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Authorities test other sand products for asbestos after three brands recalled

Source: Radio New Zealand

The recalled sand products. Supplied

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is widening its net to test products similar to play sand currently being recalled.

Quartz-based sand from Education Colours, Creatistics and Anko have been found to be contaminated with tremolite, a naturally occurring type of asbestos.

About 40 schools and early childcare centres have closed, or planned to, because of the contamination fears.

MBIE’s product safety spokesperson Ian Caplin said the ministry and other agencies were proactively testing samples from other similar products available in New Zealand.

“We are expecting to receive further results later this week and will update our partners and New Zealanders as they are received,” he said.

“In the meantime, our advice is that when in doubt, take a cautious approach and dispose of sand in accordance with the guidance on Health NZ and WorkSafe’s websites.”

Caplin said anyone who found sand products positive with asbestos after independent testing should send copies of the test report to recalls@mbie.govt.nz so the ministry could begin the recall process.

It comes after a West Auckland school notified families its play sand had tested positive, after previously saying they did not have any of the products on the recall list.

Matipo School in Te Atatu Peninsula wrote to parents saying it was testing other types of sand used for art activities as a precaution.

The school set out steps including independent testing, isolating and temporarily closing affected class rooms, and ensuring there was no access to the sand until it was confirmed safe.

However, Principal Jonnie Black wrote to members of the school community to say a small number of samples tested had returned positive results.

“I want to reassure our community that there is no immediate risk, and we are following all recommended Ministry of Education and health and safety procedures,” he said.

“Affected classrooms have been temporarily relocated while we complete air-quality testing and arrange professional decontamination of those spaces.”

Students were safe, well supervised and settled in alternative learning areas, he said.

Black said they had asked the families of specific classes to seal and return any sand-based artwork, so it could be disposed of safely and appropriately.

“This step is part of the national precautionary process to ensure full compliance with safety guidelines.”

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AI scribe tool rolled out to emergency departments, promises to slash clinicians’ admin

Source: Radio New Zealand

An AI scribe tool is being rolled out across the country’s emergency departments. 123RF

An AI scribe tool is being rolled out across the country’s emergency departments following trials in Hawke’s Bay and Whanganui.

However, while some clinicians were heralding the Heidi AI Scribe technology as “the way of the future”, others said more effective evaluation was needed to ensure benefits touted by its designers translated to the pressures of the emergency medicine.

Late last month, Health Minister Simeon Brown said trials in Hawke’s Bay and Whanganui had shown the system slashed the time clinicians spent on administrative duties.

“Doctors using the AI tool were able to see, on average, one additional patient per shift because of the time saved. That means faster care for patients and less waiting time in emergency departments.

“Based on this success, Health NZ has purchased an initial 1000 licences for frontline staff in emergency departments, enabling its nationwide rollout,” Brown said.

Health Minister Simeon Brown. RNZ / Mark Papalii

Tool slashes time spent on patient notes

The creator of the tool, Heidi Health, said the trials reduced the average time spent on documenting patient notes from 17 minutes to 4 minutes.

Created in Australia, the system was currently used in two million consultations each week across 116 countries, and had been adapted to work with the clinical language and systems used in New Zealand hospitals.

Co-founder of Heidi Health, Dr Thomas Kelly said reducing the administrative burden would allow staff more time to focus on the needs of their patients.

“Healthcare professionals should never have to choose between providing quality patient care and their own wellbeing. Yet the realities of an ED, with complex cases, heavy patient demand, and workforce shortages, can make that a difficult balance.

“Heidi’s ability to allow emergency staff to focus more on patient care, whilst providing much-needed relief from administrative burden, we hope will go some way to making that balance easier,” Kelly said.

Risk of catastrophic error higher in ED settings

However, Otago University Professor of bio-ethics Angela Ballantyne said ongoing work would be needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the tool in the high pressure environment of the country’s emergency departments.

“In ED you’ve got a team-based environment, multiple people contributing to the notes and, obviously, you’ve got critically unwell patients. So the risk of an error in those notes having a really catastrophic impact on patient safety and care is much higher,” Ballantyne said.

Otago University Professor of bio-ethics Angela Ballantyne. Supplied

She said she had spoken to one doctor using a similar tool where a slight change in how a patient’s response had been recorded could have had serious implications for their treatment.

“The tool made a very subtle error. The patient had said they experienced this symptom for the first time ‘in the morning’ and the tool had changed it to ‘every morning’. So a very subtle difference but [it] has really significant clinical implications if someone else comes along and reads and tries to interpret that note.

“This doctor said it was only on the second read through that they realised that the error had been made,” she said.

Ballantyne said she was concerned that the Hawke’s Bay trial – which reviewed the experience of eight clinicians using the tools – had not gone into enough depth ahead of being implemented through the country’s hospitals.

“If this was a drug that was being rolled out there’s very set stages and processes for evaluating the safety and efficacy of those kind of products. Part of what’s tricky about the AI tools is that there’s not a clear regulatory pathway.

“So I would really encourage the government – at this point – to put in place mechanisms to evaluate and monitor this roll out and to be really publicly transparent about those details.

“I’m not saying don’t do it but, I think, do it carefully and evaluate,” Ballantyne said.

AI tool supports doctors in high pressure environment

Chair of the New Zealand faculty of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Dr Kate Allan has worked with the tool.

She said the technology acted as a silent assistant, listening to doctor’s and patient’s conversations and writing the clinical notes as they occurred.

She found it allowed doctors to deal with interruptions and changing situations without losing track of information.

“If I’ve just been to see a patient and I get pulled very quickly to go and see another patient – and you’re multi-tasking like that – I feel it’s much safer because the memory is there. Whereas if you’re going from A to B to C you could lose track when you’re writing your notes,” Allan said.

The technology was trialled at Hawke’s Bay Hospital (pictured) and Whanganui Hospital. RNZ / Peter Fowler

She was impressed by the technology’s ability to hear in noisy environments and cut out discussion during a consultation, which might be irrelevant.

“It’s incredible how it’s able to collate and summarise what [patients] say to us and putting it into the context of the consultation. It’s pretty amazing what it can do,” Allan said.

The time freed up by the tool allowed her to be more detailed in the information she used in notes – but it was still necessary to review the information.

“You have to check it. We all know that AI – at this stage – hallucinates and we need to ensure that’s not happening,” Allan said.

She had encountered some reluctance from patients to divulge personal information using the tool but said she was not concerned about any potential for privacy breaches.

“We know that all of the patient information that we are collecting gets deleted after it’s been used and we know that none of it’s been used as an AI learning tool, so the AI is not learning off what’s going into it. Every patient has to be consented to use it and they can decline it, so that’s fine.

“It’s like recording a telephone call – you can’t do it with getting pre-approval,” Allan said.

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

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Kelston Boys’ board hopes no other school will face unwanted charter bid

Source: Radio New Zealand

A push to convert Kelston Boys’ High School in Auckland into a charter school was against the wishes of the school and its board. SUPPLIED/GOOGLE MAPS

The board of the school at the centre of an unwanted outside bid to turn it into a charter school says it hopes the same doesn’t happen anywhere else.

It was revealed on Wednesday that Bangerz Education and Wellbeing Trust (BEWT), and an ex board member co-sponsor, had abandoned their application.

Their push to convert Kelston Boys’ High School in Auckland was against the wishes of the school and its board.

After the development, the school board said the application being halted was “wonderful news”.

“We sincerely hope no other school in New Zealand will have to experience what our community has endured,” presiding member Sanalio Kaihau said.

“However, should such a situation arise, we stand ready to support others by sharing our learnings and processes.”

Kaihau said the board recognised that charter schools had a place in communities where they were needed.

He said the school’s community had shown unity and resilience and a commitment to protect its mana.

The school first took to social media last month opposing the charter school conversion bid.

“Our senior leaders and staff do NOT believe that becoming a charter school is in the best interests of our students or community, especially when it would involve so much change with a different staff, management and Board, along with a different philosophy and curriculum,” it said in a letter posted to social media.

The trust then ended its own consultation about the move, saying the school had drawn battle-lines by going public with its opposition.

It had argued a change to a charter school would solve a continuing fall in education attainment and that Ministry of Education intervention “has been ineffective”.

BEWT said Kelston Boys’ High was violent, had low achievement and attendance rates and had lost community confidence.

Kelston Boys’ High said it was a school with long-standing traditions and all-round excellence in developing exemplary young men.

Local MP Carmel Sepuloni was critical of the move, making reference to what she called “cowboy organisations” able to make charter school applications.

“It’s been done in the most unusual way, in a way where the schools have felt quite threatened, it’s been relentless,” the senior Labour MP said last month.

