Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

A vegetation fire has reportedly sparked after a car crashed into a tree and caught on fire.

Emergency services were called to the crash on State Highway 5 near Tapapa, Waikato at 10.45am on Monday.

Police said a car had collided with a tree between Harwoods Road and Tapapa Road.

The car caught on fire after the crash and the fire is reported to have spread to nearby vegetation, a police spokesperson said.

At this stage there are no confirmed information regarding injuries, they said.

Motorists are advised to expect delays and should take alternative routes where possible.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A road in Lower Hutt is blocked after a truck crashed this morning in Taita.

Police said the truck rolled on Eastern Hutt Road between Peterkin Street and Page Grove, shortly around 9.05am.

One person has moderate injuries and another has minor injuries.

Work is underway to right the truck.

Police are asking motorists to take alternative routes where possible.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers says he is determined there will never be a repeat of the “group think” and closed ranks that led to members of the senior executive blocking an investigation into disgraced former deputy commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

McSkimming – who was in the running for the top job – is due to be sentenced on 17 December, after pleading guilty to possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material over a four-year period.

In a wide-ranging interview with Nine to Noon reflecting on his challenging first year as Commissioner, Chambers said the report by the independent police watchdog had called out the decisions, behaviours and processes adopted by the former executive – “and rightly so”.

He wanted to ensure there would be no repeat of such mistakes under his watch – nor for anyone who followed him in the role, he said.

“We must always remain alert to the risks of what ‘group think’ would otherwise result in,” he said. “This appeared to be a group of like-minded individuals who listened to a story that should not have been listened to.”

Chambers said he was appointing a new leadership team to lead police into 2026, with two new deputy confirmed “this side of Christmas”.

The number of assistant commissioner roles had also been reduced to five – “it was too big and bloated” – and at least two of those roles would be filled by new appointments, he said.

The McSkimming scandal was not a failure of “process” Chambers said.

“New Zealand Police over the years have worked hard to deal with complaints and put in processes in place.

“The problem was the former executive departed from those.

“There must be no deviation.”

The Police Integrity Unit – led by Detective Superintendent Kylie Schaare (one of those officers who raised the alarm in the McSkimming case) – was set to get seven new investigator positions.

“I don’t want seven bosses, I want seven investigators.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man killed last month in New Plymouth’s centre city near the waterfront has been named.

Emergency services were called to a fight on St Aubyn Street on the evening of 19 November.

CPR was performed but 68-year-old Martin James Mooney died at the scene.

A man has been charged with murder and will appear in New Plymouth High Court on Friday.

The police would like to hear from any potential witnesses.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

One NZ has been ordered to pay $1.1 million by the High Court after breaching the 111 Contact Code (the Code).

The telecommunications company admitted 10 breaches of the Code, which requires providers to give vulnerable consumers a no-cost way of calling 111 in a power cut.

One NZ has admitted to breaches of the Code related to information disclosure, record keeping, and regular customer outreach between 2021 and 2023.

One NZ will also contribute $100,000 towards the Commission’s costs.

“Telecommunications services provide a vital lifeline in the event of emergencies like natural disasters and power failures,” Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson said.

“As consumers move off traditional copper lines its crucial that vulnerable New Zealanders retain the ability to contact emergency services during a power failure.”

More to come…

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A public health researcher is celebrating a 29 percent decrease in new HIV diagnoses from 85 in 2010 to 60 in 2024.

The statistic comes from the Ministry of Health’s HIV Monitoring Report, released today on World AIDS Day.

It is the first time progress towards New Zealand’s 2030 goal of reducing local transmission of HIV by 90 percent has been tracked since it was set in 2023.

Associate Professor at the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health Peter Saxton said the report was encouraging and showed that investing in HIV prevention and stigma initiatives was worthwhile, especially when there were scarce health dollars available.

“This report is an opportunity to hold the government to account to fund the services that will get us to zero, but also agencies involved in the response; community agencies, researchers, communities themselves, the health services delivering HIV testing and PrEP services, hold everybody accountable to reaching that 2030 target.”

