Category Archives: New Zealand

New Zealand can expect to see four new Kmarts open their doors this year and the new Hamilton hub form a great platform for the future.

Thats according to Kmart Australia and New Zealand chief executive John Gualtieri.

Gualtieri was speaking to Stuff ahead of the official opening on Thursday of the Ruakura Superhub, home to their new distribution centre which itself will begin operation this time next year.

Gualtieri said he sees a long future for the company, both in Hamilton and New Zealand as a whole.

READ MORE:* Chris Joblin on leading a billion-dollar NZ firm that feels like a family-run business* Tainui's superhub titan set to supercharge New Zealand economy* Ruakura Superhub 'exactly what we need', says visiting minister Stuart Nash * Ruakura Superhub on track for opening in early 2022

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF

Waikato-Tainui sees the Ruakura Superhub as "a centrepiece" in its intergenerational wealth creation strategy, Te Arataura chairperson Linda Te Aho says. (This video was first published on November 5, 2021.)

Its this long-term growth strategy that helped pave the way for their distribution hub shifting from Auckland to Hamilton.

Kmart New Zealand is a growth business for us, he said.

We did a review of whats required for our business over the next couple of decades and, as we did that assessment, we realised we needed a facility that would deliver significant growth in volumes over the coming decades.

That search took them to the Tainui Group Holdings development, which also includes logistics giant Maersk, Big Chill Distribution and the PBT Group amongst its tenants.

Gualtieri said the site ticked boxes for location and rail links, something he said would help the retail giant reduce its carbon emissions.

The relationship with Tainui also proved key.

With Kmart weve got a sense of community, Tainui also has a sense of community, shared visions, values, so we kind of landed in Hamilton. Its a great place.

He said the company has experience of working alongside iwi groups and mana whenua already - it opened its first New Zealand outlet in 1988 - but he said he still found much to enjoy getting to know more about tikanga Mori.

TOM LEE/STUFF

Work progresses at Ruakura inland port, where Kmart will relocate its North Island distribution centre.

He said the company would open an Ashburton outlet on October 20 this year, and promised at least four new stores this year on top of their existing 25, though he declined to be drawn on specifics such as locations.

Three or four within the next year youll see opening up in New Zealand, he said.

We see continual growth of the New Zealand market.

He said he isnt fazed about competitors like Ikea and Costco making moves into New Zealand either. In fact, the exact opposite.

I think competition is very good. It makes you a better retailer, makes you think and be more focused about what we do, he said.

Weve got growth plans for Kmart New Zealand in both the North and South Islands for many, many years to come, so I like competition. It makes Kmart that bit sharper.

He said their primary role is: Make everyday life brighter for our customers.

Benn Bathgate/Stuff

Gualtieri said hed never seen lines at Kmart in Australia like Ive seen in New Zealand for new stores. Pictured are people queueing at 6.45am in Rotoruas in 2018.

He said he thinks that philosophy has struck a chord in New Zealand too, especially when asked about the reaction to their stores.

He may have another reason for his confidence in the face of potential competition too.

When Kmarts Rotorua outlet opened in 2018, for example, people began queueing 12 hours ahead of its opening time.

Asked for a view on that type of reaction its the only time Gualtieri, as polished as you would expect a corporate leader to be, pauses to consider his answer.

Ive never seen lines at Kmart in Australia like Ive seen in New Zealand, he said.

When we open up stores in New Zealand the whole community come out in force. They are amazing.

He said they never offer opening day discounts either, so it isnt the scramble for a bargain that drives this devotion.

It tells you Kmart is a recognised brand in New Zealand, a wanted brand.

He believes the pricing structure, especially in these inflationary times, would help secure Kmarts place in New Zealand.

Cents make a difference [now], and we do everything we can to hold our prices.

SUPPLIED

Tainui Group Holdings chairperson Hinerangi Raumati-Tu'ua said the development would create long-term economic benefits for Hamilton, the region and beyond.

He said they were still seeing some supply chain issues from the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly due to ongoing lockdowns in China, but that their contingency plans have put them in a better position than the last 12 to 18 months.

