Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – Whether it’s a Metallica concert, the Santa Parade or, yes, even the much-hyped opening of IKEA, Auckland Transport Operation Centre is tasked with trying to keep people moving.

It looks a little bit like NASA’s Mission Control, with dozens of monitors and computer screens all humming away with eyes on a city of more than 1.5 million people every busy day.

Nestled amongst the cafes and offices of Auckland’s North Shore, the Auckland Transport Operation Centre – ATOC for short – is the nerve centre of a massive network of roads, bus schedules, intersections and stop signs throughout much of the North Island. Between Christmas shopping and holiday road trips, it’s entering one of the busiest times of the year.

Here’s a look at how exactly it all works.

What exactly does ATOC do?

The centre is run in a partnership by Auckland Transport and NZTA and operates Auckland as what’s called “one network” – responsible for managing local roads, state highways, bus and ferry travel, as well as train travel, which is handled from a separate location.

It covers state highways from Taupō to Cape Reinga, while a sister centre in Wellington covers from Tūrangi to Invercargill.

Between them, the two centres cover approximately 11,000 km of state highways.

Claire Howard has been managing the Auckland centre for the past year and a half, and previously put in many years on the “shop floor” there.

“The network is like the arteries in your body – they’re all connected,” she said.

“We have a kind of ethos that we want to get our customers from A to B, and travel as quickly and efficiently as possible, regardless of who operates that part of the network.”

What this means is a constantly churning surveillance network across CCTV and other trackers keeping an eye on motorways, bus stops, and much more.

And it never truly shuts down.

“Twenty-four seven every day of the year,” said Zane Davidson, real-time operations manager. “You can kind of get a sense here just standing back and appreciating the amount of activity going on.”

The team deals with morning peak and evening rush hour peak traffic, and the increasingly short period of time in between called “interpeak”.

The main control room is split up into sections – one area covering the bus network, one the motorways, while others monitor local roads and incidents. Those flashing electronic billboards you see around the city alerting you to wet weather or heavy winds? Those are all controlled here.

ATOC by the numbers

• Responsible for managing traffic across 3000km of state highways from Taupō to Cape Reinga and 7500km of arterial and local roads across Auckland
• Staff are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• More than 5000 CCTV cameras keep watch
• 16,000 traffic signal adjustments are made each month
• The centre also manages traffic control for around 70 planned events a year
• They also deal with more than 40,000 “unplanned” events – accidents, weather chaos, breakdowns and the like

So they control the traffic lights and on-ramp signals here?

They do, but the majority of the work is automated now, with frequent real-time adjustments made by ATOC staff based on traffic flow or incidents.

“The ramp signal network is pretty much now fully automated,” said principal signal engineer Mitch Tse. “We have detectors on the network, particularly on the state highway or motorway network, collecting data constantly.”

“That historical data is built up over time and we’ve got algorithms that we set up and parameters that we set up to essentially maintain or protect the state highway network to keep traffic and our customers moving. They’ll come on automatically as they see if there’s a flow breakdown … and then the operators can manually override.”

Traffic lights are run by a system called SCATS, first developed in Sydney and now used around the world.

Simply put, the system uses detectors in the road that can detect vehicles approaching intersections, as well as the volume of vehicles and time between their movements. Nearby intersections can be linked with each other and coordinate the broader traffic picture in the area, and a central manager analyses the broader region and makes adjustments.

“We’ve got vehicle sensors on the approach or at the limit lines, and they’re constantly collecting data,” Tse said.

“It can determine how much time is given to each approach, depending on demand.”

At any time the system can be accessed and manually altered by operators if needed.

How the SCATS system works:

[embedded content]

Tse said it’s important to consider protecting the entire traffic corridor when incidents happen. Looking at the big picture when managing traffic jams may not cheer up the person in their Corolla stuck in the middle of it all, but a broader approach is key with so many moving parts.

“In terms of our intervention, it’s going to be a calculated one, so that we know we’re protecting or monitoring the entire corridor instead of one intersection,” he said.

There’s also a balance between day to day activity on the traffic network and planning ahead for the future.

What about emergency incidents?

One of the big jobs at ATOC is looking for problems on the road network, which can range from a car broken down in the Waterview Tunnel to a major accident.

“Seconds mean a lot to us,” Howard said. “The sooner that we can find it and for the event to be identified, the sooner we can do something about it and we can get the right resources to the site. The sooner that it can be cleared and we can put the traffic back to normal for that time of day.”

There are more than 100 incidents a day on average which ATOC deals with, frequently in partnership with other agencies such as Fire and Emergency New Zealand. There’s also a NZ Police officer on duty to monitor events.

“It’ll range from a vehicle stopped, which might have a minor impact for a limited time, all the way through to a serious crash or damage to an asset,” Davidson said.

For instance, on the day RNZ visited ATOC, a roadworks equipment breakdown on the Harbour Bridge led to multiple lane closures during early morning rush hour.

