Source: Radio New Zealand

Streets in the Lower Hutt suburb of Stokes Valley have become rivers after a watermain breakage.

The pipe broke underneath Kamahi Street sending thousands of litres of water onto the road.

It has ripped up the route, lifted manholes and sent rocks floating down the torrent.

Max Goddard-Winchester said it started about 12pm on Monday.

“I think all the stormwater that is supposed to be going under the road has just started pissing out the top of it.”

Goddard-Winchester said there was not much you could do to redirect the flow of the water.

“I think people down the road, people who had their garage door open it was just flooding into their front door.

“We had it going down our driveway earlier but we managed to stop it coming down that way.”

Carina said her home was just around the corner.

“In 1976 this happened, the same thing. I remember the roads all lifting, the water getting in underneath it, yeah it is not a quick fix neither.”

She said there would be quite a few people affected by the broken water main, given it was a large street.

Wellington Water and Hutt City Council have been approached for comment.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Campers and some residents of the tiny coastal settlement of Herbertville rushed to the community hall in the early hours of this morning after the Wainui River burst its banks.

The evacuation came three years and two days after the river last burst its banks in the Tararua District township, southeast of Dannevirke, flooding the pub and campground during Cyclone Gabrielle.

On that occasion, a build up of slash at the road bridge into Herbertville’s entrance created a dam, which diverted the water.

Last night, there was no slash, but there was enough water in the river for it to rise fast.

Herbertville Campground manager Chris Cawsey said on Monday he’d had a sleepless night due to the storm.

“About 1.15am the river burst its banks about halfway down the campground,” he said.

“It rose about 4 1/2 feet in 49 minutes. The remaining campers who were in the campground, we got to evacuate.”

Six campers headed to the community hall and have since found other places to stay. Cawsey said his family spent the night at another house in the settlement away from the danger.

The river was still flowing quickly when RNZ visited at lunchtime on Monday, but had dropped from its peak.

Cawsey and his family were back at the campground and he said he’d keep an eye on the river’s level.

There was surface flooding near the campground entrance.

Cawsey said he was disappointed the town’s flood warning system didn’t activate, and that settlement residents didn’t receive any warning through their phones, although he did get a call from the council on Sunday night.

Herbertville Inn owners John and Miki Sedcole also evacuated to the community hall.

John Sedcole, who managed the campground when Cyclone Gabrielle hit, said this time the water did not funnel down the street like it did in 2023.

“We came back to the hotel about 5.30am after the high tide and the water had receded a bit,” he said.

“Now, power’s our biggest problem, but thank goodness we bought a generator and we’re able to have all our fridges on the generator, so we’re okay.”

Sedcole was not sure if he would open tonight, but said it might be a good idea so locals could have a place to gather and discuss what had happened.

He emptied his rain gauge this morning and it had 150 millilitres of water in it – Cawsey reported more than 120ml in his.

Gusts of more 200kmh were recorded at nearby Cape Turnagain. Although it was windy in Herbertville, Sedcole said it wasn’t at that level.

Cawsey said it was violent in the early hours of the morning, but the area was used to high winds.

Roads around the settlement had some fallen branches and debris from trees on them, but roading crews were in the area doing clearing the surfaces.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Local iwi Ngāti Manuhiri has welcomed the government’s two-year ban on harvesting rockpools in the north of Auckland.

The ban is for all of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, and further north at Kawau Bay and Ōmaha Bay and will take affect from 12 March.

All seaweed, invertebrate and shellfish were covered as well as sponges, starfish, anemone and sea cucumbers.

Spiny rock lobster and scallops were already covered by existing closures, sea urchin (kina) were also excluded and can still be taken within current recreational fishing limits.

Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement trust chief executive Nicola Rata-MacDonald said the announcement couldn’t have come fast enough.

“Every year we see a lot of people enjoying our beaches, fantastic, but what we also see is unprecedented harvesting and foraging of really vulnerable ecosystems and we just can’t take it anymore.”

The trust applied for a two-year prohibition on harvesting all shellfish and seaweeds from rockpools across the eastern coastline of the Rodney Local Board and Hibiscus Local Board areas, made under section 186A of the Fisheries Act.

As part of its formal application the Trust will also place a rāhui over the same area and species.

Rata-MacDonald said two years will be a start for shellfish to recover and the iwi will be working with Fisheries New Zealand, DOC and community groups to monitor the rockpools.

Whether they ask to extend the ban after two years will depend on whether there is a recovery of shellfish populations, she said.

“But one thing we will know is that you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll be going out to those beaches and checking up on them.”

Rata-MacDonald said she has spoken with Fisheries Officials who were keen to look at ways the local community can get involved.

“Our oceans are under serious pressure. The long term focus is can we actually recover species that are on the brink of decline, we’ve seen that in the Hauraki Gulf with koura with crayfish with scallops so we need to really look at how do we ensure the intertidal species don’t disappear, they are the very engineers of the ocean and without them everything collapses.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The deaths of four young people in separate motocross accidents over a two-year span will be the focus of a joint Coronial inquest, placing the safety of the sport under scrutiny.

At a case management hearing in Auckland on Monday, Coroner Ian Telford ordered a joint inquest into the deaths of Jack Willson, 10, Luke Ngeru, 15, Eli Hankins, 12, and Wai’aryn Mills, 14. The boys died in accidents between April 2023 and September 2025 at tracks around the North Island.

Telford said that while each case was individually challenging, taken together they presented “a very complex matrix of issues” that required careful and coordinated examination.

The precise scope of the inquest is yet to be determined.

“At this stage it is impossible to say what the scope of the inquest will be …I’m conscious that a lot of work needs to be undertaken before we are at that stage,” he said.

Telford said he anticipated one of the key issues for the inquest to determine is whether “the public interest would be served by these matters being investigated by other authorities”.

Motorcycling New Zealand and the four boys’ respective clubs will be interested parties to the inquest.

Telford acknowledged the weight of the proceedings for the families involved.

“It is without question an extraordinarily difficult day for everybody involved, and particularly the parents of Jack, Luke, Eli and Wai’aryn,” he said.

“No parent would wish to find themselves in a coroner’s court speaking about their children in such dreadful circumstances.”

The joint inquest builds on earlier proceedings into Jack Willson’s death. The Cambridge 10-year-old died after a crash while racing at the Digger McEwen Motocross Park in Taupō in April 2023.

Telford had previously issued findings on the specific circumstances of Jack’s death, with a second stage planned for October last year to examine how similar serious crashes might be prevented.

That hearing was paused after Telford became the responsible coroner for three other young riders who died in what he described as “broadly similar circumstances”.

Details of those cases were temporarily suppressed to allow their families to be informed of the process. The suppression order was lifted on Monday.

The additional cases to be considered involve Luke Ngeru, who died in September 2023 following a motocross accident in Whanganui; Eli Hankins, who died in February 2025 after sustaining a serious head injury during a club day at Auckland’s Pukekohe Motorcycle track; and Wai’aryn Mills, of Pirongia, who died in September last year after a training accident on a Huntly track.

The inquest will seek to establish the circumstances of each death and to consider whether any broader recommendations can be drawn.

A timetable for the inquest is yet to be set.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wind gusts measuring up to 240km/h have been recorded on the east coast of the lower North Island with gusts of up to 190km/h hitting high parts of Wellington.

MetService said the strong winds and heavy rain were set to linger over the lower North Island before gradually heading southwards later on Monday and on Tuesday.

Gusts measuring up to 240km/h have been recorded at Cape Turnagain on the east coast of the lower North Island.

While in Wellington, winds have reached up to 190km/h in high parts – and about 130km/h in the city.

MetService meteorologist John Law said a low pressure system sitting to the east of the North Island was expected to track slowly southwards.

He said heavy rain and severe gales were expected to continue over central and southern parts of the North Island as well as reaching eastern parts of the South Island and Chatham Islands.

“The good news is – as we head through the day today – we should start to see those winds easing off – so we’ve probably seen the peak of those winds. But even by Wellington standards it’s a very windy start to the week,” Law said.

Law said “intense bursts of rain” had seen up to 200mm of rain fall over parts of Wairarapa overnight Monday.

“With that low pressure out to the east of the North Island it’s been pushing the rain in particularly across those lower parts. Cape Palliser has seen some of the highest rainfall. Intense bursts of rain through there and just prolonged rain through the night-time. As we saw In parts of the Hutt Valley that combination of strong winds and heavy rain are bringing all sorts of impacts,” Law said.

He said hard hit parts of southern Waikato, such as Otorohanga, should see clearing conditions over the oncoming days.

“The good news – as we head through today – this rain is clearing away down towards the south. Still a few showers possible but nowhere near the level we’ve seen in recent days. While a few showers are still possible for today things are getting better,” he said.

Law said that more weather warnings could be on the way as the low pressure system slowly headed southwards.

