Guy Fawkes is less than four weeks away — and NZ First says retail sales, manufacture and imports would all stop, while approved public displays carry on.

Seymour says NZ pays over $1 million an hour in interest on govt debt — ACT's plan aims to wipe $12.4b of it in four years, no new taxes.

PowerNet is putting $210,000 into its St John partnership over the next three years, keeping free mental health training running across Southland and neighbouring regions while shoring up community access to defibrillators. The electricity lines company has renewed its sponsorship of St John for another three-year term. The money

Five Southland landmarks are going pink this month, and for the first time, ILT Stadium is joining them. The Gore Brown Trout Sculpture, Invercargill's Band Rotunda, Feldwick Street Gates and Gala Street Fountain are all part of Breast Cancer Foundation NZ's Global Illuminations campaign through October

At last, work is underway on the upgrade of the old Mataura Railways Station building In August last year, then minister of railways the Rt Hon Winston Peters announced that additional funding would be provided for the refurbishment of the historic building and that ownership would be transferred from KiwiRail

It's shaping up to be a cracker of a weekend in Southland, and today's looking good: fine with light winds, a high of 21 and a low of 9, and no rain expected. So get out there and make the most of it. First up, today

Reliable fertiliser access underpins Southland's farming production base — and National says without a plan to secure it, that base can't hold.

Voting places for the 2026 General Election are confirmed, and there's a hard enrolment deadline Southland voters need to know about. More than 2,300 voting places will be open across New Zealand on election day, Saturday November 7. Advance voting opens Monday October 26. In total, 2,