The Green party releases its alternative Budget
A trailer unit rolled outside Christchurch this morning, spilling hundreds of chickens across the road. Video / George Heard
Principals question $100m maths spend, ex-cop faces porn probe, US and China agree to major tariff reductions.
Chris Hipkins delivers pre-Budget speech at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. Video / NZ Herald
Reporter Carter is in Whangamatā where car collector Billy reveals what it took to get this custom 2-door 1950 Cadillac back on the road.
Black Power members perform a farewell haka for Manurewa homicide victim Selwyn Robson. Video / Supplied
Education Minister Erica Stanford announcing measures to improve mathematics in schools. Video / Mark Mitchell
Christopher Luxon answers a question on the resignation of the Police Deputy Commissioner
With the countries current vaccination rates, an expert warns New Zealand is at risk of a measles epidemic. Video / Dean Purcell / Katie Oliver / Ben Dickens
Christopher Luxon holds a post-Cabinet press conference
Gypsy Rose Blanchard stars in season 2 of the Lifetime series Life After Lock Up, streaming on TVNZ+ in New Zealand. Video / TVNZ
A house in Napier fully ablaze on Sunday night. Video / Supplied
Fletcher Living has unveiled the masterplan for its latest residential project, 'The Hill,' a premium development poised to transform part of the iconic Ellerslie Racecourse.
Zookeeping isn't all butterflies, even at Butterfly Creek! Reporter Evie finds out what it takes to feed the meerkats, otters, and even NZ's only saltwater crocodiles.
The journalist believes the culprit has been identified. Video / Supplied
The Government is making work on restrictions to social media for New Zealanders under the age of 16 part of its official programme. Video / NZ Herald
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A Bold Dream Gets A Cut As Predator Free 2050 Ltd Is Disestablished
The environmental sector worries that the future of a predator-free Aotearoa is in jeopardy after the Government swung the axe in the latest budget. It was billed as a 'moonshot' for New Zealand's environment - a bold, world-leading goal launched by Sir John Key in 2016, aimed at eradicating rats, possums and stoats from our islands by 2050. The vision has been clear - bring back birdsong to every valley, protect the flightless kiwi, and restore what once thrived. But today, the future of Predator Free 2050 looks uncertain. Predator Free 2050 Ltd, the Crown-owned company established to drive and fund large-scale eradication and breakthrough science, is now being disestablished, as announced as part of Budget 2025. Funding for the company will cease by the end of the year, with its responsibilities shifted to the Department of Conservation (DOC), which the government says will reduce duplication, increase efficiency and save about $12 million. "People are now worried for this programme," Newsroom environment editor David Williams tells The Detail. "They say without ongoing funding, we will not only not go forward, but we will go backwards. This programme needs funding, and that's up to the government." The government insists the broader goal of predator eradication remains. But Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, chief executive of WWF New Zealand, is not entirely convinced. "New Zealanders believe in the Predator Free 2050 dream, and we want the government to get behind them too. But I'm not sure this will happen. "I've not been seeing a lot of enthusiasm for environmental outcomes from this government, full stop. We describe the government's policy agenda as a war on nature, and I think it is disappointing that a previous National government got so strongly behind this moonshot objective, and this government does not seem to care so much." Both Williams and Kingdon-Bebb say the country has "overwhelmingly" backed the Predator Free 2050 initiative, allowing it to "come a long way, in a relatively short time". Already, predator-elimination projects cover more than 800,000 hectares. "This is a big amount of land," says Williams. "And the goal is big ... but they have done well. "They also said they wanted to fund scientific research, and 15 or 20 projects have already had money to try and sort this problem out. "A lot of community groups have latched on to this - someone said to me that this is the one conservation project that has captured the imagination of New Zealanders more than any other." Kingdon-Bebb agrees. "It has certainly captured the hearts and minds like nothing else," she says. "We have seen an explosion of community trapping groups and landscape-scale projects over the last nine years, which has been amazing ... now I feel the government is taking its foot off the pedal. "What is apparent is that the government has had a look at the delivery model of the programme as a whole, which is complex. "So, if it is the case that the government has reviewed it and determined that a crown-owned corporation is not the best delivery methodology, I can accept that. "DOC has a lot of capability ... and perhaps it is appropriate for DOC to be coordinating this work, perhaps there was duplication of roles and functions and costs. "But where I would be concerned is that in the wider scale of what has happened in the last two budgets, the Department of Conservation will see, in total, about 300 million dollars in savings exacted from it. "So, it does beg the question whether a very stretched department can pick up the leadership of this initiative in a way we would want to see it done." Critics say that move will slow momentum, bury innovation under bureaucracy and confuse local projects already stretched thin. They also argue that across the country, hundreds of predator-free community groups, many driven by volunteers, will be left wondering what support will look like without the company's funding, research backing and strategic oversight. But the government insists the predator-free projects and contracts funded by the company are not affected and it is committed to the predator-free 2050 goal. Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.
