Paige Turner

"ACT will restore a public service based on merit, need, neutrality, and results," says ACT Leader David Seymour. "New Zealanders pay for the public service to deliver better education, healthcare, public safety, infrastructure, and essential government services. This Government has gone some way to fixing it with

Southland District Council has about 32,000km of water pipes — and doesn't know where all of them are. Strategic manager water and waste Kevin Johnson made the admission at a council meeting on Wednesday, when he updated elected members on the district's water services network. Asked

Southland is holding up where most of the country isn't. Seven months into 2026, the region has recorded a 3.1% increase in average home values — one of just three regions in positive territory nationally, alongside Canterbury (1.3%) and Otago (2.8%). Invercargill is up 0.1%

Nobody will say how many private investors put their hand up to take over a struggling Fiordland airport — not the council that owns it, and not the agency it paid to run the process. Te Anau Airport Manapouri has cost Southland District Council an extra $2.1 million just to

Gore District Council has backed both competing Southland local government reform proposals, writing to the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport ahead of the government's August 9 deadline. The council confirmed support for both the two-unitary Greater Southland proposal developed by Southland District Council and the single-unitary

Datagrid has locked in the equipment needed to build a substation that will power what it says will be New Zealand's largest AI data centre, on its Southland site. The company has signed a pre-purchase agreement with grid owner Transpower New Zealand covering four high-voltage power transformers, associated

Nearly $370,000 is heading into Southland communities after the first round of 2026 grants from the NZAS and Ngāi Tahu Community Development Fund was announced this week. Ten projects share $367,000 in the fourth annual round of the $500,000 fund, which is administered jointly by Rio Tinto

Christopher Luxon has survived a caucus confidence vote and is pushing his party toward the November 7 election. The National leader faced his caucus this morning and emerged with their backing intact. He was brief about it — 52 seconds in front of media — and made clear he considers the matter