Source: Radio New Zealand

Government agencies are confident the herbicide glyphosate is safe, despite the retraction of a widely referenced study due to corporate meddling.

The 2000 study by Gary Williams, Robert Kroes and Ian Munro had long been treated as an authoritative source on the safety of glyphosate, but court documents released in 2017 revealed it had been substantially ghost-written by employees of agri-tech giant Monsato, now under Bayer.

But further studies had backed up its findings, and the New Zealand government said it didn’t need to reassess glyphosate’s safety.

The Williams study wasn’t retracted until 2025, when New Zealand-based scientist Alexander Kaurov formally requested it while working on a broader study about corporate ghost-writing.

“We didn’t plan to go for glyphosate specifically, we were interested in corporate influence on science,” he said.

Dr Kaurov chose to use the Williams paper as a case study, but discovered it had never been retracted.

“We wrote to the editor of the journal asking why it’s not retracted and it turns out we were the first people to ask for a retraction,” he said.

“In this particular case it’s important because glyphosate is the most popular herbicide on the planet, so if we want to keep scientific records around glyphosate straight it’s important to keep it straight from the beginning and correct all the problems right away.”

Dr Kaurov said the highly influential study was in the top 0.1 percent of most cited papers on the topic of glyphosate, and had influenced government policy around the world.

“The problem is a lot of science since 2000 has been built on top of this review, so essentially you’re out the brick at the bottom of the pyramid … Probably it will be fine but if you take out a couple more, then it will be a problem,” he said.

Shaun Presow, manager of hazardous substances reassessments at the Environmental Protection Authority, clarified the Williams study hadn’t influenced any decisions.

“This paper has not be used by the EPA in making any decisions on glyphosate,” he said.

“It was referenced in an EPA report in 2016, but only as part of a broader overview of the science of glyphosate at the time.”

But Presow said the retraction was noteworthy.

“It reminds us that we need to be careful when considering information and making sure the conclusions they make are backed up by multiple studies,” he said.

He said the EPA wouldn’t reassess glyphosate.

“We decided in 2024 that there weren’t grounds to reassess glyphosate, and this was based on a large amount of more recent data that is publicly available… And this decision remains valid,” he said.

“The retracted paper has no effect on this so there’s no reason to reassess that decision.”

Meanwhile, NZ Food Safety said the maximum residue levels it set for glyphosate were supported by international data, which was backed by the World Health Organization, and the retraction wouldn’t influence its decision making.

It said international bodies agreed that glyphosate posed a very low health risk from food when it was used as directed.

A spokesperson for Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, defended its involvement in the Williams study.

“Monsanto’s involvement with the Williams et al paper did not rise to the level of authorship and was appropriately disclosed in the acknowledgements. The listed authors had full control over and approved the study’s manuscript,” they said in a written statement.

“Two prior inquiries into the study previously found that the paper was appropriate, including the European Food Safety Authority and Williams’ former employer.”

They reiterated that further studies had corroborated glyphosate’s safety.

“Glyphosate is the most extensively studied herbicide over the past 50 years. Thousands of studies have been conducted on the safety of glyphosate products, and the vast majority of published studies had no Monsanto involvement,” the spokesperson said.

“The consensus among leading regulatory bodies worldwide is that glyphosate can be used safely as directed and is not carcinogenic.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

The family of a 13-year-old who died by suspected suicide after contacting multiple helplines is making a plea for better information sharing by crisis services.

Annabelle Daza died on 19 September, 2024.

Her devastated parents are still waiting for the coroner’s inquiry to give them answers about what happened to her – but meanwhile, they are advocating for change.

Her mother, Zoë Daza, said they were always very open with their daughter about mental health.

“We always told her the important thing is to reach out for help.

“So that’s what we try and hold onto, that she did kind of do what we told her to do, by reaching out to the helplines, she did try.

“But she just didn’t try with us, unfortunately.”

In August last year, Annabelle’s parents noticed she seemed run-down.

“Annabelle was always such a kind person, followed the rules, straight-laced, into dance,” the mother said.

“Her grades never dropped, she totally kept up appearances with us. The only thing we knew is that she wasn’t sleeping.”

She took her to their GP, who prescribed melatonin to help her sleep.

Soon after that the teen made a secret late-night call to Lifeline. Her parents have seen the transcript.

“Lifeline counsellors were amazing,” said Zoë Daza.

“So they did keep her engaged for a long time, kept trying to get more information from her, didn’t take her word for it when she said she was going to go and get help, and told her ‘We fear for your safety, and we’re going to escalate it to the police’.”

The police phoned Annabelle, but she gave a fake name and address, and told them she was 8-years-old.

An ambulance went to the address she had given – the vacant lot next door to her home – but there was no further action.

The same night, she texted Youthline saying “Hey I need help” but did not respond further, so the conversation was closed.

On 5 September – two weeks before her death – Annabelle contacted Youthline again and disclosed two recent possible suicide attempts and daily self-harm.

The log shows no response for 15 minutes.

It is not known at this stage whether the counsellor was seeking advice or dealing with other texters, Zoë Daza said.

“When they finally came back they said ‘Oh, it sounds like you’re going through a really tough time – have you thought about speaking to a doctor?’ And she said ‘No, I don’t want to’, and they said ‘Well, how can we help you tonight?’.

“She said ‘I don’t know, I just wanted to tell someone.’

“Then they just left it.”

Annabelle also tried to contact the 1737 helpline three times.

“Each time they were just shut by a bot even though she said she required urgent care. It said ‘We’re too overwhelmed to help you at this time’. It was just automatically closed.”

Miguel Daza said young people were constantly told the helplines were there to help.

“But that’s not exactly the case if a bot’s closing it, or you get asked ‘Have you thought about going to your doctor?’ Who would say that to a 13-year-old? Most 13-year-olds don’t even know who their doctor is.”

In Annabelle’s case, so many agencies had a piece of the picture, but no-one could put it together.

If there had been any information sharing or common protocols, someone could have identified the pattern and sounded the alarm, he said.

“I think we need to streamline it: either simplify it and have one line, or have all lines tied together. But either way, the left hand needs to know what the right hand is doing.”