When that happens, AT and NZTA put out communications as quickly as possible on their journey planner apps and social media to notify drivers of delays.

During weather events, things can get pretty hectic. ATOC has an incident planning room which is put into action when an event rises beyond “BAU” – “business as usual” in AT lingo.

“When it goes above a business as usual then we stand up an incident management team,” Howard said.

Their systems keep track of faults and prioritise them by urgency, and ATOC staff are in constant communication with each other in person and over their communications networks.

“At any one time we can have upwards of 10 things going on at once,” Davidson said.

“The team’s so good at just triaging and prioritising and just working through things quite methodically now. It’s quite hard to panic them.

“These guys respond to hundreds of events every single day,” Howard said. “Some of them you know about, some of them you will never know about.”

Tse said it’s important to consider protecting the entire traffic corridor when incidents happen.

“In terms of our intervention, it’s going to be a calculated one, so that we know we’re protecting or monitoring the entire corridor instead of one intersection.”

ATOC also frequently undergoes planning for events on the scale of Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Anniversary Weekend floods in Auckland.

“We learned a lot from Gabrielle and the cyclones and the Auckland floods,” Howard said. “We learned a heck of a lot and we’ve done a lot to mitigate and reduce some of that impact.”

Davidson said simulations are run several times a year of possible scenarios, from another cyclone event on down.

And what about planned events?

ATOC also handles the planning for upwards of 70 events a year that might require road closures or traffic management – and that can range from the opening of IKEA to the recent Metallica concert at Eden Park.

Each event carries its own unique traffic patterns which factors into planning, Davidson said.

“It’s understanding what people are trying to do when they are attending these concerts,” he said. “You’ve got a very different audience depending on what you’re going to see. … The transport demands are different.

“A Metallica audience might attract people from Hamilton, for example, whereas something more local like the All Blacks might not necessarily to the same degree.”

I still get stuck in traffic all the time, though. Can’t that be fixed?

Realistically, that can’t happen unless many people stop using their cars. AT estimates there’s up to 120,000 vehicles per hour on some of Auckland’s arterial roads.

Increased use of public transport and projects like the enormous Auckland City Rail Link – not expected to open until later in 2026 – may help.

“We’ll always have some sort of congestion somewhere on the network,” Howard said.

Traffic can be costly in many ways – a report commissioned by Mayor Wayne Brown released earlier this year estimated traffic congestion could cost the super city $2.6 billion each year by next year.

The report, “Auckland’s Cost of Congestion”, estimated the average Aucklander could waste more than 17 hours in traffic each year by 2026 – working out to 29 million hours every year across the city.

Brown supports introducing some form of congestion charging to Auckland, as has been seen in other cities around the world.

A major shake-up of Auckland Transport announced by the government for next year could affect ATOC operations. A new Auckland Regional Transport Committee will make policy and planning decisions.

Auckland Council said it is too early to be definitive on how the transport reform might affect existing programs like ATOC. The Transport Reform Bill is not expected to be finalised until March.

“The council and AT are currently focused on making decisions on the functions and activity that will sit with the new council-controlled organisation and what will transfer to the council,” said Megan Tyler, the council’s director of policy, planning and governance. “However, decisions on this have not yet been made.”

ATOC has a team of traffic engineers whom Howard said are always looking at “how is this route operating over a certain amount of time?”

“And do we need to make permanent changes because there’s more demand? And that could be maybe a new school is opened up or a shopping centre has opened up. What do we need to do to change that?”

Howard said that some responsibility falls on drivers as well to avoid congestion – witness repeated warnings about congestion around Mount Wellington with IKEA’s opening this week.

“One of the things I would love is for people to plan ahead for anything. I think we’ve gone past the days where you can jump in the car and think you’ll always get a free rein through to wherever you want to go.

“If you are travelling around, whether it’s for your Christmas shopping, whether it’s for your holidays, plan ahead, plan for those delays, use navigation apps that are out there, so you’re prepared.”

Ultimately, how much can traffic management do?

Nobody is ever happy when they get stuck in traffic jams, but go back again to the analogy at the start of this article – the network is like a giant circulatory system, and all the pieces have to work together to keep it moving.

Howard said that constantly growing Auckland creates its own challenges.

This is why you’ll see things like the dynamic lane changes, such as ones recently installed on Maioro Road in New Windsor, which can change the direction of traffic lanes at peak times of the day.

“We don’t have a lot of space in Auckland to build nice brand new roads and keep people moving everywhere. … We’ve got to do things a little bit more intelligently and differently.”

“If we weren’t here, you would definitely notice. The congestion would be worse, you would be less informed, you wouldn’t understand what’s going on the network …. it would just be a lot worse if these teams weren’t here 24-7 operating the network.”

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

It could cost one kindergarten operator hundreds of thousands of dollars to decontaminate its sites that tested positive for asbestos from coloured play sand, it says.