“This weather system is sticking with us. A big area of high pressure out to the east is blocking the movement of this low so it stays close by. It will sink southwards which will push that rain in towards parts of the South Island. So places like the Kaikōura Coast, parts of Canterbury particularly – places like Banks Peninsula – already have some severe weather watches and warnings. We may well find more issued for parts of those eastern areas of the South Island,” Law said.

Law said rain over the eastern side of the South Island was less likely to be as intense as the system migrated southwards over coming days and south westerly flows were expected to help clear the system during Tuesday and early Wednesday.

“That’s when we finally say good-bye to this weather system,” Law said.

Other notable MetService weather stats:

• Gisborne, Taupō, Waiouru, Wellington, Whanganui and Kaikōura have already exceeded the amount of rainfall they would typically expect to receive in February.
• The Baring Head buoy in Wellington Harbour recorded a significant wave height of 7.54 metres at 11.06pm on Sunday. A significant wave height is the average height of the highest one-third of waves.
• Mt Kaukau and Wellington Airport measured 193 km/h and 128 km/h, their strongest winds since June 2013, when they reached 202 km/h and 143 km/h respectively.
• The Kelburn weather station recorded 133 km/h, its strongest winds from a southerly direction since June 2013, when a southerly wind of 141 km/h was measured.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Two separate assaults in the Auckland CBD over the weekend are being investigated by police.

Police received a report of a person being assaulted in Quay Street by a group of men unknown to them at about 11.40pm on Saturday.

The victim’s phone and bag were also stolen, and they were taken to hospital with moderate injuries.

Police said they were making inquiries to identify those responsible.

Just after midnight on Sunday, another person was injured under the Nelson Street off-ramp overbridge and was taken to hospital with an apparent stab wound.

Police said they were determining the exact circumstances of the incident and who was involved.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A district court judge has told a judicial conduct panel she was her normal self and not affected by alcohol, as she fights an accusation she disrupted a New Zealand First event.

Judge Ema Aitken is before the panel accused of yelling at Winston Peters during an event at Auckland’s Northern Club in November 2024, saying he was lying. She argues she did not yell, did not recognise Peters, and did not know it was a political event.

The panel continued to hear from Aitken on Monday, resuming her evidence from last week.

She told the panel about a statement released in the wake of the alleged disruption. It had been drafted as a response from Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu, who had emailed the judge for her input.

She was called by Taumaunu while drafting her response, and told him – and media advisors listening in – that she wanted the statement to include that she did not know who the speaker was or that it was a political event, when she made her remarks.

“The verbal response to me in that call was along the lines of, ‘No, we don’t want to put that in the statement, it’s just buying a fight with New Zealand First,’” Aitken said.

“It was explained that the point of the statement from the chief district court judge was to try and shut the whole thing down in the press.”

Aitken said by 18 December 2024, she had not sought or received legal advice.

“I genuinely did not appreciate the seriousness of the situation, in that it was being advanced as inappropriate conduct by a sitting district court judge which was intentionally and politically motivated,” she said.

Her lawyer, David Jones KC, had asked Aitken about a letter from the attorney-general to the chief justice, claiming she had called out Peters by name during the alleged disruption. That was something Aitken denied.

“I never referred to him by name,” she said. “I didn’t know who he was when I made my comments.”

The panel heard late last week from other district court judges who had been sitting at Aitken’s table during a function at the Northern Club that night. The NZ First event was happening in a separate part of the club.

Judges and others from the table had been called at the request of special counsel, but Jones asked Aitken if she had any issue with them coming to give evidence.

“If I had asked them to come along and give evidence, I have no doubt at all that they would have come,” she said. “But I also appreciated that this was likely to be a very public hearing, and I did not want to put my colleagues in the position of having to give evidence.”

Aitken said she did not want to drag her colleagues into what she called “my problem”.

“This was my conduct and not theirs.”

The panel was played a news clip of then Attorney-General Judith Collins reacting to the disruption.

Collins had said she was “appalled” by her behaviour, but Aitken said the attorney-general had the wrong information.

“I was shocked,” Aitken said. “The information the attorney is basing her comments on is incorrect. Disturbingly, this had been the tenor of media reports and commentary based on incorrect information.”

Aitken was cross-examined by special counsel Tim Stephens KC later on Monday morning.

He began by asking Aitken about the background of her legal career, her time working as a lawyer, and ultimately her appointment as a district court judge.

Stephens asked about her relationship with te ao Māori in the courts. Aitken said she kept her obligations as a judge in mind by acknowledging the crest of the New Zealand coat of arms that hung inside the courts.

“Our responsibility as Treaty partners, whether we’re pākeha or Māori, as judges is to give effect to the coat of arms, which has Māori and pākeha equally depicted in a balanced way in that coat of arms,” she said.

“So I always glance at it when I enter the court, and I do that to remind myself that I must judge without fear or favour, affection or ill will, whoever’s before the court.”

Stephens questioned the judge on what she had had to drink that night at the Northern Club. She recalled she had between one and two glasses of champagne.

It was suggested by Stephens she may have been “disinhibited” by the alcohol.

“You must have been affected to some extent?” he asked.

Aitken rejected that suggestion.

“I was not affected in any way that I felt or discerned at the time,” she said. “I was my normal, tired self.”

Stephens asked Aitken if she recalled saying Peters’ comments were lies or misinformation.

“I’ve never been able to remember the precise words that I used – I’ve maintained that from the outset because I don’t, but they would have been to that effect.”

She disputed calling the comments disgusting, saying she “did not use those words”.

“That’s just not a phrase that I would use, ‘this is disgusting’, in that context. I may have said ‘this is appalling’ – that would be the sort of phrase I might have used – but I did not use that expression.”

The hearing continues on Monday afternoon.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A man with multiple sclerosis died from choking while being fed by a healthcare assistant sitting up in bed.

A Health and Disability Comissioner (HDC) report by Carolyn Cooper looked into the events, after his family made a complaint following his death amid concerns about his overall standard of care.

The man – named Mr B in the report – was aged in his late 20s and had lived at Lonsdale Total Care Centre in Foxton for about six months before his death in May 2022.

As well as multiple sclerosis, he was diagnosed with mental health co-morbidities, was sight-impaired and required assistance for all aspects of daily living – including to feed and reposition himself.

The family’s complaint queried why he was not showered for the six months he was there – but Lonsdale explained it was because he had requested not to be showered, and preferred to be washed daily, despite attempts by staff to encourage showering.

The hoist

In their initial complaint, Mr B’s family questioned why he was confined to his bed due to a broken hoist.

Up until late March of that year, Mr B was lifted out of bed on request – usually to smoke, which the home believed was important for his mental health – and that was usually done with a hoist.

But Lonsdale said that at no point was a standing hoist unavailable, but it was not used because of safety concerns due to Mr B’s violent swaying and involuntary body movements.

The HDC report concluded: “It is my view that Lonsdale has provided a plausible explanation of why these issues occurred, and I acknowledge that the staff were respecting Mr B’s wishes.”

The choking incident

Lonsdale noted Mr B had choked once before, and a plan was made for him to sit upright when eating to mitigate the risk.

However, Lonsdale told the HDC: “It is a fair question if more should have been done to recognise and mitigate the risk of choking, in particular by referring [Mr B] for specialist assessment. It’s one we have asked ourselves.”

Recommendations

The HDC found Lonsdale in breach the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, and was critical that Mr B’s risk of choking was not identified earlier and made part of a more comprehensive care plan.

Lonsdale has accepted this finding.

Ms B, who is Mr B’s mother and the one who laid the complaint, responded that she regretted placing Mr B in their care.

A registered nurse, who was asked to give feedback on the situation for the HDC report, said: “It appears that the care team knew Mr B well and were responsive to his needs; however, I consider the lack of personalised care guidance to have potentially created increased risk, particularly for those who were not familiar with Mr B’s care requirements.”

Since the incident, Lonsdale had made a number of changes to improve documentation and evaluations for those in their care.

The HDC report commended Lonsdale for apologising to Mr B’s family and for the prompt improvements, and made no further recommendations.

Approached by RNZ for further comment, Lonsdale general manager Mark Buckley said the team strove to provide the highest level of quality care to all their residents.

“All of us here at Lonsdale continue to extend our sincere condolences to our resident’s family,” he said. “This was a distressing event for everyone involved.”

Since the event in 2021, they had worked to improve aspects of care such as planning, communication and documentation, along with a change of GP practice to a more ARRC (Age-Related Residential Care Agreement) focused provider and the upgrade of patient management software. A clinical manager and additional management support were appointed in 2022.

“We continue to do all we can to make sure that an incident like this can’t happen again.

When approached by RNZ for further comment, Lonsdale general manager Mark Buckley said the team strove to provide the highest level of quality care to all their residents.

“All of us here at Lonsdale continue to extend our sincere condolences to our resident’s family,” he said. “This was a distressing event for everyone involved.”

Since the event in 2021, they had worked to improve aspects of care such as planning, communication and documentation, along with a change of GP practice to a more ARRC [Age-Related Residential Care Agreement] focused provider and the upgrade of patient management software. A clinical manager and additional management support were appointed in 2022.