Helplines not designed for acute crisis situations – coroner

In October, coroner Meenal Duggall released her findings into the 2023 suicide of a young Canterbury man, saying his multiple interactions with online services raised wider concerns about their role and capacity and the public’s understanding of their limitations.

Such services were not designed to manage acute mental crisis situations, she said.

Whakarongorau, which operates both Lifeline and 1737, told the coroner it had made key changes to policies and training, including lowering the threshold for escalation when suicidality was involved.

The helplines involved in Annabelle’s case declined to comment to RNZ while the coroner’s inquiry was underway, nor did they respond to questions about whether they had capacity to identify repeat callers or share information with other agencies.

Lifeline provided this response: “At this stage we are unable to go into detail around our process for responding to frequent callers as Lifeline is an anonymous and confidential service.”

Whakarongorau Aotearoa said it acknowledged the terribly sad and tragic situation for Mr and Mrs Daza and its deepest sympathies were with them.

The organisation would look closely at any recommendations that came from the coroner – and any lessons to be learned.

Its clinical lead psychiatrist, Dr David Codyre, said services across the sector were seeing more people presenting at risk of self-harm and suffering isolation, anxiety, financial and relationship issues at the same time as they were grappling with workforce shortages.

More young people were seeking mental health support, preferring digital channels.

“The complexity of calls to helplines and other services is increasing, which means longer interactions, and at times, more people waiting, longer that we would want.

“While digital services play a critical role in supporting tens of thousands of people each year, who are experiencing mild to moderate distress, people who are experiencing a high or imminent level of risk should contact a local crisis service or call 111.”

A different model?

A 2016 study based on calls to Lifeline Australia, found fewer than 3 percent of callers accounted for 60 percent of calls.

Researchers proposed a new service model with a dedicated service for frequent callers, and better linkages between helplines and other services providing mental health care, particularly GPs.

Auckland University Professor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Terryann Clark, said there was merit in the idea.

“If we know that someone is ringing up different sources, they’re clearly seeking some support and they’re looking for help.

“So it would be good to join up multiple calls to one helpline, but also between helplines.”

While anonymity was really important to some young people, others needed a personal connection, she said.

“We should have a suite of options so no matter what door people are wanting to enter that there will be someone there willing to walk them through the process and connect them to the support that they need.”

Youth mental health researcher Seungyeon Kim from Koi Tū Centre for Informed Futures said helplines could play a key role for young people in distress.

“Especially if they’re feeling they don’t have anyone else in their life to talk with, then the helplines in these immediate brief interventions are filling that role for them. And I think that’s very important.”

According to the Mental Health Foundation, one in four young people experience moderate to severe mental health challenges – rates that have nearly doubled in six years – but one in five struggle to access support.

Nearly 15,000 people have signed its petition so far calling on the government to take urgent action on child and youth mental health.

Meanwhile, the police have told the Daza family they are finalising their deposition and hope to provide it to the coroner on Tuesday.

Miguel Daza said waiting for the inquiry to progress had been gruelling for them – but they are hoping for recommendations that prevent future tragedies.

“While this investigation has been held up, the youth are vulnerable and could very well be falling through the cracks, just like Annabelle has.”

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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– 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

Read the bag’s label

Can I use a washing machine?

How do I hand wash and remove stains?

How do I dry the bags?

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A crash between a car and a minivan at Lake Rotoma, near Rotorua has seen a dozen people taken to a number of hospitals in the North Island.

Emergency services, including two helicopters, responded to the crash shortly after 10pm on Thursday.

Fire and Emergency says the Rotoma, Rotorua, and Kawerau crews were called to the scene.

Nobody was trapped in either vehicle.

Hato Hone St John says 12 patients were treated and taken to various hospitals in the region.

One person in a critical condition was flown to Waikato Hospital, while a second person with serious injuries was flown to Tauranga Hospital.

Nine people suffered moderate injuries – two of whom were taken to Whakatāne Hospital while seven were transported by ambulance to Rotorua Hospital.

One person with minor injuries was also taken to Rotorua Hospital.

St John says six ambulances, two helicopters, one rapid response unit, two road managers, and one major incident support unit attended.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A school principal facing a $90,000 bill for cleaning up asbestos-contaminated sand says she urgently needs more detail on a new scheme for financial support.

The Ministry of Education is setting up a scheme in January, to provide money to schools which were having to spend thousands of dollars replacing contaminated carpet, curtains and other items.

The ministry said in a bulletin that a “fixed sum of money” had been set aside for the “one-off, time-limited” support scheme.

It advised schools affected by the issue to complete a survey by Wednesday 17 December, describing the financial impact of the asbestos-contaminated sand.

Only schools “experiencing financial difficulty” would receive reimbursement for asbestos-testing costs.

Early learning services were not being included in the support scheme, the ministry said, as they were privately owned entities co-funded with government subsidies and parents fees.

Lynda Stuart, principal of Auckland’s May Road School, and member of NZEI Principals’ Council, said she welcomed the announcement of a support scheme as a “move forward”, but said it lacked key details.

Stuart said she still did not know how much funding support was on offer, or whether she would qualify.

“It worries me, that it’s one of those things that will just drag on, and we will be being asked to pay invoices – and in fact I’ve already had to start paying invoices, and those funds will be out of the schools’ bank accounts.

“And what does that mean for 2026?”

Stuart said the asbestos-saga had been an “absolute nightmare” for her school, estimating the total costs of testing, removal, and remediation could be around $90,000.

That included removing carpeted tiles and wall coverings, as well as replacing any furniture with fabric – and employing extra teacher aides to deal with the disruption of temporarily closing the school, she said.

“We just don’t have the funds for this, any spare money we have, we actually put in to providing staffing for the school.”

Stuart disagreed that only schools in financial stress should qualify for asbestos testing costs.

The testing so far had cost the school about $6000, she said.

“I just think all of the costs should be covered, it should be recompensed. It’s through no fault of the school, and it’s one of those things that’s happened…it’s really tragic actually. It’s just come from left-field.”

