Source: Radio New Zealand

Former Manukau City mayor Sir Barry Curtis – one of the country’s longest serving mayors – has died at the age of 87.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says Sir Barry leaves “an enormous legacy”.

He led Manukau City from 1983 to 2007 at a time when the city was expanding rapidly.

In a post on the Auckland Council website, Brown said he knew Curtis well.

“He was a hugely influential figure in local politics and a pioneer as Mayor of Manukau City Council for 24 years. He was the country’s longest serving mayor at the time,” Brown said.

“He was known for his booming trademark voice and was a genuine champion of the communities he served over a 40-year career in local government.”

The council post said Curtis was a dedicated public servant who devoted nearly 40 years of his life to serving the people of Manukau and Auckland.

Councillor Alf Filipaia said Curtis was a dear friend and colleague.

“Sir Barry championed an approach dubbed the ‘Manukau Way,’ which balanced economic progress with community welfare and fostered inclusive partnerships, particularly with iwi through early engagement on issues like the Manukau Harbour claim and Treaty of Waitangi responsibilities,” he said.

“From my perspective, part of his legacy will be about uniting diverse communities and ensuring that Manukau plays a significant contribution to Auckland’s economic, social, and cultural advancement.”

Curtis was backed by the right-leaning Residents and Ratepayers Association in his mayoral tenure, but was known for working well with the dominant Labour group on the council.

When he retired he said was proud of his working-class background, Auckland Council said.

“I came from a poor family and my father was a waterside worker. That is why I know how it feels to be born on the wrong side of the tracks. I never forget that,” he said.

Curtis consistently identified health, housing, education and lack of jobs as Manukau’s main problems, and called on the government to take a more interventionist approach.

He was knighted in 1992 for his services to local government and community.

Manukau City was one of four cities in the Auckland region before they merged with the Auckland Regional Council and three district councils to become what was known as the super city in 2011.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two young men allegedly filmed themselves drowning young puppies in the Whakatāne River and posted the video to social media last night.

A 19-year-old man has been charged with cruelty to an animal, and a 17-year-old male has been referred to Youth Aid after the incident.

Senior Sergeant Cam MacKinnon said police were contacted just before 6pm on Monday by members of the public who had seen a video on social media of two males allegedly throwing very young puppies in the Whakatāne River.

“We received information from the public who saw the males take the puppies out of what looked to be a pillowcase and throw them into the Whakatāne River, while filming their senseless activity.”

MacKinnon said the puppies tragically drowned in the river.

“This type of wilful ill-treatment towards animals is unacceptable in any form and is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 1999.

“As with this incident or any similar behaviour, we will robustly work to hold these offenders to account for their actions and this includes restrictions on bail during court proceedings.”

Both offenders were soon located by police.

“Police would like to acknowledge the members of the public who contacted and assisted police with this incident,” said MacKinnon.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The government’s mega-ministry is backing down from work from home policy a day before the matter was scheduled for court, the Public Service Association (PSA) says.

The union filed legal action last year after a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) policy restricting flexible work arrangements was introduced.

The flexible work policy was intended to align with the government’s directive to restrict flexible work arrangements for public service workers, including reducing days working from home.

The PSA claimed the rules ignored existing provisions under the collective agreement.

MBIE lodged a memorandum on Tuesday with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) which accepted the PSA’s position.

PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimmons said an ERA hearing set down for Wednesday and Thursday had been abandoned.

“This is great news for workers who argued all along that MBIE had no right to restrict their right to flexible work arrangements under the collective agreement,” she said.

The ERA would issue a consent determination of a resolution the PSA sought, which accepted MBIE’s flexible work policy and procedures were inconsistent with the collective agreement, Fitzsimmons said.

“This is a victory for MBIE workers and shows the power of a union to challenge an employer who threatens worker rights. ACC backed down too last year when it too backed from limiting working from home in the face of the concerns of workers and the PSA,” she said.

“This capitulation is a damning indictment of MBIE which had enforced the policy with some staff since last year. MBIE denied it was in breach, delaying the hearing at the Authority on numerous occasions. It refused to withdraw the policy. It refused to engage constructively. It went through three rounds of failed mediation. And then, on the eve of the hearing, it folded. Workers deserve an apology.”

The PSA said it would raise personal grievances for any worker disadvantaged by the policy.

Fitzsimmons did not rule out further legal action against other MBIE guidelines that breached the collective agreement., including a revised version of its flexible working policy.

“This is just ridiculous. MBIE still fails to understand that the collective agreement enshrines the ‘flexible by default’ approach common across the public sector. ‘Flexible by default’ is an important right, it means employees have a right to flexible work arrangements which suit their individual circumstances unless there is a good business reason not to,” she said.

MBIE has been approached for comment.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Health NZ has changed its advice on Covid-19 vaccinations, saying most healthy people aged 30-64 no longer need regular boosters.

But there were exceptions and anyone who wanted or needed a booster could still have a free one every six months.

Recommendations to get for boosters remained in place for older age groups, Māori and Pasifika people from 50, the immunocompromised and many who had close contact with them.

Health NZ changed the advice in its 2026 Immunisation Handbook, the guide for health professionals.

It noted healthy adults in the age group were at lower clinical risk of severe infection so boosters were no longer routinely recommended.

But it encouraged people to discuss whether they needed one with their healthcare provider or vaccinator.

The Immunisation Advisory Centre’s Nikki Turner was part of the group giving clinical advice to Te Whatu Ora on this year’s handbook.

The change reflected the fact the vast majority of New Zealanders now had some level of immunity from Covid-19 – either from being vaccinated or having had the disease, she said.

It brought New Zealand in line with many other Western countries.

Cost was not a factor in the decision, with people still able to get one free booster a year if they wanted one, Turner said

Rather, it was about making the advice on who should be vaccinated less confusing by tying it to the risk of severe impacts from the disease.

“I think a lot of people were confused about who should be getting Covid vaccines and this general recommendation to suggest everybody, every six months just wasn’t happening,” she said

The changes focused on making sure the most at risk people were encouraged to get boosted.

They still recommended healthy people in the age group who were caring for vulnerable or immunocompromised people got regular boosters.

Worries about long covid

Epidemiologist Michael Baker disagreed with the change and urged Te Whatu Ora to think again.

He worried not being regularly boosted would lead to more people getting long Covid.

About nine percent of New Zealanders had experienced some form of long covid, and many were living with chronic, debilitating symptoms, he said.

“If you look at government statements on this, there is nothing. It’s almost like an invisible condition that we have not accepted at an official level – and I don’t know why,” he said.

The changes were continuing the pattern of ignoring the disease, he said.

Turner said there was no clear evidence that extra boosters protected people from long covid.

But Baker said there were studies that showed they were protective and it was important to keep reviewing the evidence.

While a booster might not help those who already had long covid, it could prevent many more people getting it, he said.

Advice for other age and risk groups

People aged 75 and over were still recommended to get two boosters a year in the latest handbook, as were most severely immunocompromised people, or those over 50 with other conditions on the advice of their doctor.

The National Public Health Service’s clinical director of protection, Christine McIntosh, said that was important.

“Older adults, those adults with increasing frailty, and people with compromised immune systems have a reduced ability both to fight infection and to create lasting immunity, ” she said.

“This puts them at the highest risk from the severe consequences of Covid-19 infection, despite having received multiple doses of vaccine and exposure to the virus.”

Those aged over 80 had a rate of hospitalisation with Covid 10 times higher than those under 60, while people over 70 years accounted for most Covid-19-related deaths, she said.

Those in the 65-74 age group, who were otherwise healthy were recommended to get one booster a year.

The advice for Māori and Pacific between 50 and 74 people had not changed from one booster a year, with the handbook saying that was because they were at higher risk of severe disease at a younger age.

There were some changes around advice for pregnant women.

Te Whatu Ora urged people to check with their doctors or vaccinators to get the best and latest advice.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Crew on the Kaiārahi did not know a passenger was missing until they found his car.

A search is underway for a person that went overboard from an Interislander ferry on the Cook Strait overnight.

A KiwiRail spokesperson said the incident happened from its Kaiārahi ferry.

Do you know more? Email us at iwitness@rnz.co.nz

Police said they were alerted to the incident about 2.20am on Tuesday.

The Maritime Union said crew on board Interislander’s Kaiārahi were shaken by the incident, and did not know the passenger was missing until they found his car.

“What flagged the crew was that the car was left on board with the keys inside,” said the union’s Wellington branch secretary Fiona Mansell.

Mansell said she had spoken to members that were on board the Interislander ferry, which she said had gone between Picton and Wellington.

She said crew members searched around the ship for the man, then after checking the CCTV cameras found he had gone overboard about five hours earlier, while the ship was still crossing the Cook Strait.

Mansell said the crew were understandably shaken by the events.

“They’re feeling okay, a little bit distressed,” she said

She said the union had requested and was ensuring support is available to the crew, with a focus on those who had direct interaction with the passenger.

She said the union was currently awaiting further information as search and rescue efforts continue,

“This is a shocking event, and our thoughts are first and foremost with the family and loved ones of the individual involved.”

Police said while they are trying to locate the person, they’re are not seeking anyone else in relation to this matter.

Wellington District Commander Superintendent Penny Gifford said the investigation and search were continuing.

“As part of our work, we are reviewing timelines and this will include speaking with staff when they come back on shift.”

Ten volunteers from Coastguard Wellington were searching the area aboard rescue vessels Reremoana and Spirit of Wellington.

Coastguard said it was supporting police and Rescue Coordination Centre NZ who were leading the search operation.

“Our volunteers assembled at base at 7.30am and were on the water at 7.54am.”

On Flight Radar, two rescue helicopters were seen flying in a grid-like pattern in the area.

GCH Aviation has confirmed its Nelson/Marlborough rescue helicopter was one of those assisting with the search.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

• Last remaining doctors at Palmerston North Hospital gastroenterology department to leave
• Concerns expressed about post code lottery for patient care
• Health NZ says it’s filling gaps at the department using staff from around the country, and recruiting new specialists

Doctors at a regional hospital are warning the postcode lottery is still alive in New Zealand’s heath system, after recruitment problems have driven one department to the brink.

Only two doctors remain at Palmerston North Hospital’s gastroenterology service, which focuses on patients suffering from problems with their digestive systems.

Of the two, one is about to finish and, now, the other one said he’s going to leave because of the workload and working conditions.

Health NZ said it’s covering gaps in the service while it recruits replacements.

Workload too much – doctor

Dr James Irwin was one of two gastroenterologists left at the hospital – the other was about to leave for another job.

Irwin, a member of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists union, said that would leave too much work for just one full-time specialist.

“I’ve essentially made the decision that I’ll leave my position at the hospital.

“I’ve worked for Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ for 26 years. It’s not a lightly taken decision. However, I don’t see a future where it’s going to change, so I need to position myself where I’m able to work and have a volume of work that’s manageable.

“The amount of work that falls on me is too much to consider doing in the long term, so I’d need a number of colleagues to manage this.”

The gastro department was funded for 5.6 full-time equivalent positions, according to answers to parliamentary questions asked by Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere, of Labour.

The two doctors there now cover 1.6 full-time equivalent positions. On January 1 there were 3.6 permanent employees.

Last summer there was public outcry when surveillance colonoscopies at the hospital were paused.

They had resumed, but permanent specialists had left, leaving locums to plug the gaps.

Irwin said they could do endoscopy procedures, which were also moved to private providers, but the real gap when he left would be patients requiring care for chronic conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome.

“Postcode lottery’s been a phrase that’s always brought up at election time in New Zealand.

“I think it’s a great term to describe the desire to provide an equitable service regardless where one lives. Over the last five years the postcode lottery has worsened and deepened.”

Irwin had written to Health NZ, pleading for competitive pay and conditions at the regional service, and a manageable workload, so people were attracted to working there.

He was yet to be persuaded that anything would change for the better.

“For me to really muck in and really be part of a recovery I need hope for a recovery, for a future for the department.

“For me it means recruiting people here. It means recruiting New Zealand trainees to Palmerston North. We really have very little likelihood of doing that.”

Saddened by decision to leave

Recruitment to regional areas was hard, as medicine became more international, and Irwin estimated 40 percent of New Zealand trainees didn’t enter the workforce in the country.

“Those things mean that it’s really difficult to recruit and retain gastroenterologists in New Zealand.

“We’ve suffered that, and then not been able to replace people that have become unwell. Those that have remained have realised that it’s not going to change unless there’s a major change in the way health is delivered in our country, and they’ve gone to greener pastures.”

Irwin’s unsure of where to next for him.

It could be private practice work or doing some sessions in the public sector, such as endoscopies, but not having responsibility for referrals, recruitment and retention.

“I feel really sad about it. I’m 51 years old and my life since I was about 20 has been working towards providing healthcare service to the community.

“Since I’ve been in Palmerston North, I’ve worked hard to build a gastroenterology service and deliver good care to the people of the community.

“The way things are now, I can’t do that.”

Health NZ working on recruitment

Health NZ chief clinical officer Dr Richard Sullivan said locums and doctors from other regions were filling the gaps while it recruited more specialists.

For patients with gastric bleeding, Health NZ had developed a plan where doctors from neighbouring hospitals in Wairarapa and Whanganui were called on to work in Palmerston North.

“We’ve got what we call a sub-regional model, where they’re all working together to provide that support on that roster.

“That roster’s currently functioning very well. It’s been in place a couple of months since we started to lose more of our colleague in that space.

“That runs through to the end of May and we’re just working through now to extend it out for another three to six months.”

Sullivan acknowledged the concerns about postcode lotteries, but said being able to call on doctors from other regions showed the benefits of Health NZ’s national focus, rather than the previous regional model.

“We do have a clinician starting in September, so that’s a little light of positivity, and we’re actively recruiting at the moment.

“I believe there’s been two or three interviews of different individuals who are going through the recruitment process.

“The challenge with recruiting senior doctors is that it can take many months until you can get the feet on the ground.”

Sullivan said he was closely monitoring the situation in Palmerston North, as was the entire Health NZ senior leadership, and he was visiting regularly.

He was also working with Irwin to try to work through challenges he and the department were facing, and Health NZ was looking at ways of encouraging more trainees through provincial hospitals, in the hope they would stay there and work.

Three years ago seven specialists worked there, but they’d left due to illnesses, retirements and resignations.

“Inevitably, when you’ve got no team on the ground, you need to find a solution to make sure you deliver care for patients. That’s our key focus.

“We’ll grow the senior doctor workforce and get ourselves back to a sustained environment. But, unfortunately, we’re going to have a period of many months to a year or so where we’re going to have to look for other solutions.”

Sullivan said providing care to patients with chronic conditions was tricky. Virtual appointments were possible.

Compromising care – emergency doctor

Emergency medicine specialist and union branch president Dr Thomas Carter said the hospital had felt the effects of the gastroenterology department losing permanent staff.

“Late-stage cancer diagnosis is one of those things that if we don’t have a functional service, we’re going to see more and more of.

“That’s frustrating because by the time you have a symptomatic cancer, it’s much further along. It’s often metastatic [spread].”

He’s also concerned about patients with gastro bleeds getting quick access to specialist treatment, although Sullivan had detailed the regional plan in place for this.

“With any upper or lower GI [gastrointestinal] bleeds, they can become wildly unstable,” Carter said.

“Especially with the fuel crisis right now, it becomes incredibly important that you can treat them locally.”

If that option isn’t available medical staff would have to organise a helicopter or transport to nearby hospitals – still hours away.

Carter said the emergency medicine team had faced struggles in the past year to get specialist help for gastro bleeding.

“If there is not someone available locally, then some of the patients are going to perish.

“As much as that is hard to talk about, it’s the truth, and it’s why doctors talk about moral injury and talk about having to deny care.”

Denying care to chronic patients would mean dramatic falls in their quality of life.

Carter agreed with Irwin that this was an example of the postcode lottery, as specialists were effectively incentivised to work elsewhere, where pay and conditions were better.

‘Needs to be sorted, now’

Utikere said it was always challenging to attract people to regional centres, but Palmerston North Hospital had long been aware of the shortages in the department.

“That is deeply concerning for residents in Palmerston North. As a regional hospital it needs to be fully staffed.

“I’ve asked local management at the hospital about this and they tell me that this is the most serious threat to Palmerston North Hospital.

“It needs to be sorted and it needs to be sorted, now.”

Malcolm Mulholland, of Patient Voice Aotearoa, said health authorities needed to be upfront with the community.

“Why has this happened when we knew there was a lack of staff in gastroenterology almost a year and a half ago?

“Everyone saw this coming, everyone that is apart from MidCentral, Health New Zealand, and the government – those who are in charge of our health system.

“The time has come to have a meaningful conversation with a plan to get us out of this mess. Without it, people will die,” Mulholland said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

When Everybody’s Theatre in Ōpunake put out an emergency call after its projector broke down, it appears “everyone” wanted to help out.

With a repair bill of $18,000, the coastal Taranaki cinema faced months out of action – but the community was not having that.

Everybody’s Trust member Aretha McAdams opened up the theatre when RNZ came to visit.

“This is the entranceway with the lovely chandeliers and the ticket sales are over to the left and here we have the shop where we have snacks and drinks for sale when we are operational.

“And if you keep coming through down here… we’ve got all the couches.”

The couches are a throwback to when the building was being earthquake strengthened between 2012 and 2016.

The donated couches were able to be removed from the auditorium during the working week and dragged back in to allow film screenings at weekends.

“Apparently it was absolutely freezing and that’s how the blankets started as well.”

The crocheted blankets and couches are now fixtures, but don’t be thinking you can grab a blanket and just sit down on any old sofa.

“There are people who have their favourite sofa and they get quite distressed if someone else is sitting on it.”

There is also an upstairs section.

“So, the upstairs here is more traditional cinema seating. The middle section is all new seating and on the side sections – they wanted to keep some of the nostalgia – so there’s the original seating of the theatre. It’s all been made more comfortable and recovered.”

Everybody’s seats a total of 135 guests, with about 80 on the couches and the rest upstairs.

The theatre started life as a general store in about 1912 – before local businessman Boss Whiting converted it into a cinema in 1921.

His son Bruce ran it until 1980, when he wanted to retire.

“Of course, in the 80s TV had taken over and no-one wanted to buy it, but the community didn’t want to lose this asset,” Adams explained.

“So, people rallied around and all of the community put in to save the theatre and they purchased it and formed an incorporated society and a charitable trust. Hence the name Everybody’s Theatre.”

Trust chair Kim Gatenby said the community had also dug deep for the earthquake-strengthening and again come to the party for the projector, running garage sales, raffles, making donations and everything in between.

“We have been gobsmacked actually. We couldn’t believe it within two days the public were offering to help us with all sorts of things.

“We had people coming up to me in the street saying ‘hey, we’ll give you a loan of $18,000 if you need it’. So that’s very unusual.”

Gatenby said the cinema was a cherished part of coastal life.

“If you’ve grew up in Ōpunake a lot of people have fond memories about the place and if you didn’t grow up in Ōpunake – like myself – you walk in here and it’s the way the movies used to be many years ago.

“Everyone’s friendly, everyone’s helpful, everyone wants to see Everybody’s Theatre succeed that is the biggest thing in Ōpunake.”

‘It’s just magic for the town’

Brook Melody, the owner of the Four Square across the road, provided a hamper to raffle off for the theatre.

“It’s a big draw piece for the community, you know, it brings people into the area,” said Melody.

“This is small close-knit community and you’ve got to be willing to support each other, so if someone needs a helping hand and we’re able to give that helping hand to them we do.”

Farm Source manager Carol Dodunski was also on board and had donated a wheelbarrow full of goods.

“It’s a special building. It’s just magic for the town. It draws people to our town and you’ve got to go to a movie to see it. It’s really special.”

Trust member Rachael Hughson-How said the $18,000 was raised in double-quick time, but Everybody’s was still carrying on with the fund-raising drive for now.

“We’ve got ongoing costs even while we are closed. We’ve got the power, the insurance, the Eftpos machine. All those little things add up.

“We’re struggling like every other theatre, so we just need to keep on top of that to keep us sustainable, especially since we’ve been closed the past couple of weeks.”

Hughson-How said the projector issues had probably setback plans for the theatre to install solar panels on the building in an effort to reduce power bills.

With parts for the projector on their way, Everybody’s Theatre was hopeful of getting up and running again over the Easter break.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A new whare for whānau and residents has opened at Barnardos’ Christchurch care residence.

Te Poutama Ārahi Rangatahi offers therapeutic care for up to eight boys aged between 12 and 17 who are in state care.

But now residents and their families will have a place to meet, learn and heal outside of the facility’s chain link fence.

The whare – named Te Ao Mārama – opened on Tuesday.

Barnardos chief executive Matt Reid said having a place for the boys and their whānau outside the wire was important.

“Can you imagine being a 13-year-old boy going straight through the wire, through a couple of locked doors as your first experience. Rather they will go into this very safe space surrounded by identity and culture, they will be able to come out here to do their learning and healing,” Reid said.

“Importantly, too, it’s a space for their whānau, whether it’s mum or dad, uncle, aunty, grandad, grandma can come and stay.”

He said it provided an environment for the boys to receive what they really needed – aroha.

“Most of the young ones we’re working are carrying some trauma and because of that they have gone on to have some at-risk behaviours and what we’re about is … learning to manage that trauma,” Reid said.

“We are about aroha. Everyone deserves aroha and I think we should be judging ourselves on how we look after our most vulnerable, and some of these young people are our most vulnerable so let’s wrap that aroha around them.”

A focus for Te Poutama Ārahi Rangatahi is kotahitanga – or unity and collective action – and it took a real display of kotahitanga to get the whare built.

A team of 20 volunteers gave up two weeks of their time to come to Christchurch from across New Zealand and work 12 hour days.

Pete Walker, a firefighter and the leader of the volunteer team, said it was easy to find helpers.

“We took away far more than what we gave,” Walker said.

“It doesn’t make sense in today’s economy but if you haven’t ever volunteered, if you haven’t had a chance to give something back, give it a go and you’ll be amazed at the result of it all.”

Some of the boys from the residence worked on the build with the volunteers, he said.

“We wanted to have an open work space with as many opportunities as the young folk could be a part of it,” Walker said.

“They would often come across at lunch times and sit and talk and we would have a chance to interact and it gave us real motivation.”

The idea for Walker’s volunteer army to build the whare came about after a chance meeting in a coffee shop between him and Reid.

Barnardos had only had to raise about $350,000 to pay for what could have cost well over $700,000 due to the efforts of volunteers and donors.

The idea of a whare for the boys and their whānau was first floated by the late Matua Whare Tamanui.

Ben Huriwai, who works as a team leader in the residence, said the idea had been around since before he started working for Barnardos a decade ago.

“It’s hard to put into words,” he said, when asked what it meant to him.

“This is just a massive day for us as Barnardos, a massive day for the rangatahi we support, and for our communities as well. All the work throughout the years to get to where we are, all the ‘noes’, all the hurdles that were put in the way. Getting to this space and being able to be part of it is just massive.”

Resident manager Anaru Baynes said the whare was the product of true kotahitanga.

“This is a game changer for us,” he said.

“You can try and have whānau therapy … but unless there’s something specifically built for it, you’re probably going to find that a challenge. At the moment we have a care residence that was designed to keep people safe and contained, what we have now is a place rangatahi whānau can visit, they can stay and we can sure up those relationships and the harm that’s be done we can help process that with the young person and their whānau.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A grand old dame who survived World War I and emigrated from Europe to New Zealand with a Kiwi solider has made a surprise visit to Te Papa to see an exhibition which tells her story.

Torty the tortoise is well over a hundred years old and had been taken care of by three generations of the same family.

She was brought to New Zealand by Stewart Little, a stretcher bearer who cared for her in Greece after she was run over by a French gun cart. He shipped her home in his rucksack in 1916.

After Stewart Little died, Torty was cared for by his son and daughter-in-law. After their deaths, Little’s late grandson and his wife Christine Little took on caring duties.

On Monday, Christine Little took Torty on an impromptu visit to see Te Papa’s Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War exhibition, which featured a replica of the tortoise.

“We thought we would just pop into Te Papa and see if we could grab a photo with her replica. But she caused quite a sensation, and the next thing we had many staff and lots of members of the public very interested to meet her.”

Torty’s story began when Stuart Little spotted her run over on a road. Christine Little said he was not expecting the animal to survive, so was surprised to see this resilient little tortoise had stood up and was carrying on trying to walk, despite her quite serious injuries.

“And given that obviously he was a man of kindness and compassion, being part of the medical corps, he picked her up and looked after her. I mean, she was, after all, wounded in the war.”

Christine Little’s husband was one of Stuart Little’s grandchildren and she said Torty once lived with Christine Little’s mother-in-law in her rest home.

“It is a complete family affair.”

If Torty could talk, Christine Little thinks she might want to thank Stuart Little for the kindness he showed lifting her out of the mud that day in Greece.

“And I guess that she would have some pretty horrible stories about what she saw during that time in the war. She’s also had a number of adventures along the way, like being stolen in the 1930s and turning up in a circus in Dunedin!”

Now well into older age, Torty still makes school visits and had her Te Papa outing but mostly her days were spent with a regular routine of waking about 8am, eating and sleeping and then bed at 5pm.

“She’ll wander out onto my lawn. She lives out just in my backyard, which I’ve let grow, and it’s grown into a bit of a meadow. And she’ll graze. Just eat until she feels tired and ready for a nap, and then she’ll have a nap. And then she might wake up and have some more to eat, and that’s sort of how her day goes.”

In the next couple of weeks Torty would go into brumation and wake up in September. It’s not known how long she could live for, but the family had a plan for when she passes on.

“A number of years ago we had a discussion about this as a family. It has been decided that when it’s her time, she will come back to the Manawatū and she will be buried with Stuart and his wife, Maud.

“So that’s all been organised with the cemetery and it’s all good and that is what will happen.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Health New Zealand (HNZ) is struggling to build new hospital projects, partly because staffing cuts have slowed down procurement activities, according to a newly-released report.

HNZ is headed into another Budget with long-standing infrastructure delivery challenges caused partly by job cuts, according to the Treasury report released under the Official Information Act.

The report showed that when the finance and infrastructure ministers met Health Minister Simeon Brown in December for a “please explain” meeting, “health capital underspends” were a focus.

“Health NZ is significantly underspending its capital expenditure compared to forecasted intentions,” was a key message.

A second was that “individual projects are also frequently running over time and over budget”.

The Infrastructure and Investment Ministers Group has been pushing chief executives and ministers of capital-intensive agencies with “the highest levels of Crown capital underspend” like HNZ to make their forecasts much more accurate.

Health NZ had a $315m discrepancy – including $190m on buildings and plant – between forecast and actual capital spending for the first quarter of 2025-26.

The Treasury papers tracking this are only released publicly months after they were given to ministers.

RNZ requested additional documents from Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and was provided one from December 2025, written just ahead of Brown’s meeting with Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Bishop.

That three-page report said that fixing the underspend and under-delivery of hospitals faced big hurdles.

“Health NZ has long-standing infrastructure delivery challenges stemming from two key factors: Health NZ’s organisational capability and market capacity,” Treasury told Bishop and Willis.

The construction sector has 2.1 percent fewer jobs now, compared to a year ago.

“These challenges are further exacerbated by difficulties in recruiting and retaining experienced project directors for major projects, reductions in staff numbers which have slowed procurement activities [and a third factor that was blanked out],” Treasury said.

“Efforts to address these challenges are ongoing (via improving project sequencing and bundling, and staff capacity building) but progress is slow.”

It did not help that health’s project teams tended to be optimistic in forecasting capital expenditure and “often do not accurately update forecasts to reflect experience and trends in expenditure”.

Despite myriad costly efforts to improve this since HNZ was set up in 2022 – in part to fix the fragmented hospital building-and-management regime under 20 health boards – the weaknesses have persisted between governments.

HNZ was promising in 2023 to “make health infrastructure delivery quicker and more efficient by standardising Te Whatu Ora infrastructure planning, design, decision making and construction”.

That year Health NZ set up a new national infrastructure team, but the whole agency has since undergone financial upheaval and a reset, and had now embarked on decentralisation which Brown this month said was the government’s most significant structural move on health.

In April 2025, the government put out a multi-billion-dollar, 10-year plan for rebuilding hospitals and promised building would become more efficient, partly by doing things in phases. At the time health projects with ministerial approval worth $7.44 billion were underway.

One of the first projects to go the bite-size route has been Nelson Hospital, which HNZ recently said was on track but that Treasury last year said faced an 18-month delay on its inpatient block.

At the time the government launched the 10-year plan, HNZ papers show it foresaw significant risk it would not invest in the right place or “meet government expectations around providing a prioritised pipeline of capital investments”.

Early this year, a study to assess the agency as the rapid decentralisation ordered by Brown got underway found it had workforce gaps in its infrastructure and investment group particularly in the northern and central North Island regions.

The January 2026 internal report said the delays in delivering projects had a favourable short-term effect on HNZ’s cash balance.

But it added that “delays are likely to lead to increased project costs such as increased labour, equipment and material costs in the long term”.

Related extra depreciation costs had taken $85m off the bottom line in 2025-26 – when HNZ aims to report a $200m deficit – and that would jump by another $160m next financial year, even as it tried to get to break-even.

One of the causes of the delays was lack of capacity – Treasury in December had said: “Common issues across infrastructure investments include challenges with HNZ capability, sector capacity and internal prioritisation”, – but a second one carried a ring of hope: That more effort was being put in to get better decisions round investments, the January report said.

In December, ahead of the ‘please explain’ meeting for Willis and Bishop, Treasury listed some questions “you may wish to ask Minister Brown…” but Bishop’s office blanked them out.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Hamilton Zoo has announced the death of one of its Asian fishing cats, Indah.

Indah was 13-years-old and had been living with arthritis for some time prior to being euthanised on Tuesday morning, the zoo said in a social media post.

In the last few weeks of Indah’s life the zoo had been sharing updates on adjustments that were being made to her medication in the hopes of keeping her comfortable.

Despite this, the zoo said her condition did not improve.

“It became clear that her mobility challenges were impacting her comfort and quality of life.

“After exhausting all medical options available to us, we determined that the kindest and most appropriate course of action was to prevent further discomfort or distress.

“Indah was humanely euthanised this morning surrounded by her keepers who knew her best. Her passing was peaceful and dignified.”

The zoo said the final decision was a hard one but her actions and behaviour over the past couple of weeks had told them it was time.

“We are deeply grateful for the care, understanding and support shown by our community during this difficult time.

“Indah will be greatly missed.”

Fishing cats were an endangered species and according to the zoo’s website, typically lived for between 10 to 12 years both in the wild and under human care.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two young men allegedly filmed themselves drowning young puppies in the Whakatāne River and posted the video to social media last night.

A 19-year-old man has been charged with cruelty to an animal, and a 17-year-old male has been referred to Youth Aid after the incident.

Senior Sergeant Cam MacKinnon said police were contacted just before 6pm on Monday by members of the public who had seen a video on social media of two males allegedly throwing very young puppies in the Whakatāne River.

“We received information from the public who saw the males take the puppies out of what looked to be a pillowcase and throw them into the Whakatāne River, while filming their senseless activity.”

MacKinnon said the puppies tragically drowned in the river.

“This type of wilful ill-treatment towards animals is unacceptable in any form and is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 1999.

“As with this incident or any similar behaviour, we will robustly work to hold these offenders to account for their actions and this includes restrictions on bail during court proceedings.”

Both offenders were soon located by police.

“Police would like to acknowledge the members of the public who contacted and assisted police with this incident,” said MacKinnon.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Aged care advocates say the fuel crisis has exposed a longstanding problem, with home-based care only cheaper on paper because carers are shouldering hidden costs.

The Aged Care Association, the union for aged care providers, said a recent report by RNZ on unions taking Health NZ to court over travel costs should be a wake-up call for policymakers.

The association said that for years, the government had promoted care in the home as the more compassionate and cost-effective option for older people.

But it argued home-based care was only cheaper because key costs like travel were being put onto support workers.

“This is not efficiency. It is cost displacement.”

It said time spent driving between clients, workforce turnover, missed early interventions and avoidable hospital admissions all carried real costs which were not being counted in the comparison.

The fuel price spike had not created a problem, the association said – it had revealed one.

On Wednesday, ministers told RNZ they had sought urgent advice about how best to ease the pain of rising fuel prices for in-home care workers and other public servants who might be in a similar plight.

Support workers are not fully reimbursed for their transport costs despite having to visit injured, disabled or elderly people as part of their job.

Health Minister Simeon Brown said the government was acutely aware of how fuel prices were hurting carers – and he hoped to resolve that very soon.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said they were waiting on advice about how to deliver temporary, targeted and timely help to care workers.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

St John’s ambulance service has been guaranteed fuel supplies if there are shortages.

New Zealand is under phase one of the government’s national fuel plan because of supply constraints caused by the Middle East conflict.

St John Auckland district operations manager Doug Gallagher told Midday Report the service’s 630 ambulances run on diesel, except for one trial electric ambulance in Lyttelton.

Gallagher said St John had been assured that its supply will be prioritised if there are fuel shortages.

“We are working closely with Health New Zealand, the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA and other emergency services. We are working together about just how that prioritisation process would work but we feel very comfortable that there will be continuity of supply for us.

“We don’t have reason to think our services will be compromised,” he said.

Gallagher said people should still call St John like normal.

“Our service will continue regardless of the fuel situation,” he said.

Gallagher said ambulance fuel costs were about 30 percent higher than usual at a cost of about $100,000 per year, with the expense being absorbed by the service.

He said St John was in talks with Health NZ about long-term funding, but discussions were not specifically about fuel costs.

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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 semi-automatic shotgun remains missing from the property of Brendon and Trina Cole who were found dead at their Ruatiti home last December.

The bodies of 56-year-old Brendon Leigh Cole and 54-year-old Trina Michelle Cole were found at a rural property in Ruatiti, west of Ruapehu, on December 13.

No charges had been laid in relation to their deaths.

Field crime manager CIB Central District detective inspector Gerard Bouterey said the weapon should have been at the Murumuru Rd address, but was not found during the initial scene examination or subsequent searches.

Police previously believed an occupant of the address had this shotgun in their possession, he said.

“However, the firearm has still not been accounted for, and we are now seeking information on its whereabouts.

“We believe this semi-automatic shotgun may have been altered to have the end of the barrel cut down and is likely to have been discarded in the Murumuru Rd, Parinui, or Ruatiti areas.

“Alternatively, it may have been left in or near a hut or rural structure.”

Bouterey asked if a member of the public found the gun in or around these areas, or had any knowledge of where it might be, not to touch it and instead to contact police.

In addition, if anyone had knowledge of guns that belonged to the people living at 470 Murumuru Rd who hadn’t spoken to police, they were urged to do so.

Detective Inspector Bouterey said police continued to make steady progress in the investigation.

“And while there are aspects of the investigation that cannot be discussed, police want to reassure the community that significant work is ongoing.”

He thanked members of the public who had already spoken with investigators and provided statements or otherwise supported the investigation.

“The cooperation shown by the community has been invaluable, and we acknowledge the effort it takes to come forward in what remains a difficult and distressing matter.

“We know individuals who hold information that could assist the investigation have not yet spoken to police, and the information you hold could help provide answers to two families who are grieving.

“To those people, we urge you to reconsider and contact us.”

Bouterey said even information that might seem minor or insignificant could be critical in progressing the investigation.

“We continue to follow all lines of inquiry and carefully assess information as it is received.

“We are committed to ensuring the safety of the wider community and at this stage, there is no information to suggest any ongoing risk to the general public.”

In January a man, who turned himself in to police on Christmas Day in relation to the ongoing double homicide investigation, pleaded not guilty to two unrelated charges.

The 29-year-old man’s identity was suppressed for legal reasons.

Information for police could be provided through 105, either online or over the phone, referencing file number 251213/6207 or Operation Murumuru.

Alternatively, people could provide information anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Plans to build a Hollywood Bowl-inspired structure for live music events at Western Spring Stadium have been given the green light by Auckland Council.

The stadium would also continue to be used for rugby union matches and for community sports, in a proposal that has been dubbed the ‘Western Springs Bowl’.

After years of debate, a majority of 15 councillors today voted to go ahead with a proposal spearheaded by concert promoter Brent Eccles to build a Hollywood Bowl-inspired structure for live music events.

Only six out of 21 councillors – Christine Fletcher, John Gillon, Mike Lee, Greg Sayers, Ken Turner and John Watson – wanted to continue exploring other options, including bringing speedway racing back to Western Springs, where it had been for a century.

Auckland councillors controversially voted to move speedway to Onehunga’s Waikaraka Park in 2024.

Concert promoter Brent Eccles presented his idea for the council-owned venue at the council’s governing body meeting on Tuesday.

Eccles said with a few tweaks, Western Springs could become a world-class concert venue, attracting overseas artists.

“Our inspiration is the Hollywood Bowl, to bring to life an existing Auckland asset, with its own place in the landscape of New Zealand concert venues.

“Western Springs is a rare asset for a major city. A large capacity, central, natural amphitheatre with flat grassed areas, concrete terraces, toilet facilities, and permanent ticket entry gates.

“Few other cities have anything like this, and those that do, such as the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles or Red Rocks in Denver, hold them close.”

He suggested the stadium host concerts during the summer and rugby during the winter.

Peter Thorp, who spoke at the meeting on behalf of the Ponsonby Rugby Club, supported that idea.

Ponsonby Rugby Club faced uncertainty about where it would be with its lease at Western Springs expiring.

Thorp said the proposal was an opportunity to improve the stadium’s infrastructure, including adding more seating closer to the sideline.

“When we saw the promoters’ idea, we saw the opportunity to be able to do that in a sustainable way, in a community-led way that provides for other community users, and achieve what we believe is a better use of the stadium.

“That’s pretty attractive to us.”

The Western Springs Bowl proposal would extend the rugby club’s lease for five more years, with the option for the council to terminate the lease with two years’ notice.

It was estimated that $2.5 million of public funding would be required to build a permanent stage structure and for other upgrades to the stadium. That would come out of the council’s economic and cultural agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited’s existing budget.

About 100 Speedway Association members wearing ‘Save Our Speedway’ t-shirts attended the meeting at Auckland’s Town Hall.

The Speedway Association was represented by their lawyer Bronwyn Carruthers KC, who argued the council had not given speedway at Western Springs adequate consideration.

“The proposal that has been put forward by the association provides for speedway, events, Ponsonby Rugby, and other rectangular field sports events. Its the superior option.”

Throughout the meeting, speedway supporters booed, including at Auckland Unlimited chair Vicki Salmon, who defended council staff’s recommendation to move speedway to Waikaraka.

“It’s not going to suit everyone. But this is about what’s best for Auckland, what’s best for Western Springs.”

Almost 15,000 Aucklanders gave their opinion on how the stadium should be used going forward in 2025.

But with the council advisor’s preferred option for Western Springs, a privately funded football and concert venue, being pulled by Auckland Football Club’s rich-lister owners, councillors had to pick another option, delaying a decision until this year.

On Tuesday, councillor John Gillon said the council’s consultation process had been flawed.

“Consultation was undertaken without a clear option to include Speedway, despite it being a significant and well-supported activity at the stadium for the last 96 years.

“Due to not being provided their preferred option, supporters of speedway appear to have split their responses between Option 3a (‘Keep things as they are’), which received 16 percent of responses, and Option 3b (‘Explore other ideas’), which received 33 percent of responses (the highest supported option). Options 3a and 3b totalled 49 percent of responses. Around 30 percent of all submissions made actual comments relating to keeping speedway, in addition to their selected option.”

He proposed that the public be consulted again, with two clear options – the Western Springs Bowl and the Speedway Association’s proposal to get a more accurate picture of what the public wanted.

However, his amendment was voted down 15 to six.

Councillors also had the option to do nothing.

But Tātaki Auckland Unlimited staff advised councillors to make a decision on Tuesday.

That was despite an upcoming legal challenge over the decision to end Speedway at Western Springs

The Speedway Association is taking the council to the High Court, with a judicial review expected to take place in July.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Bluebridge have once again cancelled a scheduled Connemara sailing not far ahead of its departure, but it says the ship’s fault is fixed and it will back in service tomorrow.

The Connemara was scheduled to depart Wellington at 8.30pm, but it has now canned the service.

But Bluebridge said repairs to address the ongoing technical fault had been completed and the ship is expected to resume services at 8.15am tomorrow.

StraitNZ Bluebridge spokesperson Will Dady said sea trials to test the repair were being conducted today.

“We’d like to say thank you to our freight customers and passengers for their patience and apologise again for the disruption to their travel plans over the past week or so,” Dady said.

Passengers vent frustration at short notice cancellations

It has been 10 days since the Connemara was side-lined due to a technical fault.

Since then RNZ has been contacted by numerous passengers frustrated by the incremental notifications offered by the ferry provider – which in some cases saw people travelling significant distances to make sailings which were subsequently cancelled.

Today Bluebridge’s Will Dady acknowledged the impact on customers caught up in the disruptions.

“We do everything we can to give passengers as much notice as possible while still being able to manage the volume of passengers we are working one-to-one with to reschedule or refund. But we understand rolling cancellations can be frustrating for those that prefer longer lead times,” Dady said.

Maritime NZ detain Connemara following inspections

On Monday evening Maritime NZ announced that a “Port State Control Inspection” of the ship conducted ahead of the weekend had led the waterways regulator to detain the ship in berth at Wellington.

“Once the issues have been rectified and checked and approved by its classification society surveyor, its flag state (Bahamas), and our inspectors, we will remove the detention,” a spokesperson said.

RNZ has requested details of when the detainment notice would be able to be lifted from Maritime NZ.

Bluebridge notifications placing additional pressure on passengers

Destination Marlborough’s Tracey Green said the regional tourism organisation had met with Bluebridge today to discuss the cancellations and the upcoming Easter holiday.

She said the ferry providers’ communications had fallen short of expectations.

“It’s fair to say that Bluebridge hasn’t delivered the same level of information or service that we expect from them.

“So it has placed that additional pressure on passengers not knowing or finding out in a time frame that’s not really suitable for them that they could find alternative arrangements,” Green said.

Last week Bluebridge apologised “unreservedly” for the disruption but the company was yet to elaborate on the nature of the fault, just that it was taking longer than anticipated to fix.

Notifications on the Bluebridge website directed customers to their online Refunds and Compensation page for any claims relating to the cancellations.

The ferry provider had assured Destination Marlborough they were doing all they could to have sailings back on schedule in time for the Easter break, Green said Tuesday.

“They are trying hard to ensure that there’s no disruption over the Easter period and that’s the main priority.

“My discussions with them regarding priorities is ‘Is Easter going to be seamless?’. Are we going to see that there’s no disruption because Easter can be a really difficult time with people going to see family and travelling between Islands.

“I would like to say that it is a definite but, however, I have to leave those decisions in their hands because there is a lot of work going on between now and Easter – and it’s only a short window – but we have been assured, as best as we can, that Easter will be operational,” Green said.

A silver lining to the ship’s failure was that some travellers might have got to spend a little more time in the region but she was wary of that experience being tainted by the frustration over cancellations and delays, Green said.

“The biggest challenge for us in our region is the perception of the reputation of these ferries. These connecting transport providers – are in some cases lifelines to both of these islands – and when people choose not to utilise them it impacts the communities that surround them.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Pharmac has announced it will fund cystic fibrosis medicines Trikafta and Alyftrek for children of all ages from Wednesday.

It’s currently only funded for those aged six and older.

Pharmac consulted on the change in January, and feedback was positive.

Parents told RNZ the drug would be life-changing, and could potentially double some children’s life expectancy.

Associate Health Minister David Seymour, announcing the change on Tuesday, said doctors would use their clinical judgement to prescribe these medicines to any patient who would benefit.

He said parents of children under six would no longer have to choose between delaying treatment until their child was old enough, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for treatment, or moving overseas.

“Cystic fibrosis can cause harm very early in life, so waiting to meet age-based eligibility criteria is not an option,” Seymour said.

“We’re making the system work better for the people it serves. When people can access their medicines easily, they stay healthier for longer. It also reduces pressure on other parts of the health system.”

The changes in a nutshell, starting 1 April

• Widen funded access to Trikafta for all children with eligible diagnosis (currently only funded for children six years and older)
• Widen funded access to Kalydeco for everyone with eligible diagnosis
• Fund access to a new treatment, Alyftrek

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Green Party says its decision not to select a former sex worker as a candidate has nothing to do with her background.

Sex worker advocacy group Fired Up Stilettos’ chairperson Bianca Beebe was not selected this year, with the group in a statement claiming the vetting process fixated on her former job, and that she was told it posed a reputational risk to the party.

“Much was made of her having previously advertised sex work online, and they asked how she would feel if the opposition found archives of those now-deleted photos,” the statement said.

“She quipped ‘all of my advertising photos were great, so it would be pretty funny to have people attempt to shame me by sharing photos of me looking amazing’.

“She pointed out that lots of adults-in and out of Parliament-share nude photos with other consenting adults, but that hadn’t prevented anyone else’s candidacy. The committee chair furiously erupted, ‘Who? Who is sharing nudes?’.”

The group said the Greens’ selection process included an intial interview, followed by an email with 28 questions, 21 of which related to sex work, and a subsequent interview with the party’s candidate committee.

The statement says the committee chair expressed concern about Beebe’s sex work past and activism would distract from the party’s messaging goals, including Beebe having done sex work while on a work visa.

But co-leader Marama Davidson has disputed those claims.

“We have always and will always continue to advocate for sex workers, for the role that sex work advocacy groups play in this country.

“Yes, we have criteria that keeps our party, the kaupapa and the applicant safe. The final thing, the process is confidential but we want to make it clear that there was no relationship to a sex worker background in the party’s decision on this.”

She said the party was not “at all” concerned about Beebe’s background, or that she may have been working illegally, or that political parties could use that to attack them.

“There are so many different reasons to make sure that candidates and applicants are ready to face the pressure of government, but I’ll be clear again, the sex worker background of the applicant did not have any bearing on the final decision.”

The Green Party’s candidate selection process has been changed ahead of the coming election after a series of personnel problems.

“We have had a new robust process come in and that process upholds the long-standing political positions and values of the Green Party. The bold and courageous positions we have taken when it comes to advocating for sex workers rights, when it comes to advocating for crime prevention, for example,” Davidson said.

“It is a process that better prepares and keeps candidates and the party safe.”

She refused to say why Beebe had not been selected, saying that was confidential – but it was not her past as a sex worker.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

As Northland recovers from another storm, officials in Wellington are trying to fix the disaster warning and communications systems that have failed repeatedly for two decades.

The systems came up short in Cyclone Gabrielle when people did not get alerts in time and rescuers often had to guess what was going on.

They have got further than ever before on what they are calling “a once in a generation opportunity to significantly uplift the supporting systems”.

Several business cases are ready to build the technology – such as a national warning system – and a review found the phased approach was sound.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) told RNZ it was “moving to the delivery phase” of the five-year programme.

But warning signs have also been flashing.

The latest review released under the Official Information Act (OIA), from six months ago, said the project was “feasible, but significant issues already exist” that demanded “constant and high-level attention” so that risks did not “materialise into major issues threatening delivery”.

At that stage, last September, the business cases appeared to have “substantially underestimated” how much technical, operational and cultural capability had to be built.

“The review team heard that critical questions remain unanswered regarding the fundamental information architecture: what data will be stored, how it will be gathered systematically, and crucially, how it will be transformed into actionable intelligence rather than merely aggregated information.”

Having rated the project amber – on a red-amber-green scale – the ‘Gateway’ review listed six “do now” urgent tasks to resolve them, including a risk assessment.

That assessment, released under the OIA, showed a “high” and ongoing risk of major impact if a national disaster hit while the new systems were still being built over the next five years.

The system ‘will not cope’

The system gaps have proven fatal before when people have not been warned in time, or rescued from their roofs in time, by emergency responders flying partly blind by lack of proper real-time shared data systems, epitomised in Cyclone Gabrielle and the failed response in the Esk Valley.

It goes way back. In 2004, a review said the existing national crisis management centre information system “will not cope with a national emergency of a magnitude, scale or duration greater than the recent February 2004 floods”.

Two decades on, last July NEMA told companies at a ‘town hall’ to learn what the tech options were: “Over the past 20 years, there’s been numerous reports highlighting the need for improved technology. Our technology is not fit for the fit for purpose for the sector.

“NEMA does not have a suitable modern platform for delivering its core functions before, during, and after a response.

“NEMA currently relies on a mix of disparate basic collaboration tools which are highly manual, prone to error, and can create risk during an emergency.”

Basically, it faced disasters with little situational awareness, it told MPs in 2024, a year after Gabrielle.

‘Anchor’ programme

RNZ asked for the most substantive and up-to-date documents. The agency withheld four business cases on confidentiality and commercial grounds. Asked for advice and briefings to ministers since last October, NEMA advised there were none within the specified timeframe.

It told the companies: “There is real enthusiasm within the sector to finally be able to go and improve our information and management systems, to support the sector, to keep New Zealanders safe and improve community resilience before, during and after an event.”

It was “very interested” in the cost and told the businesses to provide rough figures that nevertheless would not need much tweaking.

The Emergency Management Sector Operational Systems Programme runs from 2026 for five years. Described as the “anchor” project of the government’s work to strengthen emergency management, it is still subject to policy work, legislation and funding.

It includes setting up:

• a foundational data platform that is a a consolidated “single source of the truth” across local, regional and national emergency management agencies;
• a standardised national visualisation tool called a common operating picture, or COP;
• a national warning system;
• operational systems for NEMA to nationally coordinate response and recovery.

In September, the agency found a preferred solution for all this but details were scarce as the business cases were withheld.

‘More intractable’

However, as big as the tech build appeared – and that work demonstrated “considerable sophistication” – the even more crucial work was “more intractable” and in fact beyond NEMA as things stood, the review last September said.

“The organisational foundations necessary for successful delivery remain underdeveloped,” it said.

“The contrast between technical readiness and institutional capacity presents the programme’s most significant strategic challenge.”

The long patchy history of disaster response had led to the 16 Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups nationwide sometimes doing their own thing and implementing “part solutions” that did not fit with others.

For instance, in 2011 when central Civil Defence introduced new disaster tech, it struggled to “convince the nationwide CDEM (Civil Defence Emergency Management) sector to fully uptake the tool”. By 2013 the groups were failing to turn up at meetings, official reports showed.

Fifteen years on, and “fundamental cultural transformation across the entire emergency management system” was essential, the September review said.

“The proposed shift from fragmented, agency-centric operational models toward integrated, sector-wide coordination represents not merely a technical upgrade but a comprehensive reimagining of institutional relationships and working practices that have evolved over decades.

“This cultural transformation challenge may prove more intractable than the technical implementation aspects.”

It warned Wellington not to lose support of the groups that had begun to buy in on the current overhaul.

“The phrase ‘don’t go dark on us and then expect us to reheat the meal’ resonated with the Review Team.”

Timeline

• 2004, 2017, 2020 – Inquiries into flood responses find big disaster system gaps. Various patchy tech systems are set up over the years.
• 2023 – Gabrielle and the North Island storms spark 26 separate inquiries.
• 2024 – NEMA develops a business case for implementing recommendations of those inquiries.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

One of Kaitāia’s biggest employers could be shut down with the loss of hundreds of jobs if a buyer can’t be found by the mills’ Japanese owners.

Juken New Zealand owns two timber mills in the Far North town, one producing sawn timber, the other a Triboard product used in construction.

High costs – power especially – have long cast a shadow over the future of the two mills, but Juken NZ has now signalled its intention to exit the Far North town of about 6000 people.

The news has been greeted with dismay in Kaitāia, a town with few other employment options.

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said news of the mills’ possible sale or closure would be concerning for employees, their whānau and the wider Kaitāia community.

His priority was “to understand the situation fully and work alongside Juken as they explore options in a very tough economic environment”.

Tepania said the Far North District and Northland Regional councils would be seeking support from central government.

“Given the scale of the potential economic impact, we’ll be advocating strongly for government involvement. Councils can’t advocate for this alone, we need all partners at the table.”

Juken NZ managing director Hisayuki Tsuboi said the company had started consulting staff about the future of its Northland Mill and Triboard Mill.

“This reflects a combination of ongoing structural and market pressures affecting these operations, including declining demand in key export markets and increasing operating costs.”

Tsuboi said the company had been working for several years to improve financial performance at its Kaitāia sites, including by increasing production and exploring new markets.

As part of that process, the company was exploring whether the mills could stay open under a different structure, including a potential sale or joint venture.

“We are taking the mills to market to assess whether there is interest from potential buyers. Our focus is on testing whether there is a viable pathway that would allow the mills to continue operating and to preserve employment where possible.”

Tsuboi said the company had started engaging with employees and unions.

Union understands both Juken mills put up for sale

About 145 employees at the two mills are represented by Workers First Union, while others are members of E tū or are non-unionised.

Workers First deputy secretary Anita Rosentreter said the union understood both mills had been put up for sale, with a tendering process taking place over the next eight weeks.

She was convinced Juken’s Kaitāia workforce was irreplaceable.

“We don’t believe any potential buyer could look to replace or make redundant the current mill workforce, who have decades of experience in the wood processing industry and could not be easily replaced.”

Rosentreter said New Zealand’s wood industry had been decimated in the past two years, with hundreds of jobs lost at Winstone’s pulp and saw mills in Ruapehu, at Oji Fibre’s Penrose pulp mill and Kinleith’s paper machine, and the Carter Holt Harvey sawmill in Nelson.

“We can’t afford to lose more of our manufacturing industry when our economic sovereignty and good local jobs are more important than ever. The wood industry provides many good jobs in Aotearoa, and it should be growing, not shrinking.”

With investment in wood processing, New Zealand could return to making quality wood products locally rather than simply shipping raw logs overseas.

In the meantime, the Kaitāia mills would continue as normal, with no immediate changes to production or customer arrangements.

Northland Regional Council chairman Pita Tipene said the councils, together with regional economic development agency Northland Inc, were committed to supporting Juken as it worked through the consultation process.

“We’ve already had initial discussions with Juken and will continue to engage closely with them to understand what pathways may exist … We’re willing to work together to investigate every avenue, advocate for our communities, and support efforts to secure a sustainable future for the operation in Kaitāia.”

Juken NZ’s announcement on Friday was overshadowed at the time by serious flooding in parts of northern Kaitāia.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes on Thursday night, and floodwaters overtopping stopbanks swamped Pak’n Save’s service station and caused serious damage at a nearby ITM store.

The potential Kaitāia mill closures come just days after Heinz Watties announced it was shutting down manufacturing sites in Christchurch, Dunedin and Auckland, as well its frozen packing lines in Hastings.

It also comes amid a raft of other mill closures around regional New Zealand, with many owners blaming high energy costs.

They include the paper production line at Kinleith Mill in Tokoroa (with the loss of 230 jobs), Eves Valley Sawmill in Tasman (140 jobs), and Karioi Pulpmill and Tangiwai Sawmill in Ruapehu (200 jobs).

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