Customers can still enter an outlet and find what theyre looking for, he said.

Unsurprisingly, Gualtieri isnt the only one waxing lyrical about the potential for the Raukura Superhub.

Ruakura Superhub is a super-sized project that will continue to create the sustainable economic benefits that go towards funding important social development, cultural, and environmental programmes for current and future generations of Waikato-Tainui, said Tainui Group Holdings chair Hinerangi Raumati-Tuua.

She said the development would extend benefits to Hamilton, the wider region and country.

Commerce, jobs, efficiencies, homes, and environmental gains will all come from in fact are already coming from Ruakura Superhub.

Go here to see the original:

Hamilton hub the start as Kmart eyes big growth in New Zealand - Stuff

McKay says the second change the one that allows suburban property owners to build townhouses in place of their old villas and bungalows has prompted the most animosity from so-called not in my backyard types. Theyre all going, F--- me, I could suddenly end up with three three-storey townhouses next door, he says.

McKay says the backlash is coming chiefly from well-off residents in leafy suburbs, as well as heritage conservationists who argue the changes will destroy the character of neighbourhoods.

They all tend to be older people, he says. But younger people are supporting it because its going to provide them with the faint possibility of being able to afford a roof over their heads. Its a bit of a culture war between young and old.

Sound familiar? In Sydney, where the median house price is $1.5 million and the median apartment rent has risen to $525 a week, these tensions over planning and development are sharper than ever.

On Wednesday, the Grattan Institutes housing economic policy director Brendan Coates warned NIMBY objections had driven up house prices and rents in Australias big cities, and said state and federal governments needed to make tough decisions.

Either people accept greater density in their suburb or their children will not be able to buy a home, and seniors will not be able to downsize in the suburb where they live, he said in his Henry George Commemorative Lecture. This is a problem we can fix, but only if we make the right choices.

Loading

Coates tells the Herald we ought to look across the ditch for inspiration. In effectively bypassing council planning powers, the New Zealand reforms overcome one of the major impediments to building more homes, he says.

If that kind of up-zoning had occurred in Australia, it would be equivalent to house prices and rents falling by about 10 per cent, he says of Aucklands 2016 changes. In New Zealand it was offset by the fact that interest rates fell.

Under NZs recent national reforms, most developments that comply with the controls do not need to obtain planning (or resource) consent. They still need to obtain building consent, which deals with the actual plans, measurements and engineering. And Auckland Council warns that owners wishing to subdivide their property or assess the earthworks needed for construction may still require resource consent.

And its not a free-for-all. A council briefing document on the Auckland Unitary Plan stipulates it can declare certain precincts have qualifying matters which reduce the need for or desirability of development intensification.

While we want to ensure that the AUP provides flexibility and opportunity for developers in precincts, we also need to maintain and enhance the things that residents, workers and visitors within precincts value, it says.

If we keep the good things, while enabling growth, we can ensure our precinct areas not only provide high-quality residential intensification but also retain and enhance the local-based characteristics and uniqueness of the area.

The NSW government has long tried to intensify development around Sydneys transport corridors. Professor Nicole Gurran, an urban planning expert at the University of Sydney, says much of what Auckland and New Zealand are doing now has happened in Sydney since the 1990s.

Over time, the government has tried to strip councils of their power over development consent by creating local and regional planning panels independent of council, rezoning land near train lines and sometimes taking direct control of developments and precincts.

At a Committee for Sydney summit in February, Cities Minister Rob Stokes said the forthcoming metro rail lines would shift everything, agreeing that as much as half of the citys population growth could be concentrated near those stations.

The Inner West Council is currently grappling with plans to increase density in Marrickville and Dulwich Hill, both of which will be on the City and Southwest metro line, and North Ashfield.

As the Herald reported this week, activist residents are fighting the proposal for apartment blocks of six to eight storeys, possibly 12 in some areas, claiming it will turn a suburban oasis into a high-rise nightmare.

