Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Radio New Zealand

Warning: This story discusses suicide.

The funeral for “three beautiful angels taken too soon” in a house fire in the Manawatū town of Sanson is being held this morning.

August, 7, Hugo, 5, and Goldie Field, 1, died on 15 November in what’s being treated as a murder-suicide.

Their father, 36-year-old Dean Field, also died in the fire at the family home. He is suspected of murdering the three children before dying by suicide.

The children’s funeral is being held at Crossroads Church in Palmerston North on Tuesday.

“Please wear bright colours,” a funeral notice said.

The notice described the children as “three beautiful angels taken too soon”, and said they’d be sadly missed by their families and everyone who knew them.

It also said they’d be united in Heaven with their big sister Iris, who was stillborn.

In a statement released late last week, the children’s mother Chelsey Field said Iris’ ashes were lost in the blaze. The family’s dog Marlo also died.

“This incident has left me heartbroken and devastated. My children did not deserve this,” Chelsey Field said.

She acknowledged emergency service workers and thanked the public for their support – a Givealittle page set up to support her had raised almost $400,000.

The statement also painted a vivid picture about August, Hugo and Goldie.

August would have turned eight on Thursday and was going to celebrate the milestone with his friends.

He was described as joined at the hip with his brother Hugo, who had made a flying start to school this year.

The boys also loved their younger sister, Goldie, who Chelsey Field said was “my special little girl I had waited so long for”.

“Her first words were ‘hi’ and ‘dog’. She even said ‘Marlo’ the dog’s name before she said ‘Mum’.”

Police finished their scene examination last week and handed the property back to the family.

They said it could take some time before they get answers about what happened.

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, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.
• Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254.
• Healthline: 0800 611 116.
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155.
• OUTLine: 0800 688 5463.

Family Violence

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

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Authors of a new report into university marking predict ‘A’s will soon be the most common grade awarded.

Think-tank, The New Zealand Initiative, analysed grade data from the country’s eight universities between 2006 and 2024.

Senior research fellow, Dr James Kierstead said the results showed that while A grades had risen, B and C grades had shrunk and that the most common grade – B – could soon be eclipsed.

“It’s about to be an A. The As [are] catching up with the Bs, basically. The Bs are going down and the As are going up as a proportion of all grades awarded.

“If current trends continue, I wouldn’t be surprised if actually this year A was the most common grade at New Zealand Universities.”

According to the report, ‘Fifty Shades of Grades: Grade Compression’, As had risen from 22 percent of all grades in 2006, to 36 percent in 2024 – an increase of 64 percent.

It said the expansion of As had crowded out other grades, resulting in a decline in the variety of grades awarded.

Kierstead said the study built on one published in August that focused just on A grades and pass rates.

He said factors that could contribute to higher marks had been ruled out, including more women (who tended to achieve higher grades), the ratio of staff to students, and smarter highschoolers.

He said it was also unlikely that better teachers were responsible for the current trend.

“The teaching would have to get a lot better because students are performing worse by international benchmarks at secondary school.

“So the teaching would have to be so good that not only is it making up for that … It’s taking worse students and taking them to a level that’s better than before.”

Kierstead said while it was unlikely to be intentional, academics had strong incentives to grade higher and believed the trend was in response to two main pressures that should be mitigated – class size and funding, and student feedback on teachers.

“If they don’t give out good grades there’s a risk that their student numbers will fall, and the main component of funding at New Zealand universities is the number of students you have in your class.”

He said student feedback forms had also become an important factor in assessing promotions, and during job cuts.

Kierstead said no one benefitted from a system where grades weren’t a reliable indicator of performance – it didn’t motivate students to work hard, and “shortchanged” those who did.

He said he’d also spoken to employers who had stopped relying on the university transcript to assess candidates, and were now conducting their own tests.

“They get all these job applications with students with stellar grades and then they start interviewing people, and some are good and a lot of them aren’t very impressive at all.”

Kierstead said if nothing was done to curb ‘grade inflation,’ New Zealand would find itself in the same position as universities in the United States, where A grades became dominant in the 90s and there was a perception that grades were given out “too cheaply”.

He said the rise in A grades in the US undermined public trust in higher education.

“What we’re trying to say with this research is: Beware, pay attention, wake-up New Zealand universities … this is about to be you.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Heart Kids is warning it has no part in an event claiming to be fundraising for the charity.

