Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

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Kiwi Dame Farah Palmer replaces doctor on World Rugby Council

Source: Radio New Zealand

Dame Farah Palmer will replace Dr. Deb Robinson on the World Rugby Council. Photosport

New Zealand rugby icon Dame Farah Palmer has been appointed to the World Rugby Council as the country’s third representative.

A former Black Ferns captain and three-time Rugby World Cup champion, Dame Farah has extensive governance and rugby experience. She was a New Zealand Rugby Board member between 2016 and 2024 and a member of the New Zealand Māori Rugby Board for 17 years.

Dame Farah replaces Dr Deb Robinson, a former All Blacks and Black Ferns doctor, who has served on the World Rugby Council since 2018.

NZR chairperson David Kirk said: “Dame Farah’s contribution to rugby in New Zealand and internationally has been exceptional, both on and off the field. She combines integrity and leadership and will be a strong advocate for the growth of the game worldwide.

“On behalf of the board I would like to thank Dr Deb Robinson for her excellent contribution to the work of the World Rugby Council, in particular as chair of the Anti-Doping Advisory Committee.”

Dame Farah joins NZR Board member Greg Barclay and Bart Campbell as NZR’s representatives on the World Rugby Council.

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

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‘Attempted decapitation’: Man on trial for murder of former employee

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rajinder is on trial at the High Court at Dunedin. RNZ / Nate McKinnon

A man is accused of stabbing a former employee more than 40 times in what appears to be an attempted decapitation, a court has heard.

The 35-year-old man accused of the murder, who is listed in court documents only as Rajinder, is on trial at the High Court at Dunedin.

The body of Gurjit Singh, 27, was found covered in blood on the lawn of his Dunedin home in January last year.

The defence claimed Rajinder had no reason to kill his former employee and there was no animosity between them.

Prosecutor Robin Bates said Rajinder left DNA evidence at the scene including hair and multiple blood stains around the house.

“The post mortem indicated that the deceased died from multiple sharp force injuries, at least 46 in total, including a large inevitably fatal wound to the neck which gave the impression of attempted decapitation,” Bates said.

There were wounds to the victim’s head, neck, torso and arms.

The defendant and victim had moved from India to New Zealand some years ago, and ended up working as contractors in Dunedin by 2023.

Singh had originally worked for Rajinder before going out on his own and purchasing one of Rajinder’s vans, Bates said.

In mid-2023, Singh bought his home on Hillary Street and had travelled back to India the same year to get married.

Bates told the court Singh attended a pizza party in Helensburgh on the night of 28 January, 2024.

A witness said he arrived about 9pm.

He stayed about an hour and appeared in a good mood.

When the witness tried to contact him the next morning about a concrete cutter, Singh did not reply.

The witness was contacted by a friend who said Singh’s wife had been trying to contact him for three hours but could not get a hold of him.

Bates said when the friend went to check on him, he found Singh’s body on the front lawn covered in blood with severe cuts to his neck.

He called 111, tried to perform CPR and waited for emergency services to arrive.

The house was examined with blood found in multiple spots across the dining room, lounge, outside steps and on the walls.

A large window was broken with glass shards on the ground.

Bates said some blood samples from the scene indicated it was the defendant’s DNA.

Rajinder first told police he did not know about the death and had taken his wife for a driving lesson about midnight for about an hour on the night in question, Bates said.

The interviewing police officer asked him about a cut on his left hand between his thumb and forefinger and Rajinder said it happened when a chain came loose on a chainsaw.

But a few days later when he was interviewed again, Bates said Rajinder told police he had lied and it was from a bike accident, but he did not go to the hospital because it would take too long and then he got scared he might be connected to the death.

When confronted about blood containing his DNA being found at the scene, he said it was impossible and denied killing Singh, Bates said.

A piece of glove from a pair Rajinder had bought around the time of the murder was also found at the scene, Bates said.

A knife and neck gaiter he had bought from Hunting and Fishing around the same time could not be found.

His clothing from the night was also not found.

Defence lawyer Katy Barker said Rajinder did not kill Singh and there was no enmity or animosity between them.

The defence accepted Singh was murdered and whoever attacked him must have had murderous intent, but it was not Rajinder, Barker said.

There was no grievance between the two and they had a good relationship, she said.

Rajinder had built a good life in Dunedin and it did not make sense for him to blow it up, Barker said.

The trial is set down for three weeks.

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Man dies after being pulled unresponsive from water at Takapuna Beach

Source: Radio New Zealand

Takapuna Beach on Auckland’s North Shore.

A man has died at a popular Auckland beach.

Police were alerted at midday on Monday that a person was unresponsive in the water and had been pulled onto Takapuna Beach.

Officers gave medical help but he could not be revived.

The death will be referred to the coroner.