Whanau Manaaki got tests on 13 kindergartens where the play sand was used, and three in Wellington returned positive results.

It has meant significant clean up work.

Its chief executive, Amanda Coulston, told Checkpoint, the not-for-profit group had spent $40,000 on the tests so far.

“In those kindergartens, generally that means that all of the porous products such as the carpet, toys, soft toys, things like that would have to be removed and destroyed.

“And then we have to wait and they test again, and then we need to refurnish our kindergartens so the children can go back,” Coulston said.

“So all of that is, hugely disruptive.”

Coulston expected the final cost to be between $300,000 and $350,000, which is not covered by insurance.

“The Ministry [of Education], you know, has been pretty hands off in terms of all of this,” she said.

“And all we’ve been told to do is go to the suppliers and try to litigate to get reimbursement from them.”

Coulston said staff were angry and aggrieved that regulations were “obviously not strong enough” to stop the contamination in the first place.

“Schools and early childhood services are left to fend for themselves, so you have to chase your own money,” she said.

A Lower Hutt mother the day before on Checkpoint, said she was stressed and worried over whether she had done enough to keep her children safe, aged 3 and 10 months.

Keren Lee’s home also returned a positive result after she bought contaminated sand six months ago.

Some parents who bought the sand have told RNZ that Kmart should pay for the product and their homes to be tested.

Kmart, the main retailer which has sold 67,000 units, said on Tuesday its sand recall does not include a requirement for it to test, or pay for specialist cleaning in homes.

It said customers were eligible for a refund by presenting a photo of the product or proof of purchase.

The recalls underway

• Coloured Sand for Unity Ceremony, 200 gram bags, sold from October 2023 to November 2025 from Trade Me, Kogan, Dick Smith, Gems Wedding Supplies
• Coloured sand by Creative Sand, sold from September 2024 to November 2025
• MIKI Sand Art Set, sold nationwide from July 2023 to December 2023
• Rainbow Sand Art Toy, sold at the below retailers nationwide from June 2025 to November 2025
• Craft Sand, 380 grams, sold from April 2021 to November 2025
• Pop & Surprise Playset, sold at Kmart from January 2020 to November 2025
• 14 piece Sand Castle Building Set and Blue, Green and Pink Magic Sand, sold at Kmart at various times
• Educational Colours – Rainbow Sand and Creatistics – Coloured Sand – Various Colours, sold from January 2021 to October 2025

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

Many shoppers are bracing themselves for chaos as IKEA prepares to open the doors of its Auckland store, the first in the country.

Up to 20,000 shoppers are predicted to visit on the first day, and traffic management are warning of 40 minute queues just to get off the motorway, and up to another hour to find a parking space.

AUT macromarketing professor Ben Wooliscroft told Checkpoint the opening was an exciting phenomena for Kiwis.

However with heavy delays and high foot traffic expected, he said there are a few key ways that shoppers can make their experience as enjoyable as possible.

Take public transport

“Take public transport, that’s the way to get to IKEA. You don’t have to carry it away with you when you leave, you can get it picked up from when the depots around New Zealand, they’ve got 30 different ones.”

With 19 collection points in the North Island, and 11 in the South, people will be able to pick up their new furniture all the way from Kaitaia, down to Invercargill.

“I’m really excited that they’re bringing that modern take of retail to New Zealand, that we don’t have to drive there.”

Don’t rush it

Wooliscroft said it was important for shoppers to be ready to take their time in the superstore.

IKEA’s iconic layout is split into two main areas, the showroom and the markethall.

In the showroom, furniture is laid out in multiple room set ups, including lounges, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms and even patio.

Wooliscroft said IKEA is traditionally set up in a European way, showcasing rooms based on size, so customers can figure out how best to utilise the space of their own homes.

“That’s for apartment living, particularly in Europe. So, they’ll have a 20 metre kitchen, or a 23 metre bedroom and you can see how that room might be optimised. It’s not compulsory to buy the whole set, but it gives you great ideas about how you can efficiently use room.”

“So, being ready to walk through the different rooms to appreciate these part of a way of looking at how we can use our space differently, it’s going to take a while to get through there. Don’t expect to go in and go out.”

He said while it was easy to get sucked into buying, that didn’t necessarily need to be part of the experience.

“Don’t necessarily go and buy anything, just have a an experience in retail.”

Avoid jumping on the bandwagon

While the IKEA hype has been going strong across the country, Wooliscroft said it was important to consider whether IKEA was actually a place you want to shop at.

“If you’re going in there with the New Zealand drop into the furniture shop, have a look at the sofa, get out, IKEA is probably not the best place for you,” Wooliscroft said.

“If you’re not feeling calm, don’t go in. It’s not the right place for you to be today. This is somewhere you should set aside. At least a couple of hours, probably half a day, plan to have a break, have a bit of food. Just take your time and enjoy the experience.”

Wooliscroft said while IKEA is on the better end when it comes to sustainability, if you are seeking a truly sustainable product there was also the option to stick to local.

