Category: MIL-OSI

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Police statement on incident outside east Auckland bar

Source: New Zealand Police

Statement attributable to Inspector Adam Pyne, Counties Manukau Police:

Police are incredibly disappointed at behaviour exhibited by some gang members on a memorial ride in parts of Counties Manukau today.

A Police operation had been monitoring the movements and behaviour of these gang members through the latter part of the morning and into the afternoon.

While most were well behaved, Police did observe some poor driving behaviour on parts of the route and intervened on several occasions, as the group travelled to West Auckland and returned towards Flat Bush.

Two arrests were made for driving offences and two motorbikes were seized.

The group of at least 100 were then monitored travelling to a function at a bar at Botany Junction.

At one point during the afternoon one of these attending the function performed a burnout outside the bar.

Police took affirmative action in putting a stop to this activity.

Some of those present exited the bar and became aggressive towards Police staff present, with objects thrown towards our staff.

Three arrests were made at the scene, one of which was for wearing gang insignia in a public place.

Another three motorbikes were seized at this location.

Police again took action and advised those present to leave the area, and the bar was shut down.

Police are now investigating the actions of those present at the bar in Botany Junction, along with some of the other driving behaviour earlier in the day.

We will not hesitate to take action against those who think that this behaviour is acceptable.

It is very clear that this behaviour will not be tolerated. We have made five arrests today and we expect to make further arrests as our investigation continues.

Anyone who has further information to help assist those enquiries are asked to contact Police on 105 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

ENDS.

Jarred Williamson/NZ Police

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Road closed, Norton Road, Hamilton

Source: New Zealand Police

Norton Road is closed following a serious crash in Hamilton this afternoon.

Police received a report of the two vehicle crash at around 4.30pm.

Initial enquiries suggest there are serious injuries.

The road is closed between Tahi Street and Jolly Street.

Motorists are advised to avoid the area and expect delays.

ENDS

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Minister welcomes the launch of Vine – Violence Information Aotearoa

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

The Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour has welcomed the launch of Vine (Violence Information Aotearoa) – the nation’s leading source of knowledge about sexual violence and family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand.  

“This resource will be hugely useful for frontline services and everyone who cares for, and supports, victim survivors.

“Previously known at the NZ Family Violence Clearinghouse, Vine has been the national resource for family violence and sexual violence information for 20 years and is now launching a website that brings together best practice guidance for people working to prevent and respond to violence.

“It will equip everyone from the frontline, to researchers, to policy makers and even news media with good quality information and understanding of what is proven to work in eliminating violence,” said Karen Chhour.  

This work is a fundamental part of Te Aorerekura, and its second Action Plan, which is currently being implemented to break the cycle of violence through evidence-informed investment and collective action.

The library carries over 7,000 records online, with 2,000 resources in the physical library. The knowledge hub provides key statistics, frameworks and guidelines, and Vine promotes events and news to keep people up-to-date with latest developments.  

“I would like to congratulate Dr Charlotte Moore and the team at Vine for the work they have done to create a space that is easy to navigate and enables workforces to easily access information about violence prevention and effective practice.

“I encourage people to visit Vine and engage with the information there,” said Karen Chhour. 
 

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Mobile safety cameras in cars (and trailers) coming soon

Source: Argument for Lifting NZ Super Age

New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) will roll out its first mobile safety camera next week – the next step in the transition of safety camera operations from NZ Police to NZTA.

As part of the change, for the first time in New Zealand speeding vehicles will be detected by cameras operating in cars (SUVs), alongside the vans which NZ Police have traditionally used. Later this year NZTA will also add trailers to the fleet of safety camera vehicles.

A camera-equipped Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) will be parking up on roadsides across Auckland from next Tuesday (13 May) to improve safety for all road users by detecting drivers exceeding speed limits. In the coming months, it will be joined by other SUVs and trailers as NZTA expands its mobile safety camera operations across the country to a total of 44 mobile cameras – 35 of which will be operating at any given time.  

“Speeding drivers can cause serious and irreparable harm on the roads, including deaths and serious injuries. Evidence shows that we can reduce the chance of people being killed or seriously injured in crashes if drivers travel within speed limits, and that is why we have safety cameras,” says Tara Macmillan, Head of Regulatory Strategic Programmes.

“Mobile safety cameras reduce deaths and serious injuries by discouraging speeding generally, and they are most effective when they are deployed nationwide on a ‘anytime, anywhere’ basis. The exact timing and location of mobile safety cameras is informed by evidence, which may include crash data and feedback from local communities.

“Mobile cameras will be used in places where there is a risk of people being killed or seriously injured in a crash. Evidence shows that unsigned mobile safety cameras are twice as effective at reducing crashes than sign posted cameras, so while our safety cameras in SUVs and trailers will be visible to drivers and will not be hidden, they won’t be signposted.”

NZTA will not receive any incentives or funds from tickets issued. Safety camera infringement fees go into the Government Consolidated Fund. 

From 1 July 2025, NZTA will be responsible for the operation of all safety cameras and NZ Police will no longer operate their mobile safety camera vans.

Police officers will continue to issue notices for the offences they detect.

Images above: Speeding vehicles will be detected by cameras operating in SUVs from next week, with trailers to be added to the fleet later this year.

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Harbour tunnelling gets underway as part of Watercare’s transformational southwest wastewater scheme

Source: Secondary teachers question rationale for changes to relationship education guidelines

Next week Watercare will start tunnelling a new harbour outfall at Clarks Beach as part of the southwest wastewater servicing scheme. This will improve the quality of the Manukau Harbour with significant benefits for the community and environment.

On Monday, May 12 a 1.2-metre-wide tunnel-boring machine (TBM) will get the ground moving on the $22 million Clarks Beach Outfall wastewater pipeline.

Watercare programme delivery manager Dave Kennerley says the treated wastewater will be discharged approximately 100 metres into the Waiuku Channel – a highly dynamic part of the harbour where it will quickly disperse.

“The outfall is a crucial part of a wider programme of work that will support the projected population growth of Auckland’s south-west which is expected to grow to around 30,000 people by 2050.

The tunnel boring machine (TBM) will take about seven weeks to complete its journey.

“Initially, it will carry highly treated wastewater from the Clarks Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant, which we’re currently upgrading. But it has been designed and sized to support future population growth in the wider area.”

Watercare project manager Jason Salmon says the outfall installation is expected to take six or seven weeks.

“To ensure the resilience of the outfall, the pipeline will be double layered. 

“The carrier pipeline, which is made from high-density polyethylene, will sit inside a steel pipe to prevent any leaks or ground and seawater intrusion.

“To install the outfall the TBM will cut through the ground and install the exterior steel pipeline at the same time.

“Once it’s reached its destination, the carrier pipe will be pulled through and plugged until it is brought into service. A 66-metre-long diffuser will then be installed.”

The diffuser includes 22 rubber nozzles called ‘duck bills’, due to their shape resembling a duck’s bill.

The nozzle design allows the periodic release of treated effluent to flow out but stops sea water flowing in.

Salmon says once the TBM finishes its journey it will arrive at a receiving pit 10 to 15 metres under the sea.

“The TBM will be lifted out by a team of divers who will unbolt it from the carrier pipe in the outfall, attach lift bags to it and winch it out on to a pontoon.

“Once it’s on the pontoon it will be towed to Onehunga Port and lifted back onto land.”

Update on Clarks Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant project

The upgrade to the Clarks Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant introduces sophisticated technology that will allow the plant to produce exceptionally high-quality treated wastewater, which ultimately benefits the Manukau Harbour.

Watercare programme delievery manager Dave Kennerley and Sophia Chan.

It also supports population growth in Clarks Beach and Glenbrook Beach in the short term.

Watercare project manager Sophia Chan says work has progressed well with all the main tanks now on site and the civil construction of the inlet structure nearing completion. A new power supply has also been installed and fit-out has begun.

“We’ve also built a small temporary wastewater treatment plant, which will be operational in June.

“This will allow us to treat wastewater to a high standard uninterrupted while we continue to build the main wastewater treatment plant.

“Both the treatment plant upgrade and the outfall are on track to be completed by June next year.”

Meanwhile, Watercare has been engaging the community on several short-listed options for the wider programme of work that will support the projected population growth to 30,000 people by 2050. Watercare will continue to share this work with the community as the optioneering process concludes.

Anyone can sign up to receive updates on Watercare’s website.

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‘Govt’s Pay Bill Entrenches Discrimination Against Women’ – Kemp

Source:

Te Pāti Māori stands in staunch and emotional opposition to the Government’s so-called Equal Pay Amendment Bill, calling it a calculated attack on working women and a cruel betrayal of the generations who have fought for pay equity in Aotearoa.

“This bill doesn’t just undermine equal pay — it completely erases it,” said MP for Tāmaki-Makaurau and Workers Rights Spokesperson, Takutai Tarsh Kemp.

“It will make it impossible for people in female-dominated professions to be paid fairly. It locks in gender discrimination, and it will hit wāhine Māori, Pacific, Asian, and migrant women the hardest. This is not reform — this is repression.”

The Government’s Equal Pay Amendment Bill cancels 33 live claims under urgency, bans back pay, delays fair pay for years, and blocks new claims for a decade — all while giving bosses unchecked power to shut down claims without reason.

 “This Government can afford to give $3 billion in tax breaks to landlords, and $13 billion to the military, but this comes at the expense of paying our wāhine fairly,” said Kemp.

“I have witnessed this first hand as a Māori woman who put my heart, sweat, blood, and tears into my mahi while a male equivalent was paid more than ten thousand dollars more. I was undervalued, demoralised and taken advantage of.”

“Māori women are paid 80 cents to every dollar a Pākehā man earns. These aren’t just numbers. This is the intergenerational impact of discrimination that the ACT Party and this government are hellbent on entrenching.

“Te Pāti Māori will not be supporting this bill. We stand by wāhine. We stand by justice. And we will fight this every step of the way,” said Kemp.

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Climate – New study reveals climate change is already impacting the Andes – NIWA

Source: NIWA

Seven nations sharing world’s longest mountain range already impacted by climate change
Climate change is already reshaping life and landscapes across the world’s longest mountain range which extends the length of South America’s western side, new research has found. Climate change isn’t just a future threat for the Andes mountain region, but a present reality that is already occurring, found the study, published in the Communications Earth & Environment journal.
An international team of six scientists from four different countries collaborated to compare predictions from climate models with real-world observations of the Andean climate, natural environment, industries and societies. 
“We examined evidence that climate change and its impacts are already occurring in the Andes, the world’s longest mountain range, which crosses seven South American nations from Argentina and Chile in the south, through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, to Venezuela in the north,” says hydrologist Dr Ana Ochoa-Sánchez from Ecuador’s University of Azuay.
“What we found was that human-induced climate change is warming all of the Andes. Climate change is already occurring and noticeably impacting one of the world’s iconic mountain regions. One of the most significant impacts is that climate change is likely causing less precipitation on the eastern side of the mountain range.
“Mountain regions are predicted to be among the most sensitive and vulnerable to human-induced climate change, with changes causing a cascade of impacts across South America, says climate scientist Dr Dáithí Stone, at New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). 
“Throughout the Andes the climate trends are causing rapid shrinking of glaciers and reduction in the accumulation of snow. This results in reduced water flowing down from the mountains and brings about changes in ecosystems. This in turn, in multiple countries, affects food production, industry, health, culture and societies.”
The research will improve understanding of future impacts, and the effectiveness of adaptation, says Dr Stone. 
“In order to understand how climate change might affect us in the future, we need to understand how it is already affecting us. As we implement more measures to adapt to climate change, future updates of this study will also be able to evaluate how effective those adaptation measures have been and how they might be made more effective.”
The extensive and diverse Andes, which runs from the Caribbean coast to its southern tip in Patagonia, means the study advocates for localised adaptation strategies, informed by scientific research and indigenous knowledge, says Dr Ana Ochoa-Sánchez. 
“The research also stresses the need for global climate policies to reduce emissions and increase adaptation to support vulnerable mountain regions, such as our iconic Andes. The findings highlight that climate change is not a distant threat but a current crisis already unfolding across one of the world’s most celebrated mountain landscapes.”
Publication:
Ana Ochoa-Sánchez, Dáithí Stone, Fabian Drenkhan, Daniel Mendoza, Ronald Guaián, and Christian Huggel. 2025. Detection and attribution of climate change impacts on coupled natural-human systems in the Andes. Communications Earth & Environment, 6, 314, 10.1038/s43247-025-02092-9.
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EMA – Unemployment numbers still reflect ongoing financial pressures faced by businesses

Source: EMA

The EMA says today’s unchanged unemployment rate hopefully underlines the bottoming out of the economic bad news, although member businesses are facing ongoing financial pressures.
The latest numbers released by Stats NZ show that the unemployment rate has stayed unchanged at 5.1% for the March quarter.
EMA Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald says “While it’s positive that the unemployment rate has not increased, we’re still seeing pressures on employers, with calls into our AdviceLine service on redundancies and restructures remaining at very high levels. However, last month they did drop off so we’re hoping, like the unemployment number, they may have reached their peak. Those processes usually take another two to three months to work through the system.”
“Unemployment is usually a lag indicator of the economic bad news and, while it’s too early to say the bad news has stopped, it’s encouraging that the number was stable rather than increasing, as had been widely expected.
“The other concern is that we are still seeing a high number of NEETs, that is young people not in employment, education or training. This indicates that employers are overlooking that category in favour of people who already have some work experience, which is another symptom of current labour market conditions.
“In addition, while the high minimum wage doesn’t necessarily stop employers from hiring people, it does change the type of skill set and experience that they are likely to value in potential employees,” he says. 
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Local News – Porirua City Council seeks families of unmarked graves of Porirua Hospital patients – Porirua