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Remand prisoner found after more than a week on the run

Source: Radio New Zealand

Mt Eden Corrections Facility (file image). RNZ/Calvin Samuel

A man on the run for more than a week has been found and charged with escaping custody.

The 42-year-old Mt Eden remand prisoner, who was in handcuffs, got free during a hospital escort on 7 November.

He has now been arrested and will appear in the North Shore District Court on Monday.

The Department of Corrections earlier said that any escape is unacceptable.

A review is underway.

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

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No arrests after businesses damaged in seaside village of Orewa

Source: Radio New Zealand

Damage to Orewa’s Shoreward Gastrobar in September. Supplied

Four businesses have been ram-raided or fire-damaged in a small seaside village north of Auckland in the past three months, but police say so far no arrests have been made.

Officers launched Operation Governor after a deliberately lit fire at Orewa’s Sunflour Cafe left the interior of the building destroyed.

Several fire crews responded to the blaze at Sunflour shortly before 11.30pm on 1 November.

It was the latest in a series of businesses targeted on the main strip of the coastal town of Orewa, going back to September.

The first was between 21 September and 22 at takeaway business Bossburger. Images posted to social media showed the front of the store smashed in.

It was followed by a burglary and arson reported at the Shoreward Gastrobar in the early hours of 30 September.

It was understood the offenders drove a vehicle into the bar, before setting fire to the premises and fleeing on foot, police said.

Members of the public extinguished the fire before officers arrived at the scene.

“In both incidents, we are not aware of any items being stolen from these businesses,” police said.

Damage to Orewa’s Bossburger in September. Supplied

Police told RNZ the Operation Governor investigation continued, and could not comment further.

Both businesses, and the local business association Destination Orewa, also declined to comment.

Waitematā North area commander Inspector John Thornley said previously attacks on local businesses would not be tolerated.

“These arsons are not only damaging property, but it’s affecting peoples’ livelihoods, and police is open-minded about whether any of these incidents are linked,” he said.

Damage done to the Sunflour cafe in Orewa. Sunflour / supplied

Thornley said they would be engaging with the public over the coming days, and they could expect a larger police presence in the area.

“We want to hear about any suspicious activity that people might have seen on Saturday night.

“I’m asking anyone with dashcam footage around the Ōrewa township, between 10pm and midnight, on Saturday 1 November to make themselves known to the investigation team.”

“No piece of information is too small, so please come forward as soon as possible.”

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New scam protections for consumers to kick off Fraud Awareness Week

Source: New Zealand Government

The Government is introducing new legal protections so banks, telecommunications providers and digital platforms can act faster to block suspected online scams, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson says.

“Too many Kiwis are being ripped off by scams that spread through fake websites, texts and social media,” Mr Simpson says.

This new legal protection, known as a safe harbour, is for online service providers that take reasonable, good faith steps to disrupt suspected scams.

“Entities tell us they want to pull these scams down earlier, but they worry about being prosecuted if they accidentally take down a legitimate customer or website. These changes give them more confidence to act when something looks wrong.”

“This is about fast, decisive action to combat scammers. If a bank wants to pause a suspicious payment, or a telco wants to block a fake website link in a text campaign, we want them to be able to do that promptly without looking over their shoulder.” 

The safe harbour will include conditions to protect legitimate customers and businesses. It will only apply where:

  • The provider has reasonable grounds to think the activity or website is a scam.
  • The action taken is reasonable and proportionate to the risk.
  • Any disruption to legitimate customers or businesses is corrected as soon as it is discovered.

The work supports the New Zealand Anti Scam Alliance, a cross-sector group bringing together government agencies, banks, telecommunications providers, digital platforms and consumer representatives to prevent, detect and disrupt scams.

To complement the safe harbour, the Alliance is also exploring a “trusted flagger” system. Under this model, regulators and law enforcement could provide reliable information about suspected scams to online providers, helping them distinguish scams from legitimate activity and act with greater confidence.

In the last year alone, Payments NZ has reported gross scam losses of around 265 million dollars through New Zealand bank accounts.

“Those numbers are too high,” Mr Simpson says. “We need a prevention first approach, where scams are blocked as early as possible.”

Today the New Zealand Banking Association has also announced a new fraud intelligence tool that will help stop scammers using “mule” accounts to move stolen money through the banking system.

The system will help banks:

  • Identify and share information about suspected mule accounts more quickly.
  • Freeze funds before they are moved on.
  • From 30 November, meet their commitment to warn customers if they are about to send money to a high risk account.

“This technology will help banks move faster when money is at risk, and it fits well with the Government’s push to give providers more confidence to intervene early,” Mr Simpson says.

“Scams are constantly evolving, and no single organisation can tackle them on their own,” Mr Simpson says. “These changes are about backing the providers who see scams first, and giving them the tools and confidence to shut them down faster.”