“We continue to do all we can to make sure that an incident like this can’t happen again.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A prisoner with a burst appendix was told it was a stomach bug, and waited six days to be admitted to hospital for surgery.

The Health and Disability Commissioner said multiple registered nurses saw the woman, but their clinical impression was that of a viral infection.

On her admission to hospital on 5 July, 2022, she was diagnosed with a burst appendix, and the next day she underwent an operation to remove her appendix, drain a pelvic abscess, and remove a section of her large intestine.

Her symptoms were first flagged after a standard morning medication round, when two nurses noted that the woman, who the report calls Ms A, had been vomiting for the past three days and unable to keep food down.

Ms A told the commissioner investigating her case that a nurse told her it was a stomach bug, and when her symptoms persisted at the next appointment, she was told to “ride it out”.

The prison has denied clinical staff said this. It explained the woman’s treatment was focused on managing nausea and vomiting, and maintaining hydration, as nurse assessments indicated a viral illness and an absence of any red flag symptoms.

The woman was seen by multiple nurses during the next six days for nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea, but there was no record of observations like temperature, blood pressure, or pulse, no abdominal examinations, and no description of bowel movements taken at these assessments.

There was also no evidence her fluids were monitored, despite the vomiting, and no clear record of the effect of pain medication provided.

She was eventually referred to the local hospital by a medical officer, following blood tests on 5 July.

She spent nine days in hospital, and was discharged on 14 July. She complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner the following month, on 22 August.

Commissioner Vanessa Caldwell found the Department of Corrections had breached the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights by failing to provide appropriate care to Ms A, and to escalate her care in light of her symptoms and multiple presentations.

Department of Corrections accepts the care was below standard, blames staff shortages and high turnover

According to the HDC report, the Department of Corrections accepted the nursing assessments and documentation did not meet professional standards – or the department’s own expectations.

However, it explained its health team was experiencing high volumes of staff vacancies, staff turnover, and unplanned absences at the time of these events.

The prison, which is not named in the report, also had no permanent health centre manager nor access to a clinical quality assurance advisor at the

time, it said.

Ms A said she was in a vulnerable and dependent state, and the clinical staff did not do enough to escalate her care. She said the consequences of these events have greatly affected her, and she has since undergone a second surgery.

Changes since the incident

The prison told HDC the following changes had been made since the incident:

Commissioner also recommends a written apology

The commissioner said the prison should write an apology to Ms A, to be sent to HDC within three weeks for forwarding.

When Corrections was approached for further comment, Juanita Ryan, deputy chief executive Pae Ora, said she would like to reiterate the department’s apologies to Ms A.

“The medical care Ms A received fell short of what is rightly expected of us. It is critical that while someone is in our custody, we support and improve their health, ensure their physical safety, and treat them with dignity and respect. In this instance we did not provide adequate healthcare for Ms A and for this we are truly sorry. We have apologised to Ms A directly.”

She said they had done or were on track with a number of other recommendations made by the commissioner – including providing copies of relevant guidance documents and audit findings.

Corrections now also required evidence that all staff at the prison had completed the Graduate Certificate in Nursing: Rural Assessment of the Deteriorating Patient at Ara Institute of Canterbury, she said, and a new online training module on pain management was on track to be completed by the end of March.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Taiwanese family in Auckland is turning a Lunar New Year staple into an everyday purchase, producing about 300,000 dumplings a week as demand grows on mainstream supermarket shelves.

While eaten year-round, many families in China eat dumplings around midnight on Lunar New Year’s Eve, which falls on 16 February this year.

The dumplings’ shape is traditionally believed to resemble ingots, signalling greater wealth in the year ahead.

Such symbolism helped fuel a seasonal rush each year, said Amy Sevao, chief executive of Old Country Food, an Auckland-based dumpling manufacturer.

The Lunar New Year was the company’s busiest time, she said.

The factory produces about 300,000 dumplings a week, or roughly 1.2 million a month, and orders from mainstream supermarkets typically rise by as much as 20 percent during the festival period.

Sevao, who moved from Taiwan to New Zealand with her parents in 1995, is married to a Samoan man. The couple has two young sons.

She said dumplings had become a thread that tied together different generations in her family.

“It’s such a traditional food,” she said.

“You get together for Lunar New Year, have dumplings and the parents or older relatives will say, ‘Oh, look, this looks like an old gold ingot. It means good fortune, money.’ Those stories get passed on, and that’s always really fun.”

Drawing on memories from her childhood, Sevao said dumplings were everyday fare in Taiwan and had steadily gained popularity in New Zealand.

In her view, that rise has tracked the broader story of Asian immigration in the country.

Old Country Food had been in business for about 35 years, she said.

It was founded by immigrants from Hong Kong and has since changed hands several times among Asian immigrant families, before Sevao’s parents bought the business in 2015.

“In a way, the history of OCF (Old Country Food) reflects the history of Asian immigration in New Zealand,” she said.

Sevao said breaking into the mainstream market could be challenging for businesses owned by migrants.

“When I first started in the business, we were 100 percent in Asian supermarkets,” she said.

“After a while, we thought the mainstream market was much bigger, we should give it a go,” she said.

“We started selling to independent grocery stores like Fresh World or Fruit World,” she said.

“Now we’re in PAK’nSAVE and New World [stores] across the North Island and also in the South Island.

She said immigrants had less support because they often didn’t have extensive networks in the community.

“We often have to overcome language barriers,” she said.

“There are lots of laws and regulations, and the way business is done in New Zealand can be very different from the way it is done in Asia.

“To overcome all of that, to have a great team working toward the same goal and to have that effort recognised not only by supermarkets, but by everyday people who go and buy our food, our products every single week, that’s a really great feeling.”

Sevao’s parents agreed that breaking into the mainstream market could be difficult for migrant-owned businesses, but said it was not impossible.

Bingnan Cai, 72, and Lingxin Huang, 66, bought the dumpling manufacturer a decade ago, hoping to help make dumplings a more mainstream part of New Zealand’s food landscape.

“After we moved here, we really missed the taste of our hometown,” Huang said. “Dumplings are one of them.

“We wanted to integrate into society,” she said. “We wanted to help popularise traditional cuisine, so we started this dumpling factory.”

Cai said sushi, long a symbol of Asian cuisine abroad, had gained popularity among New Zealanders.

Seeing that sushi was now sold in most shopping malls, he was confident his dumplings could also become part of everyday eating in New Zealand.

Cai said he wanted dumplings to become one of New Zealand’s signature foods.

“If you want to enter the mainstream market, you must accept this challenge,” Cai said. “The number of people eating dumplings here would not exceed 15 percent [of the whole population].

“It’s really challenging to grow such a small market into a big one,” he said. “But everything is possible.”

Sevao was confident dumplings had become a staple for many households in New Zealand.

“I think good food is cross-cultural,” she said.

“If it tastes good, it doesn’t matter what culture you come from. … I think dumplings are a very universal food.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Department of Conservation (DOC) staff are confident a kākāpō chick born on Valentine’s Day will be the first of many this breeding season.

Yasmine of Pukenui/Anchor Island hatched an egg on Saturday, bringing the total number of the critically endangered flightless parrot to 237.

While that is below the 2022 high of 252 individual kākāpō, DOC says with more breeding-age birds than ever before, hopes are high.

“The kākāpō population was once down to just 51 birds which created a genetic bottleneck we are still managing today,” DOC operations manager for kākāpō/takahē Deidre Vercoe said on Monday.

“Kākāpō are one of the most intensively managed species in the world and while numbers are still so low, the breeding season requires a lot of intervention.”

Kākāpō only breed every two to four years, and not every egg they lay is fertile. So far this season – the 13th of DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme since it began in 1995 – there have been 187 eggs, just 74 of them are fertile.

Not all the fertile eggs will hatch, and not all chicks will survive long enough to leave the nest.

The new chick’s biological mother is Tīwhiri, who has laid four fertile eggs this season, while Yasmine had none. Vercoe said kākāpō mums “typically have the best outcomes when raising a maximum of two chicks”, so Yasmine – an experienced foster mum to other birds’ babies – was given this one.

DOC prioritises “eggs and chicks that are less well-represented across the gene pool”, Vercoe said, and takes a “more hands-off approach” to others, hoping to “answer questions around what a natural breeding season might look like one day”.

Each of the 236 other kākāpō wore a small backpack radio transmitter to track where they went and how active they were.

In addition to Pukenui Anchor Island, there were breeding spots on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island near Rakiura and Te Kāhaku/Chalky Island.

The next kākāpō egg expected to hatch – in about a week – is currently being sat on by Rakiura on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island. DOC said it could be the first time viewers got to see a kākāpō born, via its live cam.

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“We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome the first kākāpō chick, beginning what we hope will be a bumper breeding season,” Meridian Energy CEO Mike Roan said. Meridian has supported the breeding programme since 2016.

“Every chick is a milestone for the species, and we’re excited to play a part in helping these incredible birds thrive for generations to come.”