Dulwich Hill resident Robert Veal told a packed council meeting on Tuesday night that he detested middle-class Anglo NIMBYism, but objected to the off-the-shelf plan, which would involve the compulsory acquisition of his home.

The kind of PR-driven Kumbaya singalongs that have characterised the consultation process to date do not resolve anything, they simply lower our trust and stiffen our opposition, Veal said.

But Coates, the Grattan Institute expert, says the lengthy consultation processes that typically accompany local environment plans and individual development applications unfairly empower existing residents and older people with more time on their hands.

The key point is we need to shift the balance away from giving so much attention to the voices of those who live there already ... and give more voice to those who benefit from the housing being built, he says.

An artists impression of how Charlotte Street in North Ashfield could look after high-rise development.

Coates also suggests some community opposition to density would dissipate if design rules were strengthened to create better developments. The quality of what gets built is often not great.

Gurran, the Sydney University academic, says the market still has to deliver the homes enabled by rezoning, and that doesnt always happen. She says zoning near most Sydney train stations likely allows for high density but if you walk around at eye level and try to guess what the zoning is ... youd have no chance.

Loading

One of the risks is you go too far and over-zone willy-nilly because then you get very piecemeal development and a lot of uncertainty for residents, Gurran says. You dont really want to have a low-density house being overlooked by high-density apartments for 20 years.

Gurran says another long-term concern is once you build three-storey townhouses or six-storey apartment blocks, you wont be able to increase density any further which may be a problem.

I would not be wanting to see a six-storey blanket rule across Sydney unless were sure that six storeys is as high as we want to go for the next 70 or 100 years, she says.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.

See more here:

Crowded house(s): Can New Zealands planning reforms show Sydney the way? - Sydney Morning Herald

PRESIDENT Joe Biden will be just one of 500 heads of state and VIPs at the Queens funeral.

He will be joined by fellow G7 leaders French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

9

9

9

9

Other royals attending include the kings of Belgium, Bhutan, Jordan, Lesotho, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, and Tonga.

The Queen of Denmark will be there, too, alongside the crown princes of Bahrain, Kuwait and Liechtenstein, plus the sultans of Brunei and Oman.

New Zealand will be represented by Maori King Tuheitia Paki and PM Jacinda Ardern.

Other Commonwealth leaders include Australian PM Anthony Albanese, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Jamaican PM Andrew Holness.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel will both attend, as will Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, Irish President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Michel Martin.

9

Chinas Vice-President Wang Qishan, Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol are all invited.

But six countries Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria and Venezuela were overlooked when the funeral invitations were sent out.

9

9

9

9

Read the original:

US President Joe Biden and New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern among 500 heads of state at the Queens funeral... - The US Sun

The Tertiary Education Union (TEU) recently released a report into funding and salaries in New Zealands universities.

While limited in scope, the report commissioned from economic consultants BERL (Business and Economic Research Ltd), provides a glimpse into the long-term assault on the wages and conditions of university staff.

The report constitutes a damning, albeit unintended, indictment of the TEU, which has done nothing to oppose the wave of offensives against public education, staff and students by university administrations and successive governments.

The TEU said it commissioned the report, titled Where does the Money Go? Analysis of NZ universities financial statements, because it wanted to know where public and private investment in universities was being directed and identify issues that needed addressing. BERLs analysis was based on the annual reports of all eight of the countrys universities since 2008.

The report establishes that overall operating revenue and expenses from 20082020 increased faster than inflation, reaching a high point in 2019, prior to the onset of the COVID pandemic. Universities total operating revenue grew by 25 percent, government funding by 16.5 percent, student fees revenue by 45 percent and research revenue by 48 percent.

The sector oversaw a significant increase in international students and a drop in domestic students. As is the case throughout the world, international students, who pay much higher, unsubsidised fees in the tens of thousands of dollars, were used as cash cows to prop up the universities. International students became New Zealands fourth biggest export earner.

Prime responsibility for this system lies with the 19841990 Labour Party governments Learning for Life agenda, which opened the door to a swathe of government funding cuts, abolished free tertiary education and introduced the first student fees, while forcing universities to run on competitive business lines and through entrepreneurial activities.

