NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Trade Me says rents are down – but that could be about to change.

After Realestate.co.nz said on Thursday that rents were down on an annual basis for the first time in a decade, Trade Me said its data also showed a 1.6 percent drop over a year in the asking price for rental properties on its site.

That was equal to about $10 a week. Some Wellington rents were back to a level “not seen in years”.

The median weekly advertised rent was $620 in December, unchanged from the month before.

“It’s a bit of a steady start to the summer,” Trade Me Property spokesperson Casey Wylde said.

“After some movement earlier in the year, the national median rent settled at the $620 mark for the second month in a row. While it’s great news for renters’ wallets that prices haven’t spiked, we’re seeing a lot of interest behind the scenes. We’ve had about an 8 percent year-on-year increase in searches in December, so this may not last for too long.”

Search activity in Gisborne jumped 51 percent year-on-year, with Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki also up 28 and 29 percent respectively.

Wylde said some people might be looking at what else was available in the market, if they thought they were paying more than market rent.

“It’s just the same with when people are looking to buy properties as well, you’re always going to have a lot of people that are having a bit of a nosy and then often it’s those passive searchers that end up making a move.”

She said sometimes people were looking to regions like Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay for a lifestyle change.

The number of new rental listings coming on to the market dropped by 23 percent compared to November but was still up 4 percent on December 224.

“We usually see a dip in new listings as people focus on their holidays, but the demand isn’t slowing down,” Wylde said.

Auckland and Bay of Plenty were the areas with the most expensive rents, both at $650 a week.

Auckland was down 3 percent on a year earlier and Bay of Plenty was down 1.5 percent compared to November and compared to December 2024.

Canterbury rents rose 1.8 percent from November to December, to a median $580. Southland was the most affordable at $450 per week, and Wellington was $600 per week which is $50 cheaper than last December.

“The biggest wins for tenants in Pōneke are in the smaller-to-mid-sized homes,” Wylde said.

“We’ve seen rents for one and two-bedroom properties fall by over 5 percent annually, while three-to-four-bedroom homes have dropped by nearly 7 percent. For families and young professionals in the capital, the cost of living in a rental’s now back to levels we haven’t seen in years.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The hacked online patient portal Manage My Health says fraudsters could now be attempting to contact its customers.

The organisation said in a statement it had notified most of the people affected by the data theft that happened late last year.

But it warned people might now be sending spam or phishing emails that impersonate the company.

“We’re also aware that secondary actors may impersonate MMH and send spam or phishing emails to prompt engagement. These communications are not from MMH. We’re investigating steps to limit this activity and have included guidance below on how to protect yourself below,” it said.

Manage My Health said some of the people it initially contacted about the hack had not been affected.

“We are progressing through the notifications, with most of affected patients having now received a notification email. Our priority is to continue notifying the remaining affected patients and ensuring they receive appropriate support.”

The organisation said it was working closely with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which announced an inquiry into privacy aspects of the hack this week.

The cyber criminal(s) demanded thousands of dollars as a ransom, threatening to otherwise release the data on the dark web, potentially exposing more than 120,000 New Zealanders’ medical details.

There had been no further mention of the Manage My Health data from the hackers since the last reported deadline passed (January 9).

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

MetService is warning more severe weather could be on the way, with heavy rain and strong winds predicted this weekend.

Storm-hit parts of northern New Zealand are bracing for gales that MetService warns could topple trees on sodden ground.

Strong wind watches are in place from midday Saturday for Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, parts of Waikato, Gisborne and Bay of Plenty.

Further south, southwest winds may approach severe gales for Coastal Otago and Southland and Stewart Island from Saturday night.

A yellow heavy rain watch has been issued for Dunedin, Clutha, Central Otago south of Alexandra and mainland Southland for 30 hours from 9am on Saturday.

MetService said there was a moderate chance it would be upgraded to a warning.

Meanwhile, a scientist said the country could see wetter summers.