Ngāi Tahu, which has worked with DOC on the programme since it began, hoped to one day bring the species back to Rakiura.

“While it is wonderful to see the manu thriving on this island due to its predator free status, we need to continue our collective efforts to create other safe havens for the chicks of the future,” representative Tāne Davis said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A prison expansion is on such a fast track that it prompted officials to ask if compromises were being made.

Corrections is rushing to build two new high security units to cope with an unexpectedly rapid rise in the prison population nationwide since last year.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison was chosen as it had available land, official reports showed. The project was using a stripped-back design of no roofs between cell blocks, which was “untested” for operational, maintenance and amenity impacts.

This was to speed up to finish by next January.

“Speed of delivery will be the biggest driver,” Corrections told ministers.

A prison architecture expert called it a “band-aid” solution that could force inmates to be locked up for longer in bad weather.

Christine McCarthy of Victoria University had been reading the plans.

“They’re very clear; they are not intending to use this design again,” she said. “It’s kind of like, we have to do something, we don’t have any options.”

‘Less amenities’

Papers released under the Official Information Act showed officials last year suggested that ministers asked Corrections: “Have compromises been made in the shortened project development/design that create delivery risks or that impact on operational efficiency, adaptability, future costs, future investment requirements or create prisoner management risks?”

The government said it had been advised there would be no compromises on the highest standards of security and safety.

Corrections’ own business case said the new design was “seen to represent a compromise in amenity compared to the X-wing design” for Waikeria Prison’s much bigger, longer expansion.

The cells would be regular ones, but the shared spaces were changed. It might necessitate additional security measures.

“It has less amenities for prisoners… and is untested in terms of its ‘no roof’ design and the operational and maintenance impacts that may result from that.”

On the flip side of the Hawke’s Bay rush, Christchurch Men’s Prison’s expansion – again, much bigger and longer-term – had been going so slowly by last July that Treasury officials held it up as a case study in “significant lag between funding and action”.

‘Rapid unexpected’ growth exacerbates risks

Prisoner numbers topped a record 11,000 in January and were forecast to reach more than 14,000 in a decade. Over 40 percent of inmates were on remand awaiting a court hearing or sentencing.

Risky prisoners were having to be held in lower security, “increasing operating costs and risks”.

Just months after the government’s 2024 long-term prison plan was completed, it was already outdated, while not even factoring in more muster rises from the government’s new tough-on-crime policies and law changes.

“Rapid unexpected actual and projected growth means capacity limits may be exceeded by 2027, exacerbating operational and security risks,” said a report last July to Chris Bishop’s new Infrastructure and Investment Ministers Group, released to RNZ.

The prison population is now projected by next June to be 1853 higher than the 2024 projections. In response, the government hatched the Accelerated Capacity Programme or ACP mid-year.

“Our work to restore law and order is paying off,” said Mitchell in November, announcing ACP’s cornerstone, the expansion by 316 beds at Hawke’s Bay.

Corrections told RNZ it had accelerated the project “while still retaining checks and safeguards”.

‘Complete commitment to a compromised building’

McCarthy said the department was just reacting to the fact that double-bunking everywhere and reopening old facilities could not cope with a bed shortfall forecast to peak in 2027-29.

“This is a smart way in the situation that has been created, but it’s not going to be the last time this happens.

“This is really quite a fundamental question … can we build our way out of this? So that’s what’s interesting here: there’s a complete commitment to a compromised building.”

The UK, by contrast, said no, it cost too much to keep expanding prisons, and was looking for alternatives, she said.

Reports showed the UK was adding cells https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prison-building-boom-to-make-streets-safer but was also looking at the likes of early release for good behaviour amid “a broader overhaul of sentencing policies aimed at cutting the number of inmates before cells run out”, according to the New York Times.

Labour said National talked tough but could not deliver, with prison projects “stalled in Christchurch and rushed planning in Hawke’s Bay”.

‘Without any compromises to … safety and security’

Corrections told RNZ changes to the Hawke’s Bay design were “to allow for faster delivery without any compromises to the safety and security of the facility”.

The papers released under the Official Information Act revealed how the department planned to speed things up:

• to place the tender on 1 July, weeks before Cabinet approval
• finalise the business case weeks after the tender
• leave out the usual “Gateway” review before seeking Cabinet approval
• Cabinet sign-off was on 18 August.

The speed of this prompted officials to suggest in July 2025 that Bishop’s ministerial group ask, “Why was the RFP [tender] released prior to Cabinet approval? How will the resulting risks with the market be managed?”

And: “What plans does Corrections have to manage the risks of not undertaking independent assurance of the project at an early stage, and how will any adverse findings of the proposed Gateway review in early October be managed?”

Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ the Gateway review “commended the department for active efforts to manage all risks”.

He supported the approach, he said in a statement.

“My expectation is that the new units … will meet the highest standards in safety and security, and I have been advised there will be no compromises on that.”

Corrections said it was saving four to six months on an otherwise 22-month build.

The fast track had built-in “off-ramps” if an affordable solution could not be found.

Corrections said it got independent assurance and review, including the cost estimates and a risk estimate, from industry experts.

Builder Naylor Love won the job on 31 October. The expansion is being funded from the department’s baseline. The cost was blanked out of reports.

Double bunking: ‘They’re going to get angry’

Corrections told RNZ the design had less internal communal space but an open-air courtyard instead. It had less admin space for staff, but there was space for that in other parts of the prison.

It was more efficient and better for keeping tabs on prisoners than a courtyard design.

The 160 new cells will nearly all have double-bunking. Squeezing inmates in that way was regularly widely criticised, and New Zealand is a signatory to a convention against it.

Howard League prison reformer Cosmo Jeffrey said the crowding would cost lives.

“So you can’t even walk around each other without banging into each other,” said Jeffrey.

“It’s like, what do they think is going to happen… locking people up like that? Obviously, they’re going to get angry.”

There were three double-bunk deaths at Mt Eden prison last year. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/581339/three-double-bunk-deaths-at-mt-eden-prison-in-a-year

‘Significant lags’

At Christchurch Men’s Prison, earthworks had begun.

The privately operated prison expansion is a $1.5-billion-plus four-phase project that aims to open its first new beds in 2029, and others from 2032.

Jeffrey said some inmates had already been moved out to make way for the expansion.

“This guy’s waited four years to get on the rehabilitation programme, and with 24 hours’ notice, he gets shunted down to Dunedin.

“To put it mildly, he’s heartbroken.”

Another inmate he knew had just started a prison job at Christchurch, then been shifted south.

Corrections said the project should sign up a builder in July. Three groups were shortlisted last year – one had a private US prison operator, Honeywell, on board, and another was multinational Serco that already ran Auckland South prison.

Treasury told ministers last year that the 15 months or so it was taking between Budget 2025 funding and signing the contract had put Christchurch Men’s into a group of two major projects – another was a mental health build – for a time lag of over a year.

It suggested the ministers shared “lessons” from the lag.

“Billions in new Crown funding are being committed each year, but we are seeing significant lags between Budget decisions, signing contracts, and commencing delivery and construction activity,” the report for the June 2025 quarter said, looking ahead to Budget 2026 bids.

Mitchell told RNZ he had been assured Christchurch Men’s was on schedule. It was very different from Hawke’s Bay and should not be compared, he said.

Hawke’s Bay’s existing high-security units overheated in summer, sparking a fix-it project last year.

Corrections said when it planned prisons, it took into account basing prisoners close to family where it could, the security level of prisoners, as well as the services they required.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Heavy rain and wind is hitting the capital, flooding streets in Lower Hutt, closing multiple schools, cutting off power, and bringing trees and debris down in the city.

Meanwhile, the entire Manawatū-Whanganui region is under a state of emergency, where some evacuations have taken place in Manawatū and on the coast of the Tararua district.

Waipā and Ōtorohanga in South Waikato remain under a states of emergency after significant flooding over the weekend.

In Wellington, regional and metro trains have stopped, while ferries and flights have been cancelled.

Streets in Epuni and Naenae appear flooded, with reports on social media of some cars getting stuck in Lower Hutt.

On Monday morning, Powerco said about 23,000 properties across its network had lost connections, and in the Wellington region about 10,000 had had their connections cut.

The storm has left a big mess for the owner of a Polish restaurant at Plimmerton, north of Wellington, to clean up after an exterior wall blew in.

Owner of Topor Bistro, Steve Askew said luckily another local business alerted them as otherwise they might not have been back in till Wednesday.

“I’m sure we’re going to be closed a couple of weeks,” he said.

“All of the ceiling on the inside has gone. All the studs and stuff they’re quite wet, I don’t know if they need to be replaced or if they can just be dried out. The hole in the wall needs to be fixed.”

Askew said the kitchen and main appliances are on the other side and escaped.

He said up till this the bistro had not been doing too badly recently.

A growing list of schools in the Wellington region are also closed due to the terrible weather.

Those include Wellington High School, Wellington East Girls’ College, and St Orans College in the Hutt Valley.

Rongotai College in Wellington has closed for the day with tree debris littering its grounds.