Further information on the work done by the Anti Scam Alliance will be shared in the coming months.

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Restoration critical for mauri of Moawhitu

Source: NZ Department of Conservation

Date:  17 November 2025

The Pou Taiao of Ngāti Koata, Neil Deans, says Lake Moawhitu was once an important kainga and mahinga kai site and used as a tuna (eel) fishery by generations of tangata whenua.

But after a century of farming in the Lake Moawhitu catchment, it now suffers from high nutrient levels, poor water quality and algal blooms.

“Restoring Lake Moawhitu and its surrounding catchment and downstream wetland is critical for Ngāti Koata,” Neil says.

DOC Senior Science Advisor Katie Collins says historic use of fertiliser, as well as erosion following deforestation, has resulted in a legacy of high phosphorus levels in lake sediments, which fuels growth of algae.

“Lake Moawhitu is ‘super-trophic’, meaning high levels of nutrients and low water clarity. Algal blooms can occur over summer, limiting native aquatic plant and animal growth, so the lake is in a perpetual state of poor health.”

An operation to lower phosphorus levels and restore the lake took place at the end September, involving application by helicopter of alum (aluminium sulphate) over deeper parts of the lake.

Areas of Lake Moawhitu were treated with alum, which binds with phosphorus and deactivates it before settling to the lakebed, creating an inactive layer that won’t fuel algal growth.

Project Manager of the Moawhitu restoration work, Dan Moore, says better water quality will help native aquatic plants grow, improving long term lake health and opportunities for wildlife and fish to thrive in the lake.

“The project team worked with researchers from the Cawthron Institute, NIWA and the University of Waikato to consider phosphorus management options and saw evidence that ‘alum’ operations work well to bind phosphorus and control algal blooms.

“Ongoing monitoring will determine the alum application’s success this summer, when algal blooms often occur. We hope to see a major improvement in water clarity.”

As well as alum dosing, Ngāti Koata, with DOC, Marlborough District Council, private funders and many supporters, have planted nearly 150,000 trees in the lake’s catchment over more than a decade.

Katie says communities need to work together to make a difference to help lakes with poor water quality like Moawhitu.

“Think about how you can help to our waterways when you’re out naturing – that can be anything from joining your local stream care group to checking, cleaning and drying your gear before you head to the water.”

For Ngāti Koata, the ultimate objective is getting healthy catches of tuna from the lake and renewing the relationship of rangatahi (young people) as future lake custodians.

Background information

Alum (aluminium sulphate) is a type of salt derived from metals. It’s used for lake treatments internationally and around the Rotorua lakes in New Zealand. For this operation, we ensured it was applied in a way to minimise any impact on fish.

Lake Moawhitu, the adjacent wetland and surrounding catchment were purchased in 2005 and added to the adjacent reserve and recognised in the Ngāti Koata Deed of Settlement. Since then, restoration work has including destocking, replanting and raising water levels in the adjacent wetland.

Lake Moawhitu is part of DOC’s Arawai Kākāriki wetland restoration programme. Work to improve the lake involves DOC, Ngāti Koata and Marlborough District Council with funding from multiple sources.

Visit He reo nō te puehu – Discover Lake Moawhitu, hosted by Our Lakes Our Future, for the lake’s history and a vision for the future.

Contact

For media enquiries contact:

Email: media@doc.govt.nz

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Death of three children and father after Sanson fire being treated as murder-suicide

Source: Radio New Zealand

August, Hugo, and Goldie died in a house fire in Sanson on Saturday. GIVEALITTLE / SUPPLIED

Warning: This story discusses suicide.

The deaths of the three children and their father after a fire are being investigated as a murder suicide, RNZ understands.

The three children killed in a Sanson house fire on Saturday, have been identified on a page set up by the loved ones of their mother as August, Hugo and Goldie, aged 7, 5 and 1.

The Givealittle page has since raised more than $158,000 for their mother as she dealt with the “unimaginable loss”.

“They were the light and love of her life, and her entire world has been shattered,” the Givealittle page said.

“In the midst of this unimaginable grief, she also lost her home and everything she owned. She is facing the hardest journey possible, stripped of her physical security, while navigating the deepest emotional pain.”

The creator of the Givealittle page posted a thank you to “what felt like the whole of Aotearoa” on Monday for the donations raised.

“No amount of money will ever be enough to heal the wounds left in her heart and soul, but to have this safety net to rebuild her life, knowing what feels like the whole of Aotearoa is with her, and how you have all contributed to this outpouring of love in so many ways is more than we could’ve ever hoped for.”

The search for the body of one of the children is still ongoing, police said.

The bodies of two children were recovered on Sunday night and were blessed by the family with karakia.

