The Child Poverty Action Group is calling for local housing to be improved.

Members have just launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness around housing quality.

And they're targeting some locally-specific issues.

Dunedin based company Silver Fern Farms has approval from shareholders to sell a 50% stake to foreigners.

A meeting was held this morning at Forysth Barr Stadium before the results of a vote were announced.

Just over 80% of shareholders voted in favour of the foreign ownership deal.

It means a Chinese company will inject $261m into Silver Fern Farms.

That should see the locally based firm debt-free and boasting a surplus within a year.

The deal is subject to approval by the Overseas Investment Office.

Internet use is soaring nationwide, with residents using almost one and a half times more data than a year ago.

That doesn't include internet use on mobile phones, which is also rapidly increasing.

The average household data use is the equivalent of watching about 30(thirty) hours of on-demand television per week.

More people are also opting for unlimited broadband, as opposed to capping data use.

One in every three connections are now uncapped, as opposed to one in every 12 last year.

Grocery bills keep rising across the country, with another monthly increase in the overall cost of food.

Statistics New Zealand says the cost of fresh fruit has risen about 9% over the last year.

Vegetable prices are up by about half that amount, and there have been smaller increases in the cost of meat.

Some products are fluctuating, and one of the biggest price drops is in relation to fresh milk.

It's now at its cheapest rate in more than two years, having fallen more than 6%.