Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Radio New Zealand

There are reports of small tornados in the North Island, as severe thunderstorm and heavy rain watches remain in place for the top half of the country and upper South Island.

One tornado happened near Orewa, north of Auckland, at about 7pm.

Local MP Mark Mitchell – who is also Emergency Management Minister – put a post up on Facebook asking anyone affected to contact him if needed.

One household in Red Beach did, which he has gone to see.

“It sounds like we’ve had one of these small tornados that has sort of been very concentrated in and around the Red Beach area,” Mitchell said.

“We’ve just popped round to make sure they’re ok, put a couple of tarps on the roof to keep the house dry and they’ve got repair people coming on Saturday.

“It was obvious it has come through two properties, there was damage to the property behind and also the one on the main street had some of the roof pulled off as well.”

People home at the time described noisy and intense wind and then went outside to find the damage.

The second reported tornado was seen near the Waikato town of Ōtorohanga.

Luke Care and his wife live in Maihiihi, near the town, and he said the tornado formed very quickly.

The first thing they noticed was the power going out.

“And I looked out the window and holy smokes, there’s this giant tornado ripping through the neighbour’s property, it’s quite scary actually,” he said.

He told RNZ it looked like a small water spout at first, and when he grabbed his camera it accelerated and “formed just a full on tornado”.

“You could see it picking up tree limbs and bits of corrugated iron and as it passed over a trough it just sucked all the water out of it as it was moving through.

“We’re a little but worried about what next,” he said.

“Is another one going to form or are we at risk of them?”

The tornado carried on up into mountains and then faded off in the distance, Care said.

He and his were “luckily” about a kilometre from it when they filmed it. “I would have hated it for it to be any closer,” he said.

“And it just by pure luck it seemed to pick a path between houses and sheds and the neighbour’s cow shed was there with all the cows on the yard, it would have been pretty chaotic if it had gone through there.”

“You wouldn’t have wanted to be underneath it I don’t think,” he said.

Fire and Emergency said it had not responded to any callouts in relation to the reported tornados.

Rain and thunder

MetService is warning people to prepare for localised downpours of 25 to 40 millimetres an hour.

An orange rain warning is in force for Bay of Plenty, including Rotorua, until 11am on Friday, with up to 110 millimetres expected.

Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Gisborne, and Hawke’s Bay’s remain under severe thunderstorm watches until early Friday morning.

Heavy rain has also lashed the top of the South, with an orange warning for northern parts of Marlborough that expired late Thursday afternoon.

The Transport Agency (NZTA) was warning road users travelling north of Kaikōura Thursday night to drive with caution due to flooding on State Highway 1.

Following the heavy rain, flooding had been reported across both lanes near Washdyke Stream Bridge, between Waipapa Bay and Kekerengu.

Contractors were are travelling to the site to check the condition of the road, NZTA said.

Earlier, surface flooding was also reported across both lanes on SH1 near Mangamaunu, and the intersection with Kiwa Road.

Rain watches were in place on Thursday across Nelson, Tasman, and southern Marlborough, including the Kaikōura Coast.

Marlborough District Council said Marlborough Sounds, Richmond Ranges, Rai Valley, Blenheim, Seddon and Ward residents were to expect 60 to 90 millimetres of rain on top of what had already fallen earlier in the day.

It warned people travelling in the region to be cautious of slips and flooding.

Heavy Rain Watches and Warnings, ⚡Thunderstorms and Downpours⛈️

⛈️The risk of downpours due to thunderstorms is there for all of the North Island and very top of the South Island, with the exception of Gisborne and northern Hawke’s Bay.

⚡This means that on top of Heavy… pic.twitter.com/RKNvsuWwIx

— MetService NZ (@MetService) January 14, 2026

Beware of localised downpours

MetService meteorologist Katie Lyons told RNZ the severe thunderstorm watches could be upgraded.

“There’s a lot going on around the country, I think something that could catch people out today are just those localised downpours in one area.

“And watch out for those thunderstorm warnings,” she said.

MetService said people should make sure their drains and gutters are clear before the heavy rain hits.

It also warned travellers to driving cautiously with difficult driving conditions likely.

Surface flooding in Wellington

Some roads in the Wellington region were already showing signs of flooding.

Porirua City Council said there were reports of rising water levels water on parts of Mana Esplanade and Warspite Avenue.