“If you really wanna go sustainable, go and find a local furniture maker who’s using local fallen timber to build their wooden items and making things locally but that’s a different price category in terms of sustainable.”

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

A man says he is the “luckiest unlucky person on the planet” after his house-bus was hit by lightning during a storm.

Emergency services have rushed to a motor camp in Dudding Lake, in rural Rangitīkei after reports a tornado went through and overturned a caravan at 12.36pm.

FENZ shift manager Murray Dunbar said a fire truck was at the scene alongside ambulance staff who were assessing four patients.

St John said a patient has been taken to Whanganui Hospital in a moderate condition.

A man at the camp, Tony, said he was in his house bus at Dudding Lake camp ground – which he uses for feral cat rescue and rehabilitation – when it was struck by lightning.

He said he was the “luckiest unlucky person on the planet”, with just some minor damage to his electrical system.

He said the bus lurched and rattled when it was struck, and it blew wires out of the wall.

“Your whole body goes from zero to full throttle jet engine level vibration and the sound is all enveloping… strangest feeling ever.”

He said the roof now leaks but think it was just melted silicon on some joins.

John and Karen Beers were in their caravan when it was moved across the ground by the strong winds.

It was dragged about three metres into a car.

“We have experienced big hail in Australia and this sounded exactly the same,” John Beers said.

“We thought, ‘not this again’. Then the whole thing started tossing and turning and we were just dragged across the ground.”

The couple weren’t injured.

Grant, who with wife Helen and dog Ollie, were also uninjured but shaken when their 5th wheeler home was hit by the tornado.

The couple hit the floor and said it was like being in a washing machine.

“An horrific noise came through. I couldn’t see the trees 40 feet away. It was actually just white going round and round and round,” Grant said.

Rangitīkei District Council said it had been informed of a tornado and asked people to avoid the area until otherwise advised.

The council said its staff was assessing damage and would keep people updated as more information came to hand.

Power out to nearly 200 properties

Rangitīkei District Council said there are reports of numerous uprooted trees and some damage to surrounding buildings.

It said 180 properties in the area have been impacted by a power outage, with Powerco having since restored power to Dudding Lake homes.

It said fallen trees would be cleared.

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

The food safety authority is doubling down on its assessment that rotten lunches were given to students at a Christchurch school because of “human error” by the school’s staff.

The principal of Haeata Community Campus, Peggy Burrows, has disputed that lunches served on Monday were left at the school since the previous Thursday.

She claims CCTV footage showed eight containers that hold the smaller individual meals were collected by the provider, Compass Group.

But in a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Food Safety Spokesperson Vince Arbuckle challenged this.

“The weight of evidence suggests that the contaminated food being distributed to students was a result of a human error at the school,” he said.

“We think it likely this occurred during the school’s distribution of the lunches.”

Arbuckle said the footage, which showed the number of boxes going in and out of the school, did not provide sufficient evidence that all of the leftover lunches were accounted for.

He said the CCTV footage reviewed does not show the contents of the boxes or whether they were the same boxes.

“In addition, staff at the school told us the school keeps an unknown number of boxes, which it uses to deliver food to students.

“For example, last Thursday, eight boxes were delivered, and nine were collected. Staff at the school also told us some boxes are used to deliver lunches to younger students, while some are left in the school’s cafeteria where older students can help themselves.

“Since all of the contaminated lunches were from boxes in the cafeteria, we think it most likely that some food intended for consumption last week was mistakenly made available on Monday.”

He said Food Safety were continuing to investigate what happened and were happy to work with the school on its processes.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, a spokesperson from The School Lunch Collective, which represented Compass Group, said no food was ever left in their delivery vans overnight.

“We follow robust processes with surplus meals.

“We collect the cambro boxes given to us by the school each day. They are returned to the CPK [central production kitchen] and put in our different waste management streams. We clean the cambro boxes as well as the vans that deliver the food – every day. At the end of the night, there is no food left in any of our vans or cambro boxes.

The spokesperson said MPI is continuing to investigate this incident and will verify their systems and processes.

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

Far North lines company Top Energy says repairs to a substation that failed spectacularly almost a month ago have now been completed.

At about 5.20pm on 6 November, Kaikohe residents reported hearing an explosion and seeing the doors to a substation building blown open as power went out to more than 23,000 homes and businesses across the district.

Fire suppression systems were triggered and volunteers from the Kaikohe and Ōkaihau fire brigades made sure the building was safe before staff entered to assess the damage.

Power was restored to most households by midnight but smaller outages continued for days afterwards.

Top Energy attributed the outage at the time to a “catastrophic failure” in a high-voltage switchboard.

Chief executive Russell Shaw said a replacement panel, sourced from the Ngāwhā geothermal power plant, had now been installed and the Kaikohe substation was back to full capacity.

Shaw said the damaged panel had been sent to the manufacturer for detailed analysis, and the company was checking similar substations around the Far North.

