Libby Kirkby- McLeod

3 days ago | radionz.co.nz | Libby Kirkby- McLeod

Hamilton has been the youngest city in New Zealand since 1998. On a recent grey autumn morning, RNZ spoke to the young, and the young adjacent, in the city to find out what they would like to see in Budget 2025. At the University of Waikato, students were not sure about the finer points of the country's finances. Most did not know when the Budget was due to be delivered, by who, or why. But they did have some ideas on what the government could do to help students and young people.

3 weeks ago | radionz.co.nz | Libby Kirkby- McLeod

The Taxpayers' Union has criticised Tauranga City Council's new office, calling it a "corporate penthouse", but the council's chief executive said the building is leased, the community did not have to pay any upfront building costs, and the fitout is modest. Tauranga City Council staff are expected to move into the new building at 90 Devonport Street from Wednesday 30 April.

1 month ago | radionz.co.nz | Libby Kirkby- McLeod

Locals hope a new, 25-storey dining and hotel complex will help to solve Hamilton's visitor accommodation shortage and transform the city. Hamilton City Council has sold a prime downtown riverfront site on Victoria Street to Templeton Group, which is planning to develop it. A council feasibility study showed the city needs 497 additional hotel rooms in the next five years just to keep up with demand.

1 month ago | radionz.co.nz | Libby Kirkby- McLeod

The Jewish Passover celebration begins in New Zealand at sundown on Saturday evening. It is a major celebration in the Jewish calendar which marks the birth of the Jewish people and their freedom from slavery in Egypt. This year, the Leader of the White House Faith Office, Paula White, has suggested Christians should celebrate Passover 'in order to unlock seven supernatural blessings'. But both Jewish and Christian leaders in New Zealand said Passover shouldn't be treated as a transaction with God.

1 month ago | sunlive.co.nz | Libby Kirkby- McLeod

The majority of Tauranga City Council's elected members voted to fight a request for a judicial review into the sale of the Tauranga marine precinct, minutes from a closed-door meeting in February show. Mayor Mahé Drysdale, deputy mayor Jen Scoular, and councillors Hautapu Baker, Marten Rozeboom, Kevin Schuler and Rod Taylor also directed the council to oppose efforts from marine precinct users to prevent the council from selling the land to developer Sam Rofe.