Photo / Julia GabelNew Zealand’s Police Commissioner Richard Chambers, Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Minister for Pacific Peoples Shane Reti also attended the meeting. “Whether it’s in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, we are now a superhighway for drugs, particularly out of South America,” he said. Leaders from Samoa and New Zealand during a Cabinet meeting addressing a joint response to drug crime in the Pacific. Organised crime in the Pacific was discussed in a Cabinet report prepared for Customs Minister Casey Costello. The experts who briefed the minister described a “Pacific tsunami” of crime into small Pacific populations that would create problems.

Danny (left) and Roberto Jaz were convicted in August 2023. Danny and Roberto Jaz were convicted in 2023 of 69 charges, including sexual assault, rape, stupefaction, disabling, sexual violation and indecent assault. Many of their 23 victims were staff or patrons of the Mama Hooch bar in Colombo St or nearby restaurant Venuti. "You helped yourself to young women with callous disregard for their rights and their dignity, their youth," Judge Mabey said. All appeals, except for three charges against Roberto Jaz for making an intimate visual recording, failed.

Both Kiwi costume designer Kate Hawley and the team from Wellington’s Wētā FX have won in their respective categories – Costuming and Visual Effects. Hawley has snagged one of the early wins at the 98th Academy Awards for her work on monster movie Frankenstein. Hawley previously won the Bafta weeks earlier, and this was her first nomination and win for an Academy Award. Wētā FX’s Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett have also accepted the award on behalf of the Wētā FX team. This brings the total number of Awards won by Wētā FX to eight, with the group long considered to be at the forefront of visual effects in the industry.

The company received 27 shipments of the live green-lipped mussels. Photo: NIWA/Rebekah Parsons-KingA Christchurch-based fish processor has been fined $20,000 for illegally handling live mussels from a restricted biosecurity zone. Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigators found the company received 27 shipments - more than 239 tonnes - of live green-lipped mussels from the Upper South Contained Zone near Nelson and Marlborough. A biosecurity inspector discovered the green-lipped mussels were being moved illegally in October 2024, MPI said. "These green-lipped mussel shellfish were for export, and the unlawful movement of this shellfish had potential to cause serious reputational harm to the New Zealand shellfish industry.

Photo: RNZNew Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is putting the question of whether or not he asked for a matai title behind him, saying it was a miscommunication, and both he and his Samoan counterpart have moved on. Luxon thanked those present for the title, Tuisinavemaulumoto'otua, saying it was a great honour. Afterwards, Luxon said the Pacific had become a "super-highway for drugs," and both leaders were committed to more information sharing. Asked about what went wrong with the matai title mixup, Luxon said he was "done and finished" with the matter. A question was put to La'aulialemalietoa about the matai title, which he did not answer, but earlier said it was a "token of respect."

Photo: RNZ / Teresa CowieThe Deputy Chief Executive of the Social Investment Agency has resigned while under investigation in relation to allegations of bullying and harassment. Her departure comes after former SIA chief executive Andrew Coster quit in December following a scathing Independent Police Conduct Authority report. Within days of Coster's resignation, RNZ was contacted with allegations that Reiri was under investigation in relation to complaints of bullying and harassment. "Employment matters within government agencies are for agency chief executives and, if warranted, the Public Service Commission to manage." "Her career has been dedicated to improving outcomes for New Zealanders through data-driven decision making and social investment approaches."

“I’ve no retention of short-term memory.”Nine years after a car crash left him with a traumatic brain injury, his speech still slurs. Clinicians treating him described his condition as a moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury, yet ACC documents recorded his injury as a “brain injury - other” or “mild traumatic brain injury”. A mild traumatic brain injury is generally expected to resolve within weeks or months. The letter arrived just as his GP referred him to a specialist traumatic brain injury rehabilitation centre in Auckland. “When I go to treatment providers, they see ‘brain injury - other’ so they say they can’t help me for my moderate brain injury,” he says.