The 6 November outage came just six days after another power cut of similar scale and duration was triggered by a tree falling onto power lines south of Kerikeri.

“We understand these outages may have shaken the confidence of some in the community about the reliability of the electricity network, and we’re very sorry about that. But I want to provide assurance that the network is reliable, and we have invested significantly in recent years,” Shaw said.

To add extra resilience, the company was planning to install connection points for diesel generators at each of its substations over the next 12 to 18 months.

If another major outage occurred, those connections would allow temporary diesel generators to be deployed across the network within days rather than weeks, he said.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Commission has launched an investigation after the 6 November outage breached the annual limit on the permitted number and duration of power cuts.

Shaw said Top Energy would cooperate fully and comply with the commission’s findings. The company would also provide any findings from the manufacturer’s analysis of the failed switchboard.

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

New data has found a large number of cars in New Zealand don’t have the registration and WoF up to date.

Among everyday vehicles, nearly half are overdue for either their Warrant of Fitness (WoF) or their registration, according to a vehicle management app.

Bonnet, an app that links to NZTA data, crunched the numbers for 21,500 vehicles, both privately owned and fleet operated.

It found we are not good at getting our WoFs in time. The Bonnet data shows in Northland, 66 percent of warrants are overdue, in Auckland around 16 percent have expired, but that was down to just 8 percent in Otago.

Automobile Association’s principal policy advisor Terry Collins had some questions around the data.

He believes the figures are inflated due to the definition of expired.

“Their registration might expire on a certain date which could be Saturday, but you paid on Thursday, so they wait until Thursday to pay it and that payment’s back dated to Saturday. So, it was expired, but really the payment’s made.”

He said AA previously thought 20 percent of WoFs in Northland were overdue, which is believed to be one of the worst in the country.

Collins said that is due to people unable to afford to get them done, as well as vehicles not being driven.

He said it is important that cars are registered because it contributes to the ACC fund, which covers injuries on the road.

“Those people who are not paying their registration are being funded by the people who are,” Collins said.

The government is looking at changes to the WoF system, including less frequent inspections for some vehicles.

Proposed changes include less frequent WoF inspections for some light vehicles, a simplification of heavy vehicle requirements and new safety features for imported vehicles.

Under the proposed changes, the first WoF for new light vehicles would be issued for four years. Vehicles between four and 10 years old would be required to get a new WoF every two years, while those older than 10 years would still need a yearly inspection.

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

Severe thunderstorm warnings are in place for the Auckland region with MetService saying they could lead to very heavy downpours.

MetService is forecasting downpours across the North Island on Wednesday, with possible thunderstorms in some places, and a number of watches and warnings in place.

A heavy rain warning is in place from 11am until 11pm on Wednesday for Bay of Plenty and Gisborne/Tai Rāwhiti north of Ruatoria and the inland ranges, thunderstorms and downpours are also possible in these areas.

MetService has a severe thunderstorm warning in place for the following areas: Gulf, Kaipara, Auckland City, Franklin, Rodney and Albany.

At 3.22pm, MetService weather radar detected severe thunderstorms near Wellsford, Kaiwaka, South Head, Okahukura Peninsula, Tauhoa and Port Albert.

These severe thunderstorms are moving towards the southeast, and are expected to lie near Warkworth, Helensville, Puhoi, Kaukapakapa, Kaipara Flats, Matakana, Ahuroa, Parakai and Makarau at 3.52pm and near Auckland, Orewa, Albany, Inner Hauraki Gulf, Outer Hauraki Gulf, Dairy Flat, Whangaparaoa, Silverdale and Coatesville at 4.22pm.

MetService says the thunderstorms are expected to be accompanied by very heavy rain which could cause surface and/or flash flooding about streams, gullies and urban areas, and make driving conditions extremely hazardous.

Our webcam catching the Sky tower being struck by lightning this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/r1yqCFgZX4

— Hauraki Gulf Weather (@HaurakiGulfWx) December 3, 2025

Meanwhile, there are reports that a tornado went through a motor camp in rural Manawatū and overturned a caravan.

Emergency services were called at 12.36pm and Fire and Emergency has confirmed that there is at least one person is injured.

Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said the most notable warning was for Bay of Plenty, with 80 to 120 millimetres of rain set to fall before the end of the day.

“With thunderstorms in the mix we could see shorter periods of more intense rain bringing those possibilities such as flooding as well as slips and difficult driving conditions.”

Radar update
More heavy showers are building over Northland.
Matamata recorded a whopping 43mm of rain in an hour this morning. pic.twitter.com/mjqOLBfOr2

— MetService NZ (@MetService) December 2, 2025

Thunderstorms may also occur in Taranaki and Whanganui, she said.

A severe thunderstorm watch is in place for a large part of the North Island including Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taupo from 1pm-6pm on Wednesday.

