A high wire act is unfolding high above the Ida Valley as work to rewire the national grid from Roxburgh in Central Otago to Livingstone in the Waitaki district continues.
The lure of a transtasman bubble and a reinvigorated hospitality sector may lead backpackers away from Central Otago orchards and vineyards, industry leaders warn.
Offering the same level of pastoral care to Kiwi workers as is offered to labour from the Pacific may be the only answer to horticulture labour shortages next season.
Some workers sent to Central Otago’s orchards and vineyards are not up to standard and the lack of seasonal workers from the Pacific is beginning to bite, an industry leader says.
A Cromwell family has been ordered to return to the Philippines after the father used false addresses to claim Queenstown-issued food vouchers during Level 4 lockdown.
"No, you have to take her; this will end in tragedy." Those were the frantic words of her midwife over the phone when Danielle Moroney’s first child was in distress during labour.