According to BERL, since 2008 access to contestable research revenue and student fee revenue grew faster than government funding, thereby shifting the burdens, financial and otherwise, onto staff and students. While total university operating expenses increased by 18 percent, growth in staff costs and wages, despite an increase in personnel numbers, went up by just 7 percent. Spending increases have centred on property, new buildings and equipment.

The report highlights that average salaries have not kept up with inflation since 2007/8. University of Otago salaries fell in real terms by 10 percent in the 13 years, while at the University of Auckland, the countrys biggest, the decrease was 17 percent.

The TEU contrives to evade its own culpability in this assault. It boasts that the union negotiated settlements in most years that reflect inflation. From 200608, following two years of unspecified nationwide action by TEU members resulting in tripartite talks, salary increases of 7.5 percent in 2006 (CPI 3.3 percent), 6.2 percent in 2007 (CPI 2.5 percent) and 5 percent in 2008 (CPI 4.1 percent) were negotiated.

The TEU says nothing about pay settlements or any purported action from 2008 to 2020. This was a period, following the financial crisis of 2008, of intense restructuring, with widespread layoffs, soaring student fees and debt, and cuts to admissions, courses and libraries.

The union collaborated in numerous attacks. In March 2010, for example, TEU branch president Megan Clayton declared that she was reasonably happy with the way Canterbury University had consulted the union before imposing nearly 100 redundancies.

In 2015, the TEU responded to 300 impending job cuts at Unitec in Auckland by calling on management to undertake a change in such ways that staff are brought along with the changes; and at a pace that will allow change to bed in.

With the onset of the COVID pandemic in early 2020, border closures saw international student enrolments cut by more than half. In 2019, New Zealand had about 22,000 full-time international students paying total fees of $NZ562 million. That quickly fell to less than 10,000 students. While applications are now recovering with borders reopened, they are running at only 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

The financial hole produced an immediate and severe assault on jobs. Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) said it expected a $12 million loss and Auckland University anticipated a $30 million loss.

The TEU promptly signalled that it would not oppose the assault. In May 2020, with a hiring freeze already in place, the TEU demanded that union officials be included in all high level decisions on the impacts of COVID-19. It called for all affected parties representing government, sector leaders, unions, staff, students and their communities, to collaborate on a nationwide strategy to address the impact of the travel ban.

The TEU welcomed bogus advice by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) that financial impacts would be managed appropriately in relation to staff cuts. Then TEU national president Michael Gilchrist declared: Staff cuts should be the last option considered.

By March 2021, some 700 jobs had been shed nationwide. At the University of Auckland 300 had signed up for a voluntary severance package, at VUW 100 did the same, and at each of AUT, Massey and Lincoln more than 70 staff had already left or were going. Auckland reported paying $44 million in redundancies to staff whose jobs were axed.

New TEU president Tina Smith told Radio NZ the job cuts were huge and that senior academics are being pushed out, shoved out, encouraged to leave because they want them to be replaced by cheaper options.

The modus operandi of the TEU was shown at VUW, where staff were warned that extra measures would be required due to expected losses ballooning to $33.5 million in 2021, adding to a $19 million deficit for 2020. TEU branch president Dougal McNeilla leading member of the pseudo-left International Socialist Organisationdeclared the announcement had left members prepared to fight. In fact, the TEU accepted some cuts as inevitable and helped to impose them.

After VUW publicly ruled out large scale sackings, the TEU claimed a victory, declaring on Facebook: The Vic Uni branch has shown how much is achieved when we stand together. Some 60 voluntary redundancies were carried through while the TEU made no attempt to unite staff across universities in a nationwide campaign against the cuts.

The entire trade union bureaucracy, meanwhile, has done nothing to oppose the Ardern Labour governments decision last October, following demands by big business, the media and university administrations, to ditch virtually all public health precautions and let COVID rip. The unions have acted as enforcers of the return to work agenda.

