Northland news in brief: Tsunami siren test; farmers to discuss TB eradication

Northland's tsunami sirens will be tested on September 28. Photo / NRC

Tsunami siren test

Northland’s six-monthly outdoor tsunami siren test will take place at 10am on September 28, coinciding with the start of daylight saving. The recently upgraded network of more than 90 outdoor sirens is tested twice a year to ensure it remains ready to alert communities in the event of a tsunami.

TB eradication

Farmers are invited to have their say on eradicating bovine tuberculosis (TB) from New Zealand at a meeting on Thursday at Tangiteoria Community Complex at 11am. An independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB has found that, while the goal of completely eradicating TB by 2055 is still valid, this won’t be achieved without prioritising the remaining hot spots of TB-infected possums.

Primary Healthcare Awards winners

The winners of the 2025 New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards | He Tohu Mauri Ora were announced on Saturday night. Te Takapau Wānanga, Hauora Hokianga and University of Auckland won the Tamaki Health/Total Healthcare Research and Education Award for Te Takapau Wānanga, an innovative workforce development programme that prepares health professionals for the realities of rural and Māori health, while directly addressing workforce shortages in remote communities.

Doctors and dentists strike

Senior doctors and dentists working for Health New Zealand have voted to strike for 48 hours over stalled pay talks with their employer. The strike, involving Association of Salaried Medical Specialists members, will take place on September 23 from 12.01am.

Struggle to pay power bills

Consumer NZ’s annual Energy Retailer Survey has revealed one in five households - about 400,000 households - struggled to pay their power bill in the past year. That was before prices increased by an annual average of 11%. Consumer NZ is encouraging people to question whether they are on the best plan by using resources like Powerswitch to compare energy providers.