NZ Engine

Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

Source: NZ Department of Conservation

Date:  19 November 2025

Trail cam photos have revealed the special story of a black-fronted tern/tarapirohe pair battling severe unseasonal weather to bring their chicks into the world.

Department of Conservation staff in Twizel downloaded photos from trail cameras focused on the colony nesting on an island in the middle of the Upper Ōhau River.

They looked at the photos in trepidation as a week before there was an unseasonal heavy snow fall. Staff were worried the tarapirohe had abandoned their nests, as many had done during a similar weather event at the same time last year.

Ranger Emily Hewison said when she saw the photos of one pair of adult terns in the snow, she knew she was seeing something very special.

“A parent tern was sitting on the nest and within a couple of hours was completely buried. It didn’t abandon the nest which is what many birds would do. The pictures show her mate peering at her through a small hole in the snow over a period of 24 hours, until the snow melts.

“You then see them have a wee cuddle on the nest, before photos show two eggs. Then amazingly three days later we see both chicks hatched. I was just so thrilled. I’m in awe of these birds, they really fight for survival,” Emily says.

Last year a snowfall came at the same time, during Labour Weekend, and wiped out the nests. Rangers were worried they would have no fledglings for the season.

The nationally endangered birds have a unique colony in the Upper Ōhau river system where around 700 nest each season. This colony is the largest in the country.

DOC Biodiversity Ranger Sam Turner says trying to protect the terns is an emotional roller coaster.

“Last season was a bit of a disaster. Many of the birds abandoned their nests and then the black-billed gulls, another threatened species, moved in and preyed on some of the eggs. The impact from the snow was devastating. We did get some fledglings fly off for the winter, but it was a stressful season.

“This year we can see around 260 active nests so that’s super exciting. The terns are such good parents; they share the incubation and mate for life. What’s so amazing about these two on the trail cam photos, is the lengths they went to protect their nest. Their lives were at risk all the time.

“These little birds are so vulnerable but also quite feisty. If people are out naturing near the riverbeds, you will see them defending their nests dive bombing and fighting off anything that comes near their nests. They are battling for survival.”

Sam wants the public to know how special the tarapirohe are and what they’re up against.

“They’re only found in our braided rivers in New Zealand that’s the reason we work so hard as rangers, because if we lose them, they’re gone for good. Looking at these photos, hopefully people will appreciate how amazing these little birds are. This season looks a lot more promising for chicks than last year, so that’s fantastic news.”

Contact

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

With Christmas and the busy holiday season fast approaching, work to repair storm-damaged sites on State Highway 60 Tākaka Hill is progressing well.

Rob Service, System Manager for Nelson Tasman, says contractors are on track to have the road open to two lanes and resealed through all six recovery sites before the summer holidays.

“This was a key target for us. We appreciate how important it is for the community to have the route open during the busy holiday and summer season.

“We have used previous construction designs and techniques to speed up our work, and we have also used local contractors with local knowledge of the route. This has helped turn a 12-month job into a six-month one,” Mr Service says.

View larger map of SH60 Tākaka Hill recovery site map [PDF, 606 KB]

Site updates

The Pines

• Contractors have almost completed work at this site to repair an overslip and remove treefall risks.
• Over 20 trees have been removed, and the slope has been benched. Around 2,000 cubic metres of material have been removed from this site. New drainage has also been installed to help prevent water damage to the road.
• Remaining work includes building new concrete kerbs, road resurfacing, and erosion control.

Cooks underslip

• This site suffered underslip damage after overland water and debris flows eroded the area under the road.
• Around 500 linear metres of steel posts and timber lagging have been used to repair this underslip site. 25 piles are embedded to a depth of 12 metres to help build a new four-metre vertical wall. A new kerb and culvert have also been installed to help improve drainage, and new pavement has been built in the uphill road lane.
• Some piling and tie-back work, as well as road resurfacing and line marking, still need to be completed.

Goodall’s Straight

• Here, the road suffered both an underslip and an overslip at a very narrow section of highway.
• Twelve new drains have been drilled into this historic slip site to help remove water from the slope and improve its stability. A new ground beam is being built across the top of the underslip to support the road. Anchored mesh, covered with shotcrete, has also been installed to reduce erosion risk. The road has been widened, and kerbs and culverts have been upgraded.
• Work on the culverts, as well as some road and drainage improvements, still needs to be completed.

Forestry Corner (resilience site with more works planned in the future)

• The highway was damaged by slumping and subsidence in the outside lane.
• Drilling has been carried out to investigate the underlying geology at this site. Information from this work will be used to help develop a long-term solution for this section of the highway.

Drummond Slip

• This is a historic slip/slump site where additional deformation was detected after the weather event.
• Geotechnical work has been carried out to gather further information about the slip’s structure and form. As part of this work, new drains were installed to remove water from the site and improve its stability. A new and larger culvert has also been installed at this site, which will improve its resilience in heavy rainfall.
• Contractors are to complete a re-levelling and rebuild of the road where it has subsided. Asphalt will be used to enhance its resilience and help reduce future maintenance costs.

Riders Slip

• Heavy rain washed out part of the outside lane of the road at this site.
• Work crews have cut back into the hill to ensure the road alignment sits on a stronger geological base. New drains, kerbs, and culverts have been installed. The slip site has also had new erosion control measures put in place.
• Road rebuilding will be completed during the upcoming planned maintenance closure on this route. Kerb and culvert work will also be completed during these closures.

