Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Radio New Zealand

Young trappers helping preserve biodiversity, a charity diverting hundreds of tonnes of waste from landfill and farmers leading the way with freshwater mahi and protecting ecosystems are among the winners of the 2025 Taranaki Regional Council Environmental Awards.

Eight winners and six highly commended recipients have been recognised for their inspirational efforts across the region.

Council chair Craig Williamson said they were leading by example in improving freshwater and indigenous biodiversity, cutting carbon emissions and inspiring a new generation of young environmental leaders.

“The scope of their work is remarkable and every recipient deserves our recognition and thanks. The 14 award winners are walking the walk when it comes to protecting our environment and it’s very pleasing to see they range in age from 12 to 75, showing how every generation is doing their bit.”

The winners in the seven categories were:

Environmental action in the community

Tupu ā Nuku – for its mahi building conservation pathways for rangatahi in Taranaki.

The work is restoring landscapes and strengthening iwi-led environmental work.

Delivered by Ngāti Maru, Tupu ā Nuku creates pathways into conservation work, seeding a future workforce committed to protecting the environment.

The mahi includes native tree planting, goat control, predator monitoring, eco-sourcing and seed collection and the release of kiwi.

The judges said Tupu ā Nuku exemplified excellence in hands-on, culturally grounded conservation education and the programme would have inter-generational impacts.

Employment advisor (pastoral care) Tumu Taituarā, Jayden Waiwiri, said: “It’s a huge honour to receive the award from Taranaki Regional Council which acknowledges some of the hard mahi that we do.”

Environmental leadership in farming

Nick and Sophie Brown – for integrating environmental best practice into their farm business.

They have a TRC Comprehensive Farm Plan and understand the importance of protecting soil and water quality. They have created a pole nursery, fenced and planted a wetland and left many steep areas to revert to native scrub.

The judges hailed the Browns’ exemplary commitment to environmental stewardship over a long period of time.

“We were honoured that the council picked us. We’ve been very fortunate to work with a number of great land management officers over the last 10 years we’ve lived here. I’ve really, really enjoyed working with the council to implement some really neat stuff on the farm which has made a difference,” says Nick.

Youth environmental leader (joint winners)

Vinnie Jackson – for his work leading Inglewood Primary School’s trapping team – the ‘Assassin’s Squad’ – and his efforts to trap possums on his family’s farm.

With support from the kura, the Year 7 pupil started a student team to set traps around the school’s bush learning area. He has also been a junior ambassador at the Rotokare Scenic Reserve where he learnt a lot about the bush and how important it is to eradicate pests for our native birds.

The judges were impressed with Vinnie’s dedication to improving native habitats.

“It’s great to see him grow and do a lot for conservation and the farm. We are really proud of him,” said mum Michelle Jackson.

Jahn Voschezang – for his outstanding mahi at two schools trapping predators across more than 21 hectares of bush to protect indigenous biodiversity.

He was helping to bring back native birds, lizards and flora and had plans to extend his trapping efforts.

Mum Michelle Voschezang said: “We’re very proud that he won this award. It kind of solidifies all the work that he’s done and celebrates all his work.”

Environmental leadership in climate action

WISE Charitable Trust – for its mahi at The Junction Zero Waste Hub diverting hundreds of tonnes of waste from landfill.

The charity’s Reuse Shop has been visited by more than 140,000 people in just four years.

WISE also worked with the Waitara community and government providers to recruit people and provide long-term meaningful employment.

“This means so much to us and we’re super stoked,” said general manager Paul Scouller.

Environmental action in biodiversity

The Newton family – for their work protecting more than 160 hectares of indigenous ecosystems in Urenui.

Stephen, Helen and Ed have worked closely with the council on setting up four Key Native Ecosystems on their farm. Their work includes excluding stock, restoration planting, pest control and invasive weed control.

The judges praised the Newtons for their unwavering commitment to environmental preservation over a long period of time and the wide scope of their work, which is improving native habitats on the property.

“For me, it’s a big sense of pride. I’m grateful for the recognition for the family and my brother Stephen’s efforts,” said Ed.

Environmental action in water quality improvement

Awatuna Catchment Group – as the first Taranaki Catchment Communities group to start freshwater mahi, they provided the blueprint for all the other groups in the region-wide initiative.

The judges were impressed by the breadth of the group’s work to understand water quality and efforts to unite its community toward the cause of enhancing water quality.

They’ve also undertaken fish passage assessment training with NIWA, recognising the importance of native fauna to maintaining ecosystems and freshwater quality.

