MIL-OSI Publisher – Page 24

November 30, 2025

Banking code updates focused on scam prevention

Payments NZ reported about $265 million had been scammed out of New Zealand bank accounts in the past year. PhotoAlto

The Banking Association is criticising social media, technology and telecommunications companies for not doing enough to prevent scams.

Payments NZ reported about $265 million had been scammed out of New Zealand bank accounts in the past year.

The Code of Banking Practice was updated on Sunday, with new protection measures introduced, including:

pre-transaction warnings
a “confirmation” of payee service
identification of and response to high-risk transactions or unusual account transaction activity, and the ability to delay or block transactions in some cases
providing a 24/7 reporting channel for customers who think they’ve been scammed
sharing scammer account information with other banks to help prevent criminal activity, and freezing funds where appropriate.

Banks will be forced to compensate all or part of the loss for customers if these are not followed, and will also continue to compensate losses for customers whose banking was accessed without authorisation.

Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont told RNZ it was adopting a “prevention-led approach”, but he stressed the need for “shared responsibilities for protecting New Zealanders from scams”.

“Banks have stepped up their customer protections and will be accountable for those measures, but they cannot take on full liability for scam losses that are beyond their control and may start with a fake ad or chat on social media, or a fake search engine result,” he said.

While the Code of Banking Practice was updated every five years, Beaumont said the new protection measures would be reviewed on a regular basis.

“The thing about scams is that they’re constantly evolving,” he said.

“These are fairly high-level prevention measures that are in place, but scammers are tricky and devious and are always trying to get around the rules, and so it’s a matter of constantly reviewing and constantly evolving the vigilance that banks have to keep customers safe.”

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

November 30, 2025

Don McGlashan: ‘All we can do is keep our tools sharp’

Source: Radio New Zealand

In early November New Zealand music icon Don McGlashan (The Mutton Birds, The Front Lawn, Blam Blam Blam) gave the inaugural Lilburn Lecture at Wellington’s National Library. Here’s an edited version of his words.

I go swimming a lot. Either where I live half of the year, with my lovely wife Ann in Vancouver – in a place called English Bay, or, when I’m back in Auckland, the other half of the year at Point Chevalier or one of the tidal mud-flat bays on the Titirangi shore.

Although I’m a fairly confident swimmer, I always feel fear at that first dive: pushing off, and then coming up, breast-stroking.

The childlike fear of what’s underneath; what snag I might hit; what aquatic creature might come up and bite me; what clammy weeds might brush against me. Then pushing through that fear and feeling the joy of moving in a new medium.

This video is hosted on Youtube.

.The initial fear of coming up with something hackneyed and useless. Then, on a good day, there’s the blessed transformation as I realise that I’m moving in a new medium that was threatening before, but is now bearing me along on its own current.

Then there’s water as a metaphor for the subconscious.

C.K. Stead, in, I think,“The New Poetic; Yeats to Eliot”, talks about the subconscious as being where all the good stuff comes from.The clear way we see the world, our own authentic voice. But we have no control over when that good stuff is going to be obliging and come out. All we can do is to keep our tools sharp so that when it does arrive, we can go to work on it effectively.

So we live on the surface, but the subconscious is below us, available to us.

As writers, we tap into the subconscious every time we reach a fork in the road. “Shall I do it this way, or that way?” When we make a choice, and the subconscious agrees, there’s a satisfying click – like the door of an expensive European car closing.

I also sometimes see bodies of water as representing our relationship with time.

The future is like the sky. The past is underwater, and the present is what’s in between: the surface of the sea, the lake, the river; the tiny skin between two vast elements. It’s a cramped space, but that’s where we live, sliding along, trying not to capsize. The future is unknowable, unattainable; in the present we’re too busy to concentrate on anything but our immediate concerns, so, in terms of raw materials, that only leaves us with the past, which is like a lake that’s been formed by a hydro scheme. Streets, trees, empty buildings; ghostly, dark, washed by invisible currents. We can dive in there and see what we can find.

This video is hosted on Youtube.

Then there’s the real sea around us, here in Aotearoa.

Not a metaphor, just a real thing. Very wet, very big. A unimaginable challenge for the brilliant Polynesian navigators who first found these islands, a leap into the unknown for the Pakeha families who were pushed by social injustice at home, and pulled by the false advertising of outfits like the New Zealand Company – and now a barrier between us and the world, keeping us a long way away from everything, while keeping us relatively safe from invaders. So far, anyway.

It has a huge impact on the music industry here. If you’re in a band in Belgium, you can load your gear in a van and drive to many countries. You can’t do that so easily in Aotearoa.

The sea, for New Zealanders, is like Outer Space.

So we have a deep, respectful, existential fear of it – and we should.

Our sense of the emptiness out there should make all of us more acutely aware of the need to look after this country of ours. This raft we’re all clinging to is the only one we’re got.

But the sea is also something we love. We swim, surf, paddle, dive, fish in it, walk beside it, sail boats on it, pay an arm and a leg to live anywhere near it. But whether we’re playing in it, or just standing, looking at it and wondering, we need it. It’s deep inside us, like the plains are for Albertans, or the mountains for Tibetans. That unlikely combination of a very sensible fear, and a paradoxical love, makes us who we are.

This video is hosted on Youtube.

New islands, new possibilities

I started this talk with the notion of bodies of water being like the subconscious, from which come ideas that we can make into art to help us answer the important questions.

Or like a representation of past, present and future.

Or a metaphor for the fear of the unknown that I feel when I’m starting a new song.

Or the very real, un-metaphorical barrier between Aotearoa and the rest of the world.

There’s another way of looking at bodies of water though. They’re where Islands can be found.

About 16 years ago I was showing an overseas musician around Auckland – we were driving around the Eastern Bays to Karaka Bay, a hidden place I go to sometimes when I have a few hours to sit and get my bearings. I was giving my friend a commentary on the Gulf and the islands and how we are shaped by the landscape around us in the choreography of sea and land, and I also talked about Rangitoto and how it suddenly appeared less than 1000 years ago.

I was feeling a bit lost, my marriage was breaking up, and towards the end of the day, I must have said something pessimistic about not being able to see the future and where I fitted into it. And he said “You never know, though. New islands might appear suddenly without warning”

New islands; new possibilities. You might find them – “simply by sailing in a new direction” as Allen Curnow said – or they might appear suddenly out of the sea like Rangitoto – violent, rough on your feet, but somehow miraculous.

This video is hosted on Youtube.

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

November 30, 2025

New era for abandoned Waiwera hot springs as $50m plan revealed

Source: Radio New Zealand

A concept design of the new Waiwera Thermal Springs. One to One Hundred Ltd / SUPPLIED

A $50 million redevelopment plan of North Auckland’s popular, now demolished Waiwera Hot Pools has been unveiled.

Concept designs for the currently empty site include 28 pools and wellness experiences along with saunas, reflexology walks and gardens.

Resource consent for the project, led by Waiwera Thermal Springs Property LP, would be lodged with Auckland Council on Monday, the group said.

The group had signed an agreement to acquire the site from landowners Urban Partners.

The Waiwera site seen from above as it currently is. SUPPLIED

Director of Waiwera Thermal Springs, Brandon Batagol, said he wanted the attraction to be a “wold-class bathing and wellness destination”.

Waiwera had been open in some form since the 1800’s, but in 2018 the hot pools closed and were later demolished in 2023, leaving the site as a vacant piece of land.

“Our vision is to create a destination that reconnects people to Waiwera’s geothermal heritage, culture and lush native landscape,” Batagol said.

Waiwera Thermal Springs concept sketch. SUPPLIED

“This will be a place of genuine replenishment where wellness grows from nature.”

The development team behind the project had experience in thermal wellness destinations, Batagol said, and had operated the award-winning Peninsula Hot Springs in Melbourne and been involved in the revival of Maruia Hot Springs in the South Island.

“Together, with local experts and local partners, we have taken the upmost care to deliver a plan for Waiwera Thermal Springs that will bring considerable economic and social benefits to the region whilst honouring the natural environment.”

He said the springs would encourage guests to “slow down” and immerse themselves in nature.

Pools set amongst native forest as part of the concept renders. One to One Hundred Ltd / SUPPLIED

Waiwera was a place of deep ancestral and cultural significance for Ngāti Manuhiri, Batagol said who would be involved as development partners.

“We recognise this land and water as part of a living whakapapa, shaped by generations and sustained through shared principles.”

Sharing the plans openly with the public for the first time was “exciting”, Batagol said.

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with Auckland Council through the Resource Consent process.

“In time, when we are ready to welcome visitors, we want them to come for the calm and stay for the connection in Waiwera’s mineral rich hot waters.”

Waiwera Thermal Pools prior to its demolition. (File photo) RNZ / Tom Taylor

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said the $50 million plan had his “full backing”.

“Waiwera Thermal Springs is expected to attract over 310,000 visitors to the region and generate around $300 million over its first five years, drawing tourism in both winter and summer.

“It is optimally placed along the tourist route, making the most of what we already have there. I look forward to its opening.”

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

November 30, 2025

Kiwi actor on becoming gladiator: ‘Māori blood is like a superpower, eh?’

Source: Radio New Zealand

When it came to wielding weapons in the new Spartacus series, Māori performers had an advantage, says actor and musician Jordi Webber.

“We are gifted in the sense that our tupuna were warriors, you know? We’re so grounded, and our fluidity when we move is just innate.

“Even though it’s not a taiaha or a patu [we’re using], there’s just something that sinks in, and you feel like you know how to use it, and if you don’t, you quickly adapt. Swords, spears, all of that just came really naturally,” he tells RNZ’s Saturday Morning.

This video is hosted on Youtube.

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After filming the mega-church drama Prosper, Webber was living in his van and travelling around Australia when he found out he’d been cast in the American seriesSpartacus: House of Ashur.

The 31-year-old sold the van and spent a month exploring Italy before his gladiator training began.

As “quite a spiritual person”, Webber says he could feel the rich history in the air at Rome’s Colosseum, but visiting the archaeological site of Pompeii gave him even more goosebumps.

“[Pompeii] is incredible, and some of it’s still so untouched and intact… you’re standing in the sand, you look all around you, and you can feel the mana in there, you can feel the spirits, the history, the blood and everything. I was like, ‘Whoa…'”

Jordi Webber: From Rotorua to Ancient Rome

Saturday Morning

Jordi Webber and Canadian actor Tenika Davis in Spartacus: House of Ashur.

James Dimmock

Ten years after the original Spartacus was shot in Auckland, Spartacus: House of Ashur was filmed in South Auckland.

In Aotearoa, shoots are usually small and chill, Webber says, and this was the first time shooting he’d really felt like he was “in the movies” filming something at home.

Physically, the role of Tarchon was definitely the most challenging he has taken on so far.

A month of training before filming involved daily sword practice and CrossFit, he says. During the eight-month shoot, he did 500 push-ups per day in between takes.

The script for Spartacus: House of Ashuris was written in old-style language and is “very sweary”, Webber says, especially for a guy who grew up in the LDS Mormon church.

“Every time one of those words came out of my mouth, I was just thinking, ‘Oh, there’s another bar of soap waiting for me at home.’

“There’s that little part of me that [thinks] ‘Speak kindly to others and use your language and speak good words’.”

“That part of Jordi inside me was going, ‘Oh, don’t say that. Why are you saying that?’ But I just had to go, hey, it’s just the character. That’s all good.”

Jordi Webber in Spartacus: House of Ashur.

James Dimmock

Before getting his role in Spartacus: House of Ashur, Webber had seen only “snippets” of the original Spartacus series, because it came out when he was in high school – “I couldn’t really just cruise on home and watch that with my parents.”

Now he’s a fan.

“It’s quite in your face, but once you get past all the words and the exposed tinana [bodies], the actual stories are really strong and the characters and the sneakiness. It’s rich storytelling.”

Webber, who is also a musician, says he always carries with him the awhi [love] and warmth he’s been gifted by his whānau, and loves to extend that to the people he meets.

His new song ‘Live or Die’ is both a love letter to the world and a celebration of travelling, which is an important part of his life.

“I’ve just learned so much on my journeys out in the world that I was just like, I want to write something that I can always listen to and remember the places that I’ve been, but that can also just encourage other people.”

Back in 2012, which Webber calls his Yes Man year, after seeing the Jim Carrey film in which Carrey takes up a challenge to say yes to everything in life for an entire year, he said yes to enrolling at Unitec.

But after hearing a radio ad on the edge about auditions for a boy band, he said yes to that, too.

“I was like, oh, that’s not really what I want to do, but it’s a Yes Man opportunity. I’ve got to say yes. I’ve got to say yes.”

This video is hosted on Youtube.

A couple of months later, Webber was touring the country with the boy band Titanium, whose debut single ‘Come on Home’ went to number one on the New Zealand singles chart.

While grateful for the opportunity, he says that in his heart he knew,w but I’ve always kind of known I want to be an actor. When the band had an we’re going to move to the US, he knew that for him it wasn’t the right move.

“My puku was just saying, ‘nah, man, this is your time to really follow your acting. This is the moment. There’s also, in life, a lot of power in saying no.”

The first two episodes of Spartacus: House of Ashur drop on ThreeNow on Saturday 6 December, with a new episode dropping every week after that.

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

November 29, 2025

Police ask public for info after unattended kayak found in Wellington

Source: Radio New Zealand

An unattended kayak was found off Raumati Beach. New Zealand Police

Wellington police are asking the public for information on an unattended kayak found off Raumati Beach.

The kayak was found about 500 metres off Raumati Beach at about 12pm on Saturday.

Police also found a hoodie on the beach.

A hoodie and an unattended kayak were found off Raumati Beach. New Zealand Police

Anyone with information about the kayak, or the top, was asked to call 111, or use the 105 service, and quote event number P064619223.

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

November 29, 2025

Black Ferns and All Blacks Sevens off to winning start at Dubai world series opener

Source: Radio New Zealand

Jorja Miller was back to try scoring ways at Dubai. Photosport / Jayne Russell

The Black Ferns Sevens have their 2025/26 World Rugby sevens campaign off to a winning start, overcoming France 24-21 in their opening game at Dubai.

Without try scoring superstar Michaela Brake, pregnant with her first child, the NZ women jumped out to an early advantage through tries from Jorja Miller and Risi Pouri-Lane, who were last seen at the Rugby World Cup 15s tournament.

The French closed the margin with a converted try before half-time, but Alena Saili answered for the Ferns after the break.

Alycia Christiaens kept France close, but Miller put the contest beyond doubt with her second try, converted by debutant Braxton Sorenson-McGee.

Teenage newcomer Mariama Tandiang also secured a try double after the final siren, but her team were still short of victory in a cut-throat tournament format contested by just eight teams, with the top two from each pool progressing to semi-finals.

New Zealand face United States later on Saturday NZT, then Fiji early Sunday morning. The Fijians accounted for USA 19-7 in their opening encounter, while Australia were too strong for Japan, 31-7.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks Sevens have defeated Great Britain in their opening game.

The sides were locked at seven-all at half-time, and the match remained tight until the All Blacks sevens scored in the 14th minute to win 21-14.

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

November 29, 2025

Upper Hutt fire extinguished, police investigating

Source: Radio New Zealand

A fire burning in tyres in an industrial area in Upper Hutt has been extinguished.