Principal Kevin Carter said he was at the boys’ school in Kilbirnie at 5pm on Sunday and everything was fine, but on Monday morning it was a different story.

“The grounds are covered with branches from trees that have come down … It’s pretty wild and unsafe here on the south coast,” he said.

Some gutters were down but otherwise buildings were not damaged by the look of it. He had had a quick walkaround and would do a closer check later in the hopes they could clean up and the wind would drop.

Carter said they would decide later whether to reopen tomorrow. All families had been advised by email or text the school was closed, he said.

Air New Zealand’s chief operating officer Alex Marren told Nine to Noon nearly 100 flights have been cancelled in and out of Wellington on Sunday and Monday morning.

All flights in the capital, Palmerston North and Napier have been paused until at least 11am, at which point the airline will reassess the weather conditions, Marren said.

She said there had been some “infrastructure impacts” and the airline was working closely with Wellington Airport on that.

In Wairarapa, evacuations are underway in Masterton due to the threat of falling trees.

Wairarapa assistant commander Ian Wright said it had been a busy night with weather-related call outs, which continue, and that trees coming down were the biggest risk.

He said there are shallow rooted trees on Lincoln Road that are “very, very unstable, so both roads have been closed and the people have been evacuated”.

There have been no reports of injuries.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Wind gusts measuring up to 240km/h have been recorded on the east coast of the lower North Island with gusts of up to 190km/h hitting high parts of Wellington.

MetService said the strong winds and heavy rain were set to linger over the lower North Island before gradually heading southwards later on Monday and on Tuesday.

Gusts measuring up to 240km/h have been recorded at Cape Turnagain on the east coast of the lower North Island.

While in Wellington, winds have reached up to 190km/h in high parts – and about 130km/h in the city.

MetService meteorologist John Law said a low pressure system sitting to the east of the North Island was expected to track slowly southwards.

He said heavy rain and severe gales were expected to continue over central and southern parts of the North Island as well as reaching eastern parts of the South Island and Chatham Islands.

“The good news is – as we head through the day today – we should start to see those winds easing off – so we’ve probably seen the peak of those winds. But even by Wellington standards it’s a very windy start to the week,” Law said.

Law said “intense bursts of rain” had seen up to 200mm of rain fall over parts of Wairarapa overnight Monday.

“With that low pressure out to the east of the North Island it’s been pushing the rain in particularly across those lower parts. Cape Palliser has seen some of the highest rainfall. Intense bursts of rain through there and just prolonged rain through the night-time. As we saw In parts of the Hutt Valley that combination of strong winds and heavy rain are bringing all sorts of impacts,” Law said.

He said hard hit parts of southern Waikato, such as Otorohanga, should see clearing conditions over the oncoming days.

“The good news – as we head through today – this rain is clearing away down towards the south. Still a few showers possible but nowhere near the level we’ve seen in recent days. While a few showers are still possible for today things are getting better,” he said.

Law said that more weather warnings could be on the way as the low pressure system slowly headed southwards.

“This weather system is sticking with us. A big area of high pressure out to the east is blocking the movement of this low so it stays close by. It will sink southwards which will push that rain in towards parts of the South Island. So places like the Kaikōura Coast, parts of Canterbury particularly – places like Banks Peninsula – already have some severe weather watches and warnings. We may well find more issued for parts of those eastern areas of the South Island,” Law said.

Law said rain over the eastern side of the South Island was less likely to be as intense as the system migrated southwards over coming days and south westerly flows were expected to help clear the system during Tuesday and early Wednesday.

“That’s when we finally say good-bye to this weather system,” Law said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

About a dozen Ashhurst residents were evacuated in darkness in the early hours of the morning as the Pohangina River threatened to breach its banks.

Severe weather hammering the lower North Island has downed trees, left tens of thousands of households without power, closed roads, and forced flight and ferry cancellations.

Emergency services went door-to-door on Saddle and River roads in Ashhurst, waking locals from their slumber and moving them to the safety of the hall at the Ashhurst Village Centre.

Grace Guo and teenage daughters Kerry and Claire decided to stay in their home when neighbours first warned them they may have to evacuate at about 9pm Sunday.

She said conditions didn’t appear as bad as during ex-Cyclone Gabrielle, but the trio still had an anxious night fearing floodwaters would come through their home as happened in 2023.

“I was just a bit panicked actually. We couldn’t sleep. We were awake the whole night.

“About 3 o’clock or something in the morning we got a call from them again ‘saying hey you guys have to evacuate’, so we came here.”

Guo said unlike ex-Cyclone Gabrielle she was prepared for the evacuation when it came and even the family’s two dogs came with them to the Ashurst Village Centre hall.

She was full of praise for the emergency services.

Wendy Morley, who lives on Saddle Road near the Pohangina River, said they had received warnings during evening of a possible evacuation, and her family received a call at 3am.

“We couldn’t see much in the dark, so had left it at that and next minute – boom.

“We were expecting it, so we had to wake up and get the kids ready and get the cars out and get going.”

Wendy Morley’s son, 10-year-old Digger, was shaken up at first.

“It was scary because I never did this before.”

He hadn’t slept but breakfast got his seal of approval.

“It was good. I had Coco Pops and hot chocolate and lollies.”

Happy with ‘cautious’ approach

Cherie O’Leary and her family had been evacuated from River Road.

“It was just a bit rainy that was it. No flooding. You couldn’t even see the river from our place not like 2023 for Cyclone Gabriel.”

But she was still happy Civil Defence had taken a precautionary approach.

“Yeah, definitely. You’ve got to be cautious and be safe for everyone, so I’m happy with that.”

The O’Learys had spend the night drinking coffee and catching up with neighbours.

“We’ve been having a few laughs and they cooked us a really yummy breakfast, so that was great.

“We had bacon and eggs and cereals, all sorts, fruit. I must say Civil Defence are really cool.”

Cherie’s dad George Pilcher was taking it all in his stride.

“I got up at about 1.30am to see what was happening and it all looked good, so I went back to bed, and then Craig my son-in-law came and tapped on the door and said ‘we’ve got to evacuate, we’ve been told we have to get out’.

“We’ve been sitting here since 3am and we’re ready to go home again by the sound of it.”

He too was happy to be safe rather than sorry.

Emergency Management Officer Zarra Houpapa said with the weather system overnight and the amount of water coming down the river the decision to evacuate had be made.

“The main concern was the raising river levels particularly around Saddle Road, so we’d been monitoring it all yesterday afternoon and last night and in the early hours of this morning the decision was made to evacuate.”

Zarra Houpapa said at the halls the residents were given somewhere they could get some sleep and know that they were safe.

At about 10am Monday they got the news they could go home.

“So, just know we’ve let them go back home because the river levels have fallen to a point where we are comfortable that they will be safe to go home and get some sleep.”

Grace Guo was overjoyed.

“Oh, I’m really pleased. We are really happy, finally we can go home my two dogs as well. They were very unsettled.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Friends are delivering bottled water to a Christchurch mother whose immunocompromised daughter relies on sterile medical equipment for feeding, with 14,000 households in the city’s east still under a boil water notice.

Kalah Blair’s 11-year-old daughter Maia has a number of medical issues and disabilities, including severe autism and the rare genetic disorder Sotos syndrome.

A public health alert was issued on Saturday afternoon for thousands of people in New Brighton, Burwood, Wainoni, Aranui and Southshore after routine testing discovered total coliforms in the Rawhiti water zone.

The alert said all water, including filtered water, must be continuously boiled for at least one minute, prompting a run on bottled water at supermarkets.

Blair said Maia was tube-fed so relied on clean water to protect her health.

“She’s on her medical pump for five hours per day and we have to do 200-mill flushes with every feed, so that’s nearly two litres of water per day, just for her feeding. Then I’ve got to make up some of her medication with water, then I have to sterilise all of her syringes and other medical equipment,” she told Morning Report.

“It’s a very full-on thing to do, but when you’re having to use bottled water and then boil that to sterilise things, it makes life so much harder.”

Blair was first alerted to the problem on Saturday when she received the emergency mobile alert.

“It was like, ‘oh my god I need to get bottled water’ and go through and tip out all of her drink bottles,” she said.

While Blair could boil water, she did not want to take any risks with Maia.

“A cold isn’t just a cold, it can literally put her in hospital for days. We just have to be super careful with her,” she said.

A friend sent bottles of water via Uber on Saturday, while another friend and Christchurch East Labour MP Reuben Davidson brought water on Sunday.

On Monday morning, Blair had not heard directly from any council staff and was calling for a register of vulnerable people who could be contacted by the council in a health crisis.

“If something like this happens again, the council can contact us and say, ‘hey look, this is the situation, this is how long we think it’s going to last, is there any support we can give you? Or point us in the direction of help and support. It’s not just Maia, there are other people in this community who are medically fragile or disabled as well,” she said.

On Sunday, the council said the boil water notice would not be lifted until there were at least three days of good results.

