Source: Radio New Zealand

A Tolaga Bay farmer is “back at square one” just months after completing repairs to damage to his property from storms that hit four years ago.

A low pressure system brought heavy rain and thunderstorms to northern parts of the country over the weekend – causing surface flooding and felling trees, as well as stranding travellers and forcing the evacuation of up to 30 campers in Tolaga Bay.

Greg Shelton – who is also the area manager for Tolaga Bay Civil Defence – said it would take him at least three days to assess the extent of damage to his property.

But Federated Farmers said – while some farms had suffered significant damage – others would be welcoming a break in near drought conditions ahead of the storms.

‘Pretty damn hard’

Shelton said his farm was cut off and suffered extensive damage during intense localised downpours.

He said a rain gauge near his property – about 8 kms east of Tolaga Bay – had measured 215 mms of rain falling over a 12 hour period during the weekend.

He estimated more than half of that fell during an hour and a half of severe thunderstorms on Saturday night.

“Other farms around here were recording half or a quarter of that so unfortunately we got caught in that weather bomb. We got hit particularly hard for an hour and a half and that’s really what did the most of the damage,” Shelton said.

Shelton said his farm was “back at square one” just months after completing repairs following damage to his property during storms in March 2022.

“We’re dealing with most fences down, roads that need a lot attention. The main access road is a narrow pathway now to get vehicles in and out. Then we sit down and look at animal health issues and then boundary fences and try to prioritise everything.

“It is huge, there’s a lot of mud, a lot of logs, a lot of debris in them and it’s just a case of ‘we’ve been here before’ we just take a breath and try to prioritise things which is pretty damn hard,” Shelton said.

He estimated this storm’s repairs could take up to a year to complete.

“We know this will take all winter. We’re a steep hill country property. We have to fly gear out by helicopters – we just don’t get to a repair job by lunchtime,” Shelton said.

Shelton said he was “a possum caught in the headlights” on Sunday morning but he was grateful for the help of his son and his family to keep him grounded as they faced the task ahead.

He said the weekend’s events were the first time in nearly 40 years involvement in the local Civil Defence that he was unable to be a part of setting up the community’s emergency centre.

“The Uawa/Tolaga Bay Civil Defence team stood up and they had young people come on board and I can’t praise them enough,” he said.

‘Some people get hammered, some people get saved’

Federated Farmers Gisborne and Wairoa provincial president Charlie Reynolds said he was aware some farmers had been hit hard by the weather while others would have welcomed the rain.

He said the rain over the New Year break and last weekend was the first significant rainfall in the area since October.

“We were gearing up with MPI [Ministry for Primary Industries] to declare a drought. A lot of people were getting pretty worried.

“The first lot of rain – just before New Year’s Eve – just soaked into the ground which was brilliant. This second lot has filled the dams and tanks. It’s one of those mixed bags – some people get hammered some people get saved,” Reynolds said.

Community volunteers step up

Ūawa deputy Civil Defence officer Nori Parata said the area had generally fared relatively well as the direction of the weather system had limited the weather’s impact on the levels of the Hikuwai River.

She said nearly 40 people were still forced to take shelter in the Tolaga Bay Area School’s gymnasium on Saturday night – the majority being campers from low lying parts of the nearby Tolaga Bay Top 10 Camp.

Parata said the number of evacuees from the camp could have been higher but rising waters cut of the route between the camp and school.

“We were very pleased the camp operators took action when they did – at around 8.30 pm – while it was still light. If they had waited a couple of hours it would have been a very different situation. It would have been drama, the rain was torrential,” Parata said.

Parata said the she was grateful to local volunteers who sprang into action to set up mattresses and bedding and prepare the kitchen at the school for evacuees to use.

“They are a well oiled machine and they work well together. We had TV, we had packs of cards, there was a jovial atmosphere. When we gave them access to the wi-fi, the teenagers all cheered.”

She said State Highway 35 was been reopened to traffic ahead of 9 am on Sunday morning and evacuees were able to leave the gymnasium later that day.

