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The Employment Relations Bill could override the Uber court decision. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Over the past two years, the government has broken legislative records – helped by more frequent use of Parliamentary urgency and additional sittings.

As a result, it would not be surprising if the prime minister’s to-do list had been whittled down to a toothpick. But Parliament shows no sign of slowing its legislative pace.

The government added an extra morning sitting again this week, pushing aside Thursday’s Select Committees to focus on passing bills in the House. Extra mornings have become the norm, rather than the exception.

The government hoped to progress ten different bills this week, with three moving through multiple stages. Two of those bills were strongly contested, while the third was unanimously supported.

We have already discussed the Public Service Amendment Bill, which, among other things, removes the obligation that the public service reflect the community it serves.

You can also hear audio relating to that bill (and others), at the green and gold podcast link above.

The unanimously supported bill widens the definition of who Anzac Day remembers, to include all Kiwis who have served, rather than just specific veterans and specific conflicts. No party is against this idea.

The third bill, the Employment Relations Amendment Bill, was more acrimonious. Labour’s Jan Tinetti began bluntly:

“Here we are again: another week and another government bill that’s putting a wrecking ball to the rights of workers in this country. …This bill is an absolute disgrace. It is an outright ideological attack on the rights of working New Zealanders, on the dignity of work, and on the very values that keep our community strong in this country. This Employment Relations Amendment Bill doesn’t amend the law, it amputates it.”

The bill finished its second reading debate on Tuesday, and then wrestled its way through a long Committee of the Whole House stage on Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning.

Lopsided debating

The debate was highly contentious, but not really contested. For example, here is National MP Rima Nakhle’s entire speech from the second reading.

“Speaker, thank you. While the Employment Relations Act has indeed provided important protections, over time, some of these settings have created unintended costs and risks for employers.

“What this bill and the changes proposed in this bill do is rebalance the system so that it works fairly for both employees and employers. I commend this bill to the House.”

MPs get 10 minutes to speak per “call”. Nakhle’s speech lasted barely 30 seconds. That is not unusual. The government wants speed, so coalition backbenchers say almost nothing on most bills.

This gives junior governing-side MPs scant debating experience, and it doesn’t help get the government’s arguments across in the House either.

Much of the time, Parliament’s debating is an oddly lopsided affair. The opposition does most of the debating, and the government wins all the votes.

On many bills, the only government speech that makes substantive arguments for passing a bill is the initial speech given by the minister whose bill it is.

ACT MP Brooke van Velden, Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The Employment Relations Amendment Bill

To find a speech that solidly outlines the government’s position on the Employment Relations Amendment Bill, we must reach back two weeks to when ACT’s Brooke van Velden, the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, opened the second reading debate.

“This bill is a key part of the government’s commitment to providing greater certainty for businesses and workers; supporting economic growth; and ensuring our employment relations framework is fit for a modern, dynamic economy.”

Van Velden described the bill’s foci as: “providing greater certainty for contracting parties; strengthening the consideration of accountability for the employee’s behaviour in the personal grievance process; providing an income threshold for ineligibility for unjustified dismissal personal grievances [now $200,000 p/a]; and removing the 30-day rule to improve freedom of choice and cut red tape at the beginning of employment. Together, these changes will improve labour market flexibility across the spectrum.”

The minister also outlined some adjustments to the bill.

“The bill introduces a new gateway test that provides a clearer and more efficient legal test for clear-cut, genuine contracting arrangements, which gives weight to the intention of contracting parties.

“The gateway test now explicitly covers situations where a business facilitates work for a third party… For the intention criterion, the test now clarifies that a business can specify in the written agreement that the worker is either an ‘independent contractor’ or ‘not an employee’. This means businesses that don’t classify workers as independent contractors can still use the gateway test.”

“For the restriction criterion, the test makes clear that contracting a worker for full-time work will not, in and of itself, constitute a restriction on working for others.