Stuart said she was still awaiting a definite answer on her school’s insurance claim, but had heard from other schools their claims would not be accepted.

She said “it wasn’t good enough” that she was going into the summer break without knowing if she would receive any financial support or how much.

“It needs to be – this has happened – and we’re [the ministry] going to take the hit on it, and we’re going to attempt the recover the money from those who caused the issue. I know that is complex and hard but the Ministry of Education and government will have the legal teams to do that, schools don’t have that support.”

Funding level still unclear – ministry

The Ministry of Education’s Helen Hurst would not say how much funding would be available for schools, until it worked out how the funding would be distributed.

“We will report on funding allocation decisions when these have been made.”

Hurst said the details of the support scheme were being designed now, and the voluntary survey of schools was to give ministry information on the scale of the financial impact.

Asbestos testing costs should generally be covered from a school’s operational grant, and that was why it was outside the scope of the scheme, Hurst said.

“It is good practice that schools maintain a level of available operating cash to meet unexpected costs should they arise.”

Hurst said it was early learning services’ responsibility to manage unforeseen operational costs given their funding arrangements.

“We also expect that early learning services have business continuity insurance arrangements in place to manage unforeseen events.

“We understand that this situation has created challenges for many early learning services, particularly those operating on tight margins or within the not-for-profit sector.

“While the ministry is not providing financial assistance for asbestos remediation works in early learning services, we will continue to provide guidance and support to help services navigate this issue.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Principals say the Education Review Office isn’t giving schools in poor communities enough credit for the challenges they face.

They say the review office makes no allowances for the fact many of their students come from disadvantaged backgrounds and start school performing at levels several years behind that expected of their age group.

Leaders at one school, which RNZ agreed not to name, said ERO reviewers told them they had witnessed excellent teaching but could not say that in the school’s report because its attendance and achievement rates needed to improve.

ERO said it has the same high expectations of every school.

Earlier this year the Principals Federation warned the [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/561095/principals-worried-by-ero-report-changes

review office was being too hard on under-performing schools] and the office’s most recent annual report called for stronger consequences for schools that did not improve.

Secondary Principals Association president Louise Anaru said some of its members felt ERO reports had become more punitive and the situation was creating anxiety.

Anaru said the principals believed ERO did not give sufficient attention to their school’s context or to students’ progress.

“Many young people may be progressing more than a year in any given year, however may still be behind the expected level or outcome, so some of the concerns are around that schools are able to show accelerated progress and significant improvements however the review focus has just been on outcomes or the expected levels where students should be at,” she said.

Anaru said that resulted in schools getting a negative ERO report that did not reflect their hard work.

She said potential consequences included more frequent reviews, requiring schools to seek support for aspects of their work, or statutory intervention such as limited statutory managers or commissioners.

Anaru said it might take a school two or three years to accelerate a student’s achievement to the point where they were achieving at the expected level and ERO should acknowledge that progress and support.

“The focus now is more around outcomes than the progress that’s been made and it’s important to look at both,” she said.

Principals Federation president Leanne Otene said schools should not be held accountable for wider social problems that were the government’s responsibility.

She said schools in poor communities kept records of student progress so they had hard evidence of the difference they made for children.

Otene said some schools also recorded the achievement of students who remained with them for three or more years because transient pupils often had poor results that dragged down average achievement but were not a fair reflection of the school’s work.

Asked if it was taking a less forgiving line on socioeconomic disadvantage as a reason for under-achievement, the Education Review Office said it took schools’ contexts into consideration.

“However, we deliberately have the same high expectations for every school in every community. Every learner has the right to a great education that sets them up for success. It shouldn’t matter where in New Zealand you grow up, you should have access to the same high-quality education,” it said.

“Our school reports detail a bespoke action plan for every school. These are all focused on the things that matter most for learners – attendance, achievement, the quality of teaching and learning, leadership capability – but the plan is designed for that individual school and the areas we have identified that need immediate attention.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The man who murdered five people by lighting the Loafers Lodge blaze will be sentenced in the High Court in Wellington on Friday.

The 50-year-old, Esarona David Lologa, set the Wellington boarding house alight in May 2023.

Michael Wahrlich, Melvin Parun, Peter O’Sullivan, Kenneth Barnard and Liam Hockings were killed.

In September he was found guilty of five counts of murder and one count of arson.

He had been on trial at the High Court in Wellington for five weeks.

His defence argued he was insane when he lit the fire.

The Crown called around 100 witnesses over its four weeks of evidence.

They included Loafers Lodge residents who described their harrowing escapes from the blaze, firefighters who fought tears recounting their experiences, and crucially, five mental health professionals who believed Lologa was not insane when he lit the fire.

The experts said Lologa did know his actions were morally wrong.

They pointed to Lologa’s own comments to police and psychiatrists, including that he had “done nothing wrong”, as evidence he understood the difference between right and wrong.

During the trial psychiatrist Dr Krishna Pillai, testifying for the defence, believed the man was insane when he lit the fire, and was experiencing a serious psychotic relapse.

Pillai told the court the man’s hallucinations – hearing voices telling him to light the fire – rendered him incapable of knowing lighting the fire was morally wrong, which is a threshold required for an insanity defence.

Esarona Lologa – also known as Esa – was born in Wellington in 1975, but was raised by his grandmother and uncle in a small village near Apia, Samoa.

He was initially educated in Samoa but moved to Wellington when he was about 13, where he lived with his uncle. He attended high school in Lower Hutt.

As a young man, Lologa had a relationship with a woman almost 20 years his senior, who had a teenage son.

In 2009 Lologa was convicted of attempting to murder the son with a machete, after he believed his partner was cheating on him.

Lologa had 50 previous convictions – including the attempted murder and an attempted arson in 1996, after he broke into a butcher and tried to burn it down.

He had also been found guilty of common assault and fraud.

He first came to the attention of mental health services in 1999, when he was 24. He was hearing voices in his head that were swearing at him.

Lologa was diagnosed as having schizophrenia, and was first admitted to a mental health facility in 2000.

The court heard details about Lologa’s clinical history spanning more than two decades, including nine hospital admissions.

During adulthood, Lologa lived in Wellington and Auckland. He stayed in social housing and boarding houses, as well as his car and the street, psychiatrists told the court.

Lologa absconded from a mental health facility on 21 April, 2023, three weeks before the fires, and there was a warrant out for his arrest.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A coroner has criticised a disability service for not urgently addressing a mother’s safety fears for her autistic, non-verbal son who was later found dead in a pond at his home in rural Gisborne.

Five-year-old Khyzah Tawhai Raukaponga DeLaCroix went missing from his home at Mangawehi Station in the Hangaroa district of Gisborne on 11 August last year.

It sparked a huge search involving hundreds of local people, specialist search teams, rescue dogs, and a helicopter.

Coroner Meenal Duggal found that Khyzah’s death was accidental, and that he died on 11 August by drowning in a large pond about 180 metres from his house.

She said a meeting Khyzah’s mother had with disability service Your Way Kia Roha, in which she asked for safety locks on windows and doors, should have sparked immediate action.

The search

Khyzah had been diagnosed with autism before his death, and was non-verbal. He had developmental delays and did not have a “typical sense” of danger, safety or pain, Coroner Duggal said.

He had been referred to Your Way Kia Roha by his paediatrician, a service which was contracted by the Ministry of Social Development’s Disability Support Services.

“Khyzah liked to leave the house to explore and was particularly attracted to water as well as a shed where he liked to play among items stored there. On several previous occasions, he had made his way to the main road,” Coroner Duggal said.

He had been home watching a movie at 2.00 pm in the afternoon when his mother was showering and she heard the door out from the laundry opening. His mother left shortly after Khyzah, estimating she was about one minute behind him.

Police were called at 4.00 pm and a Land Search and Rescue operation started about 5.30 pm. By this time, Khyzah’s father and his employer had searched a 400 metre radius of the house including the water holes, Coroner Duggal’s report said.

The search continued into the night, and resumed again the next morning – the national dive squad found Khyzah’s body in the pond covered in green algae about 3.40 pm.

Coroner Duggal’s report said there were several routes from the house to the pond which were “easily accessible” for a 5-year-old who was good at climbing.

‘Mother’s safety concerns required urgent action’ – coroner

Coroner Duggal said Khyzah’s mother had met with Your Way Kia Roha in June and expressed concerns about his safety, saying that he could run off, and asking for locks on windows and doors.

Khyzah’s mother was told to speak to a neurodevelopmental therapist to ask for a safety assessment for the home.

“It is concerning that Ms DeLaCroix’s concerns about Khyzah’s ability to get out of the house were not proactively addressed.

“This raised immediate safety concerns which in my view required urgent action.”

She said it was a “reccurring” theme from families with health and disability issues that services were not joined up, and they often needed to repeat concerns to multiple agencies or providers.

While the coroner accepted the disability service was not directly able to provide safety assessments, it was part of Your Way Kia Roha’s agreement with the Ministry of Social Development that “immediate safety concerns were to be proactively addressed with urgency”.

She said given Khyzah’s mother lived rurally, and she was trying to look after a child needing full-time daily help, as well as two other small children, any safety concerns she raised should have been “actively addressed”.

In her report, Coroner Duggal said Your Way Kia Roha accepted the response to safety concerns was not sufficiently prompt, but said it was not due to systemic issues or a lack of training.

It said it had taken measures to strengthen compliance including drafting a formal risk matrix for urgent actions, and undertaking enhanced training.

Coroner Duggal said she endorsed the steps Your Way Kia Roha had taken.

In a statement, chief executive of Your Way Kia Roha, Megan Thomas, said the loss of a child was an unimaginable tragedy, and their thoughts and condolences were with Khyzah’s whānau.

Thomas said the Coroner’s findings acknowledged the organisation’s position that it had robust systems and processes in place to identify and respond to risks, and had endorsed, as part of the recommendations, steps taken to strengthen safeguards and training.

“However, in this circumstance, we recognise that a more proactive approach – particularly involving Child Development Services to assess the home environment – could have provided additional support.

“We remain committed to learning from this experience and to continually improving our processes, so that families receive the most responsive and coordinated care possible,” Thomas said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A former teacher at Gloriavale School has applauded the Education Ministry for effectively closing the school, but says it has been a frustratingly slow process.

The Secretary for Education has cancelled the school’s registration, effective from 23 January.

Ellen MacGregor-Reid wrote to the West Coast Christian community’s private school in October, advising that she was considering the move after a second failed Education Review Office (ERO) audit in as many years.

July’s ERO report found Gloriavale Christian School had not met three of eight registration criteria and was not a physically and emotionally safe space for students.

Hopeful Disciple, who left Gloriavale four years ago, said cancelling the registration of a private school was fairly unprecedented.

“But there’s just been so much evidence,” he said. “That they’ve taken so long to act on that, it has been a bit frustratingly slow.”

Disciple said everything in the school was governed by or part of the community.

“Teachers are teaching their own children, their nieces, nephews [and] other teachers are also leaders in the community.

“It’s all interlocking, and so it sets up a really enmeshed situation, which it becomes impossible for the teachers to actually be professionals,” he said.

Spokesperson for the Gloriavale Leavers’ Trust Liz Gregory said it had raised a number of concerns with the ministry about the school over the last six years, from sexual misconduct to education being used as indoctrination.

“Six years is a long time when you’re concerned about children’s safety and children’s educational provision,” she said.

She said they had been less than patient at times.

“I think it’s been difficult with the harm levels that have occurred inside the community for us to sit back and wait for a courageous government department, but I want to thank them for the courage they’ve shown.”

MacGregor-Reid said the Ministry of Education had provided considerable support to the board and staff of Gloriavale Christian School over the last two years.

“Despite two notices to comply and ministry and external support, the school has been unable to demonstrate full compliance and there is insufficient evidence of progress,” she said.

“I remain concerned that these students are not being educated within an emotionally and physically safe school environment. After a period of engagement with the school and community, and consideration of the evidence, I have decided that cancellation of the school’s registration is necessary.

“We are absolutely committed to the education of Gloriavale students. Support will be provided for students and families during the transition so that education is in place for term 1 2026.”