“Results from sampling in the wider Rawhiti zone are looking good. However, as we have had a further positive result in the same location, the boil water notice is still in place,” the council said.

“The notice will then be lifted once we can provide confidence to Tauamata Arowai that the water is safe to drink. Part of this assessment will be ensuring we also have at least three days of good results.”

A community drinking water station was open in Keyes Road in New Brighton for people to fill containers with safe drinking water while staff and contractors continued to investigate the source of the contamination.

Total coliforms are a broad category of bacteria that can be found in faeces, but also live in the environment, including in soil and plants.

They do not generally pose a direct health risk, but the presence of total coliforms indicated bacteria were present and that treatment has not been effective or that treated water was vulnerable to contamination, according to water regulator Taumata Arowai.

The council said the Ministry of Education had been in touch with early childhood centres and schools to ensure they remained open.

“They have a good plan in place to manage the situation and the council will provide support to the ministry where we can. If parents have questions, they are encouraged to contact their respective schools and centres directly,” the council said.

People in the affected suburbs were already struggling with intensifying odour from the city’s fire-damaged wastewater treatment plant in Bromley in recent weeks.

Christchurch City Council and Health New Zealand have been contacted for comment.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Severe weather hammering the lower North Island has left tens of thousands of households without power.

Powerco says about 23,000 properties across its network have lost connections, and in the Wellington region about 10,000 have their connections cut.

Here’s how to stay safe, keep warm and protect your home and belongings when the power goes out.

Call your lines company

It’s quite common for power cuts to last only a few minutes, so you may want to wait a while before making the call.

However, if you’re concerned about the length of the outage, give your lines company a ring.

You can also check the supplier’s website and social media to see if the outage was planned, or if there’s an update on when power will be restored.

Your wifi and cordless landline phone will likely be affected in a power cut, so it’s best to use your mobile phone for this.

If a power outage is putting your health at risk, call 111 or go to a hospital.

Turn on the torch

In a power outage, the best torch is the one you have to hand.

For many, this will mean your phone torch – but try not to use this long-term, as it will drain your battery, meaning you may not be able to call for help if you need it.

It’s a good idea to have an emergency kit to hand, containing a torch and spare batteries, among other items.

Torches and battery-powered lanterns are safer to use in a power cut than candles.

Break out the supplies

Vector advises that water pumps in rural areas may not work in a power cut – so you should make sure you have emergency water supplies for drinking and washing.

A spare battery or mobile power pack for your phone, a camp stove or barbecue, and cooking fuel (such as gas) are also helpful items to have in the event of an extended power cut.

Clear your home of hazards

Have a quick look around your house and move any items that could be easily tripped on, such as children’s toys, from corridors, doorways and high-traffic areas.

This will lessen the chances of you injuring yourself in the dark.

Powershop recommends placing a camping lamp at the edge of the room by the wall to light your path, and says it’s especially important that access to the bathroom and the emergency cupboard are clear.

Turn electronics off at the wall

Power can surge when it’s restored, possibly damaging sensitive electronics.

Turn your TV, computer and stereo off at the wall or make sure you have surge protectors installed.

Vector recommends turning off your stove elements and heaters, too – this will ensure they don’t come back on without you noticing the electricity has been restored.

The Electricity Authority recommends leaving an overhead light on so you can see when the power is back on.

Keep the fridge closed

Opening the fridge or freezer will let warmer air in – and without electricity, it won’t be able to cool down again.

If left shut, the fridge will keep food cool for up to six hours, while a freezer will usually keep food frozen for up to 24 hours.

If there’s food inside that you know you’ll need in the short-term, consider removing it at the start of the power cut and storing it in a chilly bin or ice box. That way your snacking won’t spoil the rest of your supplies.

The Ministry for Primary Industries recommends eating food that will expire quickly, such as bread and meat, first, and eating canned food last.

If any food is spoiled or rotting, throw it away so it doesn’t spoil other food.

Stay warm

If it’s a cold day or night, you can keep warm by closing your doors and windows and pulling the curtains.

Water can be boiled on a camp stove to fill hot water bottles. Remember never to operate a camp stove inside.

Gel warming packs are also good items to have in your emergency kit, as they can keep chilled fingers and toes toasty.

Check on your neighbours

If it’s safe to go outside, check on your neighbours. This is especially important if you have older or vulnerable people living around you.

If it’s not safe to go out, give them a call or a text.

Listen to the radio

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) advises that in times of crisis or civil defence emergency, a battery-powered radio or a car radio remain essential lifelines if power is out and other forms of communication are unavailable.

RNZ is New Zealand’s statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster, providing vital information and updates as they come to hand. All frequencies can be found here.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Heavy rain and wind is hitting the capital, flooding streets in Lower Hutt, closing multiple schools, cutting off power, and bringing trees and debris down in the city.

Meanwhile, the entire Manawatū-Whanganui region is under a state of emergency, where some evacuations have taken place in Manawatū and on the coast of the Tararua district.

Waipā and Ōtorohanga in South Waikato remain under a states of emergency after significant flooding over the weekend.

In Wellington, regional and metro trains have stopped, while ferries and flights have been cancelled.

Streets in Epuni and Naenae appear flooded, with reports on social media of some cars getting stuck in Lower Hutt.

On Monday morning, Powerco said about 23,000 properties across its network had lost connections, and in the Wellington region about 10,000 had had their connections cut.

The storm has left a big mess for the owner of a Polish restaurant at Plimmerton, north of Wellington, to clean up after an exterior wall blew in.

Owner of Topor Bistro, Steve Askew said luckily another local business alerted them as otherwise they might not have been back in till Wednesday.

“I’m sure we’re going to be closed a couple of weeks,” he said.

“All of the ceiling on the inside has gone. All the studs and stuff they’re quite wet, I don’t know if they need to be replaced or if they can just be dried out. The hole in the wall needs to be fixed.”

Askew said the kitchen and main appliances are on the other side and escaped.

He said up till this the bistro had not been doing too badly recently.

A growing list of schools in the Wellington region are also closed due to the terrible weather.

Those include Wellington High School, Wellington East Girls’ College, and St Orans College in the Hutt Valley.

Rongotai College in Wellington has closed for the day with tree debris littering its grounds.

Principal Kevin Carter said he was at the boys’ school in Kilbirnie at 5pm on Sunday and everything was fine, but on Monday morning it was a different story.

“The grounds are covered with branches from trees that have come down … It’s pretty wild and unsafe here on the south coast,” he said.

Some gutters were down but otherwise buildings were not damaged by the look of it. He had had a quick walkaround and would do a closer check later in the hopes they could clean up and the wind would drop.

Carter said they would decide later whether to reopen tomorrow. All families had been advised by email or text the school was closed, he said.

Air New Zealand’s chief operating officer Alex Marren told Nine to Noon nearly 100 flights have been cancelled in and out of Wellington on Sunday and Monday morning.

All flights in the capital, Palmerston North and Napier have been paused until at least 11am, at which point the airline will reassess the weather conditions, Marren said.

She said there had been some “infrastructure impacts” and the airline was working closely with Wellington Airport on that.

In Wairarapa, evacuations are underway in Masterton due to the threat of falling trees.

Wairarapa assistant commander Ian Wright said it had been a busy night with weather-related call outs, which continue, and that trees coming down were the biggest risk.

He said there are shallow rooted trees on Lincoln Road that are “very, very unstable, so both roads have been closed and the people have been evacuated”.

There have been no reports of injuries.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Wānaka freeskier Luca Harrington has qualified for the final of the big air at the Winter Olympics.

Harrington finished fifth after three rounds of qualifying, with the top 12 from the 29 entrants progressing through to Wednesday’s final.

The 2025 big air world champion was in 12th place after the first run with a score of 84.25 after completing a right double cork 1440 and back with a 1260 with safety grab.

The 21-year-old followed that up with a switch right triple cork 1800 with a two handed grab in his second run to score 92.00 and move up to fifth overall.

He then finished with a right-side triple cork 1980 safety grab in his third run to score 87.75.

His combined two best runs scored 179.75 while American Mac Forehand finished top with 183.00.

“Felt really good, came in with a plan and executed the plan,” Harrington told Sky Sports afterwards.

“I’ve been really working hard on that first trick I put down and it didn’t get rewarded the way I wanted it to. It’s been one of the hardest tricks I’ve ever worked through so that was a bit of a shame to see.”

Harrington admitted his bronze in the slopestyle last week did affect him.

“It was hard to mentally get back into the swing of things and focus up to work my hardest in big air, but by the third night of training I was feeling really good again.

“No matter how this goes I’m just so honoured to be here and hopefully put down a good show in finals as well.”

Fellow New Zealanders Ben Barclay finished 19th and Lucas Ball 24th in qualifying.

Earlier on Monday Queenstown skier Alice Robinson finished eighth in the giant slalom.

And Dane Menzies and Zoi Sadowski-Synnot topped their respective snowboarding slopestyle qualifying.

The women’s slopestyle final is scheduled for 1am Wednesday morning (NZT) with the men’s on Thursday at 12:30am (NZT).

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Police and the University of Otago will be monitoring student behaviour, with concerns about another year of out-of-control and dangerous behaviour during Orientation Week (O-Week).

It has prompted the university to start meeting with some of the larger, named flats to discuss expectations for the year and how to party safely.

By Sunday afternoon, Castle Street was quiet, but the signs of Saturday’s pre-O-Week ‘Flo-Week’ blow-out remained with shattered glass, bottles, boxes and rubbish lining the road.

Second year students Charlie, Hunter and Hugo hosted Saturday night’s Castle Street bash, saying hundreds of people attended.

Hunter said there was a bit of pressure to host, so the six flatmates pooled their money and paid a company for the gear and set up.

Charlie said they also had security and wristbands to control who could go inside.

Hugo said out-of-towners could be okay, but not when they got too rowdy.

Someone had smashed a bottle into a window because they thought they could, he said.

Hunter said people did not seem to understand that people lived in these flats.

They acknowledged the street was in a sad state, with Charlie saying the red rubbish bin was full in a day between the six flatmates and the glass bin might only last 30 minutes on a night out.

Charlie said the flat had met with university staff as part of the new initiative.

“It was actually real good, and they kind of just were like ‘we know what you’re here to do’. They’ve got it run pretty well.

“They know it’s not the tidiest place to live. No one’s living in the best conditions but we’re all choosing to be here and they told us they can give us more rubbish bins, talked about obviously getting on roofs with what happened last year, and couch fires and stuff.”

Second years Kyra and Pippi were excited for O-Week.

Police have called some of the behaviour “feral”, which Pippi reckoned was fair.

“I think it’s definitely feral. But I think that’s just how everyone wants it to be. People know that Flo-Week you kind of just like go all out for a couple of weeks. But then tame it out throughout the rest of the year,” Pippi said.

Since September, two young men have been critically injured from falls – including from the roof of a Castle Street flat.

Pippi said people liked the thrill of climbing on roofs.

“It definitely is dangerous and bad… but it is very common. You just see people on roofs at almost every house but I think people get a bit of a shock once they hear the bad stories about it. Like, we heard a pretty tragic story and so it’s honestly scared us all.”

Kyra was glad the university shared information about staying safe.

“It’s also really good that there’s like police around, controlling everyone… when it gets really rowdy and stuff, so it like makes people feel more safe.”

They both had friends down for Flo-Week, and said it was good to have visitors and others to meet as long as they did not trash the flats.

First years Amy and Ruby just moved into a uni hall, saying there has already been meetings about safety.

Amy was glad the university was proactive about it, saying it meant they felt more comfortable asking for help.

“I think it’s real cos they know exactly what we’re doing and I mean they help us do it safely rather than turn their heads the other way and pretend it’s not happening,”

Ruby was not surprised about the state of Castle Street, describing it as disgusting and filthy.

“I guess that’s just what Castle Street’s all about.”

University vice-chancellor Grant Robertson said they proactively told students about safe partying and how they were expected to behave. That included staying off roofs.

“We’re really clear that students need to stay off roofs. The tragic consequences of that are clear for everybody. We make that clear in all of our communications with students.”

He was pleased that flatmates from about 40 of the larger, named flats had met with the proctor as part of the new initiative, which he said made sure they were all on the same page.

The university did not support out-of-towners joining the frivolities as they could be difficult to manage, Robertson said.

“Many times they behave quite differently than students who know that Dunedin is their home.”

Flats were made aware this could be an issue and there was support for them if there were any issues, he said.

“Police have obviously got a role to play there because ultimately what is facilitated and allowed comes down to what the police are prepared to put up with given that these are private residences where these parties are being held.”

A major step forward would be to take out the glass, and the university had submitted to the local Alcohol Plan for that to happen, he said.

More than 4000 first-year students were welcomed over the weekend.

The Otago University Students’ Association is hosting a range of events for O-Week, which kicked off on Monday. Association president Daniel Leamy said they would be safe, inclusive environments for all students.

“Student Support is also always open to assist students as needed, and will have the Are You OK teams on the ground at events,” he said.

“We must also be cognisant of a select few creating a bigger story for the masses. Most students have a great week.”

The association actively encouraged students to choose cans over glass and recycle responsibly, promoted registering parties in advance in partnership with Good One and actively participated in clean-up days as a signatory to the Sophia Charter, he said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Hamilton residents are facing a shake-up in how they pay for water.

National water reforms meant the city had to move away from the way residents had always paid for water – through their rates based on capital value – to either a set charge or a user pays model.

The new local water authority, Iawai, hoped a water meter trial, due to start in part of the city, would help find a way forward.

Carla Johnstone’s busy Hamilton household tried to think about their water use.

“I grew up really trying to conserve water in Australia,” she said.

They took simple steps such as turning the tap off when brushing their teeth, while balancing it with enjoying life.

“It’s quite nice to have come here and not have had to worry about it so much, and having two young children who like to play outside with the hose, it’s nice to not have to be so conscious of it,” she said.

As the city did not have water metering, she really didn’t know what her household used – but she soon would.

Her family was one of hundreds taking part in a water metering trial in Hamilton East.

Johnstone was generally supportive of the idea that the city might introduce metering.

“It could be beneficial to people and the city,” she said, citing the role metering played in helping identify leaking pipes.

Andrew Parsons from Iawai, the new water authority set up by Hamilton City and Waikato District, said metering water in the area of Hamilton where the Johnstones lived would come with many challenges – which wasn’t a bad thing.

“The good part for me about Hamilton East is that it’s an older area, there’s established trees in the berm, there’s a mix of pipes under the ground,” he said.

That more challenging infrastructure environment would hopefully mean the trial collected lots of helpful data.

Parsons said doing a trial did not mean a decision to move to water metering had been made.

“This is not a decision to roll out meters across the whole city, it is more an information gathering phase so we can understand the costs, what works from a customer perspective and what might work from a business perspective.”

The alternative to user paid water metering, however, was a fixed price model, which Parsons said could come with some poor financial consequences.

Under that model every household would pay the same amount for water, whether they were a single person in an apartment or a family of six with a pool and spa.

Wintec principal civil engineering academic staff member (water) Maryam Moridnejad said metering was fairer than both the current way of paying and a set price.

“You’re paying for water anyway at the moment, you are paying through your property rate. If the meters go ahead you are going to pay based on your actual usage,” she said.

It would also be expected to lead to water conservation – making the water Hamilton had go further.

“People will be surprised with how much water they use per person,” she said.

Moridnejad said data showed people in Hamilton used 1.5 times more water per person than residents of Tauranga – where water had been metered for several decades.

She said the country needed to face up to its water challenges and treat water as a precious resource.

“In New Zealand we are going towards water scarcity in future; we have been ignoring our water resources and the infrastructure of water for so long and they are now at a very critical point.”

Andrew Parsons from Iawai said they were looking forward to the results of the water meter trial and would soon consult with the public on a 10-year water services strategy.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

From ants inside clothing packages from Australia to potentially deadly European hornets, Auckland has recently become a hotspot for unwanted insects from overseas.

Aucklander Jayd Graham, 21, was disgusted to find ants inside the sealed packaging of one of two dresses she ordered from Australia.

“I opened the package in my room. The first dress was completely fine. But then I opened the second dress and started seeing ants all over my bed. In the package with the second dress, there were eggs and ants crawling everywhere. I literally ran outside and chucked it on the ground.

“I was like, that’s disgusting, and my mates said I should make a video on TikTok.”

Biosecurity officers confirmed the ants were an Australian species already present in New Zealand.

In response to RNZ’s questions about whether the package had ants in it upon arriving in New Zealand, Biosecurity acknowledged that some unwanted pests can slip through the border security system.

Graham said the clothing brand she ordered from, which did not respond to RNZ’s request for comment, ultimately replaced her order and gave her a voucher.

Meanwhile, also in Auckland, Biosecurity staff are searching for yellow-legged hornets and their nests after the invasive pest, which wreaks havoc on overseas agriculture, was spotted in the country for the first time in 2025.

To date, 51 queen yellow-legged hornets and 61 nests have been found on Auckland’s North Shore.

A retired Hawke’s Bay beekeeper, Peter Berry, who worked in the industry for about 50 years, said the possibility of a wider outbreak was still worrying.

“If these things get away, the problem will be huge. And it won’t just be for the environment or for beekeepers, because they make life really unpleasant for anybody who bumps into them. People will die, and people will be severely injured by these things, and certainly lots and lots of people will be terrified.

“We really need to keep an eye out throughout the whole country because they are so easily spread.

“As I understand it, they’re fairly like the wasps we’re used to seeing that hibernate in lumps of firewood over the winter. If a queen wasp has got into one of those lumps of firewood, in the bumper of somebody’s car, or under a tarpaulin somewhere, then it could be anywhere in the country.”

He said the economic cost of a nationwide outbreak would be worse than anything he dealt with during his career.

“For the whole country, you’re probably talking billions of dollars lost.