The Charter School Agency confirmed on Wednesday it had dropped its application.

It said it would now work with both sides to close the process.

The school board said its students “can now finish the year with confidence” and that it was getting ready for next year with renewed energy and purpose.

Siaosi Gavet, the former presiding board member co-sponsoring the bid with BEWT, did not respond to RNZ’s request for comment.

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Meeting with govt ‘complete waste of time’, Pike River families say

Source: Radio New Zealand

Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse. RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

Pike River families say their meeting with the Workplace Safety Minister was “a complete waste of time”.

Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse sat down with Workplace Safety Minister Brooke van Velden at Parliament on the 15th anniversary of the Pike River disaster.

“I don’t know, I’ve come out of there still feeling really unhappy because there’s just no guarantees that people who go to work are going to return home safely,” Obsorne said.

“She seemed to be focusing all the time on the employers and I sat and listened to it for a little while and then I just couldn’t stand it,” Rockhouse said.

Both women went into the meeting wanting to share their concerns that the minister’s workplace reforms were weakening safety laws and risking another disaster.

Rockhouse said she doesn’t feel reassured.

“She gave a slip service, she listened, but didn’t really say anything. You know, that sort of thing when somebody’s talking but they’re not really saying much? That’s how it felt,” she said.

“I walked out of there thinking man that was just a complete waste of time.”

Workplace Safety Minister Brooke van Velden. Marika Khabazi

The pair support the introduction of a corporate manslaughter charge and said they had found support for the idea with opposition parties and New Zealand First.

“In New Zealand, it’s real easy to pass the buck. It’s not not one person’s fault, it’s another’s, you know,” Osborne said.

“So, we just need somebody with some balls who’s prepared to really put their heart and soul into getting this health and safety legislation and the reforms working properly for all New Zealanders,”

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters on Wednesday described the Pike River mine as “a murder scene” and hinted at his dissatisfaction with relevant workplace safety settings.

He met with Osborne and Rockhouse and promised to advocate for progress on what he described as “the most unsatisfactory circumstance”.

“[The meeting went] very, very well. We laid out a plan of action and work for us to do privately, myself and my team,” Peters said.

“We were the ones that demanded an inquiry, the only party that did at the time. We think we were dramatically let down by the way the inquiry was run and we don’t give up on this. We think this is a murder scene.”

Peters would not disclose any details of his plan but his office later confirmed he was working with Pike River families on the idea of introducing a corporate manslaughter charge.

Asked if he was happy with the current workplace safety settings, he said no.

“Not on this matter, most definitely not. And I intend to make that known.”

Van Velden has been overhauling workplace safety with a mind to shift WorkSafe’s focus from enforcement, to advice and guidance.

She said there were too many people dying at work and helping businesses follow the law – as well as backing a record number of workplace inspectors – was the best way to tackle this.

She didn’t accept Osborne and Rockhouse’s concerns history may repeat itself, despite having no evidence her approach will result in fewer workplace deaths.

“You can’t really point to any particular one industry or group or bit of evidence to say this is what would end up happening in the future.

“What we have as a health and safety system, is a lot of individuals getting up every day, providing jobs and doing a lot of actions on the ground.

“There are accidents that will happen. What I’m wanting to focus on is, how do I improve the overall economy and the situation that businesses and workers find themselves in?”

Van Velden said she did not support introducing a corporate manslaughter charge, instead preferring to focus on “upfront guidance” for businesses.

“I’m asking all businesses, workers and the regulator to focus on critical risk, which is actions that could lead to death and serious injury and illness, and to stamp those out and focus our efforts there, rather than sweating a lot of small stuff.

“We know there are a lot of companies out there really fearful of what it means to comply with the law but they’re ticking boxes and I’d like people across the country to focus on action on the ground to reduce deaths on the ground.”

Justice Minster Paul Goldsmith said there were no current plans to introduce a corporate manslaughter charge as the government had a very busy legislative agenda in the justice space.

Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori all support a corporate manslaughter charge.

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Māori business leaders feeling upbeat about performance after primary sector strengthens

Source: Radio New Zealand

Māori business leaders are feeling upbeat about their performance. RNZ

Māori business leaders are feeling upbeat about performance, driven by a stronger primary sector.

The latest edition of accounting firm BDO’s Pūrongo Pakihi Māori, the Māori Business Sector Report, showed nearly two thirds of Māori business leaders were positive about current overall business performance – second only to the agricultural sector.