The body of the adult was removed earlier. Manawatu Area Commander Inspector Ross Grantham confirmed to Morning Report it was the children’s father, which RNZ understood was Dean Field.

Outside the scene of a fatal house fire in Sanson, November 2025. RNZ/Mark Papalii

Police had put up emergency tape roping off the entrance to the property. Down the driveway was a police car, and a police branded truck was visible. A couple of flowers look to have been placed near the front of the driveway.

Police said their focus now would be on finding the third child’s body.

“It’s unimaginable, the tragedy for the families going through this,” Grantham told Morning Report. “We are working very carefully through the scene to establish how it started, and that’s still going to take us some time.”

He said it was too early to tell yet if the fire was deliberately started.

“It’s pretty risky with the part of the structure still there and the the dust that’s generated from the fire, so it will take us some time just to go through and establish what’s happened.”

Grantham said police were not seeking information from the public at this stage, but if anyone knew anything, they could “reach out”.

He said it was “unusual” for a house fire to begin in the afternoon.

Outside the scene of a fatal house fire in Sanson, November 2025. RNZ/Mark Papalii

Neighbour describes seeing the fire as it happened

A neighbour told RNZ he was working at his home on Saturday, when someone noticed smoke from the nearby property.

“We all came out to have a look and we saw a horrific amount of smoke coming from about 300 metres away, where the neighbour’s house is – pretty thick black billowing smoke.

“It was a very, very windy day and we knew it wasn’t any kind of controlled fire. We knew it was some sort of what we considered to be a house fire at that stage.”

He said, over an hour, many firefighters turned up, attempting to put the blaze out.

An hour after it started, the blaze and billowing smoke was still visible. He believed it took two hours for firefighters to put the fire out.

“They were still dousing it down and there was just very slight wisps of smoke coming from the property two hours after it started.”

He said State Highway One near the property did not open until 8pm Saturday.

The neighbour said that, during the fire, he was “pretty shocked” at what was happening before his eyes.

“Nothing we could do about it and just a feeling of kind of despair, I guess just watching what was going on.

“Knowing that a young family was potentially losing everything they owned and knowing that is going to be a very, very hard place to come back from.

“Just the thought of not knowing whether everybody was alright or not, and subsequent to that we found out, that isn’t the case, which has made things 10 times worse.”

Manawatū District Councillor Alison Short said the fire was a “huge tragedy” for the community and said the family would need all of the community’s love and support.

“It will be an unimaginable loss, especially for the children’s mother. My heart goes out to them all. It will also be a huge shock for the Sanson community as they come to terms with the loss of so many, especially children.”

“I know they will rally their support and care for those involved and each other.”

Short said she had reached out to see if there was anything she could do to help over the following days and weeks supporting the family or community.

Police are not looking for anyone else in relation to the fire.

Where to get help:

  • Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason
  • Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357
  • Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends
  • Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202
  • Samaritans: 0800 726 666
  • Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
  • What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds
  • Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, and English.
  • Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254
  • Healthline: 0800 611 116
  • Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
  • OUTLine: 0800 688 5463
  • Aoake te Rā bereaved by suicide service: or call 0800 000 053

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

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Man suffers fractured eye socket, broken nose after offering help to woman

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police are trying to locate the man and woman involved in the alleged assault. RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

A man has suffered a fractured eye socket and broken nose after being assaulted in Southland at the weekend.

Police said the man was lured from his Edendale home late on Saturday.

“At around 10.55pm on Saturday a woman knocked on the victim’s door, saying she had a flat tyre and needed help,” police said in a statement.

“The victim – a man in his 50s – walked with the woman to the corner of Melvin Street and Turner Street, where he was accosted by a man and assaulted. During the assault, the offender also attempted to restrain the victim by tying his hands behind his back.”

Police were appealing for information from the public to identify the man and woman involved.

“Following the assault, the victim saw an SUV leaving the area at speed, and we believe it is likely the man and woman were in this SUV,” police said.

“To help us locate this vehicle, we would like to hear from any residents who have street-facing security cameras on Turner Street, Melvin Street, Seawood Road or Ferry Road, and who may have captured footage of the vehicle on Saturday night.

“We would also like to speak to anyone who saw an SUV in the Edendale township between 10pm and midnight, or anyone with other information which could assist our enquiries.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 105, quoting file number 251116/4977. Information could also be provided anonymously via CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Sudden death at Takapuna Beach

Source: New Zealand Police

Police can advise a person has died at Takapuna Beach this afternoon.

At midday, Police were advised a person was seen unresponsive in the water and had been pulled onto the beach.

Police staff on scene provided immediate medical assistance to the man.

Despite best efforts by Police and other emergency services in attendance, sadly we can confirm the man has since died.

His death will be referred to the Coroner.

ENDS.

Jarred Williamson/NZ Police