“This addresses a risk that the Employment Relations Authority or the Employment Court might interpret full-time work as a restriction on being able to do other work.”

Camilla Belich chairing the Education and Workforce Select Committee. VNP / Phil Smith

Among the opposition speakers, putting a varying point of view, was Labour’s Camilla Bellich.

“[The bill], effectively, rewinds and takes away the victory that some of our most vulnerable workers in New Zealand, Uber workers, gig workers, won in the Supreme Court only in November last year… What is this government doing?

“It is reversing their win through this terrible piece of legislation that will take those hard-won gains that those Uber workers made in the Supreme Court and, effectively, turn those around through the introduction of this gateway test.

“The test for who is an employee is something that is common throughout Commonwealth jurisdictions. It looks to the real nature of the work, which should be the test that we use.

“The test in this bill reverses that and makes it much easier for employers to say, ‘You are not an employee. You don’t get holiday pay. You don’t get parental leave. You don’t get sick leave. You don’t get the minimum wage. You don’t get anything, because you’re not an employee.’ That is what this bill does.”

Belich said the 30-day rule would be abolished, and that had implications for new workers.

“It essentially means that when you start in a job, instead of being covered by the collective employment agreement, …you’ll most likely be covered by an individual employment agreement unless you decide independently to join a trade union.

“The reason that that is really important is because what a lot of individual employment contracts have in them is a trial period-essentially a 90-day period where, similar to what will be introduced here, you have absolutely no rights at all, and you can be sacked for any reason at all.”

There had been plans to get the Employment Relations Amendment bill finalised in this week’s final hour of Parliament, on Thursday afternoon, but the government opted instead to begin the third reading of the Anzac Day Amendment Bill.

The Anzac Day bill seemed especially appropriate within a debating chamber that is, quite literally, a giant war memorial, with plaques for all of the many conflicts and actions New Zealand has been involved in.

And despite powerful speeches of painful history and personal grief, it was still a more convivial discussion than a third reading of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill.

*RNZ’s The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament’s Office of the Clerk. Enjoy our articles or podcast at RNZ.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/15/employment-relations-and-speedy-lopsided-debates/

February 15, 2026

Review: Relationship between coaches and media probably isn’t what you think

Source: Radio New Zealand

All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson speaks to media. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

It’s fair to say that Tim Percival knows a thing or two about media management and relationships. After all, he had to work for Eddie Jones for a while back when the headline-generating Australian was in charge of England. Currently, the communications lead for the RFU, Percival has put his experiences into a new book, Off The Record & On The Ball.

It’s not just about his experiences, though. Percival sought the help over 30 elite level coaches, including extensive quotes from former Chiefs, Wales and Lions boss Warren Gatland.

The result is a revealing look at the way the media operates within an often variable degree of trust, one that can change with the blow of a whistle or stroke of a keyboard. The book acts effectively as a ‘how to’ guide for both sides of the media/athlete relationship, explaining a lot of the unwritten rules and conventions around an industry that’s often widely misunderstood by the audience that follows it.

Off the Record & On the Ball, by Tim Percival. supplied

One of the main areas of conjecture, especially now that the value of disingenuous empathy as social media currency has never been higher, is around the role of journalists as critics. One of the most notorious instances of that was Gatland’s welcome back to New Zealand as coach of the British & Irish Lions in 2017, where he was greeted with a full page newspaper cartoon depicting him as a clown.

“I don’t think it affected my performance,” Gatland says in the book, with the series against the All Blacks ending in a dramatic drawn third test at Eden Park.

“I was really conscious of the negativity and I’m 100 percent convinced it came from the All Black coaches at the time. It was a deliberate ploy to put pressure on me from day one. It made me determined to do well. It galvanised me and I though, you know, I’m going to work harder here.”

The book also talks about the siege mentality that’s often used by teams to create motivation, against an outside perceived injustice that’s either real or imagined.

