Source: New Zealand Police
Police can advise State Highway 1 has reopened in both directions following an earlier crash near Oakleigh.
The two vehicle crash, one of which was a large truck, occurred after 6am.
Two people suffered moderate injuries and were transported to hospital.
Police appreciate motorists’ cooperation on the roads this morning.
ENDS
Jarred Williamson/NZ Police
Source: New Zealand Police
District:
At around 8am emergency services received reports of a two-vehicle crash, where there are thought to be serious injuries.
Traffic is being diverted onto State Highway 5.
Motorists are asked to take alternate routes if possible.
ENDS
Source: New Zealand Police
Motorists in Northland are advised to avoid travelling on State Highway One between the North Mangapai Intersection and Mata.
A two vehicle accident on Oakleigh Wharf Road is causing major delays.
Police advise one of the vehicles is a large truck which is blocking the road and may take some time to move.
Traffic is backed-up several kilometres in both directions.
Emergency services are at the scene.
Motorists are advised to use alternative routes and avoid the area.
ENDS
Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets
Last night the Government took a major step toward restoring common sense to financial regulation, with the first readings of three important reform bills, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson.
“Our Government is delivering on its promise to make it easier for New Zealanders to access the financial services they need, whether it’s buying a home, growing a business, or simply managing everyday life,” says Mr Simpson.
“For too long, New Zealanders have been trapped by rules that are overly bureaucratic, unnecessarily repetitive, and sometimes just downright silly. Today, we’ve begun to fix that.”
The Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill, the Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Bill, and the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Amendment Bill are the first legislative steps in a broader package aimed at rewiring New Zealand’s financial services regulation. Together, they form part of a comprehensive overhaul that will rebalance the system to ensure consumer protection without stifling access to credit or innovation.
“For many Kiwis, the absurdity of past rules became clear when banks were forced to quiz them about what they’d been spending on takeaways or Netflix subscriptions before approving a mortgage. That wasn’t responsible lending, it was regulatory overreach.”
These three bills focus on addressing some of the most counterproductive aspects of the current law:
“These changes are pro-consumer, pro-competition, and pro-growth. They ensure that financial institutions are held to account without being tied up in needless red tape that drives up costs for everyone.”
The reform package delivers on a core part of the National-ACT coalition agreement to rewrite the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003.
“These changes are about enabling our economy to flourish. Financial regulation should protect people, not block their ambitions. This progress means we’re one step closer to a more dynamic, fair, and accessible financial system for all.”
Notes to editors
Fact sheet for the Bills is attached.
Source: New Zealand Police
Police have located a 36-year-old man who is alleged to have escaped Police custody at a rural Gisborne property yesterday.
The man was observed returning home shortly after 11pm and was arrested without incident, said Inspector Soni Malaulau, Tairāwhiti Police.
“He was cold but otherwise unharmed.”
Enquiries are continuing and Police are considering charges.
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre
Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand
21 May 2025 – Today marks the launch of Tara-ā-Umanga Business Expectations Survey (BES), with our publication of results for the June quarter (Table M15). BES is a quarterly release that will be published ahead of each Monetary Policy Statement.
The initial publication includes our Stats Insight, a background note as a guide to interpret the new survey results, and a description of our survey methodology.
BES includes several hundred businesses from different sectors around the country, from small to large firms. It is separate from the existing Survey of Expectations focusing on expert forecasters, economists and industry leaders (Table M14, from 1987 onwards), which will continue.
The sample size and design enable new breakdowns by business size and industry, which are published in the data file accompanying Table M15. To facilitate the publication of detailed results by business size and industry, along with common measures of statistical uncertainty, we are using a new file format for the M15 data file. This intentionally differs from the file format of our other statistical releases. A description of the variables published in the M15 data file is available in the background notes to this release.
Background information
Inflation expectations are important because households and businesses reflect their expectations in their price- and wage-setting decisions. Improving the quality of our expectation surveys is part of the wider response to our 2022 review of how we formulate and implement our monetary policy. In this review, we identified several areas where better data could support high quality monetary policy decision-making.
For further information please see: Tara-ā-Umanga Business Expectations Survey: Survey design and development: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=ce329fb983&e=f3c68946f8
Source: Better Taxes for a Better Future
The decision by the Government to abandon the proposed Digital Services Tax has been described as very disappointing by the Better Taxes for a Better Future campaign, raising questions about how the Government intends to fill the revenue gap left by this move. It also raises questions about how the Government will ensure digital services companies are paying a fair rate of tax on their earnings in New Zealand.
The Digital Services Tax Bill, which was introduced by the previous Labour Government has been sitting on Parliament’s order paper since August 2023. It would have instituted a 3% tax on digital services revenue earned from New Zealand customers by large digital services companies. Treasury had already included the revenue from the proposed tax in its latest forecasts and estimated it would contribute $479m between 2027 and 2029.
“We need to know how the Government intends to plug the $479m revenue gap left by their decision to drop the Digital Services Tax, at a time when our public services, particularly health, are in crisis because of underfunding,” says Glenn Barclay spokesperson for the Better Taxes campaign.
“The digital economy has proven very difficult to tax and the absence of a digital services tax has allowed multi-national tech companies to avoid paying their fair share of tax in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
“Around 18 countries already operate digital services taxes, and while the American administration doesn’t like them, we are not aware of any countries repealing these laws in response to threats from the Trump administration,” says Glenn Barclay.
“Instead of giving in to such threats,the Government should have proceeded with the Bill, or at the very least left it on the Parliamentary Order Paper until it could be implemented or an alternative developed.”