In a social media post, it said a charity motorcycle ride, scheduled for Saturday 28 March 2026 in Morrinsville, was being advertised as fundraising for Heart Kids NZ, but it was not involved in organising or promoting this event.

“As we have no oversight of the fundraising, we cannot guarantee that any funds raised will be received by Heart Kids NZ,” it said in the post.

The charity said that earlier this year, the organiser ran a similar event promoted as supporting Heart Kids NZ, but despite “extensive and continued follow-up”, it had not received any money raised.

“We were deeply concerned when this event was brought to our attention [on Monday] – especially hearing that supporters from our heart community are purchasing raffle and event tickets at a significant cost, expecting Heart Kids NZ to receive the funds.”

Heart Kids said it was an incredibly disappointing situation.

“Like many charities, Heart Kids NZ is working hard in a very tough funding environment, and we know how tight things are for families and communities right now.

“People give in good faith believing their support is going directly to charity, and we want to make sure that trust is respected.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The world’s largest expedition race is returning to the South Island after a two-year hiatus, and some of the youngest competitors are a group of past and present students from Motueka High School.

Godzone Chapter 12 will see teams of four hike, bike and paddle through remote parts of Marlborough for up to nine days, covering up to 700 kilometres, in a test of navigation and survival.

As is the custom, competitors will not know anything about the course, until the night before it starts.

Motueka teenager Louie Burger has been adventure racing since he was at intermediate school. The 17-year-old was the youngest competitor in the MAGNIficent adventure race at the start of the year and when he heard Godzone was making a comeback, he wanted to get in on the challenge.

“People often describe adventure racing as type 2 fun, so a lot of the time it is kind of a bit s**t while you are doing it and then afterwards you look back on it and you think it was awesome, in recovery you have a bit of reflection and think, actually that was pretty epic.”

Burger convinced former school mate Tide Fa’avae, 19, they should enter a team in the and have joined Leo Easton, 18, and Nika Rayward, 19, as the AWS Legal Motueka team.

The four were part of the team that won the five-day Hillary Challenge, a high school endurance race, in 2024.

“I think the goal is just to have a great time, we are super great mates so we hope there isn’t going to be any clashes out there with each other,” Burger said.

Tide Fa’avae grew up around adventure racing with her parents Nathan and Jodie heavily involved in the sport. Nathan is a seven-time Godzone champion and the couple founded the women’s adventure race Spring Challenge.

The youngest of three, Tide represented New Zealand at the Junior World Orienteering Championships earlier this year. She is the first of her siblings to tackle Godzone.

When she asked her dad if he thought she could do it, he told her it was a big commitment, she would have to train hard and she should take time to think about it.

“He was definitely supportive, but he wasn’t pushing me to do it or not do it, it was my decision.”

Nathan Fa’avae said there was nothing quite like Godzone, a non-stop endurance event of epic proportions and he didn’t actively encourage young people to do it, but said he was happy to support those who were up for the challenge.

He retired from expedition length adventure racing in 2023, after winning Godzone Chapter 11 in Southland with Team Avaya, and has been mentoring the Motueka team for the 2025 event – as they juggle study, work, life and training.

“If you don’t go into these races with a reasonable amount of training then they are not enjoyable and it is probably a bit unfair on your team and I think it is actually quite hard on your body so I said, if this is something you want to do, you have to be real about it and be willing to put in the training because if you are not, I’d encourage you not to do it.”

He helped the team develop a training plan, which they all said was achievable and he said he’d simply provided guidance from there.

“While it’s their first Godzone, they’re no strangers to doing big pack adventures in the mountains, in the Southern Alps, so in many ways, some of their skills are going to lead perfectly into it and I think they’re just going to have a lot of fun. They’re a good bunch of kids. They enjoy being together and they do collectively have an amazing amount of experience in the outdoors given their ages.”

This year’s Godzone will be his first as a keen spectator.

“They’re hugely challenging, but they’re also really rewarding and it’s just something really special that you can do with a group of people that will reflect back on for years to come or even the rest of your life.”

One of the biggest challenges, a concern shared by each team member, will be dealing with the lack of sleep.

Year 13 student Leo Easton said sleep deprivation was the biggest unknown for him.

“I’m excited, it’s another limit to push, I guess but I haven’t done any expedition length adventure races so I’m a bit more unsure about how my body will cope.

