Source: New Zealand Police
Motorists are advised to avoid the Christchurch Southern Motorway, State Highway 76, at Wigram following a crash this evening.
Police were called to the scene, near the Awatea Road bridge, between Curletts Road and Halswell Junction Road about 6pm.
The southern/western lanes are expected to be shut for some time, while northern/eastern lanes are heavily congested.
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre
Source: New Zealand Police
Two gang members on a late night cruise through the streets of Glen Eden ended the evening in Police custody.
Officers patrolling the area spotted a vehicle, which had been reported stolen from an Avondale address last month, travelling on Woodbank Drive at about 11.10pm.
Waitematā West Area Response Manager, Senior Sergeant John Thornley, says the vehicle stopped voluntarily and officers blocked it in before arresting the two occupants.
“A patched Killer Beez member and a Crips member were quickly taken into custody.
“A search of the vehicle found a modified unloaded starter pistol and a bullet was also located in one of the men’s pockets.
“We’re really pleased to have another dangerous weapon off the street, and this is a good example of proactive Police work that has resulted in a safer community.”
A 42-year-old man appeared in Waitākere District Court today charged with unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The other man, aged 33, had a warrant to arrest for an unrelated matter.
ENDS
Holly McKay/NZ Police
Source:
Media Release
Organisation: Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives
On behalf of: Primary Production Committee
For release: 16 May 2025
Have your say on the Valuers Bill
The Deputy Chairperson of the Primary Production Committee is calling for submissions on the Valuers Bill with a closing date of 11.59pm on Friday, 27 June 2025.
The Valuers Bill would re-enact the Valuers Act 1948. The Act provides for the registration of land valuers and the establishment of the New Zealand Institute of Valuers.
This is a revision bill. Revision bills are used to re-enact legislation in an up-to-date and accessible form. They may not change the effect of the law (except as authorised by section 96(3) of the Legislation Act 2019).
This bill would not make any substantial policy changes to the Act. It would make minor changes to the Act to correct inconsistencies and omissions. It is intended to rewrite the law using plain language and modern drafting style. The scope of the changes the committee can recommend on this bill is narrow.
Have your say on proposed amendments to the Valuers Bill
The Primary Production Committee is also considering Amendment Paper 286 alongside this bill. An Amendment Paper is a document that gives notice of proposed amendments to a bill. Amendment Paper 236 would amend the Valuers Bill and proposes more substantial policy changes.
Amendment Paper 286 would make changes to the Valuers Bill, including:
The Attorney-General has presented a Section 7 report to the House on the Valuers Bill. The report highlights that the current age restriction appears to be inconsistent with the right to freedom from discrimination under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. The Section 7 report is also linked below.
If you would like to make a submission on the Valuers Bill or the proposed changes to the bill in Amendment Paper 286, please do here on the Parliament website.
If you have any questions about your submission or the submission process, please contact the committee secretariat through the contact details on the left-hand side of this page.
What you need to know for making a submission:
Further guidance on making a submission can be found from the ‘How to make a submission’ link in the ‘Related documents’ panel at the bottom of this page.
Related links panel:
Source: New Zealand Police
Police can now release the name of the person who died in the two-vehicle crash on Oxford Street, Levin, on Monday 12 May.
He was Joshua Eric Wilson, 33, of Levin.
Police extend their sympathies to his family and friends at this difficult time.
The circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre
Source: New Zealand Police
Attribute to Detective Inspector Christiaan Barnard:
A Wellington-based man was arrested by the Financial Crime Group in Auckland this morning as part of an FBI investigation into an organised criminal group who stole cryptocurrency from seven victims valued at US$265M (NZD$450M).
Between March and August 2024, the cryptocurrency is alleged to have been fraudulently obtained by manipulating the victims and subsequently laundered through multiple cryptocurrency platforms.
Over the past three days, search warrants have been executed in Auckland, Wellington, and California with several people arrested, including one in New Zealand. A total of 13 people are facing charges.
The Wellington man has been indicted by the US Department of Justice under US Federal law with charges of racketeering (RICO), conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
It is alleged the defendants scammed seven victims, spending the stolen virtual currency to purchase, among other things, $9 million of exotic cars, hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury handbags, watches and clothing, nightclub services and private security guards and rental homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami.
