Police are investigating after a bus driver was allegedly punched in the face and "had some teeth knocked" out in Avondale.
Police said it was alerted to the incident at about 10.17am yesterday.
"The driver received facial injuries and was transported to hospital," a spokesperson said.
"Police are making inquiries into the assault to identify those involved."
Tramways Union president Gary Froggatt said the driver was allegedly punched in the face by a passenger.
Froggatt wanted more to be done about "issues like this".
"I realise you can't have a policeman on every bus, but the drivers and the unions seem to be left out of the conversation.
"He's in hospital getting stitches put in his knee. He had his teeth knocked out," he said.
Froggatt said he got "about three or four calls like this" from drivers a month.
"I feel for the family, the drivers should be able to go to work and go home safe."
Auckland Transport said it was aware of the incident and assisting police with their investigation.
Group manager of public transport operations Rachel Cara said the bus operator was ensuring the driver has the support they need.
"We operate over 13,000 bus services every weekday and fortunately the majority of our passengers are amazing, but these isolated incidents are concerning.
"Our bus drivers work tirelessly to keep Aucklanders moving and deserve to feel safe in their place of work.
"We continue to work closely with police, other agencies and communities to improve safety on public transport."
Police urged witnesses to call 105.
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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52.6% Human-centred experience and communication
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14.7% Critical thinking
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29.9% Resilience and adaptability
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2.7% Other - I will share below!
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Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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