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Bus etiquette: Do you need to wave to the driver to get them to stop?

Source: Radio New Zealand

Waving down a bus is not required, but it sure helps. RNZ / Mark Papalii

Clarification: This story has been updated to add more detail about the bus rules in Christchurch.

Whether you’re heading to work before an important morning meeting, or coming home with kids and shopping in tow, there are few things more maddening than your bus just seeming to sail on by.

Last year, Wellington bus service provider MetLink received more than 1000 complaints from people annoyed by buses that didn’t stop.

Jess Gessner filed a complaint, after she and her two young children were left on the kerb, when she was unable to signal the driver.

“It was very obvious that we wanted to get picked up at a bus stop,” she said. “We were the only people there, and [the driver] just looked at us and drove past.”

The Metlink website said bus drivers would stop, if they saw someone waiting, but encouraged passengers to wave, so they could be seen by the driver.

John Ng waits for his bus in Wellington. RNZ / Bill Hickman

Metlink senior operations manager Paul Tawharu said waving was helpful, but not a requirement.

“What we do ask customers is that they make themselves visible to the driver,” he said. “Passengers don’t need to wave.

“There’s some of our passengers that are visually impaired. You might have mums with babies in arms that just can’t do that, so that’s not expected.

“If the passenger is at the bus stop, then the driver is expected to stop.”

Most of the commuters who spoke to RNZ in the Wellington suburb of Newtown said they tended to wave down their buses, but nearly everyone also felt they had been passed up or had seen another passenger left at the stop.

“I have been [passed by] on a [number] four,” said Clara. “It was a very sad day.”.

“Many times,” John Nga said. “You have to be visually waving, not just raising your hands – it’s not enough.”

“I think it depends on the bus stop,” Ben Lake said. “There are definitely times when people will be waiting there and they’ll just go straight past.”

“I do wave to the driver, because they don’t often stop,” Jane said. “They’ll go past you, if you don’t flag them down.”

Metro, which runs Christchurch’s bus service, tells passengers to make sure they’re visible when waiting at a bus stop. “And please give the bus a wave as it approached. This helps the driver know you need their service, and they’ll pull over to let you on,” it adds.

Environment Canterbury public transport general manager Stewart Gibbon said, last year, it received just over 550 complaints about buses not stopping – either to pick up passengers or allow them off.

Gibbon said, in the context of more than 15 million passenger trips a year, the numbers were comparatively small.

“Our drivers do a brilliant job of balancing the different demands of the role, including gauging whether people waiting at our stops want to get on board,” Gibbon said. “A clear signal from a customer is a great help to them.

Ben Lake waits for a bus in Wellington. RNZ / Bill Hickman

“Our drivers are trained in many different scenarios, including when customers may have their hands full. In this scenario, they would instead be looking at facial expressions and general body language.

“It’s worth noting that sometimes drivers can’t stop, due to their bus being full.”

Auckland Transport service operations manager Duncan McGrory said the transport provider had signs at every bus stop, asking passengers to indicate they wanted to board with a “clear wave of their arm”.

He said Aucklanders took up to 230,000 bus trips every weekday and the growth of the network over the last 15 years made hailing the bus crucial to keeping things running smoothly.

“It’s important for people to hail the bus that they actually want,” McGrory said. “We want to make sure that people are stopping the buses that they need and that every single bus is not stopping at every single stop.”

So the message is, wherever you are in the country, when in doubt, put your arm out.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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‘How do the people break through?’ – third of Māori land considered landlocked

Source: Radio New Zealand

Public roads, even if they are unformed, shouldn’t be locked shut RNZ / Tracey Neal

Up to a third of Māori land is considered landlocked, meaning owners have no physical access to land they own without obtaining the consent of neighbouring owners.

The Outdoor Access Commission Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa released its first report on the state of public land access in Aotearoa last week, which identified landlocked whenua as one of the biggest challenges to public access in 2025.

The report divides land in Aotearoa into three types, private (non-tangata whenua) land which makes up 51.8 percent, state-owned land (44 percent) and private tangata whenua land with only 4.3 percent.

Tāmaki Makaurau regional field advisor Dot Dalziell said up to a third of Māori landholding is locked, but the problem was particularly acute in the Taihape area, where it is more than 70 percent.

Māori land is often very significant in connecting New Zealanders to the outdoors, so landlocking impacted all New Zealanders, she said.

“What it can give rise to is a very ironic situation or many ironic situations where, you know, we’re going into negotiations with mana whenua who have responsibility for land, whatever that relationship might be legally and we’re asking for public access or support for public access or hosting of public access. The irony being that, you know, maybe not on that bit of land, but other other parts of the of their whenua, they don’t have access themselves.”

