Source: Radio New Zealand

A victims’ advocate says the police treatment of a woman who accused a former top cop of sexual offending is the very thing most complainants are terrified of.

A highly critical report from the Independent Police Conduct Authority has found serious misconduct at the highest levels, over how police handled allegations against former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

The claims arose from an affair between McSkimming and the woman, who at the time was a junior non-sworn police employee.

The authority said the police simply accepted McSkimming’s view that she was a woman scorned and she was charged over the more than 300 harassing emails she sent.

The charge was later withdrawn.

Advocate Claire Buckley said victims feared being disbelieved and dismissed by police.

“What’s the first thing that happens to this poor woman? She’s not believed.

“And then take it another level, we’re going to pursue her to try and protect ourselves because this is one of our cop buddies. It just screams 1980s Louise Nicholas, all over again.”

Buckley said the woman had been treated appallingly, and it undermined trust in police, but she urged victims not to be deterred from speaking up.

“The only way we’re ever going to get rid of the rot is if we keep pointing to it and saying, ‘Look, this needs to go and the rot needs to be cut out’.

“And the only way that’s going to happen is if the victims of that rot come forward.”

Buckley said cases like this were not only traumatising for the person at the centre of it, but for anyone else who’d had unsatisfactory dealings with police.

National sexual violence survivor advocate, Louise Nicholas was disgusted by the police’s handling of sexual offending complaints against McSkimming.

Nicholas made rape accusations against police officers in the 1980s. The detective who initially handled her complaints was convicted of a cover-up in 2007.

“I won’t use the swear words I actually want to use,” she said, referencing the IPCA’s latest report.

“I was absolutely, saddened and disgusted to see that this has happened again.”

Nicholas said the woman’s first complaint should have triggered an investigation, but instead it was swept under the rug.

“This woman has disclosed this offending and has gone to the right people, but the people that should have helped her decided that their mate was actually more important.”

However, she didn’t want people to be discouraged from reporting sexual offences.

“You can’t put it on the police that do the amazing job that they do with our survivors, you can’t tar them with the same brush.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand has been labelled “most deteriorated” in an international study assessing the interference of the tobacco industry.

The country has plummeted from second in the world in 2023 to 53rd in the 2025 Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index.

The report, produced by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control, has been released every two years since 2019 and now ranks 100 countries.

The main factors damaging New Zealand’s standing are the repeal of the smokefree generation laws, the tax break benefiting tobacco giant Philip Morris and the movement of staff between politics and the lobbying industry.

Vape-Free Kids, an advocacy group, said the “staggering drop” of 51 places in two years was the most dramatic fall of any country in the history of the report and an “international disgrace” for the government.

“New Zealand has become an international embarrassment and an example of how quickly a government can be corrupted by the tobacco industry,” Vape-Free Kids co-founder Charyl Robinson said.

But Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has labelled the index “ridiculous” saying what matters is rates of smoking not the “strange view, that what really matters is how much you criticise the tobacco industry”.

Costello said New Zealand’s smoking rate had more than halved since 2015 and was now 6.9 percent – one of the lowest in the world.

“I haven’t seen this year’s index, but the last one had Brunei at No.1 and France at No.3. Brunei’s smoking rate is around 17 percent – well over double NZ’s rate. In May, France’s smoking rate was 23 percent – more than three times NZ’s rate,” she said. “That illustrates how ridiculous this index is.”

In 2024 the government scrapped laws which would have slashed tobacco retailers from 6000 to 600, removed 95 percent of the nicotine from cigarettes and banned sales of cigarettes to anyone born after 2009.

Costello also cut the excise tax on Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) by 50 percent, despite health officials saying there was no strong evidence they worked to stop smoking or were significantly safer than cigarettes.

The report lists New Zealand and Kazakhstan as two countries which cut taxes for HTPs and says Ecuador, Georgia, Madagascar, Türkiye and Uganda also offered tax breaks to the tobacco industry.

“Tax increases are among the most effective tobacco control measures, yet more than 60 countries, often due to industry influence, did not raise taxes, delayed implementation of tax increases (or) lowered tax rates.”

Costello cut tax on HTPs to encourage smokers to switch to a safer alternative.

Treasury officials, however, told her the tax break would largely benefit Philip Morris, as they held a monopoly on the product in New Zealand.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins told the RNZ interview show 30 with Guyon Espiner that Labour would repeal the tobacco tax cuts.

“That was a tax break to the tobacco companies on the basis of some very, very questionable advice that isn’t going to be better for New Zealand’s health as a country,” he said. “It’s one tobacco company that, by and large, has got the vast bulk of the benefit from that, and that is going to change.”

The Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index report is also critical of New Zealand’s unregulated lobbying industry and links between the tobacco industry and decision makers.

“In New Zealand, there is no requirement for the TI (tobacco industry) and affiliated entities to register with the government, and it is unclear how the relationship between the TI and the government is moderated.”

Two corporate communication staff at Philip Morris previously held senior roles with NZ First.

RNZ has also reported on a leaked document from tobacco giant Philip Morris which said the company should target political parties, including NZ First and the Māori Party, to win favourable regulation for HTPs.

Uruguay, Maldives and Palau were the most improved countries in the index and New Zealand the most deteriorated.

“New Zealand recorded the most deterioration in industry interference. Besides repealing strong tobacco control policies, citing industry arguments as rationale, the current government implemented several TI-friendly policies,” the report says.

The section of the report focusing on New Zealand was written by the New Zealand Cancer Society and looked at policy making between March 2023 and March 2025.

Cancer Society head of advocacy and public affairs Rachael Neumann said “a number of revolving-door connections” between the government and the industry contributed to New Zealand’s decline.

“This report has found that New Zealand’s score has significantly dropped since the 2023 report, and that there has been an increase in tobacco industry interference in New Zealand during this time.”

Neumann said there was a “high level of industry participation” in New Zealand’s tobacco policy development and “a whole range of unnecessary interactions” between the government and the tobacco industry.

“Every year, even now, 5000 people die from tobacco and tobacco related diseases,” she said. “We really know that tobacco industry interference and repeal of these laws leads to more smoking, more addiction, and we’re deeply concerned because this leads to more cancer.”

But Costello said protections against tobacco industry interference had not weakened in the past two years and New Zealand continued to be guided by international protocols on how officials engaged with the industry.

She said the tobacco industry had no involvement in the government’s smokefree and health policies.

“I would have thought that the Cancer Society would actually care about reducing smoking and reducing cancer,” she said. “Instead, they’ve brought into a very strange view, that what really matters is how much you criticise the tobacco industry.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Experts in using planes and choppers to fight fires like the Tongariro blaze have withdrawn labour in a pay dispute that dates back years.

This reduced the after-hours backup Fire and Emergency (FENZ) could call on for the 2800ha blaze in Tongariro National Park – but it said it made no difference.

The fire had up to 15 helicopters and five planes waterbombing it.

“This withdrawal of labour associated to backpay involves three personnel and this has not impacted our overall capability for air attack,” Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The dispute revolves around some of FENZ’s most experienced aviation firefighters in its small airdesk support group, that since 2021 has helped run national air firefighting operations.

In 2022, the group’s head, Stephen Bishop, asked FENZ for “formal recognition of the work and critical service the air desk support group provides – including remuneration for duty roster and calls as per other FENZ managers – fair and equitable”.

On Monday, Stiffler told RNZ, “The on-call arrangements required to provide aviation support after hours are still being negotiated.”

She added the support function itself was under review.

FENZ was discussing backpay remuneration for the support team and “while this is happening their support is not currently active after-hours”, she said on Tuesday in a separate statement.

“We have aviation operations as normal to respond as required, as we have had at Tongariro this week. We had no issue with having the right capability on the Tongariro incident with no impacts to operations.

“The successful operations confirm the depth of our capability.”

A senior firefighter who is not in the airdesk support group but had details of the problems, described it as a dispute going back at least 18 months. RNZ agreed not to name them.

Their information aligned with internal emails between the airdesk support group and FENZ management in late 2022, released under the Official Information Act.

In one of those emails, Bishop had told a Communications Centre manager Brent Dunn: “I know you agree that the support group is a critical part of the safe, effective function of FENZ national air desk, providing aviation expertise and oversight …

“We are called on many times throughout the year for advice, provide 24/7 roster all year for the team, monitor all aviation requests and dispatches and contact is always there when needed.”

Bishop remains FENZ’s senior specialist in aviation and heavy machinery.

The email trail showed his group plugged a staffing “crisis” at the South Island comms centre that Dunn said was leading to his comms staff “burning out”, and unable to cover the extra duties around dispatching aircraft.

“So we head into the 2023 fire season badly understaffed to manage the airdesk as it was originally intended,” Dunn wrote.

The shortage forced Bishop’s then five-person (now three-person) team to step in, doing the dispatching “pretty much on a daily basis”, tied to a desk for up to 12 hours at a time.

“This additional work is impacting on existing BAU [business-as-usual], fatigue and family time,” Bishop told the agency in late 2022.

In one week, his team did 63 hours on dispatch.

“Given we are now in October and seeing increased aircraft requests which will increase heading towards summer, I am extremely concerned that we will have to continue taking over air desk and that this is not sustainable – the air desk support group runs on good will and passion.”

He then asked for “suitable remuneration for each hour we cover for air desk despatch, I would suggest overtime”.

Dunn told Bishop he appreciated the “weight of pressure” on his team.

“Crazy to think that’s where we are, after the hype and success of last year.”

This was in reference to the national airdesk being embedded into Southern Comms in March 2021.

Eight communications staff got extra training to do air dispatching.

However, by late 2022, Bishop had to get nine more trained up as a temporary stopgap. “This is incredibly disappointing and such a contrast to the hugely successful 18mths [sic] we have just experienced with the air desk,” he emailed management.

FENZ’s new air set-up faced its biggest challenge in Cyclone Gabrielle in early 2023, when it helped send out 3000 flights on 6000 tasks over just a few days, in what was later assessed as a “highly successful aviation operation”.

Wildfires are different from storms – the goal is putting out a fire – but are similar, too, in requiring expert decisions around when and where to use choppers or (usually less expensive) planes, and how to make the airspace safe for them.

Stiffler said on Tuesday that at the Tongariro fire, an incident controller had ensured the right air support and that everyone was safe, and aviation safety was coordinated by “air attack” and air support supervisors on site.

“We are reviewing how we respond to incidents using aircraft and how the incident controller is supported to use aircraft effectively,” she said.

“This review commenced prior to the Tongariro incident.”

FENZ also said it was recruiting six extra air dispatchers “to increase staffing resilience within the dispatch function”.

