Source: Radio New Zealand

A Te Puna resident says his grandchildren no longer walk around the small seaside town for fear of aggressive, roaming dogs.

Tommy Wilson, an author and grandfather, carries a golf club following dog attacks on the east side of Te Puna, on the outskirts of Tauranga.

One woman, who did not want to speak to Checkpoint, was attacked and bitten by a dog while out walking five years ago.

There had been two other minor attacks on a person and another dog reported to council in the past six months.

Wilson raised his concerns about wandering dogs in Te Puna before a fatal dog attack in Northland last Tuesday.

Mihiata Te Rore was attacked and killed by three dogs while visiting a property in Kaihu, north of Dargaville.

The 62-year-old is the fourth person killed by dogs in the past four years.

At the weekend a father was seriously injured while protecting his son from a dog attack at a property they were visiting in Christchurch. Both were hospitalised.

Last year, Auckland Council alone received almost 17,000 reports of roaming dogs and more than 1300 reports of dog attacks on people.

In Te Puna, Wilson said residents had been wrestling with an increasing number of aggressive dogs for years.

“I walk around the road with my trusty four-iron.”

Wilson said he had been forced to hit dogs.

“I’ll give them a good club and with my tokotoko. I’ll smack them… yeah I actually punched a dog in the face because that was the only way to get it to back off.

“It was just coming too close and snarling, baring the teeth, not looking cool. And I’m sure everyone can tell you a dog war story in this town.”

While Checkpoint was visiting Te Puna, a big dog wandered across the rugby club field, past our cameraman and up to a nearby playground where two mums were chatting with three young children in tow.

One mum pulled a toddler close and the other – carrying a baby – gave the dog a wide berth as it wandered around the playground before eventually trotting off in the direction it had come.

It was unclear who or where the dog’s owner was.

Wilson said he was not the only one to carry a weapon while out walking. He said a neighbour carried a large tokotoko (ceremonial walking stick).

“He refuses to stop walking. He’s one of the bravehearts and I see him walking all the time but he’s ready.”

Wilson worried he could only fend off one aggressive dog at a time with his golf club and feared for anyone caught unprepared.

“It’s when there’s more than one dog. That’s the problem and I’m reasonably fit even though I’m a koro, how does a little four, five, six-year-old child fend themselves off against one dog or a mother or an old kuia, a grandmother – they’ve got no show.”

While there were no dogs on Te Puna Beach, where Wilson said dogs roamed in packs, there were dozens of paw prints.

“You can see, look, there’s dog prints there, dog prints there. If it’s just one set of footprints it’s okay but if you see more than a set of footprints it’s usually time to u-turn and go back and go home.”

Wilson questioned the need for aggressive dogs as he pointed out a number of known roaming dogs.

He believed they were partly owned to guard against crime.

Wilson, who grew up in Te Puna and moved back to the area to raise his children, said when they were young they “free-ranged” around the town.

However, he said it was different now and his moko did not feel safe walking alone.

He said they were driven to school – which was not the local one – and would not walk 300 metres to their local marae because they were scared.

“(There’s) usually a big bad dog sitting outside here. He’s okay for the people that live close but he’s the one that chases and bites our car tyres and our kids are totally freaked out by him – he’s huge.”

Te Puna School principal Neil Towersey said wandering dogs sometimes appeared in the playground.

“Some of the children are terrified. I get a patter tennis bat and a cone or something noisy – go out and give it a bit of a clatter and a bang and do my best impression to scare them off and they usually take off with their tail between their legs.”

He said hunting dogs were particularly intimidating for the children.

“Some of them have had bad experiences with dogs. We’ve got a little boy at the moment who’s absolutely terrified of dogs so it’s something we’re a little bit mindful of.”

Towersey said that boy had been bitten by a dog.

He said the school had taught children about dog safety and he believed the Dog Control Act “needs tightening up”.

At the town tennis courts, a German Shepherd wandered about while opposite the chapel, a dog sat and watched from afar before retreating home.