Wales’ head coach Warren Gatland Inpho / www.photosport.nz

Veteran former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp, who was famous for giving off the cuff press conferences leaning out of his car window while leaving training, is liberally quoted in the book. He reveals a level of respect between himself and the media, saying he understands that they “have a job to do”.

“I couldn’t drive past someone at seven o’clock in the morning in January, when it’s freezing cold. It’s not in my nature to go straight past someone without stopping and speaking to them. If I can help them do their job, then what difference does that make to me?”

The overarching theme of Percival’s message is that while there’s no one clear right way for athletes, teams or coaches to operate with the media and vice versa, there are plenty of wrong ones. It’s frustrating that the default option, especially now that not just every comment but also not commenting on certain issues by athletes are dissected by the public, is to simply shun social media entirely.

Gatland makes the sad point that it wasn’t the online criticism of himself, rather that of son Bryn that got to him the most.

“Some of the vitriol on social media, it’s just nasty. It’s disgraceful.”

Perhaps that’s where publications like this can help educate the most, because at least Gatland has a right of reply when conversations are held in press conferences and under a ratified journalistic structure. Comments sections don’t have that and likely never will, so the more the public know about how sports journalism actually works, the healthier the environment will be for everyone.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/15/review-relationship-between-coaches-and-media-probably-isnt-what-you-think/

February 15, 2026

Rockpool closures to protect marine life

Source: New Zealand Government

The Government has taken action to stop the wholesale stripping of marine creatures from rockpools on the east coast north of Auckland.

“I have approved a two-year ban on the taking of a range of invertebrate and seaweed species to put an end to over-collection of marine life from rockpools and surrounding coastline and help protect these important ecosystems,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says.

“While most people who visit the coast do the right thing and gather only what is appropriate and legal, there are others who are exploiting it and taking so much that they are collapsing the fragile ecosystems.

The temporary closure will take effect from 12 March 2026. The closure is enforceable by Fishery Officers.

Mr Jones says infringements for breaching temporary closure rules will also be considered as an additional measure.

Oceans and Fisheries Under-Secretary Jenny Marcroft has been working closely with locals, visitors and Fisheries officials to understand the issues and find solutions to the problems.

“As a result, officials have been directed to explore how community volunteers can be supported to encourage visitors to do the right thing. Fisheries New Zealand will also develop multilingual educational material to support this closure and the ongoing management of intertidal fisheries.”

The Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust requested a two-year temporary fisheries closure over the Rodney, Hibiscus Coast, and East Coast Bays coastline and some Hauraki Gulf islands.

Mr Jones says Fisheries worked with the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, which will place a traditional rāhui over the same area and species.

The two-year temporary closure provides statutory support for the rāhui.

“My decision excludes some of the species and areas requested by Ngāti Manuhiri where existing closures and restrictions apply,” Mr Jones says.

The closure includes all seaweed species and invertebrate species (all shellfish and sea life such as sponges, starfish, sea anemone, and sea cucumbers).

This closure does not apply to spiny rock lobster and scallops as there are already existing closures already in place for these species. Kina (sea urchin) is also excluded from the closure and can still be taken within the current recreational fishing limits.

“I decided to allow kina to continue to be taken as managing kina barrens is a priority for me. Officials will continue to actively monitor and manage kina populations.”

The closure does not apply to any aquaculture activities such as marine farming or the collection of spat (small juvenile shellfish) for those activities.

“It’s important that these coastal management restrictions do not impact on marine farming and the aquaculture development so it can continue to support our economy and provide jobs in our communities,” Mr Jones says.

“I’d like to acknowledge Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust’s valuable contribution to fisheries management and their commitment to this kaupapa.

“I will also be considering further restrictions for harvesting shellfish around parts of the country to ensure sustainability.

“My officials have a broader programme of work under way for managing intertidal shellfish and are developing proposals for Auckland and Coromandel, which are expected to be publicly consulted in the coming months,” Mr Jones says.