“If the Government is stepping away from the Bill then we need to know how it intends to progress the taxation of multi-national tech companies in this country, to ensure that these companies contribute to this country, rather than just exploiting their privileged position.” says Glenn Barclay.
“We don’t share the Minister’s optimism about an enforceable agreement on minimum corporate tax rates at the OECD in the medium term in the face of opposition from the Trump Administration. New Zealand needs another solution.”
“In addition it leaves another big question mark over how the Government will ensure advertising-dependent news local media will survive when their news and advertising is being taken by the social media giants who don’t pay a fair rate of tax,” says Glenn Barclay.
ENDS
Media spokesperson: Glenn Barclay – 027 295 5110
The Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign is a coalition of over 20 organisations led by Tax Justice Aotearoa.
We believe that tax reform is the only solution to the current challenges facing Aotearoa NZ. We need the tax system to:
be transparent
raise more revenue to enable us address the challenges we face
make sure people who have more to contribute make that contribution: that we gather more revenue from wealth, gains from wealth, all forms of income, and corporates
make greater use of fair taxes to promote good health and environmental health
address the tax impact on the least well off in our society.
Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua
21 May 2025 – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua has published a Transitional Standard, outlining how deposit takers must collect and store customer information in the event of a deposit taker failure so that they can ensure timely payments.
The Deposit Takers (Depositor Compensation Scheme Transitional Provisions) Standard 2025 comes into force on 1 July 2025 and sets out how deposit takers should gather alternate bank details from depositors in the event of a failure, so that Depositor Compensation Scheme (DCS) payments can be made as quickly as possible.
Deposit takers that provide online software for their depositors to view or manage their accounts, such as internet or mobile applications, must have a pre-positioned DCS depositor page that can be easily accessed on these platforms in the event of a failure. This requirement comes into effect on 1 July 2025 for non-mobile based platforms, and on 31 December 2025 for mobile-based applications.
The DCS depositor page will be used to collect customers’ alternate bank account details so that DCS payments can be made into an active bank account at another deposit taker.
Having a prepositioned DCS depositor page improves the user experience in the event of a failure as depositors will be able to verify their identity through their normal online process and enter their alternate account details. This should make the payment process faster and reduce risks associated with having to verify the identity of depositors on a separate platform.
The Transitional Standard also sets out an alternate model for collecting customer data if deposit takers can collect the required information more efficiently using a different approach. Deposit takers have the option to submit a written proposal to the RBNZ that outlines their proposed alternate method for collecting depositor information securely from authorised individuals other than via a DCS depositor page.
The RBNZ consulted on a draft of this Transitional Standard between 6 December 2024 and 7 February 2025 and received 10 submissions from a combination of deposit takers and industry bodies.
You can find the Transitional Standard and Guidance here: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=6911a962bd&e=f3c68946f8
More information
Source: New Zealand Police
Hawke’s Bay Police are asking the public for information to stop dirt bike riders in their tracks, before they cause more serious harm.
Senior Sergeant Ross Smith says a woman and a young boy have been injured recently in two separate incidents due to “dangerous, and frankly stupid” behaviour by people on dirt bikes.
Last week on Wednesday an 8-year-old boy suffered a broken bone in his leg after being hit by a dirt bike rider in Flaxmere.
And on 24 April a woman was hit by a dirt bike outside a café in Hastings, causing moderate injuries, while the two young riders received critical and serious injuries.
“There continues to be ongoing issues with people of all ages riding dirt bikes illegally on roads, footpaths and parks, mainly in the Flaxmere and Camberley areas,” Senior Sergeant Smith says.
“Riders are not wearing helmets or robust safety clothing. The motorbikes are often unregistered, not warranted and some are in poor condition and not road worthy.
“These riders have little regard for other road users, pedestrians or families using the parks and the public are paying the price.
“We are also urging parents of children who use dirt bikes to make sure they do so in a safe way, otherwise more people will get hurt,” says Senior Sergeant Smith.
Police are prepared to take enforcement action when necessary.
We are asking people if they witness any of this kind of behaviour to report it to Police on 111 if it is happening now, or 105.police.govt.nz if it is after the fact.
If you see dirt bikes being ridden dangerously then please take photos or videos and send it into Hawke’s Bay Police through the 105 website.
You may have also captured them on other devices such as dash cams or house security cameras. This can be done anonymously through our 105 services.
Gain as much information as you are safely able to, including the type of activity, any descriptions of the bikes and riders, the areas where this activity occurs and where they may come from, and any photos or video footage.
If Police are not able to attend these incidents immediately, follow-up action will be taken.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre
Source: New Zealand Police
Please attribute to Inspector Soni Malaulau, Tairāwhiti Police:
Gisborne Police are urgently seeking information as to the whereabouts of a man who fled from rural property this morning.
Sonny Kennedy was arrested at a Whakarau Road address around 9:30am, and was searched, before being handcuffed at the front of his body.
An officer was walking the 36-year-old to a police vehicle, before he fled on foot towards Whakarau Road.
The property is approximately 6km south-east of Matawai, around 26km from the intersection with State Highway 2.
Kennedy was dressed in a dark-coloured hoodie and light-coloured trousers and sneakers, and may have fled to a nearby bush area.
Police are working urgently to find him, as there are concerns for his welfare due to his ill-preparedness for the conditions and his potential state of mind.
Police are asking to the public to help us with any information you can. If you see Kennedy or have information as to his whereabouts, please call 111 straight away with any information, rather than approach him directly.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre.