Category: Public Media

Posted on

Auckland executive paid teen $1000 for sex, exchanged Uber Eats for intimate photos

Source: Radio New Zealand

The executive, who has name suppression has since left his job. RNZ/Yiting Lin

An Auckland executive who has admitted paying a teenage girl for sex met the teen on Snapchat, where he described himself as a “sugar daddy”.

After a couple of weeks of the 14-year-old girl messaging the man intimate pictures and videos of herself, they met in person and the executive paid her $1000 for sex.

The man, whose name is suppressed, earlier this month admitted a charge of paying a person aged under 18 for sex. The law says it’s illegal for anyone to enter into a contract, or “other arrangement”, for sex with someone under 18.

The executive will be sentenced in March, but details of his offending can now be revealed.

Court documents obtained by RNZ said the middle-aged man didn’t know the 14-year-old girl before the pair met on Snapchat, an encrypted social media platform.

In early September the executive added the teen as a friend and they started talking.

“This included requesting a photo of the victim, asking how old she was and reporting himself as a sugar daddy,” said a court summary of the offending.

“In reply the victim sent a photo of her face.”

The teen told the executive she was 17, three years older than her actual age.

Uber eats for pictures

The summary said the teen requested the executive pay for Uber Eats for her. He said he would if she sent him intimate pictures, which she did several times, for which the man bought takeaways.

This continued for about three weeks.

“Between 3 and 17 September the victim sent the defendant 12 images and 19 short videos,” the summary said

These were taken or recorded in the teen’s bathroom, where she was naked and either “sexually posing” or engaging in sexual acts.

“These are sexualised images, including a video of the victim wearing her school uniform.”

On 14 September the executive bought the teen a $200 Prezzy Card.

A week later he paid for an Uber to drop the teen at his house. On arrival she said she was 17, and the executive paid her $1000, but he said he knew that as she was under 18 he couldn’t pay her for sex.

At the teen’s request, the executive then paid for an Uber to bring one of her friends, who was also 14, to his house.

The executive and the teen he paid money to then went to his bedroom, where “sexual activity occurred”.

Afterwards, the executive paid for the teen and her friend to take an Uber to a shopping mall.

Executive claims no contract entered into

When police contacted the executive he gave them a statement after speaking to a lawyer.

“He stated it was his belief the victim was 17 years old, and he did not enter a contract for sex.”

The teen said she felt disgust at her interaction with the executive, who had no previous convictions.

When he appeared in the Auckland District Court this month his lawyer Graeme Newell said police had moved fast in laying the prosecution, and at that stage the executive hadn’t yet told his family and had only just informed his employer.

At Newell’s request, Judge Belinda Sellars, KC, didn’t convict the executive.

He faces a maximum sentence of seven years’ jail and is on bail until his sentencing.

The executive has since left his job.

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

Posted on

Regional council revamp ‘pretty serious attack’ on Treaty rights – Andrew Little

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington mayor Andrew Little RNZ / Mark Papalii

The mayor of Wellington says the coalition’s proposed restructure of local government is a “pretty serious attack” on the Crown’s treaty obligations.

The coalition wants mayors of city and district councils to take over the duties of regional councillors, in what would be the biggest local government shakeup in three decades.

The proposed removal of regional seats includes scrapping Māori constituencies.

There are currently two regional councils with specific legislation for Māori represenation: Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Canterbury Regional Council.

The government’s discussion document states the government has “considered the impact of the proposal on Māori rights and interests”.

It also says the proposal “has been designed to not undermine, disrupt or affect Treaty settlements but is seeking a wide range of views to ensure this is the case”.

‘A total backtrack’ – Little

Speaking on Nine to Noon on Wednesday, Wellington mayor Andrew Little said the proposals would impact Māori representation that had been guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi.

“One thing that regional councils do is regulate the environment. The fundamental promise of the Treaty of Waitangi was tino rangatiratanga over whenua, over land, and other valued things.

“So to undermine the representation of Māori over environmental things is a total backtrack on the obligations that [have] been recognised for the last 50 years that the Crown has under the Treaty.

“Regional councils and district councils act effectively with Crown authority when they regulate the environment, so undermining that representation is a pretty serious attack on treaty obligations.”

Little said it would narrow the diversity of representation at council level.

“The proposals that were announced yesterday look like they are diluting, or in fact completely removing that Māori representation on that important function and that cannot be consistent with the Crown’s obligations under the Treaty.”

Speaking more generally on the proposed changes, Little said the direction of travel was amalgamation.

“One obvious conclusion to draw from the proposals, as they’ve been announced, is it is trying to drive towards greater amalgamation.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s got to be supported locally and democratically, though.”