The results have been a disaster, including in the universities. In March this year, COVID-19 swept through the halls of residence at VUW. The university reported 648 cases in its 13 live-in premises, making up a quarter of all student residents, many of whom had only arrived a week earlier to begin the year. The administration kept in-person lectures going, with a streaming option made available.

Attacks on jobs in the wider tertiary sector are set to continue. The government is currently restructuring the countrys polytechnic system, merging 16 trades training institutions into a single entity, forecast to save $52 million per annum from 2023.

The polytechnics currently have about 7,800 staff. The TEC recently pointed to a 16 percent decline in enrolments over the past five years and warned that necessary financial results could not be achieved unless a large number of staff left and further job cuts were imposed.

The TEU has moved to channel members into a corporatist consultation process which involves making submissions on the proposed operating structure, with no campaign to oppose any assault on jobs, wages and conditions.

Sign up for the WSWS Educators Newsletter

Receive news updates and information on the fight against the unsafe reopening of schools.

Read the rest here:

New Zealand universities hit by long-term assault on pay and jobs - WSWS

New Zealand has had its warmest and wettest winter on record, with one meteorologist describing it as mother natures way of expressing she has a fever.

For the three months to the end of August 2022, the average temperature was 9.8C, according to New Zealands National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa).

That figure was 1.4C above the 1981-2010 average from Niwas seven-station temperature series, which began in 1909, surpassing last years winter record of 1.3C.

It is the third consecutive year the temperature record has been broken and climate change was having a significant impact, said Ben Noll, a Niwa meteorologist.

The warmth is here to stay, he said. We are not seeing anything at least in the next couple of seasons that will suggest were going to be seeing cooler than average temperatures.

It was not just the winter season in which temperatures were consistently high, he said.

We feel like a broken record but this is mother natures way of expressing she has a fever she is running a higher temperature and it is pretty concerning to see that, successively, season after season.

This years winter was also the first on record where the temperature rise exceeded 1.2C for all three months of the season, relative to the long-term average.

Of the 10 warmest winters on record, six have occurred since 2013. This year, 50 locations experienced record temperatures and another 33 experienced near-record temperatures.

The warmth was really overwhelming it was certainly widespread in terms of the season as a whole, said Nava Fedaeff, another Niwa forecaster.

Wairoa, on the east coast of the North Island, recorded the highest temperature of the winter, with 24.3C on 20 August, while the lowest was in Aoraki/Mount Cook on 17 July at -11.6C.

It was also the wettest winter since records began in 1971, which was probably not a surprise to anyone, Fedaeff said.

We had extreme rainfall. There were really few places in the country that didnt receive some of that rainfall.

Noll added the atmospheric river that swept over the country was unusual for winter. It was the strongest on record for August and second strongest for winter since at least 1959.

The characteristics of this event were more typical of what we expect in January, February or March, he said.

A state of emergency was called in Nelson, Tasman, the West Coast and Marlborough after the torrential downpours, with Nelson in particular affected by severe flooding as the Maitai River burst its banks.

The river flows well exceeded the previous record, Noll said.

The record-breaking warmth did not stop at land-based temperatures, with sea surface temperatures also exceeding previous records after a third straight year of La Nia conditions.

Marine heatwave conditions in the eastern Tasman Sea and the Coral Sea not only contributed to warmer temperatures on land but also provided extra moisture to low-pressure systems approaching the country.

You can really see how New Zealands weather was connected to the tropics, Noll said. That resulted in atmospheric rivers and heavy rainfall throughout the season and some of that is [now] spilling over into the spring.

Read the original post:

New Zealand reports warmest and wettest winter on record - The Guardian

Stuff

Tell us why you consider Christchurch or Wellington to be New Zealand's second city.

WRITE ON STUFF:The answer to which city is New Zealand's second cityis simple, right? It's Wellington.

But wait, maybe it's not that simple.

Does Christchurch take the crown?

On FridayStuff'sYeah, Nah pollasked readers if they consider Wellington or Christchurch to beNew Zealand'ssecond city.Thousands responded, but the votes were split very evenly.

READ MORE:* Yeah, Nah: Is Wellington (or Christchurch) NZ's second city?* Down to the final bite - Wellington On a Plate finalists announced* Christchurch is New Zealand's second city, deal with it

The populataions of both cities are similar, but is it fair to include the populations ofHutt City, Upper Hutt, Porirua and the Kpiti Coast in Wellington's population as a whole, or are those separate?

Without the inclusion of these areas Christchurch has a larger population.

But is population alone enough to decide New Zealand's second city, or should otherfactors such as infrastructure growth, employment opportunities, attractions, and housing be factored in?

We want you to share your thoughts. The best pieces will be published on Stuff Nation.

Do think Wellington or Christchurch deserves the title of New Zealand's second city and why?

Do you think population is the most important deciding factor? Why/ why not?

Have you lived in both cities before? Which did you enjoy more and how dothey compare?

What are hotspots that you think give your chosen city theedge?

We're looking for submissions of between 400 and 800 words to be published in Stuff Nation. To share your thoughts on which city takes the cake,email:stuffnation@stuff.co.nz.

Continued here:

Is Wellington or Christchurch New Zealand's second city and why? - Stuff

Media Credit: Photo Illustration by Jordyn Bailer | Assistant Photo Editor

Richards is the latest coaching staff addition under Head Coach Chrissy Schoonmaker, who was namedA-10 Coach of the Year last spring, guiding softball to a championship bid.

A former coach for New Zealands national baseball team joined softball as an assistant coach for the upcoming season last month.

Kris Richards who coached for the Baseball New Zealand national team for more than five years will bring extensive experience from the baseball diamond to the softball squad as part ofHead Coach Chrissy Schoonmakers staff. Richards served as a hitting coach for New Zealands U-15 and U-23 programs and managed the U-18 team before overseeing coach and player development from Baseball New Zealands administration.

Its an honor to take on this role and represent such a respected institution, Richards said in a release. I want to thank Coach Schoonmaker for giving me the opportunity to be a part of her experienced coaching staff. I am eager to get out on the diamond, meet the players and compete for an A-10 Championship.

Richards joins recent graduate Sierra Lange as the latest coaching staff addition under Schoonmaker, who was namedA-10 Coach of the Year last spring, guiding softball to an A-10 leading 36 wins and a championship bid.

We are thrilled to welcome Kris Richards to GW, to the softball program and to our coaching staff, Schoonmaker said in therelease. Kris has a passion for player development, a love of coaching and a deep knowledge of the game which will make an immediate impact.

Richards joined New Zealands national baseball organization in 2017, when he started as the U-15 hitting coach a position that earned himInternational Coach of the Year honors from international baseball agency Baseball Jobs Overseas.

He served as a regional development officer of the Wellington region of New Zealand the same year, where he oversaw administrative functions, like scheduling in-season games, coordinating coach and player development clinics, developing budgets and coaching elite players.

Richards got his first national coaching gig in the Czech Republic from 2015 to 2016 before heading to the Down Under, serving as hitting coach for theU-23 national team while also managing the Kotlka Praha baseball club in Prague, which he guided to its first-ever league title.

Richards played in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system for three seasons as an infielder and pitcher before Tommy John surgery gave way to his coaching career.

Kris has a wealth of experience at both the professional and international levels from his time in MLB and with Baseball New Zealand, and his offensive expertise will be a game changer for us, Schoonmaker said in the release. Kriss energy is infectious, and he will be an asset to our team culture and out on the recruiting trail. We look forward to seeing the lasting impact he has on our student-athletes.

This article appeared in the September 1, 2022 issue of the Hatchet.

Read the original:

Softball taps former New Zealand national team coach - GW Hatchet

The Lord of the Rings movies showcased the best of New Zealands stunning countryside.

Now, new Amazon TV show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has gone back to the country for a blockbuster of a prequel.

There are very high expectations. The show is the most expensive ever made, and will inevitably be compared to Game of Thrones as well as the new Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon, which has just come out on HBO and Sky.

Here is everything you need to know about how it fits in.

