Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

New Zealand's Auditor-General has spoken out against Government agencies, claiming their reporting produces 'a lot of rubbish'.

John Ryan told the Finance Select Committee that agencies like to tick off 'project milestones', but their actual accomplishments are 'questionable'.

He says the general public doesn't get to see or experience the outcomes of these reported milestones.

"The public really wants to know what outcomes they're getting from these projects, not whether they're managing it on a day-to-day basis. That's much more than management activity."

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It's clear rodents caught in two Woolworths stores could pose a food safety risk.

The Dunedin South store has been closed since Friday, and 23 rats have been trapped, in the second infestation since late last year.

Meanwhile, Christchurch's Eastgate store is being investigated after video posted online showed a mouse on a salad.

Massey University Professor, Steve Flint, says mice and rats could contaminate food with salmonella or E. coli bacteria.

"There is some risk, whether it's a big risk or not depends on how many rats or mice are involved, how long they've been there for- and a whole range of other things."

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Resignations by Fletcher Construction's two top players can be traced back to a single project.

The company has reported a $120 million half-year loss after tax.

Chief Executive Ross Taylor and Chair Bruce Hassall have announced they'll both leave this year.

Taylor says remediation for the SkyCity fire in 2019 was the most complicated thing he's seen in 40 years in the industry.

"We basically progressively only understood what we were up against- and then we had to re-forecast. In the end, I think the team's done a great job to keep it on track, program wise, and we really couldn't forecast until we worked out how to do this stuff."

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Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews are battling a significant vegetation fire in Christchurch's Port Hills.

Early Valley, Worsley Spur, Worsleys Road and Princess Margaret Hospital have been evacuated, with multiple evacuation centres in place.

Summit Road is closed between Dyers Pass and Gebbies Pass Roads, and residents in that area need to be ready to evacuate at short notice.

Newstalk ZB's Emily Ansell is at the base of the Port Hills, and she says helicopters are on the scene trying to control the blaze.

"The fire looks like it's burning up that pine forest just up on the Port Hills, to the right of the park." 

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Labour's social development spokeswoman is flaming the Government for suggesting tweaking benefits will get more people in jobs.

The Coalition is working under urgency to pass a Bill through the House to link benefit rises with inflation - not wage growth.

Social Development Minister Louise Upston says it will ensure people can meet basic needs, and make employment the best way to get ahead.

MP Carmel Sepuloni says the evidence doesn't support it making a difference.

"Keep in mind, there's a whole lot of people that are on benefits because of health conditions, a disability, perhaps they are sole parents."

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It is amazing, isn't it?

How the story of one rat in a Dunedin supermarket has just blown up for Countdown. First, it was a photo of a couple of rats in the supermarket in Dunedin.

Then there were more rats caught, then the supermarket closed for two days, then it closed for another day and now it's closed indefinitely- until they finish catching the rats. At last count, it was 19 just since Friday.

Then there was the video of the mouse on the salad in the Christchurch store, then the news that the salad was thrown away, but pretty much every thing else in the deli wasn't.

And a couple of people bought stuff out of the deli after the mouse was found, and now the MPI is investigating and people are talking about boycotting those supermarkets, and my colleagues tell me they’re never buying anything uncovered from a supermarket again.

Fair enough, rats and mice are gross- but if you're realistic about it, rats and mice are part of the supermarket business.

If you’ve got food sitting around, and supermarkets have lots of that, it will attract pests. This is a battle they're constantly fighting.

The problem for Countdown is not actually that the rats and the mice were there, it's that Countdown didn’t take it seriously.

The mouse on the salad is gross, 100 percent, but what’s way more gross is that the staff kept selling out of that deli and didn't throw the stuff away.

The rats in Dunedin are pretty gross, but what’s worse is that we found out they've been there causing trouble since November and Countdown was trying to get on top of it but hadn't escalated the problem like they should have, prompting an investigation in late January.

It's awkward for Countdown, because they are in the middle of a rebrand to Woolworths in part to get the brand away from all the negative associations customers make between the Countdown brand and the allegations that supermarkets over-charge us.

Well, it's a tough start for Woolworths because it’s got the rats and mice attached to it.

Once again, this is a lesson that the most important thing is not what happens, but how to respond to it.

Unfortunate things happen to all of us in a personal or business capacity- and it’s often not the unfortunate thing that gets you in the most trouble but the failure to fess up about it and handle it properly.

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Two key by-elections are taking place in the UK this week.

Voters will head to the polls in Wellingborough and Kingswood on Thursday February 15- and the Tories are projected to lose these seats.

UK correspondent Enda Brady says Rishi Sunak is continuing to lag in the polls and some are calling for Boris Johnson to step in ahead of the upcoming general election.

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Tonight on The Huddle, Phil O'Reilly from Iron Duke Partners and Auckland Councillor Richard Hills joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!

Auckland trains have been cancelled again today due to heat, and there's a warning this could continue until March. AT is blaming KiwiRail and KiwiRail is blaming the weather- can this be fixed?

The Retirement Commissioner says it would be better to means test the New Zealand Superannuation Fund instead of raising the retirement age for everyone. Is this a good idea?

A video of Travis Kelce shouting at his coach during the Super Bowl raised a few eyebrows- is this a sign of potential anger management issues?

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Fonterra has lifted their 2023-24 season forecast farmgate milk price to $7.80 per kilogram of milk solids.

Chief executive Miles Hurrell claims the 30 cent increase was inspired by a  streak of 5 strong GDT auctions.

The Country's Jamie Mackay says this is a good start, but some dairy experts believe it should be higher.

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There are growing calls for Fletcher Building to make some leadership changes ahead of tomorrow's half-year result.

The company has been placed in a trading halt, and it's been revealed Chief Executive Ross Taylor is 'considering his position'.

BusinessDesk managing editor Pattrick Smellie says it's a complex situation- and it's unclear if removing Taylor will solve everything.

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