Two decades after lifting the trophy in the inaugural season the Cantabrians’ drought continued after being outplayed by the visitors, who were top qualifiers for the decider after dropping only one game all season.
They ended up coasting to victory with more than two overs to spare, reaching 173-5 in response to the home side’s 171-5.
Northern took control after winning the toss, reducing Canterbury to 57/5 in the ninth over, including the removal of Black Caps pair Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls.
The hosts fought back through an unbeaten stand of 114 from 69 balls between Mitchell Hay (56 not out) and Leo Carter (54 not out).
Brett Hampton took 3-37 and sealed man-of-the-match honours by top-scoring in Northern’s response, smashing 55 off just 26 balls at the top of the order, plundering five sixes.
Joe Carter posted 47, helping keep his side well ahead of the required run rate.
Back in 2015, with a bandaged hand, Joel Shadbolt made his TV debut on Good Morning, singing with the Auckland-based funk band Batucuda Sound Machine. Future bandmate Brad Kora happened to be tuning in.
The drummer (a founding member of Kora) sent Shadbolt a Facebook message saying he was in the wrong band, and that he should come and jam in Whakatāne. When Brad and his brother Stu later invited Shadbolt to join L.A.B., he tells Music 101 the response was, “Is the pope Catholic? Let’s go!”
Eleven years on, L.A.B. (an acronym for the names of the band’s three original members) are one of the most successful New Zealand bands of the last decade. Shadbolt talks about their dynamic and shares some favourite songs, including a Toto “staple” and the doo-wop classic he teaches guitar students.
L.A.B. backstage at Christchurch’s Electric Avenue festival in February 2025. Left to right – Joel Shadbolt, Brad Kora, Stu Kora, Miharo Gregory and Ara Adams-Tamatea.
Lucy Hammond / @hammondvisuals
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
A close-up of the Fire and Emergency NZ logo.Marika Khabazi / RNZ
A large building fire in Southland is expected to take a while to extinguish.
Crews were called to a building on Te Anau Milford Highway around 11.15pm on Saturday, where a roof was alight.
Fire and Emergency had feared people were still in the building, Fiordland Lodge, but said everyone had been accounted for.
Assistant Commander Nic McQuillan said the fire was contained to one wing, but work was continuing to suppress a flare-up and monitor hotspots.
He said it was a “complicated” operation due to the design of the building and the roof construction.
At its height, eight trucks, five tankers, four vehicles and an aerial appliance were involved in fighting the blaze.
Firefighters were called in from Te Anau, Manapouri, Mossburn, Blackmount, Lumsden and Invercargill. FENZ said additional crew were being called in to relieve the volunteers who had been tirelessly working throughout the night.
They had been able to save the majority of the building, but an unknown percentage of it had been damaged.
The following is a statement on behalf of Max Furse-Kee’s mum:
On 22 January, our world changed forever. Our beloved Max was suddenly and unimaginably taken from us.
Max was not doing anything reckless, and this tragedy was not the result of poor judgement or a lack of care.
He simply went to take a shower, in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was nothing that could have prepared us for this.
As a family, we cannot begin to imagine life without him. Max was our communal baby, a beautiful soul who brought immense light, laughter, and love into our world.
We are grieving not only the person we have lost, but all the milestones, memories, and future moments that will now never be. No words are big enough to capture this pain.
On Wednesday, 4 February, we will hold a memorial to celebrate Max’s short but deeply meaningful life. Further details will be shared soon.
We respectfully ask that attendance be limited to family and close friends. A live stream will be available for those who wish to honour Max from afar.
We are overwhelmed by the messages of love, comfort, and support that have come from across New Zealand and around the world. Thank you all.
While we do not have the capacity to respond individually, please know that we are reading them all, and they mean more to us than we could ever express.
We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to New Zealand Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), the Rapid Relief Team, all the machinery operators who worked extremely carefully, local Iwi, Kaitiaki and our incredible Police Family Liaison Officers.
You have worked tirelessly to care for us and to bring Max home. We have seen how deeply this has affected everyone involved, and your compassion and kindness will help carry us through the days ahead.
We take great comfort in knowing that Max spent his final days with Sharon, someone he loved so deeply, and with her family, who loved him too.
Please keep Max and all the other affected families in your thoughts. Love your loved ones, life can be heartbreakingly unfair.
We thank you for continuing to respect our privacy at such a difficult time.
