Downs neighbours the site of the proposed new plant.

The ban on food stalls at the lakefront will take effect on April 17. Photo: Guy Williams/ODTFood stalls will be banned from the Queenstown lakefront after the district council voted on measures to deal with public health concerns, litter and traders blocking footpaths. Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) monitoring showed there were often between six and 22 stalls on a 150-metre stretch of the lakefront despite a requirement for stalls to be 50m apart. All nine pop-up food stalls inspected by the council last year had issues with basic safety requirements including lack of hand-washing facilities, poor temperature control and inadequate food storage. Heath Copland said while he enjoyed the vibe the stallholders brought to the lakefront, he backed the council staff.

“The fact that central government spending and an increase in inventory levels made the biggest positive contributions to growth highlights the economy’s static nature,” he said. The primary sector continued to experience strong growth with a rise of 0.9% for the quarter. However, rental, hiring and real estate services were the largest contributors to the overall increase in GDP, up 0.8% in the quarter. “The volume of building work put in place, a key input into how Stats NZ measures GDP, fell 3.1% in the December 2025 quarter,” Attewell said. The business sector also contributed to slower growth, as private sector investment spending fell by 3.2% from September, its largest quarterly decline in over two years.

Stalked is a three-part documentary series that will screen in New Zealand soon. It focusses on three women who were targeted and abused by stalker men. Video / Neon NZ and Sky NZ

Their 1-5 curve is steeper at +18 bps (+3 bps) and the 3 mth-10yr curve is now at +54 bps (+4 bps). The China 10 year bond rate is little-changed at just over 1.82%. The Australian 10 year bond yield starts today at 4.93%, up +3 bps from yesterday. And the NZ Government 10 year bond rate starts today down -8 bps at 4.63%. The bitcoin price starts today at US$71,293 and down -3.9% from this time yesterday.

There was to be more for Fihaki to celebrate, too; because when Super Rugby Pacific issued its weekly judicial update on Monday, his name was missing. So while Fihaki has clearance to play Moana Pasifika in North Harbour this weekend, Millar, who did not return to the field after being felled by Fihaki, has been rubbed out. Although the No 10 was reported to have "responded well'' after the incident, he wasn’t considered for the clash against the Hurricanes in Dunedin tomorrow night. The absence of first five-eighth Millar did more than cruel the Highlanders' hopes of reeling in the Crusaders, who were eight points ahead with 20 minutes left to play, and won 29-18. It also damaged their chances of securing a losing bonus point.

A former patient has refused to leave Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Florida hospital sues former patient who refuses to leave room for five months despite dischargeA former patient has refused to leave Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Photo / Google MapsA Florida hospital is looking to the courts for help after a former patient has refused to leave her room five months after she was discharged. Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) asked the courts to order the woman to leave the hospital and authorise police to help, reported the Tallahassee Democrat. “TMH staff made repeated efforts to assist the defendant in safely completing discharge,” according to the lawsuit filed at the beginning of March.

Rocket Lab founder and chief executive Sir Peter Beck. Photo / Rocket LabBy RNZRocket Lab has won a US$190 million ($327m) contract from the United States Department of War, formerly the Department of Defence, for a series of hypersonic test flights using its Haste launch vehicle. It is the largest single launch contract in the New Zealand-founded company’s history and lifts its total order backlog to more than US$2 billion ($3.44b). The four‑year agreement covers 20 test flights of Rocket Lab’s Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (Haste) rocket, a modified version of its Electron launcher designed to carry suborbital payloads of up to 700kg at speeds above Mach 5. The launches will be carried out under the Multi‑Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH‑TB) 2.0 programme – a partnership between the Department of War and the Naval Surface Warfare Centre Crane Division that aims to accelerate hypersonic flight testing and related technologies.

An RNZAF Hercules departing for the Middle East from Whenuapai Air Base in Auckland. Photo: RNZ/Calvin SamuelThe second of two military planes sent to rescue New Zealanders stranded by the Middle East war is returning home because it's not needed. But the Defence Force said there were plenty of flights available for people wanting to leave. It said one of the Hercules returned on Sunday and the other was currently on route and will arrive on Saturday. It is the second time the Defence Force has flown to the Middle East, but was not needed for any evacuation flights.