Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – You might not have heard of the Nipah virus, but if you’re travelling to or from parts of Asia, you’ll want to be aware of it.

The deadly virus, which typically comes from contact with fruit bats, has an estimated fatality rate of 40 to 75 percent of those infected. It can cause symptoms including brain swelling and permanent neurological damage.

Health authorities are warning people to be cautious after new cases broke out in India.

The World Health Organisation was notified on 26 January of two cases of Nipah infection at a private hospital in West Bengal.

What is Nipah?

Nipah isn’t new, said New Zealand epidemiologist Michael Baker, but it is quite dangerous.

It’s what’s called a “zoonotic virus,” which can transmit from animals to humans – in this case, primarily fruit bats.

It was first identified in 1998 among pig farmers in Malaysia, WHO said on its information site about the virus. There have been outbreaks in Bangladesh almost every year since, the organisation says.

“This is a virus that has caused known human cases for almost 30 years and on average we’ve seen about 30 cases a year over that time,” Baker told Morning Report on Monday.

“There is reasons why there’s huge concern about this virus – not so much for its pandemic potential but just because it’s such a serious infection with a fatality rate of over 50 percent.”

Most people who get Nipah develop symptoms involving the brain, like headaches and confusion, or in the lungs, including coughing or difficulty breathing. It can also sometimes cause brain swelling or encephalitis.

Long-term neurological conditions have been reported in about 1 in 5 people who have a Nipah virus infection, WHO says.

How contagious is it?

Don’t worry – this isn’t likely to turn into Covid-26.

“It’s a difficult virus to catch and it doesn’t have efficient transmission from people to people,” Baker said. “It isn’t transmitted by respiratory routes so this is not like Covid-19 in terms of its pandemic potential.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade hasn’t raised travel alerts for India, Bangladesh or Malaysia on its SafeTravel website specifically over the Nipah virus, but there are other cautions in place.

Screening measures for Nipah are in place at airports in places including Bali, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Nepal, Reuters has reported.

WHO says that transmission of the virus to humans can occur “from direct contact with infected animals like bats, pigs or horses, and by consuming fruits or fruit products, such as raw date palm juice, contaminated by infected fruit bats”.

The two recent cases in India were human-to-human transmission, he said.

“They were health care workers and they appear to have been looking after a patient who was infected. There may be other cases in that hospital, we’re obviously waiting to get the full report.”

However, Baker noted there were over 200 people who dealt with the patients and none of them appeared to be infected.

WHO says it “assesses the risk posed by Nipah to be moderate at the sub-national level, and low at the national, the regional and global levels”.

How do you avoid it?

MFAT’s SafeTravel website includes Nipah in its list of infectious diseases, and warns that if you’re travelling to anywhere where outbreaks have occurred, you should:

• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water or hand sanitiser, especially before eating and after contact with animals, their products and their environments.
• Avoid contact with animals, especially bats, pigs, monkeys and stray animals.
• Avoid areas where bats roost and avoid touching anything that could be soiled by bats.
• Avoid eating raw or unprocessed animal products, such as unpasteurised milk.
• Avoid eating fruit or plant-based product that may have been contaminated by animal or their bodily fluids including fresh date palm sap. Clean and peel fruit yourself before eating it.
• Avoid contact with the blood or body fluids of someone with Nipah.
• Eat food that is fully cooked and fruits that can be washed and peeled.

Is a Nipah virus infection hard to treat?

Of the India cases, one person was put on mechanical ventilation and another had severe neurological illness, WHO has said.

There is no vaccine and no specific antibiotic treatment, Baker said.

“The care would be called what is supportive care but it still has this very high mortality risk at the moment.”

Reuters has reported that according to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a group that tracks emerging disease threats and funds the development of medical tools to protect against them, as of December 750 cases of Nipah had been recorded in all, and 415 of the patients died.

Could it come to New Zealand?

It’s possible cases could come through overseas travel from India or other countries. The incubation period can run from four days to two weeks, Baker said.

Still, it would be difficult for Nipah to really spread here.

“(Even) if they arrived, say in New Zealand and they became ill, they would be cared for very carefully in the health care environment and there’d be a very low risk of transmission to other people.”

There are no fruit bats in New Zealand – just two species of small, insect-eating native bats. Australian bats have only rarely been spotted here.

“It can’t really become established in New Zealand – we don’t have the animal reservoirs, we don’t have the fruit bats, for instance.”

Fruit bats are considered the natural host of the Nipah virus, although it does not appear to cause disease in them, WHO has said.

“Bats seem to have an ecological niche where they’re great incubators of viruses and they live in big colonies, they share their viruses very widely,” Baker said.

Much of the scientific evidence, from the WHO Scientific Advisory Group and others, seems to be that Covid-19 also originated in bats, which tend to be a winged vector for diseases.

“This is why the risk of such emerging diseases is increasing because humans are encroaching more on the habitats of bats.”

Other animals such as pigs can get infected and then infect humans.

Baker said the Nipah outbreak showed the importance of WHO’s work, which has come under scrutiny lately with the US withdrawing from the group and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters questioning whether New Zealand should continue to fund it.

“This is really another reason why we need the World Health Organisation looking at the prevention of these zoonotic infections,” Baker said.

Should we do anything?

“There’s nothing extra New Zealand needs to do at the moment,” Baker said, but medical staff in general should be aware of any data coming in and awareness of travel histories of people coming from any region where Nipah is endemic.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A paediatric specialist is urging the country’s drug agency to fund weight loss medication for teenagers.

A Pharmac advisory panel has provisionally recommended funding Wegovy for chronic weight management in people with high BMI’s and associated conditions.

The semaglutide drug first became available here in July last year, and currently costs about $460 a month.

The advisory groups recommendation is subject to Special Authority criteria, which will limit who can prescribe it.

The recommendation has been announced after the advisory group met in December, with a full record of the meeting expected to be available by March.

But one specialist believes there are a number of teenagers who would benefit from the drug if it is funded.

Professor Wayne Cutfield, a professor of paediatric endocrinology at the Liggins Institute, told Checkpoint funding Wegovy for teenagers would help prevent serious health issues before they arose.

He said he frequently sees very obese teenagers coming into the clinic.

“These are teenagers who weigh between 120 and 150 kilograms, these are 14 to 16 year old teenagers.”

“Most of these teenagers who have severe obesity will gain between half a kilogram and a kilogram a month – month on month, year on year… you can see by the time they’re 45, they will have much more severe obesity.”

Cutfield said Pharmac choosing not to fund the drug for teenagers would be like “closing the gate after the horse had bolted.

“Do they want to try and stop them from having heart attacks, stop them from having strokes, stop them from developing rampant diabetes or liver disease leading to sclerosis?”

Real-world follow ups of patients who have taken Wegovy have shown that weight regain can happen quickly after stopping the drug.

“There is often a return back to the pre-treatment weight. And the reason is, Wegovy suppresses appetite.”

Cutfield said that lifestyle changes were incredibly important to sustain weight loss and prevent teens from being on the drug for a lifetime

“Unless patients taking Wegovy make lifestyle changes, in other words, learn to diet, learn to eat less, and be more active they are going to be on treatment potentially lifelong.”

Pharmac has not yet signalled whether teens will be eligible for the drug if it is funded, however Cutfield believes it is highly likely this will be the case.

“If you look at any form of obesity treatment at the moment, these very obese teenagers are not eligible for bariatric surgery, there’s kind of nothing for them. Unless they get included, they are simply going to wait and get larger and larger and start developing obesity-related complications.”

At the current cost of around $460 a month, Cutfield said there is very much so an “equity issue” surrounding access to Wegovy.

He said the cost benefit of funding the drug are “potentially enormous”.

“You’re preventing serious diseases for which there are huge costs in terms of treatment costs, hospitalisations, lost time off work, chronic ill health, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, severe liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea, affecting your capacity to breathe at night.”

However, Cutfield said health practitioners should have a stronger focus on implementing lifestyle changes for patients alongside prescribing the drug.

“I think as medical practitioners, and those who take the drug, we’ve got to collectively work harder at getting patients eventually off the drug and not have them on this drug for life.”

Pharmac’s director device and assessment Dr David Hughes told Checkpoint that Pharmac recently released the provisional recommendation from its Obesity Treatments Advisory Group in regards to current funding applications for Semaglutide (Wegovy).

“Typically, unless there is a strong clinical rationale or evidence for doing so, the age of individuals is not one of the factors Pharmac considers when making funding decisions.”

He said the full record of the recommendations related to these applications is expected to be released in full in March 2026.

Previously, Pharmac had received two applications to fund Wegovy.

The first was in September, for people with an established cardiovascular disease (such as someone who has had a heart attack or stroke) and a BMI of 27 or higher. The second was in October, for chronic weight management in people with a BMI of 30 or higher, with at least one weight-related comorbidity.

New Zealand has the third-highest adult obesity rate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Three years after Tauranga teenager Maddie Hall took her own life her parents are left with one unanswered question – what if?

What if Maddie had been given all the support she needed as soon as she went to Tauranga Hospital after trying to take her life in May 2020?

What if Maddie had received the comprehensive psychotherapy her clinicians agreed would be most beneficial?

What if Maddie’s early life was not upended by sexual trauma?

What if more could have been done to save her life? What if the mental health system was better?

Maddie died on 31 March 2023 at the age of 16.

Almost three years earlier in May 2020 she was found trying to take her life. It would later emerge she had earlier tried to kill herself in November 2019.

In findings made public on Tuesday following a 2024 inquest, coroner Marcus Elliott found Maddie died by suicide but there was “no aspect of the medical care which can be said to have ‘clearly linked to the factors that contributed’ to Maddie’s death”.

As a result, he had no power to make any comments or recommendations about Maddie’s death.

The Canterbury Suicide Postvention Working Group – a collection of agencies including health, education and care authorities that monitor and respond to suicides in the region – sought to suppress details of the coroner’s report and Maddie’s name.

The group submitted that four other young women had died by suspected suicide since Maddie’s death in circumstances that amounted to a “cluster” with links through direct peer connection, shared social networks or online

interactions.

The group also said a cohort of 44 other people in Canterbury connected to the “cluster” was at elevated risk of suicide contagion.

“These connections reflect an overlapping peer ecosystem in which distress, grief and identification with each other’s experience have been continually reinforced,” the group said.

The group was concerned about the “significant online and social media risk component associated with this case, particularly the unregulated dissemination and glamorisation of suicide related content on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.”