Twelve-month prescriptions for long-term medications take effect from Sunday.
Patients can now get a script for up to 12 months of medication – up from three – with their doctor’s permission.
People with 12-month prescriptions will still need to collect their medication every three months, so the changes will not reduce their overall number of visits.
Pharmacists remain concerned. Some have previously told RNZ that explaining the changes, and getting used to a new system, will only add to their already heavy workload when staff are in short supply.
Gemma Perry-Waterhouse, who owns Sanders Pharmacy in Te Awamutu, said a shortage of pharmacists would make explaining the new system while keeping up with other responsibilities challenging.
“There has been a decline in the number of pharmacies in New Zealand, and there’s a serious workforce issue. We don’t have enough pharmacists.
“We are concerned about this rollout and how much time it will take to explain to all patients what to expect with 12-month scripts; the fact that it isn’t for everyone, that their doctor needs to decide that.
“Be kind to your pharmacy if you’re popping in to talk about a 12-month script and what to expect, because we’re all under a lot of pressure at the moment.”
In announcing the plan, Health Minister Simeon Brown said the previous system “creates unnecessary barriers for patients on stable, long-term medications like asthma inhalers, insulin for diabetes, and blood pressure tablets.
“It means added costs for patients and more paperwork for health professionals, taking time away from patients with more urgent or complex needs…
“It’s a win-win for patients and the health system – fewer avoidable hospitalisations, better health outcomes and reduced long-term costs.”
Injuries have marred Auckland FC’s 2-1 loss to Perth Glory – result that sees the visitors drop from first to third in the A-League standings.
Jesse Randall put Auckland in front just before halftime, rounding out a week in which it was announced the young forward will join Scottish club Dundee United at the end of the season.
However, Steve Corica’s team failed to hold on, conceding goals to Jaiden Kucharski in the 75th and 90th minutes to leave them with just one win from their last six matches.
Of concern to Corica will be injuries that forced goalkeeper Oli Sail and defender Nando Pijnaker from the field.
Sail, who replaced Michael Woud in the starting lineout, was stretchered from the field with an apparent knee problem midway through the second half, having slipped while taking a goal kick.
Pijnaker was forced off in the first spell with an unspecified leg injury.
Newcastle Jets have claimed top spot on the table, followed by Sydney FC.
Auckland FC’s next two matches are against Sydney – the first at home on Saturday next week.
Louise Cook, chief investigator of accidents, said there were reportedly 38 passengers and three crew on-board the 17-metre catamaran, on a wildlife cruise.
They were evacuated to nearby boats and no injuries were reported.
Cook said getting the facts straight was vital, and she was keen to hear from people who were on-board or witnessed the accident, and to receive any photos or video footage.
The investigation team would be travelling to Akaroa “as soon as practicable”, TAIC said in a statement.
Over the next several days, they would be seeking and recovering any wreckage, securing electronic records – including photos, videos, and location data on people’s cellphones – and interviewing witnesses.
Following the accident, passenger Chris Friedman – visiting from San Francisco – told RNZ it was a stressful experience on his last day in New Zealand.
He said there was a loud sound, as if the boat had run over something, and he thought it might be a rock. It was followed by a whizzing sound that could have been from the engine.
“We were never really fearful that we were going to go down with the ship, but there was a teenager on-board who was quite scared and was crying, and there was also an older woman who was rather traumatised,” he said.
The passengers were taken to the main wharf at Akaroa and no one was injured, he said.
Environment Canterbury said it was monitoring and assessing the catamaran to minimise the impact of any fuel leaks or debris on the environment.
“We are working alongside the owner, emergency services, the Department of Conservation, Maritime New Zealand, iwi and the local community.”
Black Cat Cruises said it was the first time in more than 40 years that anything like this had happened.
It was launching its own investigation, and said it would also be working with authorities.
The Wellington City Mission is launching a free dental service.
It will open on 10 February and run three days a week.
The Mission’s Murray Edridge said the need for the service was substantial, with one in three adults suffering from untreated tooth decay.
He said people on low incomes and in hardship suffered the most.
“And that’s been a consequence of lifestyle or circumstance or just the things that they’ve faced throughout their lives, and their inability to access services because of cost and other things has prevented them attending to that.”
The service would be delivered by Ora Toa dentists, with appointments available by referral only from social agencies across the Greater Wellington region.
Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge.Wellington City Mission
“We all know how miserable life is if you have sore teeth,” Edridge said.
“It’s just one of those things that significantly affects anybody’s wellbeing, and therefore the opportunity to provide a service to support people who have problems with their teeth is an amazing privilege that the City Mission is taking hold of.”
The service will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from Whakamaru on Oxford Terrace.
In this high-stakes mystery mini-series, Kaley Cuoco’s dream holiday becomes a nightmare when her boyfriend disappears mid-journey on a train to the South of France. As she rushes to find him she finds herself brushing up against dangerous people and the hard truth that her partner isn’t who she thought he was. Filmed entirely on location, the series has slick euro-thriller feel and should satisfy those looking for an intriguingly high tension, binge session.
Watch: Prime Video
When: Friday, 27 Feb
Sam Claflin as Tom Parker, Kaley Cuoco as Alice Monroe in Vanished.
Supplied
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Nearly $150,000 was reportedly spent on the project.Photo / 123RF
Labour says a review of the government’s axed road cone hotline – designed to report excessive and unnecessary traffic cone use – was an “absurd” waste of public money.
A WorkSafe review found excessive use of cones at just 6 percent of the 250 sites inspected.
Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said nearly $150,000 was spent on a project that was “clearly not going to be required in the first place”.
“I mean, we’re talking about huge amounts of public money that could be prioritised to address real concerns that the public is feeling right now.”
The digital hotline was launched last year as part of the government’s wider health and safety reforms.
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden directed WorkSafe to place more emphasis on guidance and education, rather than enforcement.
The hotline allowed members of the public to report what they believed was excessive or unnecessary use of traffic cones and other temporary traffic management devices.
The government shut down its hotline on 19 December, six months ahead of schedule. By then, WorkSafe had received more than 1300 notifications.
“This pilot has done exactly what we needed it to do,” Van Velden said at the time. “It gave the public a voice, identified the root causes of concern and clarified WorkSafe’s role in temporary traffic management.”
WorkSafe chief executive Sharon Thompson said the review showed the main issue was not widespread non-compliance, but inconsistent use of NZTA’s newer, risk-based guidance by councils.
“As a result, cone use was often consistent with council-approved plans, even if it appeared excessive to the public.”
Labour had previously described the initiative as a “performative battle”.
Utikere noted that by September, the government had spent $148,545 on the hotline – $136.15 for “every one of the 1091 complaints logged to that point”.
As of November 2025, there was an average of fewer than 20 valid complaints per week nationwide, he said.
It might come as a surprise to learn that the brain responds to training in much the same way as our muscles, even though most of us never think about it that way. Clear thinking, focus, creativity and good judgment are built through challenge, when the brain is asked to stretch beyond routine rather than run on autopilot. That slight mental discomfort is often the sign that the brain is actually being trained, a lot like that good workout burn in your muscles.
Tasks that stretch your brain just beyond its comfort zone, such as knitting and crocheting, can improve cognitive abilities over your lifespan.
Unsplash
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From today, the biosecurity part of the Border Processing Levy will drop by 30 percent for most arriving travellers, Minister for Biosecurity Andrew Hoggard says
“The change will see the biosecurity levy reduce from $16.92 to $12.03 for incoming air passengers,” says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard.
“After COVID-19, Biosecurity New Zealand raised the levy to cover border costs and rebuild operations.
“With air travel recovering faster than expected those costs are now paid off, we can lower the levy while keeping strong biosecurity controls in place.
“It’s great to be in a position to ease costs on international travellers and Kiwis coming home, while still keeping our border safe from environmental and economic threats.
“The Border Processing Levy funds biosecurity services such as x-ray screening, detector dogs, and other protections.
“Farmers, growers, foresters and fishers are the backbone of this economy. That makes the biosecurity controls funded by the levy critical for New Zealanders’ standard of living.
“The government remains committed to modernising border biosecurity.
“We have set aside funding from the levy to allow Biosecurity New Zealand to invest in new border technology and more detector dogs.
“This includes investing in a digital border programme that will build on the successful introduction of the New Zealand Traveller Declaration and deliver smarter passenger processing and new x-ray technology.”
New Zealand protesters in Tamaki Makaurau today heralded a global demand for the freedom of thousands of Palestinians who have been unlawfully imprisoned by Israel in its illegal occupation of Palestine.
Today is the Red Ribbon Campaign’s global day of solidarity for Palestinian hostages or political prisoners.
It is the culmination of the Red Ribbon campaign that has been running globally for several weeks.
At the time of the so-called Gaza “ceasefire” declared on October 10, Israel was reported to be holding a record 11,100 Palestinians hostage, mostly innocent and without charge or due process.
In exchange for the final 20 Israeli hostages still alive held by Hamas and other resistance groups at the time of the ceasefire, almost 2000 Palestinian prisoners were freed by Israel.
This leaves more than 9100 prisoners — 400 of them children and 3544 of them held under “administrative detention” — yet to be freed.
Speaking at the solidarity rally in Ta Komititanga Square today, Palestinian academic and theatre practitioner Associate Professor Rand Hazou highlighted how Israel was the only country in the world to detain children under military law and military courts.
Denied access to parents, lawyers “According to UNICEF, Palestinian child detainees are denied access to their parents and lawyers. They are often arrested in the middle of the night, blindfolded and beaten, threatened with torture and denied food and sleep,” he said.
“Palestinian detainees, including children, are forcibly transferred outside the occupied the Palestinian territory in contravention of Article 4 of the Geneva Convention relative to the protection of children and civilian persons at the time of war.”
His comments were greeted with cries of “shame” by the crowd.
Dr Rand Hazou speaking about Palestinian detainees at today’s Auckland rally . . . “Palestinian child detainees are denied access to their parents and lawyers, they are often arrested in the middle of the night.” Image: Asia Pacific Report
Dr Hazou also criticised the practice of mainstream media in referring to the Israeli prisoners being held by the Gaza resistance fighters as “hostages” while the Palestinians were described as “prisoners”.
This was a “quite deliberate” policy by the media to imply innocence of the Israeli hostages, while suggesting guilt by the Palestinian detainees — “who are also actually hostages”.
Former trade union advocate Mike Treen condemned the inhumane practice of administrative detention and blamed it on the British colonial administration for introducing it during the Palestine mandate prior to 1948.
Protester Dr Faiez Idais holds up photographs of some of the thousands of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons at today’s rally in Auckland. Image: Asia Pacific Report
Administrative detention means that those detainees have not been charged with an offence. Some of them have been detained for between one and two years, with the period of time extended repeatedly — and indefinitely — so that prisoners and their families never know when they will be freed.
Persecution of Palestinians Amnesty International has found that Israel systematically uses administrative detention as a tool to persecute Palestinians.
Treen also condemned the global “billionaire classes” for their exploitation.
“Billionaires monopolise everything they can so that they can extort rents out of us at any price.
“The rich north countries are also the old imperialist countries and we are reverting back from the neocolonial pretence that it doesn’t exist to more open forms of it today.”
Red Ribbon campaigner Audrey van Ryn . . . “Prisoners have rights – no one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Image: Asia Pacific Report
Speaking in her personal capacity, Red Ribbon campaigner Audrey van Ryn cited the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“When people are found guilty of a crime, what usually happens is that they go to court for a trial and a judge will decide how they should be punished,” she said.
Prisoner rights However, people who were who sent to prison for a crime had rights under the Universal Declaration, including:
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.
Article 11 (1): Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
“Some states abuse these rights of prisoners,” van Ryn said.
“Some states detain people who have not even been charged with an offence. One of these states is Israel.”
“Not My Destiny” placard at today’s Toitū Te Aroha rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/APR
Illegal colonisation According to a Spheres of Influence article about under reported crimes against humanity, “For 77 years, indigenous Palestinians have lived under Israel’s illegal colonisation of their own land, a regime that controls every aspect of their lives.
“One of the occupation’s most brutal tools of control is the mass abduction of Palestinians, where men, women, and children are taken hostage and imprisoned to shatter communities and crush their struggle for freedom.
“Human rights organisations describe these prisons as a ‘grave for the living’.
The first thing some of the recently released Palestinians said was a desperate plea:
“Save what remains of the hostages. If you die once a day, we die a thousand times.”
The article also alleged that since 1948, Israeli occupation forces (IDF) had arrested more than 1 million Palestinians.
“Almost every Palestinian family has lived through the trauma of a loved one kidnapped, interrogated, and disappeared into prison.”