More information can be found at: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/consultations/proposed-temporary-fisheries-closure-in-the-hauraki-gulf

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/15/rockpool-closures-to-protect-marine-life/

February 15, 2026

‘Never seen anything like’ weather that hit Waipā – Waikato man

Source: Radio New Zealand

Water rushing over a blown out culvert on Corcoran Rd, Te Pahu, Waipā. Ryan Vickers

A Waikato man says he had never seen damage like the scenes on his parent’s Waipā farm following Friday’s intense rain.

The South Waikato was hit hard by severe weather that hammered the North Island, causing widespread flooding and slips, and the death of a motorist in floodwaters.

Ryan Vickers said the weatherbomb that hit parts of the district was so localised, he had no idea how bad it was from his Hamilton home just 30 minutes away.

But after a long and nervous night for his mother, who was left trapped on the farm after flooding destroyed vehicle access, he drove to the property at the base of Mt Pirongia on Saturday.

What he saw shocked him.

“I’ve lived in rural communities most of my life, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Vickers said a relatively small creek on the property flooded, presumably banking up before bursting with huge force.

“I feel like what must have happened is a slip covered the creek further up, and then it kind of broke, like a dam breaking.

“What came down was the water shifting massive boulders bigger than cars and just throwing them down the mountain.

“It took out logs and trees. Stuff within five metres either side of the river [has] just been shredded, picked up and thrown down the hill.

“Then it got to the bridge, the crossing mum and dad had going up to their farm, and it’s just smashed that as well.”

To get to the Waipā farm, Vickers was forced to take back roads and travel across farmland, before using heavy machinery to clear tracks and create a path out through the back of the farm.

He said while the property had a generator, he expected it to be without water for days.

Fences, bridges, roads and livestock have been damaged or swept away, and several nearby properties are cut off.

He said it was a close-knit community, and everyone would pitch in to help out.

The driveway belonging to Ryan Vicker’s parents was scoured by raging floodwaters which took out roads and bridges. Ryan Vickers

His mother was no stranger to intense weather and flooding, but she described the noise of tumbling boulders as terrifying.

“She was worried, given what happened at the Mount, she was worried a slip could come down at their place, and she was up there by herself because Dad’s working on another farm at the moment.”

His mum got no sleep on Friday, and was a little “shell-shocked” by the experience, he said.

Vickers said the increasing frequency of these type of events pointed to a shift in the climate.

“All these hundred-year events that happen every few years, something’s changed hasn’t it?”

The South Waikato region took a particular beating from Friday’s thunderstorms, with roads, homes and infrastructure damaged in widespread flooding.

Around 80 people were forced to evacuate their homes and a motorist died when his vehicle became submerged at Puketotara on Saturday night.

Flooding and slips have closed State Highway 3 between Te Awamutu and Ōtorohanga, State Highway 39 – Pirongia to Ōtorohanga, and State Highway 31 – Kawhia to Tihiroa, as well as dozens of local roads.

Mayor Rodney Dow said the district had experienced widespread flooding, slips and inundation.

“The situation in Ōtorohanga is serious.”

A local state of emergency for the Ōtorohanga district was declared in the early hours of Saturday morning, with a declaration for Waipā following on Saturday afternoon.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/15/never-seen-anything-like-weather-that-hit-waipa-waikato-man/

February 15, 2026

Wellington Water chair Nick Leggett resigns over Moa Point sewage disaster

Source: Radio New Zealand

Nick Leggett. RNZ / Angus Dreaver

The chair of Wellington Water has resigned following the Moa Point crisis.

Nick Leggett said the failure of the Wellington treatment plant was deeply serious and had affected the environment, public health and the community.

A failure at the treatment plant on Wellington’s south coast earlier this month has been spilling 70 million litres of untreated sewage a day into Cook Strait.

Labelled an environmental disaster by the city’s mayor, Wellington Water has warned it could be months before the plant is operating again and the waters are again swimmable.

Leggett said leadership carried responsibility, and stepping aside would allow Wellington Water to focus on fixing the problems and restoring public trust.