The senior firefighter told RNZ that a recommendation around on-call allowances for the airdesk support group had been sent on to the deputy chief executives several weeks ago, but they had not made any decision.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

More and more, finance experts are predicting that the AI bubble is getting ready to pop – so what does that mean for Kiwi investors, and for our economy?

It took the United States 40 years to build its interstate roading network. The same amount of money spent on that network – inflation adjusted – has been spent in just three years on building Artificial Intelligence data centres.

Fisher Funds’ Harry Smith uses the comparison to illustrate the size and pace of growth of AI and its future demands for infrastructure.

He points to five of the famous tech companies – Meta, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle – which together plan to spend US$3 trillion over the next five years on AI infrastructure, specifically the data centres which store the information, called the cloud.

The trouble is, says Smith, their combined revenue is US$1 trillion, excluding Amazon’s retail side, and many are beginning to ask how they will fund the massive infrastructure builds.

At the same time, their share prices have been soaring as investors bet on the potential of the companies in the future, leading to record valuations in the likes of chipmaker Nvidia. It became the first company in the world to break through US$5 trillion valuation but has see-sawed in a volatile market.

“The amount of money that the market expects to be generated over the next five years is quite huge and that’s where a lot of the bubble chat is really coming from,” says Smith.

The bubble chat he’s talking about came to a head a week ago when Michael Burry, who inspired the book and movie The Big Short announced he was short selling on chip maker Nvidia and data analytics company Palantir. By short selling, he was taking a bet that their share price will drop.

Burry has been called a “tireless perma-bear”, a contrarian investor who predicted the 2008 financial crisis.

Not all bubbles are the same

He isn’t alone with his warnings about market mania. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Open AI’s Sam Altman have also cautioned about the overblown stock prices alongside the Federal Reserve, International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England.

Smith, who runs a global equity portfolio at Fisher Funds, says it is important to separate the hype from the technology when trying to understand what is happening to AI shares.

The technology is very real, he says and is already in use in the medical profession with diagnoses and medicines.

“Further on, we’re seeing developments around AI being used in drug development … the creation of new drugs and trials.

“When I’m talking about hype, people are saying ‘hey the earnings in these companies are going to be massive in the future, so we’re going to buy the share price’ and that’s when the bubble comes into question because [other] people are saying ‘no, the expectation of the earnings growth that these companies are going to deliver is too great and therefore we are in a bubble in this cycle.

He uses Open AI as an example of a company with big investment plans and comparatively small revenues.

“They currently have about $US13b in revenue this year, they currently have commitments of US$1.5 trillion of investment that is going to be needed to be built. So on the US$13b, albeit it is growing really quickly, but they are losing money at one of the fastest paces ever in Silicon Valley,” says Smith.

But Smith says not all bubbles are the same. Banking bubbles are bad and cause society a lot of pain, as seen in the 2008 global financial crisis. Industrial or technology bubbles can benefit society when the dust settles.

“This whole question around AI is what is the return on investment because we know the investment is huge, we know that the revenue or profits that are currently generated are very small and so it is about trying to find a path to that return.

“How quickly can revenue and profits grow from these AI businesses to support the investment that is currently being made? That is the crux of the question around whether or not there’s a bubble.”

RNZ business editor Gyles Beckford says the way investors have been behaving with AI shares is the same as 25 years ago with the dot-com boom and bust.

“There’s the same irrationality that attends all these things. You have the studious people who do their homework, who believe that they’ve crafted the right strategy, that they’re in the right stocks and they will go with it and will be there for the long term.

“They’re the survivors, I shudder to use the word cockroaches but they will come through the explosions. There are those who suffer from FOMO, fear of missing out.”

They are the ones making spur of the moment, irrational decisions, he says.

“History tells us that when you have surges like this in particular assets, particular stocks or commodities, there is a cleanout.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A former police commissioner has told RNZ podcast Nark that he’s never seen the letter supposedly sent by him in June 1985, authorising the transfer of a prisoner to a motel in Christchurch.

The prisoner-turned-informant would stay there and in rental accommodation for 18 months, paid for by taxpayers.

Ken Thompson, Police Commissioner from 1983 to 1987, said the details of the investigation into the 1985 murder of Darcy Te Hira uncovered by the RNZ podcast Nark has “an air of Disney about it”.

A prisoner who has permanent name suppression, but is called Ernie in the podcast, claimed to have seen fellow inmate Ross Appelgren murder Te Hira in the kitchen of Mt Eden’s prison in January 1985. Appelgren insisted he wasn’t in the kitchen when Te Hira was attacked.

Ernie agreed to testify in court to what he saw and was moved out of Mt Eden for his own safety; first to New Plymouth prison, then to cells at Takapuna Police Station.

But Ernie described his accommodation in Takapuna as “torture” and pressed police to move him into the Witness Protection Programme and out of prison altogether.

With the agreement of the Department of Justice, police agreed to move Ernie to a $50/night motel on the outskirts of Christchurch, despite him having 18 months of a fraud sentence yet to serve.

Ernie was also promised a cash settlement and relocation overseas. Ernie’s testimony helped convict Appelgren of Te Hira’s murder, but as earlier revealed by Nark, Appelgren’s widow, Julie, is taking his case to the Court of Appeal, claiming Appelgren was innocent.

Nark host Mike Wesley-Smith has reported the motel solution was first proposed in a letter in the name of Thompson, addressed to then-Secretary of Justice, S.J. Callan. It says police were concerned for Ernie’s safety, about the harm being caused by his “solitary confinement in Takapuna”, and that he might refuse to testify.

But when Wesley-Smith approached the now 93-year-old former police commissioner about the letter from his office, Thompson said he knew nothing about it.

“I can recall a lot of things during my time, but certainly not that one… I would really expect to have known of it”.

‘A most unorthodox process’

The guarding of Ernie at a motel under the Witness Protection Programme was called Operation Icing and cost more than $75,000. Thompson said “that fact it was so unusual” and the “shenanigans” of a prisoner being put up in a suburban motel means he should have been briefed.

“I would really expect to have been briefed, even in the broadest terms… It seems like a most unorthodox process to me”.

Other documents sourced in the podcast investigation, including an internal police timeline, back up the suggestion that Thompson wasn’t involved in key decisions involving Ernie and Operation Icing.

The final $30,000 cheque paid to Ernie after he testified was approved by Thompson’s Deputy Commissioner, Mal Churches.

Thompson says he can’t be sure whether or not he would have approved of Operation Icing, but suspects he would have had doubts.

“I don’t like these so-called prison squeaks. They weren’t in my good books”.

He confirmed that, in 1985, police procedure required detectives to first formally record a witness’s account before discussing any deals or benefits for the witness.

Appelgren claimed detectives investigating him for murder did not follow this procedure during their interviews with Ernie.

The latest episode of Nark is out now at rnz.co.nz/nark or wherever you get your podcasts. The series airs 7pm Sundays on RNZ National.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care will mark a National Day of Reflection at more than 60 events around the country on Wednesday.

A year ago Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologised in Parliament to survivors and victims.

At least 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable persons were abused by the state and churches from 1950 to 1999.

To mark the National Day of Reflection, the government announced $2.7 million for support and services to survivors and memorials for victims.

But a year on from the government’s apology, many survivors feel the actions of the government are in contradiction to its promises for change.

Changes to the redress system were largely a disappointment to the community, while ongoing harm in the care system was also upsetting.

Survivor Tu Chapman said the Day of Reflection brought mixed feelings for survivors.

“There’s celebration, there’s reflection, but I also think there’s still a whole lot of sadness there that the government haven’t really come to the table with anything.”

The day should act as a reminder to all New Zealanders, Chapman said.

“My hope is … it’s taken on board as a day that we won’t forget what has happened – the atrocities of the past, the 200,000 or so tamariki and mokopuna that were abused in state care during the period of 1950 to 1999 – and we hold as a nation those atrocities at the top of our mind and in our hearts, and we remind ourselves constantly how to be better humans.”

Survivor and advocate Ken Clearwater said many survivors would be reflecting on the broken promises of the government.

“We’ve called our [event] Our Day, Our Voice, which is the survivors talking about where they’ve come from, how it’s affected their lives and how the apology affected their lives and how the Royal Commission affected their lives,” he said.

“People just take for granted that the Royal Commission is awesome, the apology is great, but it’s not the words, it’s the actions, and there’s a lot of actions that are missing at the moment.”

The response of politicians to the events had also been disappointing, Clearwater said.

“We’ve got no politicians coming … because none of them have been able to get leave from Parliament,” he said.

“Yeah, they’re holding this day of remembrance, they’re putting up the funding to have the day of reflection and remembrance, and yet they’re not here to represent the government, to be here to listen to the voices of the survivors. So in a lot of ways, that’s a pretty damning thing for a lot of the survivors, saying, ‘why aren’t the politicians coming?’.”

Survivor Eugene Ryder, who co-chairs the board of the Survivor Experiences Service, says he understood the frustration of many in the community, but Wednesday was also an opportunity to reflect on the progress made.

“Ten to 15 years ago there was near nothing for survivors,” he said.

“So what I’ve seen since the Royal Commission of Inquiry is progress and different survivors have different expectations, they want every recommendation to be acted on by our government but the reality is it hasn’t.

“Another reality is that there’s been so much progress in this space for survivors. There’s been the creation of the Crown Response Office. There’s a Survivor Experiences Service. Those didn’t exist prior to the inquiry and now that they do – that’s seen as progress.”

But he acknowledged the progress had not been fast enough for some and Wednesday was an opportunity to remember those survivors who had died.

“Some survivors have since passed away, even since the tabling of the report, and for those that didn’t receive appropriate redress it seems unfair,” Ryder said.

Chapman, Clearwater and Ryder agreed their work would not be done until abuse in care and all settings was ended.

RNZ asked government ministers with responsibility for responding to the Royal Commission of Inquiry as well as party leaders what their intentions were for the National Day of Reflection, as it was a sitting day in Parliament all intended to be in Wellington apart from Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, who was travelling overseas.

Lead Response Minister Erica Stanford would attend an event at the Crown Reponse Office.

“She was invited to a survivor led event in Auckland but is unable to attend due to the requirement of being in Parliament,” a spokesperson said.

“A year ago, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and seven public sector leaders apologised for the abuse and neglect suffered by children, young people and vulnerable adults in care and for the torture of children and young people at the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit,” Stanford said, in a statement.

“While it was meaningful for many, it can never undo the harm inflicted on people who should have been protected and cared for. Instead, they were utterly failed. The experiences of thousands of brave survivors will forever be etched in our history. It is on all New Zealanders to do all we can to ensure abuse that should never have been tolerated, no longer occurs.

“A year on from the apology there continues to be significant work to be done to prevent, identify, and respond to abuse in care. The government remains committed to continuing this work with care to ensure the wrongs of the past are not repeated.”

