ACC nightmare for industrial electrician with crushed testicle injury
ACC rejected the complaint, a choice upheld by the reviewer on the basis the doctor was an ACC contractor and not an employee. The patient emailed ACC and the emails were ignored, prompting the man to phone them and spend hours on hold. ACC has said new information led to the upgraded compensation - from $4162 for 10% to around $7500 for 15%. ACC told the Herald it relied on its assessor’s medical expertise which asserted “new” information. He also discovered the doctor was paid almost $1 million by ACC for the assessments, and had earned $4.6m from ACC over a decade.
Source:Stuff
January 31, 2026 20:33 UTC
Fiordland Lodge fire: Guests evacuated after large overnight blaze at luxury accommodation
Co-owner of the lodge, Vicki Onions, said all guests were relocated to hotels in Te Anau as a safety measure. “No one was injured”, Onions told the Herald. At the blaze’s peak, eight fire trucks, an aerial appliance, five tankers and two support vehicles were in attendance. McQuillan asked drivers to be mindful of Fire and Emergency vehicles in the area this morning, including water tankers. The outlet reported the lodge as being mostly booked out from October to April with mainly overseas guests.
Source:New Zealand Herald
January 31, 2026 20:24 UTC
Specialist team to investigate Akaroa ferry grounding
Photo: Screenshot / SuppliedA dedicated investigation team from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission will be on the ground in Akaroa, following the grounding of a Black Cat ferry on Saturday afternoon. Louise Cook, chief investigator of accidents, said there were reportedly 38 passengers and three crew on-board the 17-metre catamaran, on a wildlife cruise. The investigation team would be travelling to Akaroa "as soon as practicable", TAIC said in a statement. The passengers were taken to the main wharf at Akaroa and no one was injured, he said. Black Cat Cruises said it was the first time in more than 40 years that anything like this had happened.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 31, 2026 19:43 UTC
‘I didn’t leave the house for a year’: How Stephanie Tauevihi found her way back to TV screens
And you don’t really want anyone else in that poo pond.”Life has changed dramatically for Stephanie Tauevihi over the past few years. “I didn’t leave the house – for about a year – but then I started walking, which is really hard to do when you are that big. Her character, Maxine, is similar to her – “she’s warm, she’s friendly”. “I said, Gary, I’m a 52-year-old actress who is back on the screen, why am I feeling this way? Now, grown-up Tauevihi is taking control of her life and, most importantly, starting to live to the fullest again.
Source:New Zealand Herald
January 31, 2026 19:18 UTC
Gold rush, AI boom, inflation: What Trump turmoil means for Kiwi investors
The point of a business column is to step back from the emotion and try to work out what it all means for financial markets and the economy. There have been many strange things happening on financial markets over the summer break. Photo / Sarah IveyRegardless, gold prices have soared – up about 90% in the past year. By “mega-forces”, BlackRock means the power of bond markets to curtail Trump’s trade policy excesses. It hit 79 when Lehman Bros collapsed, sparking the global financial crisis in October 2008.
Source:New Zealand Herald
January 31, 2026 19:03 UTC
Glacier-inspired painting raises $50k
A painting of Rob Roy Glacier has raised $50,000 for WAI Wānaka. PHOTO: SUPPLIEDA painting of Mount Aspiring’s iconic Rob Roy Glacier has raised $50,000 for environmental organisation WAI Wanaka. WAI Wanaka chief executive Cat Dillon said the organisation was ‘‘thrilled’’ to be working with Tischler. ‘‘Several months prior I was up the Rob Roy track gathering references, when we had unseasonal snow, it was spectacular. I’m inspired by the cause, protecting our pristine environment — that’s why it’s so fulfilling to collaborate with WAI Wanaka.’’‘‘I call this painting ‘The Source’.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 31, 2026 15:51 UTC
Snow Machine lineup
Chet Faker. Photo: FacebookThe first 16 artists have been announced for this September’s Snow Machine event, being staged for the fifth time. London drum and bass producer Kanine and Swiss-South African DJ Nora En Pure (Daniela Niederer) are also joining the party, as are Kiwi acts Savage and Scribe. The event, from September 8 to 13, will see the return of the Queenstown Street Party, with an ‘‘all-star lineup’’ to be announced soon. Pre-sales start this coming Tuesday with general sales launching on Wednesday — for more info see snow-machine.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 31, 2026 15:51 UTC
Living the dream a world away from home
Wānaka flower farmer Vera Yakzhik talks about her unique story of luck and dedication. PHOTOS: OLIVIA CALDWELLCall it luck, call it something else, but Wānaka flower farmer Vera Yakzhik is pinching herself to be living her farming dream in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. The financial situation wasn’t great, but as a kid your parents shelter you away from all of that. As a 15-year-old to a single mother, she was flown to Auckland alone to study for a year and a-half. This Mother’s Day she and fellow local farmer Ali Soper are hosting the first Harvest Festival at the Alpine Blooms farm.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 31, 2026 15:51 UTC
$10m property play in central Queenstown
Planned for that first 2334 square metre site, facing Boundary St, is a 68-unit, two-level apartment complex clad in off-white with bronze nickel-coloured windows. The resource consent application — still awaiting approval — says the studio apartments will be available for residential use but also visitor accommodation to make them more appealing for investors to buy. Surrounded by visitor accommodation: An artist’s impression of a 29-unit hotel approved for Queens-town’s Hallenstein St. Meanwhile, another Gibbons company has received approval for a 29-unit hotel on back-to-back Hallenstein St sections. Surrounded by visitor accommodation, the complex will be across four levels including a basement with 12 carparks.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 31, 2026 15:51 UTC
MG rally to return after 12 years
Looking forward to celebrating the spirited two-seater are MG Car Club Otago Southland Centre members Ngaire and Clive Donaldson. For the first time in more than a decade, the 2026 MG National Rally is coming to Dunedin in February. "I have always been a car enthusiast, but I have never had a sports car," Mr Donaldson said. Although that particular vehicle was not quite suitable, Mrs Donaldson began looking far and wide for the perfect Rover MGF. "The rally booklet was about to go to the printer ... the accommodation had all been booked," Mr Donaldson said.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 31, 2026 15:51 UTC
Future of Dunedin Pride in focus
Looking forward to enhancing the future of Dunedin Pride are events lead Evelyn Robertson (left) and chairperson Meihana Pōtiki-Grayling. Photo: Sam HendersonThe leaders of Dunedin Pride are plotting a course to ensure the organisation survives long after they have moved on. Dunedin Pride events lead Evelyn Robertson said the change to being a trust was about long-term security and stability. "It is just ensuring that there is a Dunedin Pride and it is happy and thriving 10 years from now." In response to these challenges, Dunedin Pride is reinstating the Trans and Gender Diverse Social Group, which will meet monthly this year, Robertson said.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 31, 2026 15:51 UTC
Hospitals IT failure follows start of new group to fix old systems
“An internal funding case will be developed to identify future funding options for the centre,” Health NZ told the senior doctors’ union, the ASMS, in the OIA, in December. Unions on Friday blamed the 12-hour failure at hospitals across Auckland and Northland on the staff cuts, but Health NZ rejected that. It said that critical clinical apps would be moved out of old, at-risk servers in individual hospitals to the “cloud” in a “secure, modern national data centre”. Asked by RNZ about funding, Brown did not mention it. The centre’s funding is from a Vote Health appropriation for “enabling health system transformation”.
Source:New Zealand Herald
January 31, 2026 15:19 UTC
Rare cars worth $8m up for auction in Arrowtown
Photo: SuppliedVehicles worth nearly $8 million will be auctioned off at next month’s Ayrburn Classic. Bidders can compete in person, online, by phone or absentee — they can register and get more info via sundaydrive.co.nz/ayrburn. Sunday Drive director Taylor Campbell says the Ayrburn Classic Live Auction will be a ‘‘milestone’’ for New Zealand’s automotive scene. ‘‘The Ayrburn Classic set a new benchmark for motoring events in NZ [last] year. ‘‘We’re building on that momentum by introducing a live auction experience that matches the scale, glamour and energy of the festival.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 31, 2026 15:03 UTC
Closed lodge still getting used
The Arrowtown Masonic Lodge, on Wiltshire St. Photo: FilesAs one door closes . Although Arrowtown’s masonic lodge, formed in 1878, closed last year, it’s now become a popular meeting venue for Queenstown’s Lake Lodge of Ophir. The Queenstown lodge — whose 1864 waterfront building makes it the oldest New Zealand freemasons’ lodge still in use — absorbed Arrowtown’s members when their Arrow Kilwinning Lodge, opened in 1888, closed. ‘‘It was sad to close that [Wiltshire St] lodge, but the reality is it’s still getting used as it was intended, what it was built for.’’Senior member and almoner Gary Lonsdale says they’re now using the Queenstown lodge only about four times a year, including next month’s installation meeting. ‘‘You’re constantly on your phone, you’re constantly connected, and then you go into the lodge and it’s not like that.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 31, 2026 15:03 UTC