Shelton said the community was getting used to preparing for adverse weather events as soon as forecasts showed severe weather on the way.

“This is going to be a norm unfortunately. Warmer water temperatures, warmer atmosphere, cooler ground temperatures, it’s a recipe for more events like this weather localised or throughout the Cape. We are going to get more of them I’m afraid,” Shelton said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A ransom hack on New Zealand’s largest health portal is being billed as one of the country’s biggest cybersecurity incidents, but how does it compare?

The hackers have threatened to release more than 400,000 documents stolen from about 126,000 ManageMyHealth patients if the private company failed to pay $60,000 by 5am Tuesday.

The breach has prompted a government review of what happened, looking into whether security protections were sufficient, and any improvements that should be made.

ManageMyHealth is seeking an injunction on the patient information being used publicly, and working to notify those affected.

The company is also working with Health NZ, the Ministry, the Privacy Commissioner and General Practice to minimise ongoing risk.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)’s latest Cyber Threat Report in December identified increasing commercialisation of cybercrime, with known weaknesses and unpatched vulnerabilities in New Zealand “providing threat actors with easy access”.

More than 40 percent of incidents NCSC dealt with in the 2024/25 year had links criminal or financially motivations, compared to about 25 percent with suspected links to state-sponsored actors. About 34 percent could not be linked to either.

The number of criminal or financially motivated attacks more than doubled compared to the previous year, and financial losses rose from more than $26.9m to $21.6m.

The agency, which provides cybersecurity services to all New Zealanders, advises not paying ransoms to hackers.

“Unfortunately, many of those who pay do not get their data back or their systems unlocked, and sometimes they are extorted further with the threat of releasing sensitive data.”

The report said AI had only added to the threat – with attackers no longer needing advanced technical skills to launch convincing and scalable attacks.

“The scale and speed of AI-driven attacks could overwhelm traditional security teams, especially if basic cyber hygiene is lacking. Still, automation benefits both sides: rapid detection and response must outpace automated attacks to remain effective,” the report said.

Waikato DHB

One of the most notorious attacks affecting New Zealand specifically, the Waikato District Health Board (DHB) incident received significant media attention due to its clear effect on local hospitals.

The attack paralysed services at five hospitals on 18 May 2021, after hackers brought down the District Health Board (DHB)’s 611 servers and – six weeks later – leaked private data from more than 4000 patients and employees on the dark web.

As with the ManageMyHealth attack, the hackers used ransomware – software which threatens to shut down access and/or steal data unless a ransom is paid – to shut down all phones and internal systems other than email.

Staff were still having to use manual workarounds in some areas three months later, when the DHB was still trying to figure out how big the patient backlog would be.

The DHB had been warned just months earlier about its outdated security provisions, including clinical devices still running Windows XP – which had not been supported for five years – behind on security patches, and too few staff to manage upgrades.

A report later found the DHB was up to date with patching, and that software vulnerabilities did not play a role in the incident. However, much of that report’s insights into how well set up the DHB was prior to the incident, and details of the attack, were redacted.

Tonga Health System, 2025

Tonga’s health system was taken down for nearly a month in June last year by hackers demanding $1 million.

The ransom was not paid and Tonga got help from Australia to restore their system, asking patients for weeks to bring in handwritten notes instead of relying on their own records.

Case study

In an example that never hit the headlines, the NCSC’s report illustrated how strong security and quick responses could be effective in combating ransomware attacks by highlighting another case in the health sector.

“Many of the organisation’s servers and endpoint devices had been encrypted, and a large amount of data was stolen,” the report said.

“The organisation’s IT provider helped it to take initial remediation steps, which included changing credentials, updating accounts, and deploying extra security measures.”

The report said the NCSC had found a lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA) – where a user provides two or more verifications, like a password as well as a phone access code – had allowed a hacker to gain access.

“Fortunately, the organisation had completed system backups just one hour before the ransomware activity occurred. By restoring from these recent backups, it was able to successfully recover its systems and quickly return to normal operations.”