Group co-ordinator Nicola Bryant said: “Winning the award means a lot to us as a group. It celebrates the work that we’ve done and it’s really great to see that our work hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

Environmental action in education

Te Ara Taiao – This collaboration between hapū, the Department of Conservation and Sustainable Taranaki works with 14 schools around the region.

The judges were impressed with the exemplary work with tamariki and rangatahi which demonstrated how meaningful partnerships between hapū, schools and conservation organisations could nurture the next generation of environmental kaitiaki.

The group’s work included kiwi releases, plantings on dunes, beach clean-ups and students had built seven shadehouses at schools, using them to grow native plants from eco-sourced seeds.

“We are humbled by this. This award reflects on all of those people that have contributed to our young people and the aspiration that we can improve the Taiao,” said Kairuruku (education co-ordinator) Jane Bowden-Dobson.

Highly commended recipients

Environmental action in education

Stratford Community Childcare Centre – for its mahi helping tamariki learn about and care for the environment.

Peter McNamara – for his environmental mahi in Stratford. Peter’s work with schools, community groups and others is changing attitudes to waste and sustainability.

Youth environmental leader

Western Institute of Technology student Joshua Judson – for his conservation work across Taranaki.

Nathan Hills – for his conservation and environmental work across Taranaki.

Environmental action in biodiversity

Murray Dixon – for his mahi trapping predators in Ahititi near Tongapōrutu.

Environmental leadership in farming

Faull Farms – for the family’s sustainable land management work and environmental responsibility.

Taranaki Regional Council Environmental Awards have been running since 1993 and a total of 394 groups, individuals, charities, farmers, large, small and medium businesses, schools and kindergartens, and iwi and hapū had been recognised.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

From memoirs to biographies, autobiographies – both authorised and unauthorised – to the mid-career manifesto, the documented lives of politicians come in many forms.

This year has seen two well-received memoirs from high profile politicians – Dame Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson.

They’re among the legions of former MPs and prime ministers who’ve penned their thoughts (or had others pen for them) either mid-career or after stepping back from public life.

While history is said to be written by the victors, sometimes it’s told by the losers – and often those are much more interesting.

The Detail talks to a political history professor and a seasoned political journalist who both have voracious reading habits, when it comes to the political tome.

They talk about their favourite books, what makes a good yarn and which politicians they’d like to see a book written about.

Victoria University’s Jim McAloon has read his fair share of such works, but says there are two standout leaders who haven’t had books written about them – Sir Sid Holland, National Party Prime Minister 1949-57, and William Ferguson Massey, Reform Party Prime Minister 1912-25.

“Neither of them have had substantial biographies at all and that’s a great gap,” he says.

“Holland was instrumental in making the National Party a modern, liberal conservative party, contributed greatly to their long-term success, a very wily character, pragmatic, not regarded as an intellectual, but very, very shrewd.

“Then Massey, of course, ended that long period of liberal hegemony, really helped created the first mainstream conservative party in New Zealand, led the country through the First World War into the 1920s, very hard politician, very tough, uncompromising, firmly committed to the British Empire, a villain to the organised labour movement – but perhaps not as bad as he’s always painted to be.”

Did they have colourful personal lives that would keep a reader gripped? Not really, but the political purist would still be interested in their political lives.

McAloon says he would also look forward to reading a book on Pita Sharples and says Sir John Key deserves a more searching analysis than the book that’s already landed.

“The other person who I think in that government is really interesting is Bill English,” he says.

“Quiet, self-effacing, but very much an achiever and I think with a very coherent intellectual vision as well.

“In many respects, he’s a classic example of that farmer-politician, like Keith Holyoake, like Massey himself, like Jim Bolger, and I think it gives them a certain relatability, if you like.

“Even if you might disagree with them, it’s hard to dislike them.”

McAloon also talks about the best time to write a memoir. Listen to the podcast to find out which textbook of biographies had the cast-iron rule that “you had to be dead”.

Newsroom co-owner Tim Murphy says former Labour leader David Shearer is top of his wishlist for politicians who haven’t already been written about.

“International aid worker and leader of big humanitarian gains for civilisation, really, in the last couple of decades… not so much his initial family upbringing, but his formation and what led him that way. He was sort of an anti-politician.”

When it comes to political works, Murphy says he wants to know “stuff that only they know”.

