Queenstown bouncer Jonathan Dixon says his acquittal on two assault charges vindicates him and clears his "tarnished" name.

A "severe'' and shallow magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck near Milford Sound this morning, starting a series of at least seven shakes.

'We don't want trash renting cheap houses.' Submissions like that against a new housing development in Arrowtown have outraged a young mum.

A Queenstown police constable says he is "quite proud and humbled" to be recognised for bravery by the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand.

Jetstar is ditching services from Wellington to Queenstown as it focuses on peak-time services between Auckland and Christchurch.

Queenstown's Coronet Peak ski area is the first Australasian skifield to open for winter.

If the devastating World Bar fire in Queenstown on Friday afternoon had happened late at night it might have been difficult to get people out, southern region fire safety officer Stuart Ide said.

While SkyCity this month got the nod for its controversial $402 million Auckland convention centre, a Queenstown expansion proceeds almost entirely outside the spotlight.

The Government may contribute funding to a proposed convention centre in Queenstown, Prime Minister John Key says.

A Queenstown man who was arrested after he was seen driving a car towing a boat with passengers standing in it was yesterday sentenced for driving with a breath alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

A series of witnesses has given evidence at the trial of former Queenstown bouncer Jonathan Dixon about an apparent lack of written policies or training about access to CCTV footage at the bar where they all worked.

Bouncer Jonathan Dixon did not think he was doing anything wrong in downloading footage of Mike Tindall in a Queenstown bar for his personal use, a court has heard.

A ex-former bouncer who posted footage of rugby player Mike Tindall being kissed by an old flame on YouTube was after the notoriety, the Crown says.

A Korean woman visiting Queenstown was allegedly racially abused and robbed by members of a stag party on Saturday night.

A disgraced former postie who stole more than 21,000 items of mail from Queenstown residents failed to fulfil her "sacrosanct" duty of delivering private correspondence.

The Queenstown postal worker who stole thousands of pieces of mail from Wakatipu residents has been jailed for 17 months.

Editorial: All airlines should dwell on Judge Phillips' concerns about the pressure on pilots. Safety rules are not there to be bent at a whim. Trust in airline pilots will soon dwindle if they are.

A Frenchwoman who until January had never been in trouble with the law has been sentenced to two months' jail and is also subject to a deportation notice.

A pilot who operated a commercial passenger jet in a careless manner in Queenstown has been fined $5100 and must do extensive retraining.

A man who urinated on an American woman in a Queenstown bar on Boxing Day has been lambasted by a judge.

A Cromwell man who groped two women at the Gibbston Valley Summer Winery Concert says he can't remember the incident and is "totally at a loss" to explain his actions.

Independent commissioners are backing the $18 million replacement Kawarau Falls bridge.

Disgraced Queenstown postie Philippa Lynette Lindsay has admitted stealing thousands of pieces of mail destined for Wakatipu homes in the Queenstown District Court.

There's something very "Downunder" about the service in Queenstown. Waiters, bartenders, receptionists and shopkeepers take that relaxed, "she'll be right", Kiwi attitude to a new high.

It is the holy grail of NZ tourism: easing the path to Milford Sound for domestic and international tourists without destroying its scenery, ecological value and remoteness.

A Queenstown bar that posted on Facebook CCTV images of two men they accuse of stealing and threatened to kill them say the post was meant as satire.