Maddie’s parents, RNZ and Stuff opposed suppression.

In declining the application, coroner Elliott emphasised that while “there were areas in which service improvements were warranted, any shortcomings cannot be said to have contributed to Maddie’s death”.

“She received extensive mental health care, both in a public and private context. Her death does not support an argument that mental health care is unavailable to those who need it or that the mental health system is broken.”

‘Always room for improvement’ – family calls for change

In the three years before her death, Maddie was admitted to hospital 25 times and went to Tauranga Hospital’s emergency department more than 50 times.

She made more than 40 attempts on her life.

Her parents Gareth and Leanne Hall feel as if their daughter and family were an inconvenience to the public system.

Eventually they pursued treatment through a private psychiatrist but Gareth Hall believes it was too late to save Maddie despite the efforts of the “excellent and caring practitioner”.

“Health New Zealand and CAMHS (Tauranga’s Maternal, Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), although they stood up in an inquest and said ‘we’ve looked back and there’s nothing we would have done differently’, well I’ll call bullshit on that,” he said.

“There’s always room for continuous improvement and everyone knows the mental health system in New Zealand, particularly for young children, needs massive improvement. Chris Luxon knows that. Matt Doocey knows that.

“In the first three months [following her May 2020 suicide attempt] there were six suicide attempts and a similar number of other incidents that required emergency services, police and/or ambulance, and there’s no support provided in those three months,” he said.

“So we knew something was lacking pretty early on in the piece.”

For three months after the May 2020 episode, Maddie did not have a key worker to co-ordinate her care and be a primary point of contact in the mental health sector.

The Halls would email clinicians to provide updates on Maddie’s condition and her symptoms.

“That seemed to be an inconvenience to them to hear from us. They eventually told us in a multi-disciplinary meeting a number of months into it just to stop sending them emails,” he said.

Maddie required comprehensive dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), a dedicated psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder.

It was first recommended and accepted about six weeks after Health New Zealand became involved.

Maddie did not receive her first session until late November 2020, almost five months after it was accepted as a form of treatment, and following 13 hospital admissions.

“It is possible that Maddie would have been more amenable to DBT in July 2020 than she was almost five months later. It seems likely that, by the time of the first DBT session on 26 November 2020, her attitude may have been affected by the sense of ‘invalidation and trauma’ she was developing in relation to her public mental health service involvement,” coroner Elliott said.

“However, it is not possible to say whether the provision of comprehensive DBT from July 2020 would have prevented Maddie’s death. It is possible that it would, however a finding cannot be made to the required standard of proof about this.”

By February 2021, comprehensive DBT was no longer available to Maddie.

A ‘vibrant wee soul’

Leanne Hall said her daughter was a “vibrant wee soul” as a child.

“She was either going to be an artist or an early childhood teacher. She was a lovely, gorgeous little girl,” she said.

Gareth Hall said Maddie was kind, caring and empathetic, traits she maintained towards others even as her own world crumbled inside her head.

“A few of Maddie’s friends have said that they wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Maddie. That’s how big an influence she was,” he said.

“She couldn’t help herself but she was unbelievable at helping others.”

Maddie’s decline could be traced to sexual abuse at the age of six.

Leanne Hall said they were unaware of the violation until Maddie told a friend when she was about 11-years-old and her friend told her father.

“If she didn’t have that sexual trauma at age six she wouldn’t have developed the PTSD and the complex mental health history,” she said.

The trauma catalysed into a deep darkness within her mind during her early teenage years.

As the Halls fought to save their daughter’s life they would sleep in her room at night to ensure she was safe.

“During those particularly quiet times and when she was struggling to sleep, she did tell us a lot of stuff and it was pretty harrowing to listen to that coming from your own daughter,” Gareth Hall said.

“When you hear your daughter repeatedly every day, say she wants to end her life, it’s hard to hear,” Leanne Hall said.

Gareth Hall said they both know it paled in comparison to how hard it was for their daughter.

“People don’t understand how much these kids suffer and that’s the thing that still burns us is how much Maddie suffered,” he said.

“There has to be something done to prevent these kids suffering as much as they do because if it was a medical disease you know everything in the doctors’ power would be done to try to reduce the suffering.”

No evidence deficiencies contributed to Maddie’s death – Health NZ

Health New Zealand submitted to the coroner that “there is no evidence that was presented during this inquiry that any alleged deficiencies in this care contributed to Maddie’s death”.

A serious incident review highlighted “service improvements”.

The review’s findings included recommendations relating to communicating with patients and their families, trauma-informed care and specialist pathways of care.

While coroner Elliott endorsed the review’s recommendations, he said any shortcomings in the care provided by Health NZ could not be said to have contributed to Maddie’s death because:

– The causes of Maddie’s illness were identified and treatment was provided

– The nature of Maddie’s illness meant that she was at a very significant risk of taking her own life

– The illness might not necessarily have been resolved by medical treatment

In a statement, Health NZ group director of operations for Bay of Plenty Andrew Boyd told RNZ the serious incident review had resulted in “learnings to start making practical improvement”.

“This was a highly complex case involving multiple agencies, providing care and treatment to Madeleine during the three years from her initial referral to the Maternal Infant Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Tauranga,” he said.

