Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police arrested a North Canterbury resident for over 500 tags in various locations throughout Kaikoura, Canterbury and Dunedin.

The 23-year-old man will be appearing at the Christchurch District Court on 5 December on charges of entering agricultural land with intent and wilful damage for graffiti.

Senior Sergeant Stephen McDaniel said that Police are happy to have the brazen tagger off the streets.

“Not only was the offender spray painting his ‘tag’ everywhere, he was also taking videos of his offending and posting them to social media and benefiting from the notoriety.”

The offending tag was found on public bridges, toilets, walls, rubbish bins, walkways, light posts, former gun emplacements, train tracks, water tanks and drainage pipes.

“The offending leaves a lasting piece of graffiti on the public structures, and in some instances the offender has spray painted the same spot after councils have cleaned up their prior graffiti.”

“Graffiti or tagging is considered as intentionally damaging property, and we’ll hold offenders to account,” says Senior Sergeant McDaniel.

Police are asking the public to report any illegal graffiti they witness.

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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 Ministry of Education says early childhood services and school boards are legally responsible for funding asbestos-contaminated sand removal, after a kindergarten operator estimated a $350,000 clean-up to decontaminate her sites.

Whānau Manaaki chief executive Amanda Coulston told Checkpoint on Wednesday test results showed three of 13 of its kindergartens returned positive results for asbestos contamination.

The not-for-profit group had spent $40,000 on the tests so far, and she estimated the final cost to between $300,000 and $350,000 – a clean-up that is not covered by insurance, Coulston said.

That includes rounds of testing, removing carpet and soft toys, and refurnishing the sites, she said.

The Ministry of Education had been “pretty hands off in terms of all of this”, and they’d been told to try for reimbursement from suppliers, Coulston said.

When asked for a response on these issues, the Ministry of Education’s Helen Hurst early learning service managers and school boards were responsible for managing abestos risks on their sites, including removing it, under health and safety legislation.

Early learning service managers and school boards are considered the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) under the Health and Safety at Work Act, she said.

“While the Ministry does not fund asbestos remediation because it falls under the health and safety responsibilities of early learning services, we do not underestimate the impact this can have,” Hurst said.

Centres forced to close could request funding if they were impacted by asbestos contamination that could not be safely isolated, and the service had to shut for a short time, Hurst said.

Dozens of schools and early childhood centres had to shut following the revelation that popular children’s play sand products have been contaminated with asbestos last month.

Three early childhood centres are closed on Thursday due to the contamination.

“We want to acknowledge the significant effort early learning services and schools have put into responding to this issue,” Hurst said.

“They have acted quickly and responsibly to protect learners and staff, in a situation that is no fault of their own. Their commitment to safety has been evident in the way they have managed this challenge.”

The Ministry of Education was working closely with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) as the lead agency dealing with the issue, and WorkSafe as the regulator, Hurst said.

More advice could be found on the website, and the Ministry is focused on supporting centres and schools by providing step-by-step guidance and practical support to help them stay open, she said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

People in three Far North towns – including the summer holiday hotspot of Paihia – have been warned to boil their tap water before drinking or cooking with it.

The boil-water notice was issued at 2pm on Thursday after tests showed the presence of E coli bacteria in the water.

It applies to all households and businesses in Paihia, Ōpua and Waitangi connected to the town supply.

A council spokesman said the test results indicated “a very low risk” to public health, but that could not be confirmed until further testing was completed on Friday morning.

Water used for drinking, ice, food preparation, oral hygiene and pets should be boiled for at least one minute.

Residents in the affected area should not rely on water filters alone, he said.

Anyone who developed gastroenteritis (“tummy bug”) symptoms should seek advice from a medical practitioner.

The spokesman said a reservoir at Te Haumi, just south of Paihia, had been isolated to prevent any risk of wider contamination while the investigation and water testing continued.

Taumata Arowai, the national water services regulator, had been notified.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland police cannot say if a machete found in their investigation into the killing of US student, Kyle Whorrall, is linked to his fatal attack.

Another teenager was charged with the 33-year-old’s murder on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old boy from Glenn Innes was due to appear in the Youth Court on Thursday, also charged with aggravated robbery.

Whorrall, who was 33, was attacked at a bus stop in Meadowbank in April and died in hospital following the attack.

In September, five months after Whorrall’s killing, police announced they had found a machete in a nearby reserve.

They could not say at the time if the weapon, found in vegetation at Maybury reserve, was used in the killing.