Source: Porirua City Council

The public’s help is being sought as a project gets underway to memorialise more than 1,800 former Porirua Hospital patients.
The Porirua Lunatic Asylum, later Porirua Hospital, opened in 1887. At its height, in the 1960s, it had more than 2,000 patients and staff and covered 1,000 acres of land, making it one of the largest hospitals in the country. By the 1980s, many patients were in community-based care and the hospital was closed in the 1990s.
As part of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in care, the Government has set up a fund for headstones for patients buried in unmarked graves throughout the country. Porirua has more than 1,800 unmarked graves at Porirua and Whenua Tapu Cemetery.
Porirua City Council, as overseers of these cemeteries, want to hear from the public as a list of names of those buried is released.
The people on this list are known to be, firstly, patients of the hospital and secondly, without a headstone, Porirua Cemeteries Manager Daniel Chrisp says.
“This project is a significant and meaningful one to the Porirua and Wellington communities,” he says.
“The hospital was once the biggest asylum in the country and working towards naming every single patient buried with us is a huge step to restoring the mana and dignity of those individuals who died while in the hospital’s care.”
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PSA – $19,480 and rising: the cost women workers are paying to plug Govt’s Budget holes

Source: PSA

The Government’s decision to rewrite pay equity laws to save its Budget means 65,000 mainly female care and support workers will continue to be underpaid by $148.50 a week, new figures calculated and released today by the PSA show.
Care and support workers have waited more than three years for the Government to fund their pay equity claim, meaning they have missed out on as of today about $19,480 in pay.
“Despite the Government’s spin, women workers are losing, and will continue to lose, money because of this sexist attack on lower paid, mainly female workers to plug a Budget hole caused by reckless tax cuts and tax breaks for wealthy landlords,” said Assistant Secretary with the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi, Melissa Woolley.
“Women are subsiding the tax cuts and the failure of the Government to effectively manage its Budget,” said Woolley, a former care and support worker who has played a significant role in pay equity negotiations.
Yesterday’s announcement will set back the care and support workers’ claim, one of the 33 pay equity claims covering at least 150,000 workers across education, health, funded, tertiary, local government and public service sectors.
The care and support workers’ claim was a result of the 2017 pay equity legislation that increased the pay of care and support workers to 21 per cent above the minimum wage. This increase was in recognition that care and support workers have been historically underpaid because the sector is female dominated.
The 2017 legislation had a five-year time limit, which expired in June 2022. Since then, as a result of successive governments’ refusal to fund a new pay equity settlement, about 65,000 mainly female care and support workers are losing $148.50 a week they are entitled to. As of today, that amounts to $19,480 each.
With no new pay equity settlement being agreed, care and support workers have seen their hard-won pay equity settlement eroded by inflation and the failure to maintain relativity above the minimum wage.
“These workers are now largely back on the minimum wage, and many have had no wage increase for two years, making a mockery of the pay equity settlement,” Woolley said.
“The Minister has told the House that the new 10-year review period in the legislation means that the care and support workers will not be able to have their claim revisited until 2027.
“Pushing the review out to 2027 when it should have been completed in 2022 is blatantly unfair. It makes a mockery of Government claims the 10-year review period will be adequate to ensure ongoing equity for workers.
“The care and support claim has jumped through every test, survived every change up until now. This is another heartbreaking decision to not give these workers the pay equity they deserve and need.
“Since 2022, successive governments have been ripping off women workers, effectively using their commitment to the people they support, hard work and lost wages to subsidise the provision of care and support for the vulnerable in our communities.
“Now by further delaying settlements and making them much harder to achieve, this Government is further exploiting these largely female workers to plug the holes in their Budget. It’s blatant sexism effectively imposing a penalty tax on women workers.”
PSA analysis of lost wages is based on the 21 per cent margin above the minimum wage that care and support workers received in the 2017 settlement. The settlement rates, or the minimum wage rate, whichever was higher has been compared with what the rate would have been if the 21 per cent margin had been maintained. The comparison is based on a 30-hour work week.