Among high profile cases of injustice against Palestinians are:
Marwan Barghouti, a popular leader regarded as “Palestine’s Mandela”, who was imprisoned by Israel in 2004 for life on trumped up charges.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya is a Palestinian paediiatrician who was born in Jabalia Refugee Camp and became director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza. His hospital was bombed in December 2024 and he was seized as a prisoner. He has been held without charge by Israel in Ofer Prison since then, assaulted and tortured.
“Love Your Neighbour” says one placard at the Toitū Te Aroha rally in Auckland today. Image: Del Abcede/APR
Red Cross plea to visit jails Calls have been made by the UN and human rights experts for the release of women, children, and elected representatives, detained for activities resisting the occupation.
Resolutions have also called for allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit prisons.
This was a counter protest to one staged by the Destiny Church with 700 people in Victoria Park condemning immigration, but a police cordon prevented the protesters led by self-styled pastor Brian Tamaki marching on to Auckland Harbour Bridge.
“Immigrants are not disposable” banner at the Toitū Te Aroha rally in Auckland today. Image: Del Abcede/APR
A marine locator marker was blown up at a beach on Auckland’s Whangaparāoa Peninsula.Auckland Council
A controlled explosion has rocked residents on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula north of Auckland after a marine locator marker was found floating at Okoromai Bay.
The markers are pyrotechnic devices designed to ignite on contact with water, and are used to indicate a location at sea.
A Defence Force spokesperson said it was found in the water by a member of the public, and handed in to the Coast Guard, which called in the NZDF and police.
A cordon was put up around the beach, and it was blown up by a Defence Force ordnance disposal team.
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About 25,000 dance music fans flocked to Mount Maunganui to see Australian DJ Fisher.
A minute silence was held to acknowledge the six lives lost in a landslide tragedy nine days ago at the nearby Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park.
All of the six victims have now been formally identified after the landslide on 22 January.
A rāhui is in place at the site where the six people – including two teenagers – were caught in the slip.
The Fisher event was on the calendar for the last weekend of January, and plans to go ahead were made thoughtfully, Trademark Live co-director Toby Burrows told RNZ.
“Everything was sort of on pause for a bit there,” he said, in the week that followed the tragedy.
“We’ve just been working with council and local kaumātua to get their blessing, which we got. It’s been pretty tender times down here, for everyone.”
Tauranga-based Burrows had heard from DJ Fisher, and other acts daily, who wanted to make sure everyone involved was fit to go ahead.
“They’ve been in close touch with us about it … They’re all deeply moved by it all, obviously and concerned.
“….It’s very close to home for us, and we’re down at the mountain like every day, you know, and a lot of our staff are as well, so it’s rocked us real hard.”
Burrows said the festival had used their platform to help raise funds for the families and community affected.
“Objectively I think it’s like people need to actually come together and talk about this as well. It’s not necessarily like celebrating, but just being with your friends. And it’s not a necessarily a time to just, you know, be at home by yourself … but I understand if people don’t feel it’s appropriate.”
Burrows, along with Mitch Lowe, were behind one of the country’s biggest music festivals, Bay Dreams.
UB40, featuring Ali Campbell, will perform at Bay Oval at Waitangi Weekend, as part of the Kingston Calling 2026 tour.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Brett Hampton hits out in his Super Smash man-of-the-match performance.Photosport
Northern Districts have lived up to their top seeding with a five-wicket win over the Canterbury Magicians to claim the Super Smash men’s domestic T20 crown at Hagley Oval.
Chasing 172 runs for victory, the regular-season leaders showed their class, reaching their target with more than two overs to spare – their third title in the past five years.
Canterbury were in early trouble, losing the toss and put into bat. Opener Chad Bowes fell to the third ball of the innings from Zak Gibson and the Magicians were staggering at 57/5 in the ninth over.
Black Caps test captain Tom Latham was the only member of the top order to gather any momentum, accumulating 34 off 23 balls, but when he and captain Cole McConchie fell within six balls, Northern seemed well in control.
Wicketkeeper Mitch Hay and Leo Carter both scored half-centuries to rescue their team somewhat, putting on a century stand that dragged them to 171/5 after their allotted overs.
Hay was unbeaten on 56 off 34 balls, including three sixes, while Carter had 54 off 36, with seven fours, but the total seemed a few runs short of par.
Brett Hampton was the best of the bowlers with 3/37 off his four overs, while spinner Tim Pringle was the most economic with 1/20 off his four.
