Source: New Zealand Police
State Highway 7, between McRaes and Mt Alexander Roads, is blocked following a single vehicle crash.
Emergency services received reports of the crash about 6.40am.
Initial enquiries indicate that there have been serious injuries.
The Serious Crash Unit has been advised.
Traffic management is in place and motorists should expect delays.
ENDS
Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ / REECE BAKER
Emergency services are responding to a crash in north Canterbury, that has left multiple people trapped.
Fire and Emergency NZ said it was called to State Highway 7, north of Waikari, at about 6.40am on Friday after a car went off the road.
At least four fire crews are working to help free people trapped in the car.
One of the people trapped is in a critical condition and three others in a serious condition.
St John said it is responding with three ambulances and a helicopter.
Motorists are told to expect delays.
Police have been contacted for comment.
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Source: New Zealand Government
New Zealand and Singapore have signed a new electronic certification arrangement that will streamline trade and reduce costs, Trade and Investment, and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says.
Export health certification confirms products meet the importing country’s regulatory requirements, including in animal or plant health, hygiene, and food safety.
The current paper-based system will be replaced by the new arrangement which enables real-time digital exchange of export health certification between New Zealand and Singapore for trade in food and primary products.
“It will streamline border processes, improve efficiency, reduce costs, enhance supply chain security and integrity, and help products clear borders and reach markets sooner,” Mr McClay says.
“Singapore is one of our closest trade partners, and last year we marked 60 years of diplomatic ties between our countries. The new arrangement speaks to the strength of this relationship and will enable trade growth.
“It also progresses us towards New Zealand’s aspirational goal of doubling the value of exports in 10 years. This Government is focused on building the future and delivering prosperity for New Zealanders.”
New Zealand’s food and primary product exports to Singapore reached $1.2 billion in the year to 30 November 2025.
The arrangement, signed in Singapore, forms part of New Zealand’s and Singapore’s Joint Plan of Action under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Source: Radio New Zealand
Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson of Visa Cash App Racing Bulls during F1 testing in Bahrain, 2026. MARCEL VAN DORST / AFP
Liam Lawson got through 50 laps in the morning session on day two of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain admitting they had a few issues.
The 24 year old spent much of the session sporting an aero rack on his new 2026 Racing Bulls car.
He recorded a best time that was 3.7 seconds slower than Charles Leclerc, who was the quickest in the session in his Ferrari.
Lawson spent his first session in data gathering mode for the team with the aero rack placed in front of the rear wing collecting information on air flow.
The information can be used for the front wing set-up and also for future car upgrades.
“We had a few little issues today that stopped a bit of running so early days. We’re learning as fast as we can, it’s obviously all very new,” Lawson said.
There are significant changes in 2026 with the cars smaller and lighter and no longer running DRS while half of their power is now electrically generated.
“It’s very new, it’s very different, a different driving style and it is more sensitive so we have to be a lot more aware behind the wheel.
“It is definitely something I haven’t mastered yet so we’ll spend the next few weeks trying to be as prepared for Melbourne as we can.”
Lawson will spend all day in the car on Friday with another test session again in Bahrain next week.
“Coming into the test we know to try not to be frustrated when we have these small things that stop runs, but the main thing is to try and put the car in a good place today and we have tomorrow to learn a lot more.
“Next week is probably when we spend a lot more time on performance rather than anything else.”
Lawson’s new team-mate Arvid Lindblad drove the car in the afternoon session and got through another 82 laps and went slightly faster than Lawson.
Leclerc completed 139 laps with the fastest time ahead of world champion Lando Norris in a McLaren and Oliver Bearman in a Haas.
Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri were among the seven drivers who didn’t take part in testing today.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The landslide that hit the holiday park wasn’t the only one to happen on Mount Manganui on Thursday. DJ Mills
Rain is on the way for almost all of the North Island, including areas badly battered last month.
An orange heavy rain warning will take effect from 6pm Friday for Bay of Plenty east of Ōpōtiki, and Tai Rāwhiti north of Tolaga Bay.
Up to 100mm of rain is expected, with a chance of up to 150mm in one or two places.
Forecaster MetService said there was a low chance of it being upgraded to a red warning.
For most of the rest of the island there was a yellow heavy rain watch. It would begin in Northland, Auckland, Coromandel and Waikato at 9am, and make its way south through the middle of the day, with southern areas like Manawatū, Tararua District and Hawke’s Bay joining the watch at 3pm.
Wellington at this stage appeared to be spared.
East Coast residents were warned to expect up to 100mm or rain, with some localised areas getting up to 150mm.
“Peak rainfall rates are very dependent on localised downpours or thunderstorms, and may reach 25 to 40mm per hour during Saturday morning,” MetService warned.
There was a “low chance” the orange warning would be upgraded to red.
“Streams and rivers may rise rapidly. Surface flooding, slips, and difficult driving conditions [are] possible.”
Tauranga City Council urged residents to evacuate immediately if the ground moved or there was another landslide.
Periods of heavy rain or showers and a chance of thunderstorms were expected in the region from noon.
The council said there was a higher chance of landslides because of the rain that had already fallen in recent weeks.
