Latest News

Queenstown Volunteer Fire Brigade secretary Katherine Lamont has been honoured with Fire and Emergency NZ’s special Judges Award for going above and beyond with her national firefighters’ petition seeking equal ACC rights for thousands of unpaid volunteer firefighters.

Police are reiterating stern warnings to anyone thinking they’ll take the risk to drink and drive after a teenage driver, who allegedly crashed into a fence on Littles Road, allegedly blew three and a half times over the legal adult limit.

Police are warning cyclists, walkers and motorists to be ‘extra vigilant’ along state highways and roads with summer approaching and the new Kawarau Gorge Trail on the way, after an American cyclist was seriously injured at Gibbston last Monday (3 November).

A cyclist has been seriously injured after being hit by a car near Queenstown.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) and the Three Lakes Cultural Trust (TLCT) are playing creative matchmaker this November — pairing local creativity with unexpected spaces and places across the district.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force is planning on a big turnout of its aircraft for next Easter’s Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow.

A man has been remanded in custody following a search warrant at a property in Glenorchy. This morning, the Otago Lakes Central Organised Crime Team executed a search warrant as part of an ongoing Operation, targeting the supply of Methamphetamine within the community. 

Josie Shapiro is the bestselling author of Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, which won the inaugural Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize and was named one of the best books of 2023 by The Spinoff and The New Zealand Listener.

As the clean-up from last week’s storm continues, Fire and Emergency is asking farmers and lifestyle block owners in Otago and Southland to pause and plan before starting to burn debris.

Queenstown firefighters had to use the ‘jaws of life’ to cut a seriously injured Kiwi driver from his vehicle after emergency services responded to a head on crash on the Glenorchy Road just before 3.30pm on Monday (Labour Day).

A large slip has blocked and closed the Rees Dart Track near Dart Hut and Saturday’s (1 November) planned Routeburn Track opening will be reviewed with DOC and rescuers warning backcountry enthusiasts to beware of a heightened spring avalanche risk and the real risk of tree fall.

The South Island's first three-person adventure swing opened at the iconic Queenstown home of AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand (AJHBNZ) on Friday, 23 October.

The clean-up is underway and Queenstown Lakes District remains open for business ahead of Labour Weekend. Efforts are now focused on supporting the community of Kingston and reopening any remaining roads still closed because of flood damage or fallen trees.

QLDC-led group using monitoring data from Otago Regional Council and working with Emergency Management Otago to update community on potential flooding.

A 74-year-old American tourist has been charged with careless driving after crossing the centre line and hitting an oncoming car head on on the plateau at the top of the Crown Range Zig Zag at 1.45pm on Saturday, 18 October.

Emergency services and Police are warning people to exercise extreme caution, check the forecast and stay home, or at least change their plans for the long weekend, with the severe weather bomb hitting the Wakatipu-Queenstown Lakes region from early this morning (23 October)

ORC is cautioning people in the Queenstown Lakes townships and rural areas to stay up to date with the likelihood of rising river and lake levels in coming days – with some flooding now predicted.

Emergency services are at the scene of a sudden death in Queenstown.

Emergency services and rescue volunteers are warning backcountry hikers to stick to their capabilities, know the terrain and carry a reliable communications device after two Queenstown men had to be rescued from near the top of the Pisa Range on Saturday evening (11 October).