Housing Minister Chris Bishop (left) and Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka (right) taking questions at a Select Committee.Anneke Smith
Housing Minister Chris Bishop is encouraging tenants to negotiate a cheaper deal as rent prices drop.
Rental prices fell their lowest level in two years in September, prompting some landlords to offer incentives to entice people to viewings.
Speaking after a Select Committee on housing on Wednesday afternoon, Bishop said renters should be taking advantage of the market.
“I’d encourage people to go and negotiate with their landlord and if they think they can get lower rent, they should, because that’ll be good for them and it will be good for their own back pocket.
“I had a guy say to me yesterday that he was paying $650 a week and in his apartment building he found two apartments for rent in the same building at $600, exactly the same apartment.
“[He] rang his landlord up and said, ‘oi, I’m on $650 these are going for $600, I could move’. Rent got lowered to $600 straight away.”
Bishop said the ever-escalating rents had been a cultural problem that had plagued the country for two decades.
“So the idea that it goes the other way, that the power is actually in the hands of tenants to go and negotiate with landlords, rather than what was been the status quo for too long, which is basically people lining up and fighting like a herd of cats to get into a rental property… those days, at the moment, anyway, are over, and actually the power is in the hands of tenants.
“That’s quite unusual. My message to tenants is, use it.”
Quizzed on 1500 more houses
Earlier in the Select Committee, Bishop was asked a question from Labour’s Kieran McAnulty about whether the government was on track to meet its promise of building 1500 new houses by June 2027, and 550 in 2026.
“Yes, that’s the advice I’ve had. Subject to the fact that things move around a bit, there’ll be some stuff that will inevitably slip. That’s the nature of construction,” the Minister replied.
“Some of the feedback that I’m sure Kāinga Ora may mention to you is that they are struggling with consenting, for example, with councils, and there have been delays in some projects because they are having difficulties with council consents.”
McAnulty pushed Bishop on this answer by presenting an aide memoire that showed officials warned the Minister about risks to his delivery timeframe in August this year.
McAnulty: “It quite clearly shows that only 337 are set to be delivered in the 2025/26 financial year, 609 in 2026/27 but 462 of those are after the deadline of 30 June 2027. It still doesn’t add up to the amount that you’ve funded.”
Bishop: “As I say, there’s always the risk of slippage. We’ll be working hard to make sure those houses are delivered but I don’t control consenting and I also don’t control the construction sector… all I can do is approve the funding and hold people’s feet to the flame and make sure they get on with it.”
Prisoners should get housing support after release – Bishop
The Green Party’s Tamatha asked Bishop what the government’s position on the role of public housing was, and if it intended on continuing to fund state houses.
Bishop said while one of his “driving ambitions” in government was to fix the housing crisis, it didn’t mean pulling back public safety nets.
“There will always be people with addiction challenges, people with mental health, people leaving prison, people exiting youth justice facilities and or just on the simple grounds of unaffordability, there will always be people who the government should step in to support.
“That’s not up for debate, that is government policy and always will be. The question is, what is the most effective form of that support and I reject the view that the government has to do everything.
“We can work with the Salvation Army, we can work with our fantastic community housing providers up and down the country, we can work with iwi, we can work with Māori land trusts, some of whom do a fantastic job.
“There’s a whole range of different people we can and should work with government money. It doesn’t have to be all delivered by the state.”
Bishop said he was particularly interested in how to better support newly-released prisoners, though he did not commit any policies or money to the idea.
“One of the areas I’m particularly passionate about is prisoners who leave prison and bounce out of the corrections facilities and often have nowhere to go and inevitably end up committing crime and end up back in the prison system.
“I would like to see us as a country do far more for those people, because the most expensive form of social housing the government provides is prison. It’s the most expensive roof over someone’s head.”
Ministers pushed on youth homelessness
Paul also asked Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka about youth homelessness, off the back of a State of the Street report that found rough sleeping was getting worse.
She pointed out there was no youth transitional housing in Rotorua, Napier, Taupō, Gisborne, Kaikohe, Whangārei or the North Shore, asking the Minister what his message to people in those areas was.
“There’s severe housing deprivation and quite a degree of homelessness in different places throughout the country and youth homelessness is not adjacent to that. It’s actually part of some of the severe housing deprivation that people are facing,” Potaka said.
The Minister said providers were doing great work and the government was funding placements for homeless young people, but challenges remained.
