Far North festivals get boost from Government tourism funding
The Brew of Islands is among several local festivals set to receive a funding boost, along with the Upsurge Bay of Islands Arts Festival and the Fired-Up Barbecue Festival.
The Far North is set to benefit from an injection of regional tourism funding, with the Government supporting local festivals through the Regional Events Promotion Fund.
Northland MP Grant McCallum said the Government is encouraging more New Zealanders to visit Northland.
'I'm thrilled to see Northland included in this round
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
ASB Drops Mortgage Rates For The Seventh Time This Year
ASB has today reduced several of its fixed home lending rates by up to 20 basis points, marking the bank's seventh fixed rate mortgage drop in 2025. ASB has also lowered some of its term deposit rates by between 5 and 20 basis points. ASB's Executive General Manager Personal Banking Adam Boyd says 'Interest rates remain a hot topic of conversation, with homeowners and first home buyers watching the market closely. Whether you're looking to fix or float, today's drops to our fixed lending rates across short and medium terms, along with our lower variable rates announced last week, give New Zealanders a range of appealing options to consider.' All rate decreases are effective immediately. Fixed home lending term Previous rate New rate Rate decrease 6-month 5.59% 5.45% - 14 bps 1-year 4.99% 4.95% - 4 bps 18-month 4.99% 4.89% - 10 bps 2-year 4.99% 4.95% - 4 bps 3-year 5.35% 5.15% - 20 bps © Scoop Media ASB Bank Helping you get one step ahead. In 1847, ASB opened as the Auckland Savings Bank with the pledge: 'to serve the community; to grow and to help Kiwis grow'. And that is very much what ASB is about today. ASB is a leading provider of integrated financial services in New Zealand including retail, business and rural banking, funds management and insurance. ASB strives to consistently provide its customers with outstanding service and innovative financial solutions. They're dedicated to providing simple financial products that allow their customers to bank with them how and when they want. We all have our own ways to measure progress, and our own stories about the things that matter to us. Whatever way you choose to measure progress, and whatever your goals, ASB is there to help you get one step ahead.
Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
The Sale Of A Top-Rated Power Company Signals A Shrinking Market
Flick Electric has been named New Zealand's top-rated power company in Consumer NZ's latest energy retailer survey - but the win comes with an unexpected twist. Flick achieved a standout satisfaction score of 71% (very satisfied), earning a People's Choice award. Flick was recently sold to Meridian Energy – the parent company of Powershop, which failed to meet the People's Choice standard in 2025. In contrast to Flick, Powershop, a seven-time People's Choice winner since 2015, has seen a notable drop in satisfaction – from 67% in 2024 to just 60% this year, pushing it out of the top tier for the first time in years. 'Flick has consistently rated well in our surveys, so it's disappointing to see it absorbed by a larger player,' says Jessica Walker, Consumer NZ acting head of research and advocacy. 'Flick customers have been typically among the most satisfied. We don't know what the future holds for Flick customers, but there is a risk it will be consumers who will bear the brunt of reduced competition.' The poorest performers this year are Pulse Energy (41%), Contact Energy (44%) and Mercury (47%). Contact Energy and Mercury are two of the largest energy providers in the country and are known as 'gentailers', electricity companies that both generate and retail electricity directly to households. Meridian Energy was the third-best performing power provider in the survey results and notably the highest-ranking of this country's four gentailers. Frank also earns People's Choice, but sector-wide ambivalence is up Frank Energy joins Flick in receiving a People's Choice award, with 65% of its customers reporting high satisfaction. However, broader trends across the industry point to a decline in overall positivity and a rise in customer ambivalence. 'More people are rating their power providers as 'just OK' rather than great,' says Walker. 'It's a clear sign that satisfaction is softening, and the market isn't delivering the value or the service that New Zealanders expect.' Frank's parent company is also a gentailer, Genesis Energy, which falls into the middle-of-the-pack category. Key findings from the 2025 survey Value for money scores have dipped across much of the sector. Fewer problems were reported. Amongst those who did, there was a slight drop in satisfaction with the retailers' handling of issues. Confidence in the electricity market is low. 36% say it's working poorly for New Zealanders. Signs of hardship are rising. More missed payments, overdue fees, borrowing to pay bills and disconnections. Loyalty won't lower your bill - shop around Walker urged consumers not to stay loyal to underperforming providers. 'Power is the same no matter who you buy it from – but price and service vary widely,' she says. 'There's no reason to stick with an expensive or unhelpful provider.' Powerswitch, Consumer NZ's free and independent power comparison tool, helps people find better plans and providers. On average, people who check power options through Powerswitch can typically save around $500 a year. 'With satisfaction falling and pressure on household budgets rising, take action now,' Walker says. 'More than half a million New Zealand households in the past year alone have used the Powerswitch service. It's quick and easy to switch!' Note: Consumer NZ energy retailer survey data is from a nationally representative survey of 1,985 New Zealanders, aged 18 years and over, carried out in March and April 2025. Satisfaction rating shows the proportion of respondents who scored their retailer 8, 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied). Ratings are for retailers that had 30 or more responses in our survey. View the results here.
