Education – Open Letter – Opposition to undermining the Independence and Core Functions of the Teaching Council

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Source: NZ Principals Federation Open Letter follows: To: Hon Erica Stanford, Minister of Education From: Otago Primary Principals’ Association (OPPA) November 2025 Tēnā koe e te Minita, As school leaders representing primary principals across the Otago region, the Otago Primary Principals’ Association (OPPA) wishes to express our strong opposition to your decision to strip the Teaching … Read more

Space achievers awarded PM’s space prizes

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Source: New Zealand Government Co-founder and CEO of Dawn Aerospace Stefan Powell and Southland schoolgirl Sophie Ineson are this year’s recipients of the Prime Minister’s Space Prizes. “These prizes highlight the extraordinary talent and vision driving our space industry forward today and celebrate the next generation,” Mr Luxon says. “Stefan and Dawn Aerospace have made … Read more

Infrastructure Pipeline shows significant increase

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Source: New Zealand Government The latest quarterly update from the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission show the National Infrastructure Pipeline now includes nearly 12,000 infrastructure projects worth a total of $275 billion, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Pipeline provides an independent view of current and future infrastructure projects and programmes across the country, from roads, … Read more

Air New Zealand says cabin crew considering strike action

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Source: Radio New Zealand The airline says no formal notice of a strike has been received. Kai Schwoerer Air New Zealand says it has been made aware by E tū union that staff have voted to take industrial action. “We are aware that cabin crew represented by E tū union have voted to take industrial … Read more

Valued and visible: making sign language live

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Source: New Zealand Government A new 10-year strategy aims to strengthen New Zealand Sign Language, making it a more visible, valued part of everyday life Launching the NZSL Strategy 2026-2036, Minister for Disability Issues Louise Upston says it’s important for NZSL to be supported, strengthened and promoted in New Zealand. “Increasing everyday use and fluency … Read more

Seafood company Sanford’s full-year net profit $63.7 million, more than triple previous year

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Source: Radio New Zealand Sanford’s net profit for the year ended September was $63.7 million. Supplied / Sanford Seafood company Sanford has made a record full-year profit driven by the strong performance of its aquacultural business. Net profit for the year ended September was $63.7 million, or more than three times the year earlier’s $19.7m. … Read more

When will instant coffee be affordable again?

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Source: Radio New Zealand Instant coffee prices have spiked this year. creative commons – pixabay – moritz320 The cost of food continues to climb, with Stats NZ figures showing some of the sharpest increases in staples like cheese, eggs and milk. But few items rose as sharply in price as instant coffee – up 25.5 … Read more

Our Changing World: Mixing oil and water, the greener way

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Source: Radio New Zealand Some of the Dot Ingredients team in the lab at AUT that they are currently working out of. Claire Concannon Oil and water famously don’t mix – until surfactants get involved. These molecules act as tiny brokers between two opposites, one end binding to the oil and the other to water, … Read more

Black Ferns star Ruahei Demant heading to Britain

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Source: Radio New Zealand Black Ferns Ruahei Demant. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz Black Ferns co-captain Ruahei Demant is heading to Britain to help develop her game. Demant will play for the Bristol Bears on a four month deal starting later this month. A former World Player of the Year, Demant is one of just three players to … Read more

Cricket: Daryl Mitchell to miss rest of West Indies series

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Source: Radio New Zealand Black Cap Daryl Mitchell takes a catch. Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz / Photosport Ltd 2025 Black Caps batter Daryl Mitchell will miss the rest of the ODI series against West Indies because of injury. Mitchell experienced discomfort in his thigh while scoring his seventh ODI century in Sunday’s seven-run win over … Read more

Refuge organisations shocked at increase in women needing to escape abuse

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Source: Radio New Zealand Anti-family violence white ribbon day is 25 November. 123RF WARNING: This story includes content that may be disturbing to some readers. One Rotorua women’s refuge says it has been shocked at the increase in those needing to escape abusive homes over the past 18 months. But the rise in those affected … Read more

Education Ministry gets hundreds of calls, emails over play sand contamination – Seymour

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Source: Radio New Zealand Educational Colours Rainbow Sand has been recalled. Supplied / Product Safety NZ The deputy prime minister says several hundred schools and childhood centres have contacted the Ministry of Education after the discovery of asbestos in a range of coloured play sand. Rainbow sand from Educational Colours and coloured sand from Creatistics … Read more

‘The hardest journey possible’: $250,000 raised for mother of children killed in Sanson fire

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Source: Radio New Zealand The children have been named in the Givealittle campaign for their mother as August, Hugo and Goldie. GIVEALITTLE / SUPPLIED Police have been keeping guard overnight at the scene of a house fire in Manawatū on Saturday, where three children and their father died. The deaths at Sanson are being treated … Read more

Penny Simmonds concerned less than 50 percent of trainees completing apprenticeships

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Source: Radio New Zealand Less than 50 percent of trainees are completing apprenticeships. RNZ / Dom Thomas Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds says she is seeking extra funding so new industry bodies can investigate low apprenticeship completion rates. Speaking at the Vocational Education and Training Research Forum in Wellington, Simmonds said she was concerned that … Read more