While the roads were not closed at this point, the council was encouraging people to exercise caution driving in those areas.

The heavy rain was expected to ease in the region after 4pm Thursday afternoon.

There was also some flooding along State Highway Two at Ngauranga in Wellington and in Lower Hutt.

Police were helping to direct traffic, with culverts overflowing onto the road.

Road closures or delays possible – NZTA

A New Zealand Transport Agency spokesperson said motorists should drive with care, maintain safe following distances and slow down, to help keep everyone safe.

“Our crews will be closely monitoring the state highways while these watches and warnings are in place.

“Those who are travelling on the roads should be aware of possible flooding, especially in low-lying areas and near rivers, slips, fallen trees, reduced visibility and hazardous driving conditions, and potential road closures or delays.”

The heavy rain could cause potholes to form or worsen, creating additional hazards for drivers, the spokesperson said.

They also said travellers should be mindful of contractors who may be out clearing hazards off the road.

There are currently no reports from NZTA of state highway closures due to weather.

Both Air New Zealand and Jetstar said there were no flight disruptions or cancellations at this stage.

The airlines encouraged customers to check the status of their flight online or via their apps for the latest updates.

Good news for some

Fire and Emergency New Zealand are welcoming the rain with open arms, but remain cautious that a few downpours alone will not change fire risk conditions.

Fire bans and restrictions span across much of the country as the risk of wildfire intensified due to the recent hot and dry weather.

Wildfire manager Tim Mitchell told RNZ the rain was “absolutely” welcomed, particularly to drier high risk areas like Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa.

Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa are under a total fire ban due to dry conditions, with specific zones requiring permits for any outdoor burning.

Mitchell said fire risks remained in place and restrictions could not be removed until grass in drier regions turned green.

“We are hoping for steady rain over a long period of time to reduce fire risk, but heavy down pours may not change conditions.”

Mitchell said flooding also posed a risk to drier areas because the hard ground struggled to soaked up the rain water.

People should also be mindful that lightning strikes could start wildfires, but in contrast to Australia, New Zealand’s lightning is associated with rain, he said.

“Residents should take extra care around flood waters and when driving, keeping a good travelling distance, and double check the checkitsalright website.”

The spell of rain and thunderstorms looks to pass for much of the country moving into the weekend.

For more information on preparing and keeping safe during a storm, visit Civil Defence Get Ready website.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Health New Zealand has confirmed another major technology outage, this time for hospitals in the lower North Island.

A clinician working in one of hospitals called the situation shambolic, while the medical specialists union said crumbling technology systems were putting both staff and patients at risk.

A range of clinical and administrative systems were down for at least six hours on Thursday, days after a widespread IT outage affected the Southern district for more than 12 hours.

Health NZ said the outage was not related to hacking or to the Southern district outage, and services continued to operate safely throughout the day.

But the healthcare worker, who RNZ agreed not to name, said the inability to access patients’ vital health information was a clinical risk.

They claimed Te Whatu Ora didn’t know which provider was managing Capital and Coast’s IT systems over the summer break.

It’s not known exactly how extensive the issues were. Health NZ would only confirm “part of the Central Region” had been affected.

An all staff email, seen by RNZ, said Central Region, Wellington Hospital, Wairarapa Hospital and Hutt Hospital, and “staff throughout the central region” were impacted.

The email noted “a gap in knowledge around who is on-call” as an “outstanding Issue or challenge,” and warned of the risk of potential disruption to patients care pathways and risks to emergency departments.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Sarah Dalton said the Single Clinical Portal – a platform used by Wellington, Hutt and Wairarapa Hospitals that provides patient data – had been malfunctioning for months.

“Health NZ admitted it had major problems late last year, and said it would take months not weeks to fix.”

That meant clinicians were already having to use work arounds on a daily basis and were suffering significant delays, she said.

Even if Thursday’s outage was not related to staffing cuts across Health NZ’s digital and data teams (which saw around a third of all roles cut last year), the ongoing inability of HealthNZ to “get across their data and digital infrastructure and to put reliable systems in place absolutely is a factor around resource constraints, budget limitations and staffing cuts.”

Some things – such as trying to search a patient’s medication history – were difficult to do manually, especially if someone was already in treatment or very unwell and may not have that information to hand, Dalton said.

“Who has that information, how are you supposed to uncover that, how can you determine what the next safe treatment step is? For our members who are senior doctors and dentists, they are the people that hold the ultimate medico-legal responsibility for care of patients, so HealthNZ as an employer is really letting them down.”

Senior data and digital staff had confirmed that when HealthNZ ran its voluntary redundancy programme last year, many more staff took that option than it was able to spare, leaving the department understaffed, she said.

Stuff reported last month that Te Whatu Ora had contracted technology consultancy firm Datacom to fill gaps on the IT service desk.

‘I want them to take some accountability’

HealthNZ senior leadership and board needed to front on the ongoing issues and the impact of the budget and job cuts, Dalton said.

“I want them to take some accountability. We need to understand why they are in a position of contracting out – which we know is much more expensive – when they’ve just let many many staff go.

“We need to ask ourselves what should lie at the heart of our health system? I think what patients and communities would like is to be diagnosed and treated in a timely fashion near to where they live, but the way HealthNZ is going about their business is making healthcare harder to access and more difficult as a system for healthcare workers to work in.”

Ongoing technology issues, including the axing or deferral of more than 100 IT projects, delays to roll outs and the outages were “not a good advertisement for New Zealand being a great place to work” amid a globally competitive health care market, she said.

Health New Zealand group director of operations for Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley Jamie Duncan confirmed there had been “an issue with the digital infrastructure that provides access to a range of clinical and administrative systems across part of the Central Region.”

“Functional access to critical systems” had been established around 9am, and services continued to operate safely throughout, he said.

He said all systems were accessible by 4pm, and teams were working to ensure all users were fully restored.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Mark Lenton, who grew up in the Auckland coastal community of Whangaparāoa, fondly remembers spending hours looking at the species in rock pools as a child.

But he said the number of sea life gatherers had increased in recent years, and beaches along the Whangaparāoa Peninsula were being stripped bare.

“We have now got a surge in demand for our sea life. We not only see mum and dads, we also see busloads arriving at the beach, with buckets and tools, not only to take the more commonly consumed shellfish like oysters and mussels, but any marine plant or animal life that lives in the pools, hermit crabs, limpets, chiton, sea anemone, sea cucumber, anything that lives, no matter the size, goes in the bucket.”

He said this summer, he had seen several hundred people beach-combing at Army Bay, and that there were groups there almost every day.

“If you have a group of ten, for example, which is what we often see, between them, they can take 500 starfish off one beach in a day. On a busy day at Army Bay, we may get anything between 100 and 200 gatherers. That’s 5000 starfish in one day. That’s happening at Army Bay, all along the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, all down the eastern and western coastlines of Auckland, and it’s happening all over New Zealand.”

Omaha local Mary Coupe said they were seeing fewer people beach-combing there, but that was because there was nothing left to take.

”It’s all gone. All our rock pools are already stripped out. They used to be full of shrimp, starfish, even anemones were scooped out with a screwdriver out of the little rock pools where they were hiding. We don’t have the same traffic down here that we used to.”

University of Auckland marine biologist, Andrew Jeffs, said this is an issue he had witnessed first-hand.

“I’ve been at the beach and observed groups harvesting the organisms out of rock pools and taking them away by the bucket load.

“I’ve had conversations with people where I’ve questioned what they are doing on the beach, and they said, well, they’re only little animals, and it doesn’t matter. But it does matter because those animals often only live in a few small places in relatively small areas. Once you remove them, it’s very difficult for them to actually come back and re-establish.”

He said that as the country had become more ethnically diverse, it had put pressure on species that were not always harvested here.

“People have different tastes in what they like to eat and enjoy, and harvesting from the shore of fresh seafood material is something that they enjoy.

“It’s about managing that activity so it doesn’t damage the environment, and whoever, whether it’s the community or government, needs to work with those people to make it possible for them to have some of that enjoyment, but without damaging the environment.

“Even the traditional species, things like cockles and pipis that are in intertidal areas, they’re being harvested harder than ever in a number of areas. And also climate change, some of those populations are getting increasingly stressed by hot summer weather, for example.”

He said there needed to be increased education and enforcement, better rules, and more support for communities that were taking action to try to stop the overharvesting of shore life.

Last year, local iwi, the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, applied for a two-year legal ban on harvesting all shellfish and seaweed from rock pools along Auckland’s eastern coastline, from the Rodney local board area through to the Hibiscus and Bays local board area, under section 186A of the Fisheries Act.

The iwi’s chief executive, Nicola MacDonald, said that while harvesting shellfish had long been a common practice, as the area’s population had grown, the amount of harvesting being done had become unsustainable.

“There are incidents not only isolated to Whangaparāoa, but dotted right across that coastline. It’s important to make use of the laws we have and to seek Fisheries’ relief. We’re concerned, and I’m pretty sure that once people realise we’re at the state of deprivation, they’ll understand that New Zealand beaches and sealife cannot take this level of take.

“We need to give the coastlines a break from harvesting, and for people know about it, so we can work towards restoration.

“I’ve seen 186As work successfully when iwi and community are working together, supporting one another to educate all people. I’ve seen it with Waiheke Island and Ngāti Pāoa and the communities there when they put an application in around their scallops and crayfish. Not that long ago, there was only one living crayfish on Waiheke. Now they can see many more. That’s fantastic, that’s what we want to see for our coastline.”

She said there needed to be more education about the harm that harvesting species to depletion was having on the ecosystem.

“Those species are the engineers of the marine environment. We need them to build strong structures for other species. If there’s nothing left, all of that marine environment collapses.”

Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones said he was aware of issues with rock pool harvesting, specifically on Auckland’s east coast.

He confirmed he would make a decision about the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust’s request next month.

“I appreciate there’s a sense of urgency around the Hibiscus Coast. But we need to ensure every time we bring a new regulation in, that preferably we take a regulation away, but bringing in a regulation to impose a rahui around that part of Auckland needs to be embraced and understood by the broader community that this is a necessary step to secure better outcomes for the rock pools’ sea life.”

Fisheries North Regional Compliance Manager, Andre Espinoza, said the agency was aware of people gathering seafood in the Whangaparāoa area, but that most were harvesting legally within the current recreational daily limits.

He said Fishery officers had observed private tour groups visiting Whangaparāoa beaches and that people often used public buses to visit beaches.

“It’s important to note that it’s not illegal for large groups to collect seafood in any area that is open, but they must follow the rules, and only people actively gathering seafood can take their applicable daily bag limit.”

Mark Lenton said that his group, Protect Whangaparāoa Rockpools, would be protesting peacefully at Army Bay on Saturday.

The group is calling for better protection of rock pools and intertidal zones, and more education around marine conservation.

Fisheries said suspected illegal activity could be reported through the 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 476 224).

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Migrants who were told their job was skilled and put them onto a path to residency are being warned that may no longer be the case.

Immigration New Zealand is using two classification systems to decide whether jobs should be classed as skilled – which affects which visas they can get.

An immigration adviser said New Zealand was at risk of getting a reputation for ‘scamming people with false promises’.

Filipino Aaron Pasion has worked as a swim school teacher in Auckland for three years, and was due to extend his visa when he found out he would instead have to leave.

He is married and his five-year-old son Andreus had been about to start school here. His swim school and parents of the youngsters he teaches have rallied around, but no options were left.

The family will move to Australia by the end of the month.

“We were so, so disappointed to hear it because he is just genuinely exceptional,” said parent Nicole Pryor.

“He’s singing, he’s joking. Like you can hear him when you walk into the swimming facility. He’s larger than life, he’s amazing with the kids. And no matter who he’s dealing with really, like whether it’s a six-month-old, a new dad, a grandparent, a ten-year-old, he’s just incredible with everybody.

“To be teaching such a range of ages and skill levels these vital skills, what it feels like to fall into a pool, putting your face under the water for the first time, kicking, moving your arms. They are critical skills. And in a country like New Zealand, where we really do need that for the safety of our kids, it just seems wild to me that they’re not considered really important technical skills.”

Pryor said migrants like Pasion were a ‘treasure’ and will be a loss to New Zealand.

“It really sort of demonstrated to me how there must be so many folks who make such a significant contribution to our communities who would be facing similar situations. And it’s quite distressing thinking about them, the upheaval of their families and their children.”

Pasion is not alone, with industry saying professionals such as office, shop and restaurant managers welcomed as skilled under temporary visas were now being shown the exit door.

He would like the government to offer more consistency in its visa rules, so migrants can plan their futures.

“When I got here to New Zealand, the swimming instructors were in skill level three [skilled] and we understood that we can extend our visa here, we have a pathway to residency,” he said. “We teach important life skills. So yes, I definitely think that it should be considered as a skilled profession.”

