Some people were in tears as groups left flowers, signs and messages at the cordoned-off entrances to the landslide-hit campground in Mt Maunganui last night.Nick Monro
Authorities have evacuated some East Coast households from Onepoto and parts of Te Araroa, after significant landslide risks were identified.
The evacuations late on Saturday night were led by police and FENZ, and it is not yet clear when those affected will be able to return home, with geotech assessments needed first.
Meanwhile, searchers at the scene of the devastating Mt Maunganui landslide are now entering day two of what has been termed the recovery phase, following the announcement from officials that it is highly unlikely anyone would have survived.
On Saturday human remains were found at the site, and the six people believed to have been caught in the landslide were named by police.
Police also announced on Saturday evening that a body was found in the search for a missing driver who was swept away in a car in the Mahurangi River, near Warkworth, on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, repairs after storm damage are underway, and access to some Northland communities isolated since last Sunday has been restored.
One police representative was quoted saying victims get uneven access depending on how they look, their history and whether they have criminal records.
“If they are well presented and come across as a stereotypical victim, officers are more likely to refer to support, including VAS,” the report said.
New Zealand’s chief victims advisor Ruth Money said that was terrible behaviour.
“It is racist, gender-biased, victim-blaming behaviour that the police are working hard to correct and certainly everyone in the justice system should be working hard to correct,” she said. “Every victim of crime deserves to receive victim-led responses, all of them. It doesn’t matter what they look like and how they are presenting.”
Money was calling for more training for frontline staff and said officers needed to be more aware of their biases.
“They need to be trained in being aware of their bias and certainly some additional work around how to refer and why everyone should be referred to the appropriate support service seems to be required given this finding.”
The report recommended introducing an automated referral system.
Police said they were strengthening the Victim Assistance Scheme referral process. In a statement, director of frontline enablement Ben Butterfield said police were focusing on faster and more consistent referrals for victims.
“This includes enhancing the accuracy and consistency of referrals, improving information sharing, and ensuring our frontline staff have the tools and guidance they need to connect victims with Victim Support at the earliest opportunity.
“Together with our partners, we remain committed to continuous improvement to strengthening access to support that help mitigate the impacts of crime.”
The Ministry of Justice said the evaluation showed the scheme was broadly equitable. Group manager provider and community services Hayley MacKenzie said recent changes had allowed the scheme to reach more people and increase support, and it was now considering further improvements, including clearer criteria and stronger referral pathways.
Victim Support said it was working with police and the Ministry of Justice to fix gaps in how victims received help. Chief executive James McCulloch said the evaluation provided clear direction on where improvements were needed in the system.
“We welcome this feedback and, alongside our partners, are actively taking steps to address the identified gaps. Together with our partners, we remain committed to continuous improvement to our services and strengthening access to supports that help mitigate the impacts of crime.”
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Work to reinstate the washed-out bridge at Ngaiotonga started on Friday, once diggers could reach the area.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Temporary repairs to a washed-out bridge on Northland’s east coast have restored road access to an area largely cut off from the outside world since last Sunday.
The Ngaiotonga Bridge on Rāwhiti Road, east of Kawakawa, was reopened on Saturday after work by contractors, the Far North District Council said.
But motorists were told to only drive at a crawl over the bridge, until permanent repairs can be completed after the long weekend, a council spokesman said.
The reopening means residents of Ōakura, Punaruku and other settlements are now reconnected to the rest of Northland via Russell.
The route to Whangārei in the south, however, is still blocked by a massive slip at Helena Bay Hill, which is expected to take weeks to clear.
Work to reinstate the washed-out bridge at Ngaiotonga started on Friday, once diggers could reach the area.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Temporary repairs to a washed-out bridge on Northland’s east coast have restored road access to an area largely cut off from the outside world since last Sunday.
The Ngaiotonga Bridge on Rāwhiti Road, east of Kawakawa, was reopened on Saturday after work by contractors, the Far North District Council said.
But motorists were told to only drive at a crawl over the bridge, until permanent repairs can be completed after the long weekend, a council spokesman said.
The reopening means residents of Ōakura, Punaruku and other settlements are now reconnected to the rest of Northland via Russell.
The route to Whangārei in the south, however, is still blocked by a massive slip at Helena Bay Hill, which is expected to take weeks to clear.
The Gisborne District Council says flooding and slips have severely impacted Onepoto, Wharekahika and Te Araroa.SUPPLIED
Evacuations are underway on the East Coast in Onepoto and parts of Te Araroa due to landslide risks.
It will involve around 30 houses, with people being relocated to stay with friends, family or someone within the community.
There is no indication on how long people may be out of their homes, or whether they will be able to return.
Tairāwhiti CDEM Group Controller Ben Green said significant landslide risk had been identified, but no geotech assessments had been completed.
“We need to be confident there is no risk to life and until this has been completed, they will not be returning.
“When we visited Te Araroa [on Friday] we saw evidence of landslides in close proximity to houses and the potential risk to life is too great, until we understand what the geotech assessments come back with.”
The evacuations are being led by Police and FENZ, supported by the community civil defence teams.
Mount Maunganui landslide
Remains of victims have been found at a campground in Mount Maunganui overnight.
Six people have been unaccounted for since Thursday, police released their names on Saturday afternoon.
Emergency services are moving to a recovery phase, from a rescue operation.
The remains are now in custody of the coroner.
They will be transported to a mortuary in Hamilton.
Severe weather watches for South
Strong winds and persistent rain are forecast to hit the lower South Island, with watches in place until Sunday.
Otago south of Alexandra, Oamaru and mainland Southland are under a heavy rain watch, while Coastal Otago, Southland from Dunedin to Bluff and Stewart Island are all under a strong wind watch.
MetService said winds could approach severe gale in exposed places
Follow the RNZ liveblog at the top of the page for the latest updates.
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Southlander Josh Burnett was originally set to miss out on Tour of Southland due to injury, but the event was rescheduled from November last year due to a storm.supplied
Southland’s Josh Burnett has become just the sixth rider to win three or more Tour of Southland titles, joining an elusive club that includes Brian Fowler and Hayden Roulston.
Burnett (team PowerNet), who rides for a professional team in Spain, started the day with a 19 second lead over Cambridge’s Matthew Wilson (Advanced Personnel Cycling Team). However an outstanding individual time trial by Wilson in the morning saw him take the stage victory and cut the lead to just 10sec heading into the final 77km stage, from Winton to Invercargill.
The fast and furious final stage was lashed by wind and rain throughout, with Wilson making a bold attack on the penultimate lap of the tour’s Waikiwi circuit finish before the two frontrunners finished safely in the bunch to repeat the one-two finish they recorded in 2024.
Burnett’s name now joins the likes of Warwick Dalton, Tino Tabak, Fowler, Roulston and Michael Vink as riders who have won New Zealand’s most prestigious stage race three or more times.
It almost didn’t happen, with Burnett originally ruled out of the November event by a badly broken arm and only coming back into the equation when an extreme weather event meant the 2025 edition was postponed until January.
“I was just planning on helping the Mito-Q boys out and cleaning their bikes. To get this opportunity, I’m super grateful to PowerNet, it’s such a well-run team. Both on and off the bike we’ve had such a good time this week. It’s a massive credit to Aaron (Sinclair) who has put this team together for the past few years. All I’ve had to think about is riding my bike,” Burnett said.
To get the chance to return from riding for his Spanish professional team, Burgos Burpellet BH, and win his home race was something special, Burnett said.
“It definitely hasn’t sunk in. I was just taking it day by day and I’m just really proud to be from this region,” he said.
“There’s no other bike race in the world where I get this amount of support so I’ve got to lap it up where I can. In Spain I can’t even read the signs, so when I’m here I make the most of it.”
Burnett, who also won the King of the Mountain classification, paid credit to his team mates, who were challenged throughout the week, particularly after losing team captain Ollie Jones to a crash on Tuesday.
“For sure there were some expectations on my shoulders all week, but I think it was mainly transferred onto my team mates, making them ride the front for three days, so a big shout out to those boys, because without them I wouldn’t have had the chance to contest the stages or be in contention.”
Burnett highlighted the battle he had with Wilson for the second Southland tour in a row. The pair sparred throughout the week, especially with one-two finishes on both the Remarkables and Bluff Hill finishes. Daniel Whitehouse (Quality Food Southland/Gough Brothers) was third overall at 1min 38sec.
“Massive credit to Matt because he is super strong and I’m sure he’s going to win a Southland one day, that’s for sure.”
Riders taking part in the Tour of Southland earlier this week.supplied
The final stage was won by Southland’s Nick Kergozou, the second time he has won the finale. Kergozou (Open Country-TES) said he was proud to win the stage and claim his fourth Sprint Ace title in his ninth Southland tour.
“I’m ecstatic with that. Matt Wilson was putting it in the gutter pretty hard. He was throwing it all out there and I knew I just had to follow to keep the sprint jersey alive.”
Timaru’s Noah Hollamby (Onya Bike) completed an outstanding debut Tour of Southland, winning the under 23 jersey and finishing fourth overall. Australian Ben Dyball (Macaulay Ford-Good Tech Team) was the leading over 35 rider, and fifth overall.
Macaulay Ford-Good Tech Team won the teams classification, while Christchurch’s James Krzanich (Lattitude Cycling Team) was named the Most Combative rider for the final stage and the tour overall.
Searchers out on the Mahurangi River on Friday, looking for the missing 47 year old.RNZ / Finn Blackwell
A body has been recovered from the Mahurangi River, police say, after a driver was swept away in a car on Wednesday morning.
Searchers, including whitewater raft teams and drone operators had been scouring the area, as several North Island regions struggled with severe rain, flooding, landslides and storms this week.
The body was recovered from the river on Saturday evening as part of the search, Waitematā Police Inspector Simon Walker said.