The school board said it would challenge the decision.

“We believe this decision is unjust and does not reflect the significant efforts we have made to address concerns raised. The position taken by the ministry is not accepted and will be challenged.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A homicide investigation has been launched in Hamilton.

Police were called to a house in Lake Crescent at around 6:15pm, where they found a seriously injured man, who died at the scene.

A second person has been taken to Waikato Hospital with an arm injury.

Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Ambler says cordons are in place and residents can expect to see extra police in the area.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

More than $1 million in assets including property, luxury cars and thousands of banned vapes have been seized in raids in Wellington and Auckland.

Police have been investigating the proceeds of a criminal’s drug-selling activities across the North Island and have executed search warrants in Upper Hutt, Wellington, Tawa, Pauatahanui and Auckland.

Detective senior sergeant Karen Heald said the large number of vapes containing the banned substance etomidate was particularly concerning.

The drug can cause involuntary muscle jerking, breathing difficulties and loss of consciousness.

“It goes without saying that drugs cause so much harm in our community – not only to those who become addicted, but to the families of those people who get hooked, and the people who then become victims of the crimes they commit to feed their habit,” Heald said.

Other assets seized include two Ferrari convertible sports cars, five motorcycles including a Harley Davidson, two Victory motorbikes and a quad bike and residential property.

“It’s remarkable to think of the harm the offenders impose on our communities and the luxuries they are then affording themselves in the process,” Heald said.

A Mongrel Mob member and four associates have been charged with multiple offences and police said further arrests were likely.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Nearly two months on from a sewage spill that completely destroyed their crops, Mahurangi oyster farmers are still waiting to see a full compensation package.

More than a thousand cubic metres of sewage overflowed from a Watercare pump station in late October contaminating thousands of oysters in the Mahurangi river and preventing the farmers from harvesting for nearly a month.

Watercare agreed to give a million dollars in compensation to 10 affected farmers, who split it between them.

The organisation also promised to provide a second payment before the end of the year.

But as that date creeps closer the farmers are still waiting and getting increasingly desperate.

It has been around two weeks since Tom Waters was able to reopen Matakana Oysters.

It means he has only been able to farm for around six weeks of this year.

With little time to harvest, his bills and debts have quickly built up, and the $100,000 in compensation he got for October’s sewage spill was gone in 48 hours.

He has already considered closing the doors on his business twice this year, and if Waters does not see more compensation soon, he is not sure how he will carry on.

“This year’s been diabolical, I wouldn’t even be in business if it hadn’t been for lovely people who had donated and kept me going”

But Waters said even the money can’t quantify the damage done to his business.

He is worried the reputational impact is also too much to bounce back from.

“[The spill] was just devastating, I personally just struggled a lot after that spill, it was the worst feeling, because we’d just been trying to get the reputation back up again because all of us have suffered from people not wanting Mahurangi oysters because they’re legitimately concerned about their safety.”

Both sides agreed to an independent loss assessor reporting on how much further compensation was needed.

A few days after the report was lodged, Watercare came back with a request for more information from the farmers.

However, the farmers said they have already given them all the information they have.

Jim Aitken from Mahurangi Oysters said he is close to losing all faith.

“They’re stalling, they’re not believing us, we’ve sent an email saying no we’ve given you everything you’ve asked, they’re simply not believing us, come and see us if you don’t believe it. We’re here, we exist, these are all our oysters, and we’re sick and tired of jumping through hoops for Watercare.”

Much like Waters, Aitken’s compensation went straight into paying off debt incurred from the sewage spill.

While he was able to finally reopen his farm two weeks ago, the spill means they have missed out on the peak season and lost thousands of oysters.

“Without that money you just sit there in the red looking at your debt get bigger and bigger because quite simply even if we are open, it’s not like we can sell every oyster we have right then and there, we have to start this whole new process, get customers confidence back.”

While Aitkin said he has lost all confidence in Watercare, he is still hopeful that they will pay up.

“I want compensation to make up for the fact that I’ve had to stop two roles because I can’t afford to pay them, so I want compensation to be able to employ people so they can continue to work and keep the farm running.

“I want to make sure that this never happens again… and actual accountability from Watercare, so if this ever happens again it’s just an immediate fine.”

Chair of the Mahurangi oyster farmers association, Lynette Dunn said she is disappointed by the back and forth with Watercare.

She said they were originally promised compensation by the 19th of December.

“We’ve been fighting for the last seven years, we’ve been going into more and more debt. So with that last payment sort of income that came through that just got gobbled up into paying all our expenses that had occurred over quite a period of time, so there’s nothing in our accounts to get us through the next three months, four months.”

As the clock ticks on Watercare’s promise the farmers have all agreed on one thing.

They have got a long road ahead, not just to recover financially, but also revive their product’s reputation.

In a statement to Checkpoint, Watercare chief operations officer Mark Bourne said they expect the loss assessment report to be finalised in the new year.

He said Watercare acted quickly and in good faith to respond to the impacts, by first providing $1 million to the oyster farmers affected, and then appointing an independent loss assessor with aquaculture expertise.

“The assessor has met with the oyster farmers and is now assessing losses on an individual, per-farm basis. This is a complex process, and care is being taken to ensure assessments are thorough and fair.”

He said with the information in the report they will be able to confirm the next steps and timing.

This will involve Watercare contacting the oyster farmers individually to discuss outcomes and arrange any final payments.

Bourne said they know the overflow caused considerable stress to the farmers, who they reassured that Watercare will learn from the incident.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Waihī North extension of OceanaGold’s Waihī mine has gained approval under fast-track legislation.

The decision was jointly announced by Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Resources Minister Shane Jones, and aimed to extend gold and silver mining in the area until 2043.

Jones estimated approval would have taken more than five years under the usual consenting process.

It became the first major mining project to gain full approvals and consents under last year’s Fast-track Approvals Act, in a process that was completed in 112 working days.

The project is expected to generate $5.2 billion in additional silver and gold exports over its 18-year life – around $286 million per year.

“The Waihī North Project will support around 800 jobs in Hauraki District and beyond over its 18-year life, and these well-paid jobs will inject millions into the regional economy while boosting export earnings for the country,” Jones said.

Bishop said an expert panel estimated the extension would generate $425 million in government revenues in 2025 dollar terms.

Oceana Gold Senior Vice President Alison Paul expected OceanaGold to invest around $1 billion in the project with $240 million invested in the Hauraki District.

“Once producing, the Wharekirauponga Underground mine will generate over NZ$8 billion of export revenue for New Zealand (estimated at current gold prices).”

The Waihī North Project included the Wharekirauponga underground mine located approximately 10 kilometres north of OceanaGold’s current Waihī Operation.

Canadian-headquarted OceanaGold bought the Waihī mine from US company Newmont Mining in 2015 in a deal valued at over US$100 million.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Police say a woman found dead in October was murdered in a targeted act of violence by someone known to her.

Teishallia Te Paea’s body was found at an address on Kotuku Street, Camberley, on 29 October.

Police say her body went undiscovered for likely several weeks and attempts had been made to conceal her.

A homicide investigation is underway.

The police Behavioural Science Unit (BSU) has done a preliminary analysis of the murder and the offender.

The killing was committed in a unique way, police say.

They said this person may been acting differently in the weeks after Te Paea’s death and avoiding questions about their movements, using family and friends as protection and being evasive about Te Paea.

• The offender was known to Te Paea
• The offence was a targeted act of violence
• The offender had knowledge of the property at Kotuku Street, Camberley
• The attempt to conceal the crime was to create distance between the offender and Te Paea

“If you know someone that was in contact with Teishallia and fits this profile and is reluctant to talk about their interactions with her, then please share this information with us.”

Weeks after her death and ahead of Christmas, Detective Inspector Martin James says police are more determined than ever to find the offender.

“We know someone in the community knows what happened, and that as time goes on, that knowledge will be eating away at them.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

When Jevon McSkimming was sentenced on Wednesday, his lawyer and the judge told the court he was the first person in New Zealand to be prosecuted for simply viewing objectionable material.

The former deputy police commissioner was sentenced to nine months home detention at the Wellington District Court, after pleading guilty to the possession of child sexual exploitation and bestiality material in November.

Judge Tim Black and defence lawyer Letizea Ord both told the court during the sentencing they understood this was the first time someone had been prosecuted for simply viewing material online, rather than downloading it or distributing it.

“Perhaps one of the unique features of this case is that none of the images were downloaded or stored in any way,” Ord said.

However, she said it was accepted that viewing – particularly his clicking on some 160 images – was “akin to downloading from a sentencing perspective”.

Judge Black noted in case law there was a “limited pool of decisions which involve possession”.

“Most of the decisions involve some other more serious offending, such as importation or distribution.”

Victims advocate Claire Buckley told RNZ the law hadn’t kept up with technology and people no longer had to download material to have it at their fingertips.

“I would like to see that line between viewing, versus downloading and sharing, be eradicated, those three things all put together, because if you’re viewing it, you are absolutely contributing to the creation of it.”

Viewing it still generated demand, she said, and over time the searches tended to become more extreme.

“If you start off on AI-generated images, eventually that’s not going to cut it anymore, and you’re going to go looking for slightly more realistic, and something harder-core, by which time you are generating harm because you’re generating demand for really objectionable material which requires abuse of people in order to create it.”

The evidence showed people tended to make the shift from AI-generated content to reality, but very few made the jump from watching content to acting out those things themselves, she said.

However, the harm was still very real for victims of objectionable material.

Parents of children who had been filmed for this purpose found it incredibly triggering, Buckley said.

“It’s like ‘that happened to my kid, and now, this guy could be looking at those images.’

“Once those images go around, you can never get rid of them, not really. And so the families who have been harmed by this kind of thing are harmed over and over and over again.

“They weren’t [downloaded or shared] in this particular case, but that’s what frequently happens, and people don’t separate it in their minds when they’re a victim.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

• Family rosters themselves on for shifts looking after elderly relative in hospital.
• Despite suffering severe dementia the family worried about the standard of her care.
• Another elderly hospital patient was left alone and suffering, his wife says.

The family of an elderly woman with severe dementia were so concerned about the standard of her hospital care that they rostered themselves on shifts to look after her.

And for another severely ill elderly man, what was scheduled as a short hospital stay for a routine operation ended with him catching norovirus and losing over 10kg.

His wife said the worst part of it all was that he was left to suffer alone in soiled bedding.

These two cases have put the spotlight on the care of elderly patients.

When Judith Campbell broke her hip in January, she ended up staying over a fortnight in Nelson Hospital.

“We had to be there every day to ensure she was fed, given medication and showered,” said her daughter, Jan Fryer.

“We had to do all those things for her and couldn’t get her back into her care home as she wasn’t mobile, so she was in a very unsatisfactory situation and died three weeks later.”

And Otago woman Bev – who has asked RNZ not to use her surname – recalled her husband Ross’ visit to Dunedin Hospital in late 2023.

“When as a patient for a proposed 48 hours he contracted norovirus, [he] left the hospital 12 kilograms lighter.

“Despite vomiting and constant diarrhoea and sweating profusely his bed linen was not changed in five days.”

The pair contacted Checkpoint after hearing of concerns about aged care, which prompted Health NZ to acknowledge a system under pressure as the population aged.

Health NZ was contacted several times over recent months for this story, but hasn’t yet responded.

Family’s bedside vigil

Campbell was blind and had severe dementia.

Fryer was fed up with telling every new staff member how to handle her, so she didn’t fight or spit when she wasn’t sure what was going on, the family instead decided to always stay at her bedside, apart from when she slept overnight.

“For the two weeks she was in hospital we had to take shifts, between my daughter – who works for us, luckily, so I was able to give her time off – myself and my 90-year-old father, and my sister also came over from Australia.

“We took shifts to be there all day with her to make sure she got food, she got her medication and she got cleaned.”

Fryer said that wasn’t happening before they were there.

Staff had also tried to administer pain relief through pills, causing Campbell distress, despite instructions to give it in liquid form.

And the family ended up taking Campbell for walks and trying themselves to get her mobile enough to return to her aged-care facility.

“She just wasn’t getting fed. They would put her food on a tray and just leave it there. She couldn’t see so she couldn’t feed herself.

“She ended up with very loose bowel motions, so then we’d find her lying in poo.”

Campbell died in February, aged 88.

Fryer didn’t make a complaint, saying her sister, a doctor, told her it wasn’t worth it.

“I was saddened – just sad that New Zealand’s health system has deteriorated so much that we’re not getting good care when we need it.”

Patient left alone and in distress

For Bev, 13 December 2023, was supposed to be when her husband Ross began a two-day hospital stay in Dunedin to drain his lung.

He had the aggressive cancer mesothelioma, and in hospital caught norovirus.

Bev said after that her husband was mostly left alone in an isolation room, lying in soiled sheets.

She was also concerned about hygiene measures – such as nurses giving Ross pain relief tablets from the palms of their hands, rather than containers.

“He was clearly really suffering. He couldn’t eat or drink. They didn’t make any effort to give him fluid through an IV and the smell in the room after four days was horrendous,” Bev said.

She caught the stomach bug too and had to stay away a couple of days. On her return she couldn’t believe the condition Ross was in.

“I was so shocked at how ill he was and how weak he was. He could not stand up to get out of bed. He could not stand up unaided.

“When I realised how much weight he’d lost it was no wonder.”

Ross had lost 12kg and Bev decided it was best to bring him home and look after him there.

He never recovered from the ill-effects of norovirus and died in February 2024, aged 78.

“It’s left me feeling really angry and quite concerned about care for others, including myself.”

She wrote a complaint but said she never heard back.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The career firefighters’ union says a delay getting rescuers to Hahei where a girl was trapped on a cliff face is just the tip of the iceberg.

In January, police refused Fire and Emergency (FENZ) a helicopter to get a lines rescue team from Hamilton to Hahei on the far side of Coromandel Peninsula. They had to drive.

Police told RNZ they mistakenly concluded the girl was dead and that it was appropriate to send rescuers by road, not air.

New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union vice president Martin Campbell told Midday Report the problems ran wider than just the Hahei case.

“I don’t think it is an isolated incident… I think it’s just the tip of the iceberg, unfortunately.”

“I certainly know from personal experience being based at Auckland City where there is another lines rescue crew, we have faced delays in our ability to get to rescue incidents.”

A law change was needed, and police and FENZ needed to agree on a better approach in the interim, he said.

The FENZ call log from the Hahei rescue stated “police wont [sic] approve helo response because of the cost”.

“This is the first I’ve actually specifically seen cost mentioned,” Campbell said. “Other issues I have seen [are] interagency squabbles as to who is actually in charge and who has the authority.”

Comment has been requested from police and Police Minister Mark Mitchell.

Emails among senior FENZ personnel immediately after the Hahei rescue referred to it as a “further instance” of line rescue crews being delayed due to police not approving an air ambulance helicopter.

St John must get police approval to send a chopper to a non-injury emergency.

FENZ national manager of response capability Ken Cooper in response to Campbell told RNZ on Thursday their standard operating procedure after a 111 call for rescue was to pass all information immediately on to police as the lead agency, who then coordinated the rescue.

“It is also our practice to dispatch our resources immediately to the incident to assist,” Cooper said in a statement.

“There are no communication challenges between our agencies, and we work well together.”

The Hahei FENZ email trail showed Cooper was alerted on the Monday following the Saturday midnight rescue, and briefly replied that he would “prioritise a meeting with the relevant partner agencies this week with the intent on resolving the matter”.

RNZ has lodged Official Information Act requests with police and FENZ to find out more.

Hato Hone St John ran the air ambulance service under a contract with Health New Zealand. It said in cases where a person was not injured but required rescue, coordination and tasking was done by either of the country’s two recognised search and rescue coordinating authorities – police or the Rescue Coordination Centre.

“The coordination of search and rescue operations requires specialist expertise to ensure both the person in need of rescue, and their rescuers are as safe as possible,” it said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A High Court judge has ordered the Department of Corrections boss to obey the law or face contempt of court proceedings if he fails to make sure prisoners aren’t let out of their cells for an hour every day.

Under New Zealand law, prisoners are entitled to at least one hour of physical exercise a day. The rights are further enshrined in United Nations standards.

In his judgement released this week, Wellington High Court Justice Jason McHerron found some inmates in Auckland Prison, the country’s only maximum security prison, weren’t allowed out of their cell for the minimum required period and was holding the Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot personally accountable.

Wellington human rights lawyer, Amanda Hill represented some of the prisoners and said time outside of cells was vital.

“Moving your limbs, getting your heart rate up a little bit, talking to other people, those are things that we take for granted, but they’re pretty vital to just being able to function,” she said.

“If we don’t have that, we can get into a position of what’s called prolonged solitary confinement which is unlawful, and it has lots of physical and mental health effects, paranoia, aggression, depression, anxiety, joint pain, migraines – the list is really long.”

No one knows that better than this man, who RNZ isn’t naming, but who spent five years in prison for aggravated robbery among other charges.

“The 23 hours we’re locked down for, we actually look forward to our hour every day,” he said.

“Some people get an hour, some people don’t. The ones that don’t get their hour, it turns pretty violent, it gets real frustrating in the mind, it’s bad enough we get 23 hours locked down.”

He said an hour wasn’t a lot of time.

“Majority of the time, the whole hour is spent on training,” he said.

“Maybe like 10 minutes out of that hour on a phone call, maybe 20, but you’re only allocated for so much time, and hour is not much.”

Hill wanted to see Corrections follow the court’s order.

“We’re really hoping that this is the thing that they choose to comply with because nothing else to date has been enough.”

It would be an extraordinary situation to have a chief executive of one of the countries major departments before the courts facing a fine or even imprisonment, she said.

“This has been raised for coming up 10 years in different forums, the ombudsman’s raised it, the prison inspectors raised it, there’s been litigation about it, and the department has ignored the High Court’s directions in other cases that short staffing and resources aren’t a reason to deny minimum entitlement,” Hill said.