“Wasps are bad enough. The German and the common wasp used to cost us when we were a business something like $100,000 a year.

“And when the number of those gets up in a rural environment, they just eat everything. And there’s nothing left for the birds to eat. So something a lot worse than them, that would be an absolute bloody disaster.”

He said harmful species entering the country was not ideal, but almost inevitable.

“We have gaps in our biosecurity the size of containers. A queen yellow-legged hornet is half the size of your little finger. And it’s very, very difficult to find something like that. Obviously better and cheaper to stop them in the first place, but without curtailing trade, it’s virtually impossible.”

“I’d love to have better biosecurity, but the main thing is if it gets here, that they do something about it.”

The government had committed $12m to cover the cost of the hornet response until the end of June 2026.

Berry said that the investment was absolutely worth it.

“If you can catch it when it’s small and jump on it and spend millions of dollars to kill it while you’ve only got a couple of hundred of them, it’s an awful lot cheaper than ever trying to wipe out tens of thousands.

“I think they could possibly spend some more time trying to just check around over the whole of the country to make sure that there isn’t something popping up. But I think you’ll find that pretty well every beekeeper in the country will be looking.”

Fruit fly battle ongoing

In the central Auckland suburb of Mount Roskill, biosecurity staff were also trying to eradicate an obnoxious fruit fly from Australia.

Restrictions on the movement of fruit and vegetables are in place in the area after a single male Queensland fruit fly was found in a surveillance trap in January.

Kris Robb, the manager at Clyde Orchards, was hopeful that the fruit fly would not get to them in the South Island.

“It’s obviously concerning to the industry, but personally, I think we’ve got full faith in the processes in place to be able to contain it.

Our biosecurity measures are as strong as any country in the world. They do the best job they can to stop these incursions. It’s just unfortunate that the odd bug gets through. That’s a risk of a global economy.”

There have been 15 previous incursions of different fruit fly species in Auckland and Northland since 1996, and all have been successfully eradicated.

In a statement to RNZ, Biosecurity said only a small number of pests made it through the border, and that this was the first time the yellow-legged hornet had been detected here.

“It is impossible to eliminate the risk of live organisms getting past the border without stopping all trade and travel – something that would be unacceptable to most New Zealanders.

“Even with fully closed borders, some pests and diseases would still reach New Zealand through natural means such as wind, ocean currents or migratory species. Because some risk will always exist, Biosecurity New Zealand’s approach is to reduce this to an acceptable level.”

It said there were multiple safeguards in place to stop harmful pests from getting into the country.

“Biosecurity New Zealand operates a multilayered defence system that works offshore, at the border, and within New Zealand to stop harmful pests from entering the country. The system includes strict import rules for potential risk goods (eg. produce), screening of cargo, passengers, mail and vessels, detector dog teams, and surveillance programmes, including more than 36,400 insect traps nationwide.

“High-risk sites such as ports and approved facilities that receive international cargo are routinely inspected. Any insects detected that could pose a biosecurity risk are tested and dealt with immediately.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A shotgun has been seized during a search of a Māngere property, as part of the ongoing investigation into a shooting in Onehunga last month.

Police were called to a house on Arthur Street on 16 January following reports several people had arrived at a house and fired shots toward the front of the home.

A man inside the home was shot and critically injured.

Police are yet to confirm whether they believed the gun, found during the search of a Māngere property on Friday, was used in the shooting.

Detective Senior Sergeant Matt Bunce said they recovered a shotgun and ammunition.

“The public will appreciate we can’t share the details of the work ongoing, however we have a dedicated investigative team that is working to hold those involved to account for what happened that day.”

A 43-year-old man appeared in Auckland District Court at the weekend, charged with unlawful possession of a firearm as well as unlawful possession of ammunition.

Bunce called for any information that could help the ongoing investigation.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington’s mayor says he has confidence in Wellington Water’s current leadership, after its chair resigned in the wake of the Moa Point crisis.

Nick Leggett stepped down on Sunday, saying the failure at the Moa Point treatment plant was deeply serious and had affected the environment, public health and the community.

Last week the plant failed – sending millions of litres of raw sewage into Cook Strait per day.

Mayor Andrew Little said Leggett’s resignation was the right thing to do, and he believed the remaining directors could lead work on restoring the plant.

“Particularly the deputy chair person who is going to be stepping up – Bill Bayfield – I have confidence they [the directors] will continue to lead the organisation to respond effectively, they have to do that in conjunction with Wellington City Council.”

Little said Leggett made the decision to resign, and that it was “the right thing to do”.

“Wellington Water has I think been struggling with some public confidence issues for some time, this further incident doesn’t help. And it’s not a question of blame, it’s about indicating the organisation accepts the seriousness of it.”

Little said he spoke with Leggett last week, who raised with him that he was considering resigning.

He said the priority now was for the organisation to set about fixing the plant.

“The focus now though has to be on Wellington Water being supported to get the recovery done, and an assessment of the damage and a plan for reinstating it, and that’s got to be top priority and that’s my expectation as what they’ll be focusing on.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington’s mayor says he has confidence in Wellington Water’s current leadership, after its chair resigned in the wake of the Moa Point crisis.

Nick Leggett [ttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/586892/wellington-water-chair-nick-leggett-resigns-over-moa-point-sewage-disaster stepped down] on Sunday, saying the failure at the Moa Point treatment plant was deeply serious and had affected the environment, public health and the community.

Last week the plant failed – sending millions of litres of raw sewage into Cook Strait per day.

Mayor Andrew Little said Leggett’s resignation was the right thing to do, and he believed the remaining directors could lead work on restoring the plant.

“Particularly the deputy chair person who is going to be stepping up – Bill Bayfield – I have confidence they [the directors] will continue to lead the organisation to respond effectively, they have to do that in conjunction with Wellington City Council.”

Little said Leggett made the decision to resign, and that it was “the right thing to do”.

“Wellington Water has I think been struggling with some public confidence issues for some time, this further incident doesn’t help. And it’s not a question of blame, it’s about indicating the organisation accepts the seriousness of it.”

Little said he spoke with Leggett last week, who raised with him that he was considering resigning.

He said the priority now was for the organisation to set about fixing the plant.

“The focus now though has to be on Wellington Water being supported to get the recovery done, and an assessment of the damage and a plan for reinstating it, and that’s got to be top priority and that’s my expectation as what they’ll be focusing on.”

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An Ōtorohanga man in his 80s is devastated by the damage and disarray at his flooded home after the weekend weather event – save the silver lining of a saved pet goat and an heirloom teddy bear that survived the waters.

Kio Kio Station Road resident Colin Payne had to be rescued by a boat, after floodwaters came through his property in the early hours of Saturday, when the region received between 150 to 300 millimetres of rain.

He said he had a feeling on Friday night that things could get bad when the water came up to his gate, which prompted him to move his campervan to a friend’s house in the town centre before returning home.

Payne slept at about 9.30pm, not expecting that floodwaters would gush through his property, and also not knowing about the state of emergency declared in Ōtorohanga around 1am.

He woke up about 4.30am to find his bed surrounded by water.

The only thing Payne managed to pull out of the water before his rescue boat came – besides his medication and clothes – was an heirloom teddy bear and its chair, which was inherited from his great-great-grandparents.

Returning to check on his house for the first time on Sunday, Payne struggled to come to terms with the rooms with knocked over fridges, a fallen TV, and sentimental items strewn over the muddy floors, in rooms where they would have floated for hours.

“Coming in and seeing the mess here is a bit devastating, 85 years of collections … personal stuff and family stuff and heirlooms,” said Payne.

“How do you describe it… I mean daunting, devastated, everything, just suddenly your life’s expired in a sort of roundabout way, if you understand what I mean, from an asset … the biggest trick is you gotta be very careful walking around in the silt because it’s very slippery.”

A silver lining amidst the chaos of his flood-damaged home and having to write off his drowned vehicle – Payne was relieved to find out that his pet goat Sophie survived, thanks to the help of neighbours.

“At least my good friend Sophie’s been rescued, that’s my favourite friend, my goat.”

Payne’s partner, Frances Rawling – who was not at the house that night – said it was hard to know where to begin when faced with the mammoth task of cleaning up.

“Once the mould sets in… it’s hard to imagine being here again,” she said.

The couple said they have a house in Te Kuiti where they can stay in the meantime.

On Sunday morning the rain resumed, and a community member with a quadbike came to help take Payne’s two steers to a safer place.

Craig Janett, who had been helping out, said he felt for the Kio Kio Station Road residents.

“A lot have been lost, one bloke down here lost all his lifestyle block… lost all their stock, washed away, just devastation, the river, the rubbish in the river, the drums, just everything rubbish.”

Payne was moved by the kindness of the community.

“Kio Kio Station Road, K-K-S-R stands for kind, caring, supportive residents, and believe me, that applies to everyone in this street.

“Here’s two people coming this morning and taking my stock away… I know damn well that they’ll be well looked after and they’d take them away and put them onto safer ground, and that’s the kind of community we have in K-K-S-R.”

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