An independent government review would examine the causes of the failure. Leggett said he would fully cooperate with that process.

His last day will be Monday. Deputy chair Bill Bayfield will take over as interim chair.

Leggett had been in the role since 2023.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/15/wellington-water-chair-nick-leggett-resigns-over-moa-point-sewage-disaster/

February 15, 2026

Weather: Heavy rain and damaging gales set to lash eastern and southern North Island

Source: Radio New Zealand

Supplied/ Dan Bailey

Heavy rain and severe gales are forecast to batter the eastern and southern North Island, parts of Marlborough and North Canterbury, and the Chatham Islands.

MetService issued multiple orange heavy rain and strong wind warnings on Sunday, warning of dangerous conditions from Sunday morning through to Monday evening.

Heavy rain warnings in place

An orange heavy rain warning is in force for Gisborne/Tairāwhiti south of Poverty Bay and Hawke’s Bay, about and east of Wairoa, from 6am Sunday until 5am Monday. Between 100 and 150 millimetres of rain is forecast, with peak intensities of 15 to 25mm per hour on Sunday afternoon.

Rain may briefly ease overnight before becoming heavy again early Monday. There is a moderate chance of the warning being upgraded to red.

Further south, Hawke’s Bay south of Waipukurau, including the Ruahine Range and eastern hills from Cape Kidnappers southwards, is under an orange warning from noon Sunday until 9am Monday.

MetService expects 100 to 140mm of rain, with intense bursts of 20 to 30mm per hour, especially overnight Sunday into Monday.

Inland areas of Whanganui and Manawatū north of Marton, including Taihape, are covered by a warning from 6pm Sunday until 2pm Monday, with 100 to 150mm of rain forecast and peak rates of 10 to 20mm per hour.

A prolonged warning is also in place for Wairarapa, the Tararua District and the Tararua Range from 2pm Sunday until 7pm Monday. MetService says 120 to 160mm of rain is expected over the eastern hills and Tararua Range, and 50 to 80mm across the rest of Wairarapa.

Intensities of 20 to 25mm per hour are possible in elevated areas, particularly overnight.

MetService warns streams and rivers may rise rapidly, with surface flooding, slips and hazardous driving conditions likely.

Damaging winds forecast

Severe gales are also expected.

Wairarapa and the Tararua District are under an orange strong wind warning from 6pm Sunday until 9am Monday, with southwesterly gusts reaching 120km/h in exposed places.

In Wellington and eastern Marlborough, north of Clarence, severe south to southwesterlies are forecast from 6pm Sunday until 3pm Monday, with damaging gusts of up to 130km/h in exposed areas.

Although winds are expected to ease during Monday afternoon, they may remain close to severe gale strength in some places until midnight.

Meanwhile, Gisborne/Tairāwhiti south of Poverty Bay and Hawke’s Bay face severe west to southwesterlies from 5pm Sunday until 7am Monday, with coastal gusts also reaching 130km/h. There is a moderate chance this warning could be upgraded to red.

MetService says damaging winds could bring down trees and powerlines, and make travel hazardous, particularly for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.

Emergencies ongoing

The latest warnings come as parts of the country remain in recovery mode from recent storms.

Local states of emergency are in place in the Waipā District and Ōtorohanga District after widespread flooding in Waikato, where a man died in floodwaters near SH39 on Friday.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell says the country is in a “perpetual cycle of response and recovery”, with 25 local states of emergency declared in the past two years.

In Waipā, the district council says its Te Tahi Water Treatment Plant has been significantly damaged. Water has been redirected to Pirongia at reduced flow, and residents are being asked to conserve water for drinking and hygiene only, and to flush toilets sparingly.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/15/weather-heavy-rain-and-damaging-gales-set-to-lash-eastern-and-southern-north-island/

February 15, 2026

Super Rugby Pacific wrap: Rusty Chiefs, hot Highlanders and Moana’s miracle

Source: Radio New Zealand

One moment summed up the Blues’ night against the Chiefs, and it happened before the game had even kicked off. An honour guard of the original 1996 Super 12 winning side stood ready to clap the Blues onto Eden Park, but no one told the players and they ran out the other side, leaving the crowd groaning in embarrassment.