Six people died in a slip at Mt Maunganui last month, and two at a home in Welcome Bay.
There were still 40 slips on Mauao, and recent monitoring had found unstable land.
As a precaution, the council on Friday morning said it would close Adams Avenue, between Pilot Bay and the Maunganui Road roundabout, from 8am.
“This is a precautionary approach following geotechnical advice about the current risks on Mauao from anticipated rainfall from Friday to Saturday.”
No timeframe was given, the council saying it would only reopen once the rain had finished and experts had seemed it safe. The footpath on the ‘shop side’ of Adams Ave would remain open.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
123RF
Two customers caught out by large changes in the valuation of their vehicles through AA Insurance say they only realised something was amiss when they went to claim.
RNZ has reported on a number of people who have queried the valuations of their cars through the insurance company in recent months.
One woman, Nicki, was upset that the value of her 24-year-old Subaru had increased two-and-a-half times when the policy renewed this year.
Another said that the value of his 2003 Subaru Forester dropped 58 percent last year and then lifted by 3.67 times this year – to $9900, 10 percent more than he paid for it 11 years ago.
AA said it relied on third-party data to provide vehicle values and from time to time the methodology and data sources were updated.
One person, Chris, who contacted RNZ said their policy renewed in February.
But five days later, the vehicle was hit while stationary and it was only then that they realised the insured value had been reduced by 70 percent. Chris said while the change in premiums was made clear in the information emailed about the renewal, the change in the insured value was more difficult to find.
Another person, Ruby, said the value of her car dropped from $6900 to $1300 at her policy renewal..
“After a lot of back and forth, stressful phone calls, and providing my original purchase receipt, AA eventually reinstated the agreed value of $6900.
“The repair quote for the damage is between $2000 and $3000, so if the policy had remained at $1300, it would have effectively left me without meaningful cover.
“However, AA are now requiring me to back-pay the premium difference for the period where the vehicle should have been insured at the higher agreed value. I’m a single mum on a very tight budget with existing debt, and I’ve been trying to resolve this since the 2nd of January while my car is still damaged and difficult to use. They have just agreed to let me repay the additional premium at $8 per fortnight.”
Karen Stevens, Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman, said she could not comment on specifics but had received a number of complaints in recent years from people who had not been aware that their vehicle’s value had been reduced by their insurer until they had an accident.
“We always remind people that it’s important to review the new policy schedule every year and, if they’re not happy with the value, to challenge it then rather than later. They can also get a valuation or PAV to show the vehicle is worth more than the insurer says it is.”
Rebecca Styles, Consumer NZ’s insurance specialist, said anyone who had not been advised about a drop in value should challenge it.,
“If someone is advised of a drop in the value of their vehicle and they disagree with it, they can ask for a revised valuation and provide evidence of what they consider to be fair market value.
“It’s also important to check the policy renewal details when they come through to make sure the insured value is appropriate, and to take the opportunity to check how the premium compares with other insurers to make sure you’re getting the best deal.”
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Source: Radio New Zealand
It’s rare to find all the members of Christchurch-born alt-pop band Yumi Zouma in the same room.
The remotely working band is scattered across New Zealand, New York and London, operating across time zones where one member works while another sleeps. Milestones are marked over Zoom, each with their own cake or bubbles.
“The vibes are often very, very different,” member Josh Burgess tells Music 101. “It’s sort of like having a Labrador puppy in the middle, a sleepy elderly dog and a newborn.”
Band members Charlie Ryder, Olivia Campion, Christie Simpson and Josh Burgess
Marisa Suda
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Up to eight crews were called to the two-storey building on Patrick Street. RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Firefighters are responding to a fire at a factory in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga.
Up to eight crews were called to the two-storey building on Patrick Street at 2.15am on Friday, where they found the upper floor fully alight.
Fire and Emergency said the bulk of the blaze had been extinguished by 3am.
Two crews are still on site dampening down hotspots.
A fire investigator is heading to the scene this morning.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
A slip on State Highway 2 through the Waioweka Gorge in January. Supplied/NZTA
Tai Rāwhiti locals isolated by January’s slips on the Waioweka Gorge and East Coast highway are anxious to have a reliable northern route out of Gisborne.
Convoys along State Highway 2 were stopped on Thursday night and have been cancelled this weekend, because of the threat of rain causing more slips in the gorge.
On State Highway 35 around East Cape, the storm-damaged road remained closed between Te Araroa and Pōtaka.
The months of disruption and hours-long detour had prompted calls for an alternative northern route out of Gisborne – but it was not something the government was currently considering.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the Waioweka Gorge was the main freight route out of Tai Rāwhiti therefore cleaning it up was the priority – until then, discussing the future of the network and other routes would have to wait.
“We need to make a determination as to the state of the network once we can actually see it. Clearly, there are issues on the [east] coast in terms of resilience and sustainability.
“State Highway 35 has been a long-running issue, so has the Waioweka Gorge and all the evidence is that it is going to continue to happen into the future.
“I’m just not going to pre-judge where we might get to until I’ve got information.”
