Source: Radio New Zealand

The mayor of New Plymouth has revealed low-profile rubber lane dividers will replace the city’s controversial concrete cycleway separators – nicknamed Tim Tams due to their resemblance to the popular biscuit.

In a video briefing Max Brough said the rubber lane dividers – he’d branded Mallowpuffs – would replace the Tim Tams along a stretch of Devon Street West.

“We’re going from Tim Tams to Mallowpuffs. The concept is that we’re going to go away from those horrible concrete blocks that are causing so much stress and the new ones are going to be put down and I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised.”

Brough campaigned on pulling up the Tim Tams and wanted to turn it into a community event.

He apologised for how long it was taking.

“The Tim Tam battle could’ve been accelerated faster but we’ve got where we’ve got to and it’s largely down to the cost.”

The Transport Agency paid for and installed the $3.8 million cycleway and council staff had estimated it would cost $1.6 million to remove them adding 1.1 percent to rates.

Brough said councillors had baulked at the expense during a December meeting that recommended they remain for at least nine months.

“That was the appetite in the chamber on the day if we’re going to rip all of that out and go back [to what we had] is it a retrograde step and then the cost that was looked at it came back as too much to be doing in a hurry.”

Some motorists complained they had driven into the concrete lane dividers causing hundreds of dollars worth of damage to their vehicles, but the cycleway was popular with some bike riders and an audit by engineering firm Becca found it had improved safety along Devon Street West which feeds onto State Highway 45.

Brough said NZTA was co-operating with council and a design had been completed for the Morley Street to Belt Road section of Devon Street West.

That work would start at the end of March to coincide with the resealing of the road.

Some carparks would be reinstated and there was an information evening for planned residents.

Brough did not clarify what the ‘Mallowpuffs’ would be made of in the video briefing, but he told the Taranaki Daily New they would be low-profile rubber dividers about 80mm high and 2m-long.

Motorists would be able to drive over them.

The Tim Tams were more than 100mm high.

In the video briefing, Brough was not clear whether the ‘Mallowpuff’ solution was a trial or intended to be used along the entire length of the cycleway.

In a statement, council officers said it was only a trial.

“Several different types of separators as an alternative to the current concrete structures, will be trailed, along with a shared path.

“We will be monitoring the trial area and the rest of the corridor and report back to council in September. This will inform the elected members’ decision on what will happen next.”

Tim Tam Alley was the subject of two presentations due to be heard at the first meeting of the council’s new Public Engagement Committee.

The mayor established the committee to give the public a greater opportunity to speak directly with councillors and influence council decisions.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A person has been taken to hospital in a critical condition as police swarm a Hamilton street and close off a hotel.

A motel staff member inside the cordon along Ulster Street and Abbotsford Street in the suburb of Whitiora said they heard gunshots about 10am on Wednesday.

St John said they were called to the scene just before 10am and had taken a critically injured person to Waikato Hospital.

A police spokesperson said cordons were in place while they responded to an incident but did not provide further details.

An RNZ reporter at the scene said police cars could be seen parked in the street and police officers are going door-to-door speaking with people.

They declined to answer questions.

A resident who wanted to go home had been told by police he was not able to at this time.

Alpha Motel manager Ford McArley, inside the cordon, said he also heard something before police arrived at the scene.

“I started drilling in the rooms to put TVs on the wall and just heard what sounded like two car tyres, and didn’t think anything of it,” he said.

“And then right outside the motel, there were police everywhere.”

McArley said police weren’t saying much about what happened.

He said it wasn’t typical of the street.

“I’ve been here just about three months now, and we’ve never had the street blocked off like this,” McArley said.

Police were expected to speak to media about what happened on Wednesday afternoon.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A moderate earthquake has struck in the upper South Island.

The 4.4 magnitude quake was at a depth of 9km and 15km east of Seddon.

More than 1500 people had reported feeling the quake shortly after it struck.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Three men linked to the Head Hunters gang have been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a West Auckland teenager nearly three years ago.

Three men linked to the Head Hunters gang have been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a West Auckland teenager nearly three years ago.

After disappearing in April 2023, 19-year-old Jayden Mamfredos-Nair’s body was found on a Dairy Flat property nine months later.

Police determined he had been a victim of foul play.

At the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday, patched member Zak Kameta received a minimum period of imprisonment of 18 years.

Prospect Matthew Snaylam and their associate Hassan Al Fadhli both received a minimum period of imprisonment of 17 years.

Police Detective Inspector Callum McNeill said the death had placed a heavy toll on the victim’s family and he hoped they finally had some closure.

Police issued a statement on behalf of Mamfredos-Nair’s mother Maria who said the sentencing marked the end of a long legal journey, but “the ongoing journey of grieving and healing continues”.

“This crime has had a devastating permanent impact on our entire family, his friends and the community who loved him. The grief, the heartbreak, the devastation – it will never go away.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Bromley community leader Jackie Simons has made an emotional plea for more help to be provided to those affected by the foul stench pouring from a sewage plant.

Simons, who sits on the Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board, made the plea at a Christchurch City Council meeting on Wednesday morning.

It comes after some residents walked out of a fiery council-led public meeting on Tuesday night in frustration over the fire-damaged plant.

Offensive odours have plagued the city’s eastern suburbs after a fire damaged key infrastructure at the Bromley Wastewater Plant in 2021.

Complaints about the odour have spiked recently.

Simons told councillors the situation facing locals had now reached crisis point.

“The wastewater plant still stinks. It’s always stunk. It’s been stinking for the last four years,” she said.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve seen an influx of horrendous smell across the whole city. A crisis has come and everyone is in crisis mode.”

The Canterbury Regional Council had received more than 2000 reports about the plant in this year alone.

One Bromley resident told Morning Report the stench from the city’s sewage plant was so bad it had left her coughing up blood.

The city council said the recent heavy rain had affected the health of the oxidation pond and it was using all available tools to improve water quality.

An emotional and frustrated Simons told elected members she was regularly fielding complaints from the community.

There was a perception the council would have acted sooner if it was happening to more upmarket parts of the city, she said.

“When they come to me and they say ‘if this was happening in Fendalton you would’ve fixed it by now’, ‘the council doesn’t care about us in the east’, ‘they don’t give a toss’, ‘they’re not listening’, ‘when are they going to fix it?’ How am I supposed to tell them that you do care when it took the rest of the city to smell it to stand up and show that you cared.”

The council needed to provide more on-the-ground support for those worst affected, Simons said.

“I’d like to see those people asked ‘what do you need?’. Because a gift basket is no good to someone who needs a lift to the doctor. A supermarket voucher is no good to someone who can’t pay for a prescription,” she said.

“They can’t open their windows, they can’t hang their washing out, they have physical symptoms of ill-health, they have respiratory issues, they have depression, they have mental health challenges because of this situation. They are in crisis every day.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

One of the main roads between Christchurch and Sumner is closed following reports of rocks falling the hill above.

Main Road and the adjacent footpath have been closed near Shag Rock Reserve.

Police, Fire and Emergency, and Christchurch City Council staff are in the area.

A council spokesperson said crews are assessing the situation.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Three boys have been stood down from an Oamaru high school while police investigate a serious bullying incident at the school’s hostel.

St Kevin’s College says it is supporting the victim’s family.

In a statement, principal Jo Walshe says the incident was reported immediately and the school acted swiftly.

She says the school can’t provide further comment while the incident is under investigation.

The Otago Daily Times is reporting the incident relates to “waterboarding”.

More to come…

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Police have cordoned off streets in Hamilton and the entrance to a hotel has been taped off after reports of gunfire.

A motel staff member inside the cordon says they heard gunshots about 10am on Wednesday.

A police spokesperson said cordons were in place along Ulster Street and Abbotsford Street in the suburb of Whitiora.

The spokesperson said they were responding to an incident but did not provide further details.

An RNZ reporter at the scene said police cars can be seen parked in the street and police officers are going door-to-door speaking with people.

They declined to answer questions.

A resident who wanted to go home had been told by police he was not able to at this time.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A Wellington-based fusion energy company says funding is in place to build a new research facility with the potential to put Aotearoa at the forefront of clean energy development.

OpenStar Technologies has secured a $35 million commitment from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to further their research towards creating a clean fusion power source capable of being scaled up to commercial output.

The Fusion Energy process forces light atomic nuclei to merge – releasing large amounts of energy without the radioactive waste associated with nuclear energy.

OpenStar’s current prototype device – named “Junior” – achieved the crucial milestone of First Plasma – where the device creates and confines the super hot ionized gas needed to trigger the fusion reaction – within two years of development.

The company said Junior – which used a unique approach called the levitated dipole – was the only one of its kind developed with the intention of upscaling to commercial levels of energy production.

Open star chief executive Ratu Mataira said the government was backing New Zealand researchers to forge a pathway towards developing the next step towards safe, clean and virtually limitless energy.

“By backing this critical infrastructure, the government is effectively de-risking the development of deep-tech in New Zealand.

“In delivering Junior, a machine once considered near impossible, we proved that New Zealand could give birth to a global fusion player. Now with this government commitment, New Zealand has decided to show up as a nation, for the vision of a fusion energy industry here in Aotearoa,” Mataira said.

Regional Development Minister Shane Jones said the technology could provide global benefits while the government’s support would help solidify the country’s role in the rapidly developing Fusion Energy sector, creating highly skilled jobs for years to come.

“Over a century ago, New Zealand scientist Ernest Rutherford pioneered nuclear science. Today we are backing New Zealanders to lead the next big breakthrough in harnessing fusion energy, a technology that could deliver significant benefits for our country and the world,” Jones said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland’s beachgoers well know the frustration of being told to keep out of the water after heavy rain due to wastewater overflow, but researchers at Auckland University have been piloting flushable sensors designed to detect underground sewer faults.

The sensors are about the size of a USB stick, made from plant plastic and use ultra-high radio frequency to allow them to be detected as they move through the networks.

With some 8000 to 9000 sewer pipes under Aucklanders’ feet, the sensors can help find misconnections, where wastewater pipes are wrongly connected to stormwater or where there’s a blockages in sewer pipes causing an overflow.

Two field trials have already been completed with Auckland Council and Watercare in Browns Bay.

Dr Wei-Qin Zhuang is the project’s lead researcher based at the university’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.

He said he wanted to find ways to remove nitrate from waterways safely without the creation of significant greenhouse gas emissions.

He also wanted to look at water quality to detect indicator micro organisms in waterways and drinking water, he said.

There was discussion to identify the water problems specific to Auckland and consider how to use research to mitigate them, he said.

Problems identified included the overflow of the city’s sewer systems, as well as misconnections, Zhuang said.

The research team tried to come up with solutions to identify where there were misconnections on the basis it was less challenging than trying to deal with the overflow issue, he said.

“We developed this UHF-RFID [ultra-high radio frequency identification] based censors to identify illegal connections and we also found that it can be used to identify blockages of our pipes.”

They did not want the censors to be intrusive to avoid having to visit a house and install a bunch of devices to detect the issues, he said.

“So initially we were trying to develop something that can be flushed through our toilet bowls without clogging the pipes, the sewer lateral, and we purposely looked for small devices that has the size that is small enough to be flushed.”

They designed the censors to ensure they could be flushed and then could float on the water “so their sensitivities won’t be compromised by water,” he said.

“After they’ve been flushed into the sewer lateral, they’ll be washed and they’ll flow with the water flow and then get into the sewer mains and then we can install detectors at manholes to detect these censors.”

The censor sends out an ultra-high radio frequency which is then picked up at the various sites, Zhuang said.

“So you flush your censors through toilet bowls and then supposedly all the censors need to go through the sewer manhole, but if we catch some of the censors in the stormwater manhole then we instantly know that which household has a misconnection.”

Blockages can be detected when the censor takes much longer than expected to reach a certain point, he said.

“Then authorities can send CCTV cameras down pipes and see whether the blockage is severe or has just started building up.”

The first generation of the censors could be collected and then composted, while the second generation of the censors dissolve in water after two hours so it did not worsen the blockage situation, he said.

That provided a one hour window to use the censor to detect if there had been a blockage, he said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Police have cordoned off streets in Hamilton and the entrance to a hotel has been taped off.

A spokesperson said cordons were in place along Ulster Street and Abbotsford Street in the suburb of Whitiora.

The spokesperson said they were responding to an incident but did not provide further details.

An RNZ reporter at the scene said police cars can be seen parked in the street and police officers are going door-to-door speaking with people.

They declined to answer questions.

A resident who wanted to go home had been told by police he was not able to at this time.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant has been shut down and staff evacuated from the site, with an equipment failure causing multiple floors and key areas of the plant to be inundated with water.

“This is a serious situation, and we anticipate the plant will be shut down for an extended period,” says Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty.

He strongly advises the community to stay away from the South Coast beaches.

Untreated wastewater is being discharged into the water and this may occur for some time.

Earlier, Wellington Water had started discharging raw sewage off the city’s south coast, and issued two other wastewater discharge notices, after a mechanical failure and heavy rain.

The mechanical failure, at 3am on Wednesday, caused it to start an unconsented discharge of untreated wastewater from its Moa Point treatment plant.

The water agency said the sewage would emerge at the short outfall into the ocean at Tarakena Bay and may cause the water to appear cloudy or murky.

Meanwhile, during a night of heavy rain, partially treated wastewater was discharged into Wellington’s Karori Stream at 10.45pm on Tuesday. That would also flow into the sea on the south coast.

About half an hour before that, fully treated sewage was released at 10.18pm into Waiwhetū Stream in Lower Hutt, which flows into the sea near Petone beach.

Water monitoring body Land, Air, Water Aotearoa advises people to stay out of the sea for two or three days after heavy rain.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A project at the cutting edge of cancer research hopes to build a collection of tiny lab-grown tumours at the University of Auckland.

Smaller than a grain of sand, these so-called tumour organoids can be used to test experimental cancer treatments with quick results.

With samples taken from patients, Dr Hossein Jahedi is building a collection of these tiny, fleshy lumps of cancer.

“We take a tiny bit of their tumour, with their permission, and we take it into the lab. We digest it into single cells, so we kind of digest all the stuff around the cancer cells so that we only have the cancer cells, and then we grow these cancer cells in a jelly-like material,” he said.

The organoids themselves were barely the size of a grain of sand, but Dr Jahedi said their potential was enormous.

“They act like avatars for the cancers that we can grow in the lab. We can have a replica of that person’s cancer, not a 100 percent replica, but quite, quite similar,” he said.

“And what this does, it allows us to test some of the drugs that the patient may receive before they actually receive it to see if these organoids respond to those drugs.”

Jahedi’s new project, which focused on lung cancer, was inspired by his colleague, Dr Emma Nolan.

Nolan had been developing a library of breast cancer organoids since 2022 as part of a pilot study to prove how useful they could be.

To date, she had created organoids from 30 breast cancer patients, with a goal to build a library that researchers across the country could pull from to test life-saving treatments.

“So the idea with this organoid collection from these 30 patients, and we’re hoping to increase this, is that this becomes a tool for cancer research across New Zealand,” she said.

“And therefore, breast cancer labs across the country can use these models to answer their questions that they’re looking at.”

Cancer patients ‘put themselves as lab rats’

Cancer survivor David Downs knew firsthand how experimental treatments could save lives, but he said the process of undergoing new treatments was daunting.

“The pathway to medicines coming to the mainstream today does require humans to put themselves kind of as lab rats,” he said.

“You’re literally signing pieces of paper acknowledging that you’re one of the first humans to get this and they know roughly what the side effects might be but they’re not sure, etcetera. All that can create a bit of anxiety.”

Diagnosed in 2017 with a rare blood cancer that wouldn’t respond to chemotherapy, Downs braved a clinical trial in the United States that ultimately saved his life.

He hoped organoids could be used to improve that process and spare others the anxiety he felt.

“I went to Boston, I had a treatment, I was very lucky, it went really well for me. But you do certainly hear of side effects in some clinical trials, particularly early on, and so testing things in a way that involves human cells but isn’t involving humans, to me, feels like a really great breakthrough,” he said.

However, research into tumour organoids was still in the very early stages.

Even after three years of work, Dr Nolan said a clinical trial was years away.

“We would hope within the next five years to be able to initiate a small trial at one or two sites within Auckland in order to really test the clinical value of these organoids,” she said.

“There’s a lot of excitement in the group for this research and there’s a lot of potential but we really need to be able to confirm this in clinical trial before we’re able to know whether or not this actually ultimately could help.”

Dr Nolan said it would be some time before patients saw the benefits of the work, but the early results were promising.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington Airport says about 60 flights were cancelled on Tuesday due to fog in the capital.

It said there could be some disruption on Wednesday as a result, so passengers should check with their airline.

Jetstar said none of its flights were disrupted.

Air New Zealand said 39 of its flights were cancelled on Tuesday.

“Impacted customers have been rebooked on the next available service,” it said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

• Unemployment rises to 10 year high of 5.4 percent
• 15,000 jobs added in quarter, but workforce and job hunters grow
• Underutilisation rate steady at five year high of 13 pct
• Youth unemployment rises, more woman in the labour force
• Annual wage growth slows to near five year low of 2 percent
• Data worse than expected, backs the RBNZ holding cash rate steady in two weeks

Unemployment rose to its highest level in more than a decade, with more people chasing work than jobs created, while wage growth slowed further.

Stats NZ numbers showed the unemployment rate rising to 5.4 percent in the three months ended December, from 5.3 percent in the previous quarter. It was the highest level since March 2015.

“Over the quarter, we saw higher levels of engagement in the labour market as both employment and unemployment increased,” macroeconomic spokesperson Jason Attewell said.

A total of 165,000 people were unemployed, a rise of 4000 on the previous quarter and 10,000 on a year ago.

The data was worse than forecast by economists and the Reserve Bank.

Unemployment has been steadily rising as businesses either sacked staff or stopped hiring because of the weak economy, while the workforce has increased despite a slowdown in migration.

The level of underutilisation, including the unemployed and under-employed, used as a measure of slack in the jobs market, held at 13 percent, the highest rate since late 2020.

The number employed increased by about 15,000 in the quarter, the strongest quarterly growth in two years, however, the economy still had more than 30,000 fewer jobs than two years ago.

The level of unemployment of people between 15 and 24 years was 16.5 percent, with the total not in education or training falling to 13.7 percent.

Stats NZ said there was a noticeable increase in the number of women in the labour force, with another 20,000 joining in the quarter, many going into part time employment.

The regions with the highest unemployment were Auckland, Wellington and Waikato with rates close to 6 percent, with all South Island regions below 5 percent.

The broad measure of wages showed overall growth slowing to a four year low of 2 percent from 2.1 percent, compared with a 3.1 percent rise in consumer prices.

The data was above Reserve Bank forecasts and backs the central bank holding the official cash rate at 2.25 percent later this month.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Police have deployed drones and foot patrols in the search for an Invercargill farmer who has been missing for nearly four weeks.

Kevin Belling, 62, was last seen on his Motu Rimu farm on 9 January and reported missing on 18 January.

Police said they had serious concerns for his welfare, as did Belling’s loved ones.

People were being urged to check their rural properties for any sign of him.

Detective Sergeant John Kean said search and rescue teams had searched extensively for Belling.

On Saturday they focused on his Caeser Road property in Kapuka, he said.

“Unfortunately, Kevin has not been found and police continue to appeal for any information that could help us find him,” he said.

“It is very unusual for Kevin to not be in contact with anyone for this long.”

Police were urging anyone with information to contact 105 using the reference number 260118/6964.

Information could also be provided anonymously through Crimestoppers.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Serial rapist Malcolm Rewa has admitted to sexually attacking another woman.

Rewa is serving a life sentence in prison after being found guilty of the 1992 murder of Papatoetoe woman Susan Burdett in 2019.

He was already serving a sentence of preventive detention with a minimum non-parole period of 22 years, having being convicted of sexual attacks on 25 women.

Teina Pora was wrongfully convicted of Burdett’s rape and murder in 1994, found guilty again at a retrial in 2000, but eventually the convictions were quashed by the Privy Council in 2004.

Appearing via video link at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday, Rewa pled guilty to one charge of sexual violation by rape that dating back to 18 June 1988.

His lawyer Mark Jepson said his client was not seeking name continued name suppression.

Rewa is due to be sentenced on 17 April, 2026.

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

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

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

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

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

“Police have since charged a 72-year-old man with rape.”

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

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

Failed appeal

Rewa fought for a retrial of his conviction with the Court of Appeal, which was dismissed in January 2023.

Rewa’s lawyers had argued his trial lawyer, Paul Chambers, was “incompetent”.

They also argued a witness, whose name and other details have been suppressed by the court, and who was in a sexual relationship with Susan Burdett, had motive to kill her.

After failing to have his conviction overturned Rewa later applied to appeal in the Supreme Court, calling his trial a miscarriage of justice.

A decision from the Supreme Court said his appeal was filed nine months late, but due to the extensive material to consider, this was allowed.

However, his appeal has been dismissed as the Supreme Court said there was no risk of a miscarriage of justice.

Teina Pora was wrongly imprisoned for 20 years for the rape and murder of Burdett.

Pora was convicted in 1994, found guilty again at a retrial in 2000, but eventually the convictions were quashed by the Privy Council in 2004.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The measles outbreak, which started in September, is officially over, with 42 days since the last confirmed connected case – but risk from the virus remains.

Health NZ’s National Public Health Service, with the support of PHF Science and the Measles Reference Lab at Canterbury Health Laboratories, have traced cases in the outbreak as far back as 1 September 2025, with four separate clusters until 21 December.

Spokesperson Dr Emma Sherwood said over the last four months, public health services throughout the country had managed 48 cases and more than 7500 contacts, which was “a significant achievement”.

“It’s important to acknowledge the coordinated work of the public health service and contact tracing systems, alongside strong community cooperation with isolation requirements, undoubtedly prevented a much larger outbreak similar to 2019.

“It is also heartening that, thanks to a massive immunisation push during this outbreak response, nearly 107,000 doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine have been delivered to people across the country over the last four months.”

However, New Zealand remained at continued risk for further outbreaks, with a travel-associated case confirmed in Tauranga last week, and the NPHS continued to closely monitor for and respond to further cases.

“Although the latest Tauranga case and the recent outbreak are not connected, they highlight New Zealand’s ongoing vulnerability to measles infection – particularly as links to overseas travel are a common thread,” Sherwood said.

“It’s highly likely that we will continue to have future measles cases and outbreaks. Many popular travel destinations are experiencing outbreaks, and there is a risk of travellers bringing measles back to New Zealand, where we know we have low immunisation rates in some communities.

“That’s why we continue to urge anyone not already immunised with two doses of the MMR vaccine after 12 months’ old to get vaccinated to protect themselves and loved ones against future outbreaks.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Serious Fraud Office has filed more than 30 charges against a television producer in relation to more than $4.3 million in government-funded rebates and $10m in lending.

The SFO announced on Wednesday they had filed charges in the Auckland District Court against Alexander Breingan.

It is alleged he made false representations and used forged documents to obtain more than $4.3m in government-funded rebates and $10.2m in lending.

“The alleged offending relates to the financing of 13 television programmes that were produced, or proposed to be produced, by Mr Breingan through his Stripe Studios companies.

“This matter was referred to the SFO by the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) who raised concerns in relation to applications made on behalf of entities associated to Stripe Media for the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate.”

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

The SFO said Breingan is residing overseas and was yet to appear in court.

New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) chief executive Annie Murray released a statement following the SFO’s announcement.

Murray said the NZFC welcomed and supported the developments.

“As NZFC publicly confirmed in November 2023, material provided by an applicant for the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate for New Zealand Productions (NZSPR – NZ) was investigated by NZFC and concerns were identified.

“Those concerns led NZFC to review previous applications from the same media group in which other concerns about the reliability of documents provided to NZFC in support of NZSPR – NZ applications were identified. These matters were immediately referred to the SFO.”

Murray said the commission co-operated fully with the SFO’s investigation.

“NZFC has long-established systems for the assessment of rebate and funding applications, including staged certifications, independent verification requirements, and audit mechanisms.

“These robust processes exist to protect public funds, ensure fairness for applicants, and maintain the integrity of New Zealand’s screen incentives.”

She said the “vast majority” of rebate applications proceeded without issue.

“This isolated matter does not reflect the broader performance of the rebate system.”

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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

Wellington Airport says about 60 flights were cancelled on Tuesday due to fog in the capital.

It said there could be some disruption on Wednesday as a result, so passengers should check with their airline.

Jetstar said none of its flights were disrupted.

Air New Zealand has been approached for comment.

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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 School Boards Association says school boards should try to lower the cost of uniforms, if it is what parents want.

Last year, more than 38,000 hardship payments were granted to help parents with school expenses, including uniforms, totalling $11 million.

Thousands of Facebook users are also turning to online groups for second-hand sales to kit out their children, with Otago University public health researcher Johanna Reidy saying cost is a major concern for families.

She told RNZ one in 10 students reported their parents had borrowed money to pay for uniforms, while one in four said the cost was paid off over time. Even among families who paid up front, 20 percent said it caused worry.

The School Boards Association president Meredith Kennett told Morning Report that not putting a school emblem on a uniform and keeping the uniform plain might be one way to save money.

“Uniform suppliers talk about the additional cost of adding those little touches.

“That is definitely a question that the school board should be asking: Is that something we really need, or is the plain colour enough? It depends on what the purpose of the uniform is and what they are trying to achieve.”

She said that, depending on the school, parents might be willing to pay more for a school uniform with extra pieces or details.

“With Westlake Boys, for example, they are competing with surrounding private schools. All of those private schools dress like that, and they have a standard that the parent community expects them to uphold. So that is what the board is representing in that decision.

“One of the tricky things about being on a school board is you’re trying to balance the many opinions of your parent community, as well as potentially your business community, your local iwi ana hapū. It comes down to what the community wants.”

She said school boards also consider health and safety, incorporating the special character of the school, practicality and fitting a diverse student group, when setting uniform requirements.

“There are so many different things a school is looking at, depending on their focus and their own strategic plan.”

Price should reflect families’ circumstances – Willis

Finance Minister Nicola Willis told Morning Report the cost of uniforms “really stings”.

“My plea is to school boards, because school boards need to represent parents and their communities,” she said.

“When they’re deciding what the uniform requirements are, they should reflect the circumstances of the families that attend their school and not be unrealistic about the cost of the uniforms that they ask people to buy.”

Deputy prime minister David Seymour on Tuesday told First Up the prices of uniforms at some schools was “outrageous”.

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