“Part of that is whānau disconnect and some other challenges, whether they’re mental health or otherwise. In the most recent announcements in December, some of that money got allocated out to Mā Te Huruhuru to help support with some transitional housing in Tāmaki Makaurau. Is it enough?
“Well, we’ll see how that goes but certainly, we’ve been really encouraged that they’ve got that putea allocated out to different entities and organisations who are there to support not just youths, but actually all whānau and others that are facing the severe housing deprivation.”
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Ashvin Illangeshwaran says exchanging letters helped him learn a new culture.Ashvin Illangeshwaran
Today, the average New Zealand Post letter drop off point gets less than two letters per week.
But in a world where technology means we are only one tap away from seeing friends and families, some young people are keeping snail mail alive.
As Amber Parsons shuffles through a collection of letters, she said her penpals range from friends, family, to strangers she met on the odd occasion.
Amber Parsons says letters are a unique and tangible way to connect with others.Ke-Xin Li
“It was really nostalgic [reading them]. I think maybe one of them might even be from maybe 2016 or 2017. I have a letter from my ex-boyfriend that I forgot that I even had. This letter is from an internet friend from when I was a teenager. We became friends on Pinterest. We kept in touch on Instagram and we write letters to each other.”
The 26-year-old started writing letters as a child to stay in touch with family in Zimbabwe. Now, for her it’s a unique and tangible way to connect with others.
“I just think letters are a really nice way to send something a bit more thoughtful and intentional and I really like that it’s something from your own hands to someone else’s hands. It can cross oceans or cross time zones to reach them.”
On top of delivering thoughts and messages, Amber sees her letters as mini care parcels and often slides in poems, drawings, stickers, and sometimes teabags.
Amber Parsons sometimes put hand painted cards and poems into the letters she sends out.Ke-Xin Li
Ashvin Illangeshwaran wrote his first letter when he was five years old – to send gift requests to relatives overseas.
Now 33, Ashvin has moved from Sri Lanka to Hamilton, and he’s still writing.
“Because writing takes a lot of courage and patience and discipline. When I write from my hand, it’s more emotional than writing an e-mail.”
Ashvin keeps his letters simple and said he focuses on his handwriting.
He often writes to his mentor who lives in Dunedin, who he calls “koro”. They would also text and call each other, but for them, letters carry a different weight.
Ashvin Illangeshwaran says exchanging letters helped him learn a new culture.Ashvin Illangeshwaran
“I learned Māori because every time he writes something, he writes in Māori as well. So that’s a learning curve for me.”
A letter from “koro” also comes with stamps printed with New Zealand landscapes, flora and fauna, and words and phrases.
“I got to learn different birds, different areas, different regions, different cultures.”
Noureen Koorimannil-Valiyamannil says writing letters helped better connect with others.Ke-Xin Li
Twenty-four-year-old Noureen Koorimannil-Valiyamannil always had cellphones and Facebook when she was growing up.
But after writing letters to her friends as a teenager, she fell in love with it as a way to process her emotions.
“Even texting, I think people read it in so many different ways, and there’s so many double meanings to a lot of texting. And about calling, again, it’s all very instant. I don’t think you get a lot of time to process big stuff [in calling]. I’m the kind of person who usually takes my time to respond. In that sense, I think letters made me connect with others in my way.”
Now living in Auckland, she writes to her friends in India.
To get the letters safely delivered during India’s monsoon season, Noureen would wrap the letters in plastic and tape the address on the envelope.
She wants them to last for a long time, even if they’re a bit embarrassing.
“Sometimes me and my friends call and then we’ll be reminiscing and then they’ll say, oh, remember this letter you wrote and they would quote from that. Sometimes it’s so cringe, I’m like, ‘can you please stop?'”
But Noureen’s chuckle spoke louder than her words. She loved those moments, embarrassed by what she wrote, but was proud to see how far she had come.
And part of the joy of sending letters is also receiving them, as Amber explained.
“It reminds me of being a kid, getting mail and it was so exciting. I think as an adult, most of the time the mailbox is just full of junk mail and bills and stuff we don’t even really read. So sometimes I forget to check the mailbox and then when I do and there’s a letter there, it’s like a really fun surprise and it makes my day.
“It’s like, oh my gosh, I got a letter! It feels so whimsical and it’s really exciting.”
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The New Zealand Women’s R4 Rafting team from Rangitikei has made it to Malaysia to compete in the International Rafting Federation World Championships.Supplied
Five rafting wahine have paddled their way to the top after shovelling poo to get there.