The Rings of Power tells the story of the forging of the rings of the same name, the ascension of the dark lord Sauron, and the final alliance between humans and elves in the Second Age.

This means it is set thousands of years before the events of the Lord of the Rings books and films, long before the likes of Bilbo, Frodo and Sam graced Middle-earth.

However, thanks to the immortality of elves, there will be some characters you may recognise, including Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo).

Amazon Primes official synopsis for the show reads: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earths history.

This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of JRR Tolkiens The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and one of the greatest villains that ever flowed from Tolkiens pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.

Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared reemergence of evil to Middle-earth.

From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Nmenor, to the farthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will come to Amazon Prime in the early hours Friday 2 September in the UK, while US viewers can see them on Thursday night there.

The first two episodes will drop at 2am UK time. New episodes will then be released individually every Friday at the same time.

There are eight episodes in the first series relatively short for a modern TV show. The final episode of season one will air on Friday 14 October.

Like the movies before, much of this series was filmed in New Zealand.

The films gave the countrys tourism an enormous boost, and it reportedly saw a jump in visitors from 1.7 to 2.4 million between 2000 and 2006.

In 2012 one per cent of visitors cited The Lord of the Rings as a reason they travelled to New Zealand, which was worth NZ$33m

It was mostly filmed between February 2020 August 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand. The set was beset with difficulty due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

They mostly used Kumeu Film Studios and Auckland Film Studios, and they headed to Hauraki Gulf/Tkapa Moana in the north.

Coastal city Piha will be featured, with its craggy landscape, as will the Coromandel Peninsula, which is known for its beaches and forested areas.

Fiordland national park and the Rangitikei District are also rumoured to be featured in the series.

Executive producers Patrick McKay and John D Payne said they had been looking for somewhere majestic, with pristine coasts, forests, and mountains.

The second series, however, will be filmed in the UK. It is thought this will be cheaper and make Europe more accessible.

Executive producer Lindsey Weber admitted leaving the country after wrapping was a hard departure.

Last year, sources were reported as saying Bray Film Studios and Bovingdon Airfield will be selected as locations, while others are likely to be announced as well.

It features the following actors:

See the original post here:

Filming locations in New Zealand for the Lord of the Rings prequel TV series - iNews

Friday, 2 September 2022, 11:44 amPress Release: Round the Bays

Kiwis favourite fun run helps raise awareness of sunsafety

Round the Bays is pleased to announce thatMelanoma New Zealand will be the official charity for2023.

The iconic Auckland event is a Kiwi fave and isexpected to attract more than 30,000 participants afitting time to encourage everyone to be sun-safe whengetting out and having fun, Vanessa Fleming, Round the Baysevent manager, says.

Supersaver entries are now onsale for Round the Bays, which will be held on Sunday, March5, 2023.

This year participants can choose to do ittheir way - either being a part of the fun atmosphere andstunning scenery of Tmaki Drive, or from wherever they areusing the Round the Bays virtual app.

Round the Bayshas also launched the first-ever Under Armour Elite Categoryfor 2023, for those who can complete 8.4km in under 36minutes, and take a spot in the Round the Bays Hall ofFame.

Round the Bays has been instrumental in raisingmore than $3.32 million in the past 20 years alone, throughparticipant sponsorship peer-to-peer fundraising anddonations from the event organisers Stuff Events. As theofficial charity Melanoma New Zealand will receive $50,000in cash plus a $50,000 Stuff media package.

We areso grateful for the opportunity to be part of this iconicevent not only to have amazing participants raisingimportant funds to support what we do, but also to provideus with a platform to share our life-saving messages aboutmelanoma prevention and the importance of earlydetection, Melanoma New Zealand chief executive AndreaNewland says.

New Zealand has the worst rate ofmelanoma in the world. Each year, more than 6000 people arediagnosed with melanoma in New Zealand, and around 300people will die from it, so turning around these terriblestatistics is crucial.