Formal identification was still underway, but police said they were confident it was a 47-year-old man from Kiribati who had been reported missing.
Fire and Emergency earlier said two people had been in the car and attempted to cross a ford through the flooded river when they got into trouble. The passenger was able to escape, and seek help.
“Family members have been informed and are being supported by police,” Walker said, and the man’s death was not believed to be suspicious.
Search teams scoured the river downstream from Falls Rd.RNZ / Finn Blackwell
The river search had been difficult, he said.
“Police would like to acknowledge and thank the many people and teams involved in the search over recent days, including Land Search and Rescue, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, other supporting agencies, and the many community members who assisted in challenging conditions.”
The erosion on the side of the cliff on the Hutt River.WELLINGTON WATER / SUPPLIED
Continued erosion at a closely-watched cliff means it is now almost touching a main sewer pipe on the Hutt River, forcing authorities into action.
After 15 years monitoring the cliff as it got worse, a $2m project has now begun to protect the pipe that carries all of Upper Hutt’s sewage south.
“We’ve reached a threshold where we’ve said we don’t want it to come any closer to the pipe now,” Wellington Water chief operating officer Charles Barker said.
The cliff had eroded to within about two metres of the pipe and just a few metres from the edge of State Highway Two at the popular Taita Rock swimming spot.
The erosion at the cliff.WELLINGTON WATER / SUPPLIED
The pipe, originally buried over two metres below ground, under the cycleway at the top of the 6-7m-high cliff, was close to being exposed.
A manhole cover for the pipe was just a metre from the edge.
“The risk to the pipe is increasing, but there’s not an imminent risk that over the next year the river is going to be able to wash out that part,” Barker said.
The public “wouldn’t expect us to get to a point where there’s actually an imminent risk that the pipe is hanging by a thread before we took some action”.
A cycleway that runs above the pipe had to be moved three times, taking it closer and closer to the edge of SH2 now just 4-5m away.
An aerial image of Taitā Rock, the river and SH2.WELLINGTON WATER / SUPPLIED
Monitoring since 2010 showed slow erosion, and not big floods, was the threat to the pipe in the first place, but also the cycleway and highway.
Since 2022, the two local city councils, regional council and NZTA had been discussing what to do.
“All of these assets are affected, but while we’ve been trying to figure out how we come to some agreement about what we should do, Wellington Water and the Hutt City and Upper councils have decided that our tolerance for this risk is reduced and we would just like to make sure that our asset, which would be the asset that impacts the quality of the water in the Hutt River, doesn’t fail,” Barker said.
‘No one’s going to thank us if our pipe breaks’
“At the end of the day, we have to take responsibility for our pipe,” Barker said.
“No one’s going to thank us if our pipe breaks and we say that wasn’t our fault. We’re never going to let ourselves be in that position.”
The two local city councils were among those that own Wellington Water, and they were paying the $2m.
Swimming – people like to jump off the rock – would be able to carry on, Barker said.
Engineers were looking at how to protect the pipe short term, such as with mesh or a small retaining wall at the top of the cliff, while a long-term fix was sought.
“We want to buy ourselves enough time to make sure that what we do in that area, which is a really sensitive area and it’s really important to iwi, is appropriate,” Barker said.
“This is one of a number of risks that we have across all our networks and we need to take a prudent risk-based approach of where we place our money to mitigate what risks.
“And what I think is really heartening is that before this risk gets to an imminent point, our councils have funded the remediation.”
The pipe at Taita Rock also carried sewage from Manor Park and about half of Stokes Valley.
Hutt City Council said about $300,000 had been spent so far looking at short and medium-term options, with another $2m for the actual work earmarked for 2026-27.
“Further funding for the long-term solution will become the responsibility of Tiaki Wai, the new council-controlled water service provider” that begins operating in July, it said.
Upper Hutt City Council did not answer a question about exactly how much it would put in now or in future but said its agreement with Lower Hutt was to cover about 30 percent of the costs of maintaining trunk sewer mains.
“Collectively both councils work together to understand in advance what costs an annual basis will be but pragmatically have to reprioritise when the unexpected happens,” chief executive Geoff Swainson said in a statement.
Last year Wellington Water had to fix the sewer main beside SH2 a few kilometres further south at Melling in a $5m project to combat corrosion.
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Zoi Sadowski-Synnott is the Beijing 2022 Olympic gold medallist in Slopestyle and silver medallist in Big Air and the 2018 PyeongChang bronze medallist in Big Air. She is a three-time snowboard Slopestyle World Champion.AFP
New Zealand snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has won silver at the X-Games in the Slopestyle in her final hit out before the Winter Olympics.
The reigning Olympic Slopestyle champion scored a mark of 93.00 to finish behind British star Mia Brookes, while Japan’s Cocomo Murase was third.
Nine of the world’s top snowboarders were wrapping up their final preparations for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina at the competition in Aspen.
Sadowski-Synnott landed a complicated switch backside 1260 on her third and final run, and later said she was tested by the field.
“The girls all have their own style and creativity and they pushed me really hard,” Sadowski-Synnott said
And reigning World Champion Luca Harrington won silver for New Zealand in the men’s Freeski Big Air competition with a score of 97.00.
Harrington couldn’t quite shake Italian rival Miro Tabanelli who claimed gold.
It screeches around corners as it hurtles from victories to disasters, from hilarity to anxiety and from unpredictable point to unpredictable point for 150 minutes.
From its very first scene, the force holding the thing together is the magnetism of its protagonist.
This video is hosted on Youtube.
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Susan Knowles, 71, and Sharon Maccanico, 15, are two of the six people unaccounted for at the Mt Maunganui landslide site.SUPPLIED
Two Auckland teenagers, a Swedish tourist and a Morrinsville teacher are among the people who remain unaccounted for following the landslide at Mt Maunganui.
At a press conference on Saturday, police said some remains of victims had been found overnight and six people were unaccounted following the slip at a popular campground.
Police released the names of those unaccounted for:
In a Facebook post Morrinsville Intermediate School identified victim Lisa Anne Maclennan as one of their staff members.
“It is with great sadness that we need to inform you that one of our staff members, Lisa Maclennan (our amazing Literacy Centre tutor), is one of the people trapped in the landslide at Mount Maunganui.”
“Our love and aroha go out to Lisa’s family; we ask that you respect their privacy at this very difficult time.”
Pakuranga College also identified both Max Furse-Kee and Sharon Maccanico were students at the school.
15-year-old Sharon MaccanicoAvellino Today
“Many members of the college have been deeply impacted by the news and we are working to support students and staff in the coming days and weeks.” the school said in a Facebook post.
“The wellbeing of our college community is paramount as the school year starts next week under incredibly sad circumstances.
“Parents have received an email this afternoon with advice and information for supporting their child/ren as they process this distressing event.”
Italian media reported that Sharon, was originally from a small town called Picarelli in the municipality of Avellino.
Avellino Today said the community had gathered in the town’s local church as they waited for news.
The names are only of those unaccounted for and not those who had been found as the Coroner said identifying remains of victims would be a lengthy process.
Family pay respects at the Mt Maunganui landslide cordon.CHARLOTTE COOK / RNZ
Search progresses in challenging terrain
Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the operation was formally handed over to police by Fire and Emergency New Zealand at 11.20am on Saturday.
“Search teams have been working through the slip layer by layer, but tragically it is now apparent that we will not be able to bring them home alive.”
An orange wrap has been placed around the inner cordon preventing those residents allowed inside the main cordon from seeing through to the scene.RNZ / Kate Green
He said they had informed the families of the news on Saturday morning.
Anderson said emergency services were in the early stages of investigating remains of victims and would not be releasing any information on what has been found or who they believe it could be.
“This afternoon, search teams, supported by contractors and machinery, are continuing to work through the debris, towards the amenities block.
“From what we have seen, the building suffered catastrophic damage and we are confronted with the reality that it is highly unlikely anyone would have been able to survive.
Road closed in Mt Maunganui as a massive search and rescue operation continues following a landslide.RNZ / Calvin Samuel
“The material that slipped from the mountain is sodden. It’s heavy and hit with massive force. The impact, movement and weight means this is an incredibly challenging scene to work through, and those involved are doing their jobs admirably and respectfully.
“This is heartbreaking news for the families and the dozens of people who have been working day and night, hoping for a positive outcome.
Coronial process
Responsibility for identifying the victims, along with other legal processes, was now passed to the Coroners Court and an internationally approved process for disaster victim identification (DVI) is being followed.
Chief Coroner Judge Anna Tutton reassured families and friends of victims that those who had died in the tragedy would treated with dignity but said the identification process could be “painstaking” and “complex” especially when people are severely injured
“Victims will be transported to the Hamilton mortuary, where any post mortem examinations required will be performed, and, with the assistance of Police and other specialists, coroners will determine the identity of the victims.
“I can’t say how long the identification process will take – but I give my absolute assurance that we will work very carefully – and as quickly as we can – to reunite families.”
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During his intimate 75-minute performance to a 1,300-strong capacity crowd, Teeks said it was “such an honour” to be the first musician to grace the BNZ Theatre stage.
The award-winning musician also spoke about growing up in the rural Northland town of Opononi and how living in smaller towns usually means limited access to quality live music. Hamilton’s new performance space “can change all that”, he said.
“[The theatre] will not only benefit the current music and arts scene but it has the potential to inspire an entire generation of artists and visionaries while cultivating a deeper sense of connection, culture and community.”
Teek’s intimate show at the BNZ Theatre on Friday night was his first-ever performance in Hamilton.
Levi Santana
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Sharon Maccanico who is originally from Italy is missing after the Mt Maunganui landslide.Avellino Today
An Italian town is waiting for news on a 15-year-old Italian girl, now living in Auckland, who is missing in the Mt Maunganui slip.
Sharon Maccanico, was originally from a small town called Picarelli in the municipality of Avellino.
RNZ understands her parents are at the scene.
Meanwhile, her Italian relatives have posted on Facebook asking their local community to pray at a church service with them in hope of a miracle.
Avellino Today reports that she is from a small town in Southern Italy called Picarelli.
The community gathered in the town’s local church as they waited for news of Sharon, with family nervously awaiting news from New Zealand, it reported.
She is widely known in the small community, it said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has confirmed that one Swedish citizen is unaccounted for in New Zealand.
It says it cannot comment further on this individual case due to consular confidentiality.
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Sam Mennenga will be sidelined with a broken left wrist.Blake Armstrong / PHOTOSPORT
Breakers forward Sam Mennenga has been sidelined with a broken left wrist in the latest injury blow for the Auckland club.
Mennenga hit the floor at Spark Arena in the fourth quarter of a dramatic two-point loss to the Adelaide 36ers on Friday night.
A team spokesperson said the 24-year-old will undergo further scans after the heavy fall.
Mennenga finished the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. His absence will likely hurt the Breakers’ chances of reaching the playoffs.
A post-game X-ray confirmed the fracture, and he’s booked for an MRI scan early next week to assess the damage.
“Unfortunately, he will be out for 6-8 weeks to allow the bone time to heal,” Breakers head of operations Dillon Boucher said.
The Breakers led in the final seconds before Adelaide’s Bryce Cotton, playing his first season for the Sixers, hit a 3-point buzzer-beater in overtime for the 112-110 win.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on January 24, 2026.
‘Thank God’ – parents of PNG conjoined twins grateful they defied medical advice By Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior journalist The parents of rare conjoined twins say doctors in Papua New Guinea told them to take the boys home as they were beyond hope. “Thank God we [defied them] and we are where we are,” the boys’ dad Kevin Mitiam, who is also a twin, said in Tok
Federal government’s crackdown on free speech affects all Australians ANALYSIS: By Paul Gregoire Australia’s two federal combating antisemitism bills, the New South Wales laws providing the means to shutdown street protests and move on stationary public assemblies, along with the envoy’s plan to combat antisemitism and the Royal Commission into the same prejudice, have all been set in place following two ISIS-fuelled killers murdering
OpenAI will put ads in ChatGPT. This opens a new door for dangerous influence Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Raffaele F Ciriello, Senior Lecturer in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney OpenAI, The Conversation OpenAI has announced plans to introduce advertising in ChatGPT in the United States. Ads will appear on the free version and the low-cost Go tier, but not for Pro, Business, or Enterprise
The Mount Maunganui tragedy reminds us landslides are NZ’s deadliest natural hazard Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Brook, Professor of Applied Geology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images The tragic events in the Bay of Plenty this week are a stark reminder that landslides remain the deadliest of the many natural hazards New Zealand faces. On Thursday morning, a large landslide
Tokelau airport project scrapped despite multi-million dollar design By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist New Zealand has scrapped a project to build an airport in Tokelau after sinking NZ$3 million into the design phase. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told RNZ Pacific that the Tokelau government had been advised of their decision. Tokelau is completely inaccessible by plane,
Former army major Simon Strombom is the managing director of the NZ Remembrance Army.Supplied
A former army major is calling comments made by US President Donald Trump ill-informed and sensationalist.
Trump has angered allies, claiming NATO troops “stayed a little back” from frontlines in Afghanistan.
The comments have drawn ire from the likes of UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer, who labelled the remarks “insulting and frankly appalling”, urging the president to apologise, according to CNN.
Roughly a third of those Allied personnel killed during the war came from non-US forces, including 10 New Zealanders.
The UK joined the US in Afghanistan from 2001, after it invoked NATO’s collective defence clause following the 9/11 terror attacks.
More than 450 British soldiers were killed.
Former army major Simon Strombom is the managing director of the NZ Remembrance Army and served in Afghanistan.
He also received a Distinguished Service Decoration.
Strombom told RNZ that he commanded troops from NATO nations and found them exceptionally professional.
“I was heavily exposed to the professionalism and the challenges that the NATO, particularly British and the Canadian, troops had,” he said.
The comments were ill-conceived, Strombom said.
US President Donald Trump claimed NATO troops “stayed a little back” from the frontlines in Afghanistan.Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
“What do you say, sensationalist comments to try and take a position that really is really ill-informed.”
Strombom said it would be hard for those who had lost loved ones in the conflict to hear those comments from a US president.
“I would be pretty upset if I had lost friends or a relative in those operations, particularly down in Kandahar,” he said.
“It’d be pretty hard for a family to have suffered such a loss and then to hear comments like that, just basically undermining the actual sacrifice of the families, it’s pretty poor form.”
Strombom said he had particular respect for British troops.
“I’ve always had a hell of a lot of respect for the discipline of British troops, and the professionalism of them, even down to their territorial army,” he said.
Trump hadn’t really understood the situation, Strombom said.
“The majority of the weight of the coalition headquarters, there were 48 countries in the headquarters we were in, America made up probably a quarter of those troops, but the rest of them were predominantly from NATO.”
Strombom doubted Trump would apologise for his comments.
‘Great pride’ in those deployed to conflict
Defence Minister Judith Collins said the country took great pride in the professionalism, courage, and commitment of all who served in Afghanistan.
“We responded to the call for assistance alongside our partners, and our people served willingly and with professionalism in challenging and often dangerous conditions,” she said.
“We continue to honour the memory of New Zealand Defence Force personnel who lost their lives in Afghanistan, and we acknowledge the enduring loss felt by their families, friends, and colleagues.”
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The parents of rare conjoined twins say doctors in Papua New Guinea told them to take the boys home as they were beyond hope.
“Thank God we [defied them] and we are where we are,” the boys’ dad Kevin Mitiam, who is also a twin, said in Tok Pisin.
Tom and Sawong — who were fused at the lower abdomen — had unplanned emergency surgery to divide them at Sydney Children’s Hospital on December 7.
The surgery was brought forward as Tom, the weaker twin, was deteriorating rapidly. A large multi-disciplinary team took seven hours to separate the boys but Tom died soon after he was detached from his brother.
The team spent a further five hours working on Sawong, who is doing well and could return home by the end of February.
“The Port Moresby General Hospital paediatrician team told us [twice] to go back home, that there was no hope for them,” their mum Fetima said in Tok Pisin.
“We were even told not to trust Jurgen Ruh [the family’s spokesperson] because they said he was giving us false hope.
“I am happy and I laugh when I see my baby Sawong and think about that advice,” she said.
“I am full of hope, I cuddle him and talk to him every day, as he grows.”
Hospital response RNZ Pacific has asked Port Moresby General Hospital for a response.
The two-month-olds were medivacced from Port Moresby to Sydney on December 4, following medical advice that they undergo urgent surgery.
The move followed weeks of tense wrangling over the viability of separating them, which country would accept the case and perform the operation, and how it would be financed.
The boys shared a liver, bladder and parts of their gastrointestinal tract, but had their owns limbs and genitals.
They also had partial spina bifida — a neural tube defect that affects the development of a newborn’s spine and spinal cord. Tom also had a congenital heart defect, one kidney and malformed lungs.
Doctors at Port Moresby General Hospital initially explored the possibility of transferring the twins to Sydney, but the plans fell through when funding from a charity was pulled.
The hospital later made a u-turn and advised the couple to stay in PNG or face the death of either one or both of the boys.
Final decision The Medical Director, Dr Kone Sobi, said previously that multiple discussions led to their final decision, and added: “The underlying thing is that both twins present with significant congenital anomalies and we feel that even with care and treatment in a highly specialised unit, the chances of survival are very very slim.
“In fact the prognosis is extremely bad and the twin’s future is unpredictable.”
Manolos Aviation pilot Jurgen Ruh with Sawong at Sydney Children’s Hospital. Ruh flew Sawong and his conjoined twin Tom to Port Moresby General Hospital from their home in remote Morobe Province after they were born. Image: Jurgen Ruh/Manolo Aviation/RNZ
Ruh told RNZ Pacific on Thursday that although Sawong remained in intensive care, monitored constantly by a specialist nurse, he was “strong and doing well”.
He was no longer on a ventilator, did not need supplementary oxygen and was gaining about 50 grams a day in weight, he said.
“The hose fitting on his nose is simply to monitor his breathing and to assist a little with extra pressure in his lungs.
“Doctors have now closed up a hole in his stomach with stretched skin and he is improving every day, but it will be another month or so before he is released, possibly by the end of February.
“Occasionally Sawong gives the biggest smile on earth; he is just happy with what he has.”
100 days old The hospital recently celebrated Sawong reaching 100 days old with a simple but touching celebration.
“It threw a little party for Sawong, his parents and all the staff who have been part of his journey. Fetima cut a frozen cheesecake on his behalf,” Ruh said.
A massive funeral for Tom was held a month ago at the Mega Church in Hillsong, Sydney.
The family are expected to scatter his ashes after they return home to their remote village in PNG’s Morobe Province.
While the complex surgery was a success, the results were bittersweet for the parents.
“I thought it was amazing, after the surgery a nurse gave Tom to them and they spent hours just cuddling him,” Ruh previously told RNZ Pacific.
The parents had been through a “rollercoaster” of emotions since the twins were born on October 9.
“They had accepted that they would lose Tom and there’s been many tears shed along the way,” he said previously.
Funding search Ruh said last month that at one stage during negotiations the Sydney Children’s Hospital requested A$2 million to do the operation, but funds and guarantees could not be found.
RNZ Pacific understands that the parents had approached the PNG government for funding, but Ruh would not confirm this.
The ABC had reported that the hospital had asked for payment before the twins were transferred from PNG; however Ruh said as far as he knew no money had changed hands.
When asked how it was financed he said: “It’s a mixture of funding which took too long to organise.
“It should never have taken eight weeks to get the twins separated, it should have happened in eight days, but no referral pathway [to a foreign hospital] exists,” Ruh said.
He laid the blame on the PNG health system, and said babies born prematurely or with birth defects were lost in the system.
“It was a very disappointing ride we had, in terms of overall support from Port Moresby General Hospital. Then there were delays in getting them to Australia.
“We were exploring faster options, but we did not have any support.”
Private hospital The boys were eventually moved from the public hospital to Paradise Private Hospital in Port Moresby, which provided them with free care.
The family felt the twins would be “safer” and have less chance of cross-infection from other babies, particularly of malaria.
A multi-disciplinary team from Sydney Children’s Hospital flew to Port Moresby on November 21 to assess the twins, amid growing public pressure in Australia and PNG.
At that point the boys only had a combined weight of 2.9kg, and Tom was relying on Sawong to keep him alive.
Sawong (left) and Tom while they were being treated in Port Moresby General Hospital’s neonatal unit last year. Image: Port Moresby General Hospital/RNZ
In a letter to doctors in PNG, the Sydney team said surgery was in fact feasible although Tom was not expected to survive it.
“The reason for the early separation is that Sawong is working hard to support Tom,” the letter said.
Urgent transfer The team had recommended the twins be urgently transferred in a specialised aircraft with intensive care facilities plus medical and nursing personnel.
The boys underwent multiple investigations at Sydney Children’s Hospital, including an MRI and CT scan to define their anatomy and vascular supply.
“Before the surgery, the medical team [in Sydney] said it was a miracle that Tom had survived for two months,” Ruh said previously.
A huge team including liver surgeons, colorectal surgeons and urologists, specialised cardiac anaesthetists, cardiologists, neonatologists and interventional radiologists were involved in the surgery, supported by a large team of nursing and allied staff.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Avellino Today is reporting that 15-year-old Sharon Maccanico who is originally from Italy is missing after the Mt Maunganui landslide.Avellino Today
The 15-year-old believed to be missing in the slip has been named as an Italian girl from Auckland.
Italian media are reporting her to be Sharon Maccanico, originally from a small town called Picarelli in the municipality of Avellino.
RNZ understands her parents are at the scene.
Meanwhile, her Italian relatives have posted on Facebook asking their local community to pray at a church service with them in hope of a miracle.
Avellino Today reports that she is from a small town in Southern Italy called Picarelli.
The community gathered in the town’s local church as they waited for news of Sharon, with family nervously awaiting news from New Zealand, it reported.
She is widely known in the small community, it said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has confirmed that one Swedish citizen is unaccounted for in New Zealand.
It says it cannot comment further on this individual case due to consular confidentiality.
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A man is mssing after falling into the Waioeka River in Ōpōtiki.
A search is continuing for a missing man who was swept downstream after falling from a boat in the Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki.
Police were called to the Waioeka River at about 5.30pm on Friday after reports of the incident.
Emergency services carried out a search of the area and found the vessel nearby.
Inspector Nicky Cooney, Eastern Bay of Plenty Area Commander, said police resumed the search Saturday morning in the Waioeka River near the junction with Waiata Stream.
Police said they were continuing to support the man’s family.
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Police have launched a homicide investigation following the death of a woman in the Clutha settlement of Crichton, while another person remains in a critical condition.
Emergency services were called to a property on Adams Flat Road at about 6.10pm on Friday, after reports of a “serious incident”.
One person is dead and another seriously injured after an incident on Adams Flat Road.Google Maps
Detective Sergeant Hayden Smale said a woman died at the scene, while a man was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
A scene guard remains in place at the address as police conduct a scene examination.
Police said there is not believed to be any risk to the public, but residents can expect an increased police presence in the Crichton area.
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The slip at Mauao, Mount Maunganui, as seen from the air on 22 January.Screengrab / Amy Till
Tauranga City Council has announced an independent review into the events leading up to Thursday’s landslide at the base of Mauao, as local iwi Ngāi Te Rangi say they are seeking a thorough investigation into the cause of the slip.
Mayor Mahé Drysdale and council chief executive Marty Grenfell confirmed the review on Friday, describing the landslide as an incident of “local, national and international importance”.
“The landslide and its impacts on those affected and their families clearly represents a serious and significant incident,” Drysdale said.
Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale at the scene of a landslide at Mount Maunganui on 22 January 2025.RNZ
“It is important that we have a clear and accurate understanding of the facts and events leading up to the landslide, so that we can ensure that the future safety of the community is appropriately safeguarded.”
The slip came down at about 9.30am on Thursday at the Beachside Holiday Park in Mount Maunganui, smashing into campervans, tents, vehicles and an ablution block near the Mount Hot Pools.
Police said six people, including two teenagers, remain missing, while they are seeking information on the whereabouts of three others believed to be overseas tourists.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and police continue to treat the operation as a rescue, with specialist Urban Search and Rescue teams working in what authorities have described as an unstable and high-risk environment.
A bird’s eye view of the slip at Mount Hot Pools, Mt Maunganui on 22 January.Alan Gibson – GIBSON IMAGES LTD
Drysdale said the scope of the independent review, who would lead it, and the timeframe for delivering findings were still being worked through.
“Given the gravity of this tragic situation, it’s important that a person with the requisite skills, experience, and level of public trust is selected,” he said.
Key aspects of the review would include establishing and reviewing all relevant facts in the lead-up to the landslide, he said, but it would not replace any other formal processes that may be initiated.
“This review is about establishing the facts independently, given the scale and seriousness of this event,” Drysdale said.
The aftermath of a landslide at Mount Hot Pools in Mount Maunganui on January 22.Dion Siluch
“As council, on behalf of the families and the whole community, we need to understand the facts and ensure that in the lead-up to this tragedy, everything was done that was appropriate in the circumstances.”
He said the council’s immediate focus remained on supporting affected families and those involved in the rescue operation.
Ngāi Te Rangi deputy chief executive Roimata Ah Sam said the iwi was heartbroken by the tragedy and had sent prayers and thoughts to those still missing.
“We hope everybody will be found alive and well.”
Ah Sam acknowledged the work of emergency services and said the iwi was deliberately staying clear of the site to allow responders to do their jobs.
“Everybody should be immensely proud of the fire service, police and the Civil Defence,” she said.
However, she said Ngāi Te Rangi expected a full investigation into the cause of the landslide.
“There has been a lot of work done on Mauao,” Ah Sam said.
“So, we look forward to a thorough investigation into why this occurred. And we look forward to working alongside authorities to rebuild our maunga.”
Police District Commander Assistant Commissioner Tim Anderson has said the number of people unaccounted for remains in single figures, and that police would reassess “day by day” when the operation may shift from rescue to recovery.
Police District Commander Assistant Commissioner Tim Anderson speaks to the media on 22 January.Calvin Samuel / RNZ
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell said the risk of further slips was a “massive consideration”, noting geoscientists were on site and nearby facilities had been evacuated as a precaution.
A wide cordon remains in place around the mountain, which is closed to the public, and a rāhui has been imposed. Authorities have repeatedly urged the public to stay away from the area to allow rescue teams to work safely.
The council review is expected to examine warnings, land stability, and any actions taken before the landslide.
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Paora Glassie, Civil Defence lead for Ōtetao Reti Marae at Punaruku on Northland’s storm-ravaged east coast.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Lessons learnt during Cyclone Gabrielle three years ago have proved invaluable for marae on Northland’s east coast, leading the response to last week’s massive storm.
Marae were the first port of call for stranded travellers and evacuated locals, as well as a source of kai and power for communities cut off from the outside world.
One of the most isolated places was Punaruku, which was cut off by flooding and a washed-out bridge to the north, and a large slip just to the south of the settlement.
Punaruku was reconnected to the nearby beachside settlement of Ōakura early on Friday afternoon.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
That meant Punaruku residents couldn’t even get to Ōakura, which also remains largely cut off but at least has a well-stocked shop.
The slip was cleared on Friday afternoon, and work to reinstate Ngaiotonga Bridge – delayed because ongoing slips stopped contractors from reaching the site – is now underway.
Paora Glassie, Civil Defence lead for Punaruku’s Ōtetao Reti Marae, said the marae had undergone a major upgrade since Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
Paora Glassie checks a container stocked with emergency equipment for Ōtetao Reti Marae.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
That included a solar power system, an improved water supply, shipping containers stocked with emergency equipment, and even an automated weather station to keep tabs on rainfall.
Glassie said a few homes in the settlement suffered damage from te mana o te āwhā (the power of the storm), but the real challenge was the isolation.
“Just being able to get in and out was difficult. We had flooding at one end, which stopped the north end whānau from going through, and we had a slip at the south side, which stopped whānau getting necessities from the shop.”
On the first night of the storm, 60 whānau members from Auckland were in the area for a hura kōhatu (unveiling), with the gathering supposed to take place on Sunday at the Ōakura Community Hall.
The hall tables had been set, and the fridges stocked with food, when a slip smashed through the back wall of the building and filled it with mud, trees and debris.
Ōakura Community Hall was devastated by a slip the night before an unveiling was due to take place.RNZ/ Peter de Graaf
Glassie said the whānau ended up staying at the marae for two days, and were able to head home between the storm’s two peaks.
He said Punaruku had about 150 residents, including many elderly and people with serious medical conditions.
The marae had provided them with food and was compiling a list of medications to be picked up in Whangārei, which was normally a 50km or one-hour drive south.
Glassie said the marae had received great support from Ngātiwai Trust Board and the Whangārei district and Northland regional councils.
That included deliveries of food brought in over an emergency “lifeline” road cleared by council contractors in recent days.
Ōtetao Reti Marae’s “Auntie Trish”, who is also a member of the local Civil Defence group, described the rain as “horrendous”.
“Auntie Trish” is the chief dispenser of hugs for those in need of support at Ōtetao Reti Marae.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
She said marae volunteers had opened the doors to anyone who needed help, delivered food parcels and carried out welfare checks of as many people as they could.
“We’re just here to manaaki [look after] anybody who needs some supplies, or needs support and a hug. I’m really good at hugging.”
She said the marae had enough food stored in its emergency containers for the first two big meals, and after that, Ngātiwai Trust Board had delivered two big bundles of food.
“People are still coming now, because they’ve stuck, they’ve got no toilets, they’ve got no supplies because they can’t get in and out,” she said.
Work to reinstate a washed-out bridge at Ngaiotonga started on Friday, once diggers could reach the area.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
“We’re just here manning the marae for anyone who wants to come, we’ve got a warm bed, we’ve got food, and like I said, hugs.”
Whangārei primary school teacher Katerina Linton, who lives opposite the marae, said the storm did not damage her home but left her “doomy, gloomy and anxious”.
She was also upset by the damage to the community hall and for people who had lost their homes in Ōakura.
Katerina Linton said the generosity of small communities like Punaruku is “amazing”.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
She had been to the marae for a shower during the storm, but mostly she went for the whanaungatanga (kinship or connection).
“The generosity of this little community is amazing, the way everyone pulled together to help people trapped here.”
Another Punaruku resident, Maureen Hing, said locals did not sit back and wait for help to arrive.
When diggers and trucks were unable to reach the area, about a dozen young men from Punaruku and Mokau got to work clearing slips with chainsaws and shovels.
“They just wanted to get out here and check on us, and bring things over for the marae.”
The young men cleared enough of the slips to create a four-wheel-drive track over the top.
A digger finished the job on Friday.
Paora Glassie said summer downpours were not unusual in Punaruku, but he believed climate change was making storms more intense.
“I don’t [know] what the answer will be to that, but I suppose making sure each marae and each community has a Civil Defence readiness plan in place, and they have the basic essentials ready, like generators and fuel, for whatever the weather throws at us,” he said.
“It also means we all must come together as a unit so we can overcome this challenge, and get ready for the next event … It might be next year, next month, or next week.”
Punaruku recorded the heaviest rainfall in Northland during the storm.
Regional council figures show intensities of about 80mm an hour between 3am and 5am on Sunday, 18 January.
On average, most places in Northland get around 80mm of rain during the entire month of January.
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ACC is trying to avoid a $26 billion deficit by 2030.Unsplash / RNZ composite
A lawyer who helps people with ACC claims says the agency’s plan to get its finances in order appears to be a social licence to remove people from the long-term claims pool.
The agency said it would hire nearly 300 more claims management staff, with a focus on getting non-serious injury clients back to work or independence.
Lawyer and advocate Warren Forster said data for the last five years shows only 10 percent of people taken off long-term claims returned to work.
“It’s not only going to cost ACC more, it’s going to cost taxpayers more and it’s going to transfer the long term cost of injury to society and the whole purpose of ACC is to reduce that cost.”
He said people who could not return to work who were removed from the long-term claims pool instead sought benefits or support from family.
“Once someone’s been off work for two years it’s very difficult to get that person back to work for a while variety of reasons.”
Forster said the agency had made hundreds of people redundant over the years.
“ACC spent 20 years training and developing fantastic people who were really good at rehabilitation. Then they invented this new computer system, they spent $1 billion on it and fired nearly all of them.
“Now they’re saying they’re going to bring in 300 and it’s going to solve it, absolutely not.”
ACC exited more than 8000 long-term clients in the year to June 2025 and planned to exit 11,000 more by June 2026, using AI to help decide which long-term claimants should go back to work.
The cull came as ACC’s rehabilitation performance was in decline, with more people getting injured and taking longer to recover.
With looming debts and liabilities on its books, ACC Minister Scott Simpson instructed his agency to reduce the number of people receiving compensation for more than a year, which was about 25,000 – the highest it had ever been.
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RNZ’s money correspondent Susan Edmunds answers your questions.RNZ
Got questions? RNZ has a new podcast, No Stupid Questions, with Susan Edmunds.
We’d love to hear more of your questions about money and the economy. You can send through written questions, like these ones, but – even better – you can drop us a voice memo to our email questions@rnz.co.nz
I have a question that has always bothered me, and I’m yet to get a satisfactory answer. Why do we pay tax on our pension when it is coming from the tax that we have already paid? I was always of the understanding that you can’t be taxed twice. After all, isn’t that double dipping?
There are two parts to my answer.
The first is that I think a lot of people have the idea that they paid tax into a pool through their working lives, from which they will be paid the pension when they retire.
That isn’t the case – pensions are paid by people who are paying tax now, as part of general government expenditure.
The second part of it basically comes down to why we pay tax on benefits at all.
Tax is paid on all income earned in New Zealand, even when it is money that comes from the government.
Although it’s essential an administrative exercise for benefits, the money you receive is calculated a gross payment and then the tax you pay is determined according to your individual situation and the current rules.
In the case of NZ Super, if you’re working and claiming the benefit, for example, you could end up with a higher marginal tax rate on your pension because your overall income is higher.
There are some people who are argue that it should be a taxfree grant but that’s potentially a separate conversation!
How do I check how much is in my KiwiSaver? And how can I increase the amount of contributions from my pay? Does my company have to match that amount to what I increase to?
You can check your KiwiSaver balance any time through your KiwiSaver provider. Most have an online platform to do this, or you could give them a call to find out what options are available. If you don’t know who your provider is, Inland Revenue can tell you.
You can change your contribution rate through IRD’s myIR system, by contacting your KiwiSaver provider or by giving your employer notice.
Your employer usually only needs to match your contribution at the default rate (currently 3 percent but slowly increasing to 4 percent by 2028). So if you contribute more than that, they might not need to. Some employers are willing to match higher amounts, though.
Can you please advise if there is a ceiling on how much you can get before the pension would be affected? ie… if a family member were to put into our bank $1000 per week would this affect the pension?
No there’s no ceiling. Other amounts could mean you can’t access things like the accommodation supplement, and you could end up on a higher marginal tax rate depending on where the money is coming from but there is no income test for KiwiSaver.
What if I retire aboard a yacht, with no residence in country with reciprocal agreements?
If you are going to be overseas for more than six months, you need to apply to MSD if you want to keep your pension going.
You will need to do this at least six weeks before you leave New Zealand. If you haven’t notified MSD and you are away more than six months, they may ask for the sum to be returned.
What you can get if you are eligible for New Zealand Superannuation but living overseas depends on the country that you’re going to live in. Some countries like Australia have reciprocal agreements with New Zealand which means that applications for New Zealand Superannuation can be made while you are resident in that country and NZ residence can count for pension eligibility in the agreement country.
MSD advises that if you’re going to a country that doesn’t have a reciprocal agreement with New Zealand, you might be able to get your pension. The amount you receive would depend on the number of months you’ve lived in New Zealand between the ages of 20 and 65.
The best thing to do in this case will be to get in touch with MSD well before you leave to find out how the rules apply to your case.
The British High Commission has provided more information to dual-national travellers about new rules around travelling back to the UK.Gill Bonnett
High Commission offers more information to NZ-based Brits on rules for their children
UK migrants report on passport processing times
Emergency passports are possible, but have conditions
British citizens living in New Zealand will have to get UK passports for their children before they can fly there – as they are automatically citizens, authorities say.
The British High Commission has provided more information to dual-national travellers, who have said they were blindsided by new rules around travelling back to the UK. Similar rules will also come into force for Irish New Zealanders.
In a month’s time, anyone classed as a British citizen will need a UK passport to fly there – but citizenship status rules are complex.
Likely to add to travellers’ worries, the Wellington-based High Commission has also said it cannot provide timeframes for how long passport processing takes.
For families due to travel soon, many are learning for the first time that automatic citizenship for their children – considered a positive in the recent past because of access to visa-free travel in the EU, and long trips to Britain – now means getting passports urgently or risk not being able to fly.
“For those who are already British citizens automatically, for example through birth or descent, but who have never applied for a passport, the requirement is the same,” said the High Commission. “If they are British citizens, they cannot use an ETA and will need a British passport (or Certificate of Entitlement) to travel to the UK from 25 February 2026.”
It has advised anyone unsure about their citizenship to check online.
“For those who are already British citizens automatically, for example through birth or descent, but who have never applied for a passport, the requirement is the same,” a spokesperson said in a written statement.
“They are not eligible for an ETA as they are not classed as visitors and already have an automatic right of entry to the UK. That right must be evidenced by travelling on a British or Irish passport, or on another passport with a Certificate of Entitlement. This applies regardless of the length or purpose of travel.
“There is no alternative mechanism within the ETA system for British or Irish citizens, including dual nationals, because the ETA is designed specifically for people who require permission to enter the UK, rather than those who already have a right of entry.”
Passport delivery times
Anyone who has had a British passport or is entitled to have one and plans to travel to the UK should apply as early as possible, the spokesperson said.
“Processing times for UK passports from New Zealand can vary depending on application type and demand, and there is no guaranteed expedited timeframe for overseas applications.”
One man has been tracking the delivery of his old passport document from New Zealand.Supplied / Screengrab
British dual citizens told RNZ they have applied and found the expense unpalatable, but the service times efficient.
One woman sent away for two passports on 15 January.
“Just a little bit of info that might ease some very stressed travellers around the new UK passport requirements,” she said. She and her husband both had UK passports – and his had expired.
She was told on Tuesday that her forms had arrived in the UK, and on Friday that they were issued and being sent back – that part could take three weeks, she added.
“If it does take that long, it means we will have received passports in four weeks from application. So this gives people time if their travel is in six weeks.”
Others reported delays – not in passport issuing, but mailing.
“Not helped by NZ Post!” one man reported. “Passport docs couriered from Parnell at 10.54am 15 Jan at cost of $62. Left Auckland 8.34am 20 Jan!! Still no sign of arrival in the UK.”
Sending NZ passports, emergency passports
Some were desperate at the unforeseen obstacle of needing a new passport so quickly, when they had planned to fly to the UK with their New Zealand passport.
“We haven’t been able to take our family home in 10 years, and will not be able to get a passport for kids before then, and cannot afford to rebook for a very long time,” said one woman, who has flights booked in six weeks’ time.
“I cannot get hold of anyone from the embassy and at a loss as what to do.”
Internal Affairs stresses that information suggesting the UK Passport Office can cancel a New Zealand passport – sent to it as part of verification for a new British passport – is incorrect.
“The UK Passport Office has no power to cancel a NZ passport. Only the New Zealand Minister of Internal Affairs has authority to recall New Zealand passports.”
UK government websites detail how its embassies can issue emergency passports, and under what circumstances. That, too, has some potential caveats.
“If you have not had a passport issued on or after 1 January 2006, you’ll usually need to apply for a UK passport instead of an emergency travel document,” it says. Not every country will accept a traveller who is using an emergency passport.”
There are exceptional circumstances cited, for when an emergency passport could nonetheless be issued.
“An emergency travel document lets you travel from abroad if you need to travel urgently and cannot use your UK passport,” it says. “It is usually only valid for one single or return journey. You can travel through a maximum of five countries.”
You can apply for an emergency travel document if all the following apply:
You’re a British national;
You’re outside the UK;
You need to travel within six weeks;
Your UK passport has been lost, stolen, damaged, is full, has recently expired or is with HM Passport Office or a foreign embassy;
You cannot renew or replace your UK passport from abroad before you travel;
You have had a valid UK passport that was issued on or after 1 January 2006.
The exceptional circumstances listed include a close relative’s funeral or urgent medical treatment.
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The Wellington Phoenix’s unbeaten start to 2026 has come to an end.
The Phoenix have been beaten 4-1 at the Newcastle Jets.
The Jets led 1-0 at half-time after scoring their opener just one minute into the game.
Newcastle then added another two in the second half before the Phoenix were able to respond when new Norwegian attacking midfielder Sander Kartum scored just a handful of minutes into his club and A-League debut.
Wellington remain eighth, two points outside the top six, while the result moves Newcastle level with Auckland FC at the top of the ladder.
Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano was disappointed with the final result.
“Always disappointed when we lose, especially when it was pretty even in terms of big chances created,” Italiano said.
“It was a 50-50 game in terms of possession, we just got punished for some sloppy defending.
“But in fairness they probably deserved the points.”
Corban Piper of Wellington PhoenixAAP / Photosport
Italiano doesn’t believe his side has taken a step backwards after two wins and a draw to start the year.
“If we didn’t make any chances, we got torched 4-1 and we weren’t in the game then I would be a little bit worried.
“On a better day honestly it could have been four-all. If we defend a little bit better we could have won the game 4-3.
“I’m still positive with how the team played in certain periods.”
Italiano named the same eleven which started Sunday’s 2-0 win over Sydney FC and included Kartum on the bench following his arrival from Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts.
The Phoenix play Melbourne City at home next Friday.
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Adelaide 36ers celebrate victory over the New Zealand Breakers.David Rowland / PHOTOSPORT
A disastrous last few seconds has cost the Breakers as they were beaten by the Adelaide 36ers in their NBL game in Auckland.
The top of the table 36ers won the game 112-110 with a buzzer-beater in over-time.
The Breakers trailed by 10 points with three minutes remaining in regulation before captain Parker Jackson-Cartwright inspired his side and sent the game into extra time.
The Breakers were well placed for most of the overtime period, however they conceded a turnover when they failed to inbound the ball in time with just ten seconds remaining and leading by one.
Bryce Cotton then stepped up with a three-pointer with one second remaining to clinch the game and silence the local fans.
Karim Lopez, Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Izaiah Brockington all scored 21 points for the Breakers while Sam Mennenga had 20.
The Breakers are seventh on the table with a 10 and 17 record.
They play Melbourne United at home next Friday.
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A healthy sex life can look different for everybody, but for many couples, the thing they look to is how often they are having it.
“It’s probably the number one measure that people use to assess relationship success,” explains Kassandra Mourikis, a sex and relationships therapist in Naarm/Melbourne.
“And it’s not necessarily an accurate indicator, but an indicator that almost everybody goes to.”
Couples are sometimes surprised when desire drops off, or fluctuates, as a relationship progresses, Isiah McKimmie says.
123RF
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The landslide at State Highway 35, Punaruku, on the way to Hicks Bay.Supplied
It will take weeks of work to clear part of State Highway 35 on the East Cape where a “massive landslide” collapsed the road down the hill.
The section in Punakaru, near Te Araroa Camp and on the way to Hicks Bay, was one of multiple hit in the ferocious storm which ripped across the North Island this week.
It’s the biggest challenge the area faces following the storm, NZTA regional manager for maintenance and operations Rua Pani said.
Slips across SH35 above Hicks Bay Motor Lodge.Supplied
“There has been a landslide, and it has completely overrun the road and collapsed State Highway 35 down the hill.
“The recovery job for this one is a big one. This is not days of work, this is weeks of work, to clear that slip.”
Despite the size of the landslide, Pani said she believed the road was fixable.
It meant coastal communities between Pōtaka near Hicks Bay and Tikitiki remained cut off. Crews were working to reopen access either side of Hicks Bay, Pani said.
NZTA estimated about 500,000 cubic metres of material would need to be removed across the whole of State Highway 35, with multiple other slips along the route.
Debris on SH35.Supplied
That included another large slip at Hicks Bay which swept across the state highway and into the motel lodge.
Pani said Taurangakoau Bridge over Mangaowira Stream had partially washed away, with work underway to secure contractor access across the bridge.
She urged people to be cautious about driving in the open sections of State Highway 35, where workers were still clearing debris, trees and culverts.
“If you don’t need to travel up there it’s not a good idea to go tiki-touring to have a look. It is still a construction zone.”
State Highway 2, between Gisborne and Ōpōtiki through the Waioeka Gorge, was still closed – forcing a long detour through Napier, and State Highway 5 to Taupō for those heading north, Rua said.
“We do acknowledge that detour is really problematic for the community, for businesses, for freight, which is why we are working really hard to reopen state highway 2 at Waioeka, to reopen that link.”
State Highway ‘critical lifeline’ for communities
Tash Wanoa, Te Araroa civil defence co-ordinator, said State Highway 35 is a “critical lifeline roading network” for communities on the East Cape.
“It’s what connects us to health services, lifeline utilities and supplies like Pak’n Save, supermarkets, even fuel, gas, generators, we need State Highway 35 to survive.”
Te Araroa was cut off right now – and Wanoa said she was hoping access would be restored soon.
She said once State Highway 35 on both ends reopened, Hicks Bay residents would have the option to go to Ōpōtiki, and Te Araroa residents could go to Gisborne.
But Wanoa said the Hicks Bay and Te Araroa communities were closely connected, with Hicks Bay needing Matakoa Health Centre, in Te Araroa, for health services and fuel.
The volunteer fire brigades also worked together, and Te Araroa would now have to access St John services from Ruatoria, about 30-45 minutes away on a good day.
“It’s really critical that that hill is reinstated, so that we can key lifelines in.”
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NZ First leader Winston Peters speaking at Rātana.RNZ / Pokere Paewai
Analysis – Whether it was the prime minister’s absence, the demise of the Treaty Principles Bill, or the coming election, rhetoric at Rātana was cooler this year.
The weather was out to match, with thunder and heavy rain pouring down on what had been a sunny day before the politicians spoke.
The annual event sees political parties, other than ACT, make an appearance at the small settlement south of Whanganui in a pilgrimage to honour the birthday of the church’s founder Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, who was known for his political mission as well as his spiritual one.
The past four years have led to fiery exchanges.
In 2023, Jacinda Ardern had just announced her resignation and Christopher Luxon was on the warpath – criticising Labour over co-governance for what he said was a “a “divisive and immature” debate.
Some would no doubt argue Luxon’s coalition deals later that year opened the door to yet more division and immaturity by allowing ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill to progress.
Politicians welcomed to Rātana.RNZ / Pokere Paewai
Having been named prime minister just the previous month, his reappearance at Rātana in 2024 saw him directly warned that Māori would fight any attempts to meddle with Te Tiriti.
That promise came to fruition that November with the hīkoi mō te Tiriti – believed to be New Zealand’s largest protest – for the bill’s first reading.
It was no surprise, then, that Luxon faced more anger when appearing at Rātana in 2025.
Kiingitanga representative Rahui Papa at the time warned Luxon Te Tiriti was “sacrosanct” and the Māori nation was “at the highest level of concern that it has been for a number of years”.
The bill was then defeated in April, although its main proponent David Seymour had vowed to continue campaigning for it in the coming election.
Kiingitanga spokesperson Rahui Papa speaks to political parties.RNZ / Pokere Paewai
In a move supported by opponents like Chris Hipkins and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Luxon chose to survey storm-damaged regions instead of returning to Rātana this year.
Doubtless that took some of the heat out of the exchanges at the pae, where Papa committed to working with any political party but that there were some times politicians should not get involved.
Another Kiingitanga representative, Tukoroirangi Morgan, said Māori had realised in response to the coalition that they had to stand on their own two feet.
“We can’t rely on the Crown to do everything for us… our people know that’s our reality,” he said.
“When you’re pushed into a corner and when you’re marginalised and minimised the way we have been – for all the pieces of legislation that have been demolished by this government – it makes us much more united… so that we can survive in the long term.”
He said if the election resulted in “more of the same” it would be challenging, but that this also reflected a maturation of the relationship between Crown and Māori.
That said, the relationship was not healthy.
“It’s pretty fractured right now,” Morgan said. “There’s a lot of separation. There’s huge division… we have a far greater desire to do things for ourselves.”
A separation; a relationship grown frosty. With all Seymour’s railing against the idea of the Treaty as a partnership, the Kiingitanga seems to have got that message.
The stance may be led by Kuini Arikinui Nga Wai hono i te po whose name signifies a connecting of peoples, and whose coronation in late 2024 has been followed by economic initiatives including a summit and a seed investment fund.
It points to a more independent Māoridom cutting any government purse strings that could lead to potential entanglement.
Or it may also show an inclination to turn over a new leaf, to turn the page, to draw a line under the divide – or simply to wait out the election to see how the chips fall.
“If you’re strong in your spirit and you’re strong in your wairua, then your physical ailments can be overcome,” Papa said.
The 7 November election date would also have been weighing on the minds of all those at Rātana, not least because of Papa pointing out that the following day, was the date Rātana received his vision.
But with nearly a full year of campaigning ahead, political parties are keeping some of their rhetorical gunpowder dry – and Papa knows this.
“Over the next wee while, we are expecting to hear your strategies, your procedures and your processes to be able to bolster, support te ao Māori – because when it’s good for Māori, it’s good for everybody,” he said.
“We want to go into a better tomorrow, and we can only do that when we sit down and talk with each other.”
Whether it’s Luxon sitting down for talks as prime minister again in a year’s time is anybody’s guess with the polls this close.
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A search continues by local emergency services for missing people following a landslide at Mount Maunganui in Tauranga.AFP / Ben Strang
Search teams are still trying to find six people who are believed to be buried under a landslide in Mt Maunganui following this week’s devastating storms.
Emergency services are also trying to track down three other people who may have been at the campsite at the time the landslide hit.
An independent review into “all aspects leading up to” the landslide had been ordered on Friday, Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale said.
“It is important that we have a clear and accurate understanding of the facts and events leading up to the landslide, so that we can ensure that the future safety of the community is appropriately safeguarded.”
Work was underway to determine the review’s scope, what expertise was needed and the timeframe for delivery.
Follow the RNZ liveblog at the top of the page for the latest updates.
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The damaged property at Welcome Bay.RNZ / Calvin Samuel
A vigil was held at a church in Tauranga on Friday night for a young boy who died in a Pāpāmoa landslide.
Two people, including the boy, had been confirmed dead in Welcome Bay, while six people were known to be missing in a separate landslide at the base of Mt Maunganui.
St Peter’s Anglican Church musical director Chalium Poppy said the boy – who died with a relative in a house on Welcome Bay Road – was due to come to a piano lesson at the Mt Maunganui church on Thursday.
“It’s all just very raw, like it’s just happening, there are still people that are missing,” he said.
“We’re just responding the only way that… the church knows how, and that’s to sort of open up our doors, provide sanctuary, provide a place for people to come and pray and sit in silence and light a candle. We’re here to serve the community, so that’s exactly what we do, and especially in times of need.”
Poppy said the boy only recently began learning how to play piano with him.
“He was just really bright and incredibly talkative… asked lots of really great questions, like a really cool, sort of inquisitive mind, and obviously talented musically.”
A Chinese woman, believed to be the boy’s grandmother, also died when a landslip hit the house they were in.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the losses were “deeply shattering” and New Zealand was “heavy with grief”.
Excavators have been working on moving piles of rubble while support workers on foot point out the next spot for them to dig.Calvin Samuel / RNZ
Kate, who was in an apartment near the slip, said she could hear the crews working.
“They had spotlights on, so the whole side of the mountain was pretty bright, you could hear sort of people obviously working all night… they were there all night,” she said. “The families that must be waiting, it must be horrific for them.”
Robyn Leech said the huge of scale of the slip felt “unreal” – she had seen four diggers working at the scene on Friday morning.
Emergency workers close a road following the landslide.DJ Mills
Rachel and Brooke Baldwin came to the cordon near the campsite on Friday with several trays of muffins to feed emergency services and the locals who had gathered.
The disaster had left them shocked, and baking was how they knew they could help.
“We’re not professionals in terms of surveying the land, or you know, testing the earthworks, we can’t help physically but what we can do is bake and we can show out appreciation and our gratitude for the people all over New Zealand that are coming to Mt Maunganui to help our community,” she said.
Mother and daughter bakers dropping off muffins at the scene at the landslide.Alan Gibson / Gibson Images Ltd
Angela Rangi, a Mt Maunganui local, said she visited the hot pools every morning. She had been there the morning of the slip, too, but left before it came down.
Nothing was amiss when she left, she said, but 15 minutes later, she heard a lot of sirens and returned to a disastrous scene.
Local MP Sam Uffindell said it was a sombre day and appeared visibly upset after meeting with families inside the cordon.
Police and fire leaders said it would not be possible or appropriate to discuss the details of anyone rescued or recovered, until identification takes place and families have been informed.
They repeated the message to a media conference on Friday afternoon.
Aassistant national fire commander David Guard at the scene.Calvin Samuel / RNZ
‘Still very much a rescue operation’
“We are in the middle of a rescue operation, and it would be insensitive on families to talk about that openly in the public arena,” assistant national fire commander David Guard said.
“We are continuing to treat this as a rescue operation.”
Luxon said waiting families were dealing with “high anxiety and deep distress”, and the emotions were hitting them all differently.
A man whose relative was among those missing, said she had been running around telling everyone to go before the landslide.
Meanwhile, police were asking anyone with video footage of the slip to send it to them.
As emergency crews swapped shifts and fresh search and rescue staff came in, police district commander Tim Anderson said they were “living in hope” of pulling people out alive from the landslide, as survivors had sometimes been safely rescued in similar circumstances overseas.
*Six people remain unaccounted for, but the whereabouts of three others is also unknown – though it’s believed they are tourists and may have already left the area. Police have appealed for video footage anyone has to be uploaded via the police’s online portal.”
Anyone with information that could help could contact police via the 105 service, referencing Operation Sunbrae.
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Australia’s two federal combating antisemitism bills, the New South Wales laws providing the means to shutdown street protests and move on stationary public assemblies, along with the envoy’s plan to combat antisemitism and the Royal Commission into the same prejudice, have all been set in place following two ISIS-fuelled killers murdering 15 people at Bondi Beach six weeks ago.
While some of these measures were drafted in a hurry immediately post-Bondi in a theatrical attempt to prevent what had already occurred, much of the “combating antisemitism” smorgasbord of laws that serve to clamp down on free speech and the right to political communication in general, appear to have been waiting in the wings for the right political moment to enact.
These dramatic changes that have been foisted upon the country’s public square have been central to a broad campaign that the Zionist lobby has been progressing both locally and throughout the Western world, which is difficult to pin down as most of this advocating takes place behind closed doors, while when featured in the media, these positions are increasingly reflected as the norm.
A key outcome of the doctrine of Zionism is the displacement and genociding of Palestinians. And it is these truths, and the fact that the Gaza genocide is in progress, that make it necessary to progress the lobby’s agenda right now.
But while the Albanese government is implementing the envoy’s plan and a Royal Commission into antisemitism, which both include a definition of antisemitism that serves to block criticism of Israel at the behest of the lobby, the scope of the federal hate laws further reveal desperate Labor and Liberal parties attempting to shore up power in the face of a drastically shifting political climate.
McCarthyite Zionism While the Israel lobby has long been understood to have an excessive influence upon the US political establishment, the sway of the Zionist lobby in Australia had not been common knowledge among the broader public until Gaza, as over the past 26 months of the mass slaughter and starvation programme, the lobby’s propaganda machine has been actioned in an attempt to hide this.
As the internet filled with footage of Israeli state actors perpetrating horrific acts in the Gaza Strip in late 2023, the Australian public sphere became a place to attack constituents for speaking out about this worst atrocity since the genociding of Jewish people during the Second World War, and the key way to silence these critics was to charge them with antisemitism — the hate that stoked the Holocaust.
The central target of the local Zionist lobby has been the Palestine solidarity movement, which has been a loud secular voice sprung from a diverse constituency.
Yet, federal and state Labor leaders have been labelling these people, who have been calling for an end to the practice of exterminating humans to obtain land, as outright antisemites and further implied they’re somewhat terroristic.
According to US professors Noam Chomsky and Judith Butler, the Israeli state and the Zionist lobby commenced framing criticism of Israel as antisemitic in the late 1960s.
This idea is predicated upon Israel being a Jewish state. It denies the fact that many Jewish people globally don’t adhere to the doctrine of Zionism. And it rests on a flimsy link that only holds because of the force of the lobbyists.
This had appeared to be spurred by the moral panic around antisemitism, however it has since come to light that the envoy programme exists across the Western world, with the first US envoy appointed in 2004.
At its heart, the plan inserts the IHRA definition of antisemitism that blocks criticism of Israel into every level of Australian government and all its institutions. Further aspects involve the monitoring of tertiary institutions and the media for antisemitism or rather, anti-Israel sentiment.
The IHRA working definition of antisemitism comprises of two lines and 11 examples of hatred towards Jewish people, seven of which involve criticising Israel.
The body that produced it has never officially adopted it. However, as one of its drafters has been warning over the past decade, the Zionist lobby has been weaponising the definition to silence anti-Israel criticism globally.
The determination to hold a Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is the result of an all-pervasive campaign to see it established post-Bondi massacre, with the suggested reason being to understand how such a terrorist action was able to come to fruition.
Further moral panic However, the criminal case against one shooter rules this out, so the inquiry will likely serve to stoke further moral panic.
So, the blanket ban on protests, or the public assembly restriction declaration regime rolled out post-Bondi, can be understood as not only placating the Zionist lobby, via the silencing of Palestine solidarity rallies on Gadigal land in the Sydney CBD, but it’s also as a continuation of the closing of the public sphere.
