Chinese-backed interests are reported to also be looking at up to 100 dairy farms in Otago and Southland, plus a factory.

Mayor Tim Shadbolt believes Invercargill voters would favour his political experience over the singing career of challenger Suzanne Prentice.

Time-consuming and unproductive "distractions" involving Tim Shadbolt's council are behind Suzanne Prentice's bid to become Invercargill's new mayor.

Cheapskate backpackers have forced a Queenstown supermarket to introduce a ticketing system for buying Bluff oysters.

Knives, clubs, large rocks, bottles and an axe were recovered from the scene where a man become the first person to be tasered in the South Island.

Bad weather has put a damper on the start of the Bluff oyster season but it has not stopped Auckland's restaurants and retailers getting them on to plates in the thousands.

A baby owes its life to its grandmother who intervened during her own daughter's attempt at infanticide.

The official warning over a tsunami that threatened the entire east coast of New Zealand today has been downgraded to an advisory, but there is still a threat from ocean surges.

Civil Defence authorities have downgraded the tsunami warning for New Zealand. However, New Zealand authorities are warning that there could be surges for up to 24 hours.

New Zealand east coastal areas aren't out of the woods yet, with Civil Defence authorities and scientists electing keep the tsunami warning in place.

Wave activity "appears to be stabilised" at previously-reported levels, Civil Defence Emergency Management says.

The first wave has reached the Chatham Islands, after a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile overnight. An official tsunami alert remains in place for New Zealand's entire east coast.