Transport Minister Chris Bishop. RNZ / Nathan McKinnon
Waioweka Gorge local Bob Redpath said the odd rockfall during heavy rain was nothing new and after weeks of closures felt frustrated by the cancellation of convoys due to forecast bad weather.
“Yes, it’s a bit fragile and tender at the moment, but they just need to be a bit kinder to the traffic, I think – [they] need to get it going.
“There’s a whole lot of people in Gisborne hurting.”
He said the uncertainty around the road’s status had put his farm stay operation on hold and dog trials due to be held Ōpōtiki next month had just been cancelled for the same reason.
Redpath backed the exploration of an alternative route but pinpointing its location was another matter.
“I tongue in cheek, jokingly said to someone recently, ‘If we were in China – China would build a bridge from Ōpōtiki to Matawai.”
Gisborne’s mayor, Rehette Stoltz, said unreliable roading infrastructure was hampering the region’s economic prospects by putting business confidence at risk.
She said with the cancellation of the convoys through the gorge, once again the only option to go north out of Gisborne was to first head south on State Highway 2, almost to Napier, before taking State Highway 5 – a detour which added between two and three hours.
For those north of Gisborne on the cape, the detour was even longer, creating a “huge time cost and huge money cost for our community”.
Gisborne’s mayor, Rehette Stoltz. RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Stoltz said hard questions about the future of State Highway 2 would be asked once the region was back on its feet and hoped to sit down with the government in the first half of the year.
“Is it worth investing money constantly – and we are talking about nearly every year millions of dollars to build in, not even resilience into that route, but just to keep it available for us – or is it time for us to say we need to think bigger?
“What is the best option to either build resilience into State Highway 2 north? Or alternatively discuss a different route.”
However, she said the feasibility and location of a different route was best left to the roading engineers.
A 2020 National Resilence Programme Business Case prepared for the Transport Agency (NZTA) gave the Waioweka Gorge a 5VL rating – the highest level of “extreme risk” for likelihood of damage – and the only road in the country to receive it.
While NZTA had not investigated another northern route out of Tai Rāwhiti, three options for improving the gorge’s resilience were put forward in the SH2 Waioweka Gorge Corridor Resilience Single Stage Business Case.
NZTA regional manager of system design Lisa Faulknor said the options cost between $70 million and $200m as at 2024 and the agency had just completed work to address “weather-related risks” before the recent severe weather.
“The business case is complete and does not need any further work. So it can be utilitised without delay, subject to funding availability.”
However, the recommended option would only half weather-related road closures, she said.
“According to the business case, completing this option would result in a 53 percent reduction in closures – it would not fully eliminate the consequences of weather events or the subsequent closures.”
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The tractor harvester working on the field. 123RF
Some potato growers are reporting yields could be down 20 percent this winter due to bad weather, but it’s still a bit early in the season to know the full impact.
Some growers are harvesting early varieties now, with the main harvest getting underway in a few weeks.
Potatoes New Zealand chair Paul Olsen said his crop in Manuwatu is looking good, but further north in Pukekohe, growers have had a lot of rain.
“What I’m told sort of further north that the yields are back by maybe 20 percent in some areas, and then the earlier crops in Canterbury, I’m told, are sort of on par,” Olsen said.
“It’s hard to know the full impact of the weather until we get into the thick of harvest in about a month or so.”
Olsen said if the national crop does end up being smaller, prices could remain higher as demand for potatoes has been solid.
“The general rule of thumb is that the prices do ease as the main crop comes on, so it’s sort of hard to gauge and I’d hate to jump to conclusions so early on in the season given, we’re only in February. But yeah, it’ll definitely be one to watch. “
Pukekohe company Hira Bhana and Co grows 140 hectares of potatoes year-round.
Owner Bharat Bhana said the potatoes have been struggling with the changeable weather.
“When it’s to wet, the roots don’t go down deep enough to go and search for water, then when it goes dry the roots aren’t prepared and then they dry out,” Bhana said.
“So, you need to keep the water on, yesterday it was 27 degrees during the day and only got down to 20 at night, it’s not cooling down enough – the muggy weather isn’t ideal for getting a decent crop of potatoes.”
Bhana said they aim is to get 45 to 50 tonnes a hectare, but they’re getting about 40.
He said if there are fewer spuds around, prices will probably go up.
“But, in saying that, potatoes at the moment, at $1.50 a kilo, or even at $3 a kilo, is cheap compared to anything else. Consumers normally complain about $3 a kilo for spuds, but go and get $3 worth of chicken or $3 worth of steak and see what that gets you.”
He hasn’t made money on potatoes for 18 months, so getting higher prices will be good for cash flow.
“Just the other day, Balance sent us a nice newsletter again saying that fertilizer price is going up again.
“As our dollar fluctuates and the New Zealand dollar loses value, everything we bring into the country like fertiliser, chemicals, machinery, it all goes up so our costs have risen a lot.
“It’s getting to the stage now where growers have decided, well, it’s not worth growing anymore, so they got out of it.”
Bhana said with rising costs more vegetable growers are leaving the industry – especially in Pukekohe, where some can sell land to developers for hefty profits.
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