A Department of Conservation (DOC) permit issued to NZTA Waka Kotahi allowing it to kill protected species – including kiwi and long-tailed bats – at the Mt Messenger bypass site in Taranaki has been ruled unlawful.The High Court found the permission granted under Section 53 of the Wildlife Act was…

Two Auckland landlords have been ordered to pay a combined $25,900 in exemplary damages and compensation on behalf of two tenants who were unlawfully evicted after complaining about the state of their rentals.Investigators from MBIE’s Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team said the properties were “some of the worst they have…

The country’s biggest bank is again defending its massive profits in the face of parliamentary scrutiny, saying it reflects the size of the business. New Zealand’s major banks fronted MPs today, as the Parliamentary inquiry into banking competition continues. ANZ reported a full-year profit of almost $2.1 billion last year…

Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to the United States later this week to meet members of the Trump Administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, discuss world affairs and continue to build New Zealand’s ties with the US.”The United States is one of New Zealand’s closest and most important…

There has been a spike in a potentially deadly disease linked to dirty spa pools in New Zealand.Health New Zealand said there were 10 cases of legionnaires’ disease in the year to March, up on three for the same period last year. Eight of those new cases were strongly linked…

Around $100,000 in cash has been seized alongside methamphetamine after a Hawke’s Bay man was arrested following a vehicle stop last week.Detective Senior Sergeant Kris Payne said police, who were armed as a precaution, executed an armed vehicle stop on State Highway 50 near Tikokino after a vehicle of interest…

ASB has revised its house price forecast for this year, taking it from predicting the largest increases of any of the main banks to the bottom of the table.For this year, ANZ expects house prices to rise 6%, BNZ 6.8%, Westpac 7.2% and Infometrics 5.6%.Treasury expects 3% growth.ASB had predicted…

Dozens of firefighters battled a large blaze at a mechanic’s workshop in Frankton, Hamilton this morning, with a witness reporting “loud bangs” as the flames raged.Fire and Emergency NZ said it received calls to the building on Ellis St at around 11.30am.”We have 35 firefighters and 12 trucks currently working…

A leading New Zealand cement manufacturer is set to build a new concrete plant in Dunedin. Holcim New Zealand Ltd has been granted resource consent by the Dunedin City Council to construct and operate a concrete batching plant in Kaikorai Valley Rd, on industrial land near the Southern Motorway. A…

A woman critically hurt in a crash in Murchison spent almost 36 hours in the car before being found.Named by a friend as Hope Hoyland, police said she was found in her car down a bank on Mangles Valley Rd, between Blackwater Rd and Huntaway Rd, on Wednesday morning.St John…