Non-elected members will lose voting rights on council committees. Local Government Minister Simon Watts announced changes to the Local Government Act that will restrict voting to elected councillors only. "Councillors are directly accountable to voters for their decisions. We are amending the Local Government Act 2002 so only elected

Students with disabilities in Invercargill now have their own supermarket to master real-world skills. Front-Line Training has opened a Mini Woolies site — a fully functional replica supermarket complete with fresh food sections, grocery shelves, working registers and Woolworths uniforms. The programme lets young people with disabilities practice handling money, scanning

Businesses will pay $40 million less each year to accept commercial credit cards under new caps proposed by the Commerce Commission. The regulator wants to limit interchange fees on Mastercard and Visa commercial credit cards, which currently cost New Zealand businesses $125 million annually. "We expect our proposed interchange

UPDATE: Now Open. State Highway 6/Garston-Athol Highway at Garston in northern Southland is closed following a crash this morning. The crash occurred near the intersection with Hume Road and emergency services are at the scene of the crash. People are asked to delay their journeys in this area, or

SBS Bank has struck a technology partnership that will make it the first New Zealand bank to use a core banking platform powering millions of customers worldwide. The Invercargill-based bank announced a long-term deal with Engine by Starling, the cloud-native platform developed by UK digital bank Starling Bank. The technology

Jim’s Laundry Services has come to Southland for the first time, specialising in small businesses such as physiotherapies and private accommodation. Swapnal offers a quick turnaround same day service to business owners, filling a much needed gap in the industry. Two years ago he opened the self-service laundrymat in

Another great weekend of live music across Invercargill. Friday night, Lara Kerr plays Live in the Lobby at Two Doors Down from 5:30pm, Get Folked returns to RIFF for another brilliant night of music and community, and Waxy's has Jetset kicking off from 9pm till late. Saturday,

Two youths have been arrested and charged following a crime spree in Winton that ended with a stolen car being torched near the Oreti River Bridge. Police received multiple reports on Friday night of vehicles being broken into around the town. One car was stolen and then set alight. Western