The New Zealand Women’s R4 Rafting team from Rangitikei has made it to Malaysia to compete in the International Rafting Federation World Championships.
The team took out the Pacific Cup rafting championship in March after only practising four times together. From there, they were selected to go world-wide.
The team is made up of five people, including the captain Janey Megaw. Four are on the water, while a reserve waits in the wings with their coach.
Megaw said it’s a pretty surreal feeling to be out of Rangitikei and on the other side of the world, competing internationally for the first time.
They compete across four disciplines, first up was the sprint.
They started with the sprint.
“That is just a timed event, one boat on the river at a time and based on the fastest time,” said Megaw.
They took out gold in that division and are hoping to keep it that way.
Next comes head to head. They are seeded off the sprint times and race to the bottom against another team navigating buoys in the river.
“We’re up against the Czech’s first. So they’re tough… they’re tough buggers.”
Then it’s the slalom, much like a kayak slalom, but the gates a further apart so the raft can fit.
“That is a wicked technical event, and it is also timed… You get two chances to to record your time. So first one, generally you take nice and slow and just try not to make any mistakes by hitting the gates, because you get penalised time wise every time you hit one.”
Lastly, the down hill river race.
“That’s about 10 kilometres, you start in a bunch, and it’s the first one over the finish line at the end.”
The New Zealand Women’s R4 Rafting team from Rangitikei has made it to Malaysia to compete in the International Rafting Federation World Championships.Supplied
Competing at an international event is not really where they expected to find themselves, said Megaw.
They combined two teams to compete in the Pacific Cup, a race with six women per boat.
With limited practice, the team wasn’t expecting good results but after the first event, they changed their tune.
“The first event, we won, and we were like, ‘far out, this is awesome… we should actually give this a nudge’,” Megaw said.
“Then we got told, ‘Oh, by the way, if you win, it’s a selection, so you’ll be the team that represents New Zealand and the next international rafting championships’.
“We were like, ‘what?”’
But despite their huge success, the team wasn’t sure it would make the next stage.
“t was a huge commitment, not only for us, but our friends, our family, the companies we work for, the fund-raising that was involved for us to get here”
The five women spent three days “grovelling around in shit” in the woolsheds to raise money.
Megaw is hoping that hard mahi pays off.
“We’re pretty keen to, you know, give it a nudge, take it on. We’re strong… and we’ve got a bit of mongrel… So we’ll just have to get in there.”
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Michael BracewellAndrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz / Photosport Ltd 2025
The Black Caps have taken firm control of the first cricket test against the West Indies in Christchurch.
A five wicket haul for Jacob Duffy saw the Windies dismissed for just 167, handing New Zealand a first innings lead of 64.
The West Indies made a solid start to the day, Shai Hope and Tagenarine Chanderpaul taking them past three figures for the loss of just two wickets.
Hope notched fifty before he held out to Devon Conway at square leg.
It has been a forgettable test thus far for the Kiwi opener, who after getting out for a duck, dropped Chanderpaul twice at leg slip.
However, much like Kane Williamson in the first innings who was also given a reprieve from a no-ball, Chanderpaul reached his half century, before Conway finally managed to pouch one on third attempt.
With Chanderpaul in the sheds, the Windies tail offered little resistance, Duffy quickly mopping them up as the visitors lost their last four wickets for just 27 runs.
The Kiwis have yet to lose a wicket in their second innings, with Tom Latham, 14, and Conway 15, at the crease with the lead nearing 100.
Play is set to resume at 11am.
Follow what happened in the second day of play in the blog below:
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Explainer – Whether it’s a Metallica concert, the Santa Parade or, yes, even the much-hyped opening of IKEA, Auckland Transport Operation Centre is tasked with trying to keep people moving.
It looks a little bit like NASA’s Mission Control, with dozens of monitors and computer screens all humming away with eyes on a city of more than 1.5 million people every busy day.
Nestled amongst the cafes and offices of Auckland’s North Shore, the Auckland Transport Operation Centre – ATOC for short – is the nerve centre of a massive network of roads, bus schedules, intersections and stop signs throughout much of the North Island. Between Christmas shopping and holiday road trips, it’s entering one of the busiest times of the year.
Here’s a look at how exactly it all works.
Claire Howard is the manager at Auckland Transport Operation Centre (ATOC).RNZ / Nik Dirga
What exactly does ATOC do?