Corrections had argued a lack of staff and facilities prevented them opening cells safely. However, that was rejected by Justice McHerron.

Commissioner of custodial services, Leigh Marsh, said they had been working to meet the court’s order.

“We’ve been doing work in that environment to ensure that we are able to dynamically increase the staff, so I’ve increased the base number of staff in there immediately, to reduce the risk of the inability to do simultaneous unlocks,” he said.

“We’ve really focused hard on being really careful with these separations to make sure that we’re getting it right.”

Marsh said safety was a priority as they balanced complex circumstances.

“We’re really focusing on our staff and prisoner safety, so I am not holding back, if a prisoner is exhibiting violence, for them to be shifted into a maximum security environment,” he said.

“We’re seeing that increased gang complexity, we’re seeing that increased complexity around impulse control, and the propensity towards using violence when tension or conflict arises among the prison population that’s in there.”

Former Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said the court’s ruling went further than he could have done in his former role.

“The chief ombudsman can recommend,” he said.

“If there’s a failure to comply with the recommendation, there’s no real ability for the ombudsman to do much about this.

“But this [judgement] has the consequence of failure and accountability, which could result, interestingly enough and ironically, in imprisonment, therefore loss of liberty.”

Boshier said Corrections had been slow to comply in the past.

“Corrections is like a 19th century coal-fired ocean liner attempting to alter course, it’s very slow to correct, another way of putting it could’ve been it’s glacial,” he said.

“It’s just Corrections that I found utter frustration with for its inability to change and its willingness to think of every reason under the sun why it should not.”

A group of 69 prisoners have filed a wide-ranging claim against the Attorney General, on behalf of Corrections. The matter was heading to trial in 2027.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Hutt Valley Police are investigating what they are calling a disturbing instance of extreme violence, which has left someone with critical injuries.

Police received reports of an assault at an address on Trinity Avenue in Epuni, about 5am on Wednesday, 10 December.

Acting detective senior sergeant Kylee Cusin said police continue to explore multiple avenues of enquiry and are asking the public for their help.

“What has occurred is a disturbing instance of extreme violence, and we’re asking anyone who was in the Trinity Avenue and Oxford Terrace area at that time to reach out to police, or anonymously at Crime Stoppers.

“We know there will be people in the community who have information which could help us find the people responsible for this crime.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A pair of climbers missing on Aoraki/Mount Cook are believed to have died in a large ice avalanche, police said on Thursday.

If so, that would make them the fifth and sixth reported South Island mountaineering deaths in the past month.

The two men left the Tasman Valley car park on Friday last week, bound for Plateau Hut. They left the hut on Saturday evening on their way to the top of Aoraki/Mount Cook, via the Linda Glacier route, police said.

On Monday morning the Department of Conservation was told they had not returned.

Due to the weather, an aerial search was not carried out until late on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, search teams deployed a RECCO detector, suspended under a helicopter, Aoraki area commander Inspector Vicki Walker said.

According to the manufacturer’s website, RECCO reflectors “are lightweight passive transponders that require no power or activation to function”, and can be integrated into clothing, helmets, backpacks and harnesses.

“With the aid of the detector and Search and Rescue staff, we were able to identify a key area of interest and located some items of climbing equipment,” Walker said.

“A visual investigation of this area has led to the determination that the overdue climbers have been caught in a significant ice avalanche within a known icefall hazard zone on the upper Linda Glacier.

“Because of the scale and volume of material involved, we don’t believe this avalanche was survivable.”

Ground crews were yet to reach the site because of unstable ground, DoC Aoraki/Mount Cook operations manager Sally Jones said.

“This is a tragic outcome, and our thoughts are with the climbers’ family and friends.

“The Linda Glacier is an unforgiving alpine environment. Conditions can change rapidly, and even highly experienced climbers are exposed to unexpected hazards including icefall, crevasses, avalanches, and extreme weather.

“Aoraki is a place of immense beauty and significance, but it also can be extremely brutal in terms of what it can throw at those who attempt to climb it.”

The exact location of the bodies was not yet known. Police said a recovery operation would be considered when warmer weather allowed it.

“Sadly, for now, we can’t reach them and they lie in rest on the maunga, and our sympathy is with their whānau,” Walker said.

The latest loss followed the deaths 28-year-old Connor Scott McKenzie and 23-year-old Tanmay Shetankumar Bhati on Fiordland’s Sabre Peak earlier this month, and Wanaka-based mountain guide Thomas Vialletet and his client Kellam Conover, who died on Aoraki/Mount Cook in November.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

John Campbell is returning to RNZ, as the new co-host of Morning Report alongside Ingrid Hipkiss.

RNZ’s Chief Audio Officer Pip Keane said the field of applicants for role on the flagship news programme was impressive but Campbell stood out .

“John’s experience as a journalist and host is exceptional, but equally important is his passion for pursuing the stories that matter and our audience values this strong journalism. He’s also a highly skilled interviewer, and that’s crucial for Morning Report.”

Keane says he will be a key part of RNZ’s dedicated audio plan, which aims to grow RNZ National’s audience.

“We know John can build an audience; he added 50,000 listeners to Checkpoint‘s audience during his time on that programme.

Campbell says he is thrilled to be returning to daily news.

“3 News, Campbell Live, Checkpoint and Breakfast were all daily shows. In total, I hosted or co-hosted them for over twenty years. I’ve missed the racing heart and the urgency and the way broadcast journalism can respond in an instant to the political cycle, and to breaking news.”

Campbell said he’s listened to Morning Report since it began.

“My parents woke up to it. My childhood mornings echoed to the sound of it. That makes this programme really special to me. My first understanding of journalism would have been from Morning Report. It gives voice to the less powerful and holds a mirror up to New Zealand life. To be able to do that, every weekday morning, with neither fear nor favour, is a such an exciting opportunity.

His start date is to be confirmed.

He replaces Corin Dann who is stepping down from the role to become RNZ’s new Business Editor.

Dann will replace Gyles Beckford who is retiring as business editor and moving to a new part-time role as Economics Correspondent.

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