The Southland Times

Missing out on rates relief?

Some of Invercargill’s most hard-pressed ratepayers may be missing out on government help. The nationwide rates rebate scheme, to help people on low incomes cope with rates bills, now kicks in for people on higher household incomes. The threshold for...

A $474k golden handshake

A former Environment Southland chief executive who retired last year received a six-figure severance payout and a car. Wilma Falconer held the top job at the regional council from June 2022 until her departure on August 29, 2025, meaning she worked...

Fair rural care now: surgeon

A Southland surgeon is calling on political parties to commit to fairer access to surgery for people living in regional and rural communities. Dr Alice Febery is a general, breast and endocrine surgeon in Invercargill and the Aotearoa New Zealand...

Emergency funding hike

Emergency Management Southland has signalled it will seek significantly more funding from Southland’s four councils, but one says it won’t make any decisions until it completes a review. Emergency Management Southland delivers emergency management...

Back for seconds

Ten years ago, we were 25 and 26, fresh off winning MasterChef New Zealand and completely food-obsessed. We were filming season two of Kārena and Kasey’s Kitchen Diplomacy, and had already ticked off more than a dozen countries by the time we landed...

Safety concerns over road through campground

A public road running through a popular Catlins campground is a contentious issue ahead of its possible reopening. Curio Bay Camping Ground, on Southland District Council land, has been closed since April after its operator left and the lease held by...

Tall trees toppling raises risk

City councillors want a far more detailed policy on public safety around trees in Invercargill. If councillor Grant Dermody has his way, that would involve the removal and non-replacement of all tall trees close to city roadways. The council’s...

Rejection a ‘backward step’

Winston Peters says the Government’s move to reject a plea by the aluminium extrusion industry to impose “Safeguard” measures against what it calls a surge of cheap imports that threatens its survival is a “serious backward step”. Extrusions are...

Jones to open kina factory

The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries and NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones will officially open a new kina processing factory in Canterbury after the company’s move from Southland. Cando Fishing used to operate from a dilapidated building in Bluff,...

Mystical UK comedy

Peters pitches on wages and taxes

Winston Peters reckons Southland has historically acted like “the southern branch of the Mother Theresa Society”. No matter how much other parties disowned or neglected the south “you keep on forgiving them,” he told an Invercargill audience on...

Inside the tortured property deal

A Queenstown businessman wants to turn nearby Kingston into a “world-leading prototype” of economic growth, “launching the next generation of artificial intelligence and sustainable tourism”. Court documents reveal both the scale of Henry van Asch’s...

Waves of emotion in court

Passions and procedures collided when the legal establishment and Eddie Zhi came together in the Environment Court this week – a deeply challenging exercise for both sides. The Tuturau slink skin operator was lawyerless, but fighting to get back in...

Fund deficit leaves rural health crisis

Gore Health receives $13 million less in funding than its closest comparative rural hospital, its CEO Karl Metzler says. “It’s a litany of inequity,” he said. “You don’t want to get sick if you’re in the deep south,” Metzler told Dr Malcolm Mulholland...

National prestige for Te Unua

Its cavernous west wing remains a chamber of secrets but the base build of Te Unua Museum of Southland has shown enough to earn a ministerial benediction of its national significance. Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith and Invercargill...

Big questions for first debate

Fiscal integrity and leadership credibility will be top of the agenda when the current prime minister and his predecessor – and would-be successor – face off tonight in the first of three election debates, on state broadcaster TVNZ. The debate at 7pm...

Face to face with mega fire

Helicopters and planes buzzed overhead as Hamish Angus and his crew raced to build a firebreak up a steep Washington state ridgeline. Below them, a wildfire was burning through the valley. The Southland assistant district commander was thousands of...

Southern apprentices get their spark on

Southland’s junior sparkies were testing their mental and physical skills at the Master Electricians’ Trade Master Apprentice Challenge at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill on Wednesday. Apprentices from across the region competed in a series of...

Urology collapse feared

Health New Zealand is transferring patients as far as Christchurch and offering $3000 a day to locums while Southland lacks a permanent full-time urologist, documents released under the Official Information Act reveal. Following the resignation of two...