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey would attend an event at the Ministry of Health, Social Development Minister Louise Upston would visit her ministry. Others, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins, would pay their respects in the House.

Public events are being held throughout New Zealand.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A damning report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority found serious misconduct at the highest levels of police over how they handled accusations of sexual offending by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming. National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reports.

Inside a scathing 135-page report into how police responded to accusations of sexual offending by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming lies a quote from one of the country’s most senior adult sexual assault investigators.

The officer, named in the report as Officer D, told the Independent Police Conduct Authority that the handling of the allegations prior to her involvement in the case was “appalling”.

“We have just not followed policy whatsoever and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist… Jevon has tried to get rid of this by making a complaint and … making [Ms Z] the villain, when in actual fact what he perhaps should have done was gone: ‘Can someone look at this and investigate it and get it cleared up? Because I’ve got designs on the future, and I want my integrity intact, so I welcome an investigation. Let’s get it cleared up, get it out of the way’.

“But you know what’s the worst thing – if you make a mistake … the only worse thing that you can do is then cover it up…You can paint all sorts of nice words of this …but to an outsider looking in, and … I mean even me, this looks like a cover-up.”

The woman referred to in the report as Ms Z was charged in May last year with causing harm by posting digital communication in relation to more than 300 emails she allegedly sent to McSkimming’s work email address between December 2023 and April 2024. The emails included abusive and derogatory language directed towards McSkimming and other people.

With the release of the report, RNZ takes a look at how police investigated the woman’s complaints and how in the words of Police Commissioner Richard Chambers she was “ignored and badly let down”.

Operation Herb

It wasn’t until about a month after Ms Z, a former unsworn staffer,was charged that former Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura decided police should explore whether any of the allegations in the emails were legitimate.

Kura spoke with Assistant Commissioner A, who was then the Assistant Commissioner of Investigations. The pair agreed to bring in Officer D.

“We involved her because we were concerned that if the allegations or the rantings that she [Ms Z] had put out there were actually true, she couldn’t be pleading guilty to things that came about because she’d actually been a victim of some offences.”

Assistant Commissioner A directed a colleague, officer B to do the first draft of the terms of reference for the investigation.

Officer B told the IPCA both Kura and Assistant Commissioner A urged caution in the way the terms of reference were framed:

“Jevon’s a very senior person in the Police and…if these complaints are made and then what happens is there’s no validity to that complaint, someone’s career is really on the line because someone made a complaint, but there’s no substance. So it was about having the right care”.

Kura told the authority she didn’t approach it as an ordinary sexual assault preliminary investigation because of McSkimming’s rank and the prosecution against Ms Z. She also had concerns about the impact of McSkimming’s career.

“If we overstep here, there’s a risk that [IPCA] will be into me about something else because a person who may have been able to apply for a Commissioner’s role and potentially get it, was denied that opportunity because we didn’t take a measured thoughtful approach to how we would do this. I felt we needed to take stock of what we knew. I felt we were going to have to approach her at some point but needed to be able to demonstrate later that we had taken a measured approach.”

Assistant Commissioner A conceded that the knowledge that McSkimming intended to run for the top job was “a factor in this that was relevant”.

There was also an “awareness” that McSkimming was “financially sound”, and may get lawyers involved if he believed he had lost out on the top job because of the investigation.

Assistant Commissioner A decided the best approach was to do a “stocktake” of what information was already known, before deciding on whether to speak to Ms Z.

Officer D told the IPCA that in her initial conversation with Officer B about looking into the allegations she was given information on the prosecution.

“I was going to be asked to look into…the content of [Ms Z’s] emails and whether or not there was actually anything to them”.

The introduction in the terms of reference for the investigation said a serious allegation “against any politically exposed person has the potential to significantly, and permanently impact an individual’s work and career”.

“It is appropriate to investigate circumstances such as these described below in a cautious manner to ascertain the truth. Accordingly, if there is a valid complaint, that should be dealt with as police would normally deal with a complaint, however to first determine whether a valid complaint exists, this matter should be dealt with in a manner that does not adversely impact the person”.

The terms of reference did not instruct Officer D to speak to Ms Z.

A heading “approach” described Ms Z’s emails as “highly emotive and accusatory”.

The terms of reference also included a number of unconfirmed statements including that it was a “mutually consensual sexual relationship”, that McSkimming ended the relationship because she became “too controlling”, and that Ms Z had not made a complaint to date.

The IPCA said the terms of reference were in “stark contrast” with Police’s adult sexual assault policy and practice.

“[It] had as their foremost consideration the need to protect Deputy Commissioner McSkimming’s career, and which did not envisage that the complainant would necessarily even be spoken to.”

Officer V, the Territorial Detective Superintendent, was shown the terms of reference by

Officer D in his capacity as her supervisor.

He told the IPCA his view was that it was clear Ms Z was a potential sexual assault complainant and should have been treated as such.

Conflicts of interest

Officer D was directed by Assistant Commissioner A to report to him, which is unusual for a criminal investigation. Officer D would usually report to a Territorial Detective Superintendent.

Officer D told the IPCA she felt there was a conflict of interest.

“… really got the sense that [Assistant Commissioner A’s] focus was on getting this out of the way so [Deputy Commissioner McSkimming] could apply for the Commissioner’s role without this hanging over his head”.

Kura confirmed she told McSkimming that Officer D had been appointed to investigate the validity of the emails.

The IPCA questioned Kura about the unusual circumstances of keeping a suspect up to date like that.

“Yes, he’s a suspect in the end of it, but actually there’s a lot of stuff on the table here and that’s just the way it occurred. Normally you wouldn’t do that…but this wasn’t a normal set of circumstances”.

Officer V told the IPCA that when Officer D spoke to him in September there were several features of the case that struck him as unusual.

This included that no senior reviewing officer had been assigned to the investigation, and that usually an investigation like the one being conducted would have been resourced with about

four other staff but it was only Officer D.

He also said Officer D should not have had a reporting line directly to Assistant Commissioner A, and the police executive should not have had a role in managing it.

The IPCA agreed with Officer V.

“The unusual structure and reporting lines simply reinforce the fact that the matter was not being

treated as a normal adult sexual assault preliminary investigation.

“It also highlights that the senior officers who were acting as decision-makers held an entrenched view that Deputy Commissioner McSkimming was the victim rather than the offender and were unduly preoccupied with ensuring he was not being unfairly disadvantaged in the forthcoming appointments process for the new Commissioner, for which they knew he would be an applicant.”

Officer D told the IPCA that between 24 June and 26 July she was having trouble making progress, but then “worked out that… it actually was the terms of reference that wasn’t right”.

“I was essentially being asked to get a feel for the veracity of the complaint without actually speaking to the complainant. It just didn’t feel right”.

Officer D met with Kura and Assistant Commissioner A in Wellington on 26 July 2024.

She told them she couldn’t continue without speaking to Ms Z and asked for their permission.

She said the meeting was “strange”, and that when she pointed out the investigation fell outside usual policy for such investigations Assistant Commissioner A asked where in policy it said police had to speak to the complainant.

Officer D contrasted the discussion with usual police practice.

“If we get wind of anything, any kind of complaint, that’s what the police do. We would contact someone and go: ‘Hey what’s going on. Is there something that you want to talk about?’ You know we can’t always be waiting for people to come to us, and you know having sat in that adult sexual assault chair for so long we get lots of complaints that actually come through from other people that go: ‘Look you need to talk to my friend. She was raped by so and so’ or whatever… I know that this is our obligation, and look I don’t know that it’s actually written in black and white anywhere, you know that that’s what we do.”

She said Assistant Commissioner A repeated on a number of occasions that McSkimming had applied for the top job and that if things weren’t sorted quickly he wouldn’t get it.

“I personally think it should be very simple in every police officer’s world. Doesn’t matter who the hell you are. We speak to the person, take a complaint and investigate it. It’s all very simple,” Officer D told the IPCA.

Officer D was given permission to speak to Ms Z. She contacted Ms Z’s lawyer on 28 July 2024, but did not hear back for some time. Officer D sent through some generic advice and resources for sexual assault victims.

She contacted the lawyer again on 20 and 28 August. Ms Z replied on 5 September and said she was taking advice.

Later that month, Ms Z emailed to say police had previously referred her to the IPCA “for any complaint involving a police employee”.

“Please could you clarify whether you can act/provide advice/investigate”.

Officer D replied offering advice on ways to raise complaints.

The call to the IPCA

On 10 July last year Officer D called the IPCA and said she had been assigned to investigate Ms Z’s allegations.

The conversation was followed up by an email from the IPCA to Officer M (the director of integrity and conduct) which mentioned the call between the IPCA’s investigations manager and Officer D, and questioned why the IPCA had not been notified.

Officer M forwarded the email to Deputy Commissioner PLC, a member of the Police executive with responsibility for Police Integrity and Conduct, and said the complaints “have not been progressed through our usual complaint process”.

She said it appeared police had “bypassed our usual complaint processes for quite some time…”

Deputy Commissioner PLC replied two days later. He said he’d spoken to Kura and the situation

didn’t appear to be “as it was relayed”. He said he believed the investigation was into the complainant, who had been charged.

Officer M said she had some “concerns”.

“I can’t see and I acknowledge there may be information I am not privy to, that Police has ever conducted an investigation (following ASA guidelines) into the multiple ongoing complaints, which would usually include a preliminary interview, level 3 interview and referral for crisis support as a minimum.”

‘It’s a risk to you as commissioner’

On 16 September last year, Officer M says she received a call from then Police Commissioner Andrew Coster asking if she knew of any “open investigations” into McSkimming. She believed the call was prompted by McSkimming’s application for Commissioner. She told Coster she would check the NZ Police Professional Conduct database.

She told the IPCA she was saw a “huge organisational risk” that there was something “sitting outside our system”.

“… It didn’t appear that we’d actually dealt with that at all following our usual process, and that I was now aware that the woman had been arrested, pleaded not guilty and I said ‘look, with…my legal experience…any defence lawyer worth their salt is going to say that…this woman has acted the way she has because she’s been trying to raise these concerns for a significant period of time against Police and no one’s listened to her and no one’s followed usual process’ so I said: ‘That’s all going to come out…That’s a matter of risk to the police, it’s a risk to you as Commissioner”.

Following the call she texted Coster and said there were no “open complaints” that were visible in the database.

“The complaints re the woman that you’ve referenced have not been through our usual complaint processes though, and there is no record of the complaints or what has been done re them. I do see this as a risk to the New Zealand Police and Jevon, particularly if this issue arises again down the track.”

She suggested the information around the complaint and what had been done was provided to either her or the Operations Manager of Integrity and Conduct to record in the database.