The centre is run in a partnership by Auckland Transport and NZTA and operates Auckland as what’s called “one network” – responsible for managing local roads, state highways, bus and ferry travel, as well as train travel, which is handled from a separate location.
It covers state highways from Taupō to Cape Reinga, while a sister centre in Wellington covers from Tūrangi to Invercargill.
Between them, the two centres cover approximately 11,000 km of state highways.
Claire Howard has been managing the Auckland centre for the past year and a half, and previously put in many years on the “shop floor” there.
“The network is like the arteries in your body – they’re all connected,” she said.
“We have a kind of ethos that we want to get our customers from A to B, and travel as quickly and efficiently as possible, regardless of who operates that part of the network.”
What this means is a constantly churning surveillance network across CCTV and other trackers keeping an eye on motorways, bus stops, and much more.
And it never truly shuts down.
“Twenty-four seven every day of the year,” said Zane Davidson, real-time operations manager. “You can kind of get a sense here just standing back and appreciating the amount of activity going on.”
The team deals with morning peak and evening rush hour peak traffic, and the increasingly short period of time in between called “interpeak”.
The main control room is split up into sections – one area covering the bus network, one the motorways, while others monitor local roads and incidents. Those flashing electronic billboards you see around the city alerting you to wet weather or heavy winds? Those are all controlled here.
Auckland Transport Operation Centre monitors traffic from Tāupo to Cape Reinga.RNZ/Calvin Samuel
ATOC by the numbers
Responsible for managing traffic across 3000km of state highways from Taupō to Cape Reinga and 7500km of arterial and local roads across Auckland
Staff are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
More than 5000 CCTV cameras keep watch
16,000 traffic signal adjustments are made each month
The centre also manages traffic control for around 70 planned events a year
They also deal with more than 40,000 “unplanned” events – accidents, weather chaos, breakdowns and the like
Auckland Transport Operation Centre is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.RNZ/Calvin Samuel
So they control the traffic lights and on-ramp signals here?
They do, but the majority of the work is automated now, with frequent real-time adjustments made by ATOC staff based on traffic flow or incidents.
“The ramp signal network is pretty much now fully automated,” said principal signal engineer Mitch Tse. “We have detectors on the network, particularly on the state highway or motorway network, collecting data constantly.”
“That historical data is built up over time and we’ve got algorithms that we set up and parameters that we set up to essentially maintain or protect the state highway network to keep traffic and our customers moving. They’ll come on automatically as they see if there’s a flow breakdown … and then the operators can manually override.”
Traffic lights are run by a system called SCATS, first developed in Sydney and now used around the world.
Simply put, the system uses detectors in the road that can detect vehicles approaching intersections, as well as the volume of vehicles and time between their movements. Nearby intersections can be linked with each other and coordinate the broader traffic picture in the area, and a central manager analyses the broader region and makes adjustments.
“We’ve got vehicle sensors on the approach or at the limit lines, and they’re constantly collecting data,” Tse said.
“It can determine how much time is given to each approach, depending on demand.”
At any time the system can be accessed and manually altered by operators if needed.
How the SCATS system works:
Tse said it’s important to consider protecting the entire traffic corridor when incidents happen. Looking at the big picture when managing traffic jams may not cheer up the person in their Corolla stuck in the middle of it all, but a broader approach is key with so many moving parts.
“In terms of our intervention, it’s going to be a calculated one, so that we know we’re protecting or monitoring the entire corridor instead of one intersection,” he said.
There’s also a balance between day to day activity on the traffic network and planning ahead for the future.
Zane Davidson, real-time operations manager at Auckland Transport Operation Centre (ATOC).RNZ / Nik Dirga
What about emergency incidents?
One of the big jobs at ATOC is looking for problems on the road network, which can range from a car broken down in the Waterview Tunnel to a major accident.
“Seconds mean a lot to us,” Howard said. “The sooner that we can find it and for the event to be identified, the sooner we can do something about it and we can get the right resources to the site. The sooner that it can be cleared and we can put the traffic back to normal for that time of day.”
There are more than 100 incidents a day on average which ATOC deals with, frequently in partnership with other agencies such as Fire and Emergency New Zealand. There’s also a NZ Police officer on duty to monitor events.
“It’ll range from a vehicle stopped, which might have a minor impact for a limited time, all the way through to a serious crash or damage to an asset,” Davidson said.
For instance, on the day RNZ visited ATOC, a roadworks equipment breakdown on the Harbour Bridge led to multiple lane closures during early morning rush hour.