ICC building still in a state

A fifth of the $21 million set aside to fix issues at Invercargill City Council’s ageing headquarters has been spent, despite no repair work being carried out. Te Hīnaki Civic Building on Invercargill's Esk St underwent a mass exodus of 167 staff last...

Brutal cost of dysfunction

One Invercargill woman reportedly went five years without a visitor when she was moved to an aged-care facility 200km away in Dunedin. Another man spent three years 200km away from his partner because there were no beds available for him in...

Smaller plots, big potential

Increased housing density in Invercargill will help accommodate an ageing population, and developers are already poised to step in. Invercargill City councillors have signed off on changes to density rules, which effectively allow smaller homes on...

Mayors slam Govt decision

The Government’s decision to defer decisions on council amalgamations nationwide is unlikely to affect Southland, but the region’s mayors have nevertheless slammed the move. They have labelled it as “frustrating”, “a joke” and “disrespectful”. The...

He fell beside me: Slain officer remembered

Invercargill’s only police officer to be killed in the line of duty has been remembered as the city marks the 50th anniversary of his death. Peter Murphy was 21, just a year out from graduation from police school, when a sports shop burglar gunned him...

$1b upgrade for SI factories

Fonterra will spend an extra $1 billion on its South Island manufacturing network as growing milk production pushes parts of its processing system towards capacity. The dairy co-operative plans to invest the money over the next three years, expanding...

Owner speaks after break-in

“It’s quite a horrible, disgusting feeling,” Jeremy Hawkes says, as he recalls watching camera footage of an intruder creeping around his restaurant at night. Hawkes was alerted to an alarm at Crafty’s Bar & Grill during the early hours of Saturday...

Fish farming’s giant haul

Aquaculture could rival the red meat sector through open-ocean fish farming as global demand rises, partly owing to new weightloss drugs. That’s the hope of officials, investors, chief executives, iwi representatives and other sector leaders who...

Knife attacker avoids jail

A man threatened to stab his partner with a boning knife retrieved from under their mattress before punching her so hard she fell down. And when police spoke to him about the attack, he called her a snitch and said he hit her because she couldn’t keep...

Gore rallies over flood rule

The Gore District Council’s proposed flood zone mapping requires some new building foundations to be 3m high - a change Groundswell NZ leader Laurie Paterson says has “placed an invisible economic choke-hold on our town”. Paterson spoke to a crowd of...

Cool eats for warmer days

We have not quite arrived at the spring vegetables that will grace our tables in the coming months – asparagus, broad beans, peas and new potatoes among them – but it does feel like time to herald the salad at the centre of the table. Today’s recipes...

SBHS players earn NZ honours

Four Southland Boys’ High School First XV players have earned selection in various New Zealand teams following standout seasons. Fullback Jack Brock, midfield back Finn Hurley and props Mito Faalialia and Elliot Wilson are all set to don New Zealand...

Two pharmacies to merge

Chemist Warehouse has ended months of speculation by confirming it plans to open a branch in Invercargill. The retail company has partnered with local chemists Glengarry Pharmacy and Windsor Pharmacy to offer both retail and pharmacy...

Demo bid heads to hearing

A resource consent hearing to demolish the fire-damaged Briscoes building in Dee St will be held on October 15. The owners of the heritage-listed building had proposed to demolish it and sell the site for a new owner to rebuild on it. They had...

Referee duo take to the field

Neave Rowland has followed in her father’s footsteps, with a whistle in hand. Andrew Rowland has been a rugby referee for more than 20 years, and Neave, after a couple of false starts, decided to take up the whistle this season. If he is not...

Store to target food costs

On opening weekend, Yogiji’s Food Mart owner Chirag Kantharia heard an adult daughter tell her mum: “This shop feels like they believe no-one should be hungry.” Kantharia opened the Invercargill store last month and said the woman’s sentiment summed...

Heritage shift could spell demolition

A pathway to demolishing the burnt-out Briscoes building in Invercargill’s Dee St may have opened, with Heritage New Zealand changing its stance. The organisation earlier objected to the owner’s application to have the heritagelisted building...

Free admission to Te Unua

The Invercargill City Council has, for now, put aside the option of entry charges for Southland’s new regional museum. The council has been looking to mitigate what’s shaping up to be $5.9 million in annual operating costs, in an environment where...

