Source: Radio New Zealand

MediMap, the hacked health portal, is heading to court to try to block people accessing and using the data that has been breached.

It was breached on Sunday, and the company has now taken the platform offline while it investigates.

It’s used for prescribing and giving medication in places like residential aged care, hospices, disability services and community health.

In a new statement on Wednesday, it said it was urgently seeking an injunction to protect the information of impacted people.

“This injunction would prohibit anyone from accessing, using, copying, sharing, or publishing any MediMap data that may have been unlawfully obtained, and would seek to limit any further spread of that information online,” it said.

MediMap said it also sincerely apologised for any distress the hack may have caused.

“We understand this situation is concerning for residents, patients, their families, and healthcare providers.”

It said its own investigation into what it called alleged unauthorised access and data modification was ongoing, and that the company was working to find any personal information that may have been accessed by an authorised third party.

“Once this process is complete and we have verified the facts, we will contact affected customers directly regarding any necessary next steps,” its statement said.

According to information sent by MediMap to care providers in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and seen by RNZ, fields that were changed included patient name, date of birth, location within the facility, assigned prescriber or pharmacy, allergy or intolerance information or discharge or deceased status.

Providers with the portal offline have told RNZ medication was now being organised the old-fashioned way – on paper.

A Nurses Organisation member at George Manning Lifecare and Village in Christchurch told RNZ they needed double the number of registered nurses on each shift just to give out medication.

Aged Care Association chief executive Tracey Martin said every care home had a “disaster” plan to fall back on in case of something like a system outage.

“Basically, they had to switch back to paper-based.”

She understood it was not having an effect on residents, who were all still receiving medication, but some facilities might have needed to bring in extra staff who were qualified to double check the medication, before it was given to residents.

“It certainly takes longer, it’s certainly more painful than the efficiencies that you get through a digital system,” Martin said.

Most of the questions being asked were: “Is my mum still getting her medication?” and “How are you making sure that she gets what she needs?”

“With regard to somebody being marked as deceased or not? Well, our facilities have got the person there, so they know they’re not deceased. So while from a system perspective that is really interesting and needs to be sorted, from a real-life perspective, that individual’s still there, still being cared for.”

FAQs released by MediMap

Among the information sent from MediMap care providers were lists of frequently asked questions those companies might be getting, and how to respond to them, along with a draft email providers could use as a template to inform patients, residents and families.

MediMap said it was working with external cyber security and forensic specialists, Health NZ, and relevant authorities to identify which facilities and resident records had been affected, and passwords were being reset across all users “as a precautionary measure”.

“Importantly, we have been advised that there is currently no evidence that medication charts or medication administration records have been altered,” it said.

“Has resident data been exposed? – At this stage, we cannot confirm whether any resident data has been accessed beyond viewing, extracted, or exposed externally. The investigation is ongoing.”

“When will our facility be brought back online? – Facilities will be restored in phases. Facilities where current resident information has not been modified will be restored first following internal validation. Facilities where resident information may have been impacted will be contacted directly by MediMap to confirm current resident details prior to restoration.”

“Why are discharged or deceased residents being reviewed? – Some resident status information may have been incorrectly modified. Historical records will be reviewed following restoration of current residents.”

What is the health agency saying?

Health New Zealand, while supporting the company’s investigation, said MediMap, as a privately owned company, was solely responsible for its security and it needed to do everything it could.

Its digital services acting chief information technology officer Darren Douglass said New Zealanders expected companies involved in healthcare to secure systems and platforms so private information was safeguarded.

Privacy commissioner says New Zealanders expect better

The privacy commissioner told Midday Report changing people’s information was as much of a breach of privacy as stealing it.

With the system offline, he said, patients are now “relying on the professionalism of the health sector” to ensure they got the right medication.

Michael Webster said New Zealanders rightly expected companies with sensitive information to have higher standards of privacy and protection than any other area.

“The expectation out there from New Zealanders is increasingly, this information has to be protected, and has to be seen to be protected as well as any information – and better.”

He said it was not yet known how many people had been affected.

The commission was working with MediMap to understand the scale of the hack, Webster said, and he expected to receive updates as that work progressed.

MediMap has declined an interview with RNZ, but has again been approached for comment.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Candidates contesting a local body election in Papatoetoe want ethnicity left out of the race as they vie for one of the four seats that are up for grabs.

A Manukau District Court judge in December voided the outcome of the 2025 vote for the Papatoetoe subdivision that forms part of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board.

The ruling came after irregularities were found on some ballot papers.

The decision has since been challenged in the Auckland High Court, with the winning candidates of the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team – Kunal Bhalla, Sandeep Saini, Paramjeet Singh and Kushma Nair – filing a petition for a judicial review.

High Court Justice Jane Anderson reserved her decision last week, calling it a “tricky, conceptual, intellectual exercise” and promising to deliver a judgement as quickly as possible.

On the campaign trail over the weekend, Bhalla said the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team had not been implicated in any electoral wrongdoing.

“It is important to emphasise that the honourable District Court did not make any findings of wrongdoing against the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team or any of its candidates,” Bhalla said.

“[But] after the decision, not only us but the entire Indian community has been targeted with racially motivated commentary.”

Rejecting allegations of electoral fraud, Paramjeet Singh took exception to language “defaming the entire South Asian community [used] by some vested interests who don’t like immigrants”.

“If I did something wrong – which I categorically say we didn’t – punish me,” he said. “Why are you calling my entire community a criminal?”

The Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team found unlikely support from the other side of the political spectrum, with all four Labour-affiliated candidates echoing a similar sentiment.

Three-term Labour MP Ashraf Choudhary, who has been a local board member since 2016, refuted the targeting of a particular ethnicity.

“People need to understand what happened here,” Choudhary said.

“When we got to know something wrong had happened, we went to the court,” he said. “The other party there – the defendant party – was Election Services … not other candidates.

