Crash ends visit
A Welshman on a working holiday visa has cut his stay short after crashing his car into a power pole while drink-driving. Gwion Enwyl Emberton, 19, was before the Gore District Court last week on one charge of drink-driving last November. The court heard he was on a working holiday visa, working as a contractor in Heriot and had a full UK driver’s licence. Emberton had already contacted the power company to organise payment for the damaged pole, Ms McCullum said. He was fined $500 plus court costs and disqualified from driving for six months.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 29, 2026 15:03 UTC
US teenager charged after allegedly assaulting her mother with pork chop
Farrah Kernan, 18, was arrested last week after she allegedly assaulted her mother Cynthia with a pork chop. US teenager charged after allegedly assaulting her mother with pork chopFarrah Kernan, 18, was arrested last week after she allegedly assaulted her mother Cynthia with a pork chop. Photo / Martin County Sheriff's OfficeA Florida teen has been charged after she allegedly assaulted her mother with a pork chop. Farrah Kernan, 18, reportedly became involved in a “verbal dispute” with her mother, Cynthia Kernan, at their Jensen Beach home last Thursday, according to Local 12 News. An arrest affidavit stated Cynthia called 911 and told officers that the argument began after Farrah had been day drinking.
Source:New Zealand Herald
January 29, 2026 15:03 UTC
Real Life: Abuse survivor advocate Rev Patricia Allan says church safer now
Allan says care for those who have been abused has also improved in church contexts. She was recognised for encouraging the church to “adopt policies and procedures for dealing with professional misconduct, complaints of sexual abuse and clergy education”. Allan told Real Life she became “virtually unemployable in the Anglican set-up” after a trip to the US to see how churches were responding to abuse. “There was some misunderstanding about the power of clergy,” she told Real Life. Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world.
Source:New Zealand Herald
January 29, 2026 10:01 UTC
Motorcyclist dead after Canterbury highway crash
A motorcyclist is dead after a crash with a car on a Canterbury highway. Police were notified of the two-vehicle crash, on Mouse Point Rd (State Highway 7) in Tekoa Range, Hurunui, about noon today. "Sadly, despite emergency services' best efforts, the motorcyclist died at the scene," a police spokesperson said in a statement. Police closed both lanes of SH7 between Springs Junction and Rotherham Road South following the crash. "The road remains closed, between Hanmer Springs and Culverden, while the serious crash unit carries out a scene examination.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 29, 2026 08:18 UTC
Second Mount Maunganui landslide victim formally identified
Supplied photoAnother victim of the fatal Mount Maunganui landslide has been formally identified. At an identification hearing at Tauranga District Court this evening, coroner Louella Dunn formally identified the 20-year-old tourist. The family say they have received "overwhelming support" from community, officials, local iwi, and people in Sweden. On Wednesday, the first victim was formally identified as Max Furse-Key. Rescue efforts at Mount Maunganui have resumed after being paused for a second time when technology that had been installed to monitor land movement was triggered.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 29, 2026 05:55 UTC
Doing more with what we already have: a challenge to the abundance agenda
Closer to home, The Spinoff recently anointed housing minister Chris Bishop the king of “abundance” politicians for his pro-growth reforms. Such infrastructure is often designed to provide extra capacity at peak times. But it also poses a wider challenge to the abundance agenda. In reality, we need more homes, hence the welcome upzoning of recent years, itself a prefiguration of the abundance agenda. And the abundance agenda is – it bears repeating – not entirely wrong.
Source:Stuff
January 29, 2026 05:41 UTC
Rival parties join forces to get slavery bill heard
Photo: RNZNational and Labour are joining forces to get modern slavery legislation into Parliament, using a new process to skip the biscuit tin for the first time. "It's time that New Zealand has a coordinated framework to deal with modern slavery, and this bill does just that," he said. "Workers in New Zealand and around the world should never face the horrors of modern slavery. That's the reality - we found a way to move past the fact that particular political party is not willing to take steps to stop modern slavery." Thousands enslavedOne tracker estimates 8000 people in New Zealand were living in modern slavery, comparatively low compared to other countries - placing it 148th out of 160 states for slavery prevalence.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 29, 2026 04:11 UTC
Labour and National join forces on modern slavery legislation
National and Labour have teamed up with a Members’ Bill that aims to address modern slavery in Aotearoa. Modern slavery includes human trafficking, slavery, forced marriage, forced labour and debt bondage. And that's common as I understand it, in other modern slavery regimes that have been implemented worldwide." Getting it throughWork has been done in the past to look into modern slavery legislation with the Labour-led government in 2023 planning to make businesses publicly report on modern slavery risks. Modern slavery legislation was a big gap in the country’s corporate regulatory landscape, they said.