When that happens, AT and NZTA put out communications as quickly as possible on their journey planner apps and social media to notify drivers of delays.
During weather events, things can get pretty hectic. ATOC has an incident planning room which is put into action when an event rises beyond “BAU” – “business as usual” in AT lingo.
“When it goes above a business as usual then we stand up an incident management team,” Howard said.
Electronic billboards around Auckland are controlled at Auckland Transport Operations Centre.RNZ / Nik Dirga
Their systems keep track of faults and prioritise them by urgency, and ATOC staff are in constant communication with each other in person and over their communications networks.
“At any one time we can have upwards of 10 things going on at once,” Davidson said.
“The team’s so good at just triaging and prioritising and just working through things quite methodically now. It’s quite hard to panic them.
“These guys respond to hundreds of events every single day,” Howard said. “Some of them you know about, some of them you will never know about.”
Tse said it’s important to consider protecting the entire traffic corridor when incidents happen.
“In terms of our intervention, it’s going to be a calculated one, so that we know we’re protecting or monitoring the entire corridor instead of one intersection.”
ATOC also frequently undergoes planning for events on the scale of Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Anniversary Weekend floods in Auckland.
“We learned a lot from Gabrielle and the cyclones and the Auckland floods,” Howard said. “We learned a heck of a lot and we’ve done a lot to mitigate and reduce some of that impact.”
Davidson said simulations are run several times a year of possible scenarios, from another cyclone event on down.
November’s Metallica concert drew thousands to Eden Park.Tom Grut
And what about planned events?
ATOC also handles the planning for upwards of 70 events a year that might require road closures or traffic management – and that can range from the opening of IKEA to the recent Metallica concert at Eden Park.
Each event carries its own unique traffic patterns which factors into planning, Davidson said.
“It’s understanding what people are trying to do when they are attending these concerts,” he said. “You’ve got a very different audience depending on what you’re going to see. … The transport demands are different.
“A Metallica audience might attract people from Hamilton, for example, whereas something more local like the All Blacks might not necessarily to the same degree.”
Up to 120,000 vehicles an hour can travel on some of the busiest roads.RNZ / Nicky Park
I still get stuck in traffic all the time, though. Can’t that be fixed?
Realistically, that can’t happen unless many people stop using their cars. AT estimates there’s up to 120,000 vehicles per hour on some of Auckland’s arterial roads.
Increased use of public transport and projects like the enormous Auckland City Rail Link – not expected to open until later in 2026 – may help.
“We’ll always have some sort of congestion somewhere on the network,” Howard said.
The report, “Auckland’s Cost of Congestion”, estimated the average Aucklander could waste more than 17 hours in traffic each year by 2026 – working out to 29 million hours every year across the city.
Brown supports introducing some form of congestion charging to Auckland, as has been seen in other cities around the world.
A major shake-up of Auckland Transport announced by the government for next year could affect ATOC operations. A new Auckland Regional Transport Committee will make policy and planning decisions.
Auckland Council said it is too early to be definitive on how the transport reform might affect existing programs like ATOC. The Transport Reform Bill is not expected to be finalised until March.
“The council and AT are currently focused on making decisions on the functions and activity that will sit with the new council-controlled organisation and what will transfer to the council,” said Megan Tyler, the council’s director of policy, planning and governance. “However, decisions on this have not yet been made.”
ATOC has a team of traffic engineers whom Howard said are always looking at “how is this route operating over a certain amount of time?”
“And do we need to make permanent changes because there’s more demand? And that could be maybe a new school is opened up or a shopping centre has opened up. What do we need to do to change that?”
Howard said that some responsibility falls on drivers as well to avoid congestion – witness repeated warnings about congestion around Mount Wellington with IKEA’s opening this week.
“One of the things I would love is for people to plan ahead for anything. I think we’ve gone past the days where you can jump in the car and think you’ll always get a free rein through to wherever you want to go.
“If you are travelling around, whether it’s for your Christmas shopping, whether it’s for your holidays, plan ahead, plan for those delays, use navigation apps that are out there, so you’re prepared.”
Screens are constantly buzzing monitoring the motorways and roads at Auckland Transport Operation Centre.RNZ/Calvin Samuel
Ultimately, how much can traffic management do?
Nobody is ever happy when they get stuck in traffic jams, but go back again to the analogy at the start of this article – the network is like a giant circulatory system, and all the pieces have to work together to keep it moving.
Howard said that constantly growing Auckland creates its own challenges.