“Later when the [District] Court found some evidence of fraud, it ordered a new election. That judgement [had] nothing to do with ethnicity and should be seen as such.

“I completely refute the racially targeting of one particular ethnicity with allegations of fraud.

“Even in our team … three of us are from South Asian background,” added the former lawmaker who immigrated from Pakistan decades ago, referring to teammates Raj Pardeep Singh and Avinash Kaur Dhaliwal, both of whom are of Indian origin.

Former Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board member Lehopoaome Vi Hausia, who filed the petition in the Manukau District Court, is the fourth member of the Labour ticket.

“As a New Zealand-born Tongan, I completely identify with what is happening with the Indian community after the District Court judgement,” Hausia said.

“The actions of a few, which undermined our democracy, is not a reflection of an entire community. Efforts to do so are unfortunate and condemnable.”

South Auckland-based criminal lawyer Raj Pardeep Singh said the misinformation contradicted progress the community had made over the years.

“Indians have been part of New Zealand growth story over three, four generations now, and we have constantly punched above our weight,” he said.

“In terms of owning small and medium-sized businesses to support the country’s economy and generate employment, the Indian community’s contribution in New Zealand is immense I would say.”

There was general agreement among the candidates that the Indian community lacked political representation, which had previously caused issues relevant to the community to be ignored.

“The situation is even more dire if you look at ethnic women representation in the local government,” Dhaliwal said. “This is why I have put my hand up to contest the local board elections.”

If elected, she wanted council and government information to be disseminated in major ethnic languages.

“I have been a social worker volunteering at the local gurdwara,” she said.

“In my experience, a lack of awareness due to language barriers is a big drawback ethnic women face here.”

Putting the debate over ethnicity to one side, it’s hard to differentiate between the campaigns run by the trio of four-member teams contesting the Papatoetoe election.

“Everyone wants a safe, clean and prosperous town,” said Peter Dons, who is running under the Independently Papatoetoe ticket with former local board member Albert Lim, Chris Webb and Weakley Alison.

“So we are campaigning on the usual things – transport hub connections, fixing potholes, more CCTV for better security, as well as keeping libraries open and municipal pools free.”

Saini of Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team said other concerns in the electorate included illegal dumping and roaming dogs.

“Papatoetoe has seen an increase in homelessness in recent years, which has caused problems of mental health and drug abuse,” Saini said. “If we get elected to the local board again, we will focus on these issues.”

Nair, an ex-banker, wanted better financial accountability of the local board finances.

“We will make sure all funding is equally divided between all subdivisions in our local board area,” he said.

Hausia from the Labour team, who was deputy chair of the local board last term, said housing intensification was a hot-button issue for the community, which he noted had been adding pressure on infrastructure, including roads and parking.

“We want to plant more trees as well,” Hausia said. “Papatoetoe has one of the lowest tree canopy cover in Auckland, which we need to improve.”

Bhalla, who called his colleagues “a team of first timers”, was determined to campaign hard over the next few weeks.

“We have amped up our efforts in terms of door knocking, attending events, mobilising the community and listening to their day-to-day concerns,” he said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Spark says it will be blocking phones unable to call emergency services on 111 after its 3G shutdown.

All three main mobile operators – Spark, 2degrees and One NZ – are shutting down their 3G networks and upgrading their sites to either 4G or 5G.

This means some devices, not just phones, but also things like medical, security alarms and vehicle trackers will cease working with the network. Phone calls, including to 111, will not work.

On Wednesday, Spark said it will be proactively blocking around 300 mobile phones that can make standard calls, send texts, and access data over 4G, but will be unable to make emergency 111 calls once its 3G network shuts down on 31 March.

It said these devices were not sold by Spark, and most of the impacted models are from the ASUS range.

Some of the phones can remain connected if a software update is completed. However, phones that are not updated, or do not have a software update available to them, will be permanently blocked from Spark’s network on 31 March.

“These mobile phones are unique in how they are impacted by the 3G shutdown. They can send texts, make regular calls, and access data, but they have not been correctly configured by the device manufacturers to connect to emergency calling over 4G,” Spark chief customer officer Greg Clark said.

“We believe this presents a significant safety risk. Customers using these phones could mistakenly assume their device is fully functional when it isn’t, particularly if it’s later sold, gifted, or handed down. It will only be once they try to call 111 that they will realise there is an issue, and by then it could be too late.”

Clark said the company has been monitoring Australia’s 3G shutdown and learned from its experience to block devices unable to call emergency services.

He said Spark has been contacting affected customers who need to upgrade.

To find out if your phone will work, you can text ‘3G’ to 550 for free, which will let you know if your device can use 4G. If it says you cannot, you will need to investigate further.

Some phones may need to change their settings, while others may need to be replaced.

For phones bought overseas that were having trouble connecting to 4G, telcos advise customers to try downloading the latest software. If this doesn’t work, customers may need to replace the phone.

Devices with no software update available that will be blocked from 31 March:

• ASUS ROG Phone 5S
• ASUS ROG Phone 6
• ASUS ROG Phone 6 Pro
• ASUS ROG Phone 6 Ultimate
• ASUS ZenFone 7 ZS670KS
• ASUS ZenFone 8
• ASUS ZenFone 9
• ASUS ROG Phone
• ASUS ZS672KS

Devices with software update available (will be blocked if this is not actioned before 31 March 2026):

• ASUS ROG Phone 7
• ASUS ROG Phone 8
• ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro
• ASUS ROG Phone 9
• ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro
• ASUS ZenFone 10

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man has admitted to murdering a woman on an Auckland bus two years ago.

Bernice Louise Marychurch was killed in October 2024 while on the Number 74 bus in Onehunga.

There were nine other passengers onboard.

The man charged with her murder, 38-year-old Kael Leona, handed himself in to police shortly after.

He had previously pleaded not guilty on grounds of insanity but at a hearing at the High Court in Auckland this morning, Leona pleaded guilty to murder and strangulation.

He was expected to go to trial in March.

Marychurch’s murder prompted a number of calls for more security aboard busses.

Auckland’s deputy mayor Desley Simpson hoped they would consider safety officers, while more police were allocated for public transport in the wake of the fatal stabbing.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown had said he would look into whether the Sentencing Amendment Bill should expand aggravating factors to all public transport users.

“An expansion could include making offences against all public transport users an aggravating factor, ensuring greater protection for those who rely on buses, trains, and ferries,” he said.

“The Bill already provides for a new aggravating factor for offences against public transport workers.

“This is about making sure that public transport remains safe for everyone, whether you are a worker or a passenger. It sends a clear message that violence and abuse in these spaces will not be tolerated.”

Police Minister Mark Mitchell had condemned the attack, calling it senseless and horrific, adding that peopled deserve to safe on buses, trains and ferries.

Meanwhile, Bus and Coach Association chief executive Delaney Myers told Morning Report there needed to be more people around and on buses to act as a deterrent for bad behaviour and to give people additional confidence using public transport.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man who stalked then murdered a woman in her Christchurch home has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Nathan Boulter was sentenced in the High Court at Christchurch this afternoon by Justice Owen Paulsen after pleading guilty to murdering Chantal McDonald in July last year.

He was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.

McDonald had been in a brief relationship with Boulter.

After she ended it, he harassed, stalked and threatened her, making nearly 600 calls in two weeks.

Boulter stabbed her 55 times with a hunting knife, as she arrived to her Parklands home with her children.

More to come …

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellingtonians can now swim at southern beaches after the sewage leak – but at their own risk.

The city’s southern coast has been off limits since the Moa Point treatment plant failed catastrophically on 4 February, sending about 70 million litres of untreated sewage to the sea daily. The no-go zones include Ōwhiro and Island bays, just a few kilometres from the plant.

Wellington Mayor Andrew Little announced on Wednesday that the city has returned to its regular system for updating residents about where it is safe to swim.

This means residents can check where it is safe to swim on the LAWA website and make their own informed decision about returning to the beaches.

“We have to be realistic and practical about what we’re asking people to do. Conditions can change rapidly. There are areas where the risk remains higher, such as near the short outfall pipe at Tarakena Bay,” he said.

Little advises residents to check the website before swimming and follow the advice on it.

“I do want to be clear: a risk remains, but monitoring results so far show that it is low and it is now up to people to decide how they respond to the current information,” Little said.

“I want to thank Wellingtonians and local businesses for their patience and understanding. Our city has rallied behind the workers who’ve been tireless in cleaning out the Moa Pt plant and walking the coast to keep people informed.

“Today’s progress marks a turning point, but we are far from the end of the journey. There is still a major infrastructure plant to restore, and lessons that must be learned through the Crown Review process.”

The government has launched an independent review into the Moa Point treatment plant failure.

It comes after the Wellington Water chair, Nick Leggett, resigned on 15 February, saying stepping aside would allow Wellington Water to focus on fixing the problems and restoring public trust.

Since the discharge began, an interagency group including National Public Health, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Wellington City Council and Wellington Water has been monitoring the water quality sample results.

If the short outfall is used, Wellington Water will alert LAWA immediately, who will continue to provide advice to the public about which beaches are safe to swim along the south coast. LAWA’s standard advice is not to enter the water during rainfall, or after rain for 48 hours.

Wellington Mayor Andrew Little and Wellington Water chief operating officer Charles Barker are speaking to the media from Lyall Bay beach. Watch it live in the player above.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The High Court trial of two men charged over the wrongful 1980s conviction of Alan Hall has been further delayed.

It had been due to start in Auckland on Monday but one of the defendants was too unwell to attend.

At another hearing on Wednesday, the four-week judge-alone trial was pushed back to next Monday.

The men, whose names and occupations are suppressed, are jointly charged with wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.

They earlier pleaded not guilty.

Alan Hall was jailed for life in 1985 for the murder of Arthur Easton, but was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2022 and awarded $5 million in compensation.

At the time Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann said it was a trial gone wrong, and that there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice and he should be acquitted.

Winkelmann said to conclude, it was clear that justice had seriously miscarried – either from extreme incompetence, or a deliberate strategy to achieve a conviction.

A third man facing similar charges to those in the current case died in 2024.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Care facilities have switched back to a paper-based system to manage medication, and are dishing it out by hand, while prescription portal MediMap is offline following a hack.

MediMap is used by some health providers in the aged care, disability and hospice sectors and the community to record medication doses and coordinate with pharmacies – and it includes people’s medication histories.

It was breached on Sunday, and the company has now taken the platform offline while it investigates.

According to information sent by MediMap to care providers in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and seen by RNZ, fields that were changed included patient name, date of birth, location within the facility, assigned prescriber or pharmacy, allergy or intolerance information or discharge or deceased status.

Providers with the portal offline have told RNZ medication was now being organised the old-fashioned way – on paper.

A Nurses Organisation member at George Manning Lifecare and Village in Christchurch told RNZ they needed double the number of registered nurses on each shift just to give out medication.

Aged Care Association chief executive Tracey Martin said every care home had a “disaster” plan to fall back on in case of something like a system outage.

“Basically, they had to switch back to paper-based.”

She understood it was not having an effect on residents, who were all still receiving medication, but some facilities might have needed to bring in extra staff who were qualified to double check the medication, before it was given to residents.

“It certainly takes longer, it’s certainly more painful than the efficiencies that you get through a digital system,” Martin said.

Most of the questions being asked were: “Is my mum still getting her medication?” and “How are you making sure that she gets what she needs?”

“With regard to somebody being marked as deceased or not? Well, our facilities have got the person there, so they know they’re not deceased. So while from a system perspective that is really interesting and needs to be sorted, from a real-life perspective, that individual’s still there, still being cared for.”

FAQs released by MediMap

Among the information sent from MediMap care providers were lists of frequently asked questions those companies might be getting, and how to respond to them, along with a draft email providers could use as a template to inform patients, residents and families.

MediMap said it was working with external cyber security and forensic specialists, Health NZ, and relevant authorities to identify which facilities and resident records had been affected, and passwords were being reset across all users “as a precautionary measure”.

“Importantly, we have been advised that there is currently no evidence that medication charts or medication administration records have been altered,” it said.

“Has resident data been exposed? – At this stage, we cannot confirm whether any resident data has been accessed beyond viewing, extracted, or exposed externally. The investigation is ongoing.”

“When will our facility be brought back online? – Facilities will be restored in phases. Facilities where current resident information has not been modified will be restored first following internal validation. Facilities where resident information may have been impacted will be contacted directly by MediMap to confirm current resident details prior to restoration.”

“Why are discharged or deceased residents being reviewed? – Some resident status information may have been incorrectly modified. Historical records will be reviewed following restoration of current residents.”

What is the health agency saying?

Health New Zealand, while supporting the company’s investigation, said MediMap, as a privately owned company, was solely responsible for its security and it needed to do everything it could.

Its digital services acting chief information technology officer Darren Douglass said New Zealanders expected companies involved in healthcare to secure systems and platforms so private information was safeguarded.

MediMap has declined an interview with RNZ, but has again been approached for comment.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two people are critically injured after the car they were in collided with a freight train near New Plymouth on Wednesday.

Emergency services responded to the crash off Mountain Road, State Highway 3A in Lepperton around 8.40am.

A spokesperson for Hato Hone St John said a helicopter, two ambulances, and one operations manager attended.

Two patients in a critical condition were taken to Taranaki Hospital, one by helicopter, and one by ambulance, they said.

Fire and Emergency shift manager Alex Norris said firefighters had to cut the car’s occupants free from the wreck.

The Serious Crash Unit was investigating and the road was down to one lane.

Kiwirail chief operations officer Duncan Roy said the accident happened on the Marton-New Plymouth Line at a private level-crossing.

He said the train was heading north to New Plymouth and the crossing is controlled by stop signs.

“In line with our standard practice our driver will be given leave, and all of our staff involved will be offered support from KiwiRail,” he said.

“Emergency services are attending the scene and any further comment should come from the police.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

• The Reserve Bank says banks should provide basic cash services
• Services should be walkable distance in urban areas or driveable in rural areas
• Services should include cash withdrawals, deposits and change
• The RBNZ suggest banking hubs in addition to what individual banks provide
• It says banks earn big enough profits to cover costs
• The RBNZ is seeking submissions, which close on 10 April

The Reserve Bank (RBNZ) is suggesting the banking industry should be forced to provide basic cash handling services to consumers and businesses throughout the country.

The central bank has opened a six week consultation process to get public views on ensuring and maintaining a minimum level of cash in districts.

RBNZ director of money and cash Ian Woolford said providing and handling cash should be a basic banking service.

“We believe banks must provide cash services to customers, free-of-charge, because cash is an essential part of a customer’s relationship with their bank.”

He said banks had been reducing the places where customers could get cash, bank cash or get change, especially in rural areas, with about 40 percent of bank branches closed over the past decade.

“We want this to change, and we are open as to how,” Woolford said.

“Cash benefits society, as it is used for economic, social and cultural reasons, and as the steward of cash we are focused on ensuring the cash system is healthy and available.”

The bank cash hub – walkable, driveable

The RBNZ said the most efficient way to provide minimum access standards was a ‘multi-bank, full-service cash site’.

Such hubs would offer customers of any bank three types of cash service – cash withdrawals, cash depositing, and cash swapping of high denomination bank notes for lower notes and coins.

It said five full service hubs currently existed in Martinborough, Ōpōtiki, Twizel, Waimate and Whangamatā, but were only available to ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, TSB, and Westpac customers.

Several other locations offered only partial services, or were open only to account holders of the bank providing the service.

The RBNZ has been running a trial in Waipukurau with an automated teller machine which offers 24 hours a day allowing people to swap cash for bigger or smaller denominations, to withdraw cash, and soon to be able to deposit business takings direct into accounts.

The proposal said banks should be responsible for ensuring enough cash service sites around the country, it suggested 2.5 sites for every 10,000 people.

Urban sites should be in areas where there were at least 1,000 people within three kilometres walking distance.

Rural sites would cater for between 200 and 1,000 people and be within 15 kms drive, or no more than 30 kms for remote areas.

The RBNZ produced 66 district maps with suggested urban and rural locations for the hubs.

It said arrangements for supplying and collecting cash from districts should be worked out later.

The banks should pay, they make enough profit

Woolford said the benefits of making cash available outweighed the costs.

He said cash services provided benefits to the country of $2.83 billion a year, with an estimated annual cost to the banks of around $104m.

“This cost is negligible when compared to the more than $10bn annual pre-tax profits earned together by the banking sector.”

Woolford said several other countries were moving in the same direction, and research showed a high level of demand for cash with more than 70 percent of small businesses saying they would be adversely affected if cash was unavailable.

The RBNZ’s own research showed 80 percent of adults used cash sometimes, more than half store cash and 8 percent relied on cash as their sole means of payment.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A controversial North Taranaki composting company has been fined more than $71,000 for discharging offensive odours described by neighbours as smelling like “faecal and pig effluent” from its site near Uruti.

The company pleaded guilty at the New Plymouth District Court to discharging odorous compounds between March and May 2024, when the discharges were not permitted by the resource consent held by Remediation NZ.

Site inspections from March to June 2024 by Taranaki Regional Council officers found a number of issues with the management of the site operations which contributed to “odour generation”.

This included uncontrolled venting of odours from compost piles due to insufficient capping materials and poor management of associated site operations resulting in the generation and subsequent discharge of offensive odours beyond the site.

Remediation NZ holds 10 resource consents at the site and conditions for these include that discharges of odour beyond the site’s boundary should not be “offensive or objectionable”.

Following the 2024 inspections, officers said the odour had an “unpleasant pig effluent character” and an “unpleasant faecal character” and was assessed as “offensive and objectionable”.

One inspection on 19 April 2024 detected an odour linked to the RNZ facility about 2.5km from the site’s entrance.

Assessments on 7 March and 24 April by the council were proactive monitoring while monitoring on 19 and 23 April, 11 May and 18 May were in response to complaints.

‘Offensive odour can be pervasive and life altering’ – judge

Prosecutor Karenza de Silva told the court that on five of the six dates, the alleged occurrences of the odour was assessed as offensive and objectionable at a residential address.

The court heard a victim impact statement from a neighbour who rated the odour’s severity as between six to eight out of 10 when he made several complaints.

Judge MJL Dickey said there was no doubt the odour was objectionable during the site assessments and it was likely the offensive odours were also emitted at other times.

“Offensive odour can be pervasive and life altering. It is difficult to escape, and I have no doubt that those experiencing it would have been revolted and distressed. I find the effects of the offending were serious.”

Judge Dickey took into account measures the company put in place to improve systems and infrastructure, but the offending demonstrated the site was not being adequately managed. The company’s culpability was “highly careless”.

While a 25 percent sentencing discount was applied to the $95,000 fine starting point for Remediation NZ’s guilty plea, no discount was applied for the “belated” remedial steps which were necessary and not a circumstance for a discount.

A discount for good behaviour was also denied by the judge due to the company’s long enforcement history at the facility.

TRC had issued Remedation NZ 16 abatement notices and 34 infringement notices between July 2009 and January 2024.

Remediation NZ had eight previous convictions under the RMA, including a conviction in 2010 for five discharges from its site.

‘A hugely detrimental impact’

Council compliance manager Jared Glasgow welcomed the fine imposed on Remediation NZ given the company’s long history of failing to comply with its resource consent obligations.

“We are pleased with the outcome of this case as the odours have made life very difficult for those living near to the composting site,” Glasgow said.

“The victim impact statements show that the offending had a hugely detrimental impact on residents in the Uruti Valley. Our officers saw this for themselves during the inspections and this was why it was important to bring this prosecution.

“The level of the fine and the fact no discounts were allowed for mitigation or good behaviour reflect the seriousness of the case.

“Hopefully the $71,250 fine will act as a deterrent and a reminder to resource consent holders that they have a duty to follow the rules and ensure discharges are not negatively impacting people living nearby.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Antarctica New Zealand is on the hunt for 40 people willing to brave the sub-zero temperatures and work in one of the most remote places on Earth.

The organisation is looking for everything from medics to chefs, electricians and engineers for its next summer and winter seasons at Scott Base.

Antarctica NZ chief executive and scientific advisor Professor Jordy Hendrikx told Morning Report it’s not necessary to have been to Antarctica,

“Basically, we are running a small town down there. We have to manage our own water, we have to manage our own power, manage our own sewage and also all the food and all the services will be provided to support science,” he said.

“Any of those support roles are really critical for us to ensure that we can be successful with our mission down in Antarctica.”

Hendrikx said the majority of roles are for the ‘summer season’, which runs in Antarctica from September through to February. During summer in Antarctica, the sun doesn’t set.

About 12 staff stay all through winter until October, which is a 13-month season at Scott Base.

The positions are in hot demand, as going to Antarctica, for many people, is a bucket-list opportunity.

Hendrikx said successful applicants will have specific qualifications and a good, can-do attitude.

“We need that real can-do attitude and a willingness to be part of a family, and to work down there and to live down there as part of a really tight community,” he said.

“It’s more than a job.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

It’s shaping as a chilly end to summer for the South Island as a cold snap brings low temperatures over the weekend.

A stunning day is forecast on Wednesday for most of the North Island and the top of the South Island with temperatures reaching the mid to late 20s, NIWA says, but the bubble is set to burst after that.

NIWA weather is forecasting that a front will deliver “some of the coldest air of the year so far to the South Island”.

️A sharp front is set to bring some of the coldest air of the year so far to the South Island, while a tropical low lurks north of NZ heading into the weekend.
Full video is up now on the NIWA site + app. Worth a watch. Cheers! -Chester pic.twitter.com/Er4y4E2FnL

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) February 24, 2026

MetService has forecast a high of just 15 degrees for Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill on Friday, and temperatures won’t get much warmer over the weekend.

MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane told Morning Report from Wednesday night a cold front will deliver chillier temperatures for Southland, Otago, Canterbury and up to parts of Marlborough.

The second cold front, due towards the end of the weekend, would continue the trend of cooler weather, especially along the south and east coasts of both islands.

“The South Island gets it from Friday and through the weekend but it does reach the North Island into Monday.”

NIWA meteorologist Chester Lampkin said a west south-west change will lead to showers and even thunderstorms across parts of the South Island on Thursday.

By Friday temperatures will be 3C to 5C below what is considered average in the South Island, he said.

Makgabutlane said it was also the middle of the tropical cyclone season at present.

Meteorologists would be keeping a close eye on a possible low pressure system forming near Vanuatu.

“It all depends on how it develops and also where it ends up moving … at this early stage it looks like it should be staying away from us but I think it is one to keep an eye on.”

Modelling would be updated daily with the latest atmospheric conditions and how it was tracking, she said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A 34-year-old man has been arrested after a shooting in Manurewa, Auckland.

Detective Inspector Shaun Vickers said officers were called to a property on Marumaru Lane at about 8.45pm on 18 February.

“The offender has gone to the door and asked for the victim, before allegedly shooting him when he came to the door,” Detective Inspector Vickers said.

“The victim was taken to hospital in a serious condition, and was very fortunate to have not suffered life-threatening injuries.”

Armed police carried out search warrants in Takanini and Manurewa in south Auckland at 3pm on Tuesday.

“The alleged offender was not located at either address, but as a result, he handed himself into Papakura Police Station not long afterwards and was taken into custody,” Vickers said.

Two arrests have now been made over the offending.

A 29-year-old woman, who is co-accused, will appear in court on Wednesday after initially being arrested last week.

The man will also appear in the Manukau District Court on Wednesday, jointly charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and commission of an offence with a firearm.

Vickers said further arrests cannot be ruled out as the investigation continues.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

After months of negotiating and strike action, Health New Zealand and the union for allied health workers have reached a deal.

The Public Service Association (PSA) said its more than 12,000 members – including physiotherapists, anaesthetic technicians, and social workers – voted overwhelmingly to accept the union-backed offer. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/582490/health-workers-should-accept-proposed-collective-agreement-union

The new collective agreement included a pay increase of 2.5 percent from December 2025 and a further 2 percent from December this year, in addition to a $500 lump sum payment.

The union said there was also a commitment to a new pay scale for sterile sciences technicians (who work with medical devices in operating theatres and wards), to improve safe staffing and set up a $400,000 national professional development fund.

PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said while the union didn’t get everything it asked for, it accepted it was the the best offer it could get for now.

She put the result down to industrial action.

“These workers went on strike during the Mega Strike on 23 October 2025 as well as a further strike late last year and their actions have made a difference.

“This outcome after seven months of bargaining shows what workers can achieve when they stand together.”

Fitzsimons said allied health workers delivered essential care to New Zealanders every day and the settlement was recognition of their contribution.

She said voting was now underway for two other collectives that covered more than 4000 members including mental health and public health nurses.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

An Auckland City councillor says a lack of parking in developments is leading to anxiety and disputes.

Directives for developers to provide a minimum amount of spaces were outlawed in most major cities in 2020.

But the government is looking at repealing the change and bringing back minimums for spaces.

Franklin Ward councillor Andy Baker told Morning Report something needs to change

“You’re seeing developments occurring in areas where there’s not sufficient public transport. People need vehicles, and there’s no ability for them to park, and so you’re getting people parking on footpaths, you’re getting people parking in empty sections in developments, on neighbouring properties,” he said.

“It’s causing anxiety, it’s causing disputes, it’s a failed experiment that needs to change.”

Baker said the issue would be well debated around the council table.

“I think there’s enough support for it around, if it makes sense and it’s defendable. I think there’d be support for it because I just don’t think this has worked out.”

The reality was some people still needed vehicles, he said.

“We’ve got to try and find a balance, and I don’t think there’s balance in what we’ve got at the moment.”

Baker said there was a way to find that balance.

“It’s been proven over the years that you can have affordable properties with car parking.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Two separate incidents on State Highway 1 in Kaiapoi, Canterbury, brought early morning traffic to a near-standstill.

Police were alerted to a two-vehicle crash on the soutbound side of the motorway about 5am on Wednesday.

Around the same time, a person stopped their vehicle in a lane on the northbound side, and was later taken to hospital.

Police were working to clear both lanes and said motorist should expect delays.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Wellington Mountain Bike festival kicks off this Friday with three days of racing, shuttle runs, food, beer and entertainment in three different trail spots around the city.

Local riders said up to 265km of trails made the capital a world-class riding destination worth celebrating.

They said riders in the capital were spoilt for choice.

Publicly accessible trails wind through the hills just a short pedal from almost every part of the city.

Matt Farrar – co-founder of festival organisers, Trails Wellington – said organisers could have chosen nearly a dozen locations to hold the events.

“We tried to get the right mix for beginner riders through to the more technical riders. Wainuiomata was perfect for the technical stuff as well as the family stuff. Matairangi’s so amazing being right in the centre of the city – we had to go with that one – and then Mākara’s our original famous mountain bike park, so they’re the three that gravitated to the top,” Farrar said.

Mākara Peak mountain bike park ranger Mark Kent said the sport’s popularity had exploded in Wellington over the last 20 years.

He said about 72,000 people visited the park – in the suburb of Karori – every year, and there was room for plenty more.

“Every second car coming into Karori on a Saturday has a bike on the back. The spinoff of that, the economic benefits for the cafe’s and for the bars in the suburb’s been fantastic and that’s similar across the city. Biking is social and so is going for a beer or going for a good feed afterwards as well,” Kent said.

The Wellington Off Road Riding Department, or WORD, runs skills courses for kids from seven to 17 years old.

The charity even has its own race team – Fast ForWORD.

Chief executive Nic Johnson said the festival was a chance to showcase the huge range of riding that had grown from trail builders’ efforts all around the city.

“Rotorua is very much one place, one network and same with Queenstown, you’re on the hill up at Skyline. Whereas we’ve got separate trail areas and it’s all a bit of insider knowledge about where the best trails are. We just need to connect them in a way and I think this mountain bike festival will do that. We’ve got three different venues over three days and people will get to taste a bit of each of them,” Johnson said.

Sixteen-year-old Ruben Armstrong said he would been taking advantage of the shuttles running in Mākara on Friday and competing in the Mt Victoria In’Duro Race on Saturday.

He said he loved riding the city’s terrain but it was the people he met out on the trails that made the capital so special for him.

“It’s awesome, it’s so buzzy. There’s always a good crew of people out. The trails are awesome, the location is awesome. It’s not a big drive out from the city. It’s always fun riding with people, everyone’s so friendly,” Armstrong said.

Co-founder of the Capital Kiwi Project, Paul Ward, said volunteers’ work building trails had helped provide access to the city’s green spaces, and was supporting planting and pest trapping efforts.

The work – along side Zealandia and groups like Predator Free Wellington – had resulted in a massive resurgence in indigenous wildlife around the city over the last 25 years.

“I grew up in Johnsonville in the nineties and my backyard was blackbirds, sparrows and possums and rabbits at night. Now I can open my door in the morning and hear kaka parrots, tui, kererū, kārearea the falcon and on the edges of Karori and places like Waimapihi you’re probably going to hear kiwi calling at night too,” Ward said.

The Wellington Mountain bike festival begins with a WORD-hosted youth ride, music, food and free shuttles trips about Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park this Friday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A study of river catchments in the Tasman District aims to make native restoration easier for landowners, while also working to protect communities during extreme weather events.

Back-to-back floods last winter caused extensive damage to farms and rural properties, with crops inundated with silt, fences washed away and land lost to swollen rivers. The repair bill for the Tasman District Council alone was estimated at $50 million, while the costs of insurance claims from the event were estimated at $37.4m.

The feasibility study was being led by Kotahitanga mō te Taiao, an alliance of 17 organisations in the top of the South Island including iwi, local councils and the Department of Conservation, and environmental not-for-profit The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand.

It aimed to investigate the most affordable and effective ways of restoring native habitats across the lowlands of the Motueka, Moutere and Riuwaka rivers.

Small scale restoration work already underway

For Debbie Win and her family, a stand of mature forest in the middle of their Dovedale farm had always been precious.

She said they fenced the area several years ago and had undertaken dedicated work to trap pests and remove weeds like Old Man’s Beard. The work had transformed the forest floor, which was previously bare.

Now, tiny lancewoods, ferns and beech tree seedlings were scattered beneath the established trees.

Washouts were still visible after last winter’s floods last caused widespread damage across the district, including on the Win farm, cutting off access to stock, washing out a large culvert and scouring out the land.

“It was probably the biggest heartbreak I have ever felt, I got to the stage where I couldn’t walk out the door, our [place] was wrecked, I couldn’t even begin to process what had happened down the valley.”

Former orchardist Dave Easton had spent the past decade constructing a wetland in the place of what used to be an apple orchard, but was originally a wetland on his property near the Moutere Inlet.

He was reversing the work put in by his forebears, but thought they would be proud of what he had done. Easton had funded all the restoration work himself and did not want to think about how much he had spent.

“We’ve got 65 different native species that have been planted so we are trying to establish that biodiversity hub and if we protect it and do predator trapping then we get the birds, in my dreams I would love to have kereru nesting on the property.”

His son, Elliot Easton, who co-ordinates the Moutere Catchment Collective said much of the land in the catchment was heavily modified and had been used to grow apples, grapes, hops and graze stock, which had an impact on sedimentation in the nearby inlet.

He noticed many landowners were starting to think about their properties differently.

“A lot of the land, especially in the Moutere, is not actually that productive so you have a lot of stock that is sometimes there as maintenance, like glorified lawnmowers, so people are really keen to establish natives on marginal land and sometimes across their whole property.”

He said time and cost were the biggest barriers but since the group was formed five years ago, more than 500,000 native trees had been planted and 50 kilometres of riparian fencing installed.

“The inlet has had a particularly hard time with a lot of sediment getting in there so a co-ordinated approach to mitigating sediment and stabilising waterways by planting them up is really important.”

Sky Davies runs the Tasman Environmental Trust and owns a blueberry farm in the Graham Valley.

In the last few years, she and her husband had planted a couple of thousand natives on their property.

She said the planting was the easy part, it was the maintenance and keeping weeds at bay that was the hard part as it could be time consuming and costly.

“What we really need is some ways to make the finances of it stack up and having some practical ways of rewarding landowners for that work, that’s what will lead to more scale and landowners being able to do more of it.”

A restoration model that can be used nationwide

The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa interim director Erik van Eyndhoven said the study aimed to investigate the most affordable and effective ways of restoring native habitats and would also look at how to increase resilience during increasingly frequent storms.

“This catchment has just been hit by a couple of really big events this last winter and there is a view if you do native restoration in the right places and the right way, it can actually help with some of those storm surges and those flood peaks.”

He said the country needed to find innovative ways of funding restoration work.

“What other mechanisms can we leverage, things like carbon markets or emerging biodiversity markets … or finding people who are willing to pay for this work at scale, and making that accessible to landowners to help take some of the pain out of the equation for them.”

Kotahitanga mō te Taiao co-chair Hemi Sundgren said it was important to take a collective approach, because large scale restoration work could not happen alone, and iwi leadership, combined with community knowledge and technical science was critical when trying to address the challenges the environment was facing.

The organisation had a shared goal of restoring up to 15 percent of lowland forest cover in the top of the South Island.

“This rohe suffers, like any other, significantly from sedimentation so the restoration of the lowlands project and the catchments is really, really important. The approach that we take from the mountains to the sea, is a great values and principles-based approach.”

The study was expected to take a year with landowners and community groups across the Motueka, Moutere and Riuwaka river catchments being called on to share their experiences.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Dual British citizens need UK passports to travel there from Wednesday – but can try their luck with an expired passport if they have to.

UK dual citizen Chris Betterton is among those outraged by the change to require British passports, describing it as a shambles, with “appalling communication”.

The move meant citizens of UK and Irish citizens needed a passport from one of those countries to enter Britain, and could be turned away at airport check-in if they did not have one.

However, the British High Commission confirmed on Tuesday additional temporary guidance had been given to airlines about travellers using expired (post-1989) passports. It said it was an operational decision for them whether to accept them.

“We recognise that this is a significant change for carriers and travellers, but we have been clear on requirements for dual British citizens to travel with a valid British passport or Certificate of Entitlement, in line with those for all British citizens,” said a spokesman. “At their own discretion, carriers may accept some expired British passport as alternative documentation.”

Emergency travel documents were available to some citizens if they urgently needed to enter the UK.