The man was bailed after appearing in the Auckland District Court today where he received interim name suppression. He is due to reappear in the Auckland District Court on 3 July 2025.
We have worked closely with our law enforcement colleagues in the United States in support of their investigation. Today’s search warrant and arrest reflects the importance of international partnerships where criminals are operating across borders.
There is an ongoing investigation, and no further comment will be made by Police.
ENDS
Source: New Zealand Police
A Police investigation is ongoing after a man was seriously wounded in Papakura before lunchtime.
The incident occurred at around 11.42am, when the victim suffered an injury outside a business on Settlement Road.
Detective Senior Sergeant Michele Gillespie, of Counties Manukau CIB, says the victim sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries and was transported to Middlemore Hospital.
“The offender has fled on foot across Settlement Road and was last seen near an address,” she says.
Police were called to the scene shortly afterward with nearby schools placed into a precautionary lockdown with the offender outstanding.
“Cordons were put in place while our staff carried out enquiries in the area to locate this male,” Detective Senior Sergeant Gillespie says.
“Those cordons have now lifted, and the schools were taken out of lockdown earlier this afternoon.
“Our enquiries are ongoing to locate this male.”
Police acknowledge the community’s cooperation this afternoon.
“Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of what has occurred today, including locating the offender.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information that can assist Police enquiries is asked to make contact.
Please update us online now or call 105 and use the reference number 250516/1021.
Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
ENDS.
Jarred Williamson/NZ Police
Source: New Zealand Police
Motorists who were in the Pahiatua area yesterday afternoon may be able to help Police with the investigation into a fatal crash.
About 3pm, a flatbed truck carrying containers and a grey Mini hatchback collided on State Highway 2, near the intersection with Avery Road. The driver of the car died at the scene.
Senior Sergeant Carey Williamson said Police needed to hear from any road users who witnessed the crash, or the manner of driving or either vehicle.
“The truck was carrying large white containers filled with oil, while the Mini in itself is distinctive. If you observed either vehicle before the collision, or the crash itself, please contact us as soon as possible.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police by making a report online, or by calling 105.
Please use the reference number 250515/8522.
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre
Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets
Good morning.
First, let us reiterate the thanks already given to civic leaders, Ministers, Mayors, parliamentarians past and present, union leaders, business leaders and members of the public gathered here today.
Let us also acknowledge the KiwiRail workers of Dunedin, especially the former and current workers here at Hillside today.
You asked. We delivered.
It is important to mark history. Knowing where we have come from helps us understand where we are going.
Hillside Workshops have been a mainstay of New Zealand’s industrial heritage for a century.
A little over a decade ago the staff numbers were down to 12, and Hillside was closing.
Today, 60 people work in the mechanical depot and 50 track workers serving the region have shifted here from Cumberland Street.
The reason that Hillside is alive and well as you see it today is that in 2019, the Honourable Shane Jones allocated $20 million to start the masterplanning, demolition and rebuild of the main mechanical workshop here at Hillside.
The masterplan was followed through when the Government approved $85 million more for the site, which included shifting the network operation here and funding the assembly of 1,500 wagons here in Dunedin.
Our decisions, and your advocacy, saved Hillside Workshops.
Dozens of people, almost entirely from Otago, have been employed and are learning technical mechanical engineering skills. Right here. Right now.
The Honourable Mark Patterson visited last year and spoke with a mechanical engineer who grew up in Dunedin and worked at Fisher and Paykel.
His Fisher and Paykel role was made redundant, and he shifted to Australia, but the Hillside Workshop redevelopment brought him home. Like many others.
These are technical minds and hands being put to work – and work is a matter of dignity and contribution.
Hillside Workshops are an emblem of New Zealand’s industrial heritage.
This city is famed for Julius Vogel who saw New Zealand as a nation, not a collection of regions. He connected the provinces by rail and built lines that stretched from Bluff to Kawakawa, and eventually connecting us as a nation with main trunks. He built more lines in ten years than in the following 130.
We are committed to making sure rail has a strong future in this country and it rests on KiwiRail being able to serve its customers with assets that are fit for the job.