Boxing: Anthony Joshua to fight Jake Paul next month

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Source: Radio New Zealand Anthony Joshua after his fight against Oleksander Usyk in 2021. Mark Robinson / PHOTOSPORT Former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua will take on YouTube star Jake Paul in a bout next month. Joshua and Paul will meet in Miami on 19 December, with the fight to be broadcast on Netflix. … Read more

Morning Report : Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins on capital gains tax

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Source: Radio New Zealand Labour leader Chris Hipkins. RNZ / Mark Papalii Labour has been gaining ground in opinion polls, leading on issues from the economy and healthcare, but a new survey suggests voters are split on its capital gains tax proposals. Leader Chris Hipkins announced last month the party would campaign on the tax … Read more

Stats NZ: Grinding gears in data’s ‘big machine’

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Source: Radio New Zealand Statistics Minister Shane Reti has called the national system “dated and constrained”. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone A unique trove of information for measuring the impact of government services on millions of New Zealanders is sitting on “old and increasingly unstable” technology. It is hard to use and badly in need of … Read more

Morning Report live: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins on capital gains tax

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Source: Radio New Zealand Labour leader Chris Hipkins. RNZ / Mark Papalii Labour has been gaining ground in opinion polls, leading on issues from the economy and healthcare, but a new survey suggests voters are split on its capital gains tax proposals. Leader Chris Hipkins announced last month the party would campaign on the tax … Read more

‘No minimum sentence’: Do child sexual exploitation prison terms reflect the severity of the crime?

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Source: Radio New Zealand Pixabay/shafin_protic An advocacy organisation says it receives calls from people covertly asking for help to avoid offending – but despite evidence that programmes work, resources to help are thin. When The Detail ran a podcast episode about how Customs tries to stop child sexual exploitation material at our borders, our listeners … Read more

Everything feels better in sets of three. Three’s also my prison.

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Source: Radio New Zealand My favourite number has always been three. In my mind, three is a waltz moving in circles, graceful and hypnotic. It plays brightly in a major key, hauntingly beautiful in minor. It’s a deep midnight blue fading into royal purple, like an acrylic painting of the setting sun. In a numerical … Read more

Osaka pulls out of ASB Classic, Svitolina and Navarro signed up

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Source: Radio New Zealand Naomi Osaka at the US Open tennis tournament on 28 August. AFP / Timothy A Clary Former world women’s tennis number one Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from this summer’s ASB Classic in Auckland. Osaka cited a change of schedule for her withdrawal. The Japanese player reached the final of the 2025 … Read more

Triathlon: Hayden Wilde puts chaotic race behind him

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Source: Radio New Zealand New Zealand triathlete Hayden Wilde. Alan Lee / www.photosport.nz New Zealand triathlete Hayden Wilde is sure there will be more robust technical involvement in future T100 events following a farcical finish to the latest round in Dubai. Wilde and a number of other athletes rode an extra lap on the bike … Read more

‘Portals to the past’: Indigenous educators reconnect with Pacific wayfinding

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Source: Radio New Zealand Indigenous educators from across the world reconnected with the knowledge of their tūpuna at WIPCE 2025 – guided by Māori kaihautū and two of the original Hōkūleʻa navigators whose first voyage helped revitalise Pacific wayfinding. RNZ / Layla Bailey-McDowell ‘If you’re on a canoe, you’re in the same space your ancestors … Read more

Kaitāia reels at violent death of ‘relentlessly optimistic’ businessman Monty Knight

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Source: Radio New Zealand Monty Knight established his own winery, Okahu Estate, just outside Kaitāia. RNZ/Carol Stiles Kaitāia is reeling from the violent death of a man described as “an absolute legend” in business circles and as a generous, “relentlessly optimistic” advocate for his hometown by his friends. Monty Knight, who turned 80 earlier this … Read more

‘Not meant to be around here’: Auckland native bird hospital seeing more sub-Antarctic species

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Source: Radio New Zealand A white-headed petrel doing a water test to check its swimming and water resistance. RNZ / Finn Blackwell A native bird hospital is concerned about the number of sub-Antarctic seabirds landing sick or hurt in Auckland. BirdCare Aotearoa is a charity based in West Auckland and works to rehabilitate and care … Read more

Three suspicious fires in Dunedin overnight

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Source: Radio New Zealand RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Fire and Emergency (FENZ) says it had to deal with three suspicious fires overnight in Dunedin. At 11:30pm on Monday, four crews were called to a vacant commercial building on Harrow street in central Dunedin. About an hour later at 12:23am, emergency services were called to a … Read more

Uber drivers’ Supreme Court decision could collapse gig economy, business groups say

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Source: Radio New Zealand AFP Business groups says a Supreme Court decision that Uber drivers are employees rather than contractors could collapse the gig economy. It comes after the Supreme Court unanimously decided to shut down Uber’s appeal against an Employment Court ruling in 2022 that drivers using the app were employees of Uber. BusinessNZ … Read more