Police cars blocked a central Wellington street at lunchtime after authorities were alerted to a suspected dangerous item. . A police spokesperson said they responded to reports about 11.45am “of an item of concern” on Pipitea St in Thorndon. Police appeared to be focusing on the area outside the Department of Internal Affairs. It was understood classrooms at Wellington Girls’ College were into lockdown while police investigated. By 12.45pm, six police cars blocked Pipitea St from Murphy St, preventing pedestrians from entering. The NZ Defence Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team was called, but stood down. “There were some cordons in place, however, these are about to be stood down, as the item of concern has now been confirmed as safe,” police said. The Department of Internal Affairs directed media queries to police. Wellington Girls’ College has been approached for comment. Read...

The gender pay gap in New Zealand has narrowed to a record low, new data shows. The pay gap between men and women was 5.2% in the June 2025 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said. It is a drop from 8.2% in the corresponding period last year. Dellwyn Stuart, co-founder of campaign group Mind the Gap, said the figure showed a “trend in the right direction”, but more movement was needed. Stuart told the Herald the narrowing gap follows “a few good interventions” in the past five years. “I think it’s on the back of the very successful Mind the Gap campaign, and the work that the public service did under the last Government around mandating pay gap measurement and reporting. “And then for this Government, it followed up by creating a gender pay gap toolkit that’s freely available. So there has been quite a few good interventions in the last five years and I think we’re seeing that impact now. “But we need more information and there is more to go. Any pay gap based on gender or ethnicity is unacceptable.” The gender pay gap is the difference between the average pay of men versus the average pay of women. Stuart said Stats NZ’s new figure is a broad look at the overall gap but Pasifika and Maori women had a much larger pay difference. Mind the Gap co-founder Dellwyn Stuart says the narrower gap follows `a few good interventions` in the past five years. Photo / Michael Bradley “I’d be interested to see if their pay gaps have also shrunk in a way that is significant,” she said. Professor Gail Pacheco, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission, called the data “hugely encouraging”. “Put simply, that means the median woman now earns about 95c for every dollar earned by the median man,” Pacheco said. She agreed with Stuart on the ethnic pay gaps and also noted Stats NZ’s figure did not cover the self-employed or unemployed. Stats NZ’s labour market spokeswoman Abby Johnston said the data showed the lowest pay gap since records began in 1998. “Annually, the gender pay gap declined by three percentage points, the first statistically significant annual decline noted since 2017,” she said. Stats NZ said the gap had narrowed because of women receiving larger increases in median hourly earnings from wages and salaries than men. The new figure comes on the same day five labour unions announced plans for a rally outside the High Court at Wellington on Friday over Government legislation cancelling their members’ pay equity claims. Pay equity, as opposed to equal pay, is the same remuneration for different work that has the same or similar level of skill or responsibility, the Ministry of Women says. Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tamaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022. Read...

Wellington commuters can expect more disruption on the beleaguered Transmission Gully, as work`s done to patch up a stretch of the Lower North Island highway for up to half a year. The Transport Agency is planning to re-surface and rebuild several kilometres of the road north of Porirua, likely meaning lane closures during the day, and full closures at night. The work`s forecast to go from roughly October until March. It comes just three and a half years after the $1.25 billion highway opened after years of delays, and relates to a legal battle with one of the road`s builders over unfinished work and quality issues. The agency settled the matter out of court. NZTA Regional Manager Mark Owen said the work`s not unexpected, but part of the road has deteriorated faster than expected, and concedes it will be frustrating for drivers over virtually the entirety of summer. `At the moment there are some sections that are a little bit rough, and the chipsealing`s not always the most waterproof,` he said. `[The road] was finished acceptable for people to use, but it wasn`t complete.` NZTA is still finalising its plan for the work, and is expected to announce a schedule and cost over the coming week or so. Owen concedes it`s frustrating and asks drivers to be patient, but sees this as the last major hiccup before the highway`s finally completed. `It`s going to take a little bit of time ... we`ve got an intensive programme to fix it so it lasts its life cycle.` A proposal for Transmission Gully`s speed limit to be increased to 110km/hr is also being considered, but would likely have to wait until after this work. Read...

One of Wellington’s most successful breweries, Fortune Favours, is ending operations and closing its brew bar only a day after winning first place at the country’s biggest beer festival.  After nearly a decade brewing in the capital, owners Shannon Thorpe and Dale Cooper announced the business was no longer financially sustainable.  “Unfortunately, the cost of living crisis has proven too difficult for us to navigate. We’re down 20% on last year, which was already 25% down on the year before,” a post on the company’s social media read.  Since starting in 2016, the company has brewed over 500 unique blends, including New Zealand’s strongest beer.  On Tuesday, its Wairarapa IPA was named the top-praised beer at Wellington’s Beervana event.  The inner-city brewpub on Leeds St will close its doors for the final time on August 31.  “We’ve loved our 8 years here [...] without your support Fortune Favours would not be the brand that it is,” the post said.  Fortune Favours craft beer bar featured on a Wellington craft beer tour. Photo / Nicola Edmonds  The brewery started when Thorpe quit his day job to move to the capital with his young family to start brewing craft beer. Award-winning brewer Cooper then joined and the business expanded, winning awards in New Zealand and Australia and being stocked around the country.  The pair also opened a bar in Wellington Airport in 2019.  In 2022, the brewery made a splash with its Hyper Fuel brew, the strongest beer in the country at 31% ABV.  Fortune Favours’ move is just the latest in a string of recent sector closures.  A number of popular hospitality venues have shut up shop in the capital over the past year, citing a range of factors including the public sector cuts, loss of car parks, and general economic conditions.  Craft breweries across the country from Brothers Beer to Deep Creek, Epic Brewing and Boneface Brewing have all faced financial trouble in recent years.  It also comes as new economic figures show 177 Wellington businesses closed down in the year to the end of the June quarter.  Business counts, meaning the number of business units in an area, is down -2.3% in the capital, a greater drop than the country’s average of 0.9%.  Infometrics principal economist Nick Brunsdon said the capital’s struggles “in large part stems from the cuts in the public sector”.  Ethan Manera is a New Zealand Herald journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist with Newstalk ZB and is interested in local issues, politics, and property in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.  Read...

The young child was found a few hours after she was reported missing. Read...

Stephanie-Anne Spooner, also known as `Missy`, was last seen on Thursday morning. Read...

Last weekend, the Wellington brewery was the toast of Beervana. This weekend will be their last in business. Read...

Fortune Favours has announced it will shut its doors for good on Sunday. Read...

Police confirmed to Stuff on Thursday that the item turned out to be a beeping smoke alarm that someone had thrown into a public rubbish bin. Read...

The brewery has blamed the pub closure on the cost of living crisis, saying it’s just not sustainable. Read...