Northern began the chase strongly, with openers Katene Clarke and Hampton compiling 89 off 49 balls for the first wicket.
Both were dismissed by Michael Rae in the ninth over and the Magicians took 4/23 to halt the charge. Hampton hammered 55 off 23 balls, including five sixes, and was ultimately named Player of the Match.
They were still well ahead of the required run rate, which became less than a run a ball, when Joe Carter sent Rae towards the perimeter fence in the 17th over.
Rae had the last laugh though, as Carter (47 off 28) ballooned the next ball to Bowes, leaving his lower order to find 15 runs for victory.
He need not have worried, as Scott Kuggeleijn audaciously lapped Fraser Sheat over the keeper for four in the next over to complete the win with 13 balls to spare.
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Catherine O’Hara, the beloved actor and comedian who has died aged 71, occupied that rare position in contemporary screen culture: a comic actor, a cult figure and a mainstream star.
Her work spanned more than 50 years, from improv sketch comedy to Hollywood features and off-beat TV classics.
She was celebrated for her unmatched comic timing and chameleon-like character work. Her roles were often absurdist and quirky, but they hid a razor-sharp humour.
Born and raised in Toronto in a close-knit Irish Catholic family, O’Hara was one of seven siblings. She once remarked humour was part of her everyday life; storytelling, impressions and lively conversation helped hone her comedic instincts.
After high school, she worked at Toronto’s Second City Theatre, a famed breeding ground for comedy talent, and sharpened her deadpan improvisational skills.
Big break
O’Hara’s break came with Second City Television (SCTV), a sketch comedy series that rivalled Saturday Night Live in creativity and influence. Alongside contemporaries Eugene Levy, John Candy, Rick Moranis and Martin Short, she defined her distinctly smart, absurdist comedic voice.
O’Hara was not merely a performer on SCTV; she was also a writer, winning an Emmy Award for her contributions. This dual role shaped her career-long sensitivity to rhythm, language and character construction.
Unlike sketch performers who rely on repetition or catchphrases, O’Hara’s humour emerged with a different comedic logic. Audiences laughed not because the character was “funny”, but because the character took herself so seriously.
Though briefly cast on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s, O’Hara chose to stay with SCTV when it was renewed, a decision she later described as key in letting her creative career flourish where it belonged.
The transition to film
By the mid-1980s, O’Hara was establishing herself as a screen presence. She appeared in Martin Scorsese’s offbeat black comedy After Hours (1985), and showcased her comic range in Heartburn (1986).
In 1988, she landed what would become one of her most beloved film roles: Delia Deetz in Tim Burton’s left-field Beetlejuice (1988).
Delia – a pretentious, New York art-scene social climber – allowed O’Hara to combine physical comedy and imbecilic dialogue (“A little gasoline … blowtorch … no problem”).
Catherine’s so good, maybe too good. She works on levels that people don’t even know. I think she scares people because she operates at such high levels.
She went on to play Kate McCallister, the beleaguered mother in the holiday blockbusters Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). Audiences loved the fact that this rather thinly written role became the films’ beating heart.
Working with Christopher Guest
Another distinctive phase of O’Hara’s career was her work with writer-director Christopher Guest on a series of largely improvised mockumentaries that have become cult classics.
Three standouts were Waiting for Guffman (1996), where she plays a desperate local performer in a small-town theatre troupe, and A Mighty Wind (2003), where she teamed up with old pal Levy as an ageing folk duo.
Her best turn came in Best in Show (2000), in which she and Levy played a couple competing in a national dog show. Her character Cookie Fleck remains one of the finest examples of improvised comedy on film.
Her relentless monologues about former lovers are objectively inappropriate, yet O’Hara delivers them with such earnest enthusiasm that they become strangely compelling.
Her gift for improvisation glittered in these films: these eccentric characters were often laugh-out-loud funny – but O’Hara never mocked them.
Late success
She returned to TV in Six Feet Under (2001–05) and guest appearances on The Larry Sanders Show (1992–98) and Curb Your Enthusiasm (1999–2024). More recently, she appeared in prestige shows such as The Last of Us (2023–) and The Studio (2025–).
But it was the role of Moira Rose, the eccentric, ex-soap opera star in the Canadian sitcom Schitt’s Creek (2015–20), created by Eugene Levy and his son Dan, that would become O’Hara’s most significant late career move. And what a role it was!
