AT Bus on fire in Epsom, Auckland
Charlie Davies-Carr is now 19 years old and studies law at university. Video / ZM
KiwiSaver cut, Best Start means-tested, $6.6b for business. Nicola Willis' Budget aims for growth but she warns of slow wages and high unemployment. Video / Mark Mitchell
Debt is projected to increase by $60 to $70 billion over the next five years. Video \ Mark Mitchell
Ryan Bridge and an expert panel break down Budget 2025
A serious crash has happened on Dansey Rd near Rotorua. Video / Ben Fraser
Finance Minister unveils NZ Budget 2025, the end of an era as Smith & Caughey closes and Trump, Ramaphosa in heated Oval Office exchange.
Donald Trump ambushes South Africa's president during a White House meeting by playing a video alleging 'genocide' of white people in South Africa. Video / The White House
The Halberg Games isn't just a fun event for kids Gemma and Jemma, it's also an exciting reunion! Reporter Zoe catches up with the besties as they compete for their 3rd year.
Cameron Emerson has displayed plenty of courage and dedication on his way to reaching the 100-cap milestone. Video / Neil Reid
A large crowd packed Trust Stadium for the Runit event last night. Video / Mike Scott / Benjamin Plummer
New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year Jorja Miller speaks about transferring to the Black Ferns from the sevens side and her future goals. Video / Alyse Wright
The Bachelor NZ winner said the "only way" she knows how to read books set overseas is by changing the character's voice in her head. Video / The Hits Drive
On Newstalk ZB Mike Hosking Breakfast Winston Peters addresses the Heckler at train station stand up.
NZ retail demand surges, hospital EDs divert patients with costly vouchers, UK halts Israel trade talks, Christchurch debates dumped trolleys.
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1News
2 hours ago
- 1News
Police Minister says record high gang numbers 'highly concerning'
For the first time, the number of patched gang members and gang prospects has surpassed 10,000 — with Police Minister Mark Mitchell acknowledging the figure is highly concerning. The number of gang members has been steadily growing in recent years. There were 9270 gang members on the National Gang List at the time of the 2023 election. As of July 10, there were 10,009 — an increase of more than 700 gang members and associates. The National Gang List counted patched members and prospects identified by state agencies. Police officer numbers are failing to keep up with the national gang member list, Benedict Collins reports. (Source: 1News) Mitchell told 1News today that the Government's tough on crime policies were working and gang numbers were now growing more slowly. ADVERTISEMENT "We're going after the gangs, we're making their life as difficult as possible," he said. He repeatedly blamed the rising gang numbers on the previous Labour-led government and their policies. "We're not going to reverse what happened under Labour [for] six years, where you saw a massive increase in gang numbers. "We're heading in the right direction." In an answer to a Parliamentary written question, however, Mitchell acknowledged the issue was alarming. "I acknowledge that it is highly concerning to see gang membership grow to this level." ADVERTISEMENT Labour's police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said the Prime Minister and his Government were failing to make New Zealanders safer. "Not only have gang numbers increased but methamphetamine levels have skyrocketed under their watch," she said. However, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today maintained his Government was "smashing the gangs". "I'm proud of the progress that we've made, I mean putting the gang patches [ban] in place — many people said that couldn't be done." Criminologist Jarrod Gilbert said the gang patch ban may actually be leading to an undercount of gang members now. "We can't identify the gangs anymore because insignia has been banned so, perversely ,we might see numbers come down on this list, it's not reflective of anything that's happening on the street it's just that the gangs are more invisible." When in opposition, the National Party repeatedly attacked the previous Labour government over rising gang numbers. Data from the Police Minister's office shows that when Labour came to power in 2017 there were 5343 individuals on the National Gang List. By the 2023 election, there were 9270 — an increase of nearly 4000 over six years.
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Way too much flip flopping' on resource management law
Labour leader Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Labour leader Chris Hipkins says his party will make changes to the coalition government's new Fast Track regime if elected next year, but will not completely scrap it. Labour's Taranaki-King Country branch published a Facebook post last month which suggested the party would repeal the government's Fast Track legislation. The post said that commitment was one of the biggest "takeaways" from a Hamilton East Labour dinner attended by Hipkins and MPs Kieran McAnulty and Arena Williams. After enquiries from RNZ, the post was deleted. Speaking on Morning Report , Hipkins said the party had yet to set out its intentions for the Fast Track regime. "We haven't actually said that [we'll repeal it]," he said. "I've said that we'll make changes to it and we'll set those out before the election." Hipkins said he believed there had been "way too much flip flopping" on resource management law and infrastructure priorities and Labour would not continue that. "One of the things that I will do is make sure we don't simply stop projects that are underway because the previous government... started them," he said. Speaking later at Parliament, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters the government was doing everything it could to get infrastructure projects up and running to help support the construction sector and wider economy. "What we've done is got rid of a lot of the red tape by trying to crash through the system with the Fast Track legislation," he said. "We're moving everything we can: planning laws, accelerating investment in infrastructure, real projects happening." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
18 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Smith & Caughey's Queen St store to be sold after closure
The board's moves to sell could hardly come at a worse time. Auckland department store Smith & Caughey's has shut. Photo / Dean Purcell Many properties are for sale in the CBD, some sites staying empty for decades – including the Royal International on Elliott St and the Auckland Star site on Fort St. Widescale development of apartments has ceased and many older office buildings have vacant floors. Demolition specialist Ripout NZ showed mid-July how it was removing fixtures and fittings in the ground-floor cosmetics areas. Peter Alexander of the Smith & Caughey's board. Photo / Dean Purcell Andrew Lamb of Galaxy Property said his business was managing the building, but he preferred to talk about that later this year or early next year. What's it worth? Smith & Caughey Ltd owns the CBD properties and holds a number of titles. They include 253-261 Queen St, whose title was issued in 1965. It has a capital value of $39 million and annual rates of $283,000. Andrew Lamb of Galaxy Property. Photo / Michael Craig The property is made up of 2946sq m of land worth $35m and 1.3ha or 1329sq m of floor space worth only $4m. A second title at 20 Elliott St is a 1998sq m property and a third title at 9-11 Wellesley St is a 723sq m property. All titles are under one CV. Auckland Council holds no separate valuation or property information on the last two street addresses. Smith & Caughey's Queen St and Newmarket properties have a combined valuation of $53.5m. The Herald reported last year that if the Queen St and Newmarket buildings were sold, the money could be expected to be paid to shareholders. But nothing was said about the properties in last year's closure announcement, nor about the trust's future. The company Smith & Caughey is owned by Smith & Caughey Holdings, whose registered office is at 253-261 Queen St. Smith & Caughey Holdings was only incorporated in June 1988. Smith & Caughey Ltd's five directors are: Epsom's Peter John Alexander; St Heliers' Matthew Andrew Lovelace Caughey; Freemans Bay's Simon Fraser Dunlop; Epsom's John Nicholas Elliott and Remuera's Michael Howell Holloway. Historic buildings Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga lists the Smith & Caughey Building, Wellesley St West and Elliot [sic] St, as a Historic Place Category 1 building. Category 1 historic places are of special or outstanding historical or cultural significance or value. The building was entered on to the list in March 1986. One heritage website said Smith & Caughey's Wellesley St extension with its south facade and north elevation dated back to 1927. It was designed by architect Roy Lippincott, an American who designed a number of famous buildings. What next for the property? Some have suggested other retailers may be interested, including a supermarket operator, although that seems unlikely given the multi-level nature of buildings. A city centre school, offices and apartments have also been put forward as other possibilities. Plans for the St James Suites apartment block on Queen St. The tower was never built and the site is for sale. Apartments appear an unlikely prospect with so many already in town and the costs of conversion high. Plans for the $400m St James apartments never rose beside the heritage St James Theatre on Queen St. That empty site is understood to be up for sale. Tamba Carleton from CBRE specialises in research on apartments. Tamba Carleton of CBRE specialises in researching this area and is keeping totals of ditched schemes. Expansion remains sluggish, data from this year's first quarter show, although the build-to-rent sector is busy, Carleton has found. John Love is yet to pay $3m for the ex-Civic Administration Building, owned by the Auckland Council. It was the authority's headquarters but he converted it into 114 luxury apartments. He rebranded that The CAB. Not all units are sold. The $16.5m penthouse and sub-penthouses remain for sale. The CAB – 23 units are left to sell by developer John Love. Photo / Alex Burton Only when Love repays a loan standing last year at $70m does he have to pay the $3m. Are offices a possibility? Older office floorspace in that mid-town area is hard to lease. Big corporates are instead drawn to new, big-floor-space, green-star-rated, environmentally efficient buildings developed by businesses such as Mansons TCLM and Precinct Properties. Newmarket site In Newmarket, Smith & Caughey's traded from the heart of that suburb at a site near the end of Remuera Rd: the distinctive premises at 225 Broadway. That title is owned by Smith & Caughey Ltd. Council records show 219-225 Broadway is valued at $13.5m, has a land area of 1114sq m and a total floor area of 1846sq m. Rates there are $74,000/year. Anne Gibson has been the Herald's property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
