Forest & Bird employees Nicky Snoyink and Gavin White looking at a devastated forest floor in the Catlins. However, Doc’s finite resources do not stretch to pest controlling Catlins ungulates - meaning hooved animals deer, pigs and goats. Caged plants tell the storyOne Catlins landowner is the charity Forest & Bird, which owns the Lenz forest reserve near Papatowai. To demonstrate the difference between a deer-free and a pest-riddled forest floor, Forest & Bird built an "exclusion pen" in the reserve in 2017. The plan is being prepared by Catlins Pest Management, set up specifically to help lead strategic thinking and planning to control pests in the Catlins.

A man who allegedly caused a fatal crash in Port Chalmers has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and can now be named. Morgan Caleb Morrell, 24, appeared before the High Court at Dunedin yesterday, where counsel John Westgate said there were no available grounds to argue for the continuation of name suppression. On January 30, at 9pm, the defendant was allegedly driving in Wickliffe Tce, Port Chalmers, when he hit a power pole. One person was lying unconscious in the street and another was "desperately" trying to revive him, the witness said. Morrell made no application for bail and was remanded in custody until his next hearing in May.

Photo: Mary WilliamsDestruction of the Catlins bush is a crisis demanding urgent pest control funding, conservationists and locals say. The calls are made as a community-led, ten-year strategic pest management plan is being prepared with $55,000 funding from Otago Regional Council. The Catlins plan, due in June and called the Invasive Mammal Plan, was one of the actions to come out of a Catlins Catchment Action Plan and will identify priority pests and areas to target. The preparation of the plan has been contracted to iwi-owned Catlins Pest Management. The dream of a fence after extensive pest control would require "long-term planning commitment and a source of continuous funding".

The Covid-19 inquiry report, released on Tuesday, looked at vaccine approval and safety, mandates, lockdowns and tracing technology over 2021 and 2022. The fourth largest component of the fund was the ‘shovel-ready programme’, described by the inquiry as “not targeted to costs arising from the pandemic”. That included Cabinet papers providing more information about the health impacts than about social and economic impacts. The report said Reserve Bank quantitative easing and other measures used during the pandemic had “significant costs”. Instead, Labour set up a $60 billion fund spread across 821 programmes, with around half unrelated to the pandemic.

Mobility parks outside The Warehouse in Gore. PHOTO: RICHARD DAVISONA Gore resident wants local retailers to do more to police their mobility parks. Gore’s bigger retailers said proper use of their mobility parks relied on good will and, where monitored, was only enforced lightly. The Warehouse Group corporate affairs manager Rory O’Sullivan said the store’s mobility parks had recently been repainted for clarity. Unauthorised vehicles may be issued a breach notice but are not towed nor clamped.

A tramper was found dead following a fall on Skyline Track, in the Wānaka area, yesterday. A police spokesman said emergency services were alerted to the incident about 2.50pm. "The person was located deceased, and was recovered by a helicopter." The Wānaka Skyline Track is a 23km end-to-end hike up and over both Mt Alpha and Mt Roy, on the western side of Lake Wānaka. The death will be referred to the coroner.

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The Alexanders preyed on women from at least 2010 through to 2021. Photo / Getty ImagesThree brothers were found guilty of sex trafficking today, following a trial that showed they used their high-profile connections in the luxury real estate world to assault women for years. Oren and Tal Alexander were the founders of real estate firm Official, which had offices in Miami and New York. The brothers used “deception, fraud and coercion” – including the promise of luxury travel accommodation – to engage in sex trafficking as well as drugging, sexually assaulting and raping dozens of women. They used “their wealth and prominent positions in real estate to create and facilitate opportunities” to do so, prosecutors said when they were charged.

“I haven’t made any recovery,” Thompson said when a A Current Affair reporter approached him outside an apartment block. A Current Affair then showed footage of Thompson holidaying in the Philippines, drinking beers and smoking cigarettes. Accused sex offender Ronald Thompson was a well-known carpet salesman in the 1990s. One of Thompson’s alleged victims told A Current Affair he was “obviously not dying”. He needs to answer to it.”Australian Federal MP Andrew Wallace, who lives on the Sunshine Coast, said Thompson’s visa should be cancelled.

At the University of Auckland, law school professional teaching fellow Simon Schofield said he had heard of employers taking an increasingly stringent line in respect to sick leave. “In essence, by taking sick leave we’re hopefully not disrupting other people within the organisation. Not allowing people to accrue more than 20 days’ sick leave left them vulnerable, she said. “Currently, in this country, we put carer’s leave and sick leave together. If I’m looking after my children who are sick we put that in the same bucket as sick leave.

Air New Zealand raised its fares this morning, and said it could be forced to raise them again and review routes. The price of jet fuel has been fluctuating wildly since the conflict broke out, and has at times gone up more than 120 percent. Regional carrier Chathams Air said the war in the Middle East could add more than $1.6 million to its annual fuel bill if it continues. According to Reuters, Vietnam Airlines had asked local authorities to remove an environmental tax on jet fuel to help it maintain operations. Singapore Airlines raised fares to Europe by $140 for a return ticket this morning.

This week is a Parliamentary sitting week, which means Luxon, who shuns media more often than his predecessors, has more public engagements than usual. Most importantly, Luxon left Tuesday morning’s caucus meeting with the same job he had going in: leader. With Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Luxon tried to make a virtue out of being boring. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon isn't listening to leadership speculation. Photo / Michael CraigWillis also took the opportunity to try the novel tactic of pre-releasing her Budget forecasts.

In August 2023, Beets was assessed as needing Dementia Level 3 secure residential care and placed in the dementia unit operated by Bupa Care Service. She saw Beets lying on his back near the bookshelf and the other patient was “on his knees with Mr Beets”. Mr Beets stepped backwards away from [the patient] and fell on to the floor.”She described seeing the patient kneeling next to Beets with his arm raised and his fist clenched. Coroner Thomas said Beets’ family had questioned the circumstances surrounding his fall to understand whether anything could have been done to prevent it. “Our thoughts remain with Mr Beets’ family, and we recognise the distress this event caused them.

Health Minister Simeon Brown told The Front Page that phase one of the inquiry didn’t go far enough. “Ultimately, New Zealanders are still feeling the cost of that still today, in terms of cost in the economy. Health Minister Simeon Brown, pictured at the release of the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into New Zealand's Covid-19 response at Parliament. Are there things you could do differently in a future pandemic? Photo / Mark MitchellHipkins, the former Covid Response Minister, has been open about mistakes made during the pandemic.

Photo: SuppliedA large vegetation fire that initially threatened housing at Arthurs Point has now been extinguished. Multiple fire appliances and a helicopter with a monsoon bucket battled the blaze, near Queenstown. A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) spokeswoman said emergency services were alerted to the fire, in the Moonlight Track area, about 4.30pm. She said the fire grew to about 100m x 100m and initially, housing in the area was reported to be in danger. The fire was quickly contained and extinguished by 7pm, and no houses were damaged by the blaze.