Charismatic, gregarious, exuberant, a joker, a showman, a larrikin: such are the epithets for long-serving mayor Tim Shadbolt, who died age 78 last week.
He would be remembered there not only for a life of service to the community but for his own style, charisma and upbeat charm.
A mayor for about 32 years – split between two cities and three incumbencies – Sir Tim was a dedicated champion of local politics, but was perhaps remembered more for his colourful life and antics.
Coming to prominence as a young anarchic Vietnam war protester, he was confident the movement would have a lasting legacy as an examination of colonialism.
As an activist he was famously arrested 33 times – including for refusing to pay a $50 fine after using the word ‘bulls…’, and spending 25 days in Mt Eden.
This was allegedly when he wrote his first published book, Bulls… and Jellybeans, published in 1971 independently by Alister Taylor – who was working for the publishing house that previously rejected it.
The student activist soon became something of a political butterfly, running for both New Zealand First and the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, and for mayoral, council or government roles in multiple locations.
Richard King worked with Sir Tim as Invercargill council’s chief executive for 20 years, but first knew him in those student days, having gone along to his rallies, saying they were “quite boisterous”.
He related a tale his friend told him from when he first moved from activist to politician, appearing in court on “various charges”.
One of Sir Tim Shadbolt’s Christmas cards from years gone by, featuring his son Declan.Supplied/LDR
“The judge looked up and said ‘you again, Shadbolt’, and he’d just been elected mayor of Waitematā, so the judge said ‘I suppose I’m going to have to call you Your Worship now’.
“Tim looked at him and said ‘tell you what, I’ll Honour you, and you can Worship me’. And the case didn’t go that well for him.”
Having worked as a concrete contractor, in the ’80s Shadbolt celebrated that first successful election by towing a concrete mixer behind his mayoral car in the annual Christmas parade.
He later repeated the stunt as mayor of Invercargill, this time towing his mixer behind a mobile green couch for charity – and later swapped the mixer for electric scooters in the southern Christmas parade.
But perhaps his most well remembered media appearance was in cheese ads in 1994, where an increasingly manic Sir Tim – then simply mayor Shadbolt – repeated back the line ‘I don’t mind where as long as I’m mayor’ – a self-deprecating dig, perhaps, at his shift from Auckland to the less tropical climes of Invercargill.
Sir Tim Shadbolt died last week at the age of 78. (File photo)Supplied/LDR – ODT/Stephen Jaquiery
That kind of humour was a trademark of his – and was to his benefit on Dancing with the Stars in 2005, where he came third despite a couple of tumbles.
“I might have had a little lie down and a cup of tea,” he said of one of those falls.
The man certainly had a way with words.
At 30, he secured the Guinness world record for the longest political speech on a soapbox.
Some 35 years later in 2012, he set another Guinness world record – for the longest TV interview by successfully reaching his goal of 26 hours on the regional TV freeview channel CUE, across from interviewer Tom Conroy.
Topics covered included his cameo on The World’s Fastest Indian and supposedly meeting Sir Anthony Hopkins’ “leg double” and “big toe double”, but after reaching 26 hours – about 2am – the mayor was cut off.
Speaking to RNZ the next day – mere hours after also launching New Zealand’s Got Talent he credited the Guinness official’s advice with keeping his vocal chords up to scratch.
“He said ‘you’ve got to crush up fresh pineapple’, he said ‘that’s the way, that’ll get you through it’, and it seemed to work, so that was a lucky break.”
The marathon chat in 2012 raised more than $10,000 for St John Ambulance – one of the mayor’s many charitable efforts.
But big personalities often clash, and Sir Tim also had his share of rivalries and public clashes. Despite occasional acrimony, he clearly wanted to continue championing hard workers, underdogs, and the South.
In 2021, he claimed his deputy Nobby Clark and chief executive Clare Hadley had refused for years to have the council pay for a smartphone worth more than $300 because he was “considered unable to fully use all the features”.
They appeared on paper to relent in 2020 with a $951.20 iPhone 8+ with accessories, but the mayor claimed he never received it – and the council refused to confirm or deny if it was delivered to him.
The council argued the auditor-general would find that year’s card – featuring a smiling Tim Shadbolt – inappropriate to fund as it could be interpreted as promoting an individual, rather than the city.
In an email, Sir Tim described the disagreement as “existential”. The compromise eventually arrived at was an e-card, with the savings going towards the mayor’s Christmas dinner.
He was ousted as mayor the following year, after tensions at the council – apparently stemming from his increasing inability to carry out duties.
Already New Zealand’s longest-serving mayor at the time, he admitted ahead of the election his “golden years” may be over and he wasn’t enjoying the job like he used to – but if he won again he could “probably do another three or four terms”.
