Latest News

From speeds clocked at up to 140km/hr to festival-going drink drivers allegedly well over the legal limit, some driving only a short distance to get home, Police say they were out in force “with a razor-sharp focus” these past few weeks.

Kiwi Park Queenstown is delighted to announce and celebrate a new arrival! A baby kiwi hatched at our site on 26 March. This is the first successful hatching at our park for two years.

Brazen thieves have continued to hit local tradies hard targeting expensive tools, this time in nighttime smash-and-grab-style vehicle break-ins on work vehicles parked outside their homes.

Five local men have been arrested by the Queenstown CIB on alleged cocaine charges in the last two weeks, with Police warning such activities will not be tolerated. Sergeant Blair Duffy says the five men were arrested for the alleged sale and supply of cocaine – a Class A drug.

With a spate of property fires around the Wakatipu Basin in recent months, the most recent destroying a tiny house at Glenorchy last Wednesday, Fire and Emergency NZ staff are warning people to take basic precautions.

Construction is progressing well on Coronet Peak’s new SnowFactory as NZSki gears up for a guaranteed early start to winter. While temperatures in Queenstown reached freezing levels this week, Coronet Peak and TechnoAlpin crew have been busy up the mountain installing the $2million-plus SnowFactory, which will eventually be capable of producing 200 cubic metres of snow each day. For perspective, the SnowFactory could cover an entire rugby field with 10cm of snow in just over three days.

Burglars have been targeting newly completed Jack’s Point homes and construction sites nabbing spray painting equipment and paint worth nearly $17,000 recently, prompting Police to warn tradies and homeowners to beware.

Fire completely engulfed and destroyed a sleepout-tiny house in Birley Rise, just outside Glenorchy, yesterday afternoon (15 April), with two volunteer Queenstown Fire crews and a Glenorchy Fire crew all involved in fighting the blaze, which started about 2.30pm.

In a positive step for Queenstown's event scene, Ayrburn's 2026 series including the Ayrburn Car Classic, Carl Cox, and The Dudes has achieved an average of 80% diversion from landfill. This means that four-fifths of the waste generated at these popular gatherings was kept out of dumpsites through recycling, composting, or other reuse methods, rather than being buried and forgotten.

The conflict in the Middle East has prompted increased interest in multi-million-dollar New Zealand properties, the head of a luxury real estate company says. Changes to the so-called Golden Visa came into effect a year ago, and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford recently updated the investment that had been made so far.

Australians warned – Sling shot fired: two young Australian men were arrested for wilful damage and formally warned after Police received a report of what sounded like a possible shot being fired through a glass window at 9pm on Tuesday, 7 April, following a parking dispute at a downtown Queenstown Airbnb property.

A business association says Easter Sunday trading rules are confusing and need an overhaul. Restrictions on alcohol sales have just been eased, so that venues that could already open over Easter can now sell alcohol to customers without the requirement they buy a meal.

An overseas man in his 50s and his female passenger miraculously escaped uninjured when the black Audi they were in plummeted 100m to 120m down the steep rocky, tussock drop off the Crown Range Summit lookout car park at around 3.30pm on Tuesday, 31 March.

Police are hunting for two men over a disorder incident in a Frankton store in which a store worker was left “extremely shaken”. They’re appealing for the public’s help in identifying these two men pictured during the alleged 24 January incident earlier this year, who they’d like to speak to.

It’s easy to forget how quickly clothing has become disposable. What used to be bought, worn, repaired and passed on is now often replaced without a second thought… and that shift is exactly what ReFashion Queenstown is hoping to challenge.

Police are appealing to drivers in the lead-up to Easter and the school holidays to make sure they’re well rested before a long journey, haven’t been drinking, keep to the right speed, and allow plenty of room to react when following

An independent future review of Wānaka Airport recommends it retains a focus on general aviation, while allowing limited regional air connectivity, following extensive community engagement over the past year.

All outdoor fires are banned in the Wakatipu and entire Lakes Fire Zone from today (Thursday, 12 March) amid serious concerns about the fire risks in the current dry conditions with three significant vegetation fires in the Wakatipu alone in the last fortnight.

Jack’s Point residents say traffic has “dramatically increased” exiting Jack’s Point during peak hour with neighbouring Hanley’s Farm residents diverting there to use Jack’s Point’s safer and normally less clogged exit onto the State Highway.

A proposed gold mine is on the fast-track list. Proponents says it will bring jobs and money to the region, but opponents say it will be an economic 'short-term sugar hit... with long-term consequences'.