Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

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

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

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

– more to come

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FAQs released by MediMap

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is the health agency saying?

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

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

Privacy commissioner says New Zealanders expect better

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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