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Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is keen to sell the Port of Auckland’s operating business.
Brown is putting forward two options for the port in his proposed 10-year budget, which also includes a rates rise of 7.5 per cent.
He proposes either keeping the business and gradually releasing land for public use, or selling the lease to raise up to $3 billion.
The mayor prefers the latter option.
The Prime Minister may have to front up today over his deputy accusing the media of taking bribes.
Winston Peters has been sounding-off this week about the former Government’s $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund.
It was dished out during the pandemic to support the media sector in an economic downturn.
Peters’ comments are expected to overshadow today’s first post-Cabinet press briefing.
Emergency services have been responding to a serious incident in Papakura, in south Auckland.
Officers and detectives have been in the O’Shannessey St area since about 3am.
It’s understood one person has been rushed to Hospital in a critical condition.
Indian rescuers have freed all 41 construction workers, trapped inside a collapsed tunnel in the Himalayas for more than two weeks.
It’s taken hours of drilling through debris, rock, concrete and earth.
The workers have been trapped for 17 days without sunlight, with limited food and water, and very little space to move around.
They are now going through initial health checks at a temporary medical camp.
The Police Commissioner is confident he’ll work well with the new minister, despite copping his criticism over past years.
National’s Mark Mitchell, sworn into the job this week, has previously been sceptical of Andrew Coster’s leadership and approach to policing.
The Police Commissioner is appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and Coster’s current term ends in April 2025.
Coster says he didn’t offer to resign when the pair met yesterday and they had a productive discussion.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.