Perpetual leasing has effectively stripped Māori land owners in Tokomaru Bay of control for the past 100 years.
Luckily the child wasn't in the room at the time.
Tina Olsen-Ratana is on a mission to gain back control of her whenua after leasing laws dating back 100 years locked her and others out of controlling their land blocks.
If approved by the Overseas Investment Office, the deal would see 6000 hectares of productive farmland on twin Huiarua and Matanui stations converted into pine forestry.
The International Space Station had an amazing view of NZ as it floated by.
Police are appealing to the public to identify a pitbull terrier dog that attacked and killed a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dog in Tairāwhiti on Sunday.
Tessa Hills, who started Surely Skate along with her sister, says getting together makes it easier to learn.
MetService said heavy rain and severe southwest gales in the area should have been easing by dawn.
Many in Tairāwhiti Gisborne are still facing repairs just three weeks after severe rainfall caused widespread flooding.
Smith was shot dead on her 36th birthday late last month.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says about 15km of the highway between Wharekahika/Hicks Bay and Te Araroa is now closed.
The remains of ex-tropical Cyclone Fili are currently crossing over Tairāwhiti Gisborne and the East Coast.
1News weather presenter Dan Corbett said the storm would lash the East Coast with rain and wind for the next two days.
Police are investigating the crash that happened on Monday.
Fili is bearing down just three weeks after flooding on the East Coast closed roads, broke bridges and inundated homes.
The incidents involved a man and his long-term partner at a home in January 2020.
A homicide investigation into the death of Maraea Smith continues.
Maraea Smith died on her 36th birthday after an altercation on Titoki Street on March 25.