Ex-ABs in reunion group

Six former All Blacks will feature as part of a special Rugby Southland reunion at the Ascot Park Hotel on Saturday. Bob Barber, Leicester Rutledge, Ken Stewart, Steven Pokere, Ash McGregor and Brian McKechnie, who all earned All Black selection while...

Polyfest faces cost hurdle

When it was suggested tickets be sold for night sessions at previous Murihiku Polyfest events, some people were outraged. Event organisers revealed the reaction during a recent Southland District Council meeting when discussing the event’s successes...

School fights AI influence

Concerns have been raised about students increasingly using AI tools to do their homework and assessments for them, with one Southland school tackling the issue head on. James Hargest College has formed an artificial intelligence (AI) steering...

Call for slink skin boycott

Southland Federated Farmers is asking farmers not to send dead stock to a slink skin factory, as the operator tries to strike a deal with the councils prosecuting it. Factory operator NZAgri Development Ltd and its owner, Eddie Zhi, are facing charges...

Sharp-shooting schoolboys fire perfect score

Five Southland Boys’ High School shooters have etched their names in the record books by shooting a perfect round at the ILT Southland Secondary Schools Postal Shoot. Jack Horrell, William Devery, Cooper Robertson, Cooper Gow, and Liam Johnston...

Aftershocks could last days

Two earthquakes struck northeast of Milford Sound just 44 minutes apart. Aftershocks could last days after two shallow quakes shook parts of the lower South Island on Wednesday evening, and were felt by thousands of people. The first, a magnitude-5.5...

‘Strongest’ El Niño forming

Earth Sciences New Zealand says El Niño conditions this year are likely to peak “as one of the strongest in recent history”, increasing the chances of strong winds and dry conditions in the eastern parts of the country, and stormy weather and potential...

Budgeting app to help beat cost squeeze

Wyndham’s Jack Ridder is sick of seeing people shoplifting or struggling to afford groceries, so he’s trying to do something about it. The 21-year-old has created an app called KiwiBudget to help middle and lowerincome families or solo parents with...

If cap fits, wear it for good cause

If your wardrobe is missing a lid, chances are you will find what you are looking for at an Invercargill pop-up shop this weekend. More than 13,000 caps have landed in the hands of the Rotary Club of Invercargill Charitable Trust, which is running a...

Single yes-or-no vote set

Any future referendum on Southland’s council structure will feature a simple yes-or-no vote on a single reorganisation plan, the Local Government Commission (LGC) has confirmed. The update comes as speculation grows over how the region will be...

Govt says rates capped at 4%

Local Government Minister Simon Watts has announced the Government will cap rates at 4%. In December last year, Watts announced ministers were working to progress the cap in an effort, he said, to control costs for households and businesses. He...

Stressed teachers set to quit

Specialist teachers have been left stressed and burnt out just six months into the expansion of a learning support service for pre-schoolers to include first-year students, a teachers union survey reveals. The Ministry of Education’s early...

Fire and ice

When I first heard about Elemental – Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa’s new adults-only wellness experience featuring New Zealand’s first snow room – I was not sold on the idea. It didn’t sound relaxing. Stepping into falling snow in the name of...

Parallel universe

A footpath in front of a Golden Bay cafe was painted in a chequered fashion earlier this year. Black and white tiles adorned with psychedelic details covered the pavement. However, Tasman District Council claimed what the business owner did could...

Regional deals break down

Gore District Council’s decision to scrap two joint Head Start reform proposals has derailed Southland’s expedited amalgamation plans, drawing frustration from one neighbouring mayor and a nod of approval and empathy from another. On August 4, the...

‘Terrifying’ figures fall

Datagrid has put forward a battery of reassurances about its hyperscale AI data centre at Makarewa – including a commitment to seek at least a 70% reduction in its maximum permitted water use. The pledges came thick and fast at a Tuesday meeting with...

U-turn on merger plans

In a complete about-turn, the Gore District Council has voted to withdraw support for Head Start amalgamation proposals with Southland District Council (SDC) and the Invercargill City Council, (ICC) and to instead work through the Local Government...