“I am conscious with a not guilty plea entered on the charges the woman is facing, the complaints could come to light through the court process as part of the defence disclosure request or the woman may complain again in the future, particularly if Jevon is in the media. It would open up criticism if there is nothing recorded in the usual manner following our complaint processes. IPCA are also asking why this has bypassed our usual complaint processes. They were going to contact Tania directly to discuss.”

Coster replied he understood from Kura’s briefing that the “intent” was to record it as Officer M suggested but was “unsure why this has not yet occurred”.

“To be clear, I don’t think there was ever a complaint. The woman never identified herself to us. However, through Jevon’s transparency on it we knew who she was and proactively approached her. However, there was still no complaint forthcoming to back up her various email allegations sent from a variety of email addresses with made-up names. I appreciate your follow up on that”.

Initial investigation concludes

Operation Herb was closed on 24 September by Assistant Commissioner A.

Officer D told the IPCA such files were “never truly closed”, and that police could take action at any time.

The IPCA found the investigation was “closed prematurely”, but were unable to determine where responsibility lay.

It said the fact both Kura and Assistant Commissioner A raised a concern that if McSkimming missed out on the role of Commissioner because of the investigation police could be criticised by the IPCA was “puzzling, to say the least”.

They said Officer D “displayed moral courage” in questioning her superiors.

Operation Jefferson

Concerned about what was happening, Officer M contacted the IPCA. On 8 October she had a meeting with the authority and expressed the nature of her concerns.

On 9 October the Public Service Commission contacted the IPCA and asked if there were any complaints relating to the applicants for Commissioner.

The following day the IPCA Chair emailed Coster asking that police refer any complaints regarding McSkimming to them.

It was then that Ms Z’s complaint was referred by Officer M. That same day Officer M emailed Deputy Commissioner PLC and said she had opened a file on the database. She had also been informed that Ms Z had contacted Officer D and was considering making a complaint.

The IPCA informed police on 14 October they had categorised the matter as Category A, an independent investigation.

Officer M then got a call from Deputy Commissioner PLC who said Coster was not happy about the IPCA’s involvement.

On 18 October the IPCA met with Ms Z. The authority recommended to Officer M that the National Integrity Unit (NIU) conduct an investigation because of the criminal allegations, with IPCA oversight.

On 22 October, Coster wrote to the chair of the IPCA, expressing concerns about the “chain of events leading up to the commencement of this investigation…”

“My primary concern relates to the Authority’s decision to commence an investigation at such a critical point in the Commissioner appointment process, given all of the circumstances of this case.”

The IPCA said it was “abundantly clear” the version of “facts” that Coster set out were based on what McSkimming told him.

Coster wrote he was concerned the IPCA could “inadvertently significantly increase Jevon’s victimisation from this pattern of harassment and do so in a way that will be irreversible in terms of his career”.

“This is against the backdrop of an issue that has been visible for a very long time and was capable of being resolved long ago – indeed Jevon considered that it had been.”

He said a “standard investigative approach and timeline in this situation risks a very unjust outcome”.

The ‘quasi investigation’

Then, on 30 October, two days before the NIU had their first “forensic interview” of Ms Z, Coster called a meeting. At the meeting was Kura, Deputy Commissioner PLC, the Director, Police Legal Services, Officer M and Officer K of the NIU.

“We understand Commissioner Coster talked at length about the issue of natural justice for Deputy Commissioner McSkimming – that he had already been the victim of harm caused by Ms Z’s harassment and, if the matter was not resolved quickly, that harm would be compounded by denying him the opportunity to apply for the Commissioner role,” the IPCA said.

Attendees said Coster’s view was that following the forensic interview the matter “should be fairly simple to resolve”.

Coster then proposed a “special national assessment team” to look into the appropriate investigative pathway in relation to Ms Z’s complaint. He suggested the team consist of himself and Kura.

Coster told the IPCA the discussion “was entirely appropriate”.

“We would have been open to considerable criticism had I blindly proceeded with a standard approach, which would leave officers junior to the officer in question having to take a decision that might place their own careers in jeopardy.”

The director of police legal services said it was not appropriate, given the conflicts of interest, for Coster and Kura to be involved in decisions on criminality.

One staffer made notes which said: “Time is of the essence. A week’s delay isn’t basically acceptable”.

The staffer told the IPCA, “…so at that point there was a lot of pressure to complete a criminal investigation…within a week.”

Another staffer told the IPCA, “…it was quite clear that he was very invested in Jevon becoming the next Commissioner.”

Officer M said she told the director of police legal services after the meeting: “…we can’t and should never be dictated by a suspect’s needs, the fact that he’s applying to be Commissioner is irrelevant in terms of the criminal investigation… we’ve basically been asked to do an adult sexual assault investigation in a week, including interviewing the suspect.”

Officer K said they also left the meeting with concerns.

“I really thought that the idea of rushing through some sort of quasi-investigation was fraught with risk, particularly given the position that, you know, there were sort of two aspects to it, particularly given the position that Jevon McSkimming was applying for and how that might later play out and the Commissioner talked about natural justice for him and my first thought at that point well, if there’s any substance to what [Ms Z] is saying, how about justice for her.”

They said given Coster was a “sharp man”, a former detective and Crown prosecutor they were “gobsmacked at the idea that he wanted to take some sort of shortcut to a resolution”.

There was another meeting on 4 November, after Ms Z’s interview.

According to attendees Kura questioned how long it would take.

“You know, is it like two weeks… how do we keep momentum going here? It’s been eight years for goodness sake.”

Coster denied placing a one-week time limit on the investigation when spoken to by the IPCA.

The IPCA concluded that once a decision was made in October 2024 to launch a proper investigation senior officers, including Coster, “attempted to shape its approach so as to bring it to a rapid and premature conclusion”.

They did not find any “collusion”, rather a “consistent pattern of behaviour driven by a common mindset and perspective”.

This, the IPCA says, was concerns that it could end with “unjustified victimisation of the Deputy Commissioner”.

“The belief appears to be based on the proposition that Police are justified in not undertaking, or in curtailing, an investigation into a sexual assault allegation if it would jeopardise a suspect’s work or promotion prospects – an argument that, in any other context, would be regarded as untenable.”

The IPCA found significant failings in the way in which senior police responded to the complaints.

“The findings in this report graphically demonstrate that the integrity system needs to be strengthened in order to ensure that it operates with transparency, fairness and independence when conduct issues arise at any level in Police.”

In September, Police announced McSkimming would not be charged in relation to the allegations of sexual misconduct.

Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson said Police had completed its investigation into allegations against a former senior police member.

“The investigation concluded that the evidential test for prosecution had not been met, therefore no charges will be laid.”

Johnson said the investigation and decision not to charge were independently reviewed by a King’s Counsel and peer reviewed by a Crown Law appointed barrister.

“The investigation was thorough and led by a Detective Superintendent. It had independent engagement throughout from the IPCA and a Crown Law appointed barrister.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

It’s not something many of us are born with, being okay with uncertainty.

Climate scientist Dr Tamsin Edwards has made it her day job.

She’s listed among hundreds of authors from all over the world on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, and is about to begin work on the seventh. She’s given climate change talks at Glastonbury, and appears on the BBC Radio 4 podcast “39 Ways to Save the Planet”.

That, she says, is one of the things she’s most proud of – giving people tangible solutions to help the planet, and ease that sense of dread.

She’s in New Zealand this month to give this year’s S.T. Lee Lecture, on the topic of uncertainty around sea-level rise in Antarctica.

“How do we figure out what our error bars are on our predictions? If we’re trying to think about the future, what’s the range of different possible futures that we might face?”

Despite New Zealanders’ affinity with the great white continent, Edwards explains scientists now think far-off places like Greenland are more likely to affect sea-level rise around our shores.

“When you lose ice from Antarctica, the local sea level right around Antarctica actually goes down because it’s no longer pulled up by the sort of gravitational attraction of the ice sheet,” Edwards says.

“Instead, when that water goes into the global oceans and gets spread around, it affects maybe the northern hemisphere more. So [New Zealand] would be affected by Greenland more.”

Sea level rise is “a very complicated area of science”, she says. “It’s lots of different disciplines working together.”

Communicating all of the different aspects of the public, even to other scientists, can be quite complicated. Small changes in averages – average sea level rise, average global temperature – can translate into huge changes in extreme weather and coastal flooding.

“If you increase sea levels globally by perhaps half a metre, that doesn’t sound much, right? You just think, oh, half a metre, that’s knee level – you wouldn’t think that would be too bad.

“But the knock-on effect on coastal flooding can make it hundreds of times more likely to flood. A one-in-100 year event suddenly becomes something that could happen every year.”

She says she feels a responsibility to communicate uncertainty. Science is not a book of facts but a living body of knowledge, constantly evolving.

“I think it’s really important to say, ‘Well, look, we can’t know everything, some things are hard to pin down, but here’s the stuff we are confident about’.

“Maybe we know the direction of travel, but we don’t always know how quickly we’re going to get there.”

The Paris Agreement set a target to limit warming to 1.5 degrees – does Edwards think that’s still possible?

“I think it was always going to be really difficult,” she says – but she urges people not to think of it as a cliff-edge.

“It’s not something where we say, okay, if we get to 1.6 degrees of warming, everything is burning, everything is extinct,” she says. “But at the same time, we’re already seeing effects on our weather at 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 degrees. So it’s important to limit warming.”

With 15 years of science communication up her sleeve, she’s discovered most people aren’t motivated by fear – they need to know they can still make change.

The early days of discourse concerning climate change were “scary”, she says, punctuated by verbal attacks on twitter, gendered abuse, and public disagreements between scientists: “Should we be talking about uncertainty or should we be focusing just on certainties?”

“The conversation has really moved away from that,” Edwards says. “Climate science and the need to act on climate change is mainstream.”

“It almost feels like if you were pushing on a door really, really hard and then suddenly someone opens it and you kind of fall in the room,” she laughs.

When it comes to making change, she says people should never underestimate the value of pester power. “Think about how you can push on the levers of other people who are more powerful than you.”

She’s expecting work on the seventh IPCC report to be intense, just as it was with the sixth, published in 2023.

“And what people probably don’t realise is that when we work on the IPCC reports, it’s completely voluntary,” she says. “There were times I was doing maybe a 50 hour week of teaching and 20 hours on the IPCC over the weekend.”

Each chapter could have thousands of review comments, and everything needed to be considered, answered, and potentially included in the copy.

“It was quite a spreadsheet,” Edwards says.

