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Witnesses to the crash, which was reported just after midday (10am AEST), said the car was travelling down Symonds Street when the driver hit the curb, hitting two people and forcing students to leap out of the way.

Police said drugs or alcohol might have been a factor in the crash.

One person was transported to hospital in a critical condition and four others suffered moderate to minor injuries, police said. Another patient, in a minor condition, was treated at the scene.

Students and witnesses to the crash, Luka and Mateen, said the car was travelling down Symonds St, outside the university, when the driver lost control.

"[The driver] then hit the curb, came off the road and hit the tree," Mateen said.

Luka said around 15 students had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

Stephen Dimapilis, another student who witnessed the crash, told RNZ he saw the car "swerving" before it flew onto the pavement.

"I see a car coming out of control, and then he crashed into two people and one person was under the car, and the other person – I saw him literally flying. So I was just speechless, I didn't know what to think of."

Dimapilis said the car appeared to be driving above the road's 40kph speed limit.

Symonds Street was closed from Wellesley St to Grafton Rd while police worked at thescene.

At 2.29pm (12.29pm AEST), Auckland Transport issued an alert to passengers saying services were returning to normal after earlier disruption.

"An earlier emergency services incident, that occurred on Symonds St, Auckland CBD, between Grafton Rd and Wellesley St East has now been resolved and services are returning to normal," AT said.

This article originally appeared on Stuff and is republished here with permission.

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The countries with the best service stations as voted by tourists

2025-03-24 FreeNews

More than 4000 drivers have been surveyed to find out which countries have the best service stations.

DiscoverCars.com asked the tourist drivers to review their experience in the countries they travelled to and give a ranking from 1 to 10.

Click through to find out how Australia scored and which country took out the top spot.

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Here’s how a blanket work from home ban could ruin your daily commute

2025-03-24 FreeNews

The work from home debate has transformed into a hot federal election issue in Australia after the Coalition flagged plans to mirror Trump's tough stance on forcing public workers back into the office.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday championed the right to work from home and offer worker flexibility after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton suggested all public servants should be in the office full time.

Albanese also backed Labor-led research which found the average worker will be $5000 more out of pocket if they are made to commute to an office five days a week.

Heavy vehicles crowded Warringah freeway in North Sydney business district queing towards city harbour bridge between high rise towers and office buildings on a sunny morning.

If public sector employees – of which there are 365,400 working in federal government – can no longer work from home, who does this impact?

According to analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), one in three workers will be negatively affected by a blanket return to office order.

More than 600,000 Australians work from home nationally in order to save money or avoid a commute, the ABS data shows.

If a large chunk of this widespread demographic gets back on the roads every morning and afternoon, traffic congestion will impact everyone, the ACTU said.

Meanwhile, 320,000 of these workers say they need remote work for care responsibilities.

Another one million Australian workers also report working from home in order to "catch up" on work after hours.

The ACTU said these workers will be forced to stay later at the office and will lose their "right to disconnect".

Person commuting stock photo

"Working people in our outer suburbs face some of the longest and most expensive commutes," said ACTU president Michele O'Neil.

"Forcing hundreds of thousands of workers back on the roads will mean less time with kids and more time in traffic."

O'Neil said an order like Dutton's proposal would "kill productivity" and disadvantage women.

"This would be an instant productivity killer, because flexible work has pushed women's workforce participation to record highs, as one million women joined the workforce in the last four years," O'Neil added.

PM Anthony Albanese

Albanese yesterday said the $5000 figure was an average estimate which could be much higher for those living in capital cities such as Sydney or Melbourne.

"It makes an enormous difference… in terms of their hip pocket," he said.

Following a mixed reaction from Dutton's pre-election work from home policy, the opposition leader later softened his approach and said he wanted to see remote work return to "pre-COVID levels" when around 20 per cent of the workforce worked from home.

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Bible donated to charity shop sells for whopping $115,000

2025-03-24 FreeNews

A rare Bible that was donated to a charity shop in the UK has sold for a staggering £56,000 ($115,000) at auction.

The book, penned between 1815 and 1822, was the first written in Chinese, and was left at an Oxfam shop in the town of Chelmsford, about 70km north-east of central London.

Volunteers thought it was valuable and the charity put it up for auction, believing it could fetch about £800.

But shop manager Nick Reeves said charity workers were "absolutely speechless" when the text went for £56,280.

"We were sat watching the bidding and just seeing it go up and up. When it finally ended, I was in complete shock. We were absolutely speechless.

"It's amazing to think that a donation from our shop could help raise that much money Oxfam. It's just wonderful."

The Bible, translated by John Lassar and Joshua Marshman, was among 23 other books donated to various Oxfam shops which were at auction last week. Their sale raised more than £105,000, which will go towards tackling poverty and inequality around the world.

They included a first edition of Charles Dickens' famous novella A Christmas Carol for £16,640, while the initial English translation of Karl Marx' Manifesto of the Community Party went for £7040.

Bonham's books and manuscripts specialist Lorenza Gay said experts were stunned by the sale of the Bible.

"The Lassar and Marshman Chinese translation of the Bible was an exceedingly rare item, which we could not trace at auction previously.

"We hoped it would exceed the estimate, but it definitely surprised us with the final price achieved. This remarkable outcome is great news for the important work Oxfam does around the world."

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Rescue underway after group found stranded in outback

2025-03-24 FreeNews

A rescue mission is underway to save four people stranded in outback South Australia this morning.

The group left Oodnadatta at 4pm on Friday, travelling north.

They were believed to be heading to Finke in the Northern Territory, but concerns were raised when they failed to arrive.

Police made contact with the group just after 4pm yesterday.

It's believed their car suffered mechanical issues.

Authorities have provided the group with supplies, including food and a telephone.

Police maintained contact with the group overnight, with plans to rescue them at the earliest opportunity this morning.

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More flooding and intense storms heading to inland Australia

2025-03-24 FreeNews

Weather forecasters are warning a fresh wave of record-breaking rain and storms will continue to lash parts of inland Australia this week, with the risk of road links being cut.

Queensland's interior will feel the brunt of the extreme conditions caused by a moisture-filled monsoonal trough over the coming days, reports Weatherzone.

Last week, flooding in the state's far west, northern South Australia and the Northern Territory's south caused transport links to be severed and isolated communities cut off.

The deluge caused seasonal rainfall records to be smashed in some parts.

The outback Queensland town of Birdsville experienced its heaviest rainfall in five years, with more than 70mm falling in 24 hours, twice the monthly average.

Other communities recorded the biggest falls for two years: Coober Pedy in SA had 30mm in 24 hours, three times the monthly average, while 90mm in the same period, one-and-a-half times the monthly average, fell on Urandangi in Queensland.

The extreme weather is now shifting to inland Queensland. The Bureau of Meteorology today issued a severe thunderstorm warning for north-western inland parts of the state.

"Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Camooweal, Selwyn and Mckinlay."

https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1903703362249572837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

With the potential for a few hundred millimetres of rain across a large region, residents are being warned some isolated communities may be cut off.

Long-term impacts of the downpour will be felt in the Channel Country, which largely encompasses outback Queensland. The heavy rains are expected to fill Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre for the next few months in a boon for wildlife.

But with kangaroos and emus being attracted to water on flooded roads, drivers are being urged to take extra care.

Meanwhile, a rescue operation will begin today in South Australia's far north to free three adults and a child stranded in flood waters.

The group of three adults and a six-year-old child were last seen travelling from Finke last Friday towards the NT before they made contact with authorities yesterday.

Food supplies were dropped to them by aircraft but they are still trapped by flood waters.