Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

A growing number of employers are trying to lure in new staff with work-from-home arrangements.

Seek's latest data reveals around 10 percent of job ads indicate the role can be done remotely. 

This compares to pre-COVID times, when the percentage was at 1.3.

Economist Matt Cowgill says this shows that the labour market has changed drastically since 2019.

"We had that experience through Covid where businesses learned that, for some workers, it can work. People can get their jobs done when they're home, at least some of the time."

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Oranga Tamariki looks to have fallen short of its responsibility for children's health checkups.

The National Care Standards require Oranga Tamariki to annually check medical and dental needs, when a child comes into care.

But a new report has found Oranga Tamariki has failed to properly keep track - and not all children had regular checkups.

Independent Children’s Monitor Chief Executive Arran Jones says they are vital for improving long-term health outcomes.

"It's of utmost importance that the state, acting as the parent, does everything that they can to look after them. And that includes making sure that they're healthy, that they're connected up to the health services that they need."

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A gang clash at Christchurch Hospital's Emergency Department is being investigated. 

Police were called just after 8pm yesterday, with reports of an altercation between four Mongrel Mob members or associates.

One person was assaulted, and another taken into custody.

City Councillor Aaron Keown says it speaks to a wider community issue.

"With our growing gang situation that needs to be knocked on the head, I look forward to the Government enforcing the no-patches issue. Certainly in hospitals, you shouldn't be allowed to colour up or patch up when you come in."

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It's looking likely Wellington's residents will avoid facing harsher restrictions on their water use- for the moment.

The region is currently under level two restrictions, with a ban on all sprinklers and irrigation systems for residential homes in Wellington, Porirua, Hutt, and Upper Hutt.

Greater Wellington Regional Council Chair Daran Ponter warns that the city isn't out of the woods just yet.

"We're being told that level three is likely to be a more realistic possibility in early February. Of course, that's the hottest period of the year, so that makes sense."

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New Zealand First's Casey Costello believes a potential plan for cigarette taxes will help people quit smoking.

A leaked document shows the Associate Health Minister is getting advice on a potential three-year tax freeze for tobacco.

Costello is also looking at harsher penalties for selling vape products to minors, and freezing tax on smokeless tobacco products.

She says further financial penalties would be too much for them.

"I have some sympathy- let's not continually financially penalise whilst we're managing through getting them off smoking, let's look at some relief."

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A bit of rare good news for Wellingtonians, they've escaped having the water restrictions ratcheted up on them this week.

That decision was taken today, it’s taken every week at the moment, and at the moment they’re staying in level 2- for now.

But the case against Wellington City Council as the bad guys is building fast. I would argue it’s becoming more and more obvious that they have neglected to fix the pipes when they knew they should've.

Remember how I told you the guys who fix the pipes asked for $10 million but only got $2.3 million from the council?

Turns out the reason Wellington City Council said no to giving all the money was because they told Wellington Water they didn’t think they could use all the money to do the job and fix the pipes.

Except they could. Because the budget for fixing the pipes the previous year was $10 million, and they used it all.

So Wellington City Council reduced the maintenance budget by 75 percent when they knew the pipes would leak- and there were water restrictions in the city every summer.

On top of that, there’s a guy on the Wellington Regional Council called Daran Ponter who's just thrown them to the wolves as well.

Daran is a Labour man, so you would expect him to be friendly to a left leaning council.

Nope, he’s called them out for spending the money they should be spending on pipes on other things- “new town halls, or refurbished town halls, or bike lanes".

Now, I reckon the case that’s building here is that this council needs Government intervention. It needs a Crown Observer called in.

Because if you don’t know that you should spend money on making sure people get water to their houses before you spend money on cycleways, you shouldn't be running a council.

Incidentally, the Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has gently threatened that in a letter to Wellington City Council- and I think he should follow through.

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The Head of the British Army has warned that UK civilians could be required to fight in a possible war with Russia.

General Sir Patrick Sanders has stressed the need for ministers to 'mobilise the nation' if the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine intensifies.

UK correspondent Kay Oliver says General Sanders has warned that the UK was facing a '1937 moment' when the Russia-Ukraine war began.

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Tonight on The Huddle, David Farrar from Kiwiblog and Curia and former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! 

The opposition parties have fired back at the Government, saying it's a bad idea to send NZDF personnel to provide maritime security in the Red Sea. Do we think this is the right move?

The big discussion point to come out of Rātana- is the Treaty Principles Bill dead in the water? Are National and NZ First wrong to support ACT's bill if they plan to strike it down?

There's outrage over today's Oscar nominees, as Barbie director Greta Gerwig and main actor Margot Robbie didn't receive any nominations. Critics say this illustrates the issues around the patriarchy that the movie wanted to illustrate- is this fair?

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Annual inflation has slowed down in recent months, in line with predictions from economists.

The Consumer Price Index rose 4.7 percent in the year to December, down from 5.6 percent annually to September.

It's a big fall from the 7.3 percent peak for the year to June 2022.

Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen says it's a positive step forward, but increased rental inflation means it's not safe yet.

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Questions are being raised over what incoming restrictions from the Reserve Bank mean for first home buyers.

The banking regulator proposed debt-to-income restrictions for owner-occupiers, to be introduced mid-2024.

NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says this is unlikely to set off alarms for prospective buyers, as interest rates are a bigger issue.

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