Herenga ā Nuku strategic relationships manager Doug Macredie said the commission thought of tangata whenua land in several different ways.

First there is “ahu whenua” or “ture whenua” – land that survived confiscation and has been retained in Māori ownership. This land may or may not have legal public access, but may also operate within informal community protocols allowing informal access or “access by protocol”, he said.

Second is land returned to Māori by way of Treaty settlements. These often have public access clauses and requirements that remain once the land is returned.

Third is land where owners and governance bodies are not identified or established, much of which is administered by Te Tumu Paeroa, the Office of the Māori Trustee.

“We acknowledge fully here at Herenga ā Nuku that mana whenua, mana whenua whānui, mana whenua a hapū, mana whenua a tangata, kind of overrides this idea of legal ownership. And we as Māori all understand that our tribal jurisdictions and our border connections with other hapū and iwi covers all the whenua in Aotearoa.

“Now, it’s outside of the legal framework, but of course, tuturu in our ngākau, in our manawa, in our whakapapa is that understanding that the whole of Aotearoa is under the banner of what I call mana whenua whānui,” Macredie said.

Herenga ā Nuku Strategic Relationships Manager Doug Macredie. Supplied/Doug Macredie/Te Araroa

Macredie is a trustee of several blocks of whenua – one of which was landlocked – which he said meant going “cap in hand” to neighbours to find ways to access it.

“My mum, my uncles, my koroua and so forth, never, ever got to go across that land… and not that it’s not possible that I can reverse that with helicopters and things like that, but unless you’ve got capability, resourcing, knowledge and support, how do the people break through even to get in touch with their land, to touch it, to feel it, to see it, let alone build a trust or a governance board and undertake initiatives to do stuff on and with the land?”

Macredie said another term he’s heard is “DOC locked”, with whenua Māori completely surrounded by Department of Conservation land.

“There are different degrees of landlocked. So in the case of one particular block that I know of, it technically has paper roads and technically you can walk, clamber, climb, scurry, burrow your way through to the block and stay within the boundaries of these paper roads. If you’ve got all the gear, ropes, crampons and half a day to get there. Whereas if you were to go across a neighbouring landowner’s paddock, you’d be there in 20 minutes,” he said.

DOC locked or semi-locked land blocks were often used by neighbouring private landowners, for grazing and forestry where boundaries slightly converged, and also by recreationists “in the know”, he said.

“For example, the block that I’m a trustee on has a beautiful, beautiful waterfall on it. People go to that waterfall, the people, the recreationists that are in the know just go walking straight across our block, which is not necessarily a problem to us. But that’s a typical situation when you’re not empowered or able to manage and govern your block for all those reasons, then it will just default to other uses by people that are enabled and empowered to get there and use it.”

Macredie said while landlocking was a massive problem for Māori owners, many of these land blocks were beautiful, remote, rugged and pristine which could be an opportunity, particularly in ecotourism.

But to take advantage of any opportunity took time, expertise and resource, he said.

“The issues are not all about lines on maps, etc., but they’re also about awareness and capability and resourcing for the people… to make connection with lands, to govern, to manage and to undertake initiatives and there are immense barriers to that. And so it’s not the role of our agency to address all of that because we’re only dealing with the public access element.

“But we are fully aware of how the public access dimension and the aspirations and the reality of tangata whenua relative to land can and do work together when managed and guided in the right way.”

‘Building the spirit of our country’

Macredie said only a relatively small amount of New Zealand’s land was public, which was divided again into what was accessible and what was not.

“You’ve got to say, well, what is the definition of accessible? What’s accessible for somebody who’s an experienced tramper with all the gear and the latest Subaru four wheel drive and enough money to put petrol in the tank is not necessarily accessible for every other person.

“So accessibility, freedom to enjoy and to be in and around this beautiful land for all New Zealanders, and particularly with some with some pronounced take (issues) from a tangata whenua lens, I think it’s a major, major challenge. But it’s also an incredible opportunity around building the spirit of our country and also releasing opportunities through ecotourism or other community initiatives… that are both good for the people, good for the place and good for the economy.”

Herenga ā Nuku Tāmaki Makaurau regional field advisor Dot Dalziell. Supplied/Outdoor Access Commission Herenga ā Nuku

Dalziell said a real life example can be found in Te Ara Tipuna, a proposed 500-kilometre walking trail along the East Coast from Gisborne to Ōpōtiki, traversing several Māori land blocks on the way.

The trail would link up existing bits of public access and help reconnect the diaspora of Ngāti Porou back to the whenua, she said.

Dalziell said equitable access Aotearoa New Zealand’s great outdoors was what mattered.

