Afternoon Headlines | 5 deaths recorded in NZ holiday road toll and patients warned after health portal data breach | Thursday, January 1, 2026
Police say New Year’s celebrations around the country passed without major incident, with 41 arrests, including 17 in the Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty area.
A police spokeswoman said there were no significant issues in the Mount Maunganui area, apart from fireworks being fired into crowds at the Mount,which caused sparks and a fire risk. No injuries were reported.
Overall, there were 17 arrests in the Western Bay of Plenty for “fighting and disorderly behaviour”.
The spokeswoman said pleasingly there were no arrests related to New Year’s Eve events and gatherings in Eastern Bay, Taupō or Rotorua.
A police spokesperson told the Herald Whangamatā crowds were larger than last year, with an estimated 4000 people gathered at Williamson Park.
The spokesperson said the atmosphere was positive and the crowd was generally well-behaved, with 12 arrests and some liquor ban infringements.
St John national deputy chief executive of ambulance operations Dan Ohs. Photo / George Heard
Deputy chief executive of St John ambulance operations, Dan Ohs, told RNZ the ambulance service responded to 177 incidents between 10pm and 3am, about 40% down on previous years.
He said the workload was busiest across the Western Bay of Plenty and Auckland areas.
“Unfortunately, overnight we have had some reports of our staff being abused at callouts, including one significant incident in Auckland where our staff were quite significantly abused.”
Among the fire service callouts in the Bay of Plenty overnight, firefighters attended several structure fires and a serious-injury crash in Te Puke, which was reported about 5pm yesterday.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand northern shift manager Josh Pennefather said two fire crews from Te Puke attended a two-vehicle crash on Te Puke Quarry Rd, near Jellicoe St.
Pennefather said the sole occupant of a car was trapped inside the vehicle after hitting a tree.
One person with serious injuries and two others with moderate injuries were taken to Tauranga Hospital, and the fire crews left the scene at 6.16pm, he said.
A police spokeswoman said the road was blocked for some time, and the police left the crash scene at 8.30pm. The cause of the crash was still being investigated.
Pennefather said about 8pm last night, two fire crews from Ōpōtiki and one from Ōhope attended a building fire on a semi-rural residential property on Ohiwa Harbour Rd, Waiotahe, west of Ōpōtiki.
He said it was unclear whether the 8m by 7m building was being used as a shed or a dwelling, but the fire was well-involved and the building was destroyed.
“About 20 locals with garden hoses helped the firefighters to put the fire out, and one person, who suffered minor burns, received first aid from two nurses at the scene.”
Pennefather said about the same time, there was a report of another building fire at a property on Tomalin Rd in Putaruru.
He said firefighters found a small electrical fire involving a switch on a powerboard that was connected to a house, and isolated the power, leaving it to the power company to deal with.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 25 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