The housing market was basically flat in February, with overall sales volumes and selling prices almost unchanged from a year ago and properties taking a little longer to sell. The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand reported 6523 residential sales in February, up by just 0.3% compared to February last year. Prices were similarly stuck in the mud, with the REINZ's House Price Index (HPI) unchanged from February last year. In Auckland, the country's largest real estate market market by far, the HPI was down 1.1% compared to February last year. "Three key forces shaped market activity during February - weather, interest rates and the approaching election," REINZ Chief Executive Lizzy Ryley said.

Food prices are likely to be impacted if the war in the Middle East keeps pressure on oil prices. Photo: Getty ImagesFood prices are likely to rise if war in the Middle East keeps pressure on oil prices - but some types of food may be more affected than others. "The issue is how transportation costs start going through - I guess anything that's having to come from overseas is going to have a higher transportation component." Eckhold said it could be a couple of months before food price rises started to be seen on New Zealand shelves. Infometrics' supplier cost index showed costs to Foodstuffs supermarkets up 2.3% year-on-year in February, before the oil price rise began to be felt.

A serious two-vehicle crash on the Lindis Pass has left one person dead and three others injured. A police spokeswoman said the incident happened between Old Faithful Rd and Omarama, near the Lindis Pass scenic lookout, about 12.20pm yesterday. She said three others were injured in the crash. The police spokeswoman said the crash blocked the road and the pass was closed while the Serious Crash Unit conducted a scene examination. Inquiries intro the crash were ongoing.

The department has issued a "revenue alert" over the failure of some employers to pass on PAYE deductions. Employers must pay PAYE, as well as any other deductions from employees' salaries, by the due dates. Robyn Walker, tax partner at Deloitte, said it was a timely reminder that not paying PAYE was a really bad thing to do and the consequences could be serious. This is conceptually different to if a business is having trouble paying its own company tax bill, because it is other people's money. "Rightly or wrongly, during the Covid years there was more leniency applied to PAYE payments, and so some employers may have begun taking a more casual approach to paying PAYE.

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …

And there will be key releases from the US for PPI and industrial production, the Eurozone trade balance, and the Canadian inflation rate. The Australian 10 year bond yield starts today at 4.95%, down -4 bps from Saturday, up +6 bps for the week. The price of gold will start today down another -US$40 from Saturday at US$5018/oz, down -US$138 from a week ago. Silver is down -50 USc at US$80.50/oz to start today, down -US$3 from a week ago. The bitcoin price starts today at US$71,356 and down -0.9% from this time Saturday, although up more than +5% from a week ago.

The Prince of Wales has shared a previously unseen photograph of his mother holding his hand in the garden at Highgrove, saying he remembers her on Mother’s Day and “every day”. The Prince, who now has three children of his own, posted on social media an image of Diana, Princess of Wales, as a young mother, taken from the private family collection, to mark the annual day. In a personal note signed “W” for William, the Kensington Palace shorthand taken to mean he wrote the message himself, the Prince said: “Remembering my mother, today and every day. W”It shows the two-year-old Prince in a striped T-shirt and red shorts with a blond mop of hair, holding his mother by the fingers. The Royal social media accounts also shared photographs of family matriarchs who are no longer with us: Queen Elizabeth II; Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother; and Rosalind Shand, the mother of Queen Camilla.

A game-changing new release from Elizabeth Arden is proving that rules are made to be broken. And in major news for those of us struggling with puffiness, crow’s feet and fine lines, this one is for us: The new Elizabeth Arden Rapid Skin Renewing Eye Cream (RRP $135). This new release works in synergy with the other products in the Elizabeth Arden Retinol + HPR collection – the Elizabeth Arden Rapid Skin Renewing Capsules and Elizabeth Arden Rapid Skin Renewing Water Cream – to deliver transformation rather than irritation. The Rapid Skin Renewing Eye Cream brings that same wrinkle-softening prowess to the delicate eye area in a gentler formula, designed to brighten, smooth and de-puff. The new release is the final piece of the puzzle in the Retinol + HPR Ceramide Collection, of which I’m a long-time fan.