This is why you’ll see things like the dynamic lane changes, such as ones recently installed on Maioro Road in New Windsor, which can change the direction of traffic lanes at peak times of the day.
“We don’t have a lot of space in Auckland to build nice brand new roads and keep people moving everywhere. … We’ve got to do things a little bit more intelligently and differently.”
“If we weren’t here, you would definitely notice. The congestion would be worse, you would be less informed, you wouldn’t understand what’s going on the network …. it would just be a lot worse if these teams weren’t here 24-7 operating the network.”
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Associate Health Minister Casey Costello.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has been back in the firing line on Wednesday over big tobacco’s influence, with a health select committee erupting into heated debate on government plans to roll out oral tobacco and nicotine products.
Last year, Cabinet agreed in principal to allow the sale of smokeless products (such as Swedish snus and nicotine pouches) – subject to the products meeting “safety requirements” and regulatory controls to stop youth access.
Costello – who has repeatedly denied allegations of an overly-cosy relationship with the tobacco industry – assured MPs she remained focused on achieving the Smokefree 2025 goals.
The question was how to get there.
“I think we can all agree we’ve got a real anomaly around the fact that we have greater levels of regulation around vapes than we do around tobacco, so I think there’s a lot of work around how we do that.
“I’m working through the advice from the [expert advisory] group to understand what is the next step, what are things we need to do to ensure there’s the appropriate level of regulatory control, and how do we move forward to ensure we don’t end up with a system where people go back to smoking.”
The Minister favours harm reduction: encouraging smokers to switch to e-cigarettes and oral nicotine products.
However, Labour’s health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall noted Parliament had already struggled to get the vaping genie back into its bottle.
“Why would you consider introducing a new form of nicotine to New Zealand that will only create another pool of addiction in young people?” she asked.
Costello accused her of “conflating” different issues.
“We didn’t have any [vaping] regulation to start with… we went from no regulation to reactive regulation.”
Youth vaping rates were now decreasing – but other options were needed for that hardcore group of older smokers who were struggling to kick the habit, Costello said.
“There are two countries that have lower smoking rates than us, and they have other nicotine products.”
Verrall grilled the Minister repeatedly whether she would accept her expert advisory group’s recommendation to only introduce oral nicotine products if there was evidence they were safer than tobacco and reduced smoking.
“Why won’t you accept an evidence-based recommendation?”
Costello retorted she was not saying she would not accept it.
“But there are a number of recommendations in that report and we will work through as to how we can operationalise those recommendations and how it ultimately contributes to our….”
“We expect people to say ‘no’ to drugs every day – just say no to this!” Verrall interjected.
Lessons from Australia on what not to do
National’s Cameron Luxton had a less combative question for the Minister, asking whether she had been observing developments in Australia following what he called its “poorly designed and burdensome” regulatory approach.
Over audible mutterings from Verrall about that question coming out of the Taxpayers’ Union playbook, Costello said indeed there had been an increase in smoking rates in Australia.
“And the influence of organised crime into that space has been significantly damaging to communities.
“So well-intentioned, burdensome regulations have actually had an perverse outcome, is what you’ve told us?” Luxton pressed.
“Yes, that was the indication from the increasing levels of smoking that we’ve seen in Australia,” she replied.
“And decreased excise,” Luxton finished for her.
Big Tobacco targeting younger generation – public health expert
Otago University tobacco control researcher Dr Jude Ball told RNZ the risks from black market tobacco were well known and there were ways to mitigate them.
However, unleashing another whole class of addictive products would not further the ultimate goal of a smoke-free New Zealand.
“There’s no evidence that oral nicotine products can help people quit smoking. But there is quite strong evidence that these products are being marketed to and used by young people.”
Tobacco companies had “a foothold” in the vaping market – but it was dominated by Chinese manufacturers and local producers, she said.
“So they’ve all got these oral nicotine products and they’re lobbying and pushing really hard to get access to market so they can claw back their share of the nicotine market and expand it, by addicting young people.”
The reason smokers struggled to quit was because cigarettes were “incredibly addictive and available everywhere”.
Unfortunately legislation to cut the amount of nicotine in cigarettes and other measures were repealed by this government before they could be put into action, she said.
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Ousted Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi is taking the party’s president John Tamihere to court.
Kapa-Kingi was expelled from the party, alongside Tākuta Ferris, in early November after a period of internal conflict.
Iwi leaders had been hopeful the party’s two factions could patch things up at a hui in Wellington last month.