Otago Daily Times
2 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Left bloc could turf coalition out of power: poll
By Russell Palmer of RNZ After the Budget and pay equity changes the left bloc would have the support to turf the coalition out of power, the latest RNZ-Reid Research poll shows. The preferred prime minister and leadership ratings are also bad news for the government, with the exception of Winston Peters who has seen his highest result since 2017 - and ratings of the government's general performance have also continued to slide. With Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori all gaining compared to the previous poll taken in March, they would have a majority with 63 seats between them, compared to the coalition's 57 - again, New Zealand First was the only coalition party to see a boost. The poll was taken in the seven days following the release of the Budget and in the wake of the $12.8 billion pay equity changes - which RNZ's polling also shows attracting more opposition than support. National continued a downward trend from the March survey, dropping 2.2 percentage points to 30.7 percent of the party vote - and overtaken by Labour, which gained 0.9 percentage points to 33.2 percent. The Greens' 1.6 percent increase brings them back to their election-night result of 11.6 percent, while Te Pāti Māori's 0.5 percentage point boost lifts them clear of the 5 percent threshold and - presuming they held all Māori seats - nets them a list MP. ACT dropped 2.8 points to 6.6 percent - the largest shift in party polling - while New Zealand First gained 1.9 points to 9.1 percent, upending the trend facing their coalition partners. Undecided or non-voters made up 6.5 percent of those polled - up from 6.1 in the previous poll. For parties outside Parliament, TOP (The Opportunities Party) gained 0.4 points to 2.2 percent, New Conservatives fell 0.3 points to 0.8, and all others combined were at 0.3 points, a 0.1 point increase on the last survey. More New Zealanders polled say the country is going in the wrong direction (46.6 percent) than in the right direction (37.8 percent), giving a net negative result of -8.8, a substantial decrease on March's 2.9 result. Little surprise then to see National leader Christopher Luxon's net favourability ratings drop further into the negative, from -3.9 percent in March to -9.8 percent, with significantly more respondents (45.5 percent) saying he performed poorly or very poorly, than said he performed well or very well (35.7 percent). That compared to Labour's Chris Hipkins on net 5.1 percent rating (34 percent negative, 39.1 percent positive) - though Hipkins also saw a steeper fall of 7.1 percentage points. The survey shows New Zealanders' preferred prime minister as Hipkins (23.2 percent, up 2.3), taking the lead over Luxon (18.8 percent, down 3.1). NZ First leader Winston Peters at 8.9 percent (up 1 point) recorded his highest result since 2017. Chlöe Swarbrick in fourth was at 6.9 percent (up 0.8) - a personal best and just ahead of ACT's David Seymour on 6.4 percent (down 0.4). The next highest ratings were former PM Jacinda Ardern (3.7 percent, up 0.1), Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke (1.7 percent, up 0.5), Finance Minister Nicola Willis (1.1, up 0.3) and Education/Immigration Minister Erica Stanford making her first appearance at 1 percent. 'I don't recognise the numbers' - Coalition plays down poll Luxon simply rejected the poll results. "Look, I mean, I don't recognise the numbers. There's lots of different polls and frankly I'm just not going to comment or focus on the polls. Frankly what we're focused on is we were elected in '23 and people get to decide again in 2026. "We've done a good job, and that's why we've got to focus on the economy, law and order, and health and education." He said New Zealanders had "responded really positively" to the government's Budget, and saw the economy turning a corner. "There's a sense of optimism that, you know, we actually have had to manage some very difficult things economically to get our books back in order. But we're doing that job, and it's all about growth, growth, growth." Seymour said the numbers would continue to "bounce around" but it was still a tough time for New Zealanders - and the numbers were not a reflection on the Budget. "Different voters will have different reasons for their choices ... so long as people