The 50 pages of hate crime laws the Albanese government whipped out of its back pocket last week, appeared so broad that the suggestion is the measures were in the works long before the antisemitic attack in Bondi on 14 December 2025.
ASIO boss Mike Burgess hinted at a need for these last year, so as to stamp out groups, like the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network and Islamic group Hitz ut Tahrir, as they had both been understood to be hovering just beneath the threshold of criminal activity.
But further, these laws sitting on the books could likely be used by a future “true blue” führer, so that their opposition can be eradicated on taking office.
The fallacy of necessitated free speech denial NSW premier Chris Minns’ favoured mantra over the period of the Gaza genocide — or the rise in antisemitism in Australia if one is being “politically correct” — has been along the lines of “the reason NSW does not have free speech protections like they do in the United States, is that this state has a multicultural society and therefore, divergent voices must be tempered”. Yet, this is a lie.
During the 1890s drafting of the Australian Constitution, those involved determined not to enshrine rights in the founding document, as it might result in discriminatory laws already on the books that specifically applied to First Nations people and Chinese people becoming invalid, former High Court Justice Micheal Kirby has noted on occasion.
The premier is not only progressing this line when the moral panic around antisemitism is in full flight, but he is also suggesting that the right to free speech should not be protected in NSW, over and over again, after NSW MP Jenny Leong introduced the Human Rights Bill 2025 last October, which seeks to protect free speech, or “freedom of opinion and expression”, among other rights.
The failure to protect free speech in this country was initially about maintaining power when attempting to establish an ethnostate. But the ongoing denial of rights protections since Australia embraced multiculturalism commencing in the 1970s, has really been about politicians maintaining power, and not an attempt to save various ethnic groups living here from annihilating each other.
The idea progressed by Minns is that the broad free speech protections in the United States, which are contained in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, would be a problem in our community because it is multicultural.
However, while the US has traditionally been understood to have been a melting pot of different ethnicities, what is operating as societies in both countries today are based upon multiethnicities, and they’re pretty much the same.
The progression of the “combating antisemitism” laws and policies right now is all about placating the Zionist lobby, while Israel takes as many pounds of flesh as it desires upon occupied Palestinian territory, in order to prevent the ongoing mass civil society outcry over this ethnic cleansing, the mass starvation and mass murder, along with the genocidal tactics that are ongoing in the Gaza Strip.
Yet, the federal listing of prohibited hate group regime also provides the ability to the major parties to criminalise their political opponents as hate groups — think, the Greens — at a point in time when the long-term capture of holding government office by the majors is now under threat.
Conjoined twin Sawong from PNG wears a party hat as his family and staff at Sydney Children’s Hospital celebrate him reaching 100 days old.Supplied/Jurgen Ruh/Manolos Aviation
The parents of rare conjoined twins say doctors in Papua New Guinea told them to take the boys home as they were beyond hope.
“Thank God we [defied them] and we are where we are,” the boys’ dad Kevin Mitiam, who is also a twin, said in Tok Pisin.
Tom and Sawong – who were fused at the lower abdomen – had unplanned emergency surgery to divide them at Sydney Children’s Hospital on 7 December.
The surgery was brought forward as Tom, the weaker twin, was deteriorating rapidly. A large multi-disciplinary team took seven hours to separate the boys but Tom died soon after he was detached from his brother.
The team spent a further five hours working on Sawong, who is doing well and could return home by the end of February.
“The Port Moresby General Hospital paediatrician team told us [twice] to go back home, that there was no hope for them,” their mum Fetima said in Tok Pisin.
“We were even told not to trust Jurgen Ruh [the family’s spokesperson] because they said he was giving us false hope.
“I am happy and I laugh when I see my baby Sawong and think about that advice,” she said.
“I am full of hope, I cuddle him and talk to him every day, as he grows.”
RNZ Pacific has reached out to Port Moresby General Hospital for a response.
The two-month-olds were medivacced from Port Moresby to Sydney on 4 December, following medical advice that they undergo urgent surgery.
The move followed weeks of tense wrangling over the viability of separating them, which country would accept the case and perform the operation, and how it would be financed.
The boys shared a liver, bladder and parts of their gastrointestinal tract, but had their owns limbs and genitals.
They also had partial spina bifida – a neural tube defect that affects the development of a newborn’s spine and spinal cord. Tom also had a congenital heart defect, one kidney and malformed lungs.
Doctors at Port Moresby General Hospital initially explored the possibility of transferring the twins to Sydney, but the plans fell through when funding from a charity was pulled.
The hospital later made a u-turn and advised the couple to stay in PNG or face the death of either one or both of the boys.
The medical director Dr Kone Sobi said previously that multiple discussions led to their final decision, and added: “The underlying thing is that both twins present with significant congenital anomalies and we feel that even with care and treatment in a highly specialised unit, the chances of survival are very very slim.
“In fact the prognosis is extremely bad and the twin’s future is unpredictable.”
Manolos Aviation pilot Jurgen Ruh with Sawong at Sydney Children’s Hospital. Ruh flew Sawong and his conjoined twin Tom to Port Moresby General Hospital from their home in remote Morobe Province after they were born.Supplied/ Jurgen Ruh/ Manolo Aviation
Ruh told RNZ Pacific on Thursday that although Sawong remains in intensive care, monitored constantly by a specialist nurse, he is “strong and doing well”.
He was no longer on a ventilator, did not need supplementary oxygen and was gaining about 50 grams a day in weight, he said.
“The hose fitting on his nose is simply to monitor his breathing and to assist a little with extra pressure in his lungs.
“Doctors have now closed up a hole in his stomach with stretched skin and he is improving every day, but it will be another month or so before he is released, possibly by the end of February.
“Occasionally Sawong gives the biggest smile on earth; he is just happy with what he has.”
The hospital recently celebrated Sawong’s reaching 100 days old with a simple but touching celebration.
“It threw a little party for Sawong, his parents and all the staff who have been part of his journey. Fetima cut a frozen cheesecake on his behalf,” Ruh said.
A massive funeral for Tom was held a month ago at the Mega Church in Hillsong, Sydney.
The family are expected to scatter his ashes after they return home to their remote village in PNG’s Morobe Province.
While the complex surgery was a success, the results were bittersweet for the parents.
“I thought it was amazing, after the surgery a nurse gave Tom to them and they spent hours just cuddling him,” Ruh previously told RNZ Pacific.
The parents had been through a “rollercoaster” of emotions since the twins were born on 9 October.
“They had accepted that they would lose Tom and there’s been many tears shed along the way,” he said previously.
Ruh said last month that at one stage during negotiations the Sydney Children’s Hospital requested AUD$2 million to do the operation, but funds and guarantees could not be found.
RNZ Pacific understands that the parents had approached the PNG government for funding, but Ruh would not confirm this.
The ABC had reported that the hospital had asked for payment before the twins were transferred from PNG; however Ruh said as far as he knew no money had changed hands.
When asked how it was financed he said: “It’s a mixture of funding which took too long to organise.
“It should never have taken eight weeks to get the twins separated, it should have happened in eight days, but no referral pathway [to a foreign hospital] exists,” Ruh said.
He laid the blame on the PNG health system, and said babies born prematurely or with birth defects were lost in the system.
“It was a very disappointing ride we had, in terms of overall support from Port Moresby General Hospital. Then there were delays in getting them to Australia.
“We were exploring faster options, but we did not have any support.”
The boys were eventually moved from the public hospital to Paradise Private Hospital in Port Moresby, which provided them with free care.
The family felt the twins would be “safer” and have less chance of cross-infection from other babies, particularly of malaria.
A multi-disciplinary team from Sydney Children’s Hospital flew to Port Moresby on 21 November to assess the twins, amid growing public pressure in Australia and PNG.
At that point the boys only had a combined weight of 2.9kg, and Tom was relying on Sawong to keep him alive.
Sawong (left) and Tom while they were being treated in Port Moresby General Hospital’s neonatal unit last year.Supplied / Port Moresby General Hospital
In a letter to doctors in PNG, the Sydney team said surgery was in fact feasible although Tom was not expected to survive it.
“The reason for the early separation is that Sawong is working hard to support Tom,” the letter said.
The team had recommended the twins be urgently transferred in a specialised aircraft with intensive care facilities plus medical and nursing personnel.
The boys underwent multiple investigations at Sydney Children’s Hospital, including an MRI and CT scan to define their anatomy and vascular supply.
“Before the surgery, the medical team [in Sydney] said it was a miracle that Tom had survived for two months,” Ruh said previously.
A huge team including liver surgeons, colorectal surgeons and urologists, specialised cardiac anaesthetists, cardiologists, neonatologists and interventional radiologists were involved in the surgery, supported by a large team of nursing and allied staff.
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Politicians welcomed to Rātana on Friday.RNZ / Pokere Paewai
The government has announced $10 million for Ringatū marae in Bay of Plenty.
Making the announcement at Rātana, regional development minister Shane Jones said the funding would boost resilience in the Wainui Marae infrastructure near Ōhope.
It followed similar previous investments at Waitangi, Rātana and Parihaka.
Jones said the build would create 71 jobs, and afterwards the marae complex would include a wharenui, wharekai, wharetāonga, wharepaku, and a modern safe space for worship, cultural events and learning.
“I acknowledge our Finance Minister [Nicola Willis] because we are short of putea, but she supported this,” he said.
“And no, this is not an attempt to get votes. If I was going to get votes, Waikato would have voted for me when I gave them $30 million for the Ruakura infrastructure.”
Earlier, Winston Peters also pushed back on the idea such funding could constitute a political bribe.
“No… you should understand that when we’ve come here, we’ve always left a gift. It’s the Māori way and we’ve done it for decades in successive governments,” he said.
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