The report said such frequent backups were what allowed the organisation to recover so fast, but having MFA would have prevented the attack.

WannaCry attack 2017

The WannaCry attack in May 2017 was notable for its breadth.

Locking down more than 300,000 computers in more than 150 countries, the attackers demanded US$300 for each machine affected.

WannaCry was named after the ransomware used to prevent people from accessing their files.

Most of those affected were thought to have not paid the hackers, and reports suggested those who paid were not rewarded with access to their documents.

The UK’s health service was particularly affected, with nearly 20,000 hospital appointments cancelled.

In New Zealand, perhaps one of the biggest effects was the shutdown of Lyttelton Port as a precaution.

Afterward, Counties Manukau DHB reported significant challenges and gaps in how medical device computers were managed, which experts warned would be widespread and it would be a challenge for DHBs.

The United States pinned the blame on North Korea.

Qantas

Moving away from health data, New Zealanders were also caught up in the breach that affected 5.7 million Qantas customers in mid-2025.

The Australian airline in October revealed the extent of the attack, which stole data from about 40 companies worldwide in June.

Details taken included customer records including name, email address and frequent flyer details.

Thankfully, no credit card, personal financial information, passport details or Qantas frequent flyer account passwords and logins were thought to have been taken.

Nissan cyber attack 2024

About 100,000 customers from carmaker Nissan’s Australian and New Zealand arms were affected by a hack in March 2024, with copies of documents including driver licences, passports, tax files and medicare cards.

At least some of the stolen data was published on the dark web.

Latitude Financial, 2023

In March 2023, Australian financial services firm Latitude announced on the Australian stock exchange that it had been hit by an attack.

Initially believed to affect just 330,000 people, Latitude eventually confirmed the attack affected more than 14 million documents in what was believed to have been the biggest data breach in New Zealand at the time.

More than a million New Zealand driver licence numbers, 90,000 personal bank account numbers, details from 34,000 passports, and details relating to the company’s Gem Visa credit cards were thought to have been taken.

A ransom was demanded, but was not paid.

Mercury IT, 2022

An attack in 2022 saw Health NZ and the Ministry of Justice lose access to health and coronial files.

The data – about 14,500 coronial files, 4000 post mortem reports, about 8500 bereavement care records, and about 5500 Cardiac and Inherited Disease Registry records dating back as far as 2018 – was held by external provider Mercury IT.

The NCSC’s latest annual report identifies such “supply chain hack” attacks targeting third-party suppliers and services as an increasing trend.

“This approach works where the third party may not adhere to the same security standards as the target organisation, or where actors are prepared to put in the effort to compromise the third party because it is key to unlocking access to one or more valuable targets,” the report said.

At the time, Mercury said it immediately reported the attack to government authorities after learning about it on 30 November.

The Ministry of Justice and Health NZ said there was no evidence of any unauthorised access or downloading of the files, but an official said it could not be ruled out.

Squirrel, 2024

Another example of a supply chain hack, mortgage broking and investment firm Squirrel was targeted in an attack exposing about 600 peer-to-peer investors’ passport or drivers’ licence details.

The company said the attack had hit a third-party system used for registering investors, which was held for 30 days.

“The data that was exposed was people’s name, date of birth and ID number… there was no Squirrel info or any more personal info exposed,” founder John Bolton said.

AA Traveller

The AA Traveller website in May 2022 reported names, addresses, contact details and expired credit card numbers from hundreds of thousands of customers had been stolen the previous August.

The breach affected customers who had used the website between 2003 and 2018.

A further 30,000 people who took an online AA Travel New Zealand survey in 2010 had also been exposed to risk of being hacked by an overseas account.

China accused of hacking NZ Parliament

Senior Minister Judith Collins – who has responsibility for the GCSB and SIS spy agencies – revealed in March 2024 the Parliamentary Service and Parliamentary Counsel Office had been allegedly targeted in 2021 by a group called APT40.