Written for O’Hara’s unique talents, Moira was a larger-than-life character with a bizarre, unforgettable vocabulary, dramatic mood swings and a wardrobe that became nearly as famous as the character herself.
Feminist media scholars have noted the rarity of such complex roles for older women, particularly in comedy, making O’Hara’s performance culturally significant.
The show became a global streaming blockbuster during COVID lockdowns and O’Hara’s multi-award-winning performance became a social media phenomenon, spawning memes and viral clips.
There are so many standout moments – her drunken meltdown after losing her wigs, her audition for The Crows Have Eyes 3 and the show’s moving finale where she performs Danny Boy at Alexis’s graduation.
An enduring legacy
O’Hara had a remarkable ability to play flamboyant, self-absorbed characters who were often uproariously funny.
Many comedians and actors have cited O’Hara as an influence for her fearlessness, her ability to blend absurdity with emotional truth, and her steadfast commitment to character integrity. She influenced performers like Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
O’Hara also refused to chase conventional stardom. Rather than choosing projects designed to flatten her eccentricities, O’Hara favoured collaborative environments that valued creativity over control.
For her, comedy was always an art of intelligence, empathy and generosity.
Ben McCann does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Motorists have been advised to expect delays after a serious crash involving a motorcycle on State Highway 3 at Ratana on Saturday afternoon.Screenshot
Motorists have been advised to expect delays, after a serious crash involving a motorcycle on State Highway 3 at Ratana on Saturday afternoon.
The crash happened about 4.20pm, between Whanganui and Bulls.
The rider of the motorbike was being treated for critical injuries.
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Wellington Blaze have beaten Auckland Hearts to claim the Super Smash women’s crown in a nailbiting final in Christchurch.
The Blaze won their seventh title in the past nine years and closed off their second threepeat in that time.
Chasing 147 to win, they reached their target with a ball to spare, thanks to captain Jess Kerr, who hit 17 runs, including two sixes and a boundary, in the final over at Hagley Oval.
Kerr was unbeaten on 46, the hero of the five-wicket victory, as she orchestrated the late surge, after the innings faltered in the middle stages.
Opener Rebecca Burns hit an imperious 55 from 41 balls and put on 66 for the first wicket with Georgia Plimmer (28 from 27), before things went awry for a while.
The Hearts batted first and scored 146/5, with their top order all getting starts. Izzy Gaze and Brook Halliday both scored 31, and captain Maddy Green 29, while Xara Jetly took 2/27 for the Blaze.
Burns and Plimmer got the Blaze off to a great start in their chase, but things slowed after their departures, with Jetly and Hannah Francis dismissed cheaply, and Kerr, batting at No 3, having trouble finding strike.
She and Jess McFadyen (11) combined to give them a chance in the latter stages, and were still together when they needed 16 off the final over from Halliday.
On their scoring rate up, it looked a few runs too many, but Kerr hit a six off the second ball, before McFadyen was run out trying for a second run off the third ball.
Kerr smacked another six and then hit a cover drive to the boundary to give the Blaze the win, as her teammates stormed the field.
Molly Penfold was the best of the Heart bowlers, with 2/14 off her four overs.
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The slip tore down tents, caravans and structures, when it swept through the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park and the Mount Hot Pools on 22 January at 9.29am.
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell had earlier confirmed on social media that Wheeler, known as Jackie, was from the area and was the founder of Colour Concepts, an interior design store in Rotorua.
Wheeler had been on her annual summer camping trip with long-time camping buddy Susan Knowles, who was formally identified earlier today.
Equestrian magazine Show Circuit posted a tribute to the pair on social media.
“Sue and Jackie were well known, and deeply respected within the local equestrian community and this news has come as a profound shock to all who knew them,” it said.
Chief coroner Anna Tutton told the court, despite the procedural nature of the hearing, Jackie as a person had been at the centre of the investigation. While her family were not in attendance at the court, Tutton extended her condolences to them.
She said Wheeler was described as the “backbone and matriarch” of her family.
Evidence was presented by Detective Senior Sergeant Brent Griffiths, who told the court Wheeler had been identified by her fingerprints and by comparing her DNA with that of her daughter.
The remains would now be released from custody of the coroner to the family.
As this was the final identification hearing, Tutton thanked everyone who had been involved in the recovery and identification of the victims, including emergency services, those standing on a cordon, driving diggers and trucks, caterers and cleaners.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand