Peter Newport is a former reporter for Radio NZ, and a former producer with TV3. He started his career at the ODT and TVNZ before working for Australia’s Channel 9 as their London Correspondent, as a senior News Director with BBC TV News and as a Discovery Channel documentary producer. He lives in Queenstown.
Dunedin can sometimes seem like the neglected afterthought of New Zealand's main centres, unappreciated by all except those who choose to live there. Peter Newport reports on what's coming next for Dunedin after Cadbury shuts its doors.
Newsroom today provided fresh details of the payments and coverup in the Todd Barclay scandal. But the MP for Clutha-Southland remains something of a mystery on the national stage.
The battle for New Zealand mobile network supremacy got a whole lot more interesting today, as Spark launched some cutting edge technology – in Queenstown. Peter Newport reports.
The fast-growing Southern Lakes district – Queenstown, Wanaka and surrounds – currently faces enormous challenges. But the bigger problem? The body in charge is three hours' drive away and seems reluctant to spend the money needed to fix them. Peter Newport explains how an upcoming by-election could become a referendum on the future of Otago.
Auditor General Martin Matthews has come under extra pressure to resign today as the State Services Commission launches a full, independent investigation into the treatment of whistle-blowers who tried to warn Matthews about fraudster Joanne Harrison. Peter Newport reports.
The story of government fraudster Joanne Harrison is one of almost unbelievable greed. But in many ways as shocking, writes Peter Newport, is how her boss, Martin Matthews, ignored the whistle-blowers – and allowed Harrison to exact her revenge.
It's survival of the fittest in the NZ tourism industry, where some regions struggle for visitors while our biggest hotspots can hardly cope – all while our GST-besotted government resolutely rejects a tourist tax to help fix the places worst affected by the visitor onslaught. Little wonder New Zealanders increasingly feel that tourism is getting away from them, writes Peter Newport.
Queenstown has some special systems and facilities to cope with billionaires, movie stars and VIP’s. But here’s our guide to Queenstown for the VVIPs – like the CIA director James Comey, FBI director Mike Pompeo, and other Five Eyes bigwigs expected in Queenstown this weekend.
So you're a one-percenter looking to escape the oncoming global apocalypse by hiding out in a luxury NZ bolthole. Who you gonna call? Peter Newport meets the fixers behind the super-rich influx and looks at how the newcomers are settling in.
Behind the affluent image of luxurious resorts and multi-million dollar homes, there is a another, far darker side to life in Queenstown. Peter Newport investigates the shocking state of the town's rental market, and what it means for those caught up in it.