The party’s co-leaders instead announced the national council had voted to expel them, with immediate effect, over “serious breaches” of the party’s consitution.
In response to news of his expulsion at the time, Ferris issued a statement, saying the decision “is plainly unconstitutional”.
“I do not acknowledge the decisions and illegal resolutions made through unilateral measures.”
In a statement posted on social media, Kapa-Kingi also called the decision unconstitutional and said she intended to appeal it “in all respects”.
“In the meantime, I remain the duly elected Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau and will continue to stand for, and show up for the people of Te Tai Tokerau to do the job I was elected to do.”
Te Pāti Māori more recently declined an offer by Te Rūnanga Ā Iwi o Ngāpuhi to meet in Kaikohe to discuss the expulson of Kapa-Kingi.
The now-independent Te Tai Tokerau MP is now applying for an interim injunction (a temporary court order halting a specific action) against president Tamihere and others.
While no details have been released, the hearing will likely be a challenge to the legality of the party’s decision to expel the Northland MP.
The hearing is set down for 10am on Thursday in the High Court in Wellington.
Kapa-Kingi and Tamihere have both been approached for comment.
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Some of the latest coloured sand products to be recalled over asbestos fears. (File photo)Supplied
It could cost one kindergarten operator hundreds of thousands of dollars to decontaminate its sites that tested positive for asbestos from coloured play sand, it says.
Whanau Manaaki got tests on 13 kindergartens where the play sand was used, and three in Wellington returned positive results.
It has meant significant clean up work.
Its chief executive, Amanda Coulston, told Checkpoint, the not-for-profit group had spent $40,000 on the tests so far.
“In those kindergartens, generally that means that all of the porous products such as the carpet, toys, soft toys, things like that would have to be removed and destroyed.
“And then we have to wait and they test again, and then we need to refurnish our kindergartens so the children can go back,” Coulston said.
“So all of that is, hugely disruptive.”
Coulston expected the final cost to be between $300,000 and $350,000, which is not covered by insurance.
“The Ministry [of Education], you know, has been pretty hands off in terms of all of this,” she said.
“And all we’ve been told to do is go to the suppliers and try to litigate to get reimbursement from them.”
Coulston said staff were angry and aggrieved that regulations were “obviously not strong enough” to stop the contamination in the first place.
“Schools and early childhood services are left to fend for themselves, so you have to chase your own money,” she said.
A Lower Hutt mother the day before on Checkpoint, said she was stressed and worried over whether she had done enough to keep her children safe, aged 3 and 10 months.
Keren Lee’s home also returned a positive result after she bought contaminated sand six months ago.
Some parents who bought the sand have told RNZ that Kmart should pay for the product and their homes to be tested.
Kmart, the main retailer which has sold 67,000 units, said on Tuesday its sand recall does not include a requirement for it to test, or pay for specialist cleaning in homes.
It said customers were eligible for a refund by presenting a photo of the product or proof of purchase.
The recalls underway
Coloured Sand for Unity Ceremony, 200 gram bags, sold from October 2023 to November 2025 from Trade Me, Kogan, Dick Smith, Gems Wedding Supplies
Coloured sand by Creative Sand, sold from September 2024 to November 2025
MIKI Sand Art Set, sold nationwide from July 2023 to December 2023
Rainbow Sand Art Toy, sold at the below retailers nationwide from June 2025 to November 2025
Craft Sand, 380 grams, sold from April 2021 to November 2025
Pop & Surprise Playset, sold at Kmart from January 2020 to November 2025
14 piece Sand Castle Building Set and Blue, Green and Pink Magic Sand, sold at Kmart at various times
Educational Colours – Rainbow Sand and Creatistics – Coloured Sand – Various Colours, sold from January 2021 to October 2025
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Seven Sharp’s hosts promoting the ‘Swede As’ campaign for the launch of Ikea.TVNZ Seven Sharp
Many shoppers are bracing themselves for chaos as IKEA prepares to open the doors of its Auckland store, the first in the country.
Up to 20,000 shoppers are predicted to visit on the first day, and traffic management are warning of 40 minute queues just to get off the motorway, and up to another hour to find a parking space.
AUT macromarketing professor Ben Wooliscroft told Checkpoint the opening was an exciting phenomena for Kiwis.
However with heavy delays and high foot traffic expected, he said there are a few key ways that shoppers can make their experience as enjoyable as possible.
Take public transport
“Take public transport, that’s the way to get to IKEA. You don’t have to carry it away with you when you leave, you can get it picked up from when the depots around New Zealand, they’ve got 30 different ones.”