Some of these thunderstorms may become severe on Wednesday afternoon with localised downpours of up to 40mm/h, large hail and strong wind gusts of up to 90km/h.

MetService said there was even a slight chance of a tornado, but that thunderstorm activity was expected to ease by Wednesday evening.

Northerly winds are forecast to turn southwesterly with gusts of up to 90km/h forecast.

Heavy rain watches are in place for a number of places throughout the day including Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island and Coromandel Peninsula, Taranaki, Wairarapa, the eastern hills and ranges in Wellington, and central North Island areas including Waikato and inland Whanganui.

There are also strong wind watches in place later on Wednesday for Northland, Auckland, Taranaki, Horowhenua to Wellington, parts of the Tararua and Hawke’s Bay districts and Wairarapa.

In the South Island heavy rain watches are in place for the Kaikōura Coast and the Chatham Islands, where a strong wind watch is also in place.

There may also be thunderstorms in Central Otago on Wednesday afternoon or evening.

Wind watches are also in place for Marlborough and parts of the Nelson region from 5pm Wednesday until 3am Thursday.

Makgabutlane said things were set to improve from Thursday onwards.

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

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Five new cases of measles have been confirmed, spread across both the North and South Islands.

One is in Dunedin, three are in Auckland, and one is in Waikato.

Te Whatu Ora says the new cases bring the number of known cases nationally since 8 October to 27, with 22 of these no longer infectious.

“This increase in cases is concerning and demonstrates the highly contagious nature of measles,” Te Whatu Ora said in a statement.

“As we head into the summer holiday season, we are especially encouraging people to check their immunisation status and get their MMR vaccination if required.”

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

Auckland City missioner Helen Robinson says some foodbanks would close without government funding. Photo: RNZ Insight / Sarah Robson

*This story has been updated to correct the amount of funding that is for monitoring and evaluating the impact of the programme.

The country’s biggest foodbanks are warning of substantial closures if the government does not provide ongoing funding next year.

The Salvation Army, Auckland City Mission and Food Network are among the organisations that received one-off grants till mid-2026.

They are renewing their call for ongoing government funding as they look ahead to next year.

Salvation Army food security manager Sonya Cameron said planning started now for stocking foodbanks next year and the future was uncertain.

“It’s a very high risk. Salvation Army will stay open … but other organisations are even more vulnerable, we’ve already seen a lot of foodbanks close down in the past,” Cameron said.

“I don’t know how many would close down but I suspect it would be substantial.”

She said without ongoing government funding, the Salvation Army would have to reduce the amount of food given out from its 60 foodbanks.

More than half a million New Zealanders rely on foodbanks and food rescue organisations for support.

Sonya Cameron without government funding the Salvation Army would have to reduce the amount of food its foodbanks distribute. Photo: SUPPLIED/The Salvation Army

Auckland City missioner Helen Robinson said they provide food every day to people who cannot make ends meet.

“Every year we’re left wondering if we’ll be funded. It’s unsustainable,” she said.

“We need to plan, staff, and stock our foodbanks with confidence. That’s impossible when we’re constantly having to re-justify our existence every year to secure funding.”

Robinson said if government funding stopped, some foodbanks would close doors.

“While we will always be there to support whānau, when other services close, it increases pressure on everyone and ultimately means some whānau who are hungry will not be able to access food.”

The Salvation Army and Auckland City Mission are among food banks and hubs that received one-off government grants this year, for the mission that meant it did not have to reduce the number of food parcels it distributes.

That funding, through the Ministry of Social Development’s Food Secure Communities programme, runs till the end of June 2026.

It was renewed after a collective of foodbanks wrote to Social Development Minister Louise Upston asking for ongoing sustainable funding before the May budget announcement.

Foodbanks started to receive direct government funding in 2020 during the pandemic, and over the following four years more than $200 million was invested in the sector. Since then it had been on a one-off basis only.

Food security funding was extended with one-off grants to 13 providers last year, including the mission, which received a one-off $700,000 from the ministry for food parcels.

Earlier this year, the ministry said it was reviewing the way foodbanks were funded.

Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance head, Tracey Watene, told Midday Report rescued food is a crucial part of what foodbanks offer.

“If funding drops off, thousands of meals will disappear, millions of kilos of edible kai will be wasted, staff will be lost and services will close,” she said.

“The entire food support network, foodbanks, community groups and food rescue, will be weakened just when New Zealanders need it most.”

The alliance received some MSD funding and had diversified to bolster its books.

“Food rescue isn’t the long term fix but it’s what keeps families fed while we work on those bigger economic and food system challenges. Until we address the route causes we need stable funding to keep whanau well.”

She said it took them time to advocate for annual grants which were needed every year.

“Multi-year funding means stability and stability means more kai reaching more whanau,” Watene said.

“Zero funding means that places close and our community and our whanau are doing it extremely tough at the moment.”

New Zealand Food Network chief executive Gavin Findlay said the lack of a multi-year commitment from government meant providers were left in limbo.

