NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Schools that use diesel for heating are locking up their fuel tanks and preparing for big bills when they return from the April holidays.

They were expecting the Education Ministry would help cover the extra cost if the fuel crisis kept prices high, but no details had been confirmed or made public.

Meanwhile, some schools reported teachers and parents car-pooling to keep costs down.

At the South Island’s biggest secondary school, Burnside High, the principal, Scott Haines, said most of the school was heated by diesel boilers and the price of diesel would have a direct but manageable effect on the school’s budget.

“We burnt 77,000 litres of diesel last year at Burnside High School to heat the campus. So the quantum is large,” he said.

Haines said Burnside last year spent $108,900 on diesel and one of the first steps the school took in response to the fuel crisis was to improve security around its 10,000-litre diesel tank.

“Now it’s locked in a cage with external lighting and CCTV infrastructure on it,” he said.

Haines said Burnside purchased diesel through an all-of-government contract so the price was relatively good and the Education Ministry was working on a fuel-support allowance for schools with diesel boilers.

“Anything they can give us there will help offset the additional payments the school’s making but beyond that, frankly, it’s just a cost of doing business, isn’t it?” he said.

“It simply means that our heat, light, water component, that budget line is going to blow out pretty handsomely. But in the scheme of things, in terms of the wider school budget … it’s not a huge figure.”

Haines said fuel prices did not appear to be affecting student attendance but there appeared to be more bicycles in the school’s bike-stands and some teachers were car-pooling.

At another Christchurch school, Addington Te Kura Taumata, principal Donna Bilas said about half the school relied on a diesel boiler for heating.

Bilas said it normally cost $2500-3000 to fill the school’s diesel tank and she expected that bill would be a lot higher this year.

“Normally our diesel use, we do two to maybe three fills in the winter months so we’re looking at being well over budget in terms of what we get from the ministry for heating, lighting, and water,” she said.

Bilas said the school already had a full tank of diesel, but if prices remained high it would have to cut back on other parts of its property spending to cover the increased cost.

However, she said the ministry was collecting information from schools about last year’s spending on diesel and she hoped that was a strong indication it would provide some funding support.

Bilas said the school had not noticed any effects of the fuel crisis, but it was considering allowing teachers to stay home if they had release time and had taken stock of the number of pupils who were driven to school.

Oropi School principal and president of the Rural Schools Association, Andrew King, said schools in rural areas were probably seeing more impact from the fuel crisis than urban schools.

He said teachers were car-pooling as were parents who were not confident about putting their five-year-olds on school bus services.

“The parents like to bring them to school and don’t have them on the bus straight away until they’re a bit older and so we’re seeing families come together to look at carpooling instead of one family driving up the road,” he said.

King said schools were providing the ministry with examples of increased costs due to the fuel crisis and hoped it would result in financial help.

“Hopefully down the track there might be some relief and support for schools so that they don’t need to cut back,” he said.

“Rural schools are always already cutting back on many things because of additional costs.”

Education Minister Erica Stanford said the government was still taking stock of the situation and planning for each phase of its fuel response plan.

“All schools are being contacted so that we can understand their needs and provide timely, targeted, temporary support. We are also exploring potential scenarios and a range of options, should the need arise,” she said.

The Education Ministry said a small number of schools used diesel boilers.

It said the information gathered from schools would inform its planning and decision-making.

“Any support provided will be considered carefully to make sure it is tailored, targeted, and responsive to circumstances on the ground, with the ability to adjust our response as circumstances change,” it said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland’s mayor is going to axe ratepayer-funded lunches at council meetings after being grilled about the council’s big catering bill.

But the lunches are just a small part of the council’s spend on food and drink.

Information obtained under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) revealed the council spent $1.4 million in the year to 31 March 2025 and almost $5m in the past four years on catering.

That included catering cost totals of $832,000 from Auckland Transport and $565,033 from Watercare.

But when RNZ first approached Wayne Brown about the council’s catering bill and the lunches served to him and his colleagues, he was not concerned.

“Surely if I’m going to sit there for seven hours and listen to what some of the councillors dribble on about, I can have a couple of sandwiches at lunchtime.

“You’re focusing on the wrong things. You should be talking to me about really big, important things, not the musings of some new councillor.”

The cost of lunches for governing body meetings and workshops fluctuated year-to-year; at $3123 in FY2022, $18,439 in FY2023, $10,471 in FY2024, and $15,625 in FY2025.

Brown said they had pulled up council boards who spent “a lot of money on booze”.

“We discourage that immensely.

“But the council itself is very parsimonious. Recently, there was a gathering of all 160 board members, and there was a proposal to spend $32,000 on catering, which was cut back to $2000. In other words, you gave them a cup of tea and a bun.”

Councillor John Gillon, who requested the information about catering, said what was being provided was more luxurious than the mayor was letting on.

“He may only be taking a couple of sandwiches, but there’s definitely more on offer; gourmet paninis, filled rolls, a wide selection of salads and pasta, meatballs on sticks, sausage rolls.”

He said the elected members could bring their own food or buy something during lunch break.

“I’m happy with some tea, coffee, and biscuits, but anything beyond that I don’t see as being necessary.”

The mayor’s office backtracked on Wayne Brown’s comments shortly after he spoke to RNZ.

It said the mayor had directed that food should no longer be served at full council meetings, as he believed the issue had become a distraction.

“He wants councillors focused on delivering outcomes for Aucklanders, not debating meeting catering.

“The Mayor hopes councillors concentrate on large sums of money, given the fact that this is a multi-billion-dollar organisation.

“He also noted that using a LGOIMA on your own organisation is not the right way to achieve meaningful results, and said the decision removes an unnecessary sideshow so attention can stay on the important work that matters.”

But Councillor Gillan said those lunches were only a small part of the problem.

“Council doesn’t seem to have a specified budget for catering. It seems to be left up to the project managers and the heads of departments to decide on an ad hoc basis how much they’re going to spend on catering.

“For that reason, the figures tend to fluctuate each year between the departments. Sometimes they’re spending huge amounts, and sometimes they’re spending small amounts. But what I think this indicates is there needs to be a much firmer policy.”

He said he would be taking further action to try to bring down the council’s overall catering costs if the mayor did not.

“I’m surprised he’s [the mayor’s] not concerned about the amount being spent on catering. I would’ve thought he’d be keen to take advantage of this revelation. I’ll be speaking to the [Auckland Council] CEO about whether there are ways to rein in these costs.”

Gillon noted that council staff had advised him that the best way to get the information he was asking for was through the LGOIMA process.

Economist Brad Oslen said while avoiding extravagant spending was important, the council had bigger fish to fry.

“There’s always a legitimate question to be asked over spending on things like food for council meetings.

“But a lot of times when you look at spending on the likes of food for meetings, if you are having extremely long meetings, often you do need to, or it’s best to provide something because you do keep people engaged.

“The mayor is probably right that, if it’s become a distraction, they probably can go without it.

“But I do get the worry here that we seem to spend an enormous amount of time sometimes on smaller pieces, whereas bigger changes that could be looked at around procurement, getting better value for money across, say, the likes of roading or water contracts or similar, it’s probably going to deliver a lot more to the organisation.”

Workers’ rights advocate, Chloe Ann-King, said she was interested in what any savings made as a result of the mayor cutting back on catering were spent on.

“Where’s it going to be put? Is it going to be put into food banks? We do have massive food insecurity in this country, so Wayne Brown saying we’re going to cut lunches for workers who are already on high wages and can afford food. What difference is that going to make?

“Everyone should be fuelled at work and fed, but that should be across the whole of New Zealand.”

Council financial advisory manager, Brian Chan, said light snacks for long and important meetings were appropriate, as was catering for special occasions like inaugurations, community events, blessings and powhiri, or for special guests and delegations.

“Often, elected members will spend an entire day, and into the evening, participating in a meeting and only taking short comfort and refreshment breaks in order to get through a long and complex agenda.

“Our catering spend is not on lavish morning teas or long lunches for council staff.

“We have an internal catering team which provides simple, cost-effective catering options for justifiable business purposes. This enables us to keep costs down and gives us the flexibility to adjust quantities when needed and not over-cater.”

He said council staff were expected to “show restraint” and consider whether catering was necessary.

“We are guided by the Standing Orders of the Governing Body for elected members and the council’s Catering Guide for staff and external events.

“Catering is not provided by default. Our guidance states that morning tea may be approved for business meetings over 2.5 hours long and lunch may be approved if the meeting is over four hours long and if there is no easy access to kitchens, kitchenettes or council cafes.”

He said serving alcohol at council events was a “rare exception” but permitted in some circumstances.

Auckland Transport pointed out that its catering costs dropped from over $300,000 in 2023 to under $200,000 in 2024 and 2025.

“We do limited catering for Board and Committee meetings where these exceed three hours or run concurrently, and there are no options for board or management members to leave and buy their own lunch. This is always considered and limited, using Council catering suppliers.”

Watercare said it also had a strict approval process for entertainment and hospitality spending.

“We are mindful that Watercare is a public organisation – we expect our people to exercise judgement with respect to catering and follow our sensitive expenditure policy.”

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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 shiny diamond engagement ring has found its way out of a deep creek buried by sand thanks to a community of metal detectorists – the volunteer heroes of New Zealand’s lost and found.

Bits of gold, silver, diamond, coins, rings and a lot of less desirable trash sit just below the ground across Aotearoa creating a boom of hobbyists.

Garth Walton bought his first metal detector in 2018.

It all started with some YouTube videos and now nearly a decade later, he had found and reunited priceless and countless heirlooms and jewellery with their owners.

Most recently he tackled an underwater rescue, something he had not tried before and was not necessarily prepared for.

He heard about a woman who was at a Hamilton swimming hole along the Kaniwhaniwha Track when her engagement ring went missing.

Walton spoke to the couple, got rough whereabouts and gave it a crack.

“I’ve actually never underwater detected before, so I didn’t have the gear.

“I just had some goggles and snorkel and, and my detector can detect underwater.”

He said the area was packed with people, another thing he had not done before.

“I don’t usually like to detect in front of lots of people … but I tend to go out at night and detect so that I’m not getting in anybody’s face or anything.”

Walton spent about an hour in the water, struggling to hear the machine while submerged.

At one stage he was in about seven feet deep, well over his head, with no luck other than a few laundry tokens.

“I was getting really cold and so I thought ‘I’m gonna call it quits now’ and so as I was getting out of the water I thought ‘I’ll just go back this way quickly and have a look’…

“I got up to waist deep and and then I got a really good signal there.”

He used his pinpointer – a small handheld device to get a closer reading.

“I stuck it in the sand and I felt the ring, and I pulled it out and I was like whoa.

“By that time, everybody had left … So I let out a woohoo.”

He said it was buried right in the sand.

“I was shaking like a chihuahua in the rain,” with the cold – and excitement, he said.

“It’s always a great feeling, you know, and those guys were so grateful.”

Owner of the ring, Kaela Ivory-Taranaki, was in awe of Walton – “I just still can’t believe it.”

“I honestly didn’t think that it would be returned … Like I thought, it was gone forever.”

Walton circled a picture of where he found it.

Even more magical, she said, it was exactly where she dropped it.

Unfortunately, Walton’s gear was not as waterproof as it was supposed to be and he was still waiting for his gear to dry out.

Digging deep in the ground, and research

While an impressive feat, it still was not his favourite find.

In 2023 Walton found an RSA badge buried in Hamilton’s Steel Park.

He noticed it had the soldier’s number on it, pushing him and some friends to become a different kind of detective.

“We sort of went and dug deep in and did some research … we found out it was a soldier from World War I.”

From here they traced the soldier from the Auckland Cenotaph, Taranaki and Tuakau, traipsing through burial records, eventually locating his grandson.

“When we met him he had all his grandad’s badges on the table and photographs and funny thing is that his grandad in his wedding photo had that badge on. The badge that I found.

“He was so stoked … it was quite emotional.”

Community of detectives

Walton, like most detectorists, helped people out of the goodness of his heart.

He said some people made money off their finds, but if they came across something valuable or looked important with markings, they would try and return it to its owner.

There was a small but growing community of metal detectorists.

Pages like NZ Ring Finder got requests from people across Aotearoa, which were then sent out to the catalogue of hobbyists to see who was closest to them.

Another one was Andrew Harding from Wellington Metal Detecting. He set up the page to share his finds and help people in the area with their lost belongings.

He and his friends had found and returned three lost ring to their owners in the past month.

But mostly, it was just a hobby.

Harding had taken such an interest he cross referenced maps from the 1930s with today’s Google Maps, allowing him to find places where people once might have gathered.

“Probably my favourite one, the most noble one is … I’m not going to say where, because it’s a bit like fishing, you don’t disclose your spots.

“But it was two full gold sovereigns in the one hole, along with two half crowns, a shilling, six pence, and thruppence, and they were all from 1880.”

In today’s spot prices that was a fair whack of money.

But there was a knack to it.

“A lot of people think you can just turn it on and go, but it’s nothing like that at all.

“They get a lot of interference in Wi-Fi.”

He had a failed mission last week in Karori where it had initially sounded simple.

“The woman had lost her ring gardening.

“But she forgot to tell me that everything was concrete with rebar in it. So pretty much all concrete has steel reinforcing in it. So you can’t detect.

“It’s impossible to narrow it down.”

The other surprising find was his new love of history and coins.

Holding up the oldest coin he had found, a 1650 Chinese coin, Harding said many of the Wellington settlers brought these coins with them and wore them as a good luck charm.

“I never did history at school, but I could tell you everything about coin denominations and the monarchy and whose heads on it.

“There’s a guy with the funny haircut there’s the guy with the wheelchair which is actually not, it’s a chariot and then there’s the guy with the big forehead … I have all sorts of names for them.”

But among the treasures there was always trash. Harding gets permission to scour Wellington City Council sites.

“For every time you go detecting, you’re probably pulling out a couple of kilos of cans and glass and bottle tops and needles, even a lot of needles, razor blades, nails, lead head nails.”

And against what people might think, they did not detect deep – about 40 centimeters at most and left the ground in mint condition.