The seventh report is due out in 2029, and work is already underway to engage hundreds of experts and divide their collective knowledge neatly into chapters, in one of the biggest collaboration efforts in science.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Taranaki Regional Council says New Plymouth’s Lake Rotomanu will be closed to motorised boats from tomorrow after the discovery of an invasive fresh water clam.

It’s the first time the clam, Corbicula fluminea, has been found outside of the Waikato River and Lake Taupō Aqua Park.

Taranaki Regional Council’s Environment Services Manager Steve Ellis said it was unknown how the clams got into the lake, but the focus now was making sure they did not spread to other Taranaki lakes or rivers.

“We are working closely with local partners and Biosecurity New Zealand, and we will have robust plans in place to deal with this Corbicula incursion,” he said.

New Plymouth District Council will close the lake to motorised boats, which are at the highest risk of spreading clams, from Wednesday.

Other’s on the lake will be required to thoroughly check, clean and dry all gear before leaving the lake shore, and additional signage will be put up by the weekend.

Staff will be at the lake to ensure the rules are followed and to advise people how to correctly clean their gear.

“The initial closure of Lake Rotomanu allows us time to gather all the information, while managing the risk from motorised boats,” Ellis said.

He was urging those who had been on Lake Rotomanu or other waterways to check, clean and dry everything that had been in contact with the water before moving between waterways.

“We appreciate it is coming into summer, and the lake is a favourite spot for many boaties. But they will understand how important it is we act quickly – Corbicula can take over a waterway and have long-term effects on not just recreation, but also the environment.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

New figures from ACC show 11 claims for babies or toddlers with carrier related injuries in 2024, more than twice the number than the year before.

There has also been eight claims so far this year, however there are no specific details of the incidents.

It has prompted renewed calls for the government to introduce official safety standards for baby carriers, wraps and slings.

It also follows a rise in social media videos often showing babies snuggly strapped to an adults fronts, in some cases with their faces and airways obscured.

In 2019 in Australia a three week old baby suffocated in a cloth sling, where he was completely cocooned in fabric, carried by his mum as she waited for his check-up at health clinic.

Louise Tanguay, founder of The Sleep Store and community organisation Babywearing Aotearoa believes there are many people wearing carriers incorrectly.

She told Checkpoint it is concerning to see these carriers used in an unsafe way.

“They’re choosing carriers that are too big for the size of the baby, or they’re wearing the carrier low on their body, so when they lift up the front of it, it goes right over the baby’s head.”

“The carrier is not an unsafe carrier, but the way it’s being worn is unsafe and potentially covering baby’s airways.”

However Tanguay said she was also concerned about the lack of standards to prevent unsafe carriers being sold.

She said this included models imported from overseas, as well as knock off carriers being sold in New Zealand.

“It is very common in New Zealand for people to look at Facebook marketplace for cheap carriers, they’re on a tight budget and they want a name brand carrier,”

“If the price looks too good to be true, then it’s too good to be true – most of the ERGO baby carriers that we’ve seen bought on marketplace are fake and potentially quite unsafe… the fabric can be toxic, the buckles are not tested, they don’t come with proper instructions.”

Many overseas models have also been found to be unsafe, with some determined to be potentially fatal.

While using a carrier is great for calming newborns, bonding and being able to carry on with everyday life, Tanguay said many parents are being caught out by not knowing how to use the carrier, or not following instructions.

“Often we see now too on social media, there’s people of influence or just other content creators showing carriers worn in a way that’s unsafe.”

“There is this inconsistent message of what safe carrying looks like because of people not taking the time to check that their baby’s airways are clear and that the carrier is below the baby’s neck leaving fresh air for baby to breathe.”

She said the best way to use a carrier was by putting the baby where you would when holding them in your arms, high up on the chest.

“Hold baby high on the chest, hold baby close enough to kiss… against the firm part, not down in the soft, squishy part of your chest,”

“Then put the carrier on nice and high and then tighten it so babies held securely and do a good check that your baby’s face is clear of all fabric – fabric from your clothing, fabric from the carrier not putting the carrier over the baby’s head, that’s a really good place to start.”

The baby’s nose and mouth should be visible at all times.

Tanguay believes there is a lack of safety information provided to families about how to safely carry their baby.

“People do childbirth education classes or see a midwife or see a well child provider and there’s either inconsistent or no safe baby wearing advice provided in a lot of those spaces.”

She said there should be some sort of official safety standard around carriers, however it doesn’t need to be unique to New Zealand.

“We’re not asking for New Zealand to have a ridiculous specific standard just to New Zealand because that just adds crazy compliance costs to businesses and pushes the price of products up, or makes them unavailable.”

“I would just like to see those international standards recognised here so when a family goes to a shop or orders a carrier online, they at least have the basic safety checks covered that the buckles have been tested, that it has good instructions, that it comes with the mandatory warning label.”

“Then it also gives the government agencies the ability to stop the importing of unsafe carriers that we do see coming into New Zealand.”

There is no plan by the Government to introduce regulations for baby carriers.

Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson urges people to follow manufacturers’ instructions on safe use, and said retailers, online sellers and manufacturers are responsible for making sure the products they supply are safe.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Far-right US influencer Candace Owens’ Auckland event next year has been cancelled, after the commentator was earlier denied entry into Australia.

Owens lost her bid to enter Australia after the country’s highest court backed the government’s decision to deny her a visa over concerns she could “incite discord” in the community.

The NZ event’s venue Trusts Arena confirmed the event was cancelled some months ago, due to its controversial nature.

Trusts Arena chief executive Marcus Reynolds said the event had no ongoing association with the venue.

“We’ve reached out to the promoter and asked for The Trusts Arena details to be removed for their event page,” he said.

Owens, who is known for controversial views including downplaying the holocaust and claiming Muslims started slavery, was denied entry to Australia in October 2024 after she announced the speaking tour.

Groups, including Young Labour, urged the government to also ban her from New Zealand.

She had an application for an Entertainers Work Visa denied in November 2024, and had requested ministerial intervention.

At the time, Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk said the decision to overturn New Zealand’s ban was made after considering representations made to him, including the importance of free speech.

Promoters Rocksman told RNZ that Owens was “very keen” to come to New Zealand and continue her tour.

“This will likely be mid-year 2026.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Far-right US influencer Candace Owens’ Auckland event next year has been cancelled, after the commentator was earlier denied entry into Australia.

Owens lost her bid to enter Australia after the country’s highest court backed the government’s decision to deny her a visa over concerns she could “incite discord” in the community.

The NZ event’s venue Trusts Arena confirmed the event was cancelled some months ago, due to its controversial nature.

Trusts Arena chief executive Marcus Reynolds said the event had no ongoing association with the venue.

“We’ve reached out to the promoter and asked for The Trusts Arena details to be removed for their event page,” he said.

Owens, who is known for controversial views including downplaying the holocaust and claiming Muslims started slavery, was denied entry to Australia in October 2024 after she announced the speaking tour.

Groups, including Young Labour, urged the government to also ban her from New Zealand.

She had an application for an Entertainers Work Visa denied in November 2024, and had requested ministerial intervention.

At the time, Associate Immigration Minister Chris Penk said the decision to overturn New Zealand’s ban was made after considering representations made to him, including the importance of free speech.

Promoters Rocksman told RNZ that Owens was “very keen” to come to New Zealand and continue her tour.

“This will likely be mid-year 2026.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has been placed on leave from his role as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, following the release of a damning Independent Police Conduct Authority report.

The report found serious misconduct at the highest levels of police, including Coster, over how police responded to accusations of sexual offending by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

The allegations arose from an affair between McSkimming and a woman who was a non-sworn police employee at the time.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report says when police did eventually refer the woman’s claims to the authority, several months after it was recommended they do so, senior police attempted to influence the investigation.

Coster took on the role as Secretary for Social Investment in November 2024, after stepping down as Police Commissioner.

Public Service Minister Judith Collins said it was agreed between Coster and the Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche that Coster would be on leave while Sir Brian undertook his own investigation.

She said the report showed a “massive” failure of leadership, and while it was now an employment matter, she said the report spoke for itself.

“If this was me being named in this report, I would be ashamed of myself. And I think that’s what I can say. I would be deeply ashamed.”

She was unable to put a timeline on when the investigation could be completed.

Social investment minister Nicola Willis said she was “shocked and appalled” by the IPCA report’s findings.

“I have conveyed my views to Public Service Commissioner Brian Roche. The matter now sits with him as Mr Coster’s employer,” she said.

More to come

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two people have been injured after a vehicle crashed into house in Palmerston North.

Officers were called to the scene on John F Kennedy Drive about 5pm.

Police said emergeny services were at the scene and the road may be blocked for some time.

They urged members of the public to avoid the area and expect delays.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

“The public need to have trust in the police,” say government ministers, who will appoint an Inspector General of Police, after a damning report into handling of the Jevon McSkimming case.

An investigation into police handling of complaints against the former Deputy Police Commissioner – released today – was critical of the actions of former Commissioner Andrew Coster.

McSkimming resigned as the country’s second most powerful cop in May amid separate investigations by the Independent Police Conduct Authority and police.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA)’s report says when police did eventually refer the woman’s claims to the authority several months after it was recommended they do so, senior police attempted to influence the investigation.

Public Service Minister Judith Collins said the report’s findings were “extremely concerning and disappointing”, and it found serious issues within the former police executive.

Speaking to media early this evening, Collins said it was “very clear” the woman at the centre of the complaint was failed by senior police.

“What is also clear is that this cannot continue to happen.”

She described the events as a “massive failure of leadership”.

“This could have been avoided if senior police at the time had acted with integrity, called out bad behaviour when they saw it, and promptly investigated allegations when they were made.”

She said the government was “acting decisively” in response and will implement the strongest statutory oversight mechanism available, an Inspector General of Police.

She said the public needed to have trust in the police and leaders in the public sector.

“And they have a right to expect that when things go wrong, people are held to account, and that is what we are doing.”

Coster is now the chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, but is currently on leave from that role.

Collins said the Public Service Commissioner and Coster agreed he would go on leave while the Public Service Commissioner carried out his own investigation.

Collins said it was currently an employment matter and cannot comment further, but said the report speaks for itself.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said he expected police to uphold the “highest levels of integrity, transparency and accountability”.

“The report highlights significant flaws in the decision making, judgement and actions of a group of individuals, including those at the top of the previous Police executive.

“Their actions have raised serious concerns about integrity and culture within the then executive,” he said.

Mitchell said at the centre of this, a woman had been “let down by the former police executive and the system”.

“I cannot express how frustrated and disappointed I have been since becoming aware of the situation.”

The ministers said the report raised questions around whether there was “sufficient independent oversight” of the police to prevent these issues happening again. It also raised questions about “probity checking” of McSkimming by the Public Service Commission (PSC) when he was appointed Deputy Police Commissioner in 2023.