“Christmas is a time when many think about giving, but hunger isn’t seasonal. More than 500,000 New Zealanders rely on foodbanks and food rescue organisations for support.”

He said frontline teams across the country were seeing familiar faces return regularly, including families who were working, budgeting carefully and still unable to afford enough food.

“Food security relies on a whole ecosystem, from national distributors to local foodbanks, food support and food rescue organisations,” Findlay said.

“Our role is to keep that system strong and responsive, including during emergencies. That can be done much more effectively and efficiently when funding is stable and allows everyone to plan ahead.”

He said the pressure on foodbanks had intensified in the last year, especially for those on the lowest incomes.

MSD’s General Manager for Pacific and Community Capability Programmes, Serena Curtis, said the ministry has invested more than $200 million through its Food Secure Communities (FSC) programme since 2020.

“We have always been clear with the sector that funding for the FSC Programme is time-limited.”

Curtis said $100,000 of the additional funding was for monitoring and evaluating the impact of the programme.

“This work is underway, and we expect to receive an evaluation report in early 2026,” Curtis said.

The FSC programme has funded the creation and maintenance of national and regional food distribution infrastructure.

“Community food providers are now better connected and can support each other through the national partner organisations we have invested in, such as the New Zealand Food Network, Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective, and the Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance.”

From July to September this year, MSD provided $32.5m to provide 327,705 food grants.

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

Up to 20 people a day are risking their lives venturing into closed areas of a popular Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park track, where construction and explosive work is underway to build a new bridge, the Department of Conservation says.

DOC said staff working on the 189-metre suspension bridge on the Hooker Valley Track had repeatedly seen people ignoring safety barriers and gates and were often downing tools to tell people to leave.

On one occasion staff had to stop a helicopter pouring concrete to tell walkers to go, DOC said.

DOC Aoraki/Mt Cook operations manager Sally Jones said there were already signs on the track and at White Horse Hill car park warning people not to go past barriers but some people were ignoring them.

“People are taking real risks by climbing fences and in some cases even attempting to cross the Hooker River – its bloody freezing let alone fast and furious,” she said.

“They’re doing this all to get to the closed Hooker Bridge which is not safe.”

Jones said the river bank holding the piles for the old bridge had eroded, further increasing risk of it collapsing.

“People are putting their lives at risk. We all want the new suspension bridge on the Hooker Track open as soon as possible and the construction workers need to be able to get on with the job without having to worry about the public,” she said.

She said as the upper section of the track was a restricted access site, so trespass notices could be issued.

“We just want visitors to respect the information we are giving them. Staying on tracks in general is important as our environment can be very challenging and we want people to have a safe trip,” she said.

“We sometimes see visitors putting themselves at risk to get that one photo, near a drop-off or way off track. People can also trample over the unique and precious alpine vegetation and don’t seem to notice what they are destroying.”

DOC was installing security cameras to try to keep visitors on track.

Jones said aerial predator control operations were also due to begin in the park, involving temporary closures of Tasman Valley Road and lower Hooker Track from the first suspension bridge.

“We want to ensure there is minimal disruption to people’s plans. There are plenty of other walks in the park which have spectacular views of Aoraki including Kea Point, Sealy Tarns and lovely nature walks like through Bowen Bush and the Governors Bush walk,” she said.

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

Police are investigating a fire where four vehicles appeared to be deliberately torched in a popular Invercargill park.

Detective Sergeant John Kean said it was reported in Queens Park in Windsor shortly before 12:30am on Wednesday.

He said no one was injured but it appears four vehicles were set alight.

Police are asking anyone who may have seen anything unusual in the area last night or early this morning to get on touch.

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

Wellington police are appealing for information after a young man was stabbed in the Wellington’s suburb of Te Aro in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police said the incident happened about 4.10am in a car park between Wakefield Street and Tory Street.

The victim sustained multiple stab wounds to the arm and back and was taken to hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Leitch said the victim’s wounds had the potential to be fatal.

“This could have very easily been a homicide investigation,” he said in a statement.

“What we know is there were a significant number of people in the surrounding area when this happened – we need to hear from these people.”

Leitch urged anyone with footage, or who witnessed the incident, to contact police as soon as possible.

Anyone with information which may assist, is urged to contact police online or by calling 105 and using reference number 251130/5482.

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

One of the country’s most notorious criminals has been charged with a serious sexual assault from nearly 40 years ago.

The man made his first appearance in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday before Judge Kirsten Lummis where he was granted interim name suppression until March 10.

He entered a not guilty plea through his lawyer.

The man, aged in his 70s, is charged with a serious sexual assault of a woman in Auckland’s Onehunga in 1988.

Detective Inspector Scott Beard confirmed to RNZ police had charged a man over a historical stranger sexual assault in Auckland during the late 1980s.

“An investigation was carried out at the time when the alleged rape occurred in Onehunga on 18 June 1988.