For any budding detectorists, Harding’s advice – start at home.

“Most people don’t realise what is on their properties and where the best place is actually clotheslines because you know for hundreds of years people have been hanging stuff on clotheslines with coins and pockets and rings.

“Clotheslines are just like a gold mine”

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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 New Zealander has revealed details of a years-long stint spying for America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Cold War.

Kit Bennetts, who was born and raised in Masterton, was recruited in Wellington by the CIA Chief of Station at the US Embassy in 1979. At the time he was working for New Zealand’s SIS.

He shared details of his work in hours of interviews for a new podcast, The Agency, which is released by RNZ and Bird of Paradise today.

In the podcast, Bennetts reveals how he worked on behalf of the CIA “belly-to-belly” with a senior Soviet official, trying to funnel “dead-end technology” into the system of America’s Cold War rival.

“I was working in cover, undeclared, targeting Soviet intelligence officers and East European intelligence officers,” Bennetts says.

“I got successful against a couple of Soviets and a couple of east Europeans, and I became friendly with them and that’s where it developed from.”

What was initially expected to be a two-year stint turned into six-and-a-half years operating in cover for the CIA overseas. He reflects on times when he knew he was in grave danger but carried on regardless.

“I don’t think I slept much, because I knew that if this was going to happen, it wouldn’t matter if I was walking around with an M16, they would have got me.”

Listen now to The Agency, a new podcast detailing the story of a Kiwi spy who was close to the Sutch case before spending six years in cover for the CIA

New details in the Bill Sutch spy case

The first episode of The Agency touches on Kit Bennetts’ involvement in the country’s most notorious spy scandal, the arrest – and subsequent trial – of Dr Bill Sutch in 1975/6.

Sutch was found not guilty but subsequent evidence has emerged over the decades about his connections to the Soviet Union. RNZ is today publishing details from evidence that was not presented to the jury in Sutch’s trial.

A series of pen portraits of six civil servants were found by the SIS in Sutch’s office. The existence of these profiles has previously been reported but not what they actually said. They offer an insight into the methods and sources used by Soviet intelligence to recruit and run agents.

“They were pretty nasty sort of pen portraits of people who were essentially his [Sutch’s] friends, who he was lining up to take over from him,” Bennetts says.

RNZ has obtained the profiles and published them, together with an analysis by historian Sarah Gaitanos.

Trump, Five Eyes and re-evaluating NZ’s place

The six-part series also explores New Zealand’s ties with the US, via the Five Eyes alliance, which includes intelligence sharing.

Experts, including from within senior levels of the US Government, give a range of views on the ongoing risk – and value – of that alliance. The unpredictability of the current US administration, under President Donald Trump, is a cause for concern but there is widespread agreement on the enduring value to New Zealand of participation in the group.

Andrew Little, the minister in charge of the intelligence agencies in the last Labour Government, tells the podcast there continue to be “exchanges” of personnel between the Five Eyes partners.

“The Five Eyes partners in particular, work closely together, more so than pretty much any other group of intelligence agencies anywhere in the world. … New Zealand’s relationship with each of the Five Eyes partners, UK, US, Australia and Canada, is particularly close.”

In a statement, an SIS spokesman said relationships with overseas intelligence and security partners – particularly within the Five Eyes – are vital to New Zealand’s national security.

“As you would expect, NZSIS does have a small number of staff posted offshore in liaison roles.”

How to listen

The Agency follows on from The Service, another Cold War espionage co-production between Bird of Paradise and RNZ, about a raid on the Czechoslovakian embassy in Wellington by the SIS and MI6.

The series epilogue of The Service also discussed another raid that had taken place as a joint operation – this time between the SIS and CIA, in the early 1990s; the target was the Iranian embassy in Island Bay. Sources within the New Zealand intelligence community have subsequently suggested the wider aim of the operation was to enable US monitoring of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The first two episodes of The Agency are available now on all podcast platforms, and via the RNZ podcast player. Subsequent episodes will be released this Friday and next Tuesday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fifty years ago, the trial of Bill Sutch on charges of breaching the Official Secrets Act rocked the nation. Historian Sarah Gaitanos says evidence that was withheld from court gives us an insight into his work as an alleged agent of the KGB. That evidence is published here for the first time.

Bill Sutch could be extremely persuasive. An influential and self-assured intellectual, he could give an impressive account of himself.

In his many books his accounts of his epic solo trek in 1932, around the Arctic Ocean, across the Soviet Union and over the mountains of Afghanistan into India became more extravagant with every telling. Publishers, readers, even his wife Shirley Smith, believed them. Decades after his death, Smith was shocked to discover that it was mostly a fantasy.

Sutch had spent only two weeks in Russia. But that trip – and those two weeks in Soviet Russia – was nevertheless the start of a true story that culminated in his arrest in 1974.

In February 1975, Dr Bill Sutch was tried under the Official Secrets Act. The Act dealt with what was loosely known as spying and wrongful disclosure of communication of official information for a purpose that prejudiced the safety or interests of the state. Sutch, it was said, had been using his position of influence close to the government to gather sensitive information and pass it on to the Soviet Union – an enemy of the state in the Cold War era.

Sutch had been a senior economist in the public service, head of the Department of Industries and Commerce until his forced retirement. Since then he had worked as a consultant. He was an influential public speaker and author with a devoted following.

Over five decades since his trial, accounts of the circumstances surrounding the case have diverged depending on who is telling the story. Those who hold that Bill Sutch was a patriot who would never have betrayed his country shrug off the evidence that he was a KGB agent and point to the lack of evidence of what he was actually doing for Soviet intelligence.

But two documents that NZSIS officers found in Sutch’s office safe do provide direct insight into his activities and relationship with the KGB.

Both written in 1970, the first is a report with classified information on a Cabinet decision about Japanese fishing rights in the Pacific. It shows that Sutch, though no longer a public servant, had access to top level sensitive information. His report, apparently prepared for his KGB handler at the time, gave the Soviet Union an edge in their negotiations for fishing rights in New Zealand waters, potentially compromising the New Zealand Government’s efforts to police their relations with the USSR.

The second – the focus of this article – is a document made up of six short profiles of senior civil servants. It shows a different aspect of the role of a KGB agent.

Attorney General Sir Martyn Finlay, who had the responsibility of deciding whether the case should proceed to court, would later acknowledge that the profiles had ‘tipped the scales’ in his decision to prosecute Dr Sutch, adding that their ‘possible effects in one way or another’, had caused him the greatest anxiety.

This raises intriguing questions. The prosecution went to lengths to determine how to present them in the trial but in the event they were kept secret. The profiles remained classified until 2008 and have not been published until now.

Listen now to The Agency, a new podcast detailing the story of a Kiwi spy who was close to the Sutch case before spending six years in cover for the CIA

I came to the Bill Sutch story as the biographer of his wife (human rights campaigner and trailblazing lawyer) Shirley Smith. Sutch and Smith were married for over 30 years and after his death in 1975, she spent another 30 years defending his reputation. In private, she was more circumspect.

I examined her marriage, her responses to revelations about her husband that continued to emerge, her agonizing doubts and confusion, what she knew and didn’t know about his activities. She would say that her husband didn’t let the truth get in the way of a good story but decades after his death she was still discovering how far he had deceived her. Her discovery of letters Sutch sent to his mother revealed the simpler truth of his travels as a younger man.

She had been shocked, too, to learn of Sutch’s arrest on the night of 26 September, 1974 after agents picked him up on the way to a meeting with Dmitri Razgovorov, First Secretary of the USSR Embassy in Wellington.

The two had been observed meeting in obviously clandestine circumstances, following standard spy craft procedures known as ‘Moscow rules’.

After he was brought in, Detective Colin Lines urged Sutch to come clean and get ‘off the hook’ with the Russians. Sutch at one point asked what would happen to him if he did?

The primary purpose of the joint operation between Police and Security Service was to get Sutch’s cooperation, but Sutch refused to talk to anyone from the SIS and the police had not been sufficiently briefed as to how the matter would be hushed up. In return for his full co-operation, a full and frank account of his association with the Russians, Sutch was to be given immunity. He would have received the knighthood he longed for. His public reputation would have been left intact.

Not knowing this, Lines could only reply to Sutch that it would be a better outcome for him. Sutch considered this before replying that there was no hook.

This testimony, along with evidence of Security Service surveillance of Sutch’s clandestine meetings with Razgovorov, was presented in court.

Whether or not the jury would have returned a different verdict had the report on Japanese fishing rights and the profiles been presented as evidence, one cannot say. Sutch cut a frail figure in court and there was little desire to see him sent to jail. (He would die of liver cancer months later.) According to Smith, a juror told her that they wanted to acquit him and realised they didn’t have to give a reason.

While his acquittal did not end public debate, the profiles were kept out of the discussion until former Attorney General Sir Martyn Finlay was interviewed about them almost 20 years later. What exactly they contained was still not disclosed.

To recap, the profiles refer to a document found in a file labelled ‘Foreign Affairs’ in the safe in Sutch’s office. The document was headed ‘Memo for File’, dated 20 October 1970, and was made up of short pen portraits describing the personal experiences, aptitudes and ambitions of six civil servants, their interests and relationships with their wives.

In four of the six, their attitude towards the Soviet Union is indicated.

The subjects were Tom Larkin and Charles Craw of Foreign Affairs, Geoff Easterbrook-Smith, Geoff Datson and Harold Holden of Industries and Commerce, and Jack Lewin, Department of Statistics. Lewin was Sutch’s closest friend. None of these men were ever suspected of spying for the Soviet Union.

You can read the profiles at the bottom of this article, along with the accompanying SIS analysis.

The SIS analyst who examined the subject, written style, nature and scope of the comments concluded that they were written by a single author, a man with a ‘good working knowledge of Foreign Affairs and Industries and Commerce personnel, and of I & C departmental activities and postings reaching many years back.’

The author wrote familiarly about his subjects as if they were inferior to him. It was noted that Sutch’s background of employment, his general status and degree of influence over the years, fitted him for the part.

The profiles seemed to have been intended for a third person who had asked for information of this sort, the analyst concluded. The first five men were all dealt with in a similar way while the comments on Lewin were more specific.

The analyst wrote a hypothetical brief that the author might have been given:

Prepare brief notes on some of the more senior offices in Industries & Commerce and Foreign affairs Depts. known to you, who hold liberal left-wing political views. I attach a list of points to be covered in your consideration of the men. At the same time, include some comments on LEWIN with respect to his political views, his relationship to the NZ Labour Party and his family interests.

1 Age

2 present job/special expertise

3 Overseas postings

4 Experience and ability

5 Political views (general)

6 Political views during youth

7 Attitude to Soviet Union

8 Intelligence/intellectual ability

9 Interests/hobbies

10 Wife’s attitudes

11 Openness/talkativeness

12 Response to socials/dinners/parties

13 Vulnerabilities/weaknesses/ambitions

The analyst prepared this brief without reference to the Canadian Royal Commission Report of 27 June 1946 (the Gouzenko Report) which outlined criteria Soviet military intelligence used for recruiting agents, based on a document provided by GRU defector, Igor Gouzenko.

Subsequently the analyst studied that report and compared the similarities. He concluded that the ‘memo for file’ was written by Dr Sutch for a trained Russian Intelligence Officer seeking personality information on senior officers in the New Zealand Government Service, specifically in areas where they would expect to have access to classified information and to travel abroad on Government postings.

Crucially, this could then be used by the Soviets for recruitment.

The profiles offer the kind of information that enables an intelligence officer to assess a target: an individual’s likely career path, how to make a friendly approach based on mutual interest, vulnerabilities that might offer leverage, and so on.

The recruitment of foreign government officials is highly prized by intelligence agencies because it allows access not simply to information, but also to people elsewhere in the hierarchy. If the target is recruited in place and remains well placed, the connection can remain open and fruitful over many years.

Intelligence and defence officials are prime targets; after them, foreign affairs.

The profiles were therefore seen as significant supplementary evidence. The Crown Counsels, Solicitor General Richard Savage and Paul Neazor, decided early on to call an expert witness who could explain the methods and information targets of Soviet intelligence agencies. They considered calling a New Zealand intelligence officer to give such evidence, then decided it would be preferable to call an officer from another Service. They approached MI5 but the British were unhappy about one of their officers appearing in court in New Zealand.

Reverting to their original proposal, on 20 December, the prosecution gave preliminary notice of their intention to call additional evidence along with an officer of the New Zealand Service to explain it.

When Bungay showed the profiles to Sutch, he denied all knowledge of them and said they must have been a plant. Smith later told him that wouldn’t sound likely.

Sutch’s former sister-in-law Gladys Brown, who had been his typist in 1970, told police that she hadn’t typed them and didn’t know anything about them but according to an unsent letter to Martyn Finlay among Smith’s papers, Brown confirmed that they were typed on the office typewriter. An SIS search for the typewriter was unsuccessful. It left a question as to whether all of this would amount to evidence in the law.

The decision not to present the profiles in the trial surprised Finlay. He later asked for an explanation. Neazor wrote on 21 July 1975 that it was decided ‘there could be an argument about its probative value not sufficiently outweighing its prejudicial effect, and that it was not of sufficient value to the case as framed to warrant the diversion it would cause.’

The ‘diversion’ resonates with Finlay’s later comment about their ‘possible effects in one way or another’ that caused him such anxiety. They possibly had political repercussions in mind.

The report on the Japanese fishing rights was also not given in evidence. And at the last minute before the trial, the judge decided that cryptic entries from Sutch’s diaries that recorded times and places of clandestine meetings with his handler for years before 1974 were inadmissible because they predated the time-frame of the charge.

All this evidence was analysed by Chief Ombudsman Sir Guy Powles in his [https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/assets/NZSIS-Documents/News-supporting/SutchOmbudsmanReport.pdf

investigation of NZSIS after the Sutch trial], following allegations against them. He found the allegations were without foundation but noted that Sutch’s association with the Russians had lasted for a period of years before his meeting with Razgovorov on April 18, 1974.

Other circumstantial evidence that came to public attention was the wealth Sutch had accumulated, exceeding anything he could have earned legitimately in his career as a public servant, a consultant or as an author (even if his claim that his book Poverty and Progress sold 100,000 copies was true).

Attempts to put a figure on Sutch’s wealth have been based on some of his properties and holdings in New Zealand but not overseas. Smith discovered only in the late 1980s that his estate included a property in the Bahamas. His various overseas funds that could not be known include those in his Swiss bank account.

Sutch’s attempt to hide his wealth was made public after his death when the New Zealand Gazette named him as an evader of taxes estimated at $47,241 between 1966 and 1974, the second highest for any individual among about 650. His undisclosed income during that period was estimated to be about $100,000.

The first evidence that the package Sutch gave Razgovorov in Holloway Road on the 26 September 1974 had reached the Soviet Embassy came from Moscow after the Cold War was over. In 1993, New Zealand journalist Geoff Chapple tracked down Alexei Makarov, who had been Chargé d’Affaires of the Soviet Embassy in Wellington in 1974.

Makarov decided that with the breakup of the USSR and its secret police he had nothing to fear from giving his account of the Sutch affair. He recalled the circumstances of how he received the package of KGB material that Sutch had given to Razgovorov.

Makarov tracked down Razgovorov, who was living in retirement in Moscow. Besides recalling his meeting with Sutch in Holloway Road and how he delivered the package to his driver, Razgovorov told Makarov that he had ‘inherited’ Sutch from the KGB officer he had replaced in Wellington.

In 2014, evidence emerged from the Mitrokhin Archive in Cambridge, England, that Dr Sutch had been recruited to the Soviet intelligence service in 1950.

The Mitrokhin Archive comprises notes of KGB foreign intelligence files hand-copied secretly by archivist Vasili Mitrokhin, who had spent most of his working life in the KGB foreign intelligence archives. Disillusioned by the Soviet system and sympathetic towards dissidents, his chance came to do something in 1972 when he was given the job of overseeing the transfer of KGB foreign intelligence archives to new headquarters.

Mitrokhin secretly wrote summaries of the files, smuggled them out of the building and hid them under the floor in his villa. Over the ten years it took to complete the transfer, he accumulated six trunks of material.

In 1992 Mitrokhin approached British MI6, who then arranged for him, his family and his archive to be brought to the United Kingdom. As copies of original documents, the files have no direct evidential value, but their value in terms of intelligence proved immense. They include the following short entry under a codename: ‘Maori’ – Englishman, born 1907, New Zealand citizen, doctor of philosophy, former high-level bureaucrat in government service, retired in 1965, recruited in 1950, contact with him via Drozhzhin.

The biographical detail fits Sutch exactly and an extensive search proved it fitted him uniquely. After establishing the identity, the significant information is ‘recruited in 1950’.

‘Recruited’ in Russian has a specific meaning in Soviet intelligence, signifying that the subject knows, is tasked and will respond. Mitrokhin later published a KGB dictionary in which he defined ‘agent recruitment’ as ‘the covert involvement as agents of individuals who have opportunities to carry out intelligence tasks at the present time or in the future’.

Transactions were formally recorded. From the moment a KGB agent was on the payroll, he was ‘on the hook’.

Mitrokhin’s entry was written in the early 1970s, before Sutch’s arrest and trial. Mitrokhin names Drozhzhin as Sutch’s contact, confirming Razgovorov’s claim that he had inherited Sutch from his predecessor.

Yuri Timofeyevich Drozhzhin, First Secretary at the USSR Legation and the leading Soviet Intelligence officer in Wellington before Razgovorov, was regarded as a master spy. The pen portraits were written by Sutch for him.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Listen now to The Agency, a new podcast detailing the story of a Kiwi spy who was close to the Sutch case before spending six years in cover for the CIA

Kit Bennetts, who was born and raised in Masterton, was recruited in Wellington by the CIA Chief of Station at the US Embassy in 1979. At the time he was working for New Zealand’s SIS.

He shared details of his work in hours of interviews for a new podcast, The Agency, released by RNZ and Bird of Paradise.

In the podcast, Bennetts reveals how he worked on behalf of the CIA “belly-to-belly” with a senior Soviet official, trying to funnel “dead-end technology” into the system of America’s Cold War rival.

See photos and video from the series below.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Newly released documents give an insight into how Fire and Emergency responded on the ground in the first 48 hours after the deadly Mt Maunganui landslide. National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reports.

A large landslide had just come down at the Mt Maunganui campground, hitting about 30 campsites and engulfing the amenities block which included toilets, showers and laundry facilities.

It was about 9.30am on 22 January when the first calls came in to emergency services of the tragedy that was unfolding.

Fire and Emergency’s specialist Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team were en route to reports of a landslide into a house in Papamoa when the call came in.

The squad was diverted to the scene.

On arrival they were faced with a “rapidly evolving situation”, according to documents released to RNZ.

“Members of the public and other emergency service responders were working with hand and power tools trying to rescue people who were trapped. Initial reports stated they could hear people calling for help from the rubble…” a report says.

“Due to the unstable scene and risk of further landslide a decision was made to clear the site of all people and create a ‘hard reset’.”

USAR operations began after three “spotters” were put in place to monitor the slip, firstly with a “line and hail search” at 10.40am, followed by a search by a police dog.

“The search did not hear any voices, but the dog provided several positive ‘hits’, which were marked.”

USAR operations continued to grow as heavy machinery and further personnel arrived on scene. About 48 hours later the operation went from rescue to recovery.

Nearly 200 pages of correspondence and briefings released to RNZ by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) under the Official Information Act, reveal the inside story of the first two days on the ground.

‘Complex and high-risk environment’

Just over two hours after the landslide struck, FENZ commander William Pike sent an email to Karne Gough, the president of the Tauranga branch of the Professional Firefighters Union.

The email had three subheadings, each with their own bullet points.

Pike wrote there had been a “significant landslip” at the Mount and there was a rescue operation under way.

“This is an active and evolving incident, and information may change as assessments continue.

“Our priority is life safety, followed by scene stabilisation and risk management.”

The USAR team was on scene to provide specialist search, rescue and technical assessment capability.

“USAR is trained to operate in unstable ground, structural collapse, and complex rescue environments.”

In relation to safety messaging, Pike said the area was “dangerous and unstable”.

“We ask the public to stay well clear of cordons and follow instructions from emergency services.

“Unauthorised access could place lives at risk and delay rescue efforts.”

Under “closing line”, Pike said it was a “complex and high-risk environment”.

“Our teams are taking a careful, methodical approach to ensure the best possible outcome while keeping everyone safe.”

Later that afternoon an email was sent regarding FENZ and USAR’s safety briefing and operational summary.

The operational phase was “delayering and victim location”.

“USAR crews are conducting systematic delayering operations using machinery and hand tools to locate multiple trapped victims. The site presents ongoing risks due to structural instability, secondary collapse potential, and machinery movement.”

Three safety officers had been sent to the scene full-time with authority to stop work. A geotechnical engineer was also on site providing structural assessment and guidance.

An email was also sent with aerial photographs of the landslide.

That evening FENZ’s National Coordination Centre (NCC) sent out a situation report on severe weather around the country including the incident in Mt Maunganui.

The report said USAR alongside police were searching for persons “unaccounted for”.

“The teams will be operating overnight until the search is complete.”

The following morning USAR requested that the Emergency Management Assistance Team, also known as EMAT, be sent to the scene to assist.

From rescue to recovery

At 9am on 23 January – almost 24 hours after the landslide – FENZ issued their Incident Action Plan for the next nine hours.

The plan said that while under a declared state of emergency the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were the lead agency, with FENZ USAR leading the operations on the site, working closely with NEMA, iwi, police, St John and other parties.

“Fire and Emergency will carry out rescue operations across the impacted area, with an emphasis on ensuring the safety of responders, members of the public and those affected.

“At which point the incident is to be declared a recovery mission, fire and emergencies mission will not change.”

At 10.30am there was a “multi agency meeting”. Minutes from the meeting said police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team were “good to go”.

Civil Defence were putting a drone up to assess the area and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was due on the ground at 1pm.

The minutes also included a line that they were “talking about transitioning from rescue 2 recovery”.

Another multi agency meeting was scheduled for 2.45pm.

About 2.30pm, national USAR operations manager Matt Alphors sent an email to colleagues to tell them what was happening and acknowledged the “exceptional work that has been completed to date”.

Operations on the ground were conducted on 8-hour rotations, working across three sectors on site – called sector 1, sector 2, and sector 3.

“I want to acknowledge the effort across all deployable capabilities involved in this response. The long hours, sleepless nights, and arduous conditions have been significant, and the professionalism, teamwork, and output to date has been outstanding.

“I have arrived on the ground at Mt Maunganui and can report the tempo remains high and progress is exceptional.”

Alphors said they were planning to “transition into the next phase of the incident within the next 24 hours”.

He said it was anticipated the incident could continue for several days.

“With that in mind, we are planning to stand down selected teams outside of Mt Maunganui to maintain coverage, rotations and ensure we can sustain operations safely over the coming period.”

That afternoon a senior media advisor at FENZ emails the police and St John media teams about the plan for the weekend.

“We are wanting to firm up how the process from rescue to recovery at Mt Maunganui will play out. Police – I assume it would be an announcement at your end once the decision has been made? Have you heard anything to suggest when this might be? Once that happens I assume we will look at referring most media queries through to you?”

In response, a staffer from the police media team said they believed that once it was declared a recovery phase had commenced, that police would lead proactive and reactive comms.

“But obviously we would continue to work together to share messaging as is our usual process.

“I’m unsure when it might move to recovery but I understand this was likely the last night that they would work through. Potentially tomorrow, then.”

At 4am on 24 January, FENZ Bay of Plenty district group manager Paul Glanville sent an update to colleagues.

He said the rescue phase continued, with the slip area continuing to “show signs of instability”.

Work had stopped on sector 1 on the evening of the 23rd due to a small landslide and a “high risk of further subsidence”.

Crews were continuing clearing sector 2 and 3 as an alternative pathway to the ablution block. A section of the corner of the block was reached at 3am.

Ablution block ‘unworkable’

FENZ’s Incident Action Plan for 24 January gave an overview of what had happened to date.

The primary hazards in the immediate aftermath of the slip were ongoing ground instability and the potential for secondary slip as well as live electricity and gas on site.

“And members of the public who were working with hand tools including a chainsaw to reach people trapped.”

The situation report listed several factors including site stability, responder safety and search and survivability.

“Extent of collapse, burial depth, and technical assessment of survivable voids informing rescue feasibility.”

In relation to the transition from rescue to recovery, the report said there was a “clear agreed transition based on confirmation of deceased and/or determination that no survivable voids remain”.

Under the heading “predicted incident development” heading, the report said the area of concern that had not been fully accessed or cleared was the ablution block.

The area was currently “unworkable”.

“Depending on an engineer’s assessment and ongoing favourable weather conditions we hope to be able to recommence operations in Sector 1 today. Operations will continue in Sectors 2 and 3 in an effort to clear those sectors.

“An outcome of reaching the ablution block will be the determination of when we move to the recovery phase.”

Once they entered a recovery phase, FENZ would hand over lead agency responsibilities to police.

USAR were being assisted by police DVI and specialist advisors as they progressed through “systematic search/delayering activities while balancing responder safety and the realistic assessment of survivability”.

“As the operation evolves, technical evidence, restricted access to certain sites (Sector 1) and professional judgement are informing decision-making regarding the viability of rescue, enabling a respectful and criteria-based transition to recovery when appropriate, including preparation for Police DVI processes.

“Throughout the incident, significant consideration is being given to the emotional impact on the affected families, ensuring compassionate and accurate communication through Police Family Liaisons.”

‘This is heartbreaking news’

At 12.30pm on 24 January police held a press conference outside the surf club. Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the operation had been formally handed over to police by Fire and Emergency New Zealand about an hour earlier.

“Every single person involved in this operation has been focused solely on saving the lives of the people under the slip. Search teams have been working through the slip layer by layer, but tragically it is now apparent that we will not be able to bring them home alive,” Anderson said in a statement.

“This is heartbreaking news for the families and the dozens of people who have been working day and night, hoping for a positive outcome.

“We informed the families of this news this morning and we’re continuing to provide them with wrap around support. They are going through something very few people could understand, and we ask that they be given space to grieve.”

Police then named the six people who were unaccounted for – Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50, Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20, Jacqualine Suzanne Wheeler, 71, Susan Doreen Knowles, 71, Sharon Maccanico, 15, and Max Furse-Kee, 15.

Search teams had located human remains under the slip and formal identification was proceeding, Anderson said.

“This afternoon, search teams, supported by contractors and machinery, are continuing to work through the debris, towards the amenities block. It’s taken two days to get to this point, but they’re getting closer.

“From what we have seen, the building suffered catastrophic damage and we are confronted with the reality that it is highly unlikely anyone would have been able to survive.”

On the morning of 25 January, FENZ’s wellbeing advisor sent an email to Alphors and a colleague with a copy of FENZ’s after deployment guidelines.

“It is completely normal to experience a range of emotions following a challenging deployment such as this. Please be kind to yourselves and take things quietly, allowing time to process and decompress.”

The NCC situation report said the incident had moved into a recovery phase and that police were now the lead agency.

“USAR presence/resourcing to be assessed, and requested, by Police moving forwards.”

Thirteen USAR members had been “demobilised”.

On 1 February, police announced they had officially stood down all recovery operations at Mt Maunganui.

RNZ asked FENZ for comment on the OIA.

“The events at Mt Maunganui are now subject to a coronial inquiry and an operational review so we are not in a position now to provide more information than is contained in the response to your OIA,” a spokesperson said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

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In February of this year an adult male brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) was found in a trap in Ōrākei, just along the coast from Auckland’s port.

“They can come on imports in containers or in used vehicles and machinery,” says Dr Scott Sinclair, manager of the Biosecurity New Zealand operational readiness team which handles threats to our plants and the environment at the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).

“And they can obviously then come on the passenger pathway, so via people’s luggage and other paraphernalia like that.”

Scott told Our Changing World that the recently caught BMSB was found in a new type of trap and the response was swift, with more traps placed in the surrounding areas. Thankfully, no further bugs were detected.

So, “It’s really just considered to be an outlier,” he says.

What an invasion might look like

That is a good thing, because we definitely do not want BMSB to set up shop here in Aotearoa.

“It feeds on over 300 host plants. So whatever you can imagine, it will feed on,” says Dr Gonzalo Avila who took RNZ’s Our Changing World on a tour of his lab at the Bioeconomy Science Institute (BSI) where work to build an army to protect New Zealand against a BMSB invasion is taking place.

“Of course, [BMSB] has its preferences, but it would do very well in apples. It would do very well in cherries. It would do very well in kiwi fruit. In the United States, it caused massive destruction to the apple industry there.”

New Zealand’s native flora is also unlikely to escape unscathed.

“All our native plants are in specific families, and BMSB is known to attack plants in the same families. So, they would be potentially at risk as well,” says Gonzalo.

And then there’s the smell. If you have ever come across a native shield or stink bug, you will know the scent they give off when threatened. Karina Santos, Senior Research Associate at the BSI, says BMSB is on “another level.”

“The power is stronger and when they are in big numbers… the chemical that they release can intoxicate humans.”

The high-risk season for BMSB runs from September until April, as the Northern hemisphere-based bugs find places to overwinter, including inside shipping containers and other things being exported.

There is a real concern that it’s not a case of if BMSB will come in, but when.

The solution?

Just behind the towering industrial BSI building in the heart of Auckland’s Mt Albert, is the squat concrete building which Gonzalo fondly nicknames Area 51.

“Because we’re rearing aliens. We’re bringing insects that are not present in New Zealand and they need to come into containment.” These ‘aliens’ are the potential weapon against BMSB – the samurai wasp.

At first glance the wasp doesn’t look like much. It’s tiny – about the size of an ant. But sticking with the Alien theme, the samurai wasp has some similarities to the chestburster in the Sigourney Weaver movies. It’s a parasitoid, mainly eating nectar from flowers, but needing a host to reproduce. So, the teeny wasp lays its eggs inside a BMSB egg – the larvae kills its host – and instead of getting a stink bug hatching you get a wasp.

While it might not live up to its name in looks – the samurai wasp or Trissolcus japonicus is the natural enemy of BMSB.

Neither of these insects, which are native to East Asia, are in New Zealand yet but in 2018 the Environmental Protection Agency approved the use of the samurai wasp if BSMB ever became established.

The idea is if you get a pest insect into the country, you recruit its home predator to help you. We’ve done this before – dating right back to the late 1800s when ladybirds were brought in to deal with aphids.

A lot of the work being done by Gonzalo and Karina is to make sure we understand just what releasing this biological control might mean and what it would entail.

Building the army

Ensuring we can quickly create an army of samurai wasps to handle a BMSB invasion is one of the problems Karina has been looking into.

She’s experimenting to see if the samurai wasp could be reared using the pittosporum shield bug, which is an exotic species that showed up here in New Zealand in the 1950s, and they have another project, funded by MBIE, which is looking into developing artificial stink bug eggs.

“We are now at the phase that we are developing our first prototypes of artificial eggs,” says Gonzalo.

And to attract the wasps, Karina is testing out stink bug perfume on steel balls, which look a lot like the ones you might use to decorate a Christmas cake.

Gonzalo explains that the steel balls are covered with volatiles from the brown marmorated stink bug and if they figure out an attractive perfume, they’ll then hone in on which are the specific chemicals that are enticing the wasp.

An army on ice

Mass rearing isn’t the only option for building the army. Another recent study looked at bringing in the wasps and keeping them on ice.

The team managed to import around 12,000 parasitoid wasps and more than 90 percent of the females survived.

“We wanted to try to see for how long we could keep them alive and still be viable,” says Karina, “Because one thing is that they survive, but the other thing is that they survive, but they also attack and reproduce.”

The results were positive.

“Yes, they can do that.”

Unleashing the army

The decision-making about when and how to release the samurai wasp, would fall to MPI’s Biosecurity New Zealand, and Dr Scott Sinclair says “It’s a really cool idea, but it’s something that’s really difficult for us to operationalise and particularly to operationalise rapidly because there’s some really challenging logistical constraints.”

This is because we would need a huge population to make a dent in a BMSB incursion.

“So, it’s unlikely that we’d be using samurai wasps, I would say, within the first year of a response,” he says, “But as things move forward and we can think about some of those logistics and how it’s challenging to put those out into the environment, then that process would probably happen, in subsequent years.”

Figuring out the best way to grow this army and then deploy it is not an easy thing, says Gonzalo.

But Gonzalo stresses just how important it is to keep working on ways to combat BMSB, because the threat to New Zealand is so high

“We don’t want to play the Russian roulette here and see what happens. The consequences of doing nothing would be so high.”

If think you have found a brown marmorated stink bug, don’t kill it. Catch it. Take a photo and contact Biosecurity New Zealand.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Eight patients in forensic and intellectual disability units were in seclusion for more than 45,000 hours combined in one year, a report reveals.

The patients, who made up only 1 percent of all people secluded in mental health inpatient services, accounted for approximately 36 percent of all seclusion events and about 43 percent of total seclusion hours.

Five of the patients, who were in intellectual disability services, spent on average the equivalent of 283 days of the year in seclusion.

The three forensic service patients spent 160 days on average in seclusion.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

The director of Mental Health and Addiction Services Dr John Crawshaw said in his regulatory report the individuals experienced “prolonged and/or frequent” periods of isolation.

“This raises significant issues around trauma, dignity and human rights, and the impact these experiences have on people and their recovery.”

He has commissioned a review to understand the circumstances of the individuals.

The report also revealed that during the same period a total of 1085 electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments were administered to 105 people who did not have capacity to consent. One person had capacity to consent but refused to consent, and was administered 12 treatments of ECT after an independent psychiatrist provided a second opinion.

The Office of the Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services regulatory report covering 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 was released online on the Ministry of Health’s website on Tuesday with no announcement by authorities.

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey told RNZ he had spoken to Dr Crawshaw about the report and “raised the issue of the delay in its publication”. He also said seclusion was an issue he had been closely looking at “and one I care strongly about addressing”.

The report said it collated data on the use of compulsory assessment and treatment legislation in New Zealand under the Mental Health Act. It also contained data on “related activities” under the Intellectual Disability Care Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Dr Crawshaw said in his role he was responsible for the “general administration of the relevant compulsory assessment, care and treatment legislation” under the direction of the Minister of Health, the Minister for Mental Health and the Director General of Health.

He said overall the data in the report showed the rates of use of compulsory assessment and treatment “remained steady in 2023/24, compared with previous years”.

“The total number of people who have been secluded and the total hours people spend in seclusion have decreased from 2022/23, which are positive trends.”

The report said legally seclusion could only occur under the Mental Health Act or the Intellectual Disability Act.

Dr Crawshaw cited Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard as defining seclusion as “a situation where a service user is ‘placed alone in a room or area, at any time and for any duration, from which they cannot freely exit'”.