The matter was “picked up” during the Police Commissioner recruitment process in 2024, and McSkimming was suspended, then resigned.

Collins said New Zealanders will understandably have questions around “how McSkimming was able to be considered for roles at the highest level of Police given what has come to light.” She said the PSC was taking these concerns “very seriously”.

The IPCA made 13 recommendations for police and two for the government regarding police oversight. Collins said all had been accepted.

“It is imperative New Zealanders have confidence in our police. That is why we are choosing the most robust level of oversight available to the government,” said Collins.

Mitchell said police have accepted all the recommendations in the report, including “strengthening integrity and conduct processes, amending the code of conduct to provide for mandatory reporting, and refreshing integrity training.”

He emphasised that all those in the executive who were involved in the case at the time have now left the police. He also emphasised the report findings should not be seen as a “reflection on our police service as a whole.”

Mitchell said it was important to emphasise the report findings should not be seen as a reflection on our police service as a whole.

“I commend the staff highlighted in the review as having showed exceptional moral courage. They have done themselves, their colleagues and their organisation proud.

“It is imperative New Zealanders have trust and confidence in the police. That’s why the government is taking these findings extremely seriously.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Police Commssioner says police showed a “lack of leadership” in how they responded to accusations of sexual offending by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming. A report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) was released on Tuesday, detailing serious misconduct,

Shortly after the report was made public, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers released this statement:

The findings of the IPCA review into the Police handling of complaints against Jevon McSkimming show inexcusable conduct by former senior leaders of NZ Police.

The events and findings set out in the IPCA report made for appalling reading and showed a total lack of leadership and integrity at the highest levels of Police.

I was shocked by the report’s account of departures in 2023 and 2024 from the expected processes for dealing both with sexual assault complaints and with investigations into police officers.

The usual integrity checks and balances were bypassed, there was interference from the highest levels, and the ambitions of a senior police officer were put above the interests of a vulnerable woman.

I am apologising to the woman at the centre of this for the repeated early failures in following the proper processes for investigating this matter by those at such a senior level of Police.

She was ignored and badly let down.

That was unacceptable.

It was not until late 2024 that an investigation was set up to properly investigate those claims.

That should have happened from the start.

I want to acknowledge those senior police staff who did stand up and challenge what was happening here.

I thank them for the courage, leadership, and integrity they showed in doing so.

The events in the report are a kick in the guts for the 15,000 women and men of NZ Police who turn up to work every day and night to serve New Zealanders and keep them safe.

That has angered me.

It was not those staff who were found wanting here.

It was a failing of leadership.

The actions and attitudes set out in the report are inexcusable and show a disrespect and disregard for what NZ Police stands for.

The report is thorough and convincing, and I accept the recommendations and intent of them.

My leadership team will meet to develop a plan to address those recommendations.

The processes for complaints against senior Police leaders were too easily ignored or bypassed here, despite attempts by some staff to ensure they were adhered to.

That is of concern and I agree extra safeguards are needed.

I welcome the IPCA’s recommendations and government decisions to achieve that.

Most of those involved in the report are no longer staff of NZ Police.

I have appointed an independent King’s Counsel to undertake employment investigations where required.

The report’s other recommendations are relevant to other work I already have underway to strengthen integrity.

I am currently undertaking an extensive refresh of the Police Executive and wider leadership, including the appointment of two statutory deputy commissioners and new assistant commissioners.

The IPCA recommendations to strengthen the role of the Integrity and Conduct Unit will form part of that refresh.

I have started revising the Police Code of Conduct, aimed at strengthening accountability.

I recently ordered an immediate uplift to the Police National Integrity Unit, adding six investigators.

That unit handles investigations into police staff.

Earlier this year, I also invited the Public Service Commission to conduct a Performance Improvement Review into NZ Police, focusing on integrity and conduct.

It is the first such review of NZ Police since 2012 and is aimed at positioning Police for the future.

The absolute worst outcome of this would be if anyone did not feel safe in reporting sexual assault to Police, or did not think Police would listen and investigate thoroughly.

I want to reassure you that is not the case.

What happened here will dismay and anger the dedicated specialist investigators around the country who put everything into their work trying to hold perpetrators of sexual violence to account and keep people safe.

I know some people will question whether Police have learned the lessons of the past after reading this report.

Over many years, Police has put a lot of resource and effort into developing and implementing very robust processes for dealing with sexual violence complaints.

Our specialist adult sexual assault teams are highly trained and dedicated.

One of the most disappointing things about this report was that a small group of senior leaders at that time elected to depart from those processes.

The attitudes on display here are not attitudes I have experienced among specialist investigation team staff, nor are they attitudes acceptable to me.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government will install an Inspector General of Police following a damning report into police conduct, the Public Service Minister says.

Watch a live stream of a media conference with Public Service Minister Judith Collins:

An investigation into police handling of complaints against the former Deputy Police Commissioner – released today – was critical of the actions of former Commissioner Andrew Coster.

McSkimming resigned as the country’s second most powerful cop in May amid separate investigations by the Independent Police Conduct Authority and police.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA)’s report says when police did eventually refer the woman’s claims to the authority several months after it was recommended they do so, senior police attempted to influence the investigation.

Public Service Minister Judith Collins said the report’s findings were “extremely concerning and disappointing”, and it found serious issues within the former police executive.

She said the government was “acting decisively” in response and will implement the strongest statutory oversight mechanism available, an Inspector General of Police.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said he expected police to uphold the “highest levels of integrity, transparency and accountability”.

“The report highlights significant flaws in the decision making, judgement and actions of a group of individuals, including those at the top of the previous Police executive.

“Their actions have raised serious concerns about integrity and culture within the then executive,” he said.

Mitchell said at the centre of this, a woman had been “let down by the former police executive and the system”.

“I cannot express how frustrated and disappointed I have been since becoming aware of the situation.”

The ministers said the report raised questions around whether there was “sufficient independent oversight” of the police to prevent these issues happening again. It also raised questions about “probity checking” of McSkimming by the Public Service Commission (PSC) when he was appointed Deputy Police Commissioner in 2023.

The matter was “picked up” during the Police Commissioner recruitment process in 2024, and McSkimming was suspended, then resigned.

Collins said New Zealanders will understandably have questions around “how McSkimming was able to be considered for roles at the highest level of Police given what has come to light.” She said the PSC was taking these concerns “very seriously”.

The IPCA made 13 recommendations for police and two for the government regarding police oversight. Collins said all had been accepted.

“It is imperative New Zealanders have confidence in our police. That is why we are choosing the most robust level of oversight available to the government,” said Collins.

Mitchell said police have accepted all the recommendations in the report, including “strengthening integrity and conduct processes, amending the code of conduct to provide for mandatory reporting, and refreshing integrity training.”

Mitchell said it was important to emphasise the report findings should not be seen as a reflection on our police service as a whole.

“I commend the staff highlighted in the review as having showed exceptional moral courage. They have done themselves, their colleagues and their organisation proud.

“It is imperative New Zealanders have trust and confidence in the police. That’s why the government is taking these findings extremely seriously.”

– more to come

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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 scathing report by the police watchdog has found serious misconduct at the highest levels of police including former Commissioner Andrew Coster over how police responded to accusations of sexual offending by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

The allegations arose from an affair between McSkimming and a woman who was a non-sworn police employee at the time.

Read the full IPCA report here

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report says when police did eventually refer the woman’s claims to the authority, several months after it was recommended they do so, senior police attempted to influence the investigation.

According to a summary of the report: “Those attempts were perceived by some others within police as an attempt to bring the investigation to a rapid and premature conclusion so as not to intersect with the Commissioner appointment process and jeopardise Mr McSkimming’s prospects of being appointed as the next Commissioner of Police.”

A series of other allegations regarding misconduct by McSkimming have also been revealed ,including that he misused a police credit card, made use of police property to further a sexual relationship, and threatened to provide an intimate visual recording to other people if the woman made a complaint about him.

The IPCA concluded that the current structures and processes to protect the integrity of policing were “inadequate” and have recommended several significant changes.

McSkimming resigned as the country’s second most powerful cop in May, amid separate investigations by the Independent Police Conduct Authority and police.

Last week the 52-year-old pleaded guilty to three representative charges of possessing objectionably publications including child sexual exploitation and bestiality material. He will be sentenced next month.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority earlier announced it was investigating allegations of misconduct by McSkimming following a complaint from a member of the public.

“This comprises oversight of a police investigation into whether there has been any criminal wrongdoing by Mr McSkimming and a review of whether there has been any related non-criminal misconduct.”

It was also investigating if there was misconduct or neglect of duty by any other police officers or employees in the course of responding to the allegations.

The final report was shown to a group of people on 24 October.

It is yet to be released publicly due to a suppression order that lifted today in relation to a charge that was laid against the woman who accused McSkimming of sexual misconduct.

An affidavit filed by the IPCA in opposition to the suppression and obtained by RNZ, outlines a summary of the authority’s investigation.

The report

The affair began in 2016. McSkimming was 42 at the time, and the woman was about 20 years younger.

After the relationship ended towards the end of 2017, specific allegations against McSkimming appeared in an anonymous Facebook post in 2018.

The post, which was tagged to both police and the IPCA, warned women to be “careful of Jevon McSkimming”.

“He has previously preyed on a young female who he lured in with countless lies and manipulation – all for his sexual gain. He has admitted to this by stating he ‘used’ her and ‘treated her like shit’. He threatened to post images of her online to keep her from exposing the truth about him.”

The allegations were not picked up by police or the IPCA, because neither had systems in place at the time to identify them as a possible complaint.

However, the IPCA had identified a number of serious failings in the subsequent response to the complaints by the woman during 2023 and early 2024, before police took preliminary steps to investigate in mid 2024.

The failings included neither McSkimming nor Coster adequately disclosing to the Public Service Commission the sexual relationship between McSkimming and the woman and the allegations arising from them, during the appointment process for statutory Deputy Commissioner in early 2023.

In April 2023, further allegations apparently made by the woman were tagged to the police LinkedIn announcement that McSkimming had been appointed as a statutory Deputy Commissioner.

One post said:

“Yea should be really proud of Jevon McSkimming who cheats on his wife for years using taxpayer funded hotels and police property to do it in a way that makes him feel ‘safe’, has sexually assaulted at least one police employee on police property, threatens to destroy and ruin people when he is concerned about his behaviour being known…

“He has also taken images of someone without their consent and threatened to use the images to destroy them.”

The IPCA’s affidavit said there was no consideration of the need for an investigation.

A report by the joint Police/Health Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) in February 2024 identified that emails allegedly sent by the woman raised potential criminal and Police Code of Conduct concerns relating to McSkimming and recommended referring them to the National Integrity Unit and IPCA with a view to possible investigation.