BDO Māori business sector leader Solomon Dalton said the upbeat sentiment reflected the strong presence of primary sector firms amongst Māori businesses.

“A lot of our businesses are in the primary industry, which has had strong performance over the last few years,” Dalton said.

However, beyond the primary sector, Māori businesses faced challenging conditions.

“Managing cash flow remains a key priority for Māori business leaders,” Dalton said. “However, we’re seeing cautious optimism about the future.”

“What will be key over the next six months is more certainty around economic conditions in helping unlock potential business growth by encouraging more Māori business leaders to invest in their people and resources – helping stimulate the wider economy.”

Dalton encouraged firms to look at cash flow as they navigate challenging periods and work in 12 week cycles.

He said firms could also look to make investments that could save money long-term.

“Our BDO Pakihi Māori team are seeing a growing adoption of solar technology and the transitioning of business fleets to EV vehicles, not only bringing cost efficiencies for Māori businesses but also supporting their climate responsibilities,” Dalton said.

Māori business leaders felt least positive about external economic factors, followed by financial performance and climate risk.

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The difference in investing strategies between over-60s and under-30s

Source: Radio New Zealand

The third quarter ASB Investor Confidence Survey indicates a clear divergence of strategies between investors over 60 and those under 30 years of age. RNZ

Investor confidence is improving, with a clear divergence of strategies between investors over 60 and those under 30 years of age.

The third quarter ASB Investor Confidence Survey indicates an overall 9 percent improvement in confidence, with a net positive investor confidence rate of 10 percent, compared with 1 percent in the last quarter.

“While confidence has edged up, the underlying drivers of uncertainty, like global events, policy changes, and a sluggish property market, remain, ” ASB senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown said.

“Looking ahead, the overall message is one of cautious optimism.

“Markets have recovered since the volatility we had earlier in the year, and that’s impacting sentiment positively now, but the flat housing market and lower term deposit rates continue to weigh on the mood.”

He said investor confidence was highest in Auckland at more than 16 percent, compared with the rest of New Zealand at 7 percent, with the South Island was at 8 percent and Lower North Island at the bottom with just 3 percent.

“Perceptions about housing being the place to generate the most wealth are very low for under 30s, who may still be trying to work out how to get into the property market, a stark but understandable contrast to the over 60 participants, whose wealth may be tied up in property,” Tennent-Brown said.

He said there was a clear difference between the investment strategies of young and old.

Perceptions of a home as the best returning investment had dropped to the lowest level since first measured in 2015, with under 30s driving the shift to other investments.

“We expect the older age brackets, 60 plus, to have more exposure to property, more exposure to term deposits. They still feel downbeat about term deposits, upbeat about housing,” he said.

“It’s a really diverse bunch of answers when we split it by age and stage of life.”

He said the under 30s surveyed were focussed on other investments, particularly the share market, where confidence had lifted significantly over the past quarter, jumping to 21 percent compared with 13 percent in the previous quarter.

Overall, managed investments were steady at 14 percent and just under KiwiSaver, which had overtaken rental property and term deposits in perceived return.

Public shares were also gaining favour, with perceptions increasing to 12 percent.

Other options such as rental property, term deposits, and bank savings accounts remained stable, but were no longer seen as the stand-out choices they once were.

Global outlook

Global political instability or uncertainty remained the top concern for investors, with 90 percent citing it as a key factor, though there had been a notable drop in those ‘very or extremely concerned’, with fewer investors looking to adjustment their portfolios.

“Investors are adapting to a constantly changing global backdrop, and while the mood is more positive than last quarter, it is far from buoyant,” he said.

“In fact, 53 percent of those with concerns are now choosing not to make any changes – an improvement from last quarter.

“What we’re seeing is that investors are becoming more accustomed to uncertainty. Based on our customers’ behaviour, most are choosing to stay the course and not make changes to their portfolios, even as global headlines continue to shift.”

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Stalkers to face full force of the law

Source: New Zealand Government

Stalking will become a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison, following legislation passing its final reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. 

“This legislation, which creates a new offence of stalking and harassment, is long overdue. 

“For far too long, stalkers have been able to harm their victims through unwanted, persistent and repetitive intrusions into their lives, causing serious emotional, psychological and economic harm, without facing legal consequences.

“Our government is committed to ensuring there are real consequences for crime and that the needs of victims are always prioritised. It underpins all our work to restore law and order.  