We appreciate every dollarraised for our cause, and look forward to seeing everyonegetting out there on the course or taking part virtually,being sunsmart and having funIt has never been easier totake part in Round the Bays and now you can do it your way be it the traditional route in Tmaki Makaurau Aucklandor from anywhere in the country, or even theworld.

Registrations are now open for the 51stRound the Bays. Tmaki Drive will become a sea ofentertainment and fanfare on Sunday, March 5, 2023,culminating at the finish line at Vellenoweth Green at StHeliers. Or participants can do the virtual app version fromanywhere in the world, between March 5 and March 12,2023.

The iconic event was first held in 1972, andfive decades on, thousands of Kiwis look forward to poundingthe pavement to earn the all-important finishersmedal.

The first Round the Bays had 792 registeredparticipants. In the early days, entry fees were paid ascheques in the mail, and bib numbers werehandwritten.

It has now grown to be New Zealandsmost sought-after fun-run for individuals, whnau andworkmates, with participants choosing to walk, jog orrun.

People who took part as kids with theirparents are now bringing their kids. Its been a drawcardteam-building event year after year, and for some it is areason to get into their favourite fancy dress, Flemingsays.

We are excited to welcome everyone to thestart line at downtown Auckland - or from around the world to make 2023 the best year yet.

Supersaver entries open until midnight October5, 2022

To enter, head to:roundthebays.co.nz

Scoop Media

Become a member Find out more

See more here:

Round The Bays 2023 To Support Melanoma New Zealand | Scoop News - Scoop

Friday, 2 September 2022, 11:17 amPress Release: Go With Tourism

Go with Tourism an initiative that specialises ingrowing New Zealand's tourism and hospitality workforce has been awarded $2 million from the International Visitorand Conservation Levy (IVL) to continue their efforts intackling the industrys current skills shortage.

Thefunding was announced this morning by Tourism MinisterStuart Nash.

In his speech, Minister Nash emphasisedthe connection between delivering a world-class visitorexperience and mounting pressure on tourism and hospitalityworkers to meet growing tourist demand.

Like anyindustry, success depends on those working within it. Thismeans investing in our people and deepening the talent pool.This investment [in Go with Tourism] will be vital inbuilding the tourism workforce back up.

The $2million investment will cover a 12-month period from October2022. It enables Go with Tourism to expand upon currentworkstreams that connect jobseekers with employers, promotestudy and career opportunities to youth, and challengeindustry perceptions.

Go with Tourism ProgrammeDirector, Heidi Gillingham, says that attracting workersinto tourism and hospitality is the top priority for theyear ahead. The next 12 months worth of talentattraction is what we have been gearing up for since welaunched in 2019. We have built a good reputation, partneredwith thousands of businesses and established ourselves inclassrooms around New Zealand; now, with this funding, theindustry can be assured that a dedicated and well-preparedteam will lead the way in tackling workforce challenges anddoing our utmost to fill tourism and hospitality roles inboth the short and long term.

Thank you to theGovernment for continuing to support our greatwork.

Go with Tourism was developed by Ttaki AucklandUnlimiteds legacy organisation Auckland Tourism,Events & Economic Development (ATEED) to address skillsshortages in the Auckland region. Four months afterlaunching in April 2019, the Government announced theinitiative would receive $5.2 million from the IVL to expandthe programme nationwide.

Covid-19 forced Go withTourism to temporarily pivot its strategy to redeployingdisplaced tourism and hospitality workers into other jobs;however, by July 2020, the team returned to their originalmandate and has since achieved wins suchas:

With funding confirmed, Go withTourism can continue to offer their services, free ofcharge, to best assist employers, educators, students andjobseekers nationwide. The team also look forward toproviding their clientele with new and improvedopportunities for recruitment or training.

Werein strategy mode, says Gillingham. We know exactlywhat we want to achieve in the next 12 months and wereexploring fresh, innovative ideas and new collaborations toensure we meet these goals.

To connect with Go withTourism, or for more information, please visit gowithtourism.co.nz

Scoop Media

Become a member Find out more

Read the original post:

Go With Tourism Awarded $2 Million To Build New Zealand's Tourism Workforce | Scoop News - Scoop