Making sense of the new Road User Charges
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RNZ News
12 hours ago
- RNZ News
Serious crash closes Broadlands Road, Bay of Plenty
Police are asking motorists to avoid the area if possible. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER A serious crash has closed a main road in Bay of Plenty. Police said Broadlands Rd was closed between Ohaaki Rd and Allen Rd. A spokesperson said police were called to the single-vehicle crash shortly before 6pm. They said "initial indications" suggested there had been serious injuries. Broadlands Road is closed between Ohaaki Road and Allen Road. Photo: Google Maps The road has been closed with diversions in place. Police are asking motorists to avoid the area if possible. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
13 hours ago
- RNZ News
New firetrucks on ageing chassis heading to stations
Several trucks have broken down before or during fires around the country. Photo: Finn Blackwell Almost three dozen new firetrucks are due to head out to brigades battling with old ones prone to breaking down. Thirty of the 34 new trucks are built on chassis that Fire and Emergency (FENZ) bought several years ago and stored. The agency has had a raft of costly problems trying to replace its Type 3 trucks - the workhorse of its fleet, a little smaller than the Type 4 and 5 ladder trucks. The 30 Angloco MAN trucks were bought, stored, then shipped to the UK to be turned into firetrucks, then shipped back. "All the bodywork and extra components are new," deputy chief executive of organisational development and capability development Sarah Sinclair told RNZ. "They are new firetrucks and they are being shipped to us as soon as they are completed.". The professional firefighters union (NZPFU) has expressed ongoing doubts. "These 'new' Type 3 trucks are the ones that have been sitting in a paddock up in Auckland for several years," vice president Martin Campbell said. Delivery of the MANs was scheduled to begin next month, through until next February. Tauranga - where firefighters spilled out of the cab of a 28-year-old truck, when equipment overheated in June - gets one. Elderly trucks "never seem to get a rest" , union Tauranga branch secretary Mike Swanson told RNZ. Another four new Scanias are coming too, but no date for them is on the delivery schedule released under the Official Information Act. Hamilton - where, last week, a truck's broken pump forced firefighters to withdraw , when the hoses stopped working - will get a Scania. Another five tankers, and seven utes and smaller trucks were expected in place between May and October this year, the schedule (PDF) showed. As well, about 17 more trucks were on order, taking the full complement to 70, Sinclair said. FENZ had replaced about 300 mostly utes and small trucks since it was set up in 2017, but the union said it had not kept ahead of the curve, not planned properly and held on to trucks too long. The problems were compounded and sparked legal action, when - under an earlier programme - FENZ ordered chassis and body builds separately, then discovered a design fault with the body build. It had to resolve that, forcing it to store another batch of chassis, then rectify the faults in the ones already built and ensure the new ones were built better. The $700m-a-year agency has some big ladder trucks on order, but still lacks any strategy for replacing them, for instance, that would properly take into account population growth, and the spread of multistorey buildings or factories or intensive housing, where they can be vital for their long reach. Five years ago, it was ordered to come up with a strategy, after shortcomings identified at the 2019 Auckland convention centre roof fire. In April, Auckland firefighters were trapped in a ladder cage above flames at a recycling plant fire and, with that truck out of action, another of the city's handful of laddertrucks sprang a hydraulic leak just before a big fire in May. A broken-down laddertruck reduced FENZ's response to the fatal Loafer's Lodge fire in Wellington two years ago. "Our aerial appliance capability strategy is not yet finalised," it told RNZ, which reported it urgently restarted work on the strategy earlier this year. "We will be happy to release it to you once it is completed." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
16 hours ago
- RNZ News
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives in Queenstown for annual talk
New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon welcoming Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Queenstown. Photo: RNZ / Katie Todd Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese are in discussions right now in Queenstown - with matters relating to the Middle East expected to be front and centre. The annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders' Meeting was held in Queenstown, with formal talks taking place on Saturday at Te Wharehuanui - a private retreat built by Xero founder Rod Drury. The summit opened with a pōwhiri by Ngāi Tahu, which Albanese described as "very moving". Albanese is accompanied on the visit by fiancée Jodie Haydon. New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (left) with the former chairman of the Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board, Sir Tipene O'Regan. Photo: RNZ / Katie Todd In his opening remarks, Albanese thanked Luxon and his wife Amanda for the "warm generous welcome" and said it was a "delight" to be back in New Zealand - his third visit as prime minister, but one of many over the years. He recalled last visiting Queenstown as a backpacker "last century" and said holding the meeting in such a location was "a great honour". Albanese spoke of the "uncertain world" the two nations face; the one certainty, he said, was that "Australia and New Zealand stand together", a relationship going back to the ANZACs. Luxon's comments reflected a similar sentiment: "The world seems really uncertain and fractious, and actually, we have no greater friend than Australia." He and Albanese have known each other since Luxon's time at Air New Zealand, when Albanese was Australia's transport minister. The yearly fixture alternates between the two countries and allows the prime ministers to discuss bilateral ties and set priorities for the year ahead. This year's talks were expected to canvass the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Palestinian statehood, as well as security, defence and economic challenges closer to home. Both leaders spoke about Gaza this week with French President Emmanuel Macron, after France, Canada and the United Kingdom signalled they would recognise Palestine at a United Nations summit next month. Both New Zealand and Australia have said it is a question of "when, not if" they recognise a Palestinian state, but neither have commited to a timeline. Luxon has called the trans-Tasman relationship "the best it's ever been". Two-way trade is worth $32 billion, and ministers on both sides have been meeting regularly to strengthen ties. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arriving in Queenstown. Photo: RNZ / Katie Todd Albanese is also expected to take part in a business roundtable with the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum later on Saturday. On Sunday, the leaders are due to lay a wreath at Arrowtown War Memorial Park before Albanese departs. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
