For the first time in 22 years, two speakers have been named joint national champions in the annual Race Unity Speech Awards. Chief judge NZ Police Deputy Commissioner Wally Haumaha says it was impossible to choose a single national champion. “There...... Read More

  A fire that has consumed a house on Friday night in Welcome Bay also enveloped four cars parked nearby. “Four cars are totally written off,” says a SunLive reporter at the scene on Sunday. Police and fire emergency services were...... Read More

Emergency services are at the scene of a house fire in Welcome Bay. Police say they were advised at 9.20pm that a house was on fire on Keam Way in Welcome Bay. It is understood that everyone is out of the house safely, according to Police. SunLive...... Read More

The country has awoken today to its first distinctly New Zealand public holiday, Te Rā Aro ki a Matariki. In Māori culture, Matariki is both the name of the Pleiades star cluster and of the celebration of its first rising in late June or early July....... Read More

Central and eastern parts of New Zealand are expected to get a fairly clear view of the stars before sunrise tomorrow. The MetService is closely monitoring the cloud cover to see which places should get an unobstructed view as Matariki and Puanga heralding...... Read More

The Tauranga Astronomical Society is looking forward to hosting a Matariki event early on Friday morning. Weather permitting, the organisation’s observatory at Fergusson Park, Matua will be open from 5am on Friday, June 24, for the rising of...... Read More

The organiser of Tauranga's first Matariki Kite Day says it's "fantastic to see how much the event has grown over the years". Despite a wet started to the weekend, skies cleared in time for hundreds of colourful kites to take flight...... Read More

New Zealand Police is launching a new recruitment campaign designed to attract wāhine/women Māori. Commissioner of Police Andrew Coster says wāhine Māori are the most under-represented demographic in Police and the new campaign, Puhikura, sets...... Read More

UPDATED 8.06AM: One of 60 buildings in Tauranga’s Historic Village has been destroyed by fire overnight. The fire began at about 12.30am. A Tauranga City Council spokesperson says no one was in the building at the time or has been injured in...... Read More

  New Zealand’s largest science, technology, engineering, and mathematics festival is set to return after a two-year hiatus.   More than 50 exhibitors are expected in Tauranga from all over Aotearoa for the free, family-friendly street...... Read More

WATCH LIVE: The Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield is hosting a media briefing at 1pm to provide updates on the response to the Omicron outbreak. Dr Bloomfield will be joined by the Ministry’s Chief Science Advisor Dr Ian Town. Today,...... Read More

Fire emergency services are attending the fire of an uninhabited house in Gate Pa. Fire and Emergency NZ shift manager Josh Pennefather says they received a call to a house fire at a property in Ward Street at approximately 4.10pm. "The fire...... Read More

Motorists will soon be travelling over the new Te Maunga interchange at the intersection of SH2 and SH29A as Waka Kotahi prepares for the next stage of construction on the Bay Link project.   The traffic switch is scheduled to take place overnight...... Read More

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Compliance officers will start using new infrared camera technology to help detect illegal non-compliant wood burner use in Rotorua. The new thermal imaging camera technology detects thermal energy on chimneys and flues...... Read More

WATCH LIVE: The Ministry of Health's Chief Science Adviser, Dr Ian Town is providing an update on the Covid-19 response at 1.30pm. Specifically, Dr Town will be talking about the surveillance measures for monitoring new variants of the virus in...... Read More

The Black Ferns have opened their Pacific Four series campaign with a 23-10 victory over the Australian Wallaroos at a slippery, muddy Tauranga Domain. It was a classic game of two halves, the Wallaroos dominant in the first stanza off the back of...... Read More

A major storm system is developing south of NZ this week and will take until the middle of next week to finally clear away, says WeatherWatch.co.nz. The low pressure zone this weekend is forecast to deepen into the 940hPa range and the size of the...... Read More

A fish has been caught in the same location that it was tagged, nearly 20 years ago to the day. Mr Chilt, an amateur jetski fisher, reeled in the 5kg snapper off the coast of Patea in South Taranaki on February 27 this year. The snapper contained...... Read More

6.30pm update: Fire emergency services are still at the scene of a house fire in Mount Maunganui this evening, where the fire has been extinguished with fire fighters monitoring for any hot spots. Concerns were initially raised for the safety of a...... Read More