“Today is a victory for a wide range of New Zealanders. Anybody can be a victim of stalking and harassment. However, women are greatly overrepresented as victims by the deluded, the sexist, and the abusive. Even worse, their children are frequently exploited to surveil victims, pass on threats, or even be threatened themselves. 

“This victory would not be possible without the tireless advocacy and help of many people. I want to thank the over 600 submitters to the Justice Committee. Many of them bravely shared their own stories, experiences and the impact stalking and harassment had on their lives.

“Stalking and harassment is vicious, sinister and can be deadly. Today, Parliament has sent a clear message – this insidious behaviour has to stop.”

The new offence of stalking and harassment is defined as a pattern of behaviour which the offender knew was likely to cause the victim fear or distress.  

A pattern of behaviour is defined as two specified acts within a 2-year period. These specified acts are listed in the Bill. A Police notice system and relevant defences are also built into the new offence.  

The Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment Bill outlines a range of stalking behaviours, including:

Watching and following another person.
Unwanted communication.
Damaging another’s reputation and relationships.

The Bill will come into force in May 2026, six months after the legislation receives Royal assent, to allow for training for Police, court staff and the judiciary, and the development of information for the public.  

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Ferry solution saves New Zealand $2.3b

Source: New Zealand Government

Good afternoon. Thank you, Lachie, for the introduction.

And thanks to CentrePort for having us here.

We selected this site as it was the scene of the iReX pyramid scheme. This was one of two large spaces rented for Project iReX. By contrast, the new Ferry Holdings office is so small that there isn’t room to host you there.

That is because we have shifted from ‘wasteful spending’ to ‘waste not, want not.’

It is good to see various leaders here today, including rail and maritime unions, iwi, and the chairs, chief executives and team members of CentrePort, Port Marlborough, and KiwiRail. These ferries are for all New Zealanders, and we appreciate the support for commonsense.

Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor, Wellington Mayor Andrew Little, Greater Wellington Chair Daran Ponter, welcome and thank you for being here.

Chris Mackenzie, Heather Simpson, Greg Lowe, Katherine Rich, Captain Iain McLeod and the entire Ferry Holdings team, thank you. New Zealand owes you a debt of gratitude.

And thanks extends to the pragmatists from CentrePort, Port Marlborough, and KiwiRail too. To the teams gathered today: a genuine, heartfelt thank you for your work. My reputation is the beneficiary of your work.

These teams picked up a clarion call for fiscal discipline, without compromising on the ships and infrastructure New Zealanders want and need.

At our behest, and then with Cabinet’s support, we safeguarded the long-term future of the Interislander, preserved rail on the Strait, and saved the taxpayer billions.

In fact, we have saved the taxpayer $2.3 billion.

Ferry Holdings, the ports and KiwiRail have agreed to the programme of work to be delivered by 2029. The programme will be less than $2 billion, but the taxpayer contribution is within the $1.7 billion Cabinet allocated when we started our no-nonsense ferry solution.

That is $2.3 billion less than the $4 billion cost explosion Treasury warned of in 2023, after project managers pushed egregious, wasteful and unnecessary scope into the infrastructure programme.

And before the apologists start saying the cancelled ferries would have been here in 2026. No major construction contracts were entered under iReX, but they still said they could complete work in 2026 within two years. They were in La La Land.

It could not be done. We would have ended up, as they have in Tasmania, where ferries arrived long before the infrastructure was ready. The Tasmanian Devil was in the detail all along.

Instead, we have brought this back to the programme we agreed in 2020, before the Labour Party went away with the ‘ferries’, so to speak.

Two new ferries, replacing infrastructure where it is needed, but keeping infrastructure where it can be kept – with three years of build programme.

We will rebuild the marine infrastructure in Picton and Wellington but keep the assets that still have life left in them, and make use of the yards, buildings, and road and rail infrastructure. That saves billions.

We know this will work because the idea came from the ship masters’ union and has been assiduously tested by the ports; people in the practical business of ship and freight movement, not boffins and bean counters.

Ask yourself, who is more likely to deliver value for money, safe services, and a viable business: the people whose livelihoods are on the line, or the expensive contractors who hijacked the iReX project?

This is not a free-for-all either. Interislander is a commercial business operating in a competitive market. Funding put in by the ports and Ferry Holdings will be recovered over the 30-year life of the ferry and infrastructure assets, through port fees paid by Interislander revenue. Interislander revenue will also need to build sufficient reserves to buy new ferries in thirty years.