“Fortunately, in this instance, the NCSC worked with the impacted organisations to contain the activity and remove the actor shortly after they were able to access the network,” she told reporters.

Collins’ announcement followed one in 2021 by her predecessor Andrew Little, who said the GCSB had uncovered links between APT40 and the Chinese government.

He said at the time Chinese state-sponsored hackers had been identified as being responsible for an attack targeting Microsoft Exchange email software.

China’s embassy has maintained the accusations linking it to hacking in New Zealand are “groundless and irresponsible”.

NZX attack in 2020

The New Zealand stock exchange came under repeated Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in August 2020, bringing trading to a halt.

Public-facing NZX servers were taken down for nearly a week, and trading had to be intermittently halted for four days in a row.

Such attacks coordinate large volumes of internet traffic to a target to overwhelm servers and networks.

They have also been used as leverage to try to get a ransom in return for the hackers halting their attacks.

Crowdstrike

An event described as the biggest IT meltdown the world had ever seen was less deliberate attack, more unintentional glitch.

The Crowdstrike incident in mid-2024 saw errant code in a security update bring down services including airlines, healthcare, shipping, finance, TV and transport networks around the world.

New Zealand was affected, including with internet services going down, but largely escaped some of the worst impacts.

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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 rescue of two men stranded on a boat in Fiordland has prompted warnings to other boaties about the need to be prepared.

The pair were on a fishing and diving trip south of Milford Sound when their 6.4 metre recreational boat broke down on Saturday night.

Emergency SOS messages from their phones were picked up by the iPhone Emergency Comms Centre in the Netherlands, which then alerted New Zealand Police.

Marine VHF radio broadcasts were then put out by Maritime NZ every hour, requesting assistance from any potential vessels in the area.

These broadcasts went unanswered until Sunday morning, when a boatie heard the call for help.

At the time, police and family members were arranging a float plane to fly replacement batteries to the stranded men.

But the fisherman and his three passengers went to the pair’s rescue and were able to tow the stricken vessel about 50 kilometres back to Milford Sound.

Invercargill Police search and rescue coordinator Sergeant Dougall Henderson said the men were equipped with lifejackets, two forms of communication and had not drunk any alcohol.

“Although the boys were well prepared… the incident highlights how difficult assistance can be if you have a mechanical failure or emergency situation,” he said.

“It is a timely reminder of the golden rules of boating particularly in isolated areas like Fiordland.”

Police outlined outlined several key guidelines for boaties.

They included: always wearing lifejackets; ensuring two forms of communication on board, including a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) or Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB); checking the weather forecast, avoiding alcohol; ensuring others know where you are headed; and ensuring you had an auxiliary motor.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Sections of Kahurangi National Park in the Upper South Island will be closed while rescue teams use radar technology to find a tramper who has gone missing in the area.

Graham Garnett, 66, was expected to return from a tramp in the Baton/Ellis River area on 30 December, but has not.

Garnett is about 177cm tall, approximately 100kg, and has grey hair.

Sergeant Jonny Evans said police will be using a radar tomorrow, and has asked the public to steer clear of the search areas.

The following areas in the Baton Valley will be closed tomorrow:

• Wilkinson Track
• Baton Saddle
• Loveridge Spur Route
• Cowin Spur Track
• Wharepapa Arthur Range – from Mount Star through to the twins
• Walking track to Flanagans Hut

Evans said the search will involve the use of Recco detecting equipment.

“We are keen to hear from anyone who we haven’t spoken with yet, who was in the Baton/Ellis River area from the afternoon of 26 December, particularly anyone who was around Flanagan’s Hut,” said Evans.

Further south, police are also still looking for 20-year-old Connor Purvis, who has not been seen since he went to climb Mt Huxley on Tuesday last week.

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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

A woman has been charged with bringing more than 20 kilograms of meth into the country in her checked luggage.

The 33-year-old was arrested at Auckland International airport on Sunday.

Court documents claim she arrived on a flight from Singapore with roughly 22 kilograms of methamphetamine.