Mr Service says following the damage caused by the winter storms this year, people have asked what steps are being taken to protect against future severe weather.

“It is a good question, given how critical the route is to people living and working in Golden Bay. What we are doing with our work on the route is similar to what was done on State Highway 6 between Blenheim and Nelson after the 2022 floods.

“We are building back at pace and adding extra resilience. The recovery works help future-proof these sites against weather-related damage in the future. We saw this on State Highway 6 during this year’s bad weather. Sites improved in 2022 performed well and helped keep the highway open,” Mr Service says.

He also says work on the route will continue, but not at the levels or disruption seen over the last few months.

“State Highway 60 Tākaka Hill is a critical link, a lifeline for the Golden Bay community. It requires constant monitoring and maintenance, and quick responses to significant events when they occur.

“In the meantime, I want to thank our contractors and the public for the patience and cooperation they have shown over the past four months while this work has been underway. The end is in sight and travel over the Tākaka Hill is about to get easier very soon,” Mr Service says.

Additional facts and figures

Other resources allocated to the recovery works underway on the Tākaka Hill include:

• 19 excavators
• 21 trucks
• One grader
• Two loaders
• Four rollers
• 50 workers

Upcoming maintenance closures

While recovery works are almost complete, drivers also need to be ready for planned maintenance closures for the Tākaka Hill due to begin on Monday, 24 November.

Daytime closures for chip sealing  will be in place from Monday, 24 November to Friday, 28 November. They will be followed by night closures from Sunday, 19 November to Friday, 19 December.

More information about these works can be found on the NZTA/Waka Kotahi website:

Source: New Zealand Government

Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has welcomed the latest New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS) results showing smoking rates reducing to 6.8 per cent. 

“Most of the survey data shows a continuation of the great progress that’s been made in the last few years – especially with falling numbers of Pacific peoples’ smokers and very low rates of youth smoking,” Ms Costello says.

“Over the last six years the Pacific peoples smoking rate has halved, while smoking rates are lowest in our young people, signalling a generational shift away from cigarettes. The smoking rate for 15–24-year-olds is 3.2 per cent, down from 19.2 per cent when the survey started 13 years ago.

Ms Costello said that New Zealand had the third lowest smoking rate in the OECD.  

“New Zealand has made some of the best progress in reducing smoking rates in the world – these latest survey results show adult daily smoking has halved in the last decade.”

“These are the sorts of results we want to see – the Government is committed to reducing smoking rates and the harm from smoking.

“However, we are now at the most challenging part of the process. The progress New Zealand has made means that those who currently smoke cigarettes are mostly older, long-term smokers and since the start of the Smokefree work, they have been the most difficult group to get to quit.

“All of the tools, supports and approaches that have worked so well over the last few years are still in place. We need to build on these and target the key populations – older smokers and especially Māori and Pacific peoples. Māori and Pacifica smoking rates have fallen significantly over the last five years, but this trend has to continue. 

The Government’s approach is to take practical steps to provide smokers the tools to quit and stay quit, Ms Costello said.

“I want to ensure we are making the best use of the resources in this area, including getting people to engage with quit smoking providers and I’m looking at further regulatory change to ensure we have a regime that reflects the harm of products and has appropriate controls on the market.

“Now that we have strengthened the rules around youth vaping, one simple thing we need to do is be very clear that vaping has been a great tool to help thousands of people stop smoking.”

Source: New Zealand Government

Legislation ensuring national security is maintained during industrial action has passed its final reading in Parliament today, Defence Minister Judith Collins says.

“The security of New Zealand is a 24/7 issue, and our Defence Force works 365 days a year to preserve it. The Defence (Workforce) Amendment Bill allows the Chief of Defence Force to better manage their workforce to ensure New Zealand’s security,” says Ms Collins.

“The civilian staff in our Defence Force play an important role in keeping New Zealand safe – whether through providing security at military bases, testing capabilities and technology, or aircraft maintenance. 

“Under the previous legislation there were times when industrial action could put New Zealand’s national security at risk or impact the New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF) ability to deliver the tasks expected of it. For example, when NZDF civilian staff take industrial action, this could mean munitions and weapons stores are left unguarded.

“This issue was highlighted when civilian staff took industrial action last December. The Government moved quickly to ensure that settings are pragmatic and fit for purpose.”

This Bill broadens the Minister’s ability to authorise uniformed personnel to conduct the work of NZDF civilian staff when national security or the delivery of core defence outputs are at risk.

It also streamlines this process by removing the requirement for Parliament to debate how the NZDF manages redeployment within its own organisation. Instead, the Minister can set a time limit for an authorisation, which cannot extend beyond the period of strike action.

“These changes preserve the right for civilian staff to take industrial action, while ensuring the security and safety of New Zealanders,” says Ms Collins.  

“We’ve also made common-sense changes to the rare circumstance in which military personnel are used to backfill public servant roles outside the NZDF. These include increasing the duration of a Ministerial authorisation from 14 to 30 days and removing the requirement for Parliament to reconvene if an authorisation expires while the House is not sitting.

“In a deteriorating strategic environment, this Bill ensures that our Defence Force is ready and able to protect New Zealand and its interests.”