Faced with increasing resistance to its plans from Māori, the Government will soon find itself fighting on another front with the trade unions. As the second week of its first 100 day programme starts in Parliament, the Government has two key parts...
Clive Bibby My wife and I were privileged to be part of a function that demonstrated why we as a nation need to focus on the things we have in common, rather than the things that drive us apart. Why do we have to put up with a constant barrage of...
As the COP28 UN climate summit nears its end, world governments are still far apart on the central question of whether to phase out fossil fuels. The next few days could be the world’s last chance to keep global heating within safe limits. COP28...
Re: Signs should be te reo first, December 9. Dear Lara, I deeply resent you calling me a monolingual moron by implication in your latest offering. I passed School Certificate French in 1953. My wish for you, for 2024, is to try to be a bit nicer...
Re: te reo place names. I mentioned to my daughter that I had trouble knowing the government agencies because of their Māori names. She replied, “Yes Mum, but the next generation will take them for granted.” Wise words. Heather van Wyk
Relay for Life is back in 2024. After three years of delays and interruptions caused by Covid-19 and flooding, the fun community event and Cancer Society fundaiser is back. The 24-hour event (midday to midday) will be at the A&P Showgrounds, on...
Important work guiding transport planning in Tairāwhiti is gearing up for public consultation at the end of summer. Every six years, Gisborne District Council produces a Regional Land Transport Plan which details the region’s priorities and...
Sunday saw an early start for the Trust Tairāwhiti Rescue Helicopter, whose final mission of the week was a 2.30am call-out to a trauma at Ruatoria. The patient was flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital. The team completed four other...
Following the success of The Evergreen Foundation’s recent Hort Day in Hawke’s Bay, the event is being held today at the Four Seasons Packhouse in Gisborne in partnership with Trust Tairāwhiti. Hort Day Gisborne is bringing together about 65...
Rats came through the bathroom wall, rain leaked through the dining room ceiling and there was a large hole in the laundry ceiling where a builder’s apprentice fell through while re-roofing. The house a Wairoa family had been renting since 2012...
Ruatorea residents will this week have a chance to find out more about new social housing coming to the town. Homes built in Gisborne are to be placed on properties at 9 Amiria Avenue, 7 Holland Place, 10 Holland Place and 25 Barry Avenue...
Napier National MP Katie Nimon paid special tribute to Wairoa during her maiden speech in Parliament, calling the community “the heart of the Napier electorate” with “endless potential”. The Napier electorate includes Wairoa, Lake...
by James Pocock Wairoa District Council is about to commission an independent investigation as part of an effort to explain what the town’s mayor believes was unusual flooding linked to wood debris during Cyclone Gabrielle. Residents of Wairoa are...
Sunday’s inaugural Grey Street Christmas Festival was an “awesome success”, organisers say. Grey Street was closed to traffic between Childers Road and the skatepark for the event, which was organised by Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust (TAT)...
A trial of major road layout changes for Grey and Kahutia streets will press on next month following the conclusion of a series of public information roadshows. After a full week of public presentations about the project, Tairawhiti Adventure Trust...
A 62-year-old Glasgow-born Partick Thistle supporter is Gisborne Thistle’s new coach. But while Tam Cramer has yet to come to grips with the playing strength at Gisborne’s oldest surviving football club, he is no stranger to the city. His wife...
The ram sale season in the district ended on a strong note yesterday at the Matawhero saleyards when Te Ruanui Polled Dorsets racked up a new stud record price. Craig and Yvonne Brownlie from the Waerenga-o-Kuri property put up 80 Polled Dorsets and...
Christimas is just around the corner and at this time of year Focus on the Land likes to give books away. Up for grabs is ‘Secret Gardens of Aotearoa’, written by Jane Mahoney and Sophie Bannan. It explores a dozen “intriguing and unique”...
Beef + Lamb New Zealand will open an office in Gisborne next week. The premises, on the fifth floor of 74 Grey Street, will be officially opened and blessed on Wednesday next week from 1pm till 3pm. Invitations have gone out for the event. It will...
There was a total clearance of the 1487 sheep sold at the weekly sale at the Matawhero saleyards yesterday, where all except 11 sheep in the total yarding were store lambs. The best price of $77 was paid for 30 ram lambs from Raroa Station, at...
The Mayor’s call today for unity around everything we agree on, relationship building and the need to find new ways of thinking and working together is exactly what’s required for our region to overcome the challenges we face, and to help us...
Mayor Rehette Stoltz I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your whānau a blessed, peaceful (and sunny!) Christmas. I do hope that you will have some time off to rest and recharge your battery for 2024. No one can deny that 2023 has been...
Last month the president of COP28 Sultan al-Jaber said there was “no science” saying phasing out fossil fuel was what would keep the world inside 1.5C heating — a blatant attempt to undermine the agenda. More than 2400 fossil-fuel lobbyists...
Tairāwhiti No. 1 William Brown is on a mission to play at the national interprovincials in every New Zealand golf province. And he’s well on track to achieving it. Brown ended his 15th consecutive national tournament yesterday in Wellington and at...
REVIEW A festive environment is the backdrop of the latest murder mystery by Dorothy M Fletcher where the cast of Usual Suspects is a group of carol singers — the Golden Years Fun Club — enjoying the aftermatch party at a winery. In the first...
THE Human Rights Commission has appointed Julia Amua Whaipooti (Ngāti Porou) in the newly established position of tatau urutahi/shared leader. The position is a crucial part of the commission’s commitment to fostering a treaty-based partnership...
Weather is the year’s dirty word in Tairāwhiti — a year which has set a new standard for the word “wet”. As Christmas draws near, residents from East Cape to Wairoa and Napier will be hoping for a dry and sunny spell for the festive season...
by Doug Laing A highway deviation costing about $250 million to bypass the site of a slip that again closed the road between Napier and Wairoa this week is unlikely to be open before 2027. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency estimates it will take three...
The team of paid surf lifeguards to protect the Gisborne and Tolaga Bay beaches on weekdays during the peak of this summer have been selected. The lifeguards will undergo an induction course on December 18 and 19, and then commence work on December...
Gisborne Woodturners Club want to share the Christmas festival spirit with deserving young tamariki who have had a tough time. President Lynne Boulter has started distributing wooden toys made by club members during the year and the first recipient...
Police have arrested a Black Power associate in relation to the October shooting of a rival gang member in Gisborne and seized firearms and ammunition at gang addresses across the city. A police operation targeting firearms and gangs was carried out...
An East Coast man waded into the sea desperately trying to find phone service after his carelessness with a loaded rifle he was not allowed to have seriously wounded his teenaged son. The 16 -year-old is permanently maimed and no longer has one of...
The Christmas spirit ramps up this weekend with the man in red to appear in Wairoa’s Christmas Parade today and at the Grey Street Christmas Festival in Gisborne tomorrow. Wairoa’s parade starts at 2pm this afternoon and the theme is...
SPCA Gisborne centre manager Melissa Bennett started her new role in the midst of a kitten boom and she is loving every minute. “It’s been a busy month but I’ve landed myself in a pretty good team,” she says. “Everyone has a lot of...