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ACT Launches Petition To Dump Te Mana o te Wai
Press Release – ACT New Zealand Instead of clear metrics like nitrate levels or sedimentation rates, councils are being asked to assess spiritual values that cannot be measured or contested, says ACT Agriculture spokesperson Mark Cameron. ACT is at Fieldays this week, garnering farmers' support for the campaign to scrap the vague, spiritual concept of Te Mana o te Wai and allow regional councils to set their own freshwater standards by scrapping national bottom lines. The party has launched a petition at and is collecting signatures on the ground. 'All Te Mana o te Wai achieves is to drive up costs on users and add uncertainty and ambiguity to consenting. ACT believes the Government should scrap Te Mana o te Wai and national bottom lines, allowing regional councils to set their own standards,' says ACT Agriculture spokesperson Mark Cameron. 'The vague concept of 'Te Mana o te Wai' replaces scientific benchmarks with a subjective idea of the mana of the water that leads to co-governance and unequal treatment based on who someone's ancestors were. 'Instead of clear metrics like nitrate levels or sedimentation rates, councils are being asked to assess spiritual values that cannot be measured or contested. 'Kiwi farmers are the best in the world. They're forecast to return $59.9 billion in export revenue and make up 10% of GDP. We simply can't afford to burden them with spiritual malarky dreamed up in Wellington. 'It means iwi have a right of veto over how water is used. The National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management 2020 requires Te Mana o te Wai to apply to the consenting of all projects involving freshwater management. Consenting is now subject to consideration of mauri, or the 'life-force' of water. 'It has led to water users making large one-off and on-going payments for 'cultural monitoring' services which do nothing for the environment but add costs to consumer and business power bills. 'Is requiring farmers to comply with a spiritual concept going to make them farm better? Of course not. It means they'll have to employ a cultural consultant and waste time and money that could instead be spent improving their farming practices. That's what happens when we regulate water quality based on superstition not science. 'Farmers just want to grow food and look after their land, incorporating spiritual concepts isn't necessary for them to do that. 'ACT is dedicated to real change. We cannot continue with a policy that burdens our farmers unnecessarily. We campaigned on a complete overhaul of the NPS-FM to remove subjective concepts and ensure that our freshwater management is scientifically sound and adapted to the needs of local communities. 'New Zealanders never voted for co-governance. Yet under Te Mana o te Wai, it's being imposed on every dam, drain, and ditch. We need to bring common sense back and let farmers farm.'
Otago Daily Times
2 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Poll shows Labour ahead of National, but coalition keeping power
Labour would be the largest party in Parliament - but the coalition would still cling on to power, according to a new poll. The latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll - the first the firm has conducted since the budget - sees Labour leapfrog National in popularity and parties outside parliament making slight gains. Party vote: Labour: 34.8 percent, up 1.6 percentage points (44 seats) National: 33.5 percent, down 1.1 (42 seats) ACT: 9.1 percent, down 0.4 (12 seats) Greens: 8.2 percent, down 0.9 (10 seats) NZ First: 6.1 percent, down 1.3 (8 seats) Te Pāti Māori: 3.3 percent, down 0.6 (6 seats) The centre-right would have a combined 62 seats, down one seat from the previous poll. The centre-left is up two seats to 60. For the minor parties, TOP is on 1.8 percent (up 1.3 percentage point), Outdoors and Freedom is on 1.1 percent (up 0.7 points), New Conservatives are on 0.7 percent (up 0.7 points) and Vision NZ on 0.6 percent (up 0.2 points). Preferred prime minister: In the preferred prime minister stakes, both Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins have taken hits, with Luxon staying slightly ahead of Hipkins. Christopher Luxon: 20.3 percent, down 4.2 percentage points Chris Hipkins: 18.5 percent, down 1.5 points Winston Peters: 8.0 percent, down 0.1 points David Seymour: 6.0 percent, down 0.7 points Chlöe Swarbrick: 5.6 percent, up 0.6 points Luxon is down 4.2 points from last month to 20.3 percent, while Hipkins is down 1.5 points to 18.5 percent. The poll was conducted by Curia Market Research Ltd for the NZ Taxpayers' Union. It is a random poll of 1000 adult New Zealanders, weighted to the overall adult population. It was conducted by phone (landlines and mobile) and online between Saturday, June 7 and Monday, June 9 2025. It has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1%. Curia is a long-running and established pollster in New Zealand, which has resigned its membership from the Research Association New Zealand (RANZ) industry body. Polls compare to the most recent poll by the same polling company, as different polls can use different methodologies. They are intended to track trends in voting preferences, showing a snapshot in time, rather than be a completely accurate predictor of the final election result.