“It’s important to remember that we have all the tools to end the epidemic now, so we can end AIDS, and we can end transmission.”

However, he said that among takatāpui, or Māori men who have sex with men (MSM), there had not been a drop in new HIV diagnoses.

“That’s been pretty static for about the last 10 years, and we’ve seen only more modest increases in PrEP uptake; for Māori, that’s increased by about two percent, whereas for other gay and bisexual men it’s five to six percent.

“We know that prevention works, but only if it’s accessible to everyone. So we want to see innovations in HIV testing, and PrEP made more accessible and available in a more timely way.”

He said there had also been 28 AIDS diagnoses in 2024, which was a concern.

“An AIDS AIDS diagnosis means that someone’s typically lived with HIV undiagnosed and therefore untreated; that number should already be 0.

“If someone’s been exposed to HIV, the best outcome for them is to get an early diagnosis, go on treatment, and then they won’t be able to transmit HIV to others. So that’s an absolute priority.

“We need to think of opportunities where if we’re already drawing blood, for example, if there’s an opportunity to include HIV testing as part of that blood draw. But also syphilis and hepatitis C, these are things that can be treated, and in some cases cured, if it’s syphilis and hepatitis C. We want to make sure that we take a whole-of-system approach, it’s not just focused on HIV.”

He said eliminating stigma also needed to be a priority over the next five years.

“HIV stigma means that people might hesitate before asking for an HIV test or feel judged if they’re offered one, and we’re not going to end the HIV epidemic if we don’t end HIV stigma.”

He said the second annual AIDS Day parliamentary breakfast being held in Wellington on Monday morning was a good time to bring up these concerns.

“This 2030 target was an agreement across political parties generally. That’s why the parliamentary breakfast today is really important because it’s an opportunity to share with our political parties what we’re doing, what’s going well, but also what needs to improve so we can refocus our efforts for the next 12 months.

“HIV is one of our public health success stories, and we often forget to talk about it in that way. That’s because of our really early response in the 1980s, which was based on science, not moralism. It was a very pragmatic response. And, really importantly, it was a bipartisan response.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Aucklanders are being reminded to be watchful and report any sightings of yellow-legged hornets as efforts to eliminate the invasive pests ramp up.

Another yellow-legged hornet queen has been found on Auckland’s North Shore, as Biosecurity New Zealand escalates its attempts to eradicate the invasive insect.

To date, 27 queen hornets, seven workers and 17 nests have been successfully located and removed from the Glenfield and Birkdale areas, Biosecurity NZ said.

Biosecurity teams had so far searched more than 2100 properties and continued to search across the region.

The aggressive hornets are nearly twice the size of the common wasp, and can wipe out bee colonies.

Apiculture NZ chief executive Karin Koss told Morning Report Aucklanders need to be vigilant.

“I think the key thing is just to be really, really, watchful and keep an eye out for these hornets,” she said.

“They are bigger, they are relatively easy to identify, although they’re nests can be hard to find, and it’s really just important to take a photo and report as soon as you can.”

Koss said beekeepers were very worried about the threat of the hornets.

“It’s a very aggressive pest,” she said.

“They attack the foraging honey bee workers at the entrance, and essentially, this eventually stops the bees from collecting pollen and nectar.”

This increased the risk of starvation, Koss said.

She said beekeepers have seen colonies drop by 30 percent in places where the hornets have become established.

“They don’t have any natural defences against the hornet, so bees are really vulnerable to this pest,” Koss said.

Koss said the public had an important role to play also.

“I’ve been inundated with messages from the public, from schools, from local councils; ‘how can we help,'” she said.

Koss said the pressure against the hornet needed to stay on.

She wanted to see wider surveillance beyond the current zone. Biosecurity had earlier further expanded its surveillance and on-the-ground search operations across the North Shore.

