CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand In March 2024, Customs carried out search warrants in Gisborne, locating a significant amount of cash in a bedroom and in a vehicle parked outside the restaurant, as well as over a kilogram of loose tobacco and 11,000 cigarettes inside the restaurant. Supplied / New Zealand Customs New Zealand Customs has ... <a title="Fears NZ’s tobacco black market will get as bad as Australia’s" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/fears-nzs-tobacco-black-market-will-get-as-bad-as-australias/" aria-label="Read more about Fears NZ’s tobacco black market will get as bad as Australia’s">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand Four dolphins have been killed off Kaikōura’s coast in the past two years, including three by set net entanglement Supplied / Genevieve Robinson Conservation groups are calling for action to reduce dolphin deaths off Canterbury’s coastline. A female Hector’s dolphin was killed in a set net off Kaikōura’s coast and discarded ... <a title="Dolphin’s death spurs calls for greater protection" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/dolphins-death-spurs-calls-for-greater-protection/" aria-label="Read more about Dolphin’s death spurs calls for greater protection">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand The company received 27 shipments of the live green-lipped mussels. NIWA/Rebekah Parsons-King A Christchurch-based fish processor has been fined $20,000 for illegally handling live mussels from a restricted biosecurity zone. Ikana New Zealand was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court this month after admitting nine biosecurity offences. Ministry for Primary Industries ... <a title="Fish processor Ikana New Zealand fined $20,000 for nine biosecurity offences" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/fish-processor-ikana-new-zealand-fined-20000-for-nine-biosecurity-offences/" aria-label="Read more about Fish processor Ikana New Zealand fined $20,000 for nine biosecurity offences">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand Melanna House has been closed since September. Supplied Waiheke Island’s only respite care house for kids with disabilities has closed, leaving parents who booked their children in for school holiday programmes and overnight stays in the lurch. Spectrum Care said the service at Melanna House was running at a loss and ... <a title="Parents left stranded as Waiheke Island’s only respite care house for kids with disabilities closes" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/parents-left-stranded-as-waiheke-islands-only-respite-care-house-for-kids-with-disabilities-closes/" aria-label="Read more about Parents left stranded as Waiheke Island’s only respite care house for kids with disabilities closes">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand Gloriavale members received payments into their own accounts but those payments could be taken out again by the community’s financial controller. RNZ / Jean Edwards Gloriavale’s leaders made sham payments to community members to make it appear as though they are rewarded for their efforts, the Employment Court has heard. A ... <a title="Gloriavale: Sham payments made to community members, court told" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/gloriavale-sham-payments-made-to-community-members-court-told/" aria-label="Read more about Gloriavale: Sham payments made to community members, court told">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand Supplied / Kiwibank A recent insurance promotion in which customers were offered Prezzy cards for new business is a reminder to watch out for loyalty tax, Consumer NZ says. Glenn Marshall, who is an insurance broker but is acting in a personal capacity as a consumer, has complained to IAG about ... <a title="Prezzy promo a reminder to watch out for ‘loyalty tax’, Consumer NZ says" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/prezzy-promo-a-reminder-to-watch-out-for-loyalty-tax-consumer-nz-says/" aria-label="Read more about Prezzy promo a reminder to watch out for ‘loyalty tax’, Consumer NZ says">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand Christchurch District Court. RNZ / Nate McKinnon Warning: This story contains details of an alleged sexual assault. A man accused of taking a teenager 17 years his junior to a bach and then sexually violating him while the young man was intoxicated has pleaded not guilty. The accused, who has name ... <a title="Man denies sexually assaulting drunk teen in mid-1990s" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/man-denies-sexually-assaulting-drunk-teen-in-mid-1990s/" aria-label="Read more about Man denies sexually assaulting drunk teen in mid-1990s">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand RNZ Oranga Tamariki is investigating after two youths absconded from a Lower Hutt care facility. Residential services care and protection manager Karen Gillies said police were called when the pair fled the Epuni Care and Protection Facility on Sunday night. They were found and returned in the early hours of Monday ... <a title="Youths abscond from Oranga Tamariki care facility in Lower Hutt" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/youths-abscond-from-oranga-tamariki-care-facility-in-lower-hutt/" aria-label="Read more about Youths abscond from Oranga Tamariki care facility in Lower Hutt">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand The Mama Hooch trial, Danny Jaz, left, Roberto Jaz appear in the Christchurch District Court charged with sexual violation 07 February 2023. Supplied / POOL Warning: This story deals with sexual violence. Lengthy prison sentences for two of Christchurch’s most prolific sex offenders have been upheld by a High Court judge. ... <a title="Mama Hooch rapists Danny and Roberto Jaz’s appeals dismissed" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/mama-hooch-rapists-danny-and-roberto-jazs-appeals-dismissed/" aria-label="Read more about Mama Hooch rapists Danny and Roberto Jaz’s appeals dismissed">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand Christopher Luxon is putting the question of whether or not he asked for a matai title behind him, saying it was a miscommunication and both he and the Samoan prime minister have moved on. Samoa’s government had to clarify on Monday morning that neither Luxon nor his representatives had requested he ... <a title="Prime Minister Christopher Luxon moves on from Samoan matai title ‘miscommunication’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/prime-minister-christopher-luxon-moves-on-from-samoan-matai-title-miscommunication/" aria-label="Read more about Prime Minister Christopher Luxon moves on from Samoan matai title ‘miscommunication’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand Chris Hipkins has rejected the allegations. RNZ / Marika Khabazi Labour leader Chris Hipkins is seeking legal advice about a series of unsubstantiated claims made by his ex-wife on social media, RNZ understands. The allegations – which do not relate to any unlawful activity – were posted on Jade Paul’s private ... <a title="Chris Hipkins’ ex-wife makes series of unsubstantiated claims about him" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/chris-hipkins-ex-wife-makes-series-of-unsubstantiated-claims-about-him/" aria-label="Read more about Chris Hipkins’ ex-wife makes series of unsubstantiated claims about him">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 16, 2026
Source: Radio New Zealand The Mama Hooch trial, Danny Jaz, left, Roberto Jaz appear in the Christchurch District Court charged with sexual violation 07 February 2023. Supplied / POOL Warning: This story deals with sexual violence. Lengthy prison sentences for two of Christchurch’s most prolific sex offenders have been upheld by a High Court judge. ... <a title="Mama Hooch rapists’ appeals dismissed" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/16/mama-hooch-rapists-appeals-dismissed/" aria-label="Read more about Mama Hooch rapists’ appeals dismissed">Read more</a>