are voting for the economy, it's going to be tough for parties that are tied closely to economic management," he said. It was possible the pay equity changes were changing some voters' minds, he said, "but I also think doing what is right is what is politically popular in the long term, and even if I'm wrong about that, good policy is worth it anyway". "The fact that ACT is close to where it was on election night 18 months into a government with 18 months to go is a good foundation. We have to prove ourselves on election night, and we've got lots of time to do that." Peters refused to comment on whether his coalition partners were suffering from the handling of the pay equity changes. The next 18 months leading up to the election would show the "critical need for stability", he said, and having ruled out working with Chris Hipkins he was "comfortable and confident in our prospects" because the Greens and Te Pāti Māori in government would be "a nightmare". The 80-year-old Peters said economies internationally were in trouble as a result of "unprecedented times for the last, say, 80 years", and the party was looking at New Zealand's fundamentals: asset values, and the need to increase wages and decrease business tax. "We're out there to ensure over the next few months that we can show enough improvement in the economy from what we're doing to make the prospects of an improved tomorrow possible." 'Nice to be popular' - Opposition Hipkins was also not counting his electoral chickens, but was happy to point out the effect of the Budget, saying New Zealanders were "disillusioned" with the government overall. "New Zealanders can increasingly see that this government is taking the country backwards," he said. "I don't think anyone expected the government to cancel pay equity as a way of balancing its books. Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon told New Zealanders before the election that they knew their numbers, that everything all added up. It's clear that their numbers didn't add up." He said he did not pay much attention to small shifts from the minor parties or his personal ratings in the polls. "It's nice to be popular, but I'm really focused on making sure I win as many votes as possible for Labour at the next election." Swarbrick said New Zealanders wanted a sense of hope. "Things are feeling pretty bloody bleak. You know, we've got 191 New Zealanders leaving every single day, three quarters of them between the ages of 18 to 45, it's not a recipe for a flourishing country. "We had dozens and dozens of folks turn out to talk to us about our Green budget and the sense of hope that they feel that they need - the kind of building blocks that we can have for a fairer society." She said polls did not mean the writing was on the wall, but she was hearing from people that they were exhausted and fatigued - something she suggested was a deliberate strategy from the coalition. Te Pāti Māori's co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the poll numbers showed the party's policies and rhetoric around the government's actions were appealing to new supporters. "The kind of anti-Māori, anti-wāhine, anti-woman, anti-worker, anti-climate, anti-rainbow, anti-woke type agenda that this government is pushing at the moment also is not appealing to the people who are trying to find a place to put their political support and trying to support those who fiercely advocate for them." He said their internal polling showed even higher support for the party and its style of politics - but the decreased support for ACT and increase for NZ First was a zero-sum game. "You've got a hard-right type voter ... I think they think that National is a little bit weak, which I agree [with] because they're allowing ACT to kind of run the show ... they will use Te Pāti Māori as their political football to kick us in the guts the hardest to garner the support of their voters, but at the end of the day the enemy for ACT is New Zealand First, and the enemy for New Zealand First is ACT." Explore the full results with RNZ's interactive charts. This poll of 1008 people was conducted by Reid Research, using quota sampling and weighting to ensure a representative cross section by age, gender and geography. The poll was conducted through online interviews between 21-27 March 2025 and has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The report is available here.