She had been charged with importing a class A controlled drug.

The maximum sentence was life imprisonment.

Court documents show the woman was both unemployed and had no fixed abode.

She was expected to appear in Manukau District Court on Monday afternoon.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Cordons have been removed from a Christchurch property where an item of concern was found this morning.

Police were called to St Barnabas Street in Fendalton at about 9.15am on Monday.

The Defence Force explosive bomb disposal team recovered the item, and it will be disposed of.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police investigating a mass disorder incident that occurred on Karangahape Road in Auckland just after Christmas are appealing for the public’s assistance in identifying the people pictured in several CCTV images.

At about 3.40am on 28 December, emergency services were called to the disorder involving about 50 people.

Auckland City Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Greaves said the police investigation remains ongoing into three serious assaults on and around Karangahape Road during the incident.

“One person has been arrested, however we would like help identifying the others pictured in these images.

“I’m asking anyone who knows who they are to please get in touch.”

One male is wearing black pants, a blue and black hunting and fishing jacket and a black cap with white writing.

The second male is wearing a white shirt with a beige hat.

“Someone knows who these people are and we are urging them to speak to us,” Greaves said.

Anyone who recognises these men or who has information about the incident is asked to contact police.

People can report information online or call 105 and quote file number 251228/4774. Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police investigating a mass disorder incident that occurred on Karangahape Road in Auckland just after Christmas are appealing for the public’s assistance in identifying the people pictured in several CCTV images.

At about 3.40am on 28 December, emergency services were called to the disorder involving about 50 people.

Auckland City Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Greaves said the police investigation remains ongoing into three serious assaults on and around Karangahape Road during the incident.

“One person has been arrested, however we would like help identifying the others pictured in these images.

“I’m asking anyone who knows who they are to please get in touch.”

One male is wearing black pants, a blue and black hunting and fishing jacket and a black cap with white writing.

The second male is wearing a white shirt with a beige hat.

“Someone knows who these people are and we are urging them to speak to us,” Greaves said.

Anyone who recognises these men or who has information about the incident is asked to contact police.

People can report information online or call 105 and quote file number 251228/4774. Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A woman has been charged with allegedly bringing more than 20 kilograms of meth into the country in her checked luggage.

The 33-year-old was arrested at Auckland International airport on Sunday.

Court documents claimed she arrived on a flight from Singapore with roughly 22 kilograms of methamphetamine.

She had been charged with importing a class A controlled drug.

The maximum sentence was life imprisonment.

Court documents show the woman was both unemployed and had no fixed abode.

She was expected to appear in Manukau District Court on Monday afternoon.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

No charges have been laid in relation to a homicide investigation in the central North Island where a couple were found dead.

It has been more than three weeks since since 56-year-old Brendon Leigh Cole and 54-year-old Trina Michelle Cole were found at a rural property in Ruatiti, west of Ruapehu, on 13 December.

A person of interest handed himself into police on Christmas Day.

The 29-year-old man was arrested on an active warrant, and appeared in Whanganui District Court on Boxing Day.

Police said no charges have been laid in relation to the deaths, and the homicide investigation was ongoing.

They said there were no significant updates.

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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 couple staying with friends near Whangārei Heads has been surprised by a special guest over the holidays after finding a kiwi in the sleepout they were staying in.

The pair had left the doors open to cool down the room.

As they were getting ready for bed they spotted a little brown kiwi tucked in the corner.

The bird was carefully picked up and placed outside where it ran off into the dark.

One of the people involved posted what happened on social media, describing the experience as wonderful.

“I fetched the others who likewise thought I was joking!” he wrote.

“The kiwi was very calm, although I suspect the light would have blinded him. I carefully ushered him into a place where I carefully picked him up and placed him outside, where he scooted off into the night.”

Forest and Bird regional conservation manager for Waikato and Taranaki Elvisa van der Leden told RNZ she believed the kiwi might have been a lost juvenile.

“[Kiwi] have terrible eyesight,” she said.