He would also like immigration to try to assess the contribution a migrant makes to their community.

“The management from my company, from my swim school has been doing their best since the beginning of 2025 just to check for options. And then during that time, we were just hopeful.

“The parents and those people who knew us, like their love and support were overwhelming. We love your country. We love the people. We love everything. We love the promise of the future for me and my family. Our boy has already adapted and then he’s supposed to start big school this year. That’s why it’s so hard.”

Defining ‘skilled’

Immigration adviser Tobias Tohill believes there is a ‘storm brewing’ among people who got three-to-five year temporary visas when their roles were classed as skilled – only to find out later they no longer are, or cannot qualify them for skilled migrant residence (SMC) visas later.

Other changes to SMC are due to arrive later this year, but the industry was in the dark about what that would look like, he said.

“The employer think they’ve got a key person in the business. The person applies for residence after three years and then gets it declined,” said Tohill.

“Then that person’s like, ‘this job can’t get me residence, I’m off’ and they lose that key person. So it’s a loss for the businesses as well. So it’s actually kind of counterproductive in economic terms in my view.

“Change is too slow, and for many migrants this constant tinkering with policy settings is going to lead to a lot of disappointment, and awkward endings. After years of graft, it seems likely that many will find they do not meet residence requirements and cannot stay longer.”

Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Kristy Phillips said the two classifications – the National Occupation List (NOL) and Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) – were causing difficulties, but stopped short of describing the situation as a broken promise.

“The National Occupation List, that integration, that’s quite a significant change. And as I understand it, Immigration New Zealand is rolling that out gradually. So I think that’s where some of that discrepancy and disparity is coming in between those skill levels being recognised on the National Occupations List versus the ANZSCO list that we’ve been traditionally using and where the skilled migrant category visa is still using those qualifications.”

The wider issue for hospitality was retaining staff while increasing the domestic workforce, she said, but changes to the skill level classification was also affecting people since November.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said its system was primarily based on ANZSCO, and will be after SMC changes are introduced in August.

“In October 2024, it was announced by Stats NZ that ANZSCO would be replaced by the National Occupation List. To ensure a smooth transition, INZ is introducing the NOL in stages and will keep migrants, employers, and immigration professionals informed as it is implemented.

“We recognise the complexities of using two classification systems throughout this transition period. We are committed to providing clear, timely information to ensure migrants, employers, and immigration professionals have certainty and understand their visa options and respective visa requirements during this time.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland is hosting the opening night of Ed Sheeran’s global Loop Tour on Friday night.

The chart-topping British singer-songwriter is playing two shows at Go Media Stadium, on Friday and Saturday, before heading to Wellington and Christchurch the following week.

Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson said it was super exciting for Auckland to be kicking off Sheeran’s world tour.

“We think there’s something like 80,000 fans over two nights. The actual setup is really going to be fantastic,” she said.

“They say there is the largest video screen ever that has been built in New Zealand being built right now in time for the show. Ed wants every single person to be able to intimately see what he’s singing, and I think we’ll get some really good effects from that super large video screen.”

Simpson had snagged a ticket to Friday’s concert.

“I can’t wait. I saw him at Eden Park and loved him, I just think he’s great, he’s warm, he’s real, he can play,” she said.

Simpson said to help concert-goers get to and from Go Media Stadium special event buses would be leaving from the city, for people on the North Shore and people travelling from Quay Street.

She said Auckland had had a strong start to the year in terms of events attracting visitors.

“Already in January, until the 14th of January, we’re close to 20 percent up on hotel bookings in Auckland. We know events, festivals, and concerts really contribute to us economically and we also know the hospitality and the accommodation sectors do benefit,” she said.

Hospitality New Zealand head of advocacy Sam MacKinnon said Sheeran’s concerts in Auckland would provide a great boost to the city’s economy.

“Ed Sheeran is a massive drawcard and we’re expecting to have full venues, full bars and restaurants and obviously accommodation will be pretty full up as well so it’s great to have another big event this summer to really help bolster the balance sheets and support the industry,” he said.

Sheeran will wrap up the New Zealand leg of his tour with a show at Wellington’s Sky Stadium on 21 January and two shows at Christchurch’s Apollo Projects Stadium on 24 and 25 January.

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