The well-intentioned yet poorly executed theme then continued for most of the next 80 minutes, with the Blues showing glimpses of what they’re capable of. Unfortunately for them and the crowd, it was usually followed by a knock-on or a penalty. It took over half-an-hour for them to score at all, which then wasn’t followed up by any meaningful period of dominance.

Even at halftime the clunkiness was evident, three Kiss Cam targets awkwardly weren’t even looking at the screen and missed their cue – on Valentine’s Day no less.

[embedded content]

It’s not as if the Chiefs were any better in their eventual 19-15 win, mind you. It seemed like both sides were still in preseason mode and it wasn’t until the game entered the final 10 minutes that they were able to click into gear, with three All Blacks combining for the winning try.

That effort from Cortez Ratima was enough for new Chiefs coach Jono Gibbes to breathe a sigh of relief.

“We absorbed a hell of a lot of pressure in that second half,” he admitted post-match.

“What it took was us just staying in that moment and falling back to our prep. We worked it up the middle of the field and had one opportunity, which we converted.”

[embedded content]

Meanwhile, Blues captain Dalton Papali’i lamented his side’s inability to seize key moments.

“We took our foot off the throat, they got two penalties down in our half. It’s small moments that win or lose these games and we gave them three moments to execute, and they did. It cost us the game.”

All I need is a Miracle, while the Highlanders shock the Crusaders

Miracle Faiilagi is two things – a headline writer’s dream and a very, very good rugby player. His three tries helped Moana Pasifika won the Battle of the Pacific 40-26 over the Drua, a surprisingly comfortable scoreline at the otherwise formidable Churchill Park in Lautoka.

Not many were giving Moana much hope after Ardie Savea’s exit for this season, but if they can dig deep and rally around Faiilagi, there’s a way forward for the expansion team whose even existence is constantly precarious.

[embedded content]

While the Highlanders’ 25-23 win over the Crusaders was impressive and celebrated everywhere outside of red and black country, you don’t need to look too far into the past to know that this isn’t the best indicator of how their season will go. This is the second season in a row that they’ve beaten the defending champions in their first home game, last year they ended up losing nine of their next 10 games and coming last.

The same can be said for the Crusaders, who were very flat and still had a chance to win it on the last play. Their redemption season in 2025 still had hiccups, like a big loss to Moana at home, but ultimately that was a long way from the business end of the competition that the Crusaders generally revel in. Put simply: they will be a lot better than this going forward.

[embedded content]

Meanwhile, Max Jorgensen may well have scored the try of the season already on Friday night with his ankle-breaking effort in the Waratahs’ surprisingly comprehensive win over the Reds. Like the Highlanders, the Tahs have form when it comes to early season mirages, but the hope for a strong side in Sydney is something that goes beyond their long suffering fans.

The Tahs’ 2014 final win was the highest attended Super Rugby game in history. It’s fair to say that the appetite among competition bosses to have the narrative revolve around the biggest potential market is large, but it’ll take more than this one result to make that happen.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/15/super-rugby-pacific-wrap-rusty-chiefs-hot-highlanders-and-moanas-miracle/

February 15, 2026

Christchurch supermarket shelves stripped of bottled water after boil water notice issued

Source: Radio New Zealand

123rf

Christchurch City Council is looking at bringing in drinking water to parts of the city as supermarkets sell out, after a boil water notice for bacteria contamination was sent to tens of thousands of residents.

A public health alert was issued on Saturday afternoon for around 14,000 households in New Brighton, Burwood, Wainoni, Aranui and Southshore.

It said all water, including filtered water, needed to be continuously boiled for at least one minute after routine testing discovered total coliforms in the Rawhiti water zone.