But it wasn’t to be, with former deputy Nobby Clark taking office as mayor on October 15, beating a field of nine other candidates and Sir Tim coming in fourth.
Longtime colleague and friend Richard King, who remembered Sir Tim as having “oozed charisma”, said in the end the man was “crushed by the bureaucracy and political opposition, but he really had a good run”.
“He was the sort of person who could walk into a room without knowing anybody and five minutes later 95 percent of them were eating out of his hand.”
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Father and son duo Shane and Ethan Vickery opened Kai Co to give shoppers an alternative to the Woolworths and Foodstuffs supermarket duopoly.Facebook/Kai Co
The co-owner of a new supermarket in Christchurch says shoppers have turned out in droves in support of the new store since it opened last week.
Ethan Vickery and his father Shane opened Kai Co to give shoppers an alternative to the Woolworths and Foodstuffs supermarket duopoly.
He said during the first three days since the store opened, sales nearly doubled their expectations.
Ethan Vickery said he and his father were drawing on their experience and contacts as former butchers, focusing on local markets and suppliers to ensure they were stocking fresh meat and produce at competitive prices.
“I think it’s something that is cheaper to be sourced locally. There’s no benefit being a big corporate and buying in bulk when it’s fresh food… and you do have that flexibility as well to get specials. The suppliers just can ring us directly and be like ‘we need to clear this stuff’ and you can take it,” Vickery said.
Vickery said the store was looking to widen it’s selection of products as suppliers warmed to the new business.
“No one really took us too seriously cause there’s nothing really like us that’s been done before.
“When we were talking to suppliers originally, they kind of thought we were sort of like a clearance place. But now they’ve seen what we are and they’ve come in – they think it’s a really nice store – they’ve all been approaching us,” Vickery said.
He said the store had taken a back-to-basics approach to keep the focus on quality food at an affordable price.
He said other attempts to break the duopoly had made the mistake of trying to compete against the chains at their own game.
“I think they’ve all tried to be too upmarket. They haven’t been cheap, they haven’t been solving a problem. The problem is the cost of living. All those places have been on the higher end. People just need good quality food at a good price.
“We’re not trying to be too fancy. We don’t have loyalty cards or anything like that it’s just simple, good quality food at a good price,” Vickery said.
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Two people have been charged with murder following a homicide in Manurewa on Friday night.
Emergency services were called to a Balfour Road address at around 11.10pm following reports a man had been shot.
Upon arrival, the man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
Detective Inspector Karen Bright, Counties Manukau CIB, says Police have been working hard to piece together the events leading up to the tragic incident and identify and locate those involved.
“A 41-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman have been jointly charged with murder and will appear in Manukau District Court today.
“We are pleased to have been able to charge two people in relation to this tragic incident, however the investigation remains ongoing.
“Police and Victim Support Services are providing support to the victims whānau during this difficult time.”
Police will look to release further details regarding the victim in due course.
As the matter is before the Court, Police are limited in providing further comment.
The Privacy Act places responsibility on organisations that collect, use or store your personal information to keep it safe and secure using all reasonable steps. Failure to take reasonable steps to protect your personal information against unauthorised access is a breach of the Privacy Act. If you experience actual or potential privacy harm because of this, you can make a complaint under the Privacy Act.
What has happened?
Manage My Health provides patient portal services to health providers and their patients (registered users).
On 1 January 2026, Manage My Health notified us that it had been affected by a serious cyber incident involving the sensitive health information of thousands of users. Ransom hackers accessed and downloaded documents stored in the My Health Documents section of Manage My Health, including:
files uploaded by individual users such as correspondence, reports or results
Manage My Health is working with Health New Zealand and affected GPs to contact people whose information has been impacted by the breach directly via email to confirm this and advise how to log in to Manage My Health to find out what information has been affected. Read updates on progress with notification on Manage My Health’s website.
When you log into Manage My Health you will be given a reference number – keep hold of this for your records. It will be used to help identify you as an affected patient if you choose to use the 0800 number. You will also need the reference number if you wish to make a complaint.
If you are an impacted patient
If you have found out you are an impacted patient and you are worried or have questions:
If you experience actual or potential privacy harm because of the Manage My Health data breach, you can make a complaint under the Privacy Act. If you wish to make a privacy complaint, you must first complain to the organisation responsible for your information under the Privacy Act and give them an opportunity to respond and put things right.
Manage My Health provides patient portal services on behalf of health providers and can also provide services directly to registered users. For this reason, we suggest you complain to MMH and copy in your health provider (usually your GP – you should have their contact details). If the breached information is your hospital discharge summary documents from Northland Hospital, we suggest that you complain to MMH and copy in Northland Hospital.
