New Zealand

Ambulance services will get $35 million over four years to tackle rising demand, with emergency calls expected to jump by 95,000 incidents over the next four years to 735,000 annually. The Budget 2026 funding targets immediate problems: more frontline crews, better technology, and stronger support systems. Two new

New Zealand has 260 separate regulatory bodies creating what Regulation Minister David Seymour calls a "twisted spaghetti" of overlapping bureaucracy that costs taxpayers millions and strangles economic activity. The first comprehensive mapping of the country's regulatory maze reveals 95 regulators in central government, 79 in local

The government has committed $212 million to extend the Healthy School Lunches programme for another year, taking it through to 2027. Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced the extension in a pre-Budget reveal, saying the government needed time to examine fundamental questions about the scheme's design. "We

The Warehouse Group has posted stable sales despite tough economic conditions, with customers making fewer shopping trips but spending more per visit. The retail giant, which operates The Warehouse Red Sheds, Warehouse Stationery and Noel Leeming stores, reported third-quarter sales of $700.8 million, down 1.4 percent on the

Jo Galer has narrowly won the Dunedin City Council by-election by just 89 votes, marking one of the closest electoral contests in the city's recent history. Galer secured 10,201 votes to defeat former mayor Aaron Hawkins, who received 10,112 votes in the race to fill the

The current National-ACT-NZ First coalition government is strongly positioned to win a second term, according to the latest NZ Herald-Motu Research Poll of Polls. The research shows the coalition has an 88.3% probability of forming the next government, with combined support of 50.2% compared to the opposition'

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has declared the government's fees-free university scheme a complete failure, announcing it will be scrapped in this month's budget. The policy, which covered students' final year of tertiary study, will end for new cohorts from next year, though current final-year students

Southland based construction company Calder Stewart has been awarded a significant contract to build a new train maintenance depot in the North Island. Greater Wellington has announced that Calder Stewart will build the new depot in Masterton, Wairarapa as part of its Lower North Island Rail Integrated Mobility (LNIRIM) programmed.