With 19 collection points in the North Island, and 11 in the South, people will be able to pick up their new furniture all the way from Kaitaia, down to Invercargill.
“I’m really excited that they’re bringing that modern take of retail to New Zealand, that we don’t have to drive there.”
Don’t rush it
Wooliscroft said it was important for shoppers to be ready to take their time in the superstore.
IKEA’s iconic layout is split into two main areas, the showroom and the markethall.
In the showroom, furniture is laid out in multiple room set ups, including lounges, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms and even patio.
Wooliscroft said IKEA is traditionally set up in a European way, showcasing rooms based on size, so customers can figure out how best to utilise the space of their own homes.
“That’s for apartment living, particularly in Europe. So, they’ll have a 20 metre kitchen, or a 23 metre bedroom and you can see how that room might be optimised. It’s not compulsory to buy the whole set, but it gives you great ideas about how you can efficiently use room.”
“So, being ready to walk through the different rooms to appreciate these part of a way of looking at how we can use our space differently, it’s going to take a while to get through there. Don’t expect to go in and go out.”
He said while it was easy to get sucked into buying, that didn’t necessarily need to be part of the experience.
“Don’t necessarily go and buy anything, just have a an experience in retail.”
Avoid jumping on the bandwagon
While the IKEA hype has been going strong across the country, Wooliscroft said it was important to consider whether IKEA was actually a place you want to shop at.
“If you’re going in there with the New Zealand drop into the furniture shop, have a look at the sofa, get out, IKEA is probably not the best place for you,” Wooliscroft said.
“If you’re not feeling calm, don’t go in. It’s not the right place for you to be today. This is somewhere you should set aside. At least a couple of hours, probably half a day, plan to have a break, have a bit of food. Just take your time and enjoy the experience.”
Wooliscroft said while IKEA is on the better end when it comes to sustainability, if you are seeking a truly sustainable product there was also the option to stick to local.
“If you really wanna go sustainable, go and find a local furniture maker who’s using local fallen timber to build their wooden items and making things locally but that’s a different price category in terms of sustainable.”
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A man says he is the “luckiest unlucky person on the planet” after his house-bus was hit by lightning during a storm.
Emergency services have rushed to a motor camp in Dudding Lake, in rural Rangitīkei after reports a tornado went through and overturned a caravan at 12.36pm.
FENZ shift manager Murray Dunbar said a fire truck was at the scene alongside ambulance staff who were assessing four patients.
St John said a patient has been taken to Whanganui Hospital in a moderate condition.
A man at the camp, Tony, said he was in his house bus at Dudding Lake camp ground – which he uses for feral cat rescue and rehabilitation – when it was struck by lightning.
He said he was the “luckiest unlucky person on the planet”, with just some minor damage to his electrical system.
Tony, who’s house bus was struck by lightning, at Dudding Lake campground.Supplied
He said the bus lurched and rattled when it was struck, and it blew wires out of the wall.
“Your whole body goes from zero to full throttle jet engine level vibration and the sound is all enveloping… strangest feeling ever.”
He said the roof now leaks but think it was just melted silicon on some joins.
Supplied / Rangitikei District Council
John and Karen Beers were in their caravan when it was moved across the ground by the strong winds.
It was dragged about three metres into a car.
“We have experienced big hail in Australia and this sounded exactly the same,” John Beers said.
“We thought, ‘not this again’. Then the whole thing started tossing and turning and we were just dragged across the ground.”
The couple weren’t injured.
Grant, who with wife Helen and dog Ollie, were also uninjured but shaken when their 5th wheeler home was hit by the tornado.
The couple hit the floor and said it was like being in a washing machine.
“An horrific noise came through. I couldn’t see the trees 40 feet away. It was actually just white going round and round and round,” Grant said.
A tornado is reported to have flipped a caravan injuring one person at a motor camp at Lake Dudding in rural Manawatū.Supplied / Rangitikei District Council
Rangitīkei District Council said it had been informed of a tornado and asked people to avoid the area until otherwise advised.
The council said its staff was assessing damage and would keep people updated as more information came to hand.
Power out to nearly 200 properties
Rangitīkei District Council said there are reports of numerous uprooted trees and some damage to surrounding buildings.
It said 180 properties in the area have been impacted by a power outage, with Powerco having since restored power to Dudding Lake homes.
It said fallen trees would be cleared.
Supplied / Rangitikei District Council
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