Climate change could “potentially enhance summer rainfall extremes”, Chris Brandolino, principal scientist at Earth Sciences New Zealand, formerly NIWA, told Summer Report on Friday.

By Friday morning, a tropical low had moved clear of the Chatham Islands, where a heavy rain watch had been lifted.

Strong winds were expected ahead in the Northland, Auckland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty.

“Especially on Saturday and Sunday, those very strong westerly to southwesterly winds look like they move through that area, and of course, with that ground already quite sodden, trees and things like that, it won’t take very much wind for those maybe to topple over,” meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane told Summer Report.

The winds were not likely to be strong enough to justify a warning, said MetService’s website, and the same applied for the rain forecast for Southland and parts of Otago, Marlborough and Banks Peninsula.

A severe thunderstorm watch was put in place on Friday morning for Christchurch and the Canterbury plains and high country, with localised heavy rain and large hail forecast from 1.30pm until 9pm on Friday.

Gisborne Civil Defence has been warning that finer weather does not mean the risks have disappeared.

“One of the biggest dangers are landslides. They can happen without warning, often triggered by heavy rain but may also occur in the period following the storm, even if the weather looks fine,” it said online

“We have reports of people walking over landslides to collect water and food from welfare hubs. Please don’t,” it posted.

The northern end of Tairāwhiti had copped a lot of rain, it said.

Brandolino, while talking about the triggers for this week’s flooding in the northern North Island, said as seas got warmer, climate drivers like El Niño and La Niña – the latter of which NZ is currently in – had their effects exacerbated.

“Put simply, there is more water vapour in the air that is the fuel for heavy rain.”

This made storms more likely, more frequent and more intense, he said.

La Niña already loaded the dice from airflows over New Zealand from the tropics and subtropics, for more rain in the north and east of the North Island.

Some models suggested a warming Tasman Sea could also affect the tropics, in turn making for wetter summers here, said Brandolino.

“The intensity’s growing.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) and the Council of Deans of Education say messages obtained under the Official Information Act show a conflict of interest between the head of the Teaching Council, David Ferguson and Education Minister Erica Stanford.

The messages show Ferguson asked Stanford for advice and support about government funding for a teacher training institute he was helping set up before Stanford appointed him to the council.

They included Ferguson thanking the minister after the Teachers Institute, an organisation founded by several Auckland schools to provide in-school teacher education, received confirmation of the government funding it would receive in 2025.

Stanford’s office told RNZ she did not provide any ministerial assistance and Ferguson said he had sought clarification about funding.

The Educational Institute Te Riu Roa, obtained the messages and provided RNZ with a copy.

Most were texts sent in 2024 when Ferguson was principal of Westlake Boys’ High School but involved in setting up the Teachers’ Institute.

Ferguson formally took up his role as chief executive of the institute in 2025 and Stanford appointed him to the Teaching Council in July that year, initially as deputy chair but with the understanding he would chair the council from late August 2025.

The messages showed Ferguson asked for meetings and phone conversations with the minister about school onsite teacher training and advice or support related to the institute’s bid for tertiary education subsidies.

The messages were first published online by Brie Elliot, a student who made frequent social media posts critical of the government.

She told RNZ she asked the Ombudsman to investigate.

Elliott said the messages combined with a recent investigation into the handling of conflicts of interest at the Teaching Council and the council’s decision to appoint one of its members as interim chief executive raised concerns about preferential access to ministers and the council’s independence.

NZEI national secretary Stephanie Mills said the documents showed Ferguson received personal support from Stanford for successful bids for government funding for a private tertiary institute.

“The Minister then appointed him as chair of the Teaching Council, which has responsibility for approving teacher training programmes. Together with her proposed legislative changes in the Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill currently before Parliament, this raises significant questions about the Minister’s management of potential conflicts of interest and risks eroding trust in her judgement,” Mills said.