“I want them to take us in behind the closed doors. Nothing more unsatisfying in a political biography or memoir – and Jacinda Ardern’s was a bit like this – where… at crucial parts they say ‘caucus has always had a rule that what goes on in caucus stays in caucus and I’m not about to break it now’.

“To me, you might as well turn the page, close the chapter and move on.

“Grant Robertson’s book is really good for that – he actually tells you some things, including observations from around the Cabinet table, sitting next to Winston Peters and what Peters was kind of looking at on his laptop, and the kind of moments and motivations that Peters would spring out of his stupor, and have a go about something New Zealand First-like.

“[He] described it in a way you could relate to. I want to be taken where none of us get to see.”

Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.

You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Transport operators are warning of a looming driver shortage in the lead-up to Christmas after the NZ Transport Agency revoked hundreds of commercial licenses earlier this month.

NZTA revoked 440 commercial driving licenses after discovering false or altered documentation that converted overseas licences to New Zealand equivalents.

Employers of the drivers have warned that the crackdown could leave a lot of trucks sitting in warehouses instead of transporting goods at the busiest time of year.

Navjot Sidhu, a transport operator who is advocating for affected drivers, said many of the drivers were of Indian origin and had been working in the United Arab Emirates before moving to New Zealand after borders reopened in 2022.

“The Indian community has been disproportionately and severely affected, as many drivers of Indian origin form the backbone of New Zealand’s transport, logistics and courier workforce,” Sidhu said.

“Long-serving, law-abiding drivers have suddenly found their livelihoods at risk.”

Sidhu said the drivers’ families had been unfairly caught up in the crackdown.

“It’s not only 440 individuals,” he said. “These are 440 families, including thousands of people with small children involved. Very soon, everyone will be on the streets.

“In addition – something the authorities probably haven’t realised yet – this means 440 less trucks taking essential supplies all around the country.

“This impending commercial drivers’ crisis would mean a lot of trucks would be sitting in garages, instead of running on roads, leading to potential supply shortages closer to Christmas season.”

Ranjit Singh is a transport operator based in Tauranga.

Singh employs four truck drivers, two of whom migrated from the UAE and faced losing their licenses.

“One already got the letter, and another may get it anytime,” Ranjit said.

“The impact of this decision by NZTA will be huge for the transport industry, for the drivers’ families and for the wider economy.

“These drivers can’t be replaced overnight. Firstly, getting commercial drivers is not easy in New Zealand. I advertised on TradeMe for one year but couldn’t find a single driver locally. That’s why we recruited from overseas.

“Secondly, training a new driver takes at least three months. This crisis suddenly came upon us out of nowhere and that, too, at the busiest time of the year. I don’t think anyone has thought through the huge impact it will cause to the wider economy.”

ACT Party MP Parmjeet Parmar met representatives of the affected drivers last weekend.

Parmar also voiced concern about the crackdown’s impact on the wider economy.

“Hundreds of experienced [heavy vehicle] Class 5 drivers being stood down just weeks before Christmas will place enormous strain on freight and supply chains,” Parmar said.

“Businesses are depending on this period to recover financially, and they cannot operate without qualified drivers.”

The Indian-origin lawmaker also weighed in on what she understood might have led to the revocation of the commercial licenses in the first place.

“After meeting with representatives of the affected drivers, it’s clear many of them acted under pressure and believed they were following the correct process,” Parmar said.

“While any misuse of documents is unacceptable, these drivers have all passed New Zealand’s own theory and practical tests, and they have demonstrated their competence on our roads,” she said.

“I have written to the minister of Transport to advocate for a solution that upholds the integrity of the licensing system while ensuring that well-qualified and competent drivers are able to keep doing their jobs.

“My hope is that we can protect the system without causing unnecessary disruption to workers, employers and the freight sector at this critical time.”

System weaknesses

Sidhu said an audit by NZTA in July uncovered 440 commercial licenses that had been acquired through conversion appeared to be based on documents the agency now deemed invalid or non-verifiable.

Most affected licences were in heavy vehicle commercial categories, he said.

Sidhu said the document in question was a Dubai-issued supporting letter, commonly provided by companies in which drivers had worked, that had been accepted by NZTA for almost two decades as part of the licence-conversion process.

“I want to stress this is not a new document that was demanded after 2022,” Sidhu said.

“Drivers coming from the UAE have routinely submitted it over the years. As such, the new lot [of drivers] that came after reopening of the borders submitted the same [document], trusting NZTA’s past approval processes,” he said.