Rolling past the barriers

Barnardos social worker Claire Sloan is helping children from Fernworth Primary School gain confidence and explore movement outside of traditional sport through roller-skating.

Pocketknife killer guilty

An Invercargill man who stabbed his wife in the throat with his pocketknife has pleaded guilty to her murder in a voice so soft his lawyer had to repeat it for the record. Sitivi Akauvela Takau, 56, was convicted in the High Court at Invercargill on...

Datagrid dissenters speak out

The protest looked small, but didn’t sound it. Alarmed at what they insisted were the unaddressed environmental and human rights implications of Datagrid’s hyperscale AI data centre at Makarewa, and the stampeding development of artificial...

RUGBY ABs prop Ethan de Groot extends SI deal

All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot has re-signed with New Zealand Rugby until the British and Irish Lions tour in 2029. The Highlanders and Southland prop, 28, is in the best form of his career, and All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan welcomed his new...

Mystery surrounds Euna’s end

The owners have sold their home while creditor claims are still coming in, and mystery still surrounds the end of a highend Invercargill restaurant. Several attempts to contact Euna co-owner and director Travis Martin have gone unanswered. The...

Scott backs $2b fish farm

Southland district mayor Rob Scott has welcomed the fast-track approval of a $2 billion open-ocean salmon farm off Rakiura/Stewart Island, but says housing its workforce may present some challenges. The decision, delivered by an independent expert...

DIY attitude factors in the death of man

A coroner has urged people to think twice before felling large trees themselves, after a Bluff man was killed by a falling treetop while cutting down pine trees on family land in Invercargill. Edwin Rowe Coulter, 54, died May 16, 2021, at a property...

Debate getting hyperactive

Swirling debate over the desirability of Datagrid’s hyperscale AI data centre at Makarewa will in coming days have people take to the streets, organisations take to meeting rooms, and the Southland District Council take its time responding to...

Sharks eye fairytale finish at home

Caleb Asberry is hoping for the perfect ending for himself and several other Sharks team-mates in tomorrow’s Sal’s National Basketball League grand final at Stadium Southland. Asberry, who became the fifth player in the franchise’s history to reach...

Families, educators floored

Almost 200 educators and children from Oamaru south have been impacted by the sudden liquidation of a home-based early childhood care provider. On Friday, 35 ECE educators received emails from their employer telling them that Invercargill-based Just...

Eight medals heading back to Southland

When New Zealand’s top athletes return home from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with 36 medals, eight of them are heading to Southland. The Games wrapped on Monday (NZ time) with New Zealand placing sixth on the medal table. Netballers Kate...

No good options for Gore

The Gore district will never be the same again. That was the message that was repeated by several councillors as they voted to seek Head Start proposals with both the Southland District Council and a combined proposal with the Invercargill City...

Small-screen highlights

World pipe band champs beckoning

Jamie Callahan will achieve a bucket-list moment when he takes his place at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow Green later this month. The piper is one of two ILT City of Invercargill Highland Pipe Band members invited to bolster other...

Man’s final words to ‘scammer’

Shortly before he died, David McDonald sent one final text message: “U lieing [sic] dirty s cu mi got it this afternoon hope u enjoy ur future im **** in next hr …” The redacted word referred to the method by which McDonald would soon take his own...

Datagrid seals the deal for subsea cable

Datagrid has confirmed the last piece in its puzzle, announcing a new optical submarine cable to boost data connectivity in and out of Southland. The company has signed a contract with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and OMS Group (OMS) to supply and...

ES answers council’s call for support

Environment Southland (ES) has agreed to support the Invercargill City Council’s development of a One Southland model for local government reform. It has made any final endorsement dependent on the proposal for a single unitary authority for Southland...

Great South: Warning on $1b oil plan

A New Zealand First election policy to fund a $1 billion survey of offshore oil and gas reserves won’t work without regulatory certainty, a leader at Southland’s regional development agency Great South says. The Winston Peters-led party announced last...

Datagrid consents grilled

Mounting discontent about the rigour of the resource consent conditions Datagrid was required to satisfy for its hyperscale AI data centre in Makarewa has emerged in Invercargill and at national level. A barrage of challenges and questions arose at a...