The Council of Deans of Education, which represented the leaders of university teacher education programmes, said the messages indicated a conflict of interest that the minister must explain.

“Ms Stanford has some explaining to do about how a private teacher education provider came to have such a ‘cosy’ relationship with the Minister in setting up their business”, the council’s Chair, Professor Joce Nuttall said.

“This appalling conflict of interest is even more shocking given that Mr Ferguson is now Chair of the Teaching Council, the very body that approves the Teaching Institute’s programmes.”

In a statement, Ferguson told RNZ he contacted Stanford to seek clarity on funding for initial teacher education providers.

“I had committed to leading a new ITE provider; staff had been employed and students enrolled for January 2025. The ITE provider is a charitable trust; certainty of funding was important. The Minister was unable to provide clarification. Later, I followed up as a courtesy to let her know the situation was resolved,” he said.

Stanford’s office said in a statement she did not help the institute get additional funding.

“No, the Minister did not help with securing any additional support or funding for the Teachers’ Institute, and did not provide any ministerial assistance.

“David Ferguson sent a text message about TEC funding to the Minister – in a phone call, she explained she was not aware of how TEC funding worked and would have to seek more information. The Minister had a brief conversation with Hon Penny Simmonds about how, in general, TEC funding works, and overall timeframes. The Teachers’ Institute and David Ferguson were not discussed. The Minister did not call or contact Ferguson again regarding this.”

What the messages say

On 2 May 2024 Ferguson sent a text message to Stanford asking for a five-minute phone conversation about the institute’s new school-based teacher training programme.

“A conversation with you would potentially save us an enormous amount of time and energy,” he wrote.

Stanford responded early the next day suggesting a call later that morning.

On 23 May 2024 Stanford asked Ferguson in a text: “Do you have the figures on how oversubscribed the in service teacher training program was this year?”

Ferguson responded on 24 May: “We had 100 places available this year. Impossible to say how many we turned down without asking all schools but conservatively at least 120. Obviously many of these would be because schools felt they weren’t in an area where they were needed or possibly they had concerns about suitability.”

Later that month Stanford offered to put Ferguson in touch with news media including RNZ following her announcement of extra funding for school-based teacher education programmes.

Ferguson next contacted Stanford on 18 July 2024.

“Hello Erica. Hope you’re good. Would it be possible to speak to you or someone from your office at some point this week or early next week please? I had a meeting with the ministry yesterday regarding school onsite teacher training yesterday and wanted to check a couple of things with you,” he wrote.

The minister responded: “How’s now?”

On 30 October 2024 Ferguson messaged Stanford for help with its application for funding from the Tertiary Education Commission.

“The big thing now is TEC funding which is worth $750k to us. We won’t hear the outcome there until late November. I’ve been in touch with Tim Fowler. Any advice or support would be welcomed.”

Stanford responded on 1 November asking Ferguson to call her over the weekend.

On 8 November 2024 Ferguson wrote: “Morning Erica. I wondered if you’d managed to speak to Penny Simmonds about TEC funding for us.”

On 15 November he messaged: “Morning Erica. TEC funding confirmed yesterday, thank you.”

13 March 2025 Ferguson told RNZ the institute had more interest from potential students than it was being funded for.

“…. The only handbrake to us making the progress we are capable of is the ministry not giving us the funding we need. It would be a shame if we got to the stage of turning great people away who really wanted to be teachers… I’m not asking for anything – I just wanted to let you know that we’ve made a good start start.”

He provided an update on the number of schools involved and inquiries from potential students on 4 April 2025.

“We’re aiming for 150 (100 secondary and 50 primary). Hopefully the Ministry will support us with the requisite funding,” Ferguson wrote.

On 8 April 2025 Ferguson requested a five-minute conversation about the institute and its future in 2026 and on 22 May 2025 he thanked Stanford for a Budget day funding boost for school-based teacher education programmes generally.

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