Source:Stuff
January 29, 2026 03:03 UTC
General Debate 29 January 2026
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Source:New Zealand Herald
January 29, 2026 02:13 UTC
Pest control workers killed in chopper crash
Photo: RNZTwo people who died in a helicopter crash near Wellington were pest control contractors working on Transmission Gully. Both the pilot and passenger died in the crash near Paekākāriki Hill on yesterday morning. The New Zealand Transport Agency this afternoon confirmed the duo were pest control contractors and WorkSafe had been notified. Kāpiti-Mana Area Commander Inspector Renée Perkins said earlier today that a significant recovery operation took place to recover the victims from the crash site. A witness, who was first to reach the crash, said he was checking a body for vital signs as the Westpac rescue chopper arrived.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 29, 2026 01:49 UTC
Massive IT outage at North Island hospitals blamed on govt cuts
File photoA massive IT outage at hospitals in Auckland and Northland is being blamed on cuts to Health NZ's digital team, by a union representing public service workers. "This is entirely predictable, given the government forced cuts on Health New Zealand's data and digital experts," Fitzsimons said. In a statement, Health NZ's executive director for the northern region Andrew Brant confirmed the outage had affected several hospitals. "The outage lasted around 12 hours with services restored to all impacted hospitals in the early hours of this morning." Fitzsimons called for the government to immediately review funding for digital health services and "admit its mistakes in cutting digital services expertise."
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 29, 2026 01:13 UTC
Man denies Dunedin arson spree
A man, allegedly part of a trio responsible for an explosive spree of five arsons in five days around Dunedin, has denied the charges against him. Andrew Magnus Healey, 48, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this afternoon by video link from prison, where he entered not guilty pleas. An hour later, crews rushed to Lees St where the trio allegedly caused a fire by throwing “Molotov cocktails” through a window. The fire-damaged house in Lees St. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERYNearby residents had to be evacuated as firefighters fought to control the flames. Three days later, they were allegedly behind the arson of a vacant commercial building in Harrow St, which resulted in six appliances attending.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 29, 2026 00:15 UTC
Insurer halts new policies for Westport
A 2021 flood in Westport left more than 100 homes uninhabitable Photo: RNZA major insurance company has temporarily stopped offering new home insurance policies in Westport because of the town's flood risk. The company said existing policies would stay in place and it had put a transfer policy in place for anyone looking to buy or sell a house that was currently insured with AA Insurance. "We continue to insure, and offer insurance, to lower risk properties within high-risk areas throughout the country, including Westport." Insurance Council chief executive Kris Faafoi said it was up to individual insurers to decide what cover they were prepared to offer, in Westport and elsewhere. "We do want them to make sure that that flood protection and risk reduction is there to protect the community."
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 28, 2026 23:49 UTC
‘Amazing’ lanterns to light up new year
Dunedin City Council lantern logistics manager Bex Rowe admires a New Zealand Haast’s eagle landing on the back of a giant moa as a collection of extraordinary lanterns from China are unpacked. PHOTO: SAM HENDERSONAn extinct duo are one of thirteen intricate lanterns that will will form an illuminated display at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum and Lan Yuan, Dunedin Chinese Gardens as part of the Dunedin Chinese Cultural Festival. Dunedin Chinese Cultural Advisory Committee chairman Malcolm Wong was impressed by the scale of the works. "I didn’t know what to expect but now to see them, they are amazing." Mr Wong was in particular struck by the scale of a dragon measuring about 6m in length planned to be installed at Lan Yuan.
Source:Otago Daily Times
January 28, 2026 22:13 UTC