Jade, who did not want her surname used, had four dogs in her care at the town rugby field.

She said she did not live in Te Puna but went there regularly and never usually encountered aggressive dogs.

“We’ve come across some dogs that don’t look very friendly but I can call mine back and they just come straight back and I’ve never had any dog attacks or dog attack me out here so that’s promising, touch wood.

Jade said she fostered rescue dogs for a charity and the four dogs with her were not hers.

She was unsure what breeds they were.

Jade said it was not a dog’s fault if it was aggressive and it was up to owners to raise and socialise their dogs responsibly.

She recommended anyone who came across an aggressive dog should not run away or show fear.

Wilson said he wanted a community effort to change attitudes, incentivise responsible dog owners and support struggling owners to provide appropriate care for their dogs.

“Let’s not leave it up to the people who don’t care. We care and we want to do something about it.

“Hey, why should the dogs have the best beach in the world? How about us? We want our beach back.”

Western Bay of Plenty councillor and Te Puna resident Graeme Elvin said there was no doubt roaming dogs were a problem in Te Puna.

However, he believed it was a localised issue and said it had to be solved by a change in behaviour.

“It isn’t solved by throwing a whole lot of money at the problem.”

Elvin said he met with the council’s dog control officers on Tuesday to discuss the concerns and was impressed with their efforts.

Council general manager of regulatory services Alison Curtis declined a interview, but in a statement said during the past six months the council had received 19 complaints about roaming dogs in the area, and two complaints about dog attacks – one involving a person and one involving another dog.

She said both attacks were minor.

“Based on general observations, these numbers are low to average, compared with the rest of the district.”

Curtis said some of the complaints related to dogs roaming on the sports fields.

“In response, animal services officers visited the fields several times over a two-week period in November and December, while the fields were in use.

“As a result of these visits, one dog was impounded.”

Curtis said since then the council had only received three reports of roaming dogs in the area, which made up part of the 19.

“Council can only act on issues we are made aware of, so we ask people to please report any concerns by calling us on 0800 926 732.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Pharmacies are falling back on their emergency back-up plans to distribute medication, and doing a lot of unpaid leg-work in the process, following the MediMap hack.

The prescription portal is used by many aged care, disability, and hospice providers to track medication, but it’s been offline since Sunday when it was discovered patient information had been changed – details like names, dates of birth, allergies, even marked some patients as deceased.

For nurses in care homes, MediMap going offline had meant a return to pen and paper, meaning it was taking a lot longer to get things done.

The same is true for pharmacists.

James Westbury, owner of Westbury Pharmacy and Unichem Kilbirnie Pharmacy in Wellington, said they supported about 5000 people in aged care, hospice and supported housing.

He said it had been “incredibly difficult” and caused “significant disruption” – with the digital system offline, pharmacists had downed tools to get a new manual system underway.

That involved going back through people’s dispensing histories and charts to make sure they were up to date, and in many cases, getting extra sign-off from a prescriber to be able to dispense medication.

“Unfortunately pharmacies get paid on dispensing, and when you’re not dispensing you’re not making money, so at the moment this is all done for the love of patient safety.”

Was it posing a risk to patient care? He said it added complexity, but it was manageable.

“The systems that we’ve got in place at the moment, I feel quite comfortable that care will be maintained at a safe level, particularly for regular prescribed and PRN [meaning, as needed] medication,” he said.

“The only real concern is where it’s short course [prescriptions] where it’s a little bit more difficult. We can still produce the data to provide safe continuity of care, it’s just a lot more challenging to get that information out – but it’s the art of the possible.”

Westbury said communication from MediMap had been “appalling”.

Pharmacists had been assured there was a digital backup in place should MediMap fail, called MediMap Go, he said. But that appeared to have been affected by the same hack, and was also offline, leaving pharmacists to scramble a new system into place.

Kesh Naidoo-Rauf, president of the Pharmacy Guild, said members were coping, but it had come at a bad time.

“We’re already struggling and facing workforce pressures, so it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the sector, in all honesty.”

But the priority was patient safety.

“We are trained for exactly these types of situations, so we’ve got our strong checks and balances in place to maintain safe dispensing processes. So it is still safe, but it is a lot slower.”

MediMap has declined multiple interviews with RNZ, but on Wednesday put out a statement saying it was heading to court to seek an injunction to stop anyone accessing, using, copying or sharing information from its systems.

It’s still unclear how many people have been caught up in the breach.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Pharmacies are falling back on their emergency back-up plans to distribute medication, and doing a lot of unpaid leg-work in the process, following the MediMap hack.

The prescription portal is used by many aged care, disability, and hospice providers to track medication, but it’s been offline since Sunday when it was discovered patient information had been changed – details like names, dates of birth, allergies, even marked some patients as deceased.

For nurses in care homes, MediMap going offline had meant a return to pen and paper, meaning it was taking a lot longer to get things done.

The same is true for pharmacists.

James Westbury, owner of Westbury Pharmacy and Unichem Kilbirnie Pharmacy in Wellington, said they supported about 5000 people in aged care, hospice and supported housing.

He said it had been “incredibly difficult” and caused “significant disruption” – with the digital system offline, pharmacists had downed tools to get a new manual system underway.

That involved going back through people’s dispensing histories and charts to make sure they were up to date, and in many cases, getting extra sign-off from a prescriber to be able to dispense medication.

“Unfortunately pharmacies get paid on dispensing, and when you’re not dispensing you’re not making money, so at the moment this is all done for the love of patient safety.”

Was it posing a risk to patient care? He said it added complexity, but it was manageable.

“The systems that we’ve got in place at the moment, I feel quite comfortable that care will be maintained at a safe level, particularly for regular prescribed and PRN [meaning, as needed] medication,” he said.

“The only real concern is where it’s short course [prescriptions] where it’s a little bit more difficult. We can still produce the data to provide safe continuity of care, it’s just a lot more challenging to get that information out – but it’s the art of the possible.”

Westbury said communication from MediMap had been “appalling”.

Pharmacists had been assured there was a digital backup in place should MediMap fail, called MediMap Go, he said. But that appeared to have been affected by the same hack, and was also offline, leaving pharmacists to scramble a new system into place.

Kesh Naidoo-Rauf, president of the Pharmacy Guild, said members were coping, but it had come at a bad time.

“We’re already struggling and facing workforce pressures, so it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the sector, in all honesty.”

But the priority was patient safety.

“We are trained for exactly these types of situations, so we’ve got our strong checks and balances in place to maintain safe dispensing processes. So it is still safe, but it is a lot slower.”

MediMap has declined multiple interviews with RNZ, but on Wednesday put out a statement saying it was heading to court to seek an injunction to stop anyone accessing, using, copying or sharing information from its systems.

It’s still unclear how many people have been caught up in the breach.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

At least eight houses have been evacuated in Central Otago as a quick moving fire threatens properties.

Fire and Emergency says it was called to a large grassfire that was threatening structures in the Springvale area near Clyde before 3.30pm.

The fire was 400 metres by 400 metres initially, but a spokesperson says it’s spreading quickly.

Crews from across Central Otago and as far afield as Dunedin have been called in to fight the fire, including four helicopters.

The spokesperson says it’s unknown if any properties have been damaged at this stage and crews have also moved livestock out of paddocks that were under threat.

Fire and Emergency is working with police to close Springvale Road.

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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 university researcher who tracks the amount of ultra-processed products and ingredients coming into New Zealand is calling for stronger regulations around marketing, especially to children.

Ultra-processed foods are not just junk food, but anything full of chemical based preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, and artificial colours and flavours.

A US attorney is suing some of the biggest food manufacturers, accusing them of deliberately designing products to be addictive – despite the harm they are known to cause. David Chiu says with products from all companies involved in the lawsuit also available in New Zealand, it should be a worry here.

In 2023, ultra-processed foods made up 23 percent of New Zealand’s imports, compared to only 7 percent in 1990, says Dr Kelly Garton from the University of Auckland.

She told Checkpoint it was time for the government to step in, because consumers were influenced in ways they could not control.

A major step would be better labelling and restrictions around packaging directed at children.

“I would love for our labels to give much clearer indication to consumers and what’s in their food. Getting rid of any of those misleading claims around healthiness or environmental friendliness, for example, as well as not allowing ultra-processed foods to have marketing packaging that’s targeting kids.”

Garton said much of the marketing was currently targeted at young people, along with their parents.

“A lot of these products will have colours, shapes, or flavours or textures that are meant to appeal to children and younger people. And so obviously that’s meant to sell more product.

“A lot of the marketing is targeted at parents. It might have a certain amount of health washing, you know, a good source of protein when maybe it’s a protein derivative that’s been added back in. not necessarily a healthy whole protein that you could be consuming otherwise.”

But marketing was only one of the reasons that ultra-processed foods were so prominent in New Zealanders diets.

“We are now reliant on these products in many ways that we can’t control, these are the products that are by and large the most available and affordable, and they’re heavily marketed to us.

“Also in terms of our social and economic circumstances, many of us, most of us are time poor. Many of us are financially constrained. We’re overly reliant on foods that are cheap, shelf stable, and very convenient. Added to that, fresh fruit and veg is absurdly expensive these days.”

Alongside Checkpoint, Garton examined a number of ultra-processed products to decipher the contents.

She said flavourings were often a warning sign.

“These flavours or natural colourings are put there to emulate or to mask or enhance flavours that whole foods would have. So they’re inherently manipulating our sense receptors.”

However, just because something falls under the ultra processed category did not mean it had to be avoided.

“These products would fall under the ultra-processed classification. Not all of them are going to be bad for us. Some of them, especially those that give us a lot of fibre and low in sugar, can be absolutely part of a healthy diet, especially given the constraints that we’re under these days.”

But if possible, Garton said the less processed option was always preferable.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police investigating the death of a grandmother whose body was found at a Hawke’s Bay worksite earlier this month have identified a likely route taken by a vehicle of interest.

Police have issued a fresh appeal for help from the public in the investigation into the death of Sharlene Smith, 64, from Rotorua.

Smith’s body was found at a property on Taihape Road in Omahu, near Hastings, on 3 February.

Police earlier described the incident as the “tragic and avoidable death of a much-loved mother, grandmother and sister”.

In a statement released this afternoon, Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Kris Payne said police had identified a likely route taken by a vehicle of interest.

“We know this vehicle was used on the day Sharlene’s body was left at the worksite, and officers have carried out extensive work to locate and review CCTV footage from the relevant timeframe.”

Anybody who saw a white 2005 Mazda 3 sports hatchback between 8am and midday on Sunday 1 February 2026, – travelling from the Awatoto area, through Taihape Road/Omahu Road and the Fernhill area, and into Marewa, Napier – is urged to contact police.

“We are asking anyone who saw this vehicle, or who has home, business, or dashcam CCTV footage from those areas during that time, to please contact Police if not already spoken to,” said Payne.

Two items belonging to Smith are believed to have been discarded along the same route: a handbag and a Samsung Galaxy A06 mobile phone.

Anyone with information can contact police by calling 105 and referencing file number 260203/9739. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police are investigating after a person was found dead near a vehicle in Whataroa, north of Franz Josef.

Detective Senior Sergeant Brent Lyford said a police officer found the body near Parkers Creek.

“At this time, the death is being treated as unexplained,” he said.

Lyford said members of the Whataroa community can expect to see an increased police presence as investigations continue.

A postmortem examination is due to be carried out later in the week.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Multiple people have been injured after a bus crash in the Auckland suburb of Grafton this afternoon.

Hato Hone St John said three ambulances and one rapid response unit were sent to the scene on Carlton Gore Road / Park Road, shortly after 2.30pm

“Four patients have been assessed and are being transported to Auckland City Hospital, three in moderate condition and one in minor condition.”

The crash involved a construction truck, according to a witness.

– more to come

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

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