That is what we have done here.
The new, high-quality wagons that are being built here at Hillside are part of our Ministry’s strategy for rail.
They will lift service reliability, allowing KiwiRail to better deliver for their existing freight customers. In turn, that will attract more customers and grow freight volumes.
Now it’s up to KiwiRail to deliver, and it’s up to freight movers to “think rail”. Use it or lose it.
As you know, Dunedin is a dynamic city with a long history of contribution to the country’s engineering and technology sectors.
Our regional investments help build this capability in the city – from establishing the Inventors Lab and Centre of Digital Excellence to funding engineering equipment and support for technology manufacturing.
The Hillside redevelopment has also redefined KiwiRail’s footprint in Dunedin, freeing up its landholdings for wider industrial development. That means opportunities for investment here. That means jobs here.
It’s a great privilege today to officially, albeit belatedly, declare the Hillside Workshops open.
We don’t just the start the job, we finish it.
Thank you to everyone who has been involved in this successful project and who are continuing to make it deliver.
Thank you very much.
Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets
Thank you for being here.
We appreciate your time. We appreciate your work.
You have been joined this morning by five Ministers:
Today’s summit
Ours is a country that has taken challenges and overcome them.
Too often, we look to somebody else for an answer. We need look no further than ourselves.
Gathered in this room are senior leaders from across the Otago region. Industry leaders, education leaders, transport leaders, elected leaders, and future leaders.
Indeed, this entire region represents a story of New Zealand. One that embraces its resources, recognises its assets, develops itself, markets itself, attracts a thriving workforce and builds a community.
These Regional Growth Summits have been set up as a forum for businesses, industry, and key regional leaders for your region’s priorities and how we can work together to grow regional economies.
Rail as an economic enabler
A man called Julius Vogel, from Dunedin, saw New Zealand as a nation and not as a series of regions. He connected us with rail, building more rail in ten years than in the 130 years which followed. One nation with many strengths.
This morning, you have heard from Hon Shane Jones of our Government’s commitment of $8.2 million to build a three-track rail siding connecting Southern Link Logistics, an inland freight hub.
Freight is about getting from A to B. Freight is the lifeblood of our economy. It’s no good making something if it doesn’t go to a customer.
Rail boosts the network. Rail is the clearing house for busy ports, moving vast quantities of containers so ports can handle more ships. More ships enable more exports, more imports, more trade.
Inland freight hubs mean local road freight operators, and rail freight, can feed regional goods into the hub and have rail take the combined heavy-haul to port. This model happens all over the country, and locals here in Otago have said they need it, and we have listened and delivered.
Further, we have rebuilt the Hillside Railway Workshops in Dunedin. Brand new mechanical depots and network services, and an assembly operation is driving mechanical engineering expertise here in Otago and delivering 1,500 wagons to serve national goods.
We don’t just talk. We deliver.
Rebuilding the economy
New Zealand requires a productive economy to thrive.
That means using what we have, adding value, and solving problems elsewhere in the world with our ideas and our products.
This is not a new idea. Economic success requires work, right here, right now, every day.
We have many assets as a nation:
We must aggressively sell our country as an attractive investment destination.
The question that is always asked, “but why New Zealand?”, and we must have the answer.
What gives us an edge over other small nations seeking investment? Why should an investor look to us, to our people, to our resources, to our future and decide we are where their future lies?
Singapore, Taiwan, Ireland, and Croatia today, have answered these questions.
So, what must we do?
First, developing talent is essential to driving productivity gains.
Many of you will also be aware of the work underway to redesign New Zealand’s vocational training to make it more regionally responsive, efficient, and relevant. These changes will help equip our people with the skills to take better opportunities within their communities, rather than needing to head off to Australia.
Government investment through Regional Development funds, which started with the Provincial Growth Fund, has had a huge impact on growing job opportunities in Otago, with just under 1,000 jobs created through central government investment in Otago to date.
We will see these positive employment outcomes continue with the construction of the flood resilience projects and future potential investments through the Regional Investment Fund.