“Enquiries available to detectives at the time were unable to identify the perpetrator.”

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

In May this year the complainant contacted police to review her case.

“This was assigned to an investigator in the Auckland City Adult Sexual Assault Team.”

Police had since charged the man.

Beard was unable to go into the specifics of the 2025 enquiries given court proceedings are under way.

“However, it is pleasing that we can bring this matter to the courts on behalf of the complainant, given there is no statute of limitations on this sort of offending.”

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

Police have made another arrest in relation to the murder of American PhD student Kyle Whorrall.

The 33-year-old man was attacked at a bus stop in Meadowbank on 19 April and later died in hospital.

Police say they have arrested a 17-year-old male who has been charged with murder and aggravated robbery.

… More to come

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

MetService is forecasting downpours across the North Island on Wednesday, with possible thunderstorms in some places, and a number of watches and warnings in place.

A heavy rain warning is in place from 11am until 11pm on Wednesday for Bay of Plenty and Gisborne/Tai Rāwhiti north of Ruatoria and the inland ranges, thunderstorms and downpours are also possible in these areas.

MetService a severe thunderstorm warning for the areas of Rodney, Gulf and Albany.

Just after 1pm, the MetService weather radar detected severe thunderstorms near Warkworth, Puhoi, Kaukapakapa, Kaipara Flats and Ahuroa.

These severe thunderstorms are moving towards the southeast, and are expected to lie near Orewa, Whangaparaoa and Silverdale at 1.37pm and near Auckland and Inner Hauraki Gulf at 2.07pm.

The agency says these thunderstorms are expected to be accompanied by very heavy rain.

Meanwhile, there are reports that a tornado went through a motor camp in rural Manawatū and overturned a caravan.

Emergency services were called at 12.36pm and Fire and Emergency has confirmed that there is at least one person is injured.

Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said the most notable warning was for Bay of Plenty, with 80 to 120 millimetres of rain set to fall before the end of the day.

“With thunderstorms in the mix we could see shorter periods of more intense rain bringing those possibilities such as flooding as well as slips and difficult driving conditions.”

Radar update
More heavy showers are building over Northland.
Matamata recorded a whopping 43mm of rain in an hour this morning. pic.twitter.com/mjqOLBfOr2

— MetService NZ (@MetService) December 2, 2025

Thunderstorms may also occur in Taranaki and Whanganui, she said.

A severe thunderstorm watch is in place for a large part of the North Island including Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taupo from 1pm-6pm on Wednesday.

Some of these thunderstorms may become severe on Wednesday afternoon with localised downpours of up to 40mm/h, large hail and strong wind gusts of up to 90km/h.

MetService said there was even a slight chance of a tornado, but that thunderstorm activity was expected to ease by Wednesday evening.

Northerly winds are forecast to turn southwesterly with gusts of up to 90km/h forecast.

Heavy rain watches are in place for a number of places throughout the day including Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island and Coromandel Peninsula, Taranaki, Wairarapa, the eastern hills and ranges in Wellington, and central North Island areas including Waikato and inland Whanganui.

There are also strong wind watches in place later on Wednesday for Northland, Auckland, Taranaki, Horowhenua to Wellington, parts of the Tararua and Hawke’s Bay districts and Wairarapa.

In the South Island heavy rain watches are in place for the Kaikōura Coast and the Chatham Islands, where a strong wind watch is also in place.

There may also be thunderstorms in Central Otago on Wednesday afternoon or evening.

Wind watches are also in place for Marlborough and parts of the Nelson region from 5pm Wednesday until 3am Thursday.

Makgabutlane said things were set to improve from Thursday onwards.

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

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fire crews have rushed to a motor camp in rural Manawatū after reports a tornado went through and overturned a caravan.

Emergency services were called to Dudding Lake at 12.36pm.

FENZ shift manager Murray Dunbar said a fire truck was at the scene alongside ambulance staff who were assessing four patients.

Dunbar confirmed at least one person had injuries.

St John said a patient has been taken to Whanganui Hospital in a moderate condition.

Rangtikei District Council said it had been informed of a tornado and asked people to avoid the area until otherwise advised.

The council said its staff was assessing damage and would keep people updated as more information came to hand.

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

Police have not yet recovered a Fabergé egg pendant after it was allegedly eaten during a theft at an Auckland jewellery store.

A 32-year-old man is before the courts, accused of swallowing the necklace worth more than $33,500.

Inspector Grae Anderson told RNZ the man underwent a medical assessment at the time of his arrest and an officer had been assigned to constantly monitor him.

“Given this man is in police custody, we have a duty of care to continue monitoring him given the circumstances of what has occurred,” he said.

Anderson said, at this stage, the pendant had not been recovered.

An online listing for the locket said it had been crafted from 18ct yellow gold and set with 60 white diamonds and 15 blue sapphires.

A golden octopus inside the locket was set with two black diamonds for eyes.

The man was expected to appear in Auckland District Court next week charged with theft.

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

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