“They navigate more with their sense of smell…”

It was more likely there was bush near the sleepout where the kiwi was found, van der Leden said, and that it just wandered into the house not realising it wasn’t outside anymore, rather than the bird actively seeking shelter inside.

Getting instructions from experts was important when dealing with a wild kiwi or other animal, she said.

“You can transfer germs or disease onto them without realising it, and they can do the same back to you.”

“Waiting for a [Department of Conservation] ranger to provide instructions is always the best thing to do as the first point of call.”

Van der Leden said it was very easy to accidentally hurt kiwi.

“They have a very specific biology, their ribcage area is actually quite vulnerable so it requires trained experts to handle them without harming them,” she said.

Department of Conservation biodiversity liasion Jess Scrimgeour said it was best to let kiwi find their own way out.

“Clear the way out and you can gently usher the bird if needed. Give it space if it seems stressed.”

She was urging people not to pick up kiwi.

“They have under-developed wing and chest muscles and lack a sternum (breastbone). This makes them particularly vulnerable to crushing injuries,” 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

Four people have died in a series of separate crashes in 24 hours.

Emergency services were called to a two-vehicle crash on State Highway 24 in Waikato, south of Matamata at 9.45am.

“One person died at the scene, no further injuries were reported,” police said.

“The road remains closed, with diversions in place. Motorists are advised to expect delays.”

Meanwhile, a person was killed in a crash on Roche Street in Wanaka.

Police were called to the scene about 10.45am.

“An area of Roche Street remains closed while a scene examination is completed.”

Earlier on Monday, another person died in a crash on Jones Road in Rolleston.

Police also reported on Monday that a person died in a crash in Auckland’s Papatoetoe late Sunday night.

The official holiday road toll ended at 6am on Monday with seven provisional deaths.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Cordons are in place around a Christchurch property where an ‘item of concern’ has been found.

Police were called to St Barnabas Street in Fendalton at about 9.15am on Monday.

The Defence Force explosive bomb disposal team is also responding.

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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 urgent care clinic at Porirua’s Kenepuru Hospital was without a doctor overnight due to what Health NZ has called “unforeseen circumstances”.

The agency posted on social media that there was no doctor at the accident and medical clinic between 10.30pm on Sunday and 7am on Monday.

“During this time, nurses will assess whether patients are safe to wait until the following morning, when they can see a GP or return to the Kenepuru Accident & Medical Clinic, or if they need to go to ED,” it said.

“If you need emergency care, please visit Wellington Regional Hospital ED or the Hutt Hospital ED as you normally would.”

Were you affected? Get in touch: lauren.crimp@rnz.co.nz

Kenepuru Hospital services around 120,000 people in Porirua, Tawa, and the Kāpiti Coast.

In 2024, Health NZ signed a contract with telehealth company Emergency Consult to provide advice overnight if there was no doctor on site.

The agency said telehealth was optional for patients, and would only be offered in the accident and medical clinic if it was clinically appropriate.

The community rallied against the changes, telling a Labour Party-run public meeting that they needed a 24-hour service.

RNZ has approached Health NZ for comment.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Health Minister Simeon Brown has commissioned a review by the Ministry of Health into the response to the cyber security breach involving patient information on ManageMyHealth.

In a statement, Brown said patient data is incredibly personal and whether it is held by a public agency or a private company, it must be protected to the highest of standards.

“I have decided to commission the Ministry of Health to lead a review of the ManageMyHealth and Health New Zealand’s response.”

The minister has written to the Director-General of Health asking that the review will commence by the end of the month.

ManageMyHealth had identified all the patients who have had their health records stolen – but cannot yet say when they will all be told.

The group, calling themselves “Kazu”, have threatened to release more than 400,000 unless a ransom is paid.

A spokesperson for ManageMyHealth said it had identified all those affected, and hoped to have an update later in the week once all the communications with GPs and affected patients had been coordinated with the Ministry of Health, Health NZ, Privacy Commissioner and GPNZ.

“We are not waiting to determine who is affected – we know.”