Second, competitive business settings. We need the right policies and settings to allow development in the right places at the right time. We are talking here about sensible tax, predictable labour settings, and reliable migration settings.
The length of time it takes to deliver infrastructure projects in New Zealand is costing us – in inflated costs, delays, and importantly from our perspective, in our international reputation for doing business. We see shovel-ready projects trapped in cycles of over-regulation and legal challenges.
Third, promoting global trade and investment to boost the value of our exports, grow international markets and attract investment for our firms.
As the Minister of Foreign Affairs this one is obvious. We are rebuilding the importance of solid relationships and working in partnership with other countries.
Fourth, science and innovation systems are critical to boosting the number of knowledge-intensive, internationally connected firms.
Improving digital connectivity and skills is a critical way of ensuring communities have access to a broader range of employment opportunities and enjoy greater productivity. To support these outcomes, the Provincial Growth Fund provided a $950,000 grant for the business case and $10 million grant toward the development of the Centre of Digital Excellence in Dunedin.
The centre invests in career pathways to the gaming industry, helps develop digital skills, grows digital capability, supports innovation through contestable funds, and attracts digital businesses to Dunedin.
Fifth, long-term infrastructure. We want to see major projects on the Fast-Track. That is why we have legislated for economically significant infrastructure projects to be considered for what they are: the pathway to our future. We got things done in our past, and we are going to do it again.
We are backing our roads and our rail because we know an export nation relies on solid connections to our coastal ports.
And, if Minister Jones hasn’t made you aware, a $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund.
Conclusion
Now, we remind you that while the people of Wellington do have strengths, the public service within Wellington will not be the problem solver for Otago. That is your job.
We need our regions to be running at full steam, increasing self-sufficiency, resilience, and for everyone to benefit from the changes we’re driving.
And if you need help, tell Shane Jones what’s important to you as a region, and how we can work together to make that happen.
You will be heard.
Thank you very much.
Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets
Families in need will benefit from 150 new social homes to be delivered in Hawke’s Bay using a new community-led approach, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says.
“As part of last year’s Budget, the Government invested $140 million into 1500 new social homes to be delivered by Community Housing Providers (CHPs) between June 2025 and June 2027.
“Hawke’s Bay has been chosen as a priority location for a pilot community-led approach to social housing delivery due to the high level of need, with disproportionate numbers of people in emergency and temporary housing and on the social housing waitlist.
“The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has worked with CHPs, iwi, local government and other community groups to agree a community-led approach to delivering up to 150 social homes across the region.
“The Hawke’s Bay, especially in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, presents both a significant need for social housing, and a unique opportunity for government and local groups to work differently together to deliver social homes.
“Today in Flaxmere I met with representatives from the Hawke’s Bay Matariki Housing Leadership Group who are taking the lead for the Hawke’s Bay community-led delivery approach. I endorsed the group’s efforts to bring together many different parts of the community, alongside HUD, to deliver 150 social homes in the region. The Government is looking forward to working collaboratively with them to get these homes built.
“To make contracting more efficient, the Government is delivering many of the 1500 social homes across the country through Strategic Partnership agreements with carefully selected CHPs. In Hawke’s Bay, strategic partner Emerge Aotearoa Housing Trust has already committed to delivering 24 homes.
“Our Government is committed to delivering social homes in the communities that need them most, alongside the organisations who know the communities best, using community housing providers who have a track record of delivery.
“In addition to the community partnership in Hawke’s Bay announced today, I am also confirming the other priority locations for social housing delivery for the five strategic partners announced by the Government in April.
“These locations are Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Porirua, Nelson/Tasman, and Rotorua. They have been identified based on social housing need and emergency housing use in each area, along with housing market performance and CHP capacity and capability to deliver.
“I look forward to seeing construction of these social homes underway.”
Note to editor:
Across the total 1,500 places funded through Budget 2024, over 661 places have already been contracted for delivery up to June 2027, with further places expected to be contracted in the coming months.
The first projects are expected to be delivered in the first half of this year, with delivery gaining momentum as time goes on.
The five strategic partners for social housing delivery were selected based on their current performance, capability, and capacity, as demonstrated by the social homes they already manage and the quality of the housing developments they have delivered to date.
The strategic partners are: