Source: Radio New Zealand

Police say two people have reportedly suffered injuries after a gun was fired in the Southland town of Gore.

Emergency services were alerted to the incident near Aparima Street shortly before 8pm on Wednesday.

St John said it dispatched multiple ambulances and two helicopters to the scene, but police said the injuries were not thought to be life threatening.

A cordon is in place and police are asking the public to avoid the area.

They said they did not believe there was any further risk to the community.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

An Auckland duty lawyer says he and some of his colleagues will not work for a full week next month, as they battle poor pay and working conditions.

Duty lawyers are paid by the Justice Ministry to give free legal advice to those appearing in court who could not afford a lawyer.

Dennis Ansley has been a duty lawyer for over 38 years in Auckland.

For the last three years, Ansley said he had been pushing the government for a better hourly pay rate.

“It’s very low,” he said.

“It’s about a fifth of what I could charge if I was charging in private practice.”

Ansley said duty lawyers could be getting paid twice what they were currently, if their pay was adjusted for inflation over the past 25 years.

“Out of frustration, what we’re doing next month is we’re taking industrial action, we’re not making ourselves available for duty for one whole week in January,” he said.

He said he had support from at least 75 percent of his colleagues at Auckland, as well as support from other parts of the country like Christchurch, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay.

“What we’re trying to do is give the government a message that if you don’t come to the party and talk to us, and try to make our job conditions better and our pay rate better, we’re going to show you how important we are and how vital our work is.”

Ansley said it would be chaotic for the courts if they stopped working.

At Auckland District Court alone, duty lawyers helped 60-80 people a day, according to Ansley.

He was hopeful the action would spark change.

“By doing nothing, we’re not going to get anywhere,” he said.

“Most of us are fed up, we’re doing this important job but not getting recognised properly for it.

“By not having a majority of duty lawyers being available for a whole week, it’s going to create a real shortage of people on the ground, and I don’t know what’s going to happen, they’ll probably have to put cases off, they may have to just concentrate on the overnight arrests and maybe do very little.”

Ansley said he had spoken to a number of judges who were supportive of the action.

“They know how vital we are to the running of the court,” he said.

Ansley said many of the people coming through the courts had mental health issues, and it had grown worse over the years.

“Pretty much every second person we deal with has mental health issues,” Ansley said.

He said that had made their job more difficult, and seen the number of both physical and verbal assaults increase “astronomically”.

“To get abused on the job is not pleasant,” he said.

“When you’re sworn at on a regular basis, and all you’re doing is your job and you’re trying to help someone, it’s pretty difficult to deal with at times.”

Ansley said he had been threatened and another colleague had been assaulted while on the job.

The condition of the building itself was an issue.

“It’s a very old court, we’ve had flooding issues, we’ve had black mould as well in the custody area where we work, we’ve got problems with the air-conditioning, so during the summer time sometimes the heat is unbearable.”

Ministry of Justice national service delivery group manager Tracey Baguley said it was aware of the planned industrial action.

She said it recognised the role duty lawyers played in ensuring access to justice for those appearing without representation.

“The Ministry’s priority is to maintain continuity of service for court users during this period and are actively working through options to ensure there is limited disruption, if any,” she said.

“The Legal Aid Triennial review includes a review of remuneration across the legal aid scheme, including proposals related to the duty lawyer service that were outlined in the discussion document. The proposals are currently with the Minister for consideration.”

A spokesperson from Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith’s office said he was being kept updated on the situation.

At Auckland District Court, RNZ spoke with those who had just seen the duty lawyer.

One man said turning up to court alone could be daunting, but that the duty lawyer staff were helpful. Another also commented on the good level of service provided.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Firefighters begged police for a helicopter to help rescue a teenage girl from a Coromandel cliff face, but police refused because they mistakenly thought the girl was dead.

The 13-year-old had seen her friend fall past her to his death on rocks below, just before 8pm at Hahei beach on 11 January this year.

A Fire and Emergency (FENZ) cliffs rescue team drove from Hamilton and lowered her down to safety at midnight.

A FENZ call log and emails from the night – obtained by RNZ – reveal police refused a chopper “because of the cost”.

Police this week said if they had “asked the necessary questions” they would have categorised it differently.

“Unfortunately, police incorrectly concluded the child had died, and it was therefore appropriate to dispatch the ropes team via road transport, rather than helicopter,” police said.

“Police unreservedly apologise to the young person and their family.”

The FENZ emails expressed distress and frustration on the night, but also referred to recurring problems getting air ambulance helicopters (AAH) to transport their lines rescue teams.

“Had the crew been deployed via helicopter, their flight time would likely have been less than 45 minutes rather than the 1 hour 40-minute drive,” the communications shift manager emailed.

“This is a further instance where we have been delayed in reaching the scene of a rescue due to police not approving AAH to transport our crews,” FENZ head of specialist response Aaron Waterreus told his national bosses shortly after the rescue.

A line from the fire-fighters’ call-log, just before 10pm, showed Hahei volunteer fire-fighters had asked where the cliff rescue team was, and Hamilton acting group manager Matt Leonard explained “police wont [sic] approve helo response because of the cost – asked if FENZ can foot the bill for it”.

Only police could authorise an air ambulance and “FENZ has no ability to authorise the tasking”, another email said.

FENZ, police and St John would not address RNZ’s questions about whether there was a wider problem with air ambulance or lines rescue responses, and if that had been fixed.

‘She was perched there’

A coroner’s findings showed the two teenagers had arrived at Hahei earlier on 11 January with her family. Their identities are suppressed

They went off together about 7pm. The girl’s father told police they had not discussed climbing.

Up on the rocks, the girl became worried and told the boy she could not climb back down, so they pressed on towards the top. When she looked down, the boy fell past her from a height of 15-20m.

She shouted for help from 10-15m up, and a bystander called for assistance. Hahei volunteer fire-fighters, a St John ambulance and a chopper with a winch from Ardmore went to the scene.

The FENZ call-log showed that at one point the responders said: “Just asking if Westpac helo could do it.”

But RNZ was later told: “She was perched there – they were worried the rotor wash would blow her off.”

Police in their statement this week said something similar: “Responders from Hato Hone St John and FENZ requested a ropes team be dispatched by helicopter to help rescue a second young person perched on the cliff face.”

But they had wrongly concluded this person was dead.

‘Incredibly sad and frustrating’

Leonard emailed his bosses within hours of the rescue, saying: “The young girl remained stuck on the cliff face for many hours after watching what had happened and it took many hours after the fall to successfully rescue her by our lines team who had to travel over 2 hours via ute.

“My concerns raised many months ago were sadly proven true and ironically while I was on call as the duty exec we had the incredibly sad and frustrating decline of approval by police to deliver my lines team asap to the scene to perform the rescue of the stricken young lady.”

About an hour after the girl was rescued, FENZ’s communications centre shift manager had emailed Leonard, saying: “It was deeply distressing for everyone to be told that we could not deploy a helicopter to assist a 13-year-old girl stranded on the side of a cliff in the dark, after witnessing the tragic death of her 12-year-old boyfriend.” The coroner reported the boy was 13.

‘A second young person perched on the cliff face’

Acting Waikato police district commander acting Superintendent Will Loughrin told RNZ this week that police had taken steps to address “a lack of sufficient information-gathering, which meant appropriate priority was not given by police to the rescue in Hahei”.

They were alerted at 8.11pm on that January night that FENZ and Hato Hone St John were responding to reports of “a child falling from rocks”.

FENZ then asked police for a helicopter to pick up its lines team to help rescue the second person.

“Had police asked the necessary questions, the matter would have been categorised differently, and specific Police Search and Rescue staff would likely have been dispatched to help co-ordinate the rescue,” Loughrin said.

“Waikato police have been reminded of the appropriate process around the authorisation of such resources, including asking the appropriate questions to determine the full circumstances.”

There was no reference to any wider problem.

Police did not agree to an interview.

They later added they had spoken to the family, “who have reassured us that people at the scene on the night were in continual communication with their child until the rescue was completed”.

“To that end, the family say they are satisfied with the rescue effort.”

Hoping for a ‘heli’

The call-log from 11 January showed the Hahei volunteer fire crew got to the cliff at 8.25pm and called in to say “13 year old girl trapped up the cliff line rescue reqd”.

(The call log is all in capitals, abbreviated and lacks grammar; it is edited here for clarity.)

The four-man lines rescue team left Hamilton in a ute just before 9pm. RNZ was told they were worried they would wait, but not get a chopper.

At 9.13pm, FENZ asked police: “Can your SAR [Search and Rescue] please approve Westpac heli to transport our level 3 lines crew to this incident? Have liaised with ambulance and confirmed heli available…

“They can pick up the crew from the side of the road somewhere.”