Total coliforms are a broad category of bacteria that can be found in faeces, but also live in the environment, including in soil and plants.

They do not generally pose a direct health risk, but the presence of total coliforms indicated bacteria were present and that treatment has not been effective or that treated water was vulnerable to contamination, according to the website of water regulator Taumata Arowai.

Residents and people travelling into the area received multiple emergency text alerts about the problem throughout Saturday.

Linwood Ward Councillor Yani Johanson said boil water notices on metropolitan water supplies were relatively rare, though noted the Rawhiti zone was under a notice for four days following the discovery of e.coli in 2019.

He had pressed the council for more details and advocated for bringing in water tankers to key spots to alleviate the burden for residents.

Some residents would be anxious and would want as much detail as possible about the levels of bacteria and the cause, particularly given the supply is chlorinated, he said.

Residents in the affected suburbs were already struggling with a surge in offensive odours from the city’s damaged sewage plant, which have plagued the eastern suburbs since a fire destroyed key infrastructure at the Bromley Wastewater Plant in 2021, and had intensified again over recent weeks.

“It’s another blow for the community,” he said.

Coastal Ward Councillor Celeste Donovan said the council was looking at options to bring in water, especially as supermarkets in the area were struggling to keep bottled water stocked.

Celeste Donovan with former Mayor Lianne Dalziel. Supplied / Kirk Hargreaves

On Saturday, the council arranged for a water tanker as New Brighton hosted thousands at the Coast to Coast finish line.

Donovan said there was never a good time to get news of bacterial contamination, but the alerts began just as more than 1000 multi-sport athletes, their supporters and spectators descended on New Brighton pier.

“Obviously with a lot of people who aren’t able to boil water at home, we wanted to make sure that people had access to water on site because we had thousands of people turning up for the Coast to Coast.”

Donovan said the influx of visitors was one of the reasons for the repeated emergency alerts, which reached everyone in the area – not just residents.

The council would update the community once further testing had taken place, but it could take a few days to lift the notice even if test results were clear as the council will have to identify the source of the bacteria before it can remove the boil notice, she said.

People could check if they were in the affected area on the council website or Facebook page, she said.

She acknowledged the community’s frustration at another infrastructure issue affecting residents in the area.

“I think that’s why it’s important we put out good information now, but there is a lot of frustration in the community and it highlights how important it is to continue to invest in infrastructure like our water pipes and making sure we avoid things like rates caps in the future,” Donovan said.

Bromley sewage plant. Screenshot / Christchurch City Council

The council was committed to communicating with residents over the lingering stench from the Bromley sewage plant, she said.

Last month, anger boiled over about increasingly bad odours and a lack of information, with residents walking out of a heated public meeting after demanding more information, better communication and more support.

“The main thing is actually getting rid of the stench, which is the goal, of course. So speeding up the permanent fix is the priority and making sure that those live in that impacted area get all the support they need.”

A Christchurch City Council spokesperson said routine testing found total coliforms, but not E.coli in the water supply.

“Total coliforms are a group of bacteria commonly found in the environment, and their presence in the water network serves as an indicator of potential contamination and the possible existence of harmful pathogens.”

The council said staff and contractors were undertaking further testing and investigations to understand the cause of the contamination.

The boil water notice will be in place until further notice, it said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/15/christchurch-supermarket-shelves-stripped-of-bottled-water-after-boil-water-notice-issued/

February 15, 2026

Fatal crash: Ruatangata West, Whangarei

Source: New Zealand Police

One person has died after being ejected from a vehicle, following a single-vehicle crash on Knight Road last night.

Emergency services were notified of the crash about 10:50pm.

Three other people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The road was closed while the Serious Crash Unit undertook a scene examination but has since reopened.

The death will be referred to the Coroner.

ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre.

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/15/fatal-crash-ruatangata-west-whangarei/

February 15, 2026

‘Never seen anything like’ weather that hit Waipā – local