“You have to back yourself to make the right decision even though you’re not really functioning properly and I just think that’s really hard, you just need to really have the skills to trust yourself.”

Nika Rayward has been fitting training in around studying outdoor education at Tai Poutini Polytech on the West Coast since finishing school last year.

She said Godzone was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done.

“I’m most worried about sleep and just getting really tired, I just don’t really know exactly what I will be like in that situation because I’ve never been in it before and then night nav, navigating when it’s dark when you are really tired.”

Despite the challenge that lay ahead, she was looking forward to an adventure with her mates.

“We all know we’re going to go out there and we’re going to do as much as we can, we’re going to go as hard as we can and try our hardest to finish the full course.”

Godzone Chapter 12 kicks off in Marlborough on Friday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The family of Te Anihana Pomana has criticised police for announcing they found a body before formal identification.

Te Anihana Pomana, also known as Ani Anderson, went missing August 21, after leaving Sky City hotel in the early hours of the morning.

On Monday police announced a body they believed to be Pomana was found on Saturday in dense bush in the Pukekohe area.

In a post on social media, whānau criticised the release going out.

“The media releases were done without official confirmation with formal identification, whānau hadn’t got the chance to inform many close to Te Anihana. Apologies to anyone that has had to read and find this information out in this manner,” the post said.

What did the release say?

In a media release on Monday, police said they were making enquiries after a body was found in the search for Te Anihana Pomana on Saturday.

“At around 7.43pm police were notified a body was located in dense bush in the Pukekohe area,” the release said.

“Formal identification is yet to take place; however it is believed to be the body of Te Anihana.”

Police said an investigation into the circumstances of the death were underway and a post mortem was expected to be carried out in due course.

“Her family have been notified of this development and are being provided support.”

Police have been approached for further comment.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

An enchanted Santa experience became more of a nightmare for one Auckland mum, after she discovered the Terms and Conditions would allow the business to use any photos taken of her children for its advertising or social media.

Enchanted Christmas in Auckland’s Newmarket boasts 180 decorated Christmas trees, hundreds of thousands of lights and decorations, along with photo opportunities with Santa Claus and the Grinch.

The owners of Enchanted Christmas have told Checkpoint they are now removing the term from their website and if they include any families in their posts or advertising, they will ask them to opt in.

But scientist and mum Michelle Dickinson was put off after reading the terms and conditions, that she believed ignored children’s digital privacy and the risks of artificial intelligence.

Dickinson told Checkpoint like any other parent, she was hunting for a Christmas experience her family could enjoy.

“Enchanted Christmas has done an amazing job of using influencers and trying to get people to buy tickets and it looked amazing, so right before I bought my tickets I just checked the Terms and Conditions.

“I read it says very specifically Enchanted Christmas reserves the right to use photos taken by our team and our photographer for advertising purposes and on our social media platforms.”

She said after reading the clause, she was put off the experience.

“There’s no opt out there, there’s no discussion of where my child’s pictures would be stored, how long for, where they might be shared, what might protect them.”

Dickinson said most of her concerns were not with Enchanted Christmas’ use of the photos, but instead how they could be used once they were online.

“My concerns are very evidence based, I work in artificial intelligence every day and we have published papers now that have shown that images of especially children in horrible places on the internet are being combined with artificial intelligence for not great uses.

“We know that they’re being added to AI Digital humans and avatars, so you don’t have the rights to your face or your child’s face anymore. And we know we’re highly at risk in New Zealand because we don’t have an opt out policy of children’s faces on social media being used for AI training.”

Currently New Zealand has no binding laws when it comes to Artificial Intelligence.

Dickinson said this was something she wanted to see change.

“I would love to see better policies here that really protect us – I think New Zealand is one of the most vulnerable countries in the OECD when it comes to our children’s faces and AI training.”

She said she just like putting a seatbelt on her kids, she wanted to keep them safe online too.

“I feel like they should choose whether or not they want a digital footprint, so I’m waiting for them to be old enough to choose that. My children do not have a digital footprint, their faces are not online.

“Remember that your children are cute now, but they’re going to grow up to be adults and everything that is online can never be removed and AI can never unlearn.”

Enchanted Christmas told Checkpoint, in addition to removing the term from their website, they have not used any images without permission, and respect the privacy of people and especially children.