At 9.26pm, Hahei volunteers said: “Got a K41-1 [K41 indicates death] and still have person on side of cliff still waiting on lines rescue.”

At 9.50pm, they learned police had declined a chopper.

A few minutes later, in the ute on State Highway 25A winding up through the Coromandel range, the team called to say it was “likely too late for heli now”.

They made it to Hahei at 10.31pm and 36 minutes later were “preparing to rescue the young girl”.

They had to move in the dark through the bush above, taking huge care not to dislodge any rocks, before going down on ropes about 100m to her. A volunteer crew from Tairua with less advanced lines rescue skills got there a bit earlier, but had not got to her.

The log at 11.59pm recorded her finally down on the beach.

How this has come to light

The Hahei mistake has come to light after RNZ inquiries into a separate callout of a lines rescue team last week north of Auckland at Arkles Bay. Records show police told the FENZ team not to deploy until they gave the go ahead.

FENZ did not address questions about this.

In a one-line statement about Hahei, it said: “We have reaffirmed with New Zealand Police that, as lead agency for search and rescue, police are responsible for requesting our assistance and for coordinating rescue efforts.”

St John told RNZ its people “routinely engage with our search and rescue partners to ensure all processes are working effectively”.

St John operations head Doug Gallagher told RNZ in a statement their team at Hahei “discovered there was a second child trapped on the cliff, uninjured”.

“Police requested Fire and Emergency New Zealand respond with a specialist lines rescue team.”

FENZ then asked for a chopper “to expedite the transport of the lines rescue team and equipment which was responding from the Waikato area”.

The call-log showed this happened somewhere between about 8.30pm and 9pm.

“Under the agreed process, this request was passed to police, as the lead agency, who declined the request,” said Gallagher. He did not give a reason.

‘Stark example of the difficulties we encounter’

The FENZ emails from the night of the rescue referred to St John making a procedural change so that it no longer approved air ambulances, but required approval from the police’s national SAR co-ordinator.

A FENZ manager wrote that the Hahei call-log appeared to show police “declined at 2150hrs citing cost”.

A firefighter close to the rescue team told RNZ that shift managers were “hounding” police, to the point the team said “we are leaving by road because this is taking far too long”.

The emails showed the communications shift manager telling Matt Leonard this was just as well.

“Had they not made that decision, the delay in response would have been even more significant,” wrote the manager, who RNZ is not naming.

“I have struggled to find the right words to convey the frustration and urgency of this matter. We have encountered these same issues repeatedly, and I’ve attached previous communications regarding lines rescue responses for reference.”

She said the police dispatchers – and those from ambulance, the airdesk and FENZ – had tried their best. But the police late shift had only just come on and “SAR had not been notified because this was not considered a SAR incident”.

“We were left waiting for their approval for actions they were not briefed on …

“Tonight’s incident is a stark example of the difficulties we encounter due to procedural gaps and miscommunications.”

The shift manager added: “The emotional toll on the team is intensified by the fact that this issue has remained unaddressed for such a long period of time.”

The police and FENZ communications teams for Hahei were on the same floor of an Auckland building.

‘Powerless’

Matt Leonard in Hamilton said in his email that he had heard from an experienced lines rescuer who had been on holiday at Hahei and helped out, who told him: “If this wasn’t a case for helicopter assistance, I don’t know what is.”

Leonard told Waterreus they had tried to pre-empt such a thing happening, but been left feeling “powerless”.

FENZ in Waikato had spent hours with helicopter providers and changed local policies to try to pre-empt “significant delays” getting air ambulance choppers.

“I have also made countless phone calls to Airdesk and Firecom trying to understand and predict possible issues that may arise.”

There must be a review “so when we are called upon to rescue and save lives, it isn’t delayed and declined by others out of our organisation due what is perceived to be cost”, wrote Leonard.

Waterreus emailed FENZ’s national manager of response capability Ken Cooper, saying air ambulances were essential because most other helicopters FENZ could access could not fly at night or in bad weather.

“Are we able to reach agreement with the police that if we use an AAH for a rescue, then we will pay for it, as cost seems to be the reason our requests get declined,” he asked.

Asked about this, FENZ on Wednesday told RNZ: “We meet with New Zealand Police on a regular basis to discuss how we work together.”

TIMELINE

• January 11, 2025, 8.04pm – St John alerted to a teenager falling on to rocks at Hahei
• 8.25pm – Hahei volunteer fire crew gets there and reports the girl is trapped and they need lines rescue
• 8.43pm – St John tell Hamilton lines rescue a helicopter may be available ‘soon’
• 8.51pm – Team leaves by ute from Hamilton
• 9.26pm – Hahei crew called to say, “Got a K41-1 [K41 indicates death] and still have person on side of cliff still waiting on lines rescue”, but no approval from police SAR yet
• 9.37pm – Hamilton team suggests a chopper could pick them up near Thames
• 9.50pm – Team learns police have turned down a chopper
• 10.31pm – Lines rescue gets to cliff
• 11.59pm – “Patient is now safely on the ground rescued”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Prison staff’s failure to answer an emergency call from a cell intercom and a subsequent delay in starting CPR potentially contributed to the death of a Christchurch inmate, a coroner has ruled.

The 67-year-old man, whose name was suppressed by a court, died of heart disease at Christchurch Men’s Prison in Templeton in 2022.

When his cellmate woke to find him gasping for air he tried to raise the alarm but the emergency intercom call went unanswered.

In findings released on Thursday, Coroner Dan Moore said there had not been an adequate explanation as to why no-one responded to the call.

“In my assessment, the intercom going unanswered at the time of (the man’s) death is a significant failure on the part of Corrections,” he said.

“In-cell intercoms exist for precisely this kind of situation. Due to their confinement, it is the only means by which prisoners can raise alarm in an emergency. It should be expected that prison staff are alert and respond to calls in a timely manner.”

The report said there was a gap of approximately 18 minutes between the man’s call for help via the intercom and the start of CPR.

“Though it is not possible to say for certain whether (the man) would have survived had the intercom been answered immediately, I am satisfied that this delay has potentially contributed to (his) death,” the coroner said.

When the man arrived in prison in June 2022 he was assessed by a nurse and found to have hypertension, along with other health issues.

His cellmate said the man would often wake him at night when he was having difficulty breathing.

The man was assessed several times by a prison nurse and had submitted two complaints about a lack of medical treatment by hospital staff.

The man and his cellmate were in the Kauri Wing, which was not staffed overnight, although prison officers did several visual checks of each cell, the last of which was at 5.30am.

The cells were fitted with intercoms for emergencies, connecting to “control rooms”.

On the morning of the man’s death in July, the cellmate woke to find him gasping on a shelf he had climbed on to get closer to the window for fresh air.

The cellmate used the emergency intercom to try to contact staff at 6.39am but the call went unanswered.

The man then fell from the shelf to his bed and continued gasping for air, before his breathing slowed and eventually stopped.

His cellmate started banging on the door to try to get the attention of prison staff.

At 6.52 am, an officer came into the wing and heard prisoners yelling. She went to the cell and saw that the man had collapsed on his bed.

The officer then left to get help because of a policy that at least five staff members must be present before opening a double-bunk cell.

Attempts were made to revive the man, but he was pronounded dead at 7.21am.

Similar jail cell death

Coroner Moore was critical that changes had not been not made after a similar death five years earlier at Mt Eden prison.

In 2017, Tuan Anh Nguyen’s cellmate tried to get help using a call bell that went unanswered for 1.5 hours.

At the time, the coroner recommended changes to ensure emergency calls did not go unanswered.

Coroner Moore said Corrections had updated part of its prison operations manual on in-cell alarms since the man’s death in 2022.

“Had those changes been in place and complied with in (the man’s) case, it is likely that there would have been a more rapid response from prison staff. It is not possible to say for certain whether this would have prevented his death, but it may have increased his chances of survival,” he said.

In a statement provided to RNZ, one of the man’s children said no-one shouold be denied their basic human rights while in custody, regardless of their crimes.

“The emotional impact of his death has been devastating. We are a large whānau, and the effects have rippled across four generations – our children and grandchildren included. This loss, and the circumstances surrounding it, has caused profound and ongoing distress,” they said.

They said their father had been denied the right to be treated with humanity, diginity and respect.

The family’s grief had been compounded by the lack of communication and accountability from Corrections and the lack of an apology, they said.

“We were not informed appropriately – we learned of our father’s death through another inmate before police contacted us. This failure alone has had a lasting impact on our whānau.”

They said they were deeply concerned lessons did not appear to have been learnt after the death of Nguyen and much of what the family learnt about their father’s final days came from his traumatised cellmate.

“He described repeated breathing difficulties over several days, escalating distress and unanswered calls for help on the morning our father collapsed,” they said.

The family member said the coroner’s findings confirmed their belief there was a serious failure of care and they were not reassured it could not happen again.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A leading epidemiologist says a plan to ditch an online tool tracking respiratory illness is short-sighted, and will leave a big gap in surveillance.

The Ministry of Health is not renewing its contract for the FluTracking tool, as it looks to cut costs.

FluTracking New Zealand surveyed about 40,000 people year-round, who were asked weekly whether they had any flu-like symptoms, such as fever, cough or sore throat, along with their testing and vaccination status.

It kept track of illnesses such as Influenza, Covid-19 and RSV and more than 142,000 people had participated in New Zealand since May 2018.

FluTracking was administered in Australia and cost the ministry about $57,000 a year.

But the ministry said it needed to find savings, and would instead use other surveillance tools, such as Healthline data, to track respiratory illness in New Zealand.

“We need to ensure good value for investment in public health and seek efficiencies where they do not impact service delivery,” said a spokesperson.

It said FluTracking had been one of the data inputs into the New Zealand Respiratory Illness Dashboard maintained by PHF Science. It said it sat alongside other respiratory illness surveillance activities, including at GP clinics, hospitals and through calls to Healthline.

Epidemiologist Michael Baker, who is also a professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, told RNZ he was disappointed.

He said it was the only system across all of Australia’s six states and New Zealand, which enabled both countries to compare.

It was also the only system to provide information on people who had not seen a doctor or been admitted to hospital.

“It’s a really important sector of the population that we don’t have data on otherwise,” Baker said.

In 2024, there was an average of 30,000 responses per week.

He hoped it had not been defunded as a cost-saving measure, as it was a low-cost system for New Zealand to participate in.

“There’s just a fairly modest fee we pay to Australia just to support the operation of the system, plus I think there’s some staff involved at PHF Science to keep it going, so this is one of the most cost-effective tools we’ve got.”

Baker did not think that the FluTracking programme could be replaced.

He said it filled what had become “a big gap in our surveillance” that disappeared around Covid.

“We do have good data on people who go to hospital with severe respiratory infections. We do have some lab-based surveillance. But we’re really missing this very important base of the pyramid, that is people with less severe illness who are not going to see a doctor, or even those that do go and see a doctor. We just don’t have a good record of how many people are in that situation.”

Baker said the decision was short-sighted, especially as it ran all year.

“Very few of our other systems do that. Most of them are concentrated in the flu season period. So it does tell us what’s happening throughout the whole year.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A coroner is critical of Department of Corrections staff for failing to answer calls for help the day an inmate was found dead in his cell.

After an inquiry into his death, coroner Katherine Greig has determined Anh Tuan Nguyen died by suicide at Auckland’s Mount Eden Corrections Facility (MECF) in 2017.

Greig said, on 14 September, the morning he was found dead, his cellmate repeatedly rang the cell intercom, but corrections staff took almost 90 minutes to answer.

The coroner’s reports said the cellmate’s first call at 6.18am was activated at MECF’s Master Control, which controlled the prison alarm cell system at that time.

The cellmate reported to have kept pressing the bell what “must have been a hundred times”, waiting for an answer.

“I am not critical of his actions.” Greig said. “I am critical of the failure of staff, whose responsibility it is to monitor the safety of prisoners and ensure appropriate responses to prisoners identified as being in danger, to answer the prisoner’s call bell in a timely way.”

After Nguyen’s death, an investigation was carried out by Corrections inspectors.

The investigators found that, at 7.43am, control of the alarm system was transferred from Master Control to Alpha Unit at the request of a day shift officer, who had just started his 8am-5pm shift.

The officer answered Nguyen’s cellmate’s call at 7.47am and immediately requested assistance.

At 7.51am, the two corrections officers and a nurse who were doing the morning medication round arrived outside Nguyen’s cell.

The nurse concluded that Nguyen had been dead for some time, as rigor mortis had set in, and the nurse instructed staff not to begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Nguyen was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators reported that, out of eight prisoners who made calls to Master Control between 6-8am on 14 September, only one was answered.

“On the morning Mr Nguyen was found dead, Master Control staff involved failed to prioritise answering calls from prisoners appropriately, and treated such calls in a casual and cavalier fashion,” Greig said.

“The inspectors’ report records that, from about 6am, Master Control is busy, as staff have responsibility for early unlock of prisoners for court and prisoners working in the kitchen. The officer in charge of Master Control on 14 September stated that the calls on 14 September were not answered between 6-8am because the site was very busy at the time and the calls were overlooked.”

The inspectors concluded that Master Control staff did not follow the processes to treat calls as a priority, and that the failure to answer the cell alarm call for one hour and 30 minutes was unacceptable.

Coroner Greig said it was troubling that this was not the first death of a prisoner she had dealt with where a failure to answer a prisoner call to Master Control had been an issue in the death.

In 2008, Anna Kingi’s heart failed while she was being held at the Auckland regional women’s prison. Guards took 13 minutes to find the keys to unlock her cell and give her medical attention, by which time it was too late to save her.

“It is deeply concerning that, almost 10 years after Ms Kingi’s death, similar issues relating to failure to answer prisoner cell calls by Master Control again arose in a New Zealand prison.

“It is also disturbing that the level of non-compliance by Corrections staff on the morning of Mr Nguyen’s death was so poor that the inspectors of Corrections who carried out the inquiry needed to recommend to the Prison Director of MECF that Master Control staff be reminded of their basic obligations.”

The coroner recommended that Corrections reviewed its practices nationwide to ensure prisoner call bells were answered in a timely manner.

She advised that Corrections remove the ability to manually or digitally subvert, snooze or otherwise ignore calls, support prisons to determine which calls were urgent and how calls determined to be non-urgent were managed, as well as ensuring the final response outcome was recorded.

She also advised Corrections to look at whether Master Control staff across all prisons had complied with expected standards since Nguyen’s death and ensuring staff were able to respond to calls during “routinely busy” times.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Primary school principals warn the government’s new year-by-year curriculum faces a huge obstacle – the fact that most schools have classes with children from multiple year groups.

They said the new curricululm insists on teaching particular content to particular year groups in strict sequence – which will make teaching multi-level classes extremely difficult, if not impossible.

They said most schools, especially small rural schools, have such classes because they are the only way to cope with the varying number of children in each year group.

The Education Ministry said it was developing advice for schools.

Principals Federation president Leanne Otene told RNZ the new English and maths curriculums introduced at the start of this year were originally organised in “phases” that covered several year groups but in October those curriculums were changed to specify different content for different year levels.

She said the year-by-year structure was also used in draft curriculums for other learning areas.

But she said that approach would not work for classes that included more than one year group of students.

“This is where the multi-year-level classroom becomes a real problem,” she said.

“I’ve got principals across the country going ‘we literally cannot teach year-by-year’ and this is not just in rural schools, this is urban schools as well.”

She said most schools had at least some multi-level classrooms and they could not avoid using them because they could not control the number of pupils in each year level.

“If we go purely year-by-year we’re going to need many more teachers in the workforce because it’s not going to work,” she said.

Otene said she was scheduled to meet Education Ministry staff on Thursday and would tell them that schools could not introduce the changes to the maths and English curriculums that were announced in October.

“We just can’t do it. Changing a curriculum at that late a date and saying that they have to be initiated on the first of January, that’s reckless. Because we just are unable to do it. It’s not that we won’t do it, it’s we’re unable to do it,” she said.

Rural Schools Association president Andrew King said at least half the country’s 1813 primary schools had multi-level classes.

He said some schools used them deliberately to foster tuakana-teina relationships but many had no choice because the number of pupils in each year group made it impossible to keep year groups in separate classes.

King said the issue was particularly acute for rural schools because they were generally very small.

“Most rural schools are going to be multi-level and I don’t just mean two year groups, you’re talking potentially a Year 1 to 4 class or a one-classroom school of Year 1 to 8 or Year 1 to 6,” he said.

King said teaching the new curriculum in those classes would be problematic and difficult.

“In a multi-level classroom now you potentially would have a theme or an inquiry topic that you can cater to the range of ages with across your class,” he said.

“Also you can do a lot of integration at the moment with other curriculum areas, which is doable in a multi-level context but when you’ve got knowledge to teach at each year level you can’t use the inquiry and integrated approach to the same degree.”

King said it would be extremely difficult for teachers to teach the new curriculums in a multi-level class.

“When you look at every aspect of knowledge across every curriculum area across every year level, it’s going to be impossible to deliver all of that.”

King said the association was working with the Education Ministry to identify solutions to the problem.

The ministry told RNZ it was working with sector representatives to develop advice for teachers.

“For those teaching in composite classrooms, there will be guidance and support for teachers to plan and teach across multiple year levels across the curriculum, particularly to make sure all students experience the breadth of topics,” it said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Warning: This story discusses suicide and teen deaths.

A coroner has found there are ongoing and wide-ranging barriers for young people accessing suicide prevention services in Northland in the wake of a tragic suicide cluster.

Coroner Tania Tetitaha held a joint inquiry into the deaths of five teenagers and a 12 year old, who died in 2018 and 2020 amidst “possible contagion”.

The inquiry’s name was gifted by a local kaumatua, the late Te Ihi Tito, Roimata Aroha mō te Whakamomori Taitamariki – meaning tears of love for youth lost to suicide.

It had been a long wait for those families since the joint inquest was held in November last year.

On Thursday, Coroner Tetitaha released her findings and they were stark.

“There were impediments to vulnerable rangatahi and their whānau accessing suicide prevention resources within Te Tai Tokerau and those impediments remain to this day,” she wrote.

During the four-week inquiry, the coroner heard evidence from the families, Ministry of Health, Te Whatu Ora/Health New Zealand, Oranga Tamariki, ACC, the Ministry of Education and the Police, as well as experts.

The five young people were aged between 12 and 16 when they died and coroner Tetitaha found whanau and external agencies were aware of their self-harm risk but there was no lead agency.

Tetitaha found they effectively got lost in the system.

“All were required to approach multiple agencies to address any suicidal behaviour arising from substance abuse, sexual and physical abuse, bullying and relationship discord”.

She found the barriers the vulnerable young people faced that remained to this day were wide-ranging.

“Impediments include lack of knowledge of suicide prevention resources; inability or unwillingness of rangatahi and whānau to access these resources; a multiplicity of agencies involved in suicide prevention and the impediments that flow from this including where there is a lack of information sharing between agencies and the confusion that occurred when navigating between them; and problems with resourcing and funding front-line suicide prevention resources for rangatahi.”

Summer Metcalfe was just 15 when she took her life, she would be 22 now.

Her mother Paula Mills said she lived with ongoing grief and hoped the coroner’s recommendations would be acted upon.

“It’s not going to bring our children back but hopefully it does do something for the future, for others that are desperately trying to find something to get children the help that they need,” she said.

“It’s tragic, absolutely tragic so if we can do anything to help these rangatahi and their whanau, let’s do it. The coroner’s made some really good recommendations let’s get them implemented.”

The coroner also found schools were under-resourced to provide counselling and the government’s child and adolescent mental health service, Te Roopu Kimiora, was overwhelmed in the region.

In Tai Tokerau at the time of the inquest in November 2024, Te Roopu Kimiora was treating approximately 700 patients with moderate-to-high risk of self-harm and receiving three to four new patients per week.

Its clinicians had around 40 cases each which the coroner said was well above average caseloads.

“There is evidence that schools are supporting increasing numbers of rangatahi at risk of suicide,” Tetitaha said.

“There is also evidence that their funding model does not adequately provide for the permanent employment of counsellors and social workers to support this work – requiring them to utilise their operational budget to meet this need.”

Secondary Principals Association president Louise Anaru is the principal at Kaitaia College and said many students needed mental health support.

“It’s a huge concern … we want to ensure our young people are thriving and mental health is so important.”

The coroner recommended Health NZ extend the Te Roopu Kimiora school liaison roles into secondary schools in Northland.

Health NZ said it had bolstered staffing for the service with an extra eight-and-half full time roles in the region.

Louise Anaru wanted to see targeted funding for schools to employ counsellors and social workers.

“They’re able to prevent a lot of issues happening, provide that immediate care and because they’re already in the school they have trust from the students, they have relationships in place, so they’re able to respond to any suicide risk ideation really promptly.”

Northland’s rate of suicide was still well above the national average – in 2018 the region’s suicide rate was 19.8 per 100,000 head of population, well above the average rate for New Zealand 12.4.

At the joint inquest, University of Otago associate professor Dr Clive Aspen filed evidence that the deaths were a suicide cluster due to the higher than expected number in close proximity in time and location.

Aspen said there was possible risk of contagion at the time.

Paula Mills said the region’s track-record should be enough to prioritise change.

“When we’ve got stats like that you’d think that these services would be really willing to do anything they can and listen to these recommendations and at least implement some of it and really have a long hard think about it.”

Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson said the cases were heartbreaking and there was not enough resourcing for suicide prevention.

“Are things getting better? I would have to say very marginally and in terms of the overall picture my confidence that we’re going to turn our suicide stats around is pretty low.”

He believed the government’s Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan “looks to me like what you do if you really don’t want to commit much money to suicide prevention”.

“This is moving at a snail’s pace when we know that we’ve had stubbornly high suicide numbers for over a decade and a major part of that is with rangatahi and particularly with rangatahi Māori,” Robinson said.

“We’re just not budging that.”

He said the government planned to bolster rangatahi suicide prevention in one unnamed region next year.

“It’s extremely sad that we are moving so slowly that government can only commit to experimenting with improving parts of services for young people in one region by the end of next year.”

Robinson said it would make a big impact if the number of trained staff working specifically with young people increased.

“These cases are really heartbreaking it is really important to remember that for every death there are hundreds of young people who recover from their time of suicidality and do go on to live their lives.”

Coroner’s recommendations

Coroner Tetitaha found a high degree of collaboration between agencies was necessary in relation to suicide prevention work to prevent similar deaths occurring in Te Tai Tokerau.

She detailed a care pathway in which a Kaiarahi (mentor) should be allocated to any rangatahi identified as at risk.

“I recommend that a coordinated care pathway for rangatahi in Te Tai Tokerau who are at risk (whether serious, moderate or low) of self-harm or suicide be developed,” Tetitaha said.

“The objective of the care pathway should be to reduce suicidality for rangatahi. That care pathway should also be visible to the rangatahi and their whānau from entry to exit.”

The coroner identified data gaps and recommended how agencies could better collect and use information to inform policy about suicide prevention in Northland.

She also recommended that Health NZ extend the Te Roopu Kimiora school liaison roles into secondary schools in Te Tai Tokerau.

“This would assist in developing relationships, improving communication and information sharing between Te Roopu Kimiora and the schools.

“It would also enable Te Roopu Kimiora to have more insight and overview of at-risk rangatahi. The school liaison should ensure that the Kaiarahi is advised of any relevant information and updates to inform the ‘full picture’.”

She said Health NZ had begun work in response.

“I welcome the indication that Te Whatu Ora are working to secure funding for the extension of Te Roopu Kimiora School Well-Being Liaison role. If this role provides the support required to prevent any further rangatahi deaths by suicide within Te Tai Tokerau, no further comment or recommendation by me will be required.”

Health NZ response

Health NZ said it extended its heartfelt condolences to the whanau for their loss.

Its group director of operations Te Tai Tokerau, Alex Pimm, said they “recognise the deep impact these deaths have had, and will continue to have, on loved ones and the community”.

“We acknowledge the Coroner’s report and will give priority to considering the recommendations,” he said.

“We are committed to providing safe, high-quality mental health and addiction care for the Te Tai Tokerau community.”

Pimm said an in-depth review was carried out by the services that were involved after the tragic deaths, and lessons had been taken from these.

“Since ​these tragic deaths we have bolstered staffing for our child and adolescent mental health service, Te Roopu Kimiora.”

That service had an extra 8.6 full time roles in the region.

He also said the national Suicide Prevention Action Plan, which was updated this year, was focused on addressing gaps and ensuring more people had access to support when they needed it.

Actions included:

• Improving access to suicide prevention and postvention supports
• Growing capable and confident suicide prevention and postvention workforces
• Strengthening the focus on prevention and early intervention
• Improving the effectiveness of suicide prevention and our understanding of suicide.

Pimm said since 2024 the government’s budget for mental health had increased by $200 million to $2.8 billion.

Where to get help:

• Aoake Te Rā
• Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357.
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
• Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202.
• Samaritans: 0800 726 666.
• Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz.
• What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds.
• Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.
• Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254.
• Healthline: 0800 611 116.
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155.
• OUTLine: 0800 688 5463.

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

A Hastings-based man who planned a mass stabbing attack at his court hearing has been sentenced to jail.

The 22-year-old, who has interim name suppression, previously pleaded guilty at the Napier District Court to 13 charges of indecent communications, distributing objectionable material, and for threatening to commit a mass stabbing attack at his 17 December sentencing.

He was sentenced to five years and four months’ imprisonment.

It follows a joint investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and Police.

On 20 August 2024, a search of the offender’s home revealed two electronic devices with over 2300 items of sexual abuse and exploitation material, including images and videos of child sexual abuse, bestiality and necrophilia, as well as terrorist and violent extremism content.

Police said further investigation identified several of his victims, including a child under 16 who he had solicited sexually explicit images from.

On 28 September, the FBI alerted DIA that he planned to commit a mass stabbing attack on his court date.

Police then found two bladed weapons in his bedroom – including a bayonet which he said would be used in the attack – and a manifesto detailing how he had been radicalised at the age of 19.

They said the offender claimed he was active within several violent online groups targeting children, the LGBTQ+ community and other vulnerable groups, enticing them to share nude images and engage in self-harm, later using the material as leverage for extortion.

Detective Inspector James Keene of Eastern District Police said the sentencing was an example of international agencies working together effectively.

“Any threats of mass harm, such as in this case, are always of concern to Police, which is why we moved quickly to arrest this man, and sought to detain him in custody,” he said.

“This individual preyed on the innocence of children by distributing horrific child abuse and exploitation images online, including personally requesting explicit images from a teenager.”

As part of his sentence, the man would be registered as a child sex offender and the devices used during his offending destroyed.

Police urged parents to talk to their tamariki about their online activities, with advice available at KeepItRealOnline.govt.nz.

Where to get help:

• Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357.
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
• Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202.
• Samaritans: 0800 726 666.
• Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz.
• What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds.
• Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.
• Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254.
• Healthline: 0800 611 116.
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155.
• OUTLine: 0800 688 5463.

Sexual Violence

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

A Hastings-based man who planned a mass stabbing attack at his court hearing has been sentenced to jail.

The 22-year-old, who has interim name suppression, previously pleaded guilty at the Napier District Court to 13 charges of indecent communications, distributing objectionable material, and for threatening to commit a mass stabbing attack at his 17 December sentencing.

He was sentenced to five years and four months’ imprisonment.

It follows a joint investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and Police.

On 20 August 2024, a search of the offender’s home revealed two electronic devices with over 2300 items of sexual abuse and exploitation material, including images and videos of child sexual abuse, bestiality and necrophilia, as well as terrorist and violent extremism content.

Police said further investigation identified several of his victims, including a child under 16 who he had solicited sexually explicit images from.

On 28 September, the FBI alerted DIA that he planned to commit a mass stabbing attack on his court date.

Police then found two bladed weapons in his bedroom – including a bayonet which he said would be used in the attack – and a manifesto detailing how he had been radicalised at the age of 19.

They said the offender claimed he was active within several violent online groups targeting children, the LGBTQ+ community and other vulnerable groups, enticing them to share nude images and engage in self-harm, later using the material as leverage for extortion.

Detective Inspector James Keene of Eastern District Police said the sentencing was an example of international agencies working together effectively.

“Any threats of mass harm, such as in this case, are always of concern to Police, which is why we moved quickly to arrest this man, and sought to detain him in custody,” he said.

“This individual preyed on the innocence of children by distributing horrific child abuse and exploitation images online, including personally requesting explicit images from a teenager.”

As part of his sentence, the man would be registered as a child sex offender and the devices used during his offending destroyed.

Police urged parents to talk to their tamariki about their online activities, with advice available at KeepItRealOnline.govt.nz.

Where to get help:

• Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357.
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
• Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202.
• Samaritans: 0800 726 666.
• Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz.
• What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds.
• Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.
• Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254.
• Healthline: 0800 611 116.
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155.
• OUTLine: 0800 688 5463.

Sexual Violence

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Timaru businesses have joined together to replace a community Christmas tree that was deliberately set on fire – and now the community has been asked to help decorate it.

The 10-metre-tall fully decorated tree on the Caroline Bay piazza cost the council $107,000 and was destroyed last week.

Local business leader Gordon Handy said he decided the community still needed a tree.

“I thought, well, I could get this to happen, so I reached out to some other businesses and it didn’t take us long to get a pretty good plan in place.”

A radiata pine from the Timaru District Council forestry block was felled and transported to the top of the piazza on the Bay Hill, where council took over the installation between rain bursts, Handy said.

“Hilton Haulage came on board to transport the tree and the base was re-engineered by Fabtech,” he said. Hardie Building 2024 Ltd also donated time and resources to erect the tree.

Mayor Nigel Bowen said this was the definition of the community coming together.

“I got the call on Friday night and Gordon said it wouldn’t be Christmas for the community without a tree, to which I agree,” he said.

“I saw on social media how much the community actually cared for and enjoyed the Christmas tree we lost last week. It will be good to have that space filled again, just in time for Christmas.

“As this tree is for the community by the community, it is only fitting the community help us decorate it.”

Members of the community who wanted to contribute to the tree decorations could drop in an ornament to any Timaru District Library for council staff to hang on the new tree.

Decorations needed to be sturdy – no glass or ceramics – and about the size of a tennis ball. Alternatively, a piece of wide ribbon or cloth in festive colours that could be tied to the tree would also be accepted.

A man has entered no plea to a charge of intentionally damaging the original tree.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two people are injured after a firearm was discharged in Gore this evening.

The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Police said they were called to the scene on Aparima Street just before 8pm, and have cordoned off the street.

Police do not believe there is any risk to the public, but they have been asked to avoid the area.

“Police are in attendance and making enquiries to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident.”

St John earlier confirmed it dispatched ambulances and helicopters to the scene.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Some parents are turning to the gift of a so-called dumbphone this Christmas to limit their children’s access to social media.

That’s a phone that you make calls and send texts on, but they can’t hook up to the internet.

The Government ban on kids using cell phones at school started in Term Two this year, but some students have found work arounds.

Checkpoint found that primary and intermediate kids were using their smartphones and their email accounts to bypass school online security and access internet sites they shouldn’t.

Now Checkpoint is aware of a school that is banning all smartphones and smartwatches on campus because students are out smarting the ban.

It is now going dumbphone only.

One Auckland mum was keen to get her kids an old-school phone, but was hoping for the look of a modern smartphone so they would blend in with their friends.

She said it was harder than she thought it would be.

“I was looking for the basic phone; calls, texts, they can keep in touch with their friends.”

“They’re at the age now where most of their friends all have smartphones, and they are feeling like it’s social suicide and they’re getting left out.”

She said she went to three different shops in her hunt, all of which only had one option out of hundreds of phones.

In the end she ordered one that looks like the real deal from Australia.

Challenge to dumb down

Emma Planicka, who teaches digital safety to schools and parents told Checkpoint there had been a definite recent rise in dumbphones.

“Especially as there are such concerns around children’s mental health, access to social media and that really key importance of keeping our children safe online.”

With the rise in demand, Planicka said it was important for parents to understand what options are out there so they can make a decision that works best for their family.

“It is challenging unless you are understanding the different specifications.”

“Some of the dumbphones are advertised as dumbphones but they still have internet browsers built within them. These browsers are slower and harder to use, and obviously on a very small screen, but you still do have the internet access.”

While other models are just for calling and texting, and don’t have internet access, these are often harder to find.

“Whether you are confronted with a knowledgeable person in a store that has that information and can lead you in the right direction, or whether you’re capable of sorting that information out online, it can be a real challenge.”

Other options include buying a regular phone and implementing parent controls, but Planicka said that again depends on parents having sufficient knowledge on how to do this.

With some schools considering enforcing dumb phones, Planicka believes community consultation should take place to decide on preferred and recommended device options, to ensure kids don’t end up feeling left out from their peers.

She said it’s clear phone companies are catching onto demand, as more of the phones come into the market

“We’re also seeing companies that are actually importing dumb phones from overseas because of the demand. We are seeing that there are different campaigns that are launching and there are resources that are coming out and are more readily available to support.”

Planicka said it was important for parents to consider what was age appropriate for their children, and that buying devices should be like riding a bike, beginning with training wheels and moving up from there.

“When they’re younger we’re really providing secure supports around them with things like screen time and managing that and making sure they’re safe and they don’t have that access to the internet. Then as they are getting older, having really simple things like a digital agreement, a weekly plan.”

While there will always be bumps along the way, Planicka believes slowly implementing technology is a great way to make a difference in setting children up for success.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Multiple ambulances and helicopters are responding to an incident in Gore.

Police are attending a report of a firearm being discharged in Gore.

St John has confirmed it has dispatched ambulances and helicopters to the scene.

– more to come

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tens of thousands of teenagers are expected to descend on Wānaka’s lakefront for one of the country’s biggest informal New Year’s Eve gatherings, with police warning parents they could face charges if they supply alcohol to minors.

Police, paramedics and volunteers are concerned about the number of unsupervised young people who arrive with alcohol in a town that is more than three hours’ drive from the nearest hospital.

According to harm-reduction organisation Red Frogs, Wānaka has become a hotspot for Year 11 and 12 students in recent years.

National director Raymond Thompson said more than 60 volunteers would work in Wānaka and Queenstown from 29 December, handing out water and food, and helping anyone in distress.

“I’m cooking pancakes, handing out water down on the lakefront and, towards the end of the night, will be helping young people, if they need more support, holding their hair back as they vomit,” he said.

Authorities ramped up their presence, after the infamous Ruby Island party in 2016, when hundreds of young people were escorted back to the mainland by emergency services.

Thompson said parents should have “frank conversations” with their children before New Year’s Eve and make a plan, in case they wanted to come home early.

“Don’t pin $200 to your young person’s jersey, give them a bottle and send them six hours down the road with no support,” he said.

“You can either engage in an awkward alcohol-and-drug-harm conversation with your young person, utilising your experience – both good and bad – and giving your advice, or you can allow your teenagers to get advice from TikTok,” he said.

DJs and bands will play on the Wānaka waterfront on 31 December, with an alcohol ban in place between 24 December-6 January.

Otago Lakes Central police area commander inspector Paula Enoka said parents should also remember the legal consequences of supplying alcohol to minors.

“If they are underage, as in under 18, please don’t send them here with alcohol, because the next person we will contact will be the parent [to find out] how they have actually provided them the alcohol,” she said. “There is provision for prosecution and that’s not where we want to go.”

Wānaka senior sergeant Darren Cranfield said an extra 25 police officers would be deployed to the district from centres including Dunedin and Invercargill.

“We have other resources that we drag from other stations, so we do have big numbers, but we have big numbers for a reason.”

Behaviour had improved in recent years, Cranfield said.

“If we go back probably 3-4 years, there used to just be alcohol everywhere, bottles everywhere.”

St John area operations manager David Baillie said alcohol and drug use was a reality every New Year’s Eve, and the consequences were often serious.

“Every year, I have to make a phone call to someone’s parents – 15, 16, 17, 18-year-old girls and boys – who have had far too much alcohol or too many drugs, who are now unconscious, unresponsive,” he said.

His message to parents was to “take a minute to think what it would feel like for me to ring you on New Year’s Eve, because this does actually happen”.

Knowing what substances were taken and how much could be crucial, when someone’s life was on the line, Baillie said.

He urged people to look up drug-testing services like Know Your Stuff.

“The other thing I ask you to do is that you respect our staff. We are there to help you, your family, your friends.

“We do need you to respect us, so that we can do our job to support you.”

Queenstown Lakes District Mayor John Glover said the region was used to welcoming visitors, but the New Year brought added challenges.

“We want everyone to come have a great time and leave having had a great time,” he said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Hamilton woman has been sentenced to 11 months home detention for exploiting three migrant workers and failing to pay them thousands of dollars in wages.

Sneha Patel owned and operated several Hamilton and Auckland based businesses and pleaded guilty last year to nine charges including exploiting illegal or temporary employees.

She has been ordered to pay the three victims just under $50,000 in reparation.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said the sentencing was a result of a complex five-year investigation.

It uncovered that Patel had failed to pay approximately $41,000 under the Minimum Wage Act and about $9000 for entitlements under the Holidays Act to three employees over an eight-month period in 2018.

MBIE national manager immigration investigations Jason Perry said Patel knowingly employed and helped a person to remain unlawfully in the country, intentionally mistreated and misled her workers, and provided false or misleading information to Immigration for a visa application.

The employees were required to work long hours and one had to sleep in a work vehicle or on the floor of a storeroom.

Patel either did not pay the employees at all, or at a rate less than the minimum wage for the hours they worked.

“While failing to pay her workers according to their statutory minimum entitlements, Patel chose to purchase and open a further two businesses. Employers and individuals who think they can take advantage of unlawful or temporary workers for their own financial gain should know this will not be tolerated – they will be investigated and held to account,” Perry said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Mother of man named in online privacy breach linking him to abuse in state care fears it could cause further trauma
• Five abuse survivors named in OIA document still don’t know about breach
• Ministry of Social Development says it’s working on next steps with the law firm representing the five
• The law firm says the government department is washing its hands of responsibility.

This story discusses graphic details of abuse.

A woman fears her son could be severely traumatised, if he finds out the Ministry of Social Development published information linking his name to his application for compensation for abuse in state care.

He’s one of five people whose names were visible in an MSD Official Information Act document that was online for three months.

None of the five abuse survivors have yet been told about the breach, and there’s disagreement between MSD and the survivors’ lawyers about how they should be informed.

Breach ‘feels like punishment’

The mother of one of the five still can’t believe her son’s name appeared online in relation to a sensitive claim for compensation.

“I was in shock,” said the woman, who RNZ is not naming. “It’s almost like the more he tries to protect himself and keep himself safe, the more determined the government is to punish him for speaking out and trying to protect himself.

“This feels like punishment.”

MSD has apologised unreservedly for the breach, but the woman worries what could happen, should her son find out.

He has complex post-traumatic stress disorder, due to abuse he suffered when in the care of MSD.

His mother fears that, if he knew he was named on the internet in relation to this abuse, he could lose the ability to communicate or function.

“He spends every day trying to negotiate his way towards an ordinary life, but that’s overshadowed all day, every day by the constant triggers of reminders of what he suffered in the past.”

The woman found out about the breach from her son’s lawyer.

MSD said only three people viewed the document in the three months from its publication on 20 August until it was notified of the breach by Wellington human rights law firm Cooper Legal on 21 November.

However, Cooper Legal said many more people could have seen a cached version. MSD analytics don’t pick up how many views that had.

The woman whose son was named said, however many it was, the fact the names were published was problematic.

“How could it possibly be that only three people would view it in three months?” she said. “The other thing is, why should three people view it – it was nobody else’s business.

“Why should anybody know about what was happening, what he has experienced and what he is trying to hold MSD accountable for?”

Communication breakdown

MSD general manager Anna Graham said Cooper Legal made it clear the ministry shouldn’t directly approach the five named people to apologise.

She said the ministry remained concerned the five survivors hadn’t yet received a direct apology and it was working with Cooper Legal on what to do next.

“We wrote to Cooper Legal on 2 December about this matter and proposed resolution, including that contact and our apology be made through them,” Graham said. “We have letters of apology drafted.”

Graham said MSD had waited for a reply from Cooper Legal, receiving communication at the end of last week.

However, Cooper Legal principal lawyer Lydia Oosterhoff said the firm hadn’t kept MSD waiting and she was waiting to hear back from the ministry, after replying to its 2 December correspondence.

“That is a complete falsity,” she said of the MSD claims.

“MSD sent us one letter saying, ‘Cooper Legal can deal with it, Cooper Legal can tell the clients, we’ll wash our hands of it…. this is all we’re doing to do’.

“It’s absolutely, honestly perplexing.”

Meanwhile, the five people named remain unaware their privacy was breached.

“No, we haven’t told the survivors, because we don’t think we should be the ones to tell them,” Oosterhoff said.

“MSD said it was going to work with us to inform survivors about this breach in a trauma-informed manner and MSD hasn’t done that. It’s simply sent us a letter saying, ‘You tell them’.”

The five needed to be told in a way that recognised their vulnerability, and the sensitive nature of the breach and their abuse, she said.

At first, MSD proposed writing directly to them, but Oosterhoff said this wasn’t good enough.

“These are some of our society’s must vulnerable people and they’ve been made even more vulnerable by the state – the state that abused them in the first place.

“The state has now abused their privacy and the state is now not taking accountability.”

Call for compensation

Oosterhoff said she was looking into what compensation the five survivors should receive, something the woman whose son was named online said must happen.

“The reason why he’s got the [sensitive] claim is because there needs to be redress for what they’ve done to him, so further harm for breaching his privacy needs to be redressed as well,” she said. “It just adds on the harm they caused.”

Asked about the issue of compensation, MSD said it was discussing a proposed resolution with Cooper Legal.

Where to get help:

• Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends
• Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202
• Samaritans: 0800 726 666
• Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
• What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds
• Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, and English.
• Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254
• Healthline: 0800 611 116
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
• OUTLine: 0800 688 5463
• Aoake te Rā bereaved by suicide service: or call 0800 000 053

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Hospitals and public health services across the country have been asked to find more than half-a-billion dollars in “efficiencies” to re-invest in patient care.

In a response to written parliamentary questions from Labour’s health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall, Health Minister Simeon Brown confirmed Health NZ’s four regions had been set “efficiency targets” of between 2-4.9 percent.

Reducing “waste” in back-office and procurement functions could free up up about $510 million, which could be “re-invested straight back into patient care” and government health targets, without reducing clinical staff, Brown said.

However, Verrall questioned how Health NZ could identify specific “efficiency targets”, but not specify exactly what should be cut.

“Five-hundred-million dollars is a massive amount to cut from health services, and to say they’ll do this without any accountability about where it’s coming from or where it’s going is absolutely outrageous.”

According to the document, efficiency targets by region are:

• Northern 3.7 percent ($170m)
• Midland 2 percent ($55m)
• Central 4.1 percent ($124m)
• South Island 4.9 percent ($161m)

The efficiency targets are applied to “other operating cost” budgets, which do not include staffing budgets.

However, the senior doctors’ union said so-called “back office” cuts already made it difficult for clinicians to care for their patients.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Sarah Dalton said the constant cost-cutting did not make sense and, in some cases, cost more money in the the long-run.

“On the one hand, they’re saying they spending more money on health,” she said. “On the other, they’re constantly demanding savings, which they claim will not impact front-line care.”

More of the health budget seemed to be spent on locums to fill the gaps left by staff shortages, outsourcing to private hospitals, and paying external consultants to do work that could and should be done by permanent staff, Dalton said.

The minister said the budget was the budget and it did not change, but the targets were simply about “making that budget go further for patients in their respective regions”.

The targets would not be used to meet the projected 2025/26 deficit of $200m, he said.

Examples of efficiencies already realised this year included saving $6m in insurance premiums, reducing unused office space and improved purchasing of medical supplies.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Warning: This story discusses graphic details of sexual abuse

A judge has told jurors in the trial of a man accused of sexually abusing a boy into his teenage years that their deliberation will depend on the reliability of key witness evidence.

Michael Ian Mclean has been on trial in the Auckland District Court, facing 33 charges, including performing indecent acts on a person under 16, grooming and sexual violation.

His defence call the allegations nonsense, claiming they never happened.

Judge Simon Lance summed up the case on Wednesday. He took the jury through their function in deciding on a verdict, as well as guiding them through a recap of arguments on both sides.

Judge Lance pointed jurors to evidence given by Mclean and his alleged victim, who could not be named.

“Your deliberations and your ultimate verdicts will – I suggest, as is often the case in trials as such as this and subject to the legal directions I give you – depend largely on what you make of the credibility and the reliability of these two critical witnesses,” Lance told the jury.

He reminded jurors of the evidence given by both Mclean and the complainant.

Lance noted the detail in the complainant’s evidence and how, when cross-examined by Mclean’s defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC on if he was lying, he said he could not make up that level of detail.

In Mclean’s evidence, he said the allegations were not true and that the physical acts alleged did not happen, Lance told jurors.

“Mr Mclean was cross-examined and, during that cross-examination, he maintained his position, he maintained his stance that these things simply did not happen.”

Jurors were taken through material about the misconceptions of sexual abuse, something the judge alluded to at the beginning of the trial.

“You will recall that, at the very start of the trial, given the nature of it – that is, it involves allegations of sexual offending – I gave you a generic direction about there being no such thing as a typical sexual offence, no such thing as a typical offender, no such thing as a typical person who is offended against,” Lance told jurors.

The jury has retired for deliberation.

Sexual Violence

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Isolated, lonely and far from support networks – that’s what people who are homeless say it’s like living in Auckland’s suburbs.

An Auckland Council audit found more than 400 people were living without shelter in September last year. In May this year, that number was more than 900.

A Salvation Army and Community Housing Aotearoa report released on Tuesday found homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled in the year to September.

But these figures don’t capture all the people sleeping rough in suburban areas; living in their cars, abandoned buildings or couch surfing.

Experts are calling for more funding to find out the true extent of the problem… as the government ponders introducing move-on orders to get rough sleepers out of the CBD.

Along the Onehunga foreshore early on a Tuesday morning, 15 cars were parked up, frost coating their windshields.

Blankets, duffel bags and bags of groceries could be seen through the windows.

The occupants there said that before seven o’clock in the morning, there were 30 cars with people sleeping in them. They had since left for work – some even had full time jobs.

One man Checkpoint spoke to was even working multiple jobs, but was sleeping in his car to avoid paying rent.

“It’s pretty hard, to be honest, it feels like you’re being isolated but I kind of like it in a sense just for my own peace of mind and solitude.

“But at the same time, there’s not really much of a community out here.”

He had been living in his car for about a year.

“Early mornings and then head out to work, come back when it’s nighttime and before the gates close. They have shower facilities here and there’s a nearby swimming pool.”

The man said he had been applying for full-time jobs but hadn’t had much luck. He said he thinks it’s partly because of his criminal record from a few years ago.

“There’s so [many] factors that [are] kind of holding me back from getting work. For me, inexperience and a criminal record from a long time ago.”

Families with ‘nowhere else to go’

On nearby State Avenue, what is now an abandoned lot was once a row of abandoned houses.

Auckland Councillor Josephine Bartley said before they were demolished, a family of four was living in one of them.

“Late at night they’d come back, and they’d go through the barriers and slip into the house, because they had nowhere else to go.”

She said homelessness in Auckland’s suburbs has become more noticeable.

“It’s not public, but you can tell because you can see the cars in the parks in the morning, you can see that there’s blankets, you can see it all around.

“Then you’ve also got people who are couch surfing and older people.”

Kildare Peterson has been supporting rough sleepers for several years. He said homelessness in the suburbs is rife.

“They’d rather buy food to feed their kids and instead of paying the rent and they can’t afford the power.

“They said it’s a lot easier to live out on the streets or live in their car, because all they have to pay for is petrol, but then they can’t afford to pay their warrant or rego.”

Delphina Soti, general manager of Onehunga St Vincent de Paul’s said she’s seeing overcrowded households reaching out for support.

“When we do our food parcels, it’s for a family of 10, a family of 12, a family of 14, four-bedroom house, garages used up.

“It’s still a significant problem; there’s still not enough houses out there.”

Calls for more research funding

Professor Deidre Brown, a director of MĀPIHI, the Māori and Pacific Housing Research Centre said more research is needed to discover the true the extent of homelessness in Aotearoa.

“The hidden nature of this homelessness will only be exacerbated by a lack of data around this.

“It’s already hidden when people are couch surfing and living in garages.

“But when we don’t have people going out and finding the extent of the problem and whether or not that issue is growing, we really can’t make good decisions around housing provision in the future.”

But she said there currently isn’t the funding.

“It concerns me that the changes in the research funding landscape that the current coalition government have instigated over recent years makes it even more difficult to obtain the funding to undertake that research.”

Homelessness in Auckland more than doubles since the year to September

The National Homelessness Data Project was created by The Salvation Army and Community Housing Aotearoa, with Kāhui Tū Kaha, Christchurch Methodist Mission, Housing First Backbone, Wellington City Mission, Downtown Community Ministry.

The project’s latest six-monthly survey showed homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled from 426 to 940 people in the year to September.

It found homelessness is spreading beyond city centres into suburbs and people are being moved from one place to another.

Women and older people are being increasingly impacted, with four out of five homeless women identifying as Māori.

Welfare changes hitting hard

A Citizens Advice Bureau report released last week found because of welfare changes, people are losing the cars they live in and are struggling meet basic living costs.

The report, Mana Āki – Dignity for All, is based on over 10,000 requests to the Citizens Advice Bureau. It calls for the welfare system to accommodate for the complexity of people’s real-life circumstances and to treat people with dignity.

It found government policies such as benefit sanctions, tighter emergency housing criteria and cuts to community services had worsened hardship.

In September this year, the government funded an extra 300 social homes through Housing First and put $10 million towards support services for people sleeping rough.

Ministry of Social Development staff were also told to use greater discretion when looking at emergency housing applications.

Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith is currently seeking advice on additional measures to enhance safety in Aotearoa’s CBDs, including the potential use of move-on orders for rough sleepers.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police investigating the homicide of a Rotorua man are urging residents near where he died to check their properties for items the offender may have left behind.

Nicholas Patrick Mitchell, 37, was found dead in a vehicle on Ford Road in the city shortly before 8:30pm on Friday.

Police said inquiries suggest his injuries are not consistent with a crash.

Senior Sergeant Mark Van Kempen is asking residents around Ford Road to check their properties for possible evidence.

He said it’s possible the offender discarded clothing, weapons or other items while fleeing the scene.

Police are following a number of leads.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Health New Zealand says there is a new case of measles of Queenstown.

It brings the number of known cases nationally since the response began to 32 – four of which are still infectious.

Health New Zealand said the Queenstown case is linked to overseas travel and is concerned about 25 places of exposure in Queenstown, Akaroa, and Christchurch.

People are urged to check Health New Zealand’s locations of interest page which is regularly updated. Individuals are also encouraged to follow advice for close or casual contacts and to monitor for symptoms.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Putting on a Christmas feast with all the trimmings is not getting any cheaper, and you are already paying more as soon as you fire up the barbecue.

Infometrics has been tracking the cost of a classic Christmas meal for several years, by examining the various ingredients needed for a Christmas dinner.

Chief executive and principal economist Brad Olsen told Checkpoint his team had been looking at higher cost increases through the year, and one that really stuck out was the energy costs New Zealanders were facing.

“Electricity price inflation is up 12 percent over the 12 months to November – that’s some of the fastest electricity increases we’ve seen since 1989 – but the big one and the challenge for anybody wanting to do a barbecue is that gas prices are up 17 percent over the last year.

“So just turning the barbecue on gets expensive, before you get into what you’re putting on it.”

Infometrics looked at two different menu options – one barbecue-based with steak, lamb chops, classic salads and sausages on bread; and the other the more classic option of roast lamb, roast pork, ham, potatoes, kumura, pumpkin and beans; along with dessert options for both.

Olsen said a roast meat meal that would feed roughly 10 people would now cost about $200, up from $178 last year, and adding dessert and entrees would come with a price tag of $275.

A barbecue meal would cost about $300 for the core meats, or $380 overall with snacks and dessert.

“So you’re talking $30-$57 more for the entire Christmas meal,” said Olsen. “That might not sound like a huge amount for some people, but honestly for some households, that’s about the entire meal for a lot of people in general, let alone the increase.”

He said meat was “by far the biggest offender” when it came to increased costs, with the classic options like steak or lamb considerably more expensive this year.

However he said there were more affordable options.

“So sirloin steak is going to set you back more than $45 a kilogram, the likes of roast lamb is $25 a kilogram, lamb chops are $23 a kg. But you can get a number of chicken items for anywhere between $7 and $16 a kilo, so considerably lower, and a roast pork, at the moment you can get that for $13 a kg.”

Dessert was also looking more expensive, with egg prices up about 12 percent over the past year.

“They’ve come back a touch, but put it this way, they’re currently costing you about $4.69 on how many eggs I’m putting in my pav, they were less than three bucks for the same amount of eggs just a couple of years ago. So all of that has increased.”

Even the toppings on the Christmas pavlova can add to the increased cost, said Olsen.

“If you’re putting kiwifruit on at the moment, it’s 44 percent more expensive than it was last year. If you’re having to put your sultanas into your figgy pudding, that’s 31 percent more expensive than last year, so there are much bigger costs that are starting to really hit.”

Olsen said the Christmas season was the biggest stress test on family finances.

“Not only do you have all the food costs, it’s also the time that you do the most spending.

“If we look at card activity in the economy, we know the month of December is still the biggest spend-up, because we all go and get our Christmas presents, we go and do the Boxing Day sales afterwards.

“All of that normal stress that comes with Christmas, you add money into the mix and it’s pretty potent.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man has been arrested in central Auckland for carrying a samurai sword, which some members of the public mistook for a gun.

Police say they were initially called at around 4pm when a member of the public thought they saw a man with a gun on Upper Queen Street.

Armed police rushed to the scene but couldn’t substantiate the presence of any firearms.

Police later tracked down a man carrying a samurai sword wrapped in a jacket on nearby Vincent Street.

He was arrested and police say he will be charged with possessing an offensive weapon.

“There is no information to suggest that this samurai sword was presented at any member of the public,” a spokesperson clarified.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A New Zealand family is complaining to Jetstar after their elderly father was injured during an unexpected overnight layover.

The 77-year-old seriously injured his face and hands after faceplanting on the concrete when he was forced to wait outside while the airport was closed.

Jetstar said it offered to reimburse them for overnight accommodation but they chose to wait at the airport instead, but the man’s daughter said they weren’t made aware the airport would be closed.

Rachel Cargill and her father were due to fly direct from Australia’s Gold Coast early Monday morning when the airline suddenly cancelled their flight.

“We got up 4:30 Monday morning, and there was an email from Jetstar advising us that our flight had been cancelled due to, apparently, staffing issues, and there was a link offering different flights for us,” she said.

“Every single one of those flights had a stopover of at least 10 hours in either Sydney or Melbourne.”

After considering their options, the Cargills settled for an evening flight to Sydney followed by an early morning flight to Auckland, with a 9-hour overnight layover in between.

“They did state in the email that they would reimburse us for any hotel costs, or for some of the hotel costs if we chose to get one. We chose not to, and we figured we would probably just crash in the airport in Sydney somewhere until our flight,” Rachel Cargill said.

It wasn’t until they had settled in for the evening that a security guard told them they would be kicked out between 11:30pm and 2:30am.

“He said, ‘oh, and by the way, we’re closing at 11:30 for three hours, so you will be kicked out.’ We weren’t the only ones, there were other people, and most of the seats [outside] were taken up outside with people lying on them sleeping. We managed to find one in the car park. It was raining, and it was cold,” she said.

“We got a bit cold at about one o’clock, so we decided to go for a wander around the outside of the airport to see if we could find a better spot. And as we were walking around, Dad didn’t see the gutter, and he just fell over face first… He just fell face first onto the tarmac.”

“[He] damaged his face and ripped the fingertips off his hand, and there was blood everywhere. And I’ll give credit to the security guard at the airport. He saw it happen and came over and helped us and got us some help.”

After arriving in Auckland the next day, she said her father was treated for a broken hand.

The family was initially worried the wounds on his face would require plastic surgery, but he was later given stitches.

Cargill said Jetstar should have warned them that the airport would be closed during the night.

“It would have been nice if they told us that. We may have organised a room [if we knew]. I mean, it would have only been for a few hours and a total waste of money, but it would have been better than stuck outside in the rain and the cold.”

In a statement to RNZ, Jetstar said it was “very concerned” to hear about the man’s experience.

A spokesperson noted that customers were given 11 different options for alternative flights, though Cargill said their choices had dwindled quickly as other passengers snapped them up immediately.

“We emailed customers advising we would assist with reasonable overnight accommodation costs and if needed, customers could also speak to an airport team member for help finding accommodation,” a spokesperson for Jetstar said.

“We’re sorry to learn what happened during his time in Sydney. Our customer care team will be in contact to discuss his experience.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fire and Emergency has taken legal action against its union and one of its officials, following alleged threats and intimidation.

New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) officials are believed to have threatened and intimidated volunteers to stop them responding to emergencies using the most appropriate equipment during strike periods.

The union is also alleged to have condoned and aided the conduct, so FENZ has begun legal action in the Employment Relations Authority.

“I think the public would be appalled to learn officials of the NZPFU appear to have sought to stop volunteer firefighters going on callouts with the most appropriate appliance,” FENZ chief executive Kerry Gregory said.

“We rely on volunteers to ensure the community remains protected, including during strikes, and in 2025, this kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable.

“The alleged behaviour includes seeking to deter volunteers from responding to incidents during the NZPFU strike action and preventing them from deploying the most operationally appropriate resources to an emergency callout.

“We respect the right of people to take industrial action, but the alleged behaviour puts the community at risk and creates an unsafe workplace. We will not stand for it.”

Earlier in December, the Employment Relations Authority referred Fire and Emergency and the NZPFU to independent facilitation to help make progress in ongoing negotiations for a collective agreement. That facilitation continues.

“We also call on the NZPFU to call off its planned strikes for this Friday and Boxing Day,” Gregory said. “It’s reckless for the union to keep putting the community at risk, while we’re engaged in independent facilitation to help us reach a settlement.

“Fire and Emergency will continue to engage in the facilitation process in good faith, with the goal of reaching a fair and sustainable settlement. At the same time, we will do everything necessary to protect our team members and the wider public against behaviour that puts them in danger.”

NZPFU denies allegations, will defend legal action

New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union national secretary Wattie Watson said the union denied the allegations.

The union said it believed the legal action was a reflection of FENZ’s increasing frustration with the support many volunteers have articulated or demonstrated in many ways, since NZPFU members began taking strike action.

“FENZ immediately issued a public statement across the organisation and to media about their legal action, and that behaviour supports our belief that their end goal is to try and portray conflict and friction, when the reality is a camaraderie in their dedication to serving and protecting the public.

“The volunteers are facing many of the same issues that the NZPFU is fighting for and have voiced their frustration that it appears only the NZPFU are fighting against FENZ’s mismanagement of critical funding.

“FENZ is using every tactic it can muster, but our members will continue to act in a professional way and continue to foster the good working relationships with volunteers.

“It is FENZ management that are attempting to intimidate volunteers. In the NZPFU bargaining dispute in 2022, FENZ threatened volunteers with disciplinary action, if they spoke out about the issues they were facing, which ran parallel with issues the NZPFU membership was raising, including unsafe and unreliable fire appliances.”

The matter has also been refereed to police.

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