His analysis of the data for the report revealed that eight patients from three Health New Zealand regional facilities experienced “prolonged and/or frequent periods of isolation”.

The figures revealed that the eight patients were secluded for a combined 45,531 hours across 985 seclusion events.

Three of the patients were from forensic services and were secluded for a total of 11,509 hours across 71 seclusion events.

Five were in intellectual disability services and were secluded for a total of 34,022 hours with 914 seclusion events.

The eight individuals represented just over 1 percent of all people secluded in mental health inpatient services (there were 763 patients secluded in total), but based on the data they accounted for approximately 36 percent of all seclusion events and about 43 percent of total seclusion hours.

Dr Crawshaw said in his report there must be a “clear focus on identifying and addressing the factors that sit behind these experiences in order to ensure the safety and dignity of people in the care system”.

“The Office of the Director of Mental Health is undertaking deeper analysis of the circumstances and factors that led to these prolonged or frequent periods of seclusion and the interventions in place to address them. The Office will work with Health New Zealand on this initiative.”

The individuals were subject to compulsory care under mental health, intellectual disability, or criminal procedure legislation.

Dr Crawshaw said inquiries would look at confirming the accuracy of reported seclusion data, assurances the individuals had safeguards in place to protect their rights and that services were meeting the expected standards for seclusion.

There would also be a focus on getting assurances that services were taking “active measures to reduce and eliminate seclusion”, and the reasons for the extended seclusion hours.

“After receiving the information, the Director will ensure it is reviewed and will consider recommendations for action by the service providers and any areas that require escalation to other agencies.”

In total, across the overall mental health inpatient services 73 percent of seclusion events lasted under 24 hours, with 16 percent lasting over 48 hours.

In adult inpatient services there had been a 24 percent decrease in hours spent in seclusion since 2022/23 and a 73 percent decrease since 2009. There had also been a 48 percent decrease in the number of people secluded since 2009.

The report also looked at ECT, a “therapeutic procedure that delivers a brief pulse of electricity to a person’s brain to generate a seizure while they are under anaesthesia”.

Dr Crawshaw said ECT could be an effective treatment for depression, mania, catatonia and other serious neuropsychiatric conditions.

“It can happen only if the person receiving it consents or in carefully defined circumstances without their consent.”

In the 2023/24 period nearly 300 people received ECT, with services administering more than 3500 treatments of ECT.

Dr Crawshaw said that under the Mental Health Act, a person could be treated with ECT if they consented in writing or if an independent psychiatrist appointed by the Mental Health Review Tribunal considered the treatment to be in the person’s interests.

Nearly 1100 treatments were administered to 105 people who did not have the capacity to consent.

“One person had capacity to consent but refused to consent, and was administered 12 treatments of ECT after an independent psychiatrist provided a second opinion.”

The report said that in total, nearly 11,500 people were subject to the Mental Health Act in the 2023/2024 period. Of those using specialist mental health and addiction services, 93.5 percent engaged voluntarily.

“About 5883 people were subject to either compulsory assessment or compulsory treatment under the Mental Health Act on the last day of the 2023/24 year.”

Dr Crawshaw acknowledged that the report, which looked at data nearly two years old, had been delayed in being published.

He said there were two main reasons.

“First, the data is complex. Second, some regulatory data are still reported to the Ministry via manual processes, which creates further time lag for receipt and quality assurance processes.”

In response to questions from RNZ, Doocey said he had spoken with Crawshaw about his report and had “raised the issue of the delay in its publication”.

“New Zealanders rightly expect that mental health services are being monitored so we can provide assurance that people undergoing compulsory assessment, care and treatment are receiving the right support.

“This monitoring occurs regardless of whether a report is being finalised, and I would expect any urgent issues identified to be addressed promptly rather than waiting for the report to be completed.”

He said seclusion was an issue “I care strongly about addressing”.

“Each individual case is a clinical decision, and I expect that the appropriate processes and assessments are followed.

“I am clear that seclusion should be used only as a last resort. The Mental Health Bill currently before Parliament seeks to make changes to reduce its use. This includes requiring the person in charge of a service to report annually to the Director-General on the steps taken to eliminate the placement of people under compulsory care in seclusion.”

In relation to ECT, Doocey said he had sought assurance from Crawshaw that the decisions around its use were the “right clinical decisions to make”.

“The Mental Health Bill also seeks to introduce stronger safeguards around the use of ECT, including ensuring that the second opinion that’s needed, would be required to have expertise in ECT.”

In response to questions from RNZ, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said Dr Crawshaw was “concerned” about the data regarding seclusion and had commissioned a review.

“To understand the circumstances relating to each of these people, including ensuring rights protections, and verifying that services meet the required standards.

“As part of the review, all individual treatment planning and circumstances will be scrutinised, and the Director of Mental Health will consider recommendations or escalate concerns to other agencies as appropriate.”

The review would also examine the reasons behind the extended seclusion hours and identify any barriers to reducing and eliminating seclusion.

This work was expected to be completed by 31 May.

In relation to ECT, the spokesperson said it could be an effective treatment for serious neuropsychiatric conditions.

“The current use of ECT differs substantially from the electric shock treatment that was used in the past. In New Zealand, it can happen only if the person consents in writing, or in carefully defined circumstances without their consent.

“For ECT to take place without consent, an independent psychiatrist must provide a second opinion on the treatment plan and consider the treatment to be in the person’s interest.”

RNZ also asked about the delay in the report being published.

The spokesperson said the data relating to mental health and addiction services and treatment was “complex and requires thorough analysis and review to ensure it is correct”.

“This process takes time. Some data is still reported manually which requires additional review, and creates a further delay to publishing.

“The data is representative of private information relating to the care and experiences of individuals. It’s important that we treat the information with care and integrity and take the time to fully understand and assess the data provided to us.”

Health New Zealand (HNZ) national director of Mental Health and Addictions Phil Grady said in a statement to RNZ that HNZ “welcomes” Dr Crawshaw’s report.

“Which highlights whilst there has been an overall reduction on seclusion there are also a small group of people who experience seclusion for extended periods of time. We will fully support any further reviews Dr Crawshaw wishes to undertake following the publication of the report.”

HNZ expected seclusion to be only used as a “last resort and after careful consideration of all available options of care”.

“As such, the process to minimise the use of seclusion in our facilities is ongoing and we continue to have close oversight of this practice, including having up to date seclusion use data via a dashboard, focusing on how we improve our environments and importantly, how we train and support our staff.”

In relation to ECT, Grady said it was an “effective short-term treatment” for severe depressive illness, and certain other forms of serious and potentially life-threatening mental illness.

“People offered this treatment often are extremely unwell, at high risk of harm to self or high risk of extreme neglect leading to life threatening consequences after a full clinical assessment.”

He said people could choose to have ECT treatment on a voluntary basis and it could also be provided compulsorily under the Mental Health Act.

“In addition, if the person is not competent to consent or the whānau are not supportive of ECT and it is considered a life-preserving intervention, a second medical opinion is sought from a Mental Health Act Tribunal-approved psychiatrist.”

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