3+ week, 6+ hour ago (649+ words) A 3D rendering of the solar farm now under construction at Ruakaka. Graphic / supplied. As Meridian Energy begins construction on its $227 million solar farm in Ruak'k', a local M'ori leader is highlighting unresolved cultural and environmental concerns. Dr Mere Kepa, chair of the Takahiwai M'ori Committee and representative of local hap" Te Parawhau, says that for local M'ori the project continues a legacy of land loss and cultural displacement. "When workers arrive to mark out the land, scrape through indigenous waters, and hammer measuring ropes into the soil, a sense of impending forfeiture is felt again," she said. Meridian, however, says it consulted extensively with M'ori stakeholders on the project - its first solar scheme in New Zealand and one of the country's largest. Increased environmental commitments - including plans to restore wetlands, enhance sand dunes, and plant 22ha of native vegetation, as well…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago (713+ words) Rotorua council will run its water services until 2028 while exploring a shared model. Rotorua Lakes Council's 10-year plan for managing the district's water, wastewater and stormwater services has been approved by the Government. The prospect of joining a merged, multi-council organisation to deliver those services from 2028, however, remains a point of debate among councillors. The council's Water Services Delivery Plan outlines how water services will operate under the Government's Local Water Done Well programme, which replaced Three Waters reform in August. Councils were required to develop and submit water services plans by September 3. Rotorua's plan keeps management in council hands until at least 2028, delaying any move to a regional body. In the interim, Rotorua will work with Kawerau, "p'tiki and Whakat'ne councils, which had their respective plans accepted this month, to investigate the validity of forming a joint organisation. A…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (659+ words) The Green Party says the Associate Agriculture Minister ignoring official advice proposing changes to pig mating practices exacerbates animal distress and fails to properly regulate the pork industry. Minister Andrew Hoggard maintains the decade he has given pig farms to adopt new regulations is "realistic, but he also expects operators to act quickly regarding mating stalls. In October, Hoggard announced a raft of changes to the Animal Welfare Act 1999, which required improvements to the use of farrowing crates, designed to prevent a sow crushing her piglets, and mating stalls, as well as requirements for space to grow pigs. It would reduce the time sows were kept in farrowing crates from a maximum of 33 days to seven days, as well as requiring materials enabling nest-building behaviours. For mating stalls, the changes would mean sows couldn't be confined for more than three…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (586+ words) Christopher Luxon is "a very intelligent guy" and the only talk about turfing him from the top job is coming from the "chatterati", columnists and those with short attention spans who "always want some excitement", a senior Cabinet minister says. No one in National's caucus had raised with him the idea of replacing Luxon, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW this morning. Goldsmith's comments came after Herald columnist Matthew Hooton wrote that senior ministers were complaining the Prime Minister was failing to show the country that a "bold and comprehensive reform programme", rivalling great reforming Governments of the past, was under way across most portfolios. "They say this Government lacks a Prime Minister who can comprehend and pull it all together, communicate the vision that underpins it and build confidence among voters and the business community…...

5+ day, 15+ hour ago (796+ words) Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki is trying again to stop the traffic over the Auckland Harbour Bridge - and has lodged his application with authorities for a protest in January. Tamaki had wanted to lead his supporters over the bridge last month in what he had dubbed the "March for New Zealand" - with immigration policy as a focal point. That march never got off the ground; Tamaki claimed he decided not to go ahead with it, while NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said it had refused permission. NZTA said organisers hadn't provided the "information on how their event would meet the required criteria to access the state highway corridor". Police confirmed the same. NZTA has confirmed it received a new application on Monday. "NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi [NZTA] received a Traffic Management Plan from The Freedom and Rights Coalition…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (555+ words) Tory Whanau has confirmed her plans to move across the ditch to Melbourne after a "challenging" time as Wellington mayor. The one-term mayor said one of the reasons behind the shift was the intensity of political life in New Zealand. The move was signalled to the Herald last month but was officially set in stone in an announcement today. In a post on LinkedIn, Whanau shared more about her decision and the reasons that drove her away from New Zealand. "While I had hoped to keep this decision private now that I'm no longer in public office, it has recently been reported in the news. So I want to share the context in my own words. "I've decided to leave New Zealand for a combination of economic, professional, and personal reasons," she said in the post. Some of the reasons…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (505+ words) New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is promising to repeal the contentious Regulatory Standards Act, which was signed into law only two days ago, if elected in the 2026 general election. Speaking to Waatea News" Dale Husband, Peters said his party was opposed to the bill " which was part of Act"s coalition agreement with National " from "the word go." "You"ve only got so many cards. We did our best to neutralise its adverse effects, and we will campaign at the next election to repeal it." The act sets out "principles" for "good" regulation and would see the establishment of the Regulatory Standards Board, an entity to consider the consistency of legislation with the proposed principles. Peters called the powers that would be given to the new board a "terrible overreach". "For example, Parliament and ministers and others are all…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (587+ words) One of the country's largest iwi is taking the Government to court over proposed changes to conservation law that it says violate the iwi's Treaty settlement with the Crown. Whenua " land " is a central part of all iwi settlements. Ng'i Tahu's area of interest covers most of the South Island, including two-thirds of the country's conservation estate. This estate includes a wide range of culturally significant sites, species and landmarks that are significant to many New Zealanders, such as Aoraki/Mt Cook. Conservation provisions were a core part of the iwi's 1998 settlement, including guarantees the iwi would be able to participate in environmental area management plans and assurances its conservation estate would be protected. Ng'i Tahu leader Justin Tipa said the proposed changes to the Conservation Act undermined these assurances. The proposals include making more than 60% of public conservation land…...

4+ day, 9+ hour ago (898+ words) Mayors were not elected to provide regional oversight on environmental regulation or to design a new regional council model, Horizons Regional Council chairwoman Nikki Riley says. A Government proposal to scrap elected regional councillors and replace them with mayor-led boards could undermine democratic representation, she said. "While the mayors in our region are capable people, they were not elected " and did not campaign to be elected " on the understanding they would be responsible for regional environmental oversight, or that they would be responsible for delivering a reorganisation of local government services across the region. "Horizons councillors act as a strong voice for our communities and the environment, and stripping away this layer of governance could weaken local representation." Mayors had recent experience with reorganisation work under the Local Water Done Well scheme, but delivering a similar piece of work for…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (539+ words) By Kate Newton of RNZ The Government has quietly rejected Climate Change Commission advice to set a much more ambitious "net negative" long-term target for carbon emissions. Instead, it will retain the original 2050 goal of net-zero emissions of carbon dioxide and other long-lived gases. That's despite warnings from the Climate Change Commission that the effects of climate change are hitting the country sooner and more severely than expected, and that New Zealand can and should be doing more. A climate policy expert says the decision is "incredibly consequential" and should have been communicated more transparently. Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has previously told RNZ that, according to current projections, New Zealand could reach net zero as early as 2042. The decision not to change the net-zero target was included in the fine print of an announcement last month that the Government…...