The emails included one from 27 December 2023 which began “what is the complaints process so that Jevon McSkimming (somehow an acting Commissioner of NZ Police) who has sexually assaulted a police employee on police property can be dismissed for misconduct?”.

An email sent on 3 January 2024 said McSkimming “creates destruction in society and even threatens to destroy people yet continues to go up the ranks in police… seems because he threatens (including legally threatens) those who he abuses physically and mentally”.

There was also an email sent on 9 February 2024 which began “If you were lied to then does that mean you consent?”.

“Jevon perhaps before you try cover up your behaviour with legal threats you should disclose to Andrew Coster your behaviour and have a look at international legal precedents classifying sex by deception as rape.”

There was also an email sent to Coster on 24 January 2024 which said:

“Next time you attend church events… make sure to ask Jevon… how many unsolicited photos he takes to try blackmail them into silence.”

However, this recommendation, which was received by a Deputy Commissioner and a Detective Superintendent, was not acted on. Instead, an investigation focused on potential offences by the woman under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.

The woman was charged in May last year with causing harm by posting digital communication in relation to more than 300 emails she allegedly sent to McSkimming’s work email address between December 2023 and April 2024. The emails included abusive and derogatory language directed towards McSkimming and other people.

The summary of facts, obtained by RNZ, said multiple emails had also been copied to Coster, Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Minister of Police Mark Mitchell.

“The emails copied to other members of the Police Executive and Members of Parliament, if left unchecked, are likely to have an adverse impact on the victim’s working relationships, which includes Members of Parliament and senior government officials.

“Further they have caused him severe embarrassment and have been harmful to his reputation.”

Then, in late April 2024, three specific complaints against McSkimming were made via the Police 105 online reporting portal.

The affidavit included several extracts that purported to come from McSkimming himself but contained allegations of sexual offending by him.

They included claims that he threatened to provide an intimate visual recording to other people if the woman made a complaint about him and that he misused police resources, including a police credit card, in connection with the sexual relationship.

Once again, the IPCA found a number of serious failings in the way in which the police responded to those complaints and undertook a preliminary investigation.

The IPCA was not notified in accordance with normal processes, there was an “unacceptable delay” in initiating an investigation, which effectively did not commence until July, and the terms of reference were “inappropriately worded” and did not comply with Police Adult Sexual Assault policy.

It was not until October 2024 that police notified the IPCA and the authority said it was then that senior officers attempted to influence the investigation.

“Those attempts were perceived by some others within police as an attempt to bring the investigation to a rapid and premature conclusion so as not to intersect with the Commissioner appointment process and jeopardise McSkimming’s prospects of being appointed as the next Commissioner of Police.”

McSkimming was placed on “special leave” as the IPCA began its investigation in November.

The following month, police began a criminal investigation into that allegation. McSkimming was formally suspended on 23 December.

It was during that investigation that police found the objectionable material on his work devices and a second criminal investigation began.

The IPCA’s report did not find that the senior officers colluded in the way in which they responded to the complaints, but it did conclude that there was serious misconduct by a “significant number of very senior officers” and other senior police employees that had “undermined the integrity of the organisation as a whole”.

“Those findings were made in respect of, among others, the then Commissioner, a Deputy Commissioner, two Assistant Commissioners, and a Detective Superintendent.”

The IPCA said police failed to act on the allegations the woman made, and instead focused only on her actions.

There should have been parallel, but connected investigations. This did not occur until well after she had been charged.

“In essence, police officers and employees dealing with the matters displayed an inability to balance a proper concern for Mr McSkimming and his family in relation to the harassing emails, with the need to consider that the emails contained complaints of potential misconduct by Mr McSkimming that needed to be investigated.”

The IPCA found this partly occurred because officers “simply accepted without question the narrative presented to them by Mr McSkimming”.

It concluded that the current structures and processes to protect the integrity of policing were inadequate and had recommended that several significant changes, both internal and external to police, were required.

The charge against the woman was withdrawn in the Wellington District Court in September because McSkimming did not wish to give evidence.

However, a suppression order on McSkimming’s identity as a complainant remained.

A hearing was held in the Wellington District Court on Tuesday where the suppression order was opposed by RNZ, NZME, the IPCA and the Crown.

McSkimming did not oppose the order being lifted.

In September, Police announced McSkimming would not be charged in relation to the allegations of sexual misconduct.

Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson said Police had completed its investigation into allegations against a former senior police member.

“The investigation concluded that the evidential test for prosecution had not been met, therefore no charges will be laid.

Johnson said the investigation and decision not to charge were independently reviewed by a King’s Counsel and peer reviewed by a Crown Law appointed barrister.

“The investigation was thorough and led by a Detective Superintendent. It had independent engagement throughout from the IPCA and a Crown Law appointed barrister.”

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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 investigators looking into the blaze in Tongariro National Park are asking for dashcam footage from drivers in the area.

Fire and Emergency (FENZ) said it wanted to hear from anyone with a dashcam who was on State Highway 47 on Saturday afternoon between 1-3pm .

A particular area of interest was SH47 from the intersection with SH4 to the intersection with SH46, it said.

FENZ said SH47 would reopen at 5pm on Tuesday with speed restrictions in place.

FENZ district commander Nigel Dravitzki said aerial mapping has confirmed 2935 hectares of the park has been scorched, and while no obvious signs of fire had been seen, it was still being treated as a live fireground.

“There may be patches of smouldering vegetation that would reignite very easily in windy conditions. That is common fire behaviour, especially in an environment like this where the vegetation dries out easily.”

He said 35 firefighers had been patrolling tracks inside the fireground today, and that FENZ would remain on site to respond to any flare ups.

The main Tongariro track is expected to stay shut until at least next week after devastating wildfire.

Recent rain is helping hugely to bring the massive Tongariro National Park blaze under control, Fire and Emergency says.

Thirty-five crews of Department of Conservation firefighters remain at the site on Tuesday, while drones with thermal imaging equipment have begun checking the flanks of the fireground for hotspots.

A helicopter is on standby to fly over and assess the full extent of the damage. However, low cloud has meant it has been unable to do an aerial assessment of the site, which is estimated to cover up to 2800 hectares.

Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka’s office said part of the National Park is open, but the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Tongariro Northern Circuit, Tama Lakes and walks near Whakapapa Village would be closed until at least Monday.

“We will be in a better place to give an indication of when tracks and huts will re-open and any impacts on summer tramping once the fire has been controlled and FENZ have confirmed it is safe for us to assess damage,” a spokesperson said.

“But there will be some time before everything is cleared away and we know the true extent of biodiversity loss,” Potaka said.

He said police were investigating the cause of the fire.

“We have managed to protect some key infrastructure so we hope to be able to reopen the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and Tongariro Northern Circuit (except Oturere Hut) quickly,” Potaka’s office said.

About 605 people were booked for the day crossing over this week, however it is expected others would have booked closer to the time at short notice.

There were 92 people booked in a hut or campsite until Friday night, with those people informed the area was closed and their cost refunded.

FENZ assistant commander Renee Potae said recent rain had been a huge help.

“The key thing has been the rain, especially the runoff from the mountain. That runoff is running into the fireground and really helping us get control of this fire.”

However, while flames may no longer be visible, it does not mean the fire has been fully extinguished.

“While you can’t see too much sign of fire right now on the surface, it doesn’t mean it’s not still burning underground,” Potae said.

“So while we’ll start to see some of the resources start to demobilise over the next few days, there will be, for several days, some crews continuing to monitor the fire just to make sure it’s out.”

Meanwhile, an iwi representative said the rāhui over the scene will give the whenua time to breathe.

Two rāhui have been put in place, covering the Tongariro Alpine Crossing track and any burnt areas.

Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro representative Te Ngaehe Wanikau said: “The restoration is not about excluding, it’s not prohibiting.”

Wanikau said the restorative rāhui was not in the usual sense of rāhui which happens after a tragedy.

A restorative rāhui was about focusing on bringing the area back to what it should be, he said.

The “greatest” fear was the burnt area going into the “too hard basket and then we see yellow flowers of broom all over our mountain”.

The rāhui was an opportunity for “everyone and anyone” to focus on making it a restorative project that showed what the area could look like if the problem was dealt with.

He said they would work with agencies to determine the extent of the damage.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A lawyer for a woman who accused former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming of sexual offending says police failed his client by dismissing her complaints and ultimately prosecuting her for speaking out.

The allegations arose from an affair between McSkimming and the woman who at the time was a junior non-sworn police employee.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found serious misconduct at the highest levels of police including former Commissioner Andrew Coster in relation to how police responded to the claims.

An internal report in February 2024 identified that emails allegedly sent by the woman raised potential criminal and Police Code of Conduct concerns relating to McSkimming and recommended referring them to the National Integrity Unit and IPCA with a view to possible investigation.

But this didn’t happen instead the only investigation focused on potential offences by the woman under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.

The woman was charged in May last year with causing harm by posting digital communication in relation to over 300 emails she allegedly sent to McSkimming’s work email address between December 2023 and April 2024.

The emails included abusive and derogatory language directed towards McSkimming and other people.

The charge against the woman was withdrawn in the Wellington District Court in September because McSkimming did not wish to give evidence.

However, a suppression order on McSkimming’s identity as a complainant remained until it was lifted on Tuesday.

In a statement to RNZ, the woman’s lawyer Steven Lack, said police “failed my client”.

“Over a period of years, she attempted to report allegations of serious physical, psychological and sexual offending by Mr McSkimming, then one of the most senior Police Officers in the country. Instead of being heard, she was dismissed and ultimately prosecuted for speaking out and raising her concerns.

“At every stage, the Police had the opportunity to engage with her, to properly assess what she was saying, and to investigate her allegations. They could have viewed her as a traumatised victim. They chose not to. They accepted Mr McSkimming’s denials without meaningful inquiry and placed the full weight of the criminal justice system on my client for more than a year until the charge against her was withdrawn. Understandably this has had a devastating impact on her.

“The way her complaints were handled should alarm all New Zealanders. It suggests that the Police were more focused on protecting Mr McSkimming’s career and advancement than on properly assessing serious allegations of offending against him.”

Lack said the police were an organisation “entrusted by the community to protect and serve”.

“In my client’s case, they did neither.

The report

The Independent Police Conduct Authority earlier announced it was investigating allegations of misconduct by McSkimming following a complaint from a member of the public.

“This comprises oversight of a police investigation into whether there has been any criminal wrongdoing by Mr McSkimming and a review of whether there has been any related non-criminal misconduct.”

It was also investigating if there was misconduct or neglect of duty by any other police officers or employees in the course of responding to the allegations.