“I’m thinking of the young people the rangatahi of Papakura and a place that’s really cherished… There’s a beautiful series of swimming holes up Hays Creek heading into the Hunua. And the only way to get there is up the side of a very windy, rural road that’s got very little shoulder and has a lot of quarry trucks on it because there’s a quarry up in the area as well.

“So that’s what I have in mind when I think about the kind of equitable distribution of outdoor access and what might need to change in the future,” she said.

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Serious incident, Highbury, Palmerston North

Source: New Zealand Police

Police have a visible presence in the Highbury suburb of Palmerston North, as officers respond to a serious incident.

Police were called to the address on Pioneer Highway about 3.15pm.

Cordons are in place around Pioneer Highway, between Cardiff Street and Botanical Road. Members of the public are asked to avoid the area.

Further information will be provided when it becomes available.

ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre

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Yoyoso, Miniso in liquidation – Temu gets the blame again

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Yoyoso store that was on Queen Street, Auckland. Supplied / Google Maps

Retail chain Yoyoso has been placed into liquidation owing millions of dollars, and liquidators say it is unlikely unsecured creditors will get their money back.

The Yoyoso group includes the retail brands Yoyoso, Miniso and Acecco.

Liquidators McDonald Vague said when the chain went into liquidation there were eight shops trading around Auckland but those would close through this month.

“The liquidators have closed the Northcote supermarket (Acecco Supermarket Limited) location due to lack of trading revenue but continued to trade the Mt Albert location.

“The Yoyoso and Miniso stores have continued to trade to reduce the stock levels at each of the stores. As stock levels reduce and/or landlords make decisions on the timing of the stores closing the stores will be vacated and closed with the expectation to have almost all stores closed or vacated over January 2026.

“The staff in the trading entities will continue to be employed as needed to assist in trading down the group, along with a couple of day to day management staff.”

The liquidators say that about $217,000 is owed to former employees for wages, holiday pay and redundancy pay.

So far, $63,000 has been paid to bring wage payments up to date and employees should be paid their entitlements in full.

The liquidators said Inland Revenue was likely to be due $940,000 in GST, PAYE and other payroll deductions. They said they did not think Inland Revenue would get everything it was owed.

Unsecured creditors were due at least $2.1 million, they said, not including contingent claims from landlords or IRD penalties and interest. They might receive zero cents in the dollar, the liquidators said.

Retail consultant Chris Wilkinson, from First Retail Group, said it was part of a general trend in which shoppers looking for things that Yoyoso sold would shop on Temu, AliExpress or Shein instead.

“Generally novelty-type products, party products that people are now able to buy from the source and significantly cheaper. It’s product you don’t necessarily need, novelty activity.”

He said Yoyoso had been able to sustain a large physical presence in the centre of Auckland, on Queen Street, before the behaviour change took hold.

“You need significant volumes to drive business and it wouldn’t happen, it’s not possible under the new way of buying stuff.”

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said it showed how tough it was to be a retailer in New Zealand at the moment.

“It’s a reflection of the New Zealand trading market last year. The retail environment was really tough. This is just another demonstration … a few days ago EB Games announced their proposal for closure. Here’s another group where we’re seeing a nationwide business in liquidation.

“It demonstrates that businesses have held on and they’ve held on and they’ve held on but with no spare cash and trading at a loss you can only sustain that for a certain length of time. These businesses are not seeing the turnaround in the economy come quickly enough for them to survive.”

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Golden Globes 2026: All the winners

Source: Radio New Zealand

Here is the full list of winners from the 2026 Golden Globe Awards.

The latest winner will be added to the top. Refresh this page to stay up to date.

Teyana Taylor attends the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 11, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California.

Amy Sussman / Getty Images / AFP

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Hundreds in lower North Island remain without power following strong winds

Source: Radio New Zealand

Hundreds of homes in Wairarapa and Manawatū are still without power following high winds over the weekend, PowerCo says.

Gusts over 100km/h were recorded in Wellington on Sunday; however, winds have since eased.

A total of 3313 homes on the power supplier’s network were cut off at the wind’s height on Sunday.

PowerCo head of network operations Mark Dunn said 485 customers in Wairarapa and 193 in Manawatū were still without power as of midday Monday.

He said extra crews from Taranaki were brought into the region yesterday in anticipation of weather-related damage.

“Extra precautions have been taken to minimise the risk of fire in these windy and dry conditions, which may result in longer restoration times than usual,” Dunn said.

“We thank customers for their patience as our crews work as quickly as they can to restore power.”

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Update on investigation into deaths of two people, Pukehina

Source: New Zealand Police

Attributable to Investigations Manager Tauranga, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Varnam:

Bay of Plenty Police are continuing to investigate the deaths of two people at an address on Old Coach Road in Pukehina.

