Government unveils plan to lift school attendance, SkyCity fined $4.16m, and the world's oldest cheese is discovered.
1 New plan to tackle truancy unveiled by Government
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has a new strategy for lifting New Zealand's school attendance rates, including potential prosecutions and removing teacher-only days during term time.
The Government's plans for tackling truancy have already included the publishing of weekly attendance data and updated health guidelines about when to keep sick kids at home and when to send them to school.
1News' opinions and explainers editor Anna Murray runs a rule over what schools and parents can expect.
2 Government seeks advice on Dunedin Hospital options amid cost blowout
Ministers Chris Bishop and Shane Reti have warned if the cost of the project is not reduced, much-needed upgrades to other regional hospitals could be at risk.
The first option to keep the project within budget is to revise the project's specification and scope within the existing structural envelope, while the second option proposes a staged development on the old hospital site, including a new clinical services building and refurbishing the existing ward tower.
However, Labour's associate health spokesperson said Reti is "adding a new review to a project that has already undergone several", meaning the "costs go up" and the credibility of National to deliver the hospital "goes down".
3 'Stay inside' warning lifted after industrial fire sends smoke billowing across Christchurch
The fire was at a "multi-occupancy" building on Colombo St, just south of Christchurch's CBD, which houses Enviro NZ and Auto Inspection Services.
Speaking to media from outside the building, FENZ Canterbury incident controller Dave Key earlier said crews had contained the "deep-seated" fire, but it was still actively burning.
"We've contained it back to where we believe it started, which is in a pile of waste and general rubbish."
4 SkyCity to pay $4.16m penalty within 15 days
The proceedings, filed in February, were for non-compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 by SkyCity Casino Management Limited (SCML).
SCML is a subsidiary of SkyCity and holds its casino operator's licence for operations in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown.
Chief executive Jason Walbridge said SkyCity is aware as a casino operator that it has a responsibility to "combat money laundering and terrorism financing".
5 'Not acceptable': The Warehouse Group posts $54.2m loss
The Warehouse Group chairwoman Joan Withers has described the last financial year as one of the most challenging in the company's 42-year history.
"The board and executive leadership team are acutely aware of the disappointment shareholders will be experiencing and the big job ahead of us to get the company back on track."
Today, it announced a net loss after tax of $52.2 million. Last year it had a net profit of $29.8 million.
ONE AGED CHEESE
The ancient kefir cheese, discovered alongside mummies in northwestern China, has been identified as more than 3300 years old.
The research team extracted and analysed DNA from the ancient cheese, finding cow and goat DNA as well as the DNA of microorganisms that were still used today to produce a cheese called kefir — or Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens.
QUIZ: What nickname is Rotorua affectionately know by?
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