When this basic principle of business is taken into account, it brings into stark relief why a no-nonsense ferry solution is the only way forward. If we lumped in high costs, like they sought to do in iReX, then it will ultimately flow on to New Zealanders through higher Interislander fares.

By keeping costs low, we have saved the Interislander for road and rail and kept costs to an economic minimum for you, the consumer.

Oh and by the way, that is why we are staying in Picton and not going to Clifford Bay. Their own estimates say their project will cost $900 million, while works in Picton are a bit over $500 million. The higher the cost, the more expensive the Interislander ticket.

Instead, we thank the two ports for their willingness and straightforward approaches. We know that this attitude will be expected from the major construction contractors who will soon be joining this project: programme and cost efficiency will win those construction contracts, so put your best foot forward.

And we are still buying what New Zealanders want: two new ferries.

We are buying exactly the type of ferries people want: big enough to carry freight and families for the next 30 years, designed for comfort and freight capacity, and meeting modern safety requirements.

We will enter a new era of ship quality on the Cook Strait with these new ferries.

They will have road and rail decks. We have never wavered in our support for rail. It is not an anti-truck position, is it simply commonsense. If rail cannot haul heavy industries, then thousands of trucks as heavy as a small house would. More of those means more trucks adding road costs, road works, and road cones.

We are about balance: road and rail. We are about commonsense: using what New Zealanders built to benefit New Zealanders, not leaving rail to waste on the side of the road.

And the fixed price for these two ferries is $596 million, just a fraction more than the cancelled ferries with its famously good price – not hundreds of millions more as the naysayers have been shouting for months and months.

We have also secured a ship builder of serious quality.

Guangzhou Shipyard International is the largest modern integrated ship building enterprise in Southern China. They received the highest overall rating through Ferry Holdings’ competitive tender process, impressing with their technical expertise and ability to deliver on time and on budget.

Next week, we will travel to Guangzhou with the Ferry Holdings Chair and Ships Programme Director to acknowledge this significant agreement, not just between the shipyard and Ferry Holdings but also as a significant contribution to economic relations with China.

Finally, we intend to move forward.

Despite the risible attempt to turn iReX into a pathway to prosperity for the consultant class, hijacking a project founded on prudency in 2020; we saw through them, we kicked them out, and we took control again.

We saved $2.3 billion in the process, retained rail ferries, and have now secured the ferry contract and the path to completion in 2029. We did what we said we would do.

Work has already started. KiwiRail retired the Aratere, making way for the demolition and rebuild work. CentrePort has already built the laydown area, and they have a barge on site. Port Marlborough is about to start demolition works on the Aratere linkspan to make way for the new infrastructure.

This is a programme with real energy and excitement behind it. That focus will carry the day, because on this occasion: commonsense won.

We are, after all, charting the same course as those who came before us, albeit on new tides and with the pragmatists at the helm once again.

Thank you.

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Better protection from foreign interference

Source: New Zealand Government

New Zealand will be better protected from foreign interference with legislation passing in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says.

“Some foreign states engage in activities that are deceptive, corruptive, or coercive. These activities are intended to inappropriately manipulate our society or place undue pressure on individuals and our communities. We need to ensure our laws effectively combat those activities.

“Foreign interference from any country is unacceptable. This legislation will help to ensure that our criminal law is fit for purpose, and will better equip agencies to hold people to account.”

The Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill will: 

  • Create new offences to specifically criminalise foreign interference,
  • Update existing offences related to espionage and the wrongful communication of government information for conduct that is likely to prejudice New Zealand’s security or defence. 

“These changes are part of ongoing work across government to protect New Zealand and our communities from foreign interference. They also provide a clear message on how seriously we take this issue,” Mr Goldsmith says.

“Normal diplomatic activity, transparent lobbying, and other forms of open and cooperative engagement with the New Zealand Government and members of the public are always welcome and will not be affected by this legislation. Foreign interference, however, will not be tolerated.”

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Central New Plymouth street closed by police

Source: Radio New Zealand

File photo. RNZ / Alexander Robertson

Members of the public are being urged to avoid part of St Aubyn Street in New Plymouth this evening as police descend on the area.

Hato Hone St John were called just before 7pm, and sent one ambulance and a rapid response vehicle.

Police said St Aubyn Street was closed near Egmont Street.

They have advised the public to stay away from the area.

– more to come

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