“The issue appears to stem from a recent shift in the interpretation or verification standard of these documents, not from intentional wrongdoing by applicants,” he said.

“For 20 years, no indication was given that the document might be unacceptable.”

Onkar, who goes by his first name and runs PB07 Transport Ltd employing eight drivers, four of which came from the UAE, said authorities in the Middle East nation did not issue the type of verification letter NZTA required to approve a licence conversion.

Under current regulations, NZTA requires supporting documents to state the tonnage of vehicle a driver is qualified to drive.

“For years, NZTA routinely accepted a widely used Dubai supporting letter issued by employers as part of the official conversion process,” he said.

“Many applicants submitted this document in good faith, relying on NZTA’s long-term acceptance and established practice.

“Now that NZTA is not accepting this supporting letter, a mismatch has happened between UAE’s system and New Zealand’s evolving standards.”

Sidhu said the drivers were not deliberately engaged in fraudulent activity.

Some drivers had also been scammed by a Dubai-based supporting letter provider, which he said had added to the confusion.

“The overseas provider openly advertised that they could supply the required supporting letter for a fee, suggesting this was the standard practice,” he said.

“Lured by the impression created that this was the official letter recognised by New Zealand authorities, many drivers paid him the money and got the letter. This letter is now deemed [to be] fraudulent by NZTA.”

Ranjit said many drivers had operated heavy vehicles exceeding 40 tonnes for many years in the UAE.

“We have submitted documents from their employers and their driving schools in the UAE verifying this experience,” Ranjit said.

“After they moved here, they cleared all the requisite theory and driving tests,” he said.

“Moreover, they have been driving on our roads for one or two years now without any issues.

“The only issue is the supporting letter and [the fact that it mentions] tonnage, which has provoked the mass revocation of 440 commercial driving licenses.”

Families caught up in the crackdown

Hundreds of drivers attended a rally with their families at South Auckland’s Takanini Gurdwara last weekend.

Amritpal Singh, who drove trucks in the UAE for 15 years before relocating to New Zealand two years ago, said the revocation of his licence had hurt his family hard.

“They have taken away our family’s only source of income,” he said. “How will I feed my kids now?”

Parminder Singh said he did not have sufficient income to pay rent after now finding himself unable to drive any vehicle in New Zealand.

“We have to rely on the generosity of friends even to come here to attend this meeting,” he said.

Kiranpreet Singh said the drivers had simply followed long-accepted practice by NZTA when converting their heavy vehicle licences.

“Now, our wives and children are being penalised for no fault of theirs,” he said.

Sarfaraz Khan, a commercial law specialist who is advocating for the drivers, called for a case-by-case remediation pathway.

“We are meeting representatives of the NZTA soon to put forward the drivers’ case,” Khan said.

Jitendra Singh, who runs Haryana Driving Academy in the South Auckland suburb of Wiri, claimed the letters the drivers had been receiving from NZTA were also causing confusion.

“Some drivers have been told their Class 5 license is cancelled and they can’t drive any vehicle in New Zealand,” he said.

“They are being told to apply for overseas license conversion from scratch,” he said.

“This is problematic as, in many cases, the UAE driving license they once held has expired. So how can these drivers apply for conversion?

“In some cases, NZTA has cancelled the Class 5 license of the driver but granted him a Class 2 license. Now that driver must go through the entire process of getting a Class 3 or 4 license first, before applying for a Class 5 license.

“We need to understand from NZTA how it is determining which clause applies to which driver.”

NZTA responds

RNZ approached NZTA for comment on the drivers’ claims they had genuinely followed an NZTA-approved process that had been unchanged for decades.

RNZ also asked NZTA for comment on the drivers’ claims the issue stemmed from system gaps in the application of policy in licence conversions.

“[The agency] is taking action on these licences following the discovery that false or altered documentation was provided during the process of converting these overseas licences to New Zealand heavy vehicle licences,” an NZTA spokesperson said in a statement.

“Irregularities in the documents provided during the conversion process were discovered during an audit undertaken by NZTA in July 2025. This action follows a thorough investigation of issues identified during the audit,” the spokesperson said.

Questioned whether he was worried about potential driver shortages ahead of Christmas, Transport Minister Chris Bishop referred RNZ to NZTA, citing it as an operational matter for the agency.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A person has been injured when a car crashed into a house in Hamilton.

Emergency services were called to Wellington Street in Hamilton East about 6.40pm on Friday.

Police said the car rolled into a house door.

The driver has been treated for moderate injuries.

No one inside the home was hurt.

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