Police are able to confirm that the death of the woman is being treated as suspicious, and the death of the man as unexplained.

A 50-year-old man is due to reappear in Tauranga District Court on 30 January on a charge of assaulting a person in a family relationship.

Police continue to be focused on investigating the events that led to the deaths of the two people.

At around 3pm on 1 January Police were notified of a woman that had died at an address on Old Coach Road, Pukehina.

At around 2:10am on 2 January Police were then made aware of a man who had been found deceased in another house on the same property.

Police are continuing to investigate these deaths and ask anyone with information about what happened to contact Police through 105, either online or over the phone, and reference file number: 260101/9901.

Report can also be made anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre.

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Farewell Spit stranding: 11 euthanised, 42 returned to sea

Source: Radio New Zealand

More than 50 whales became stranded on Thursday at Farewell Spit. Supplied / Project Jonah New Zealand

Eleven whales have been euthanised five days on from a mass stranding in Golden Bay.

More than 50 whales became stranded on Thursday at Farewell Spit, and over the weekend hundreds of volunteers worked to refloat them.

Project Jonah said 42 were successfully returned to the sea.

The remaining whales were found re-stranded on Monday morning, showing signs of acute stress. Two others had died overnight.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) said there were poor conditions for refloating on Monday, and the final group were not expected to survive another refloating attempt.

“A condition assessment was carried out this morning by DOC staff and Project Jonah, with support from Massey University experts via video link,” the department said.

“Unfortunately, the whales are not in good condition after five days of strandings, and it was determined euthanasia is the most humane option

“This is not the outcome we had hoped for, but the decision has been made with the welfare of the whales in mind.”

Project Jonah volunteer coordinator Louisa Hawkes said the community response to the stranding had been amazing.

“We couldn’t have done it without everybody who has come down to help, whether that was just for a morning, an afternoon, a day or turning up day after day.

“Every whale had its welfare monitored throughout the event, and those that were in a good condition were given the best possible chance of a refloat.”

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Second health provider, Canopy Health, hit in major cyber attack

Source: Radio New Zealand

123RF

A leading private provider doing breast cancer diagnosis and treatment took six months to notify some patients or the public of a major cyber attack on its systems.

In an update on its website this week, Canopy Health – the largest private medical oncology provider in the country – said on 18 July 2025, it identified that an unknown person “temporarily obtained unauthorised access” to a part of its systems used by its administration team.

“Following a thorough forensic review by our cybersecurity experts, we have been advised that unauthorised access to one of our servers likely occurred, and some data may have been copied.”

The company, which runs 24 diagnostic clinics, eight oncology clinics, two private breast surgical centres and a drug compounding business, said the incident had been “contained” and the investigation was ongoing.

Have you been affected? Share you stories with us at: iwitness@rnz.co.nz

Under its Q&A section, Canopy noted the hacker “may have accessed a small number of bank account numbers, which had been provided to Canopy for payment or refund purposes”.

“We are directly notifying potentially affected individuals.

“It is unlikely the threat actor can take significant action with these details, as sensitive bank account information is highly protected.

However, if you are concerned, please contact your bank.”

One man – whose wife received a letter from Canopy Healthcare on 12 December to inform her of the “cyber event” – said it was the first they had heard of the breach.

Canopy Healthcare has been approached for comment.

Second health data incident

In late December, another provider, Manage My Health, confirmed it had identified a security incident involving “unauthorised access” to its platform.

It believed between 6 and 7 percent of the approximately 1.8 million registered users may have been affected.

On Friday, the company said more than half of all impacted patients had now received a notification email, and all patients who were not affected could also see that in their ManageMyHealth app.

More than 80,000 of the 125,000 patients affected by the ransomware attack are based in Northland – the only region where Health NZ itself uses Manage My Health to share information with patients, including hospital discharge summaries, outpatient clinic letters and referral notifications.

The operators of compromised patient data app ManageMyHealth say they have received “independent confirmation” from IT experts the flaws in its code have been fixed.

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Man charged after pedestrian run down, police car rammed

Source: Radio New Zealand

File image. RNZ / Richard Tindiller

A 36-year-old man is due to appear in court after allegedly running down and assaulting a pedestrian in Nelson.

Inspector Simon Feltham said police received a report of a vehicle crashing into a person and a fence in Atawhai about 8pm on Sunday.

He said the offender then assaulted the pedestrian, causing moderate injuries, before driving away.

When police signalled him to pull over he swerved into the police car, causing a crash which blocked the road.

He and the police officer sustained minor injuries, and were now recovering in hospital.

The man was charged with wounding to intent, strangulation, common assault, unlawful take of a motor vehicle, taking a bank card for pecuniary advantage, wilful damage and refusing a request for a blood test.

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