The creators of Enchanted Christmas said clause was included in their terms and conditions because they could not be sure that visitors would not post photos and video featuring other attendees.

Those posts could be liked, shared and potentially be used in collaboration with “Enchanted Christmas” on social media platforms, which may be seen as advertising.

They said they also wanted to be able to use photos from the opening night in advertising, and other images taken onsite could be used in workshops.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The trial of a man accused of murdering a promising 17-year-old Taranaki rugby league player has heard the men were would-be sheep rustlers who fell out ahead of the fatal attack.

Rakai Jacob Thompson, 26, appeared in the High Court at New Plymouth charged with the murder of Te Omeka Pairama Akariri-Buckley on 30 July last year in Waitara.

Before proceedings got underway, an associate of the Akariri-Buckley family performed a karakia in front of a public gallery filled with supporters of both men.

Thompson – who entered court on crutches, wearing sweat pants and a black T-shirt – sat with this head bowed through most of the proceedings.

Crown prosecutor Jacob Bourke told the jury on the night of 30 July the men had been involved in an almost comical sheep rustling mission with Te Omeka’s older brother Don and another man.

Don was like a brother to Thompson, said Bourke.

After failing to rustle sheep at two locations and arguing about the use of a light bar on the ute they were using, the men returned to Akariri-Buckley’s home in Bell Block where Thompson became increasingly agitated.

After further arguments about mislaid car keys, Thompson returned home to Strange St in Waitara.

Bourke said Thompson was still upset when he removed a motorbike – owned by the Akariri-Buckleys – from his garage, and parked it on the driveway.

He then messaged the brothers telling them to come and pick up the bike because he did not want anything more to do with them.

Bourke said when the brothers arrived, Te Omeka went to get a helmet from the garage, so he could ride the bike home.

Thompson – armed with a boning knife – told Te Omeka not to enter the garage.

The men argued and Te Omeka Akariri-Buckley “got in Thompson’s face” before they got into a scuffle.

During the scuffle the teenager was stabbed twice. Once in the left side of his chest – which penetrated his heart – and another blow in his side which pierced his left kidney.

Te Omeka ran a short distance, before collapsing alongside the ute.

Thompson and Don Akariri-Buckley laid Te Omeka out together and tried to staunch the bleeding while another person called 111.

Emergency services were called to the property on Strange St about 12.45am.

Bourke said Thompson told police who arrived at the scene he had stabbed Te Omeka Akariri-Buckley, but it was in self defence.

The teenager was taken to hospital in a critical condition, but died from his injuries.

Bourke said, in a later interview with a detective, Thompson said he did not mean to stab Te Omeka, and had done so accidentally when he pushed him away after being rushed by the brothers, only later to say he had stabbed him intentionally.

Thompson said he only had the knife because he had been preparing food.

Defence counsel Nathan Bourke told the jury Te Omeka Akariri-Buckley’s death was a tragedy, but not a murder because Thompson did not want him to die.

He said Te Omeka was like a little brother to Thompson and, as a young father who had lost his own brother in an accident, there was no way he meant to kill the teenager.

This was not a whodunnit, Bourke told the jury, as the facts were not in dispute and Thompson did not deny stabbing Te Omeka.

Bourke said Thompson got sick of the arguing, being picked on and wanted to make a clean break with the Akariri-Buckley brothers and his way of doing that was returning the motorbike.

Thompson was the Akariri-Buckley’s “punching bag”, “whipping boy” their “little bitch”, he said, and Thompson had the knife because he feared what the brothers might do to him when they arrived to get the motorbike.

Bourke said what happened was that Thompson was assaulted after he yelled at Te Omeka not to go into the shed.

“He was being punched repeatedly in the head, he was knocked to the ground, and in the brief few seconds that followed, he reacted and he stabbed Te Omeka.

“We don’t shy away from this. We embrace it. It shows this for what it is. Mere seconds, Rakai acted on instinct and in fear … it wasn’t premeditated, it wasn’t calculated. He acted on instinct.”

Bourke said what Thompson did immediately afterwards was telling. He tried to help Te Omeka, stem the blood flow and offered to drive him to hospital.

His actions did not equate to murderous intent, the defence counsellor said.

The trial before Justice Jason McHerron and a jury of eight women and four men has been set down for two weeks.

The prosecution intends to call 19 witnesses.

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