The final report was shown to a group of people on 24 October.

It is yet to be released publicly due to a suppression order that lifted today in relation to a charge that was laid against the woman who accused McSkimming of sexual misconduct.

An affidavit filed by the IPCA in opposition to the suppression and obtained by RNZ, outlines a summary of the IPCA’s investigation.

The allegations of sexual misconduct arose from a sexual relationship between the woman and McSkimming that began in 2016 and 2017.

McSkimming was 42 at the time, and the woman was about 20 years younger.

After the relationship ended towards the end of 2017, specific allegations against McSkimming appeared in an anonymous Facebook post in 2018.

The allegations were not picked up by police or the IPCA because neither had systems in place at the time to identify them as a possible complaint.

However, the IPCA had identified a number of serious failings in the subsequent response to the woman’s complaints during 2023 and early 2024, before police took preliminary steps to investigate in mid 2024.

The failings included neither McSkimming nor Coster adequately disclosing to the Public Service Commission the sexual relationship between McSkimming and the woman and the allegations, during the appointment process for statutory Deputy Commissioner in early 2023.

In April 2023, further allegations apparently made by the woman were tagged to the Police LinkedIn announcement that McSkimming had been appointed as a statutory Deputy Commissioner.

The IPCA’s affidavit said there was no consideration of the need for an investigation.

The affidavit included several extracts from three specific complaints against McSkimmming made via the Police 105 online reporting portal in late April 2024.

The complaints claimed to come from McSkimming himself but contained allegations of sexual offending by him.

They accused McSkimming of sexual misconduct, including an allegation that he threatened to provide an intimate visual recording to other people if the woman made a complaint about him and that he misused police resources, including a police credit card, in connection with the sexual relationship.

Once again, the IPCA found a number of serious failings in the way in which the police responded to those complaints and undertook a preliminary investigation.

The IPCA was not notified in accordance with normal processes, there was an “unacceptable delay” in initiating an investigation, which effectively did not commence until July, and the terms of reference were “inappropriately worded” and did not comply with Police Adult Sexual Assault policy.

It wasn’t until October 2024, that the police notified the IPCA. It was then, the authority said that senior officers made attempts to influence its investigation.

“Those attempts were perceived by some others within police as an attempt to bring the investigation to a rapid and premature conclusion so as not to intersect with the Commissioner appointment process and jeopardise McSkimming’s prospects of being appointed as the next Commissioner of Police.”

McSkimming was placed on “special leave” as the IPCA began its investigation in November.

The following month, police began a criminal investigation into that allegation. McSkimming was formally suspended on 23 December.

It was during that investigation that police found the objectionable material on his work devices and a second criminal investigation began.

The report did not find that the senior officers colluded in the way in which they responded to the complaints, but it did conclude that there was serious misconduct by a “significant number of very senior officers” and other senior police employees that had “undermined the integrity of the organisation as a whole”.

“Those findings were made in respect of, among others, the then Commissioner, a Deputy Commissioner, two Assistant Commissioners, and a Detective Superintendent.”

The IPCA said police failed to act on the allegations the woman made, and instead focused only on her actions.

There should have been parallel, but connected investigations. This did not occur until well after she had been charged.

“In essence, police officers and employees dealing with the matters displayed an inability to balance a proper concern for Mr McSkimming and his family in relation to the harassing emails, with the need to consider that the emails contained complaints of potential misconduct by Mr McSkimming that needed to be investigated.”

The IPCA found this partly occurred because officers “simply accepted without question the narrative presented to them by Mr McSkimming”.

The IPCA concluded that the current structures and processes to protect the integrity of policing were inadequate and had recommended that several significant changes, both internal and external to police, were required.

In September, Police announced McSkimming would not be charged in relation to the allegations of sexual misconduct.

Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson said Police had completed its investigation into allegations against a former senior police member.

“The investigation concluded that the evidential test for prosecution had not been met, therefore no charges will be laid.

Johnson said the investigation and decision not to charge were independently reviewed by a King’s Counsel and peer reviewed by a Crown Law appointed barrister.

“The investigation was thorough and led by a Detective Superintendent. It had independent engagement throughout from the IPCA and a Crown Law appointed barrister.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

By Kira Carrington, Local Democracy Reporting

Landscape architecture students have placed Māori history and values at the heart of their reimagining of Waitohi Picton’s Nelson Square.

The group of 14 second-year students from Victoria University of Wellington has opened an exhibition of their work at the Picton Library and Service Centre – Waitohi Whare Mātauranga.

The exhibition, which runs until November 19, features 10 concept designs for a revamped Nelson Square, and residents are invited to provide feedback on the designs via a QR code.

Students also presented their designs to Marlborough District Council, which would consider them as part of a deliberative process on the future of the square.

The exhibition was the culmination of a months-long project, which included a research trip in July to scope the site, and speak to residents and mana whenua about what they wanted from the space.

Many of the students, who worked in pairs, took inspiration from local Māori history, legends, and the environment in their designs.

The Tohorā Thread, by Charlotte London and Isla Hawkins, took its main inspiration from the Tohorā, or Southern Right Whale.

“To Māori, the Tohorā represented navigation, exploration and guidance across the ocean, much like the ferries that arrive in Waitohi today,” London and Hawkins wrote in their explainer.

Their design featured a Corten steel wall shaped like a whale that told the story of Te Atiawa’s voyage to Waitohi and water-activated concrete paint that revealed other parts of Te Atiawa’s story when it rained.

Two groups where inspired by Te Ihu Moe One, the snout of the taniwha Tui Ngarara, whose journey toward the ocean after getting stuck in mud created the Tuamarina River Valley, otherwise known as Waitohi Valley.

Samuel Fauth and Billy Lamont said the main path of their design, Te Haerenga o te Taniwha, would symbolise the taniwha’s journey to the ocean, the path would be surrounded by mounds, showing how the taniwha moved the earth around it.

Their communal area would represent the carving out of Koromiko, where the taniwha was said to have thrashed around and created a bowl shape, Fauth and Lamont said.

Ruby Gregson and Georgia Van den Broke wrote that their design Te Ara Whetu was inspired by Matariki.

Navigation was a big part of their design, by using directional markers designed with mana whenua to orient visitors and introduce the stories of the stars, Gregon and Van den Broke said.

“Pathways branch like constellations, linking the central campus, Auckland reserve, and the waterfront into a sequence of spaces in their own celestial network.”

An amphitheatre would mark the centre of the constellation, as a place for people to gather under the stars.

Other projects featured an octopus playground inspired by the legend of Kupe and Te Wheke-o-Muturangi, as well as a fragrance garden, a tea house for Rongoā tea, and seats made of recycled railway sleepers.

Victoria University teaching fellow Maria Rodgers said it was exciting for the students to be able to work on a “real world project”.

“The students have worked very hard on this because they care,” Rodgers said.

“Some of the designs are ambitious but hopefully there will be elements in them that the public will feel a connection to which could in turn lead to a redesign of Nelson Square.

“We would like to thank all those people whose passion for Waitohi Picton has supported this project.”

Vice-chairperson of Te Ātiawa Trust and chairperson of Waikawa Marae Rita Powick said design and development was an importance medium for understanding local history.

“Sharing knowledge and pūrākau (stories) that acknowledge our special landmarks and people, help bring depth and purpose into a space as it’s reimagined,” Powick said.

The project came from work between the council, Victoria University, Te Ātiawa and Kūmānu’s landscape architecture team, who co-ordinated the project with Better Off Funding provided by central government.

Visitors could provide feedback on the designs on the Reimagining Nelson Square website.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

– 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

Emergency services are swarming a central Wellington street, which has been closed to the public.

Police were called to an incident on Willis Street at 3.30pm, and say the road is now shut between Manners and Dixon streets.

An RNZ staffer says firefighters are using a crane to reach the upper levels of a building.

Fenz has confirmed they’re “assisting police”.

Five police cars and ambulances are also at the scene.

The public has been asked to avoid the area.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Mining company OceanaGold has consent to keep mining gold at its Macraes site in East Otago for another five years.

The Otago Regional Council has approved the Macraes operation until 2030, through a non-notified process.

The company had been planning a major expansion of the mine and intends to submit a fast-track application for that work next year.

OceanaGold’s senior vice president for legal and public affairs Alison Paul said the consent was a narrow application to keep the mine running in the meantime.

“These consents allow mining to continue at Macraes through to around 2030 and authorise the clearance of a small area of grass and tussock on land we own adjacent to the Innes Mills Pit, and for us to continue depositing tailings into the existing Frasers tailings storage facility,” she said.

The non-notified consent process was appropriate given the minor level of additional effects, she said.

Under the company’s expansion plan – known as Macraes Phase Four – it planned to dig the open pits deeper and wider, process low-grade ore and develop new tailings storage.

Paul said the company expected to apply for consent to operate until 2035.

“While this will be the first time we use fast-track at our Macraes Operation, our experience using fast-track in a major project has shown us that the same level of detail currently required under the RMA is equally required under fast-track. The same investigative and evidential rigour, and the same environmental standards remain. We remain committed to working constructively with all stakeholders throughout this process,” she 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

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Armed police are searching for an offender reported to have a gun, who fled a car crash in the Christchurch suburb of New Brighton.

It plunged a nearby primary school into lockdown for around two hours.

Police said they were called to Rocking Horse Road after a car collided with two parked vehicles. No one was injured in the crash.

“It is reported the offender fled the scene with a firearm,” a police spokesperson said.

Police are making enquiries to identify and locate the offender.

A local woman, who did not want to be named, said neighbours came rushing out when they heard the crash happen.

“We all heard a giant crash and were quite concerned because it was the kind of crash where you think people have been hurt. We rushed out from all directions,” she said.

She said locals saw a young man running down the road and into a side street.

“Two older women were walking down the street, I don’t know if they actually saw it happen but they saw him running down the road and he had an air rifle in his hand. They tried to stop him, which wasn’t very wise,” she said.

“The police said they had no luck with the dogs. The young man has vanished.”

Nelson Myers-Daley said his wife was home at the time the car crashed into their parked car, leaving it badly damaged.

“She heard a big crash of metal and came running out, then she saw someone jumping out of the car and running,” he said.

Myers-Daley said the force of the crash propelled their car about four metres forward.

“It’s not what you want to have happen on sunny day on Rocking Horse Road. Hopefully they find whoever did it,” he said.

South New Brighton School in Christchurch was put in lockdown just after 2pm on Tuesday. The lockdown was lifted around two hours later.

A school representative confirmed the school is in lockdown and parents have been contacted.

A message from the school said police had advised the school of an incident in the area, and to go into lockdown.

It said police will let the school know when students could go home.

Police said cordons are in place and the public is asked to avoid the area.

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