Cecily Bruce (left) and Joanne Craig battle it out at the 2026 Scrabble NZ Women’s Championship.LetsPlayScrabble/screenshot
There would have been a fair Scrabble sets dusted off over the holidays, perhaps kicking off a few family feuds even, but few more serious than the first New Zealand Women’s Championship in the game.
Twenty Kiwi women vied for the title in Auckland over the weekend, which eventually went to Cicely Bruce, who only dropped a single match in the 16-round tournament.
Joanne Craig, who finished third with 13 wins, lost to Bruce in the final round – a match that decided the eventual outcome, falling behind second-placed Anderina McLean on points differential.
“My granny taught me to play when I was at primary school, but I really only seriously took it up in ’93, which obviously is over 30 years now. So yes, I have been playing for a long time.”
Now based in Sydney, Craig practises using the obvious – a Collins dictionary – but also modern tools, like software that can analyse her games “to see where I went wrong”.
The tournament was streamed online.
“My neighbour said he was going to be busy watching flies crawl up the wall instead,” Craig said.
“But yes, they were surprised that some non-Scrabblers found it quite fascinating, the intensity and concentration involved. But obviously to Scrabblers it’s really interesting because there’s experienced commentators talking about the game, you can see our racks and the board, so people will be thinking, ‘Oh, what would I play?’ And yeah. Yeah, people do enjoy watching it.”
In her final round match, which effectively served as a grand final, Craig realised she had lost when Bruce played ‘jimmied’ for 82 points, putting her far into the lead.
“That was a great word.”
Craig said her top word over the weekend was a 140-point ‘snarfled’.
“You can really score with the Z and the X. I held the record in Australia for 10 years for ‘sleazier’ because I doubled the Z and it was a triple-triple, where it goes across two red squares so it’s nine times the word and you can get a really big score with it.”
She will try again next time.
“I’ll definitely be back for the next one and Scrabblers like that, you know? It’s swings and roundabouts. At lunchtime I was two games behind and I thought I’d blown all my chances, so I was very surprised to be sitting in that streaming chair at table one for the last game when it when it came down to the wire.”
And it could easily have gone either way.
“The winner of the last game was either going to be Cecil or I, but I beat her early in the tournament. She only lost that one game to me, and then of course she beat me in the final game.”
New Zealand has a strong reputation in competitive Scrabble, with Christchurch’s Nigel Richards having won not only English-language world titles, but also tournaments in French and Spanish – despite not speaking either language.
Fisheries New Zealand is seeking feedback on proposed changes to sustainability measures for southern blue whiting (SBW 6B) as part of the April 2026 fisheries sustainability round.
The SBW 6B stock covers the Bounty Platform, 750 kilometres south-east of the South Island.
This consultation opened on 12 January 2026. We are accepting submissions until 5pm on 9 February 2026.
About the proposed changes
Fisheries New Zealand reviews catch limits for selected stocks twice a year. This is consistent with the purpose of the Fisheries Act 1996 to allow for sustainable utilisation.
All of the proposals in this round were assessed:
in the context of the relevant statutory requirements
using the best available information, including the latest scientific information on the status of the stocks and tangata whenua and stakeholder input.
It’s proposed to reduce the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of southern blue whiting. Full details are in the consultation document.
A related consultation is underway for spiny rock lobster stocks as part of the April 2026 fisheries sustainability round. Submissions on the review of spiny rock lobster stocks close earlier (at 5pm on 28 January 2026).
Fisheries New Zealand invites you to email your feedback on the proposals set out in the SBW 6B consultation document by 5pm on 9 February 2026 to FMsubmissions@mpi.govt.nz
A template is available to help you complete your submission.
While we prefer email, you can post written submissions to:
2026 Sustainability Review Fisheries Management Fisheries New Zealand PO Box 2526 Wellington 6140 New Zealand.
What to include
Make sure you tell us in your submission:
the title of the consultation document
your name and title
your organisation’s name (if you are submitting on behalf of an organisation, and whether your submission represents the whole organisation or a section of it)
your contact details (such as phone number, address, and email).
Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.
People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.
If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.
Rakon specialises in precision timing systems used in mobile networks, satellites, aerospace and defence systems, as well as AI and cloud computing.123RF
Local chip-maker Rakon has received a takeover notice from US electronic manufacturer Bourns Inc.
Bourns intends to make an offer of $1.55 cents a share to buy 100 percent of Rakon.
That’s a nearly 70 percent premium to Rakons closing price of 90 cents a share on Friday.
Rakon was founded in 1967 by Warren Robinson. It specialises in precision timing systems used in mobile networks, satellites, aerospace and defence systems, as well as AI and cloud computing.
Under NZX rules, Bourn must launch a formal takeover between 10 and 20 business days from today, or its takeover notice will lapse.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand