Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand could be facing into a period of stagflation, economists are warning.

Stagflation describes a situation in which an economy experiences the unpleasant combination of high inflation, high unemployment and stagnant economic growth.

This could happen as a result of the Iran war because higher fuel prices are expected to create higher inflation, while the impact of those cost increases and the wider confidence blow could slow economic growth.

Mike Jones, chief economist at BNZ, said it was a “stagflationary-type shock” because it had hurt growth prospects and put pressure on people’s disposable incomes and business margins at the same time as it pushed up inflation.

“We’re also vulnerable given the economy going into this was only starting to find its feet,” he said.

“There are some buffers out there – most notably elevated commodity export prices and a falling NZ dollar – but it’s unlikely they will be enough to prevent a decent hit to the economy. I think, at this stage, it’s more a case of the recovery being disrupted or paused for a quarter or two, rather than being curtailed. So weaker growth but still growth.

“But there are still many scenarios in play. Much hangs on how long the conflict goes on for.”

Gareth Kiernan, chief forecaster at Infometrics, said stagflation was discussed as a prospect three or four years ago but did not happen.

“It was inflation followed by ‘we need a recession to rein that back in’.

“I feel like this time is a little bit different because it’s a supply shock that is, one, pushing up prices and, two, going to negatively impact growth.”

He said businesses had told him they had to pass on cost increases.

“I’m not talking about transport businesses putting up their prices. I’m talking about everybody who is using the transport services then being forced to put up their prices, because we’ve had an economy where for the last three years, it’s gone sideways. And people have been trimming and trimming, and there’s nothing left to trim.”

He said while the Reserve Bank expected fewer price increases to be passed on because there was less demand, that was not the full picture.

“Sure, there’s no demand, but you’re going to put your prices up rather than simply just go to the wall because you don’t have any money left.”

He said even if the situation were resolved immediately, there would be another up to four months of flow-on effects.

“Who knows where oil prices would settle… you wouldn’t expect them to probably go back to US$70 a barrel… there’s got to be more risk associated with that. But the longer it stretches on, the bigger the impact is in terms of just delaying or preventing the economic recovery.

“It’s almost a bit of a repeat of 2025 where we had the tariff situation hit us and knock confidence and therefore knock growth. And this is looking like the same again, except probably worse, to be fair.”

But Westpac’s chief economist Kelly Eckhold said he still expected some growth in the economy this year – although there was the potential for that to change.

“In the forecast update that we put out a couple of days ago, that assumed that things were going to get better within a month. If that doesn’t happen then things get darker quite quickly. Confidence levels about forecasts are quite low right now because there’s a lot of things we don’t know.

“You can’t discount the possibility [of less economic growth]. The only thing is that we are coming from a starting point where we were expecting a pretty solid year. So we’ve got further to fall before you get into that genuinely negative growth environment that we experienced back in 2024.”

The big concern was how long the conflict lasted, he said.

“We have to keep in mind that significant damage has already been done and it won’t be fixed quickly. There may also be risk premia built into concerns about fuel availability, prices… I’m very worried. I think this is a very, very serious situation.”

He said the lower exchange rate would make the price of imported goods higher, and make travel overseas more expensive for New Zealanders. But it was a positive for exporters.

“Nobody in New Zealand can protect us from the loss of standard of living that has come from this shock. The government can’t buy our way out of this. They can smooth the edges off for the most vulnerable. But in the end, it’s just a cost that is going to sheet home to us.

“The way out of this is by having the external sector ultimately be able to export our way out of this. And a lower exchange rate is part of the adjustment that facilitates that to occur.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Weather-hit regions are set to get a reprieve as warnings lift and the rain moves to other parts of the country.

The red heavy warning which had been in place for parts of Northland expired 4am on Friday, but the Far North and Whangārei remain under a state of emergency until Thursday.

MetService meteorologist Juliane Bergdolp said the deep sub-tropical low had moved to the east and many parts of the country were now in the clear.

“There is still some rain coming into the West Coast of [the] South Island and we still have some showers making their way into eastern parts of Bay of Plenty.”

Bergdolp said rain was expected to develop in the west of the South Island on Sunday, spreading to the west of the North Island on Saturday night or Sunday.

There were no rain or wind warnings in place for any regions.

Far North community member Mita Harris had been using a Unimog to help evacuate people and lift supplies as heavy rain hit the region. Harris said the storm did not last for long, but had impacted the region.

“This has been the biggest one this year so far, came in hard and fast – it was kind of a day or two and that was it, it was all over.

“The ground is saturated now and any more water coming in would certainly raise the levels quite quickly.”

Northland Civil Defence teams were assessing the damage after the latest storm.

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said it would be a costly recovery with heavy rain and winds continuing as the low made its way across the country.

“This one is going to cost a lot of money to recover fully from both for us as a council with the infrastructure that we own and look after on behalf of the people but also for whanau themselves.”

Tepania said he was expecting the level of need to far exceed that of the January storms.

The Far North District Council said up to 410 cubic metres of floodwaters were flowing down the Awanui River every second – a level not seen since 1958.

Hundreds of people were evacuated in Kaitaia on Thursday night and more than 400 households and businesses were still without power on Friday morning after the heavy rain.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Their story was intriguing: no tractors or cellphones, off-grid, subsistence and organic, relying on hand and bullock-power rather than fossil fuels to feed three generations of 25 people off a slip of land bounded by bush on the banks of the Whirinaki River.

So, with not a small measure of excitement, I found myself driving along a bumpy track leaving behind the main road through South Hokianga to meet the Land family.

Hmm – very timely, I thought, given the surging fuel crisis.

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“Part of our ethos here is to see how many people you can feed off a small piece of land,” Joseph Land told me as the family gathered in a cosy room lined with books and pictures.

“A policy of ours, or a value, is that once you start using fossil fuels, you actually use up more calories than you produce. So eventually that’s not going to sustain the world.”

They had motor vehicles “to stay integrated” but did not need fuel to farm, they explained.

The family’s Catholic faith and respect for Māori knowledge and values also infused their way of farming and living, Joseph said.

As members of the Catholic Worker Movement – founded in the 1930s out of the Great Depression – helping the poor and marginalised, farming communally, and pacifism, were principles they worked by.

Heavy farming work was done by a team of four bullocks, and Archie and Buster, two Clydesdale horses.

The rest of the work to feed four households – from about six hectares – was done by hand.

In a paddock over the river, a crop of maize stands tall, almost ready for harvest.

One of Joseph’s sons Abraham hitches up his team of bullocks to lightly till the soil of a bare strip nearby for planting lupins – good for nourishing the soil after the potato harvest.

“When I first got into bullocks, I thought two would be enough, and when they were about four years old, they weren’t really pulling as much as I wanted, so I got a couple more, but they kept on growing for another two years. There were six before they stopped. And so now I’ve got much more power than I need.”

The Lands grow olives and a variety of fruit and vegetables, graze a few sheep and cows, make their own butter and rely mostly on their staple maize crop which they kibble and grind for bread and porridge.

A few things are bought in like wheat flour, sugar, tea and coffee, with money earned from part-time work off the farm.

Daughter-in-law Marissa, for example, works as a nurse, to pay for extras for her household.

“Two days a week gives us more than enough money, bit too much money – to live off.”

She enjoyed being part of the community and said the family was anxious not to be seen as survivalist or “exclusionary”.

With homeschooling her three children, cooking, gardening and helping build their new cob house, with husband Patrick, it was busy 24/7, she said.

“It’s very physical. Yeah, it is. And there’s never a moment in which your job is done. There’s always something you think, ‘oh, I could, should, probably be doing’.”

The Land family’s roots here were laid by Peter and Judith Land who bought a block of bush in the 1970s.

Joseph’s parents had been teachers in Fiji and were inspired by their life in a Vanua Levu village to recreate a similar subsistence style of living, alongside their Catholic faith.

“Dad was a visionary, not practical,” Joseph said, pointing out a photo of his late father who lived here into his 90s.

He did, however, set up a power source from a nearby waterfall. Now the Lands have solar power for lighting and biogas and wood-fired ranges for cooking.

Marissa shows me how she grinds the maize by hand using a Corona mill after it is kibbled – the kernels removed from the cob – at another hand-powered machine in the farmyard.

The corncobs are stored in elevated storehouses nearby, like small hutches on stilts.

“They were everywhere in Hokianga, every farm had big gardens, small herds of cows, like 10 cows, big gardens, pig sties and lots of corn for animals and people,” Joseph said.

He arrived here as a boy and remembered when the roads were much quieter.

The local kaumatua taught him gardening skills including the knowledge needed for growing kūmara. He nurtures several heritage varieties on his kūmara tāpapa.

“You get really attached to the different varieties.

“I learned all this from the last gardens in Whirinaki in the ’70s. They vanished within five years, but I just got a glimpse of the lifestyle. So, a lot of this is just copying what was everyone’s experience here up until the ’70s.”

Joseph and his wife Catherine have seven grown children, four of whom have remained on the farm.

“It was very hard to get rid of me out of the valley,” Patrick said. “I did travel a little bit, but I just always wanted to be back here. Yeah, I find it very hard to be somewhere where you’re just eating food that you don’t know where it’s come from.”

Joseph is regarded as a kaikarakia among the local people, leading blessings and prayers and spending a lot of time at the local marae.

He told me the Land family acknowledged the mana whenua of the local hapū, and that the Lands stayed here by their goodwill.

“I think the big thing is having a mindset, this is our base economy, our life here, and so it’s real. What we grow we really depend on.”

Life was “full and rich”, however he acknowledged “come a disaster, we can go and get money and buy food”.

“So, in that way, we’re not as real as a peasant farmer in other parts of the world who don’t have those other options. But we don’t avail ourselves of that option. We don’t need to. We continue here. The average wage to us is enormous.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Red, bell-bottomed tomatoes with green crowns growing on sprawling vines in a glasshouse along Wellington’s south coast help keep Nina and her mother Teresa Cuccurullo connected to their heritage.

The Island Bay family has been growing tomatoes originally sourced from seeds brought over from the Italian island of Capri in the 1960s, for more than six decades.

It is a rich tradition first started by Teresa’s father Luigi Ruocco and carried on by her husband Antonio, before daughter Nina took it up after his death.

“It’s part of our history and it’s a time where you think about your grandparents,” Nina told Country Life. “I think about my father and [how] we are now getting it out to the rest of the community and to the family.

“It’s great to see how some of the younger people are starting to grow these tomatoes too, because then that legacy has continued.”

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Their family was part of the “chain migration” from Italy to the Wellington suburb of Island Bay last century, Nina explained.

“They were coming here to better themselves, to start new families,” she said. “Nonno was one of the early ones in the 1920s, but there were others before him that were here as well.”

She said the family maintained its Italian identity by gathering as a community through its Catholic faith, via the cultural group known as Club Garibaldi, or by keeping up with family traditions – like eating octopus and tomato salad at Christmas time.

Food is also key to feeding their heritage. Particularly growing tomatoes to be used to make passata.

“The sauce is central to all the other food because … that’s the sauce for the macaroni, it’s the sauce for the lasagna, the ravioli, the parmigiana. So the sauce is used quite a lot in the cooking and that’s why it was sort of bottled so it could be used during the year.”

Nina said the type of tomatoes they grew were “quite identifiable”, mostly through their distinctive shape.

“They’re an elongated shape, and they sort of go a little bit green at the top. There’s not much seeds in them, and they’re acid-free, and the skin is quite thin, so it’s not a thick skin.”

They harvest the seeds from each season’s crop to keep the variety alive – growing them in the glasshouse to avoid cross-pollination with other tomato varieties.

“We get the best tomatoes on the crop – the bigger ones,” Teresa told Country Life. “Let them ripen on the stem, bring them in, cut them, take out all the seeds that there are – it’s not many – and separate them.”

The seeds are then put through a sieve to separate them from the membrane before being placed on the window sill to dry for the next summer.

Nothing goes to waste, Teresa said.

“All the pieces that you’ve cut up to get the seeds, they can be made into a sauce.”

They share the seeds with friends, family and others in the wider community to help keep them going – and also sell small plants during the peak growing period.

Nina said it was a privilege to be able to continue the legacy first started by her grandfather, and carried on by her father.

She said he loved being out in the garden.

“As well as a vegetable gardener, he was a very good flower gardener.

“He had a lot of plants, up to about 60 inside the glass house, and then quite a few more outside. So he was kept very, very busy.

“It was a passion. He was happy there.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Concerns are growing among health providers and whānau about the governments proposed alcohol reforms, with warnings they could increase harm in vulnerable communities.

A young māmā from East Auckland says the reforms feel like “profit over people”, and “a slap in the face”, especially for advocates who have worked hard to decrease alcohol visibility in their rohe.

Twenty-five-year-old Tiana Kiro is calling for the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Improving Alcohol Regulation) Amendment Bill to be scrapped, after it was introduced to Parliament in March by Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee and Regulation Minister David Seymour.

Kiro, who was born and raised in Glen Innes, said liquor stores were part of “everyday life” growing up and she did not want the same for her pēpi.

“For my community, alcohol is everywhere,” she told RNZ.

“When I left my whare every day to go to school, it was at every corner. It was normalised like milk, sugar, bread.”

The mother of one, who is expecting another baby, said that environment shaped the people around her.

“I don’t want that around my babies. I don’t want it normalised.”

She said the proposed reforms risked embedding that even further.

“To me, that looks like putting profit before people.”

What are the proposed reforms?

The government says the bill aims to reduce red tape, make it easier for businesses to obtain licences, and trust adults to make their own choices.

Key changes include:

• Limiting objections to licence applications or renewals to only those living or working in the same council area, or within 1 kilometre of the proposed licensed premises.
• Allowing licence applicants to respond to objections
• Preventing licence renewals being declined due to local alcohol policies
• Expanding who can sell alcohol, including clubs and some restaurants
• Making it easier to host events with alcohol
• Allowing licensed venues to open outside normal hours for major events – like the Rugby World Cup
• Letting barbers and hairdressers offer limited alcohol without a licence
• Expanding tasting rules beyond wineries
• Simplifying rules for low and zero alcohol options
• Clarifying responsibilities for alcohol delivery services

McKee said the changes would make the system “fairer” and less bureaucratic, while Seymour said adults in a “free society” should be trusted to make their own choices.

The bill is expected to be considered by Parliament in the coming months.

A 2024 report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research estimated alcohol-related harm cost Aotearoa around $9.1 billion annually, including about 900 deaths, 1250 cancers, and tens of thousands of hospitalisations.

Māori experienced disproportionate harm and are more than twice as likely to die from alcohol-related causes than non-Māori. Māori were also more likely to be apprehended by police for an offence that involved alcohol.

Tamariki Māori were also exposed to alcohol marketing significantly more often than Pākehā children.

Research showed this was closely linked to environmental factors, including higher exposure to alcohol outlets, greater levels of deprivation and reduced access to health services.

In a statement to RNZ, McKee said the $9.1 billion figure cited by critics was “a gross cost estimate that tells us nothing about which specific policies reduce harm or at what cost.”

“Good policy requires that discipline. We should be asking whether each rule is delivering measurable harm reduction proportionate to its costs, and removing those that aren’t.

“The single biggest driver of that figure is fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which accounts for $4.8 billion of the total. FASD is a serious harm and the government is taking it seriously, directing more of the alcohol levy toward identifying and funding cost-effective interventions to reduce it.”

McKee said licensed premises were controlled environments with trained staff and legal obligations, and making it easier for people to drink in those settings could reduce harm compared to unsupervised drinking.

She also rejected concerns the reforms would silence communities.

“Everyone will continue to maintain the ability to object to liquor licences and renewals in their local community,” she said.

“Our changes are about stopping those who are not impacted, such as people on the other side of the country, or even overseas, from objecting.”

McKee said the reforms also strengthened rules around alcohol delivery and aimed to improve access to zero-alcohol alternatives.

“Every New Zealander deserves policy focused on what actually reduces harm. That is the standard these reforms are held to, and it is the right standard for all New Zealanders regardless of their background.”

But critics say the reforms weaken safeguards and prioritise economic growth over public health, especially in communities where access “is already a problem.”

“In our town centre alone, there’s like three or four liquor stores, and we’re not even that big,” Kiro said.

She also raised concerns about proposals to allow alcohol in spaces like salons and barbershops.

“You go get your nails done, you get offered a drink, then another, and then you’re driving home,” she said.

“For some people, it’s not easy to say no.

“Someone might have a few drinks and then get behind the wheel, and then who do you blame? Profit over people, that’s what it feels like.”

For kaupapa Māori provider Ki Tua o Matariki, those experiences reflected what they were hearing across their communities.

Chief executive Zoe Witika-Hawke said the reforms risked deepening existing inequities.

“These changes might seem small on their own, but together they make alcohol more present in our everyday environments, and that matters.

“We know alcohol outlets are more concentrated in lower-income communities, while access to health support is often more limited.

“That imbalance shapes the environments our whānau are living in every day.”

She said alcohol harm was not just about individual choice.

“It’s shaped by how available it is, where it shows up, and what becomes normal.”

Witika-Hawke pointed to the impact on future generations, including FASD, a lifelong condition caused by prenatal alcohol exposure.

“Every increase in alcohol availability increases risk, particularly for māmā hapū navigating stress and systemic barriers.”

Te Whatu Ora estimated 1800 to 3000 babies every year may be affected by FASD. That’s roughly eight babies per day.

“We need to be clear, this is not about blaming māmā. Stigma has never prevented harm. Safe environments and strong support systems do.”

Witika-Hawke said communities had already been clear about what they wanted.

“They don’t want alcohol shops everywhere in their communities.”

Hāpai Te Hauora chief operating officer Jason Alexander said the reforms ignored strong evidence linking alcohol availability to harm.

“Anything that makes alcohol more accessible and visible will inevitably cause more harm,” he told RNZ.

“We know that people’s hauora is affected by the environment in which they live. If alcohol is more accessible, then people will access it more.”

He said alcohol harm extended beyond just the individual.

“Alcohol harm doesn’t happen in isolation. It is shaped by the environments we create, how widely alcohol is available, how it’s marketed, and how many outlets operate in a community.”

Restricting objections to licences, he said, limited community voice.

“That is essentially silencing those communities.”

Alcohol Healthwatch executive director Andrew Galloway told RNZ the scale of alcohol harm was significant in Aotearoa, and that the reforms appeared to remove effective protections.

“It does seem like that is giving the alcohol industry a wish list of changes,” he said.