The company was working to provide “a timeframe for communications” by Tuesday.

Because the health documents originated from multiple sources, there were many different agencies with obligations under the Privacy Act and the Health Information Privacy Code to notify affected individuals.

“This requires coordination to ensure we meet our legal obligations and do not create confusion for patients by having different organisations contact them separately about the same incident.”

Meanwhile, an independent forensic investigation was currently underway, and it would “not be appropriate to comment” on specific technical matters while that was ongoing.

“What we can confirm is that we became aware of this incident on 30 December when we were notified by a partner, and we notified the relevant authorities that same day. The specific vulnerability that allowed unauthorised access has been identified, patched, and independently verified by external cybersecurity specialists.”

‘Big wakeup call’

Brown earlier said the cyber breach of the country’s largest patient information portal was a “big wakeup call”, telling Morning Report he was incredibly concerned.

“It’s a deeply serious situation,” he said.

“I’ve been briefed a number of times by health officials who are working very closely with ManageMyHealth in regard to the notification process.”

He said ManageMyHealth was also working with the Privacy Commissioner and the National Cyber Security Centre, who were providing them with advice around the notification process.

Brown said his expectation was that they do it as quickly as possible, but they also had to do it accurately as well, and in compliance with the Privacy Act.

“There’s a number of processes they have to go through. My expectation is that they do that as quickly as possible so that patients who have had data breached are aware of that and of what data has been breached,” he said.

Brown said the advice he’s received was that the cyber hackers had only released a very small portion of data as part of their attempt in order to receive a ransom payment.

There was a forensic process underway at the moment to go through and identify who’s been impacted and then the process of notification, which is what Manage My Health was doing, he said.

Brown said the group were using hacked information in order to receive a financial reward, but they did not know where they were operating from.

“The reality is that here is a big wakeup call in terms of the protection of private health data and their need for that to be held in the most secure form possible so that patients can have confidence in how it is being used,” he said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A person has died after a crash in Rolleston on Monday.

Emergency services were called to the single-vehicle crash on Jones Road shortly after 7.45am.

The driver died at the scene.

Jones Road remained closed.

Motorists were advised to avoid the area and expect delays.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Warmer, more settled weather should give rain-soaked parts of the country a chance to dry out following a weekend of heavy rainfalls and flooding in northern regions, MetService says.

At the weekend, a low pressure system brought heavy rain and thunderstorms to northern parts of the country causing surface flooding and powercuts in some areas.

Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said temperatures across the country would return to “more summer like” levels this week.

“A nice summery and warm week ahead. Temperatures in the low to mid 20s for most of the country – even the high 20s and possibly in the 30s – by the end of the week and that’s particularly for eastern parts of the country,” Makgabutlane said

Makgabutlane said a ridge of high pressure would keep conditions stable – with partly cloudy skies – for much of the week although a front could bring some rain to the lower South Island as the week progressed.

“Midweek we do have a front that passes the lower part of the South Island, so some rain expected down there, and then later on this week we could see a picking up in the winds as well,” Makgabutlane said.

She said the low pressure system responsible for much of the rain over the weekend was moving away to the northeast of the country and the summery conditions should give some of the worst affected parts of the country time to dry out.

“This week in the eastern North Island – especially Hawke’s Bay and Tai Rāwhiti /Gisborne – the first part of the week we will see much drier conditions. We will still have the odd shower moving through but hopefully nothing as heavy as what we saw over the weekend,” Makgabutlane said.

She said the end of the week would see a new weather system bringing an increase in wind and rain to the South Island.

“At this point it does like there could be a bit of rain on the way especially for the South Island and then eventually reaching the North Island early next week.

“So – for this week – we enjoy the warm and summery temperatures,” Makgabutlane said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Emergency Services are reporting serious injuries after a two-vehicle crash on State Highway 24 in Waikato, south of Matamata.

Police were called to the scene on Tauranga Road about 9.45am.