The Halls did not accept that Maddie’s life could not have been saved and disagreed with the coroner’s decision not to make comments or recommendations.

“It’s possible that if Maddie had more help at those earlier stages and had a clinician at CAMHS who could have built a rapport with her in the first instance, which was critical and lacking, that there could have been a different outcome, but that’s all speculation,” Gareth Hall said.

“The coroner deemed there was no gross negligence that contributed to Maddie’s passing, we think that as parents having witnessed everything we did, we still disagree with that. That’s the coroner’s rulings based on the balance of probability but there’s always possibility.”

A handful of incidents stood out to the Halls, including a time when Maddie was strip-searched at Starship Hospital.

“It was barbaric. There was no kindness. It was like she was in a prison or something. For somebody that has gone through trauma and had PTSD to be faced with that, it’s huge,” Leanne Hall said.

On another occasion Maddie had surgery at Rotorua Hospital after harming herself, followed by a request to transfer her to Starship.

After Rotorua clinicians spoke to a nurse in Tauranga she was instead discharged and found wandering on railway tracks later that night.

The coroner’s report also said a police officer gave evidence to the inquest about two incidents in which the officer believed “that health practitioners argued with Maddie in a disrespectful and unprofessional way about her medication and that another practitioner who Maddie disliked and distrusted deliberately came into Maddie’s view ‘as if on purpose to wind Maddie up’.”

The coroner made no findings about the two incidents but said: “Any lack of professionalism or disrespect for Maddie would have been unsatisfactory. However, while health practitioners should act with patience and compassion towards a patient, there are reasons why this may not always happen.”

An ‘appalling’ youth suicide rate

While Gareth and Leanne Hall could not save their daughter’s life, they take solace knowing she knew how much they loved her.

“The one thing that we did achieve before Maddie passed away was that she knew she was loved because earlier on, due to her mental illness, she felt completely unlovable and didn’t feel loved,” Gareth Hall said.

“She saw what we did for her and despite the negativity of her mind she did realise that she was loved and that gives us some comfort because you wouldn’t want your daughter to go feeling that she wasn’t loved.”

The couple now hope to channel their love and Maddie’s memory into driving meaningful change in mental health services.

“Maddie would have wanted a change and improvements in the mental health system, she hated other kids suffering and we don’t want other kids to suffer like Maddie did either. So if something good can come from Maddie’s passing I think that will help us,” Gareth Hall said.

He said New Zealand had an appalling youth suicide rate.

“That is something that as a country we should be extremely embarrassed by and we need to do whatever we can to improve that statistic,” he said.

“That’ll improve a statistic but it will improve the lives of not just the children who are going through extreme mental illness but all their parents and family and friends.”

In his findings coroner Elliott referenced the government’s 2018 inquiry into the country’s mental health and addiction sectors.

“Mental health legislation was referred to as ‘outdated and inadequate’ and reform was recommended. Health New Zealand accepted the inquiry’s recommendation in this respect,” the coroner said.

“However this has not yet been implemented and the Act has not been amended. In relation to Maddie, Health New Zealand was working under the law as it applied at that time.”

In a statement, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said “every single life lost to suicide is one too many”.

“Losing a child truly is every parent’s worst nightmare and my thoughts are with Maddie Hall’s friends and family.

“For me as Mental Health Minister, the most important part of my role is listening to those who have been directly affected by suicide. I have met with the parents of Maddie Hall to hear first-hand what they feel we need to do to improve New Zealand’s mental health system. I believe the key part of improving the mental health system is incorporating voices of lived experience. The reality is that we cannot make the changes needed on the ground without listening directly to families who have unfortunately gone through what families like the Hall’s have experienced.

“I acknowledge that New Zealand continues to face high suicide rates, particularly among youth. We can and must do better.

“I think it’s particularly clear, we are long overdue for a better crisis response. No one in New Zealand should face barriers when seeking help for themselves or others and that’s exactly what this government is focused on doing.”

Where to get help:

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

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

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Police have launched an investigation after the discovery of a body at a worksite in Hawke’s Bay.

Officers were called to the property on Taihape Road in Omahu, near Hastings, at 9.10am on Tuesday – where cordons remain.

Police said it was unclear how the person came to be there, and how they died, and were treating the death as unexplained.

They said a scene examination and post-mortem would be carried out as they worked to identify the person and understand the circumstances surrounding their death.

Police said anyone with information could get in touch by calling Crime Stoppers or 105, quoting reference number 260203/9739.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A family of lions has been euthanised because of their poor health, a Christchurch zoo says.

Orana Wildlife Park said 22-year-old sisters Leah and Meeka, and Meeka’s 15-year-old son Mambila had died.

The group had been suffering from multiple age-related ailments, including degenerative muscle wastage (atrophy), suspected arthritis, and incontinence.

In a social media post, Orana Park said the decision to euthanise the lions together was because of their highly social nature.

“Leah and Meeka lived their entire 22 years together, and Mambila shared a very close bond with his mother. Prolonging the decision for one or more of the animals would have severely compromised their welfare beyond the degenerative issues they were already facing,” a spokesperson said.

“Leaving one elderly lion alone or attempting to integrate them with Orana’s remaining pride of two males would have resulted in a negative welfare state or potentially fatal consequences, given lions’ highly territorial nature.”

Orana Park said Leah and Meeka were the oldest lions in Australasia at the time of their death.

“All three cats reached old age and Leah and Meeka had exceptionally long lives.

“Male lions typically lived up to 14 years and lionesses slightly longer in the wild. This longevity is testament to the extraordinary care provided by our dedicated animal and veterinary teams.”

The park said staff were devastated by the lions’ passing.

“Anyone who has farewelled a beloved animal will understand the depth of emotion people experience at such a loss. These lions were treasured members of our whānau, they will be deeply missed by everyone who cared for them throughout their lives and our community who enjoyed meeting them.

“We are incredibly grateful to our team for their dedication, compassion, and commitment to ensuring all three lions experienced a peaceful and dignified farewell.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

New drone footage shows the stranded Black Cat Cruises catamaran submerged close to shore in a small rocky bay in Akaroa Harbour on Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula.

The boat ran aground in the Akaroa Marine Reserve on Saturday, resulting in the rescue of more than 40 passengers and crew and a Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigation.

Christchurch’s Geoff Mackley captured the footage near Nikau Palm Valley at the Akaroa heads.

The Canterbury Regional Council temporarily suspended recovery efforts because of bad weather.

Attempts to move the boat to deeper waters to protect its structural integrity were on Monday because the hull had settled firmly on a large rock.

The regional council’s on-scene commander, Emma Parr, said staff had made every effort to retrieve hazardous and loose material from the wreck, whilst monitoring its stability.

“We continue to work with the salvage team to oversee and guide alternative options for the most effective and timely recovery of Black Cat,” she said.

“Our focus remains on reducing environmental impacts and ensuring the safety of everyone involved.”

The boat was carrying 2240 litres of marine diesel fuel and around 120 litres of other oils in sealed containers and engines combined.

Retired Otago University professor and biologist Liz Slooten said nearby Hector’s dolphins could be exposed to diesel pollution if it was not cleaned up quickly.

“Diesel will get into their eyes, diesel and other oils that come out of the vessel,” she said.

“It will get into their lungs by inhaling the fumes, which tend to accumulate close to the water surface because it’s heavier than normal air. That’s exactly where these dolphins are breathing.

“When they eat contaminated fish, it will get into their digestive system.”

Parr said the council was monitoring any immediate affects on the environment or wildlife and that fuel had rapidly dispersed.

“We have not observed any immediate impacts on the environment or wildlife,” he said.

Research had been done on the effects of oil and diesel spills on dolphins and showed they led to a range of serious health effects, including lung disease and adrenal gland problems, Slooten said.

She called on authorities to be more proactive when responding to emergencies.

“It seems that each time something like this happens, basically everybody stands around going, ‘oh my goodness, what are we going to do now’. We need a plan up front, rather than waiting for a disaster to happen and then trying to figure out what to do about it. That is obviously not effective,” she said.

It is the second diesel spill near Banks Peninsula in just over two years after the Austro Carina fishing boat ran aground at Shell Bay in September 2023.

Slooten said the boat would cause further environmental problems if it broke up.

“Then you’ll get plastic and metal and goodness knows what other pollutants into the environment. The longer it’s left and the more it breaks up, the harder it’s going to be to clean up the mess,” she said.

In a statement posted to social media on Saturday, Black Cat Cruises said while some of the 38 passengers were shaken by the grounding, they commended the crew for their calm, efficient and reassuring manner during evacuation.

“This is first incident to occur in over 40 years of this nature and naturally safety is our number one priority and we are deeply saddened that this has occurred. We are very grateful for the support of local operators and boaties that assisted us during this incident.

“We are commencing an investigation into the incident and working with authorities on the matter.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

• Unemployment expected to remain steady at 5.3 pct – data due 4 Feb, 10.45 am.
• Labour market probably at the bottom, but improvement gradual.
• Prospect of some modest job growth.
• Wage growth to remain subdued, lagging inflation.
• Data not likely to change RBNZ rates on hold policy.

Unemployment looks set to linger around a near-decade high, but may show signs that the labour market downturn has ended.

Most major bank economists expect the unemployment rate to stay unchanged at 5.3 percent for the three months ended December, but with tentative signs of employment growth, and wage growth subdued.

ASB senior economist Mark Smith was among the more optimistic with a forecast unemployment rate easing to 5.2 percent, which would be the first decline in four years.

“We expect the data to confirm we have passed the turning point for the labour market.”

Other economists echoed the view that the labour market, the sector that lags recessions and recoveries, has at least touched the bottom.

“We do expect this Wednesday’s suite of … labour market data to show a general halting of deterioration as well as some more signs of improvement in the details,” BNZ senior economist Doug Steel said.

Labour market numbers can be something of a statistical lucky dip.

The unemployment rate can be moved by the size of the workforce, how many are participating, have gone training or stopped looking for work, irrespective of how many jobs may have been created.

ANZ senior economist Miles Workman said more people participating in the search for work, even if the jobs were not there, might still be a positive.

“While it would point to a more disinflationary labour market than the RBNZ anticipates, it would also add to the evidence that conditions are rounding a corner, with labour supply responding to improving job prospects.”

The jobs are coming

Partial labour market indicators in the recent months, such as job advertisement and filled jobs numbers, point to an increase in jobs matching the growth in the working age population.

“Employment is expected to register its strongest growth in around two years, although numbers are still more than 30,000 shy of late 2023 peaks,” ASB’s Smith said.

However, Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said overall improvement would be gradual with employers being wary of hiring.

“The September quarter saw a strong lift in hours per worker, and indeed that’s where we’d expect to see the initial response to an economic upturn – employers have scope to get more out of their existing workers, before resorting to new hiring.

Slow wage growth to please RBNZ for now

Wage growth is expected to remain subdued and steady around four-year lows of 2 percent.

“Labour cost growth is expected to remain modest, with the balance of power still tilted towards employers,” ASB’s Smith said.

He said emerging signs of skilled labour shortages, a stronger labour market and growing wage demands would eventually weigh on the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate outlook (OCR).

“Reducing labour market slack suggests the need to normalise OCR settings. We expect a 25 basis point hike in December and a 3.0 percent OCR endpoint, but note the risks are pointing to a larger and more frontloaded pace of OCR hikes.”

The RBNZ is expected to hold the cash rate steady at 3.25 percent for most of this year.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The electricity market regulator will launch a new power bill comparison website next month, in a bid to ensure the industry better serves consumers.

It is one of many changes being made after a spike in electricity prices last year led to a government review of the market.

In 2024, a spot price shock saw households and businesses face increases of between 10 and 15 percent on their power bills, which was a factor in the shutdown of several industrial businesses across the country.

Electricity Authority chief executive Sarah Gillies said a new power comparison website would be launched next month with the authority also considering rules to simplify bills so that they were easier for consumers to understand.

It also wanted to see more companies offering plans with lower prices during off-peak hours and electricity regulators sharing power use data, so consumers could automate their electricity use if they wanted to.

“Last year we made a decision that we needed to see the large retailers offering time-of-use plans, there was a sense that some were doing it, but not everybody … so that’s a requirement for everybody over a certain size to do that from July this year.”

In January, the government announced the retail electricity sector as the next industry to be considered under the Customer and Product Data Act.

Known as open electricity, it would simplify the ability to compare the electricity needs of a household or small businesses against every power plan on the market.

Last year, the government established a Consumer Data Right – a legal framework to let people access, share, and manage certain data, like transaction history, with trusted third parties through secure digital systems – with the hope of creating greater choice, convenience, and innovation.

Gillies said the authority was working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on a framework that detailed what information should be shared, and how.

“Data is absolutely critical … and the bottom line is it belongs to consumers, it’s about them.”

Previously, power companies had been reluctant to release data, despite it belonging to the consumer.

Gillies said the Power Build comparison website was due to be launched next month, replacing the Power Switch in a bid to help consumers ensure they are getting the best deal. It had been built using two years’ worth of data from 30,000 households and would no longer be funded by power companies being charged a fee every time a consumer switched, she said.

“You can either use your own power bill or you can answer some questions about your household and how you use your power and those two options will give you some choices.”

She said there would be information to help people understand time of use pricing, an electricity tariff structure where rates vary based on the time of consumption, charging higher prices during “peak demand” hours and lower prices during “off-peak” times.

The government is still working through potential legislation as a result of reforms in the industry.

Gillies said 35 rule changes had been made in the last two years, which showed a “constant strengthening” of the rules that govern the system.

“We have this incredible privilege to write the rules of the electricity industry, secondary legislation,” Gillies said.

The maximum penalty for a breach of the rules is currently $2 million, with a proposal to increase it to $10m or three times the commercial gain or 10 percent of a company’s turnover.

“That’s quite important because that’s much more akin to the kinds of penalties that you see with the FMA and the Commerce Commission.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland’s mayor says the government’s proposed legislation to cap rates rises is “ridiculous” and “nonsense”.

The government wants councils to limit annual rates increases and is seeking feedback on a rates cap.

At Tuesday’s full Auckland Council meeting, Wayne Brown put on a cap saying ‘RATES’ in a self-described move to mock the proposal.

He said the rates cap plan was a “fascinating piece of nonsense from Wellington”.

“I shall put my rates cap on while we mock this piece of ridiculous legislation,” Brown told the Council meeting.

“And I have a can of baked beans here which represents the amount of saving [over] a month that ratepayers will get, as a result of this fine work.”

The council opposes the cap on the grounds it is not an effective tool to provide affordability and would result in more debt.

“Auckland ratepayers are unlikely to achieve the savings estimated by central government of $2.79 a month for each household, or the cost of a can of baked beans as noted by some commentators,” council’s manager of financial strategy and modelling violet bird said in a report.

“This assessment from the government excluded Auckland Council from its calculations due to the council’s ‘moderate rates forecast’ and size.”

Ratepayers ‘fed up’, Luxon says

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon previously said ratepayers were “fed up”.

“They’re tired of having to prudently manage their own budgets while rates continue to go up, only to see their local council fail to demonstrate the same fiscal discipline.”

He said the government was not considering allowing councils to raise revenue through a levy on tourists, like a bed tax.

“We want councils to be focused on the money that they’ve got and make sure they’re doing a much better job of managing it. Some councils are doing a really good job, some councils are doing a very very poor job.”

Consultation on the changes opened immediately, and was set to close in February 2026 with the legislation expecting to be passed by the end of that year.

In December, the government announced it wanted councils to limit rates rises and more detail was released later that month, leaving councils a short runway to prepare a response.

The rates rise cap would likely start with minimum increases of two percent and a maximum of four percent, with the cap taking effect from 1 January 2027.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fog is causing disruption at Wellington Airport, with more than 40 flights affected on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the airport said 48 flights had been cancelled.

According to the airport’s website, on Tuesday afternoon flights leaving for Christchurch, Napier and Dunedin were among those cancelled, along with flights arriving from Christchurch, Brisbane and Hamilton.

Passengers are advised to check directly with their airlines for the latest information on their travel plans.

MetService is forecasting rain for Wellington with strong southerlies on Tuesday evening.

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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

The government must be more transparent about any potential minerals deal with the United States, former Prime Minister Helen Clark says.

New Zealand is in talks with the US about the supply of rare and critical minerals, as Donald Trump seeks to reduce America’s reliance on China for material it sees as pivotal for tech innovation and national security.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand was among more than 40 countries talking to the US about supplying minerals, and no Cabinet decisions had been made.

He dismissed reporting on the talks as “speculative and hypothetical”.

Helen Clark chairs the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which about 50 countries have signed up to – not including New Zealand.

She told Midday Report the government must be more up front about its discussions with the US.

“We’re told that it will be a non-binding critical minerals framework, but as recently as the 14th of January, President Trump was threating tariffs if trading partners didn’t sign critical mineral agreements within 180 days.

“Are we one of those countries?”

Clark said New Zealanders needed the chance to debate the type of society, economy and environment it wanted.

“Do we just want to throw all the concerns we’ve traditionally had for our national parks and wild places and landscapes out the window, or do we want to build on the clean and green, sustainable image that we’ve cultivated carefully over many years?”

The environment would suffer if New Zealand signed up to large-scale, “destructive” mining practices, Clark said.

“We don’t have vast resources in easily accessible places. To mine in New Zealand now, you’re going to be going into pristine landscapes, areas that have been subject to conservation controls for many, many years.”

Clark was also concerned that giving the US a “preference” would cause problems for New Zealand’s Free Trade Agreements, and any provisions not to discriminate against those countries.

‘We should mine what we can’

On Monday, chief executive of the Minerals Council – which is the industry association representing mining in New Zealand – Josie Vidal told Midday Report Aotearoa should scale up mining.

She said it can be done responsibly.

“We believe that we should mine what we can here because of the high standards that we have when it comes to looking after people and the environment,” Vidal said.

New Zealand has some of the strictest environmental conditions in the world, she said.

The government plans to double New Zealand’s mineral exports to $3 billion by 2035.

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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 Canterbury Regional Council has received more than 2000 reports about a putrid stench from Christchurch’s wastewater treatment plant since the start of the year.

Offensive odours have plagued the city’s eastern suburbs following a fire at the Bromley plant in 2021, with the Christchurch City Council describing conditions at the oxidation ponds as the worst since then.

The stench left people battling nausea, worsening asthma, sleepless nights and deteriorating mental health.

A city council-organised community meeting was being held in Bromley on Tuesday night to give people an update on efforts to fix the problem and what to expect over the coming weeks.

Canterbury Regional Council acting director of operations Judith Earl-Goulet said it was considering what, if any, enforcement action against the city council might be appropriate and in the public interest.

The regional council had received 2,344 reports about unpleasant smells from Christchurch’s eastern suburbs since the start of this year, including 1,814 reports last week alone.

“Reports as far out as Wigram indicate to us that the smell is widespread and being felt across much of Ōtautahi Christchurch,” she said.

“Our team has been talking face-to-face with people in the area and we know the impact of the offensive smell is significant, with the extended length of ongoing smell particularly challenging.

“We’ve let Christchurch City Council know that they are non-compliant with their discharge to air consent condition on the basis that the smell from the plant has been identified beyond the plant boundary. Our investigation into the wider issue is ongoing.”

The November 2021 fire badly damaged the plant’s two trickling filters, affecting the quality of effluent flowing into the system.

The city council said the plant’s oxidation ponds were usually healthy at this time of year but several compounding factors had contributed to the stench, including “increased loading” to the ponds and recent heavy rain.

“We expected the high levels of rain in January to help flush wastewater through the system and improve pond health – however, this didn’t happen, as it appears to have set back the algae growth in the ponds,” the council said.

“We’ve always known we’re operating the temporary plant with a narrow margin for error, as it has no extra capacity. This makes the system more vulnerable to sudden changes. While the ponds are now showing signs of improvement, much of the recovery depends on natural processes such as algae growth and oxygenation.”

The city council said staff were trying to minimise the odour by using all available tools to improve the ponds’ water quality.

Jet boats were being used to drive on the ponds to increase the dissolved oxygen.

The council was also dosing the ponds with hydrogen peroxide and balancing flow between ponds to better distribute load and support recovery.

“The dissolved oxygen levels have stabilised and are beginning to improve. The pond colour is also changing, which is another sign that conditions are starting to turn,” the council said.

“We remain focused on stabilising and improving the ponds before conducting a full review to identify any additional triggers behind this event.”

National Public Health Service medical officer of health Dr Annabel Begg said exposure to hydrogen sulphide odour from the plant could cause nausea, headaches, eye and throat irritation, skin irritation, sleep disturbance, and worsening asthma symptoms at relatively low concentrations.

“If people exposed to the odour don’t experience physical health effects, continued exposure to unpleasant or nasty, noxious odours can still have an adverse effect on people’s mental wellbeing,” she said.

“While exposure to hydrogen sulphide is unpleasant and may result in health effects, it doesn’t accumulate in the body. Any health effects would be expected to resolve when the odours are brought back to normal levels, and long-term health effects are highly unlikely.

“People experiencing health issues as a result of the odour coming from the treatment plant should seek health advice from their GP, doctor, Hauora or healthcare provider, or call Healthline free on 0800 611 116, anytime 24/7 for advice as soon as possible. In an emergency call 111.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The iconic Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae is once again welcoming manuhiri from across the motu after reopening at last year’s Waitangi celebrations.

The marae, commonly known as Te Tii, welcomed iwi from around the country in a pre-dawn pōwhiri on Tuesday morning, one of eleven it will host this week.

The pōwhiri was also a kawe mate, a mourning ceremony where photos of those who have recently died are brought to a marae.

Among those remembered this year were activist Hinewhare Harawira and Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ariki Tumu Te Heuheu. His son and successor Te Rangimaheu was in attendance.

Marae Chairman Ngāti Kawa Taituha said it was a beautiful moment to welcome Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and the taumata acknowledged the many connections between Waitangi and Tūwharetoa.

“Hepi Te Heuheu opened our whare tupuna in 1977. So that was our connection with Tumu and down to Te Rangimaheu.”

Remembering those who have passed in the last year was a good way to begin the commemorations at Waitangi this week, he said.

Governor-General Cindy Kiro will be welcomed to the marae on Tuesday, a first as she has previously only been welcomed to the Whare Runanga on the Upper Treaty Grounds, he said.

Taituha said there has been some discussion among Ngāpuhi leaders about moving all pōwhiri back to the lower Marae.

“They’ve seen the beautification of our whare tūpuna, the new carvings, the whole restoration, and it’s kind of a reflection on where we’re at as a people, as a whānau, as Ngāti Kawa, Ngāti Rāhiri, Te Matarahurahu.”

More and more people are gravitating to the marae, he said.

Although there is still a little bit more work to do, he said, with additional carvings only added to the sides of the doorway of the whare in the last week.

“So there’s a big kōrero with that with the quill… and on the other side is a scroll. And so that’s to acknowledge our documents, of course. He Whakaputanga, Declaration of Independence and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“So it’s just again, adding and enhancing the mana of our tūpuna, the signatories, and then down to us, the descendants and here we are today, carrying out all that mahi of our forebearers. Putting in all the effort to set up our next generation. Obviously, that’s what it’s all about for us.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A woman is facing serious assault charges after a bus driver was attacked on Auckland’s Queen Street.

Auckland Area Commander Grae Anderson, said the 20-year-old woman tried to board the bus on Monday night but the driver refused her entry on account of her acting “unusually”.

The woman then chased the bus down Queen Street, got on board, and allegedly attacked the driver.

Police spotted a person matching the woman’s description near Vulcan Lane.

She ran off but police caught up with her.

She has been charged with injuring with intent to injure and will appear in court on Tuesday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fire and Emergency were called to Hawke’s Bay Airport after an alert was put out about a small plane.

A police spokesperson told RNZ during landing the plane nose landing gear appeared to be damaged.

Seven fire trucks, two tankers and a command unit were called to the scene just after 10am on Tuesday.

Crews were stood down after the plane landed safely, FENZ said, with crews assisting in cleaning up a small fuel leak.

Hato Hone St John was also notified of the incident.

Two ambulances and one helicopter responded, but had since been stood down, a spokesperson said.

The airport was temporarily closed, with the Civil Aviation Authority taking over the site, an airport spokesperson said.

It has since been reopened.

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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 Facebook Marketplace transaction gone wrong in the Far North led to alleged confrontation with a gun, a car chase and armed police spiking the suspects’ vehicle.

Detective senior sergeant Chris Fouhy said the dispute started near Kāeo, with police receiving a call about 8pm on Monday that a man was being chased north on State Highway 10 by another vehicle.

A firearm was also reportedly pointed at the victim.

Fouhy said multiple police units responded from across the district and managed to stop the chasing vehicle using road spikes at Taipā Bridge around 9pm.

Armed police then took the three men in the car into custody without further incident.

They were aged between 16 and 19.

Fouhy said the dispute appeared to have been sparked by a Facebook Marketplace transaction.

Enquiries were continuing into the full circumstances of what happened, how many cars were involved and the whereabouts of the reported firearm.

It is not known what was being sold on Marketplace.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fire and Emergency were called to Hawke’s Bay Airport after an alert was put out about a small plane.

A police spokesperson told RNZ during landing the plane nose landing gear appeared to be damaged.

Seven fire trucks, two tankers and a command unit were called to the scene just after 10am on Tuesday.

Crews were stood down after the plane landed safely, FENZ said, with crews assisting in cleaning up a small fuel leak.

Hato Hone St John was also notified of the incident.

Two ambulances and one helicopter responded, but had since been stood down, a spokesperson said.

The airport was temporarily closed, with the Civil Aviation Authority taking over the site, an airport spokesperson said.

It has since been reopened.

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