“We know that when alcohol becomes more available, these increases are strongly linked to increased hazardous drinking.”

“We also see higher rates of cancer, and we know there is no safe limit.”

Polling commissioned by Health Coalition Aotearoa and the Cancer Society found 76 percent of respondents supported limits on the number of alcohol outlets in neighbourhoods.

“So changes that reduce community say, go directly against that support,” he said.

“We’re really disappointed that this package introduces very few restrictions and more liberalisation.”

Galloway said the direction of the reforms contradicted other government strategies, including suicide prevention efforts that put an emphasis on reducing alcohol harm.

“It just makes logical sense that we would look to restrict alcohol, not make it more available.”

Pre-colonisation, Māori were among the few known societies not to have manufactured or used alcohol – or psychoactive substances.

Quoted by Rev. W J Williams, ‘In the Beginning. Period up to 1886’, “The white man and the whisky bottle came to New Zealand together.”

The Māori word for alcohol is ‘waipiro’, translating to ‘stinking water’.

Witika-Hawke told RNZ, alcohol was used as a tool to take away their land – specifically in their iwi Ngāti Paoa.

“We’ve worked really hard to tell another story about our relationship with alcohol. And the alcohol industry has really, I think, picked on us in regards to ensuring that we’re trapped in the thinking of alcohol as part of who we are.

“It’s not part of who we are. It wasn’t part of who we were prior to colonisation. And returning to that state of health where it isn’t in our communities, I think, is the journey that we all want, and need, so that we remain healthy and don’t go back to a place where alcohol is thought to be who we are.”

At a time where fuel prices and the costs of living increases, Kiro said many whānau are already under pressure, and changes like these revert away from the issue.

“We’ve got bigger things to worry about, rent, food, petrol,” she said. “And now you’re adding more alcohol into the mix.”

She said addiction was a reality in many communities.

“Unless you’ve actually been around it, you don’t understand how hard it is.

“We’re not saying no alcohol forever… We’re saying stop oversaturating communities that are already struggling.

“Do I need seven liquor stores in my community? No, not really.”

She said whānau had spent years advocating for change, only to feel ignored.

“It’s a bit of a slap in the face. We did the mahi. We showed up. We told them what’s happening in our communities.

“And now it feels like they’re not listening.

“If they don’t listen now, by the time they realise something’s gone wrong, it’s going to be too late.”

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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

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A sector of gamers are trading in their consoles and visual effects for real live company, turning to a centuries-old social version of entertainment

In a world where digital spaces seem to have taken over everything, it seems counter-intuitive that board games, of all things, would be making a comeback.

But those within the very much alive and growing board game playing scene in New Zealand and across the globe will tell you that the world of tokens and dice is not what it used to be.

One of them is James McFadgen, the owner of Cakes and Ladders, an Auckland based board game cafe where customers can rent space to try out any of the almost 1000-strong selection of board games collected over the years.

“A lot of people my age grew up with Scrabble, Monopoly, Connect 4 and some of them still think that’s what board games is; and they think ‘Oh, isn’t that just 15 minutes of fun and done? And then you’re kind of like: ‘oh, I don’t want to do that again’,” he said.

McFadgen first encountered the idea when on holiday with his family in Toronto, Canada.

“It was a really, really diverse crowd just having a good time and we were like, ‘wow, it would be really cool if something like that was in Auckland’.”

Things have only grown since then and there are many reasons why.

Crowdfunding and social media mean that individuals with new ideas can now bring those ideas to the marketplace without requiring connections to major corporations. The digital landscape, rather than being the final nail in the coffin for analogue gaming, is one of the primary causes for its resurgence.

“A lot of that started with a kickstarter boom… and board games really took off in that space. Previously if you wanted to get your board game funded you needed to be part of the board game publishing industry already,” said McFadgen.

But equally responsible is the human element. Spending time online is one thing, but Wellington board game enthusiasts Ezra and Emerald Mautner will be the first to tell you there is no replacement for sitting across the table from friends enjoying yourself. Board games, Ezra argues, can act as a form of socially lubricating structure, preventing the conversation from going stale.

“You’ve got this tool that you can kind of focus on for a bit and dip in and out of the conversation as you are comfortable; it really promotes a social environment especially for people who don’t necessarily fall towards that.”

The games also are a far cry from Snakes and Ladders; often complex role-playing scenarios that can take months or even years to wind up.

Emerald points out that like everything else in the modern day, Covid-19 had had an impact.

“It has to be said, Covid did, probably, assist more with the hobbies that can be tried at home… I don’t think it’s the only reason, but I think it has assisted.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Concerns are growing among health providers and whānau about the governments proposed alcohol reforms, with warnings they could increase harm in vulnerable communities.

A young māmā from East Auckland says the reforms feel like “profit over people”, and “a slap in the face,” especially for advocates who have worked hard to decrease alcohol visibility in their rohe.

Twenty-five-year-old Tiana Kiro is calling for the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Improving Alcohol Regulation) Amendment Bill to be scrapped, after it was introduced to Parliament in March by Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee and Regulation Minister David Seymour.

Kiro, who was born and raised in Glen Innes, said liquor stores were part of “everyday life” growing up and she did not want the same for her pēpi.

“For my community, alcohol is everywhere,” she told RNZ.

“When I left my whare every day to go to school, it was at every corner. It was normalised like milk, sugar, bread.”

The mother of one, who is expecting another baby, said that environment shaped the people around her.

“I don’t want that around my babies. I don’t want it normalised.”

She said the proposed reforms risked embedding that even further.

“To me, that looks like putting profit before people.”

What are the proposed reforms?

The government says the Bill aims to reduce red tape, make it easier for businesses to obtain licences, and trust adults to make their own choices.

Key changes include:

• Limiting objections to licence applications or renewals to only those living or working in the same council area, or within 1 kilometre of the proposed licensed premises.
• Allowing licence applicants to respond to objections
• Preventing licence renewals being declined due to local alcohol policies
• Expanding who can sell alcohol, including clubs and some restaurants
• Making it easier to host events with alcohol
• Allowing licensed venues to open outside normal hours for major events – like the Rugby World Cup
• Letting barbers and hairdressers offer limited alcohol without a licence
• Expanding tasting rules beyond wineries
• Simplifying rules for low and zero alcohol options
• Clarifying responsibilities for alcohol delivery services

McKee said the changes would make the system “fairer” and less bureaucratic, while Seymour said adults in a “free society” should be trusted to make their own choices.

The Bill is expected to be considered by Parliament in the coming months.

A 2024 report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research estimates alcohol-related harm costs Aotearoa around $9.1 billion annually, including about 900 deaths, 1250 cancers, and tens of thousands of hospitalisations.

Māori experience disproportionate harm and are more than twice as likely to die from alcohol-related causes than non-Māori. Māori are also more likely to be apprehended by police for an offence that involves alcohol.

Tamariki Māori are also exposed to alcohol marketing significantly more often than Pākehā children.

Research shows this is closely linked to environmental factors, including higher exposure to alcohol outlets, greater levels of deprivation, and reduced access to health services.

In a statement to RNZ, McKee said the $9.1 billion figure cited by critics is “a gross cost estimate that tells us nothing about which specific policies reduce harm or at what cost.”

“Good policy requires that discipline. We should be asking whether each rule is delivering measurable harm reduction proportionate to its costs, and removing those that aren’t.

“The single biggest driver of that figure is fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which accounts for $4.8 billion of the total. FASD is a serious harm and the government is taking it seriously, directing more of the alcohol levy toward identifying and funding cost-effective interventions to reduce it.”

McKee said licensed premises are controlled environments with trained staff and legal obligations, and making it easier for people to drink in those settings could reduce harm compared to unsupervised drinking.

She also rejected concerns the reforms would silence communities.

“Everyone will continue to maintain the ability to object to liquor licences and renewals in their local community,” she said.

“Our changes are about stopping those who are not impacted, such as people on the other side of the country, or even overseas, from objecting.”

McKee said the reforms also strengthen rules around alcohol delivery and aim to improve access to zero-alcohol alternatives.

“Every New Zealander deserves policy focused on what actually reduces harm. That is the standard these reforms are held to, and it is the right standard for all New Zealanders regardless of their background.”

But critics say the reforms weaken safeguards and prioritise economic growth over public health, especially in communities where access “is already a problem.”

“In our town centre alone, there’s like three or four liquor stores, and we’re not even that big,” Kiro said.

She also raised concerns about proposals to allow alcohol in spaces like salons and barbershops.

“You go get your nails done, you get offered a drink, then another, and then you’re driving home,” she said.

“For some people, it’s not easy to say no.

“Someone might have a few drinks and then get behind the wheel, and then who do you blame? Profit over people, that’s what it feels like.”

For kaupapa Māori provider Ki Tua o Matariki, those experiences reflect what they are hearing across their communities.

Chief executive Zoe Witika-Hawke said the reforms risk deepening existing inequities.

“These changes might seem small on their own, but together they make alcohol more present in our everyday environments, and that matters.

“We know alcohol outlets are more concentrated in lower-income communities, while access to health support is often more limited.

“That imbalance shapes the environments our whānau are living in every day.”

She said alcohol harm was not just about individual choice.

“It’s shaped by how available it is, where it shows up, and what becomes normal.”

Witika-Hawke pointed to the impact on future generations, including FASD, a lifelong condition caused by prenatal alcohol exposure.

“Every increase in alcohol availability increases risk, particularly for māmā hapū navigating stress and systemic barriers.”

Te Whatu Ora estimates 1800 to 3000 babies every year may be affected by FASD. That’s roughly 8 babies per day.

“We need to be clear, this is not about blaming māmā. Stigma has never prevented harm. Safe environments and strong support systems do.”

Witika-Hawke said communities had already been clear about what they wanted.

“They don’t want alcohol shops everywhere in their communities.”

Hāpai Te Hauora chief operating officer Jason Alexander said the reforms ignored strong evidence linking alcohol availability to harm.

“Anything that makes alcohol more accessible and visible will inevitably cause more harm,” he told RNZ.

“We know that people’s hauora is affected by the environment in which they live. If alcohol is more accessible, then people will access it more.”

He said alcohol harm extended beyond just the individual.

“Alcohol harm doesn’t happen in isolation. It is shaped by the environments we create, how widely alcohol is available, how it’s marketed, and how many outlets operate in a community.”

Restricting objections to licences, he said, limited community voice.

“That is essentially silencing those communities.”

Alcohol Healthwatch executive director Andrew Galloway told RNZ the scale of alcohol harm was significant in Aotearoa, and that the reforms appeared to remove effective protections.

“It does seem like that is giving the alcohol industry a wish list of changes,” he said.

“We know that when alcohol becomes more available, these increases are strongly linked to increased hazardous drinking.”

“We also see higher rates of cancer, and we know there is no safe limit.”

Polling commissioned by Health Coalition Aotearoa and the Cancer Society found 76 percent of respondents supported limits on the number of alcohol outlets in neighbourhoods.

“So changes that reduce community say, go directly against that support,” he said.

“We’re really disappointed that this package introduces very few restrictions and more liberalisation.”

Galloway said the direction of the reforms contradicted other government strategies, including suicide prevention efforts that put an emphasis on reducing alcohol harm.

“It just makes logical sense that we would look to restrict alcohol, not make it more available.”

Pre-colonisation, Māori were among the few known societies not to have manufactured or used alcohol – or psychoactive substances.

Quoted by Rev. W J Williams, ‘In the Beginning. Period up to 1886’, “The white man and the whisky bottle came to New Zealand together.”

The Māori word for alcohol is ‘waipiro’, translating to ‘stinking water’.

Witika-Hawke told RNZ, alcohol was used as a tool to take away their land – specifically in their iwi Ngāti Paoa.

“We’ve worked really hard to tell another story about our relationship with alcohol. And the alcohol industry has really, I think, picked on us in regards to ensuring that we’re trapped in the thinking of alcohol as part of who we are.

“It’s not part of who we are. It wasn’t part of who we were prior to colonisation. And returning to that state of health where it isn’t in our communities, I think, is the journey that we all want, and need, so that we remain healthy and don’t go back to a place where alcohol is thought to be who we are.”

At a time where fuel prices and the costs of living increases, Kiro said many whānau are already under pressure, and changes like these revert away from the issue.

“We’ve got bigger things to worry about, rent, food, petrol,” she said. “And now you’re adding more alcohol into the mix.”

She said addiction was a reality in many communities.

“Unless you’ve actually been around it, you don’t understand how hard it is.

“We’re not saying no alcohol forever… We’re saying stop oversaturating communities that are already struggling.

“Do I need seven liquor stores in my community? No, not really.”

She said whānau had spent years advocating for change, only to feel ignored.

“It’s a bit of a slap in the face. We did the mahi. We showed up. We told them what’s happening in our communities.

“And now it feels like they’re not listening.

“If they don’t listen now, by the time they realise something’s gone wrong, it’s going to be too late.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Four people are in hospital after “violent” incident in Mount Albert on Friday evening.

St John said it was called to the Auckland suburb at 9.24pm. It responded with eight vehicles, including three critical care units, four transporting ambulances and an operations manager.

One person was taken to Auckland Hospital in a serious condition, along with three others who were moderately injured.

A spokesperson for the ambulance said it was liasing with other emergency services.

The nature of the incident remains unclear. RNZ has approached Police for comment.

A Phyllis Street resident, who did not want to be named, said she was woken by the sounds of a “violent” altercation involving a large group of people.

“There was so many people out there screaming and shouting at each other and they were kicking the gates and fences of random houses down Phyllis Street. It sounded like people were getting really hurt.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Police are continuing their search for Antoine Richard, who has been reported missing from Cromwell.

The 21-year-old was last on Saturday, 21 March around 11.45pm at the Victoria Arms Hotel on the corner of Achil Street and Melmore Terrace.

Police said Cromwell residents could expect to see water and land-based searches operating over the weekend.

Richard was last seen wearing light coloured knee length shorts, a black t-shirt and light grey rubber sandals, police said.

A grey rubber sandal was found by search teams from the shore of Lake Dunstan.

Police are appealing to anyone that may have seen a person matching that description.

People are also asked to check CCTV footage for pedestrians matching the person in the photo.

If you have relevant footage, register your camera system with Community Cam to help with the search for Richard.

If you have seen Richard or have information regarding his whereabouts, please contact police through 105 online or by phone, and use file number 260324/5771.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A retired Northland couple’s home has been damaged by flooding once again while still being repaired following the January storm.

Linda and Roger Kelsall, both 80, had only just moved back into their Ōakura home before Thursday’s rain.

Linda Kelsall told Checkpoint, the latest bout of heavy rain had left the bottom story of their home with more water damage, and a lot of sludge and damage down each side of the house.

“It’s very disappointing… nothing we could do.”

Linda Kelsall said as the rain poured down water began seeping into the house and the couple had to put down towels in the bathroom and laundry area.

“Quite a lot seeped through… the rain was quite severe and the winds were very harsh. It just kept on raining on and off all day.

“We were wondering whether to go to our friend’s house or not when it started pouring. We went outside a few times to try and divert the water a bit, but no, it was too severe.”

There was a natural spring at the back of their property which had poured into their home with the excess rain.

Someone would be coming to look at the home on Monday and assess the new damage, Linda Kelsall said.

The couple’s home had been yellow-stickered in January and since then all the gib had been replaced along with the skirting boards.

“It was getting to the stage it was ready for painting.”

The couple spent three weeks in a motel and they then rented somewhere else until they were able to move back home last week.

Linda Kelsall said they had discussed moving in the past, but talked themselves out of it as it was a lovely spot with a very close community of “lovely people who were very supportive”.

“We do wonder what’s going to happen next I guess it’s just mother nature, what can you do? Not a thing.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Heavy rain and winds continue as a deep sub-tropical low continues to make its way across the country, particularly from Northland to Bay of Plenty.

A period of large northeast waves is also expected with strong to gale-force winds.

Northland east of Kaikohe from Doubtless Bay to Whangārei remains under a red heavy rain warning, with the remainder of Northland under an orange heavy rain warning.

Auckland, Westland District, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Tasman, Canterbury and North Otago are also under orange heavy rain warnings.

Orange strong wind warnings are in place for Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, Taihape, Whanganui and parts of Taranaki.

It comes after Northland and Auckland received more than a month of rain since wild weather hit the regions on Wednesday.

A number of highways and local roads were closed across the upper North Island.

Further flooding and slips were still possible, MetService warned.

Follow what happened today in our liveblog.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The closure of an intersection on a state highway feeding into Hamilton’s south-east has turned surrounding roads into commuter chaos.

In mid-February Hamilton City Council closed the Hillcrest intersection at Matangi and Morrinsville roads until 19 May for the construction of a peanut-shaped roundabout.

The closure of the arterial route, which some residents claim was not properly consulted, displaced traffic from rural Matangi Road and commuters from Morrinsville, forcing it through two interchanges on the Waikato Expressway at Ruakura and Tamahere.

The result has been long delays and queues at both interchanges during rush hour, and at least four crashes.

It’s also a key route for school buses with two primary, one intermediate and two secondary schools located within walking distance with combined rolls of 4500 students, a rest home and numerous businesses as well as the nearby University of Waikato campus.

Ōhaupō resident Claire Ruffell said her 18-year-old son Charlie was driving home from his first day at university three weeks ago when around a blind bend of State Highway 1 he encountered a long queue on the Waikato Expressway.

“He hopped on at the Ruakura onramp heading south, went under the Hillcrest overbridge and it’s a sort of sweeping corner and… you have to merge lanes with the traffic coming from Hillcrest and then jump over another lane to get into the Tamahere offramp.”

The speed limit is 110 kilometres an hour on the expressway.

“Once he got over to where the Tamahere offramp is, he suddenly noticed there’s a queue with a stationary vehicle right in front of him.

“And so he careered at 110 into the back of a stationary vehicle.”

Ruffell said Charlie spun out across the other lanes and ended up facing forward into oncoming traffic.

“To our incredible relief, he has managed to escape all severe injury. He’s walked away with just a minor concussion which is actually pretty miraculous but it’s definitely shaken him up and definitely given us all a huge fright.”

Charlie wrote off his car and has been handed a $150 fine for not being able to brake in time.

Ruffell said her family now avoided the expressway.

She wants a temporary speed reduction on the impacted part of the highway until the end of the peanut project.

Tamahere resident Andrew Mowbray said he was caught in the tailback at the Tamahere/Airport offramp the first day Morrinsville Rd (SH26) and Matangi Rd were closed.

“On the very first morning of the closure, when the traffic was banked up right back into Hamilton as we crawled along, there was a nose-to-tail accident just after the Bollard Rd onramp where a New Zealand Transport (Agency) car had driven into the back of the stationary line of traffic.”

Moments later Mowbray witnessed a truck and trailer brake heavily, locking up, and swerve into another lane to avoid a stationary ute trying to merge into the Tamahere queue.

Over on State Highway 26 in the queue for the Ruakura interchange, there was a three-car nose-to-tail near Newstead School.

Mowbray said he also now avoided the expressway.

“You end up with stationary traffic in one lane. You end up with traffic trying to speed up in a lane coming from Hamilton.

“You’ve got a lane of traffic trying to slow down and merge coming from Auckland, and then another lane sitting on the outside that’s doing 110.”

He said he and other residents tried to warn Hamilton City Council and NZTA the closure would create extra congestion at known pinch points.

“I don’t think they did any assessments of the number of vehicles that use Matangi Road or the number of vehicles that use Morrinsville Road.

“And I don’t think they really particularly looked at where those vehicles were going to end up going to, and how that traffic was going to end up moving around.”

RNZ asked NZTA and the council for the traffic impact assessment for the peanut project but neither did one.

Before the intersection closure, NZTA told RNZ minor nose-to-tail crashes are a frequent occurrence at peak times on highways around New Zealand and are usually caused by driver inattention.

The following week, a spokesperson confirmed an NZTA-branded car crashed into the tailback at the Tamahere offramp the first morning of the SH26 intersection closure.

“Which driver was at fault has not been determined and we don’t have further detail to provide. Unfortunately the crash did cause additional congestion and delays in the area.”

Waikato District Councillor for Tamahere Woodlands, Mike Keir, said a number of residents had raised concerns about the safety of the expressway in recent weeks.

“So as a result of those concerns we’ve been to NZTA and said look you need to do something. They’ve put up some variable message boards, and there was another incident just the other day.”

In that crash last Tuesday another motorist was rear-ended.

An NZTA spokesperson said the warning signs were positioned for traffic entering the expressway at Tamahere in both directions, and from Hamilton via Cambridge Road.

“While the boards are highly visible, NZTA is continuing to monitor traffic and driver behaviour.”

She said mobile variable message signs were the most effective and immediately available tool to directly warn road users of queues ahead and the need to slow down.

The spokesperson said 14 non-injury crashes had been reported at the Tamahere interchange since it opened in 2022, not including the latest one.

“Longer term, and outside of the State Highway 26 closure, the merge and diverge area between SH1C Cambridge Road and SH21 Airport Road are being assessed for improvements in the vicinity of the Tamahere interchange.”

Hamilton City Council general manager of infrastructure and assets Kevin Strongman said the council revealed on 18 December last year it would fully close the intersection instead of keeping it partially open under a stop-go system.

“Decisions like this are always challenging and our focus was on what’s best for the communities affected.

“We didn’t take the decision lightly, but the benefits of full closure were so significant that it became the clear choice.”

Before making the decision the council worked with emergency services, community groups, freight industry representatives, NZTA, Waikato District Council, and Waikato Regional Council, Strongman said.

Early discussions with community groups indicated a strong preference to get the work done faster – “rip the plaster off” rather than drag it out, he said.

However the council admitted it did not consult with any of the impacted schools, and relied on the Ministry of Education to inform parents of rearranged bus timetables.

Strongman said the council looked at options to keep traffic moving through the construction site, but this would have meant a stop/go system, extending construction and travel disruption by up to six months, adding around $1 million in extra costs, lower quality road surface and increased safety risks for workers and the public.

He said the council did not undertake a traffic impact assessment because they understood the likely impacts and detour routes could safely accommodate the extra vehicles.

However, Mowbray calculated the financial and time cost on residents exceeded the council’s savings.

His calculations were made before the war in the Middle East pushed up the price of petrol.

Meanwhile, State Highway 3 traffic was currently being diverted at Ōhaupō onto Airport Road and the expressway to avoid delays while unrelated works were carried out, pushing even more vehicles through the choked Tamahere interchange.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Christchurch’s new covered stadium was put to the test as it is officially opened on a wet and stormy day in the southern city.

The $683 million stadium is the last of the city’s anchor projects intended to revitalise Christchurch after the earthquakes.

It has 25,000 permanent seats with capacity for a further 5000 temporary seats and can house about 36,000 for concerts.

There were years of debate post-earthquake about the size and whether a new stadium needed to be covered, before the plan was signed off by the council in 2021.

Opening the stadium on Friday mayor Phil Mauger said he was absolutely delighted it was on time and on budget.

As rain lashed the outside of the One New Zealand Stadium on Friday and everyone inside stayed warm and dry, Mauger said it proved the decision to build it covered was the right one.

“Some people weren’t happy when we first mooted that it was going to be built but now you can’t argue with it. It’s hosing down outside and we are standing here in the dry. It is grouse,” said Mauger.

It was one of the last cogs in Christchurch’s earthquake recovery, he said.

“We have Parakiore [recreation and sports centre] around the corner, we’ve got Te Pae [convention centre], we’ve got Margaret Mahy [playground], we’ve got Ngā Puna Wai [sports hub]. We’ve got so many things that will make Christchurch the sporting and events capital of the country by a long shot,” said Mauger.

After the ribbon was cut marking the official opening, former All Black and Crusaders first-five Dan Carter kicked a conversion.

“Its a huge privilege to be part of this opening,” Carter said.

“And a little bit relieved now that it went through and I didn’t miss.

“There’s going to be so many incredible memories, records broken, historical moments that are all going to be happening here.”

Carter said he was envious of the current crop of players and future superstars that got to play at the stadium.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Christchurch’s new stadium was truly world-class.

“It just means we can go out in the world and compete with Australian states and now we have a great venue we can bring acts to. And every act is about driving jobs and lifting incomes because people come here and then walk into the city and spend money in the hotels and bars and that leads to more jobs and higher incomes for everyone,” Luxon said.

Venues Ōtautahi chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare said it was ironic to have rain and wind battering the new stadium on its opening day.

“It’s incredible having a roof – it really does give us the ability to do things all year round. A diverse range of content. So the irony of today being the ceremonial opening – it certainly showcased its benefit,” she said.

The stadium’s first event will be a Super Round of Super Rugby Pacific over Anzac weekend with 10 of the competition’s 11 teams playing in five matches in Christchurch.

Harvie-Teare said about 75,000 people were expected at the stadium over three days.

“Five games of rugby on the grass. So it is certainly one way to put this venue under pressure straight way but it will be an incredible event for the city – so we can’t wait.”

British pop superstar Robbie Williams is scheduled to be the first international act to play at the stadium in November and rock legends Foo Fighters follow in January next year.

One New Zealand Stadium hosts its first concert in May with Six60, Synthony and Kaylee Bell playing the Once in a Lifetime event.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Bluebridge ferry passengers are feeling deflated and frustrated by ongoing disruption to sailings, with one ferry out of action and the other running four hours behind schedule.

Sailings on Connemara have been canned for the eighth day in a row due to a technical fault, which is causing issues for its remaining service, Livia.

• Have you been affected? Email mary.argue@rnz.co.nz

Connemara, which usually sails up to four times daily between Wellington and Picton, hasn’t been running since the fault was identified almost a week ago.

Sailings on the ship had also been cancelled for Saturday.

StraitNZ Bluebridge spokesperson, Will Dady apologised “unreservedly” for the disruption but didn’t elaborate on what the fault was, just that it was taking longer than anticipated to fix.

Maritime NZ confirmed it would undertake its own inspection of the vessel to ensure safety standards were being met, but did not provide a timeframe.

On Friday, Bluebridge issued an alert on its website informing passengers Livia was running four hours behind schedule due to re-accommodating Connemara passengers.

“All affected customers will be kept up to date with email and text notifications with revised sailing and final check in times,” it said.

Grace and John, who travel from the South to the North Island for work, said it wasn’t the first time they’d been caught up in a ferry cancellation or delay.

“Not only do we have to deal with increased fuel costs to drive up the South Island to the ferry, now we have to tolerate an appalling service from an essential transport network.”

They said they were booked on Friday’s 7.15pm Livia sailing and had just been told there was a four hour delay – it would now depart after 11pm.

In their opinion, “technical issues” was an insufficient explanation for the delays and cancellations.

“The New Zealand public deserves better.”

Another passenger, who was meant to be sailing on Connemara on Friday, said he was exhausted after spending a night trying to rebook on another service.

The man, who didn’t want to be named, said he was told late on Wednesday the crossing had been cancelled.

“The car was fully loaded, the cat was in the cattery and we were about to drive up from Dunedin to Picton. I feel like if they knew about this problem on Saturday why did they give us such little notice.”

He said the trip north to visit elderly parents came after a year of hard work saving up money and annual leave and the “last-minute contact” meant there was no time to recoup costs on pre-booked accommodation.

“I stayed up all night [on Wednesday] refreshing Bluebridge’s and Interislander’s websites and managed to book the Sunday night sailing and feel lucky to do so, but still feeling pretty deflated,” he said.

Dady said the company was doing everything it could to get the Connemara up and running again as soon as possible and that from time-to-time things went wrong “with large, complex ships sailing multiple times a day”.

“We are extremely aware [of] how disruptive this is for our customers, many of whom are long term and very loyal, and we apologise unreservedly to all of them.

“We want to reassure everyone that our team of engineers are working around the clock to return the ship to service.”

Maritime New Zealand said it was StraitNZ Bluebridge’s responsibility to repair Connemara.

“StraitNZ needs to work with the ship’s Classification Society (a non-government organisation that establishes and maintains technical standards) and flag state (Bahamas), to ensure the repairs are carried out and approved to their satisfaction.”

Following this, Maritime NZ would be informed and could either accept the approved fixes or make further enquiries, a spokesperson said.

Maritime NZ had also scheduled its own inspection of Connemara to confirm the operator was meeting safety standards.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Police say they have not yet started investigating what technologies they might need to implement intelligence-gathering powers contained in a new bill that would give police new powers to move and detain.

They also said public consultation on the policing amendment bill would happen at the Justice select committee where it was sent after its first reading this week.

The bill delivered new powers to police to move or detain someone, but just how far it went would now be decided in select committee.

There was no public consultation on it until now, with a regulatory impact statement saying the time pressure had been to enact the changes as soon as possible after a Supreme Court ruling almost a year ago, “given the impact on daily policing activity”.

Two official inquiries and a Supreme Court ruling almost a year ago, challenged police’s understanding of how they could collect general intelligence and, the bill said, narrowed the law.

This came after police photographing people indiscriminately was ruled unlawful, and police storage of tens of thousands of images was exposed for the first time as so haphazard they still had not been able to locate them all.

Police missed a mid-2025 deadline to find a way to identify and delete all the photos.

Their updates to the Privacy Commissioner over several years showed that while they stopped the practice, and taking youths fingerprints unlawfully too, they failed to find or afford technology to destroy the pictures, or to flag them if they cropped up in a current investigation.

The tech gap was raised in the debate over the bill’s first reading this week by Labour’s police spokesperson Ginny Andersen.

A digital evidence management system had been presented as a solution, she said.

“We have a right to know how long those photographs or video recordings or sound recordings are being held for and where they are being stored,” Andersen said.

“It’s important to know that there is a system in place within police for this to be done responsibly, and it’s also important for us to know if this is funded, because we know… there’s been inadequate funding for the development and implementation of a digital evidence management system.

“Had they had that, police would have stored and identified photos and linked them to specific cases, which would have also meant [that] staff would have documented the lawful purpose for taking the photo.”

In mid-2024 a project to build such a system was put on hold for lack of money.

RNZ would seek an update from police.

Tim Anderson, Assistant police commissioner for iwi community and partnership said on Friday, “as this bill has only just begun going through the parliamentary process, police has not yet commenced work to [sic] investigating supporting technologies that may be required in preparation for implementation.”

Police began a push for a law change around general intelligence powers in 2022 soon after being taken to task in inquiries by the Privacy Commissioner and Independent Police Conduct Authority.

The government said the new bill sought to correct that and restore their powers but critics say it expands their powers without adequate safeguards.

The lack of consultation before the bill was introduced extended to Māori.

Police said on Friday they would continue to consider and give effect to their obligations to Māori and the Treaty “including ways in which any disproportionate impacts to Māori can be appropriately mitigated”.

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