'Symbol of success': Wellington organisations back kiwi for Bird of the Year
Victory could help drum up some pride in the capital after grim headlines, say Phoenix football club. 
© 2025 Stuff.co.nz 5:05pm NPC rugby: Wellington consign miserable Auckland to yet another loss
Auckland's now embarrassingly winless NPC campaign continued with a defeat in rain-soaked Porirua.
© 2025 RadioNZ 3:55pm NPC rugby live updates: Wellington v Auckland
Follow all the action from Jerry Collins Stadium, Porirua.
© 2025 RadioNZ 2:15pm For the love of Wellington
Despite the scandals and leaky pipes, Wellingtonians want the rest of the nation to know that their city is still unbeatable.
© 2025 RadioNZ Sat 5:15am  ‘They’re telling us we’re not worth much’, say women taking the Government to court
Healthcare and education workers gathered at Wellington’s High Court, alleging the Government is breaching human rights with its pay equity change.
© 2025 Stuff.co.nz Fri 4:45pm Police release new photos in search for missing Wellington woman
Police asked Karori locals to check their backyards.
© 2025 Stuff.co.nz Fri 2:15pm  Wellington's Mt Victoria tunnel reopens after commuter chaos
State Highway 1 through the tunnel was closed on Friday morning due to a fire systems problem.
© 2025 RadioNZ Fri 12:25am Students at Wellington school marked 'absent' during teachers strike
Parents of students at a Wellington High School are annoyed their children were marked as absent on a day when school was closed.
© 2025 RadioNZ Fri 9:05am  
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Ombudsman compels Reserve Bank to reveal Adrian Orr agreed to resign if board’s letter of concerns was binned
The Ombudsman has forced the Reserve Bank to unveil pertinent information about circumstances around Adrian Orr’s sudden resignation as Governor on March 5.
The bank has revealed Orr temporarily stepped down as Governor on February 27, as tensions between him, the board, Treasury and Finance Minister Nicola Willis over government funding reached boiling point.
Christian Hawkesby became acting Governor on February 27, and Orr agreed to stay out of the office.
On the same day, board chair Neil Quigley wrote to Orr on behalf of the non-executive members of the board, outlining a series of concerns.
Quigley noted the “apparent lack of trust” between Orr, the board, Willis and Treasury.
He voiced his concern about the “tenor of dialogue” at meetings Orr had with Treasury officials on February 20 and Willis on February 24.
And, he questioned whether Orr would be able to do his job with less government funding than he deemed necessary.
Orr responded on March 3, rejecting the assertions in the letter, but agreeing there was a lack of trust between the parties.
He then resigned on March 5 on the condition the board withdrew the letter it sent him on February 27.
His “exit agreement” was approved and entered into on March 6.
When Quigley fronted media on March 5, he refused to detail what happened, other than to say the resignation was a “personal decision” made by Orr.
It wasn’t until June 11 that the Reserve Bank said Orr resigned because he disagreed with the board over the amount of government funding to pitch for.
The Reserve Bank provided details of the letter and exit agreement in the form of a summary timeline.
This is what the Ombudsman instructed it to do, after receiving numerous complaints (including from the Herald) over the Reserve Bank’s handling of information releases related to Orr’s departure.
The Ombudsman didn’t compel the Reserve Bank to release additional documents, including the exit agreement or the letter the board sent Orr on February 27. Indeed, the board and Orr agreed for this to be scrapped.
However, information previously released by the Treasury revealed Orr lost his cool in a meeting with a Treasury staffer on February 20 and then left a meeting he had with Quigley, Willis, Treasury chief executive Iain Rennie and other staff on February 24 early.
Another previously released document shows Quigley wanted details of the February 24 meeting kept under wraps.
He had a go at Treasury for taking detailed minutes of the meeting and releasing them under the Official Information Act (OIA).
Quigley concluded, “Apart from being late with our OIA responses, the approach we took in responding to OIA requests was a reasonable one to the requests and met the overall public interest by balancing transparency with privacy and other legitimate concerns.”
Orr has declined numerous requests for comment.
Willis has repeatedly expressed her disapproval over Quigley’s handling of the matter.
She has also repeatedly declined to shed light on what happened, saying it is a matter between Orr and the board.
This is despite Willis being the person who decides who is appointed Reserve Bank Governor and board chair.
There have been calls for Quigley, whose term ends on June 30, to resign.
The board is in the process of recommending who Willis should appoint Governor for a full term.
Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald’s Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.
© 2025 NewstalkZB Thu 12:25am 
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