“In line with current practice, on arrival at the UK border, Border Force will still assess a person’s suitability to enter the UK and conduct additional checks if required.”

The House of Commons library guidance still said that operators were “unlikely to deviate from the guidance because they can be penalised for bringing inadequately documented passengers to the UK”.

The Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand declined to comment.

Betterton, who has a New Zealand mother but moved from the UK in 2017, said using an expired document was not a gamble worth taking. His parents were in their 80s and he may need to travel quickly if they became ill. He was also taking his family to visit next year.

The Wellingtonian wants a rethink, with an affordable and lifelong certificate of entitlement – which currently costs £589 (NZ$1330) – to make sure dual citizens did not have to bear ongoing costs.

Tremendous expense

“It’s been an absolute shambles, they haven’t given any explanation,” he said. “Like everything else, I don’t think they’ve thought through the consequences, I don’t think they’ve thought through the cost and expense, the fact they’re making it more expensive for British citizens to come to their own country than everybody else.

“I think their communication has been appalling. I did email the High Commission but they just ignored me. I’d like them to have announced it properly, like a good six months to a year ago. I’d also like there to be a grace period. And I’d like the certificate of enitlement to be much cheaper, and then that would be the obvious thing to do – now they’re not charging to transfer it between passports, you’ve got it for life.”

UK media was also now recognising the huge impact it was having on dual citizens including those who had to take up citizenship after Brexit, he said.

“We now need to go to the tremendous expense and waste of money of UK passports for the entire family rather than go on our New Zealand passports like our New Zealand friends can.”

Thousands of dual citizens from New Zealand had applied for passports since last month, many angry at what they believed was poor communication of a significant change.

UK MPs have called on the government to delay the enforcement of needing a UK passport or CEO.

NZ Post had been fielding complaints, too. Customer John Day said it took a month for his application to arrive in the UK, and at one point he and his wife were worried both had been lost – including the New Zealand passports they also sent – and his wife’s application has still not arrived.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Government has long promised to be tough on crime, and legislation could see a major crackdown on retail crime – but within the retail industry, the proposed hard-line changes are controversial

The man behind the controversial moves to crack down hard on retail crime is one step closer to getting his way.

Sunny Kaushal has been on a 10-year mission to deal to retail criminals with harsher penalties and give retailers and the public more powerful tools to fight them.

The measures are now part of proposed changes to the Crimes Act 1961 and include the most disputed aspect, citizens arrests.

Submissions closed last week and they will now go to select committee.

If the amendment is passed into law it will be a victory for Kaushal, who has long fronted for dairy owners in the call for tougher laws. But it comes at a cost.

The government group headed by Kaushal, which was set up to give expert advice, has collapsed and three members quit before it was due to wind up, exposing deep differences within the retail industry.

Today The Detail talks to three journalists who have delved into the work of Kaushal and the Ministerial Advisory Group for Victims of Retail Crime (MAG).

The group was set up in July 2024 to tackle rising retail crime by providing independent, actionable, and evidence-based policy proposals. According to a government press release it was set up to advise on “changes to the Crimes Act 1961 to strengthen self-defence, anti-social behaviour policies, and security regulations”.

The Spinoff’s special correspondent, Madeleine Chapman, says she’d been thinking about Kaushal for years as he was often in the media speaking on behalf of small retail businesses, particularly dairy owners, around ram raids and other crimes.

After poring over pages of material about him, going back many years, Chapman says she was impressed by his consistent message.

“He has really been on the same beat for the whole 10 years.”

Kaushal has been calling for more police, longer sentences, and making it easier to charge people who commit the crimes, she says.

“Part of me goes: that seems kind of strange for someone who’s speaking and canvassing lots of opinions to have that same strong opinion the whole time.

“Another part of me was surprised that he has kept the energy and the momentum and I think that is why he has had such staying power,” Chapman says.

What emerged from her investigation was more than the story behind the group of retail leaders unravelling, it was about one man who continued to push through his campaign with a “little bit of tunnel vision” despite strong opposition from many parts of the retail industry.

“It is quite incredible that he has come against all these people, all of his colleagues saying all sorts of stuff. That has worked, they accepted the group’s recommendations and now it’s proposed legislation.”

Jimmy Ellingham, RNZ’s Checkpoint reporter, says when the government announced the Ministerial Advisory Group in 2024, it cited an 86 percent rise in retail crime over five years, while Kaushal pointed out that retail crime costs $2.7 billion a year.

“So this was set up in response to that and the objectives at the time were said to do the likes of empowering security guards at retail premises and give business owners of retailers more power to deal with shoplifting. There was also mention of facial recognition technology. This group was set up to look into those issues,” Ellingham says.

Ellingham and Checkpoint senior producer, Louisa Cleave, looked into ministerial advisory groups, compared their budgets and the time spent by the members.

“It’s not unusual that this was set up and the remit was a bit of a blank canvas. The minister Paul Goldsmith said on this show, ‘I want them to throw any and every idea at me’.’”

Goldsmith told Checkpoint he wanted them to push the barrow, though suggestions such as allowing people to use pepper spray to deter criminals was considered a step too far, says Cleave.

The group had a very good scope of experts but somewhere along the way, something went wrong, she says.

“There’s been one aspect that seems to be the most controversial and that’s the citizens arrest powers. We’ve heard from two quite strong groups, Retail NZ and the Police Association, since submissions closed last week that they have some serious concerns.”

Chapman says submissions show the concerns around arming security guards and making citizens arrests are shared by others in the industry, like petrol station owners.

“They were against any sort of citizens arrest or any sort of expectation that your regular retail worker should be trying to stop armed offenders. Currently what they do is say, ‘keep safe, make sure people are safe, the person will likely leave, call the police’.

“And then when you read the submissions some of them are quite strongly worded about how ridiculous this whole idea sounded.”

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