The road was closed near Old Te Aroha Road and motorists were advised to avoid the area or expect delays.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A search for a tramper who has been missing for almost a week near Lake Ōhau in the Mackenzie Basin is continuing.

There has been no sign of 20-year-old Connor Purvis since he went to climb Mt Huxley on Tuesday last week.

Police said the Search and Rescue and Alpine Cliff Rescue teams were continuing the search on the ground on Monday.

Purvis has red hair and a handlebar moustache and police are urging anyone with information to get in contact.

On Sunday, Otago coastal search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Matt Sheat said helicopters were scouring the area.

They have been looking through huts and camp sites but have found no sign of Purvis.

“We ask anyone who has climbed Mt Huxley or has been tramping or hunting in the Huxley River South Branch between 28 December and 2 January to make contact with Police if they haven’t already,” Sheat said.

“We also want to hear from anyone who may have seen or spoken to Connor in the South Temple, Ahuriri or Huxley valleys in that same timeframe.

“It’s a large-scale search over a large area, and the smallest piece of information could make all the difference.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A person has been charged over a hit and run in Hamilton which left one person seriously injured.

A 34-year-old man is due to appear in Hamilton District Court on Monday, charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Police said they were alerted after a person was hit by a vehicle on Raymond Street shortly after 3pm on Sunday.

Officers tracked a car heading towards Tauranga using traffic cameras – and it was stopped in Tauriko, police said.

Two people from the vehicle were arrested.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

There is no doubt that Donald Trump’s attack on Venezuela was illegal, former prime minister and UN leader Helen Clark says.

Over the weekend, the US attacked the Venezuelan capital Caracas and captured the South American nation’s president and his wife, citing alleged drug offences.

Nicolás Maduro is now being held in a federal jail in New York City, and is expected to appear in court this week.

Speaking to Morning Report, Clark said there was no argument for the steps the US had taken.

“Article 24 of the UN charter says states must refrain from using military force against each other an respect their sovereignty.

“There is a case for Maduro appearing before a court – that should be the International Criminal Court – on charges for crimes against humanity and there’s quite a long list of those that have been documented by various UN bodies over the years but this operation by the US … is illegal.”

There was not an argument to be made that removing Maduro was in the security interests on the US, she said.

“There’s no evidence that the US was able to act in self-defence because it was not about to be attacked by Venezuela. So the self defence argument does not apply at all.”

While some people in Venezuela were celebrating Maduro’s capture in the hopes it would create more stability, Clark said this might not be the case.

“The worry with the president of other such interventions, when you take out a leader of an apparatus and then if you try to dismantle that apparatus by external forces, as was the case with Iraq – and I suppose, to some extent, with Libya – is that you create more instability and chaos,” Clark said.

“We don’t really know at this point what the US’s even short-term, let alone medium-term plans are. There’s been, effectively a warning by President Trump this morning that if the acting president, Ms Rodriguez, doesn’t play ball, she will ‘pay a price even bigger than Maduro’.

“What does this mean? Will she be literally, physically taken out? Killed? So this is a very unstable, unpredictable, uncertain situation at the moment.”

On Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters made the first public statement from New Zealand on the situation.

“New Zealand is concerned by and actively monitoring developments in Venezuela and expects all parties to act in accordance with international law,” Peters said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), using the official Minister of Foreign Affairs account.

“New Zealand stands with the Venezuelan people in their pursuit of a fair, democratic and prosperous future.

Clark said the statement was a “good start”.

New Zealand was known for following and upholding international law and Peters’ statement was consistent with the country’s long-held position, she said.

On Sunday, International relations Professor Robert Patman of the University of Otago described the US’ military actions against Venezuela as an audacious move.

“It’s a direct challenge for countries like New Zealand, which support the view that international relations should be based on rules, procedures and laws,” he told RNZ’s Worldwatch.

Patman said while many would be pleased to see Maduro gone, that did not mean they would be happy the US “[violated] Venezuela’s sovereignty”.

He believed New Zealand’s response to the US action in Venezuela should be firm and robust.

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