Five firetrucks were called to the blaze on Dante Road in Trentham just after 4pm Saturday and one person sustained serious injures.

Fire and Emergency said crews had left the scene and the fire’s cause was being investigated.

Crews from Trentham, Remutaka, Silverstream, Avalon, Wellington City and Thorndon attended the fire.

One person has sustained serious injuries in a fire in Upper Hutt. Daniel Talbot

The fire was well alight on arrival and was escalated to second alarm.

Police were then called to assist at the address near the intersection of Alexander Road.

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

November 29, 2025

Serious crash, Bucklands Crossing, Dunedin

Source: New Zealand Police

Emergency services are attending a serious crash in Bucklands Crossing, Dunedin this evening.

Just before 7pm, Police were advised of the crash on Lamb Hill Road.

Initial indications are that there are serious injuries.

Lamb Hill Road is closed while emergency services work at the scene.

We ask motorists to expect delays and take an alternative route if possible.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

November 29, 2025

Black Ferns Sevens off to winning start at Dubai world series opener

Source: Radio New Zealand

Jorja Miller was back to try scoring ways at Dubai. Photosport / Jayne Russell

The Black Ferns Sevens have their 2025/26 World Rugby sevens campaign off to a winning start, overcoming France 24-21 in their opening game at Dubai.

The French closed the margin with a converted try before half-time, but Alena Saili answered for the Ferns after the break.

Alycia Christiaens kept France close, but Miller put the contest beyond doubt with her second try, converted by debutant Braxton Sorenson-McGee.

New Zealand face United States later on Saturday NZT, then Fiji early Sunday morning. The Fijians accounted for USA 19-7 in their opening encounter.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks Sevens open their account against Great Britain on Saturday, then Australia and Spain on Sunday.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

November 29, 2025

Wellington Phoenix topple Adelaide United in A-League upset

Source: Radio New Zealand

Phoenix celebrate Alex Rufer’s goal against Adelaide. PHOTOSPORT

Wellington Phoenix have answered coach Giancarlo Italiano’s call for more intensity in their home matches, with a pulsating 2-1 upset victory over Adelaide United at Sky Stadium.

The result was their first win at home since their round two 2-1 triumph over Brisbane Roar on 26 October and only their second home victory for the calendar year.

Recent Phoenix form was poor, while in-form Adelaide beat defending champions Melbourne Victory 4-1 last weekend.

In the lead-up, Italiano said slow starts by the Phoenix in their home matches were inexcusable.

The message certainly got through this time, with the hosts peppy in their earlier attack and captain Alex Rufer slotting in a goal from a Kazuki Nagasawa corner in the 13th minute.

The Wellington side then held it together, as Adelaide mounted promising raids in the late stages of the first half.

Ramy Najjarine converted a penalty in the 52nd minute, after Bart Vriends’ clumsy challenge on Carlo Armiento.

A big moment came in the 58th minute, when a penalty against Phoenix defender Lukas Kelly-Heald for a challenge on Yaya Dukuly, with was overturned, after the referee reviewed the call on the pitchside monitor, ruling no contact and giving Dukuly a yellow card for simulation.

After tat setback, fresh substitute Ben Garruchio gave Adelaide hope, when he scored with his first touch.

They might have levelled in the 86th minute, when Dukuly’s attempt was thwarted by a brilliant save from Josh Oluwayemi.

The Phoenix win should give them plenty of confidence heading into their NZ derby match against Auckland FC next weekend.

Dan Edwards, who looked sharp in his starting debut for the Phoenix, said the preparation for the match had been great and he was happy to get his chance.

“Everything went well for us today,” he told Sky Sport. “We wanted to surprise them, be really on the front foot and see what we could create early doors, and it paid off.”

Adelaide United captain Craig Goodwin lamented a “sloppy” performance from his side, saying the result was “disappointing”.

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