“What I can say is that it is a large bladed weapon, and we are looking for a large bladed weapon, we are not at Maybury reserve by accident,” Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said at the time.

“We remain open minded in relation to this weapon, forensic testing is underway but we won’t know the results for some time.”

It has been two months since the announcement.

After Wednesday’s announcement of a further murder charge, RNZ asked if forensic testing results for the machete had been returned.

Police were not able to say.

“I’m conscious we have laid further charges in this investigation,” Baldwin said.

“As matters are before the court, I’m not able to comment on specifics around evidential matters,” he told RNZ.

The revelation of the machete from police came at the same time a 16-year-old was also facing charges of murder and aggravated robbery.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

By Noam Mānuka Lazarus, Massey University journalism student

A mountain biking instructor says Wellington mountain bike trails have again been littered with logs, dug up and blocked with wooden barriers.

Police and the Wellington City Council have been investigating the damage to the Matairangi/Mt Victoria trails this week.

On Thursday, police told RNZ they had “exhausted all available lines of inquiry” in the attempt to find those responsible.

Inspector Jason McCarthy, the Wellington area prevention manager, urged members of the public to come forward with any information that might help.

Rod Bardsley, a mountain biking instructor who rode the trails regularly, said the trails had been cleaned up since the initial damage, but he saw last night that had been vandalised again.

Bardsley said holes had been dug in the ground, and support structures which held the dirt tracks together had been pulled out. One trail had even been fenced off, with wooden beams put up between trees on either side of the track.

Bardsley said the trails were well used by bikers, and damage to the tracks could be extremely dangerous for bikers who rode at high speeds.

RNZ has approached Wellington City Council for 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

Secondary teachers have voted to accept the government’s recent settlement of their collective agreement.

It includes a 4.6 percent pay increase over two years, raises allowances for teachers in management or special roles, and monetary and time allowances for people responsible for overseeing NCEA assessments.

A $1 million per year fund will also be available for professional learning and development for teachers.

However, the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) said it was disappointing that the Public Service Commissioner did not address members’ claims for pastoral care staffing for students.

More to come…

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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 Education Ministry report shows officials strongly warned the government against removing schools’ Treaty of Waitangi obligations.

The proactively-released document said changing references to the treaty in the Education and Training Act was significant and controversial and could lead to conflict that would distract from the government’s education goals.

The advice preceded the government’s surprise decision to delete a clause in the act that required schools to give effect to the treaty.

The government said the treaty was the Crown’s obligation, and the clause could be confusing for schools’ governing boards.

The ministry report dated 19 September said the treaty’s articles were relevant to education in multiple ways.

It said the Crown had an obligation to support Māori educational success and to support kaupapa Māori education.

“In summary, we do not recommend changes to Te Tiriti provisions in the Act without further engagement and design with Māori. This is because of the clear guidance to Ministers and public service departments on the constitutional position of Te Tiriti,” the report said.

Evidence supported the importance of reflecting students’ language and culture to achieve good results, it said.

“We recommend retaining an emphasis on inclusivity in schools, including providing an environment that recognises and values a Māori student’s culture, and, where possible, uses te reo Māori. While this principle of inclusivity can be applied to any group of students, the rationale for having legislative codification of this for Māori is based on the Crown’s obligations towards Māori under Te Tiriti.

“Whether to change the existing legislation, as with questions of fairness, turns on the constitutional position of Te Tiriti. Under current constitutional settings, we recommend retaining reference to the role of Tikanga and te reo in supporting the educational success of ākonga Māori,” the report said.

The education system included multiple taonga and the Crown was obliged to ensure Māori had the right to make decisions over resources and taonga they wished to maintain, it said.

Officials had discussed the Act’s treaty references with the Education Minister’s Māori advisory group, the report said.

The group’s key points included that: “high-level Tiriti clauses in legislation have significant direction-setting effect, and are important as a signal to Māori of the Crown’s intentions, it said.

“Educational success for ākonga Māori is dependent on institutions and teaching staff who understand and have the capability to deliver on their responsibilities under Te Tiriti.”

The group also indicated that it was important the Crown worked in good faith with Māori on the development of treaty references, it said.

There was evidence that ensuring te reo and tikanga Māori were supported in schools was good for Māori students’ achievement.

“Learning in an environment where a culturally responsive pedagogy is the norm significantly improves outcomes for Māori,” the report said.

The government’s reforms to introduce a more knowledge-rich curriculum, regulate the teaching profession and schools’ accountability for their outcomes would also benefit Māori learners, it added.

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