“We know that these hornets can travel, including on transport like trucks and ferries, and so as well as doing the public campaign which is really important, and getting the message out to beekeepers, I think there’s certainly value in keeping talking to [officials] and understanding how we can extend that surveillance.”

Sightings could be reported:

• Online at report.mpi.govt.nz
• By calling Biosecurity New Zealand’s exotic pest and disease hotline on 0800 80 99 66
• More information can be found here.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Weeks after a 1200-cubic-metre wastewater spill into the Mahurangi River, Auckland oyster farmers are dealing with the effects of another overflow, which they say has stuffed their Christmas season.

Watercare confirmed to RNZ that on 19 November, Warkworth experienced more than half the town’s average rainfall for the entire month, a total of 53mm overnight.

An estimated 86 cubic metres of wastewater mixed with stormwater overflowed into the river from a Warkworth pipeline, the engineered overflow point on Elizabeth Street.

The Ministry of Primary Industries instructed growers to suspend harvesting while it carried out testing, with results expected this week.

But Matakana Oysters’ Tom Walters said the spill had already ruined their plans for December, their busiest period of the year.

“It’s been pretty difficult the whole year, but this is our peak time. We’ve missed Christmas parties now and celebrations, we’ve got people who wanted to order for Christmas itself, and now we’re not even getting any orders from people because they know about the sewage situation. So they’ll be going elsewhere.

“My business relies on the Christmas-New Year period, and that’s what gets us through the months where we’re quiet. We’re basically stuffed.”

Matakana Oysters were set to begin harvesting on 20 November, before the rain derailed their plans.

“We’re hoping to be potentially back open early December at best, but that’s all going to be weather and and test results dependent,” Walters said.

He said that while farmers received compensation for the wastewater overflow in October, which Watercare admitted was caused by a technical failure, the agency was not required to compensate them for spills caused by rainfall.

“That money has all gone on debts that have occurred from all the spills over this year and the last couple of years.

“It’s not enough to keep us surviving, and Watercare won’t compensate us for wet weather spills.

“I can’t buy enough oysters from up north or other areas to cater to this time of the year, and I don’t have enough money for that either.”

Mahurangi Oyster Farmers Association president Lynette Dunn said farmers there would likely not be able to harvest until after Christmas.

“This is one of our biggest, most important times of the year prior to Christmas, getting a lot of product out before start spawning out, and we won’t be able to do that.

“All our customers are ringing up, and we can’t supply them.

“And when the Ministry of Primary Industries opens the harbour, there’s going to be scepticism about, you know, are they [the oysters] safe and everything like that.”

“It’s disheartening. It’s eating away at every farmer, and it’s devastating for each and every one of us.”

In a statement to RNZ, Watercare chief operations officer Mark Bourne said it had upgrades planned to prevent more wet weather overflows from occurring, but they would not be completed until the end of 2026.

“Earlier this year, we completed network upgrades to reduce the frequency of overflows at this location while we deliver the final stage of a $450 million programme of work: a growth-servicing pipeline. These measures are performing well, but they were never intended to prevent overflows during severe weather events like last week’s.

“We really feel for the oyster growers, who have faced many challenges this year and are now in their peak harvest season.

“To put a stop to these wet weather overflows as soon as possible, we have accelerated the first stage of the growth-servicing pipeline, bringing it forward by two years to have it in service by the end of next year. This comes at an additional cost of $2.5m. When it is in service, this pipeline will prevent an overflow in similar weather to what we experienced last week.”

Walters and Dunn said affected businesses needed more financial assistance to get them through until upgrades were done.

“This problem isn’t going to stop with wet weather spills and we’ve still got another year of it before the pipeline is ready,” said Walters.

“They’ve [Watercare] made a few little fixes which have helped with small amounts of rain, but anything over 30ml plus is going to affect us.”

Dunn said that even when the infrastructure improved, it would take a lot of work to re-build public trust.

“We need funding to keep us going. Our reputational damage is just going down the drain. Everyone associates Mahurangai Oysers with sewage. So, to try and sell our product, we’re going to have a huge battle.”

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