Little said the proposals would also “significantly’ add to a mayor’s workload.

“There’s a whole new organisation to get to grips with. There’ll be staff, including a chief executive, that has to have appropriate oversight and support so that adds to what is already a growing workload for mayors.

“I’m not quite sure what the underpinning analysis was that suggested that this was an easy transfer to make.”

Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz RNZ / Angus Dreaver

RMA needs to be part of discussion – Gisborne mayor

Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz said the proposals wouldn’t change the functions of regional councils but they did risk losing technical expertise.

She also said the Resource Management Act had a big part to play in the national conversation about how to best restructure local government.

“Before we criticise regional councils, they’re working under a regime called the Resource Management Act, which we all agree is not fit for purpose.

“So I think we also need to make sure that discussion is had alongside what the functions are that we want to have on a local, regional level or national level.”

Stoltz said Gisborne had operated as a unitary authority since 1989 that did the work of both a city council and regional council.

It had worked well for her region, though that didn’t mean it would be the best approach in other parts of the country, she said.

“It works really well for us because we have a single governance structure making both the local and the regional decisions, which means there is real clear accountability. Your community know exactly who is responsible for that and for what and then we can also have integrated planning across our land, water and infrastructure.

“That works really well for us, because all the major planning and regulatory functions sit under one roof.

“During Cyclone Gabrielle, it was easier to have a coordinated emergency response. When you need rapid decision making, you don’t need to negotiate across multiple councils.

“You have a coordinated response, and your community know exactly who is responsible for what. So there is some reduced duplication but the fact that it works for the Gisborne District Council does not mean it will work for any other region.”

Asked if her community would not support being amalgamated with other regions, she responded: “I think if you asked the people of Gisborne that, that will be a firm no…we have been a unitary authority forever, and it works well for us.

“We never put those discussions aside, though, because we haven’t had a review in 36 years. So this is a once in a lifetime review. The devil will be in the detail.”

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

Posted on

Pygmy sperm whale found dead on Auckland’s North Shore

Source: Radio New Zealand

A whale washed up on Ōrewa Beach on Wednesday. Supplied / Maddi Newson

A pygmy sperm whale has been found dead on the shores of Ōrewa in Auckland’s North Shore.

“I can confirm that DOC is responding to the body of a pygmy sperm whale at Ōrewa.

“At this point I have few other details,” Department of Conservation spokesperson Nicole Steven said.

A whale washed up on Ōrewa Beach on Wednesday. Supplied / Maddi Newson

Steven said they don’t know the cause of death yet.

“This info would require a necropsy,” she said.

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

Posted on

Man charged with arson over Waiuku recycling facility fire

Source: Radio New Zealand

More than 60 firefighters tackled the first blaze at Waiuku recycling facility. Supplied

Shipping containers near an Auckland business park that caught fire late on Monday were ablaze again in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Fire and Emergency said the latest fire is believed to be a flare-up of the previous blaze.

Fire engulfed nearly 5000 square metres of plastic at a recycling facility storage area in Waiuku Business Park on Monday.

The fire spread to six containers at an adjacent business, Designmax Homes.

Waiuku Business Park’s owner Sam Wulff said the containers were on land that’s not part of the business park, and he hasn’t been contacted by police about the fire overnight.

A Designmax Homes staff member said the business didn’t want to comment.

Meanwhile, a man has been charged over Monday night’s fire.

The police say a 30-year-old local man has been charged with arson and is due to appear at Pukekohe District Court on Wednesday.

Fire and Emergency shift manager Ryan Geen said firefighters were called to the same business park about 3.30am today.

“They found two shipping containers [on fire], that were involved in the fire the other night,” he said.

The fire was put out by about 5am, he said.

Crews did not call a fire investigator or the police, but the investigation into Monday night’s fire was ongoing, he said.

The police are treating Monday’s fire as suspicious.

Wulff earlier told RNZ he leased out part of the industrial lot to the plastics recycling company, Future Post.

He was shocked to learn that the first fire might have been deliberately lit there.

He said the recycling facility converted waste plastic into fence posts.

Residents near a huge fire at a recycling facility in Waiuku on Monday night were asked to stay indoors. Supplied

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

Posted on

Is it cheaper to pay a mortgage, or rent?

Source: Radio New Zealand

In both markets, people looking for a home have the power. 123rf

House prices are down, but rent rises have flattened.

In both markets, people looking for a home have the power.

So is it better, financially, to own or rent?

That’s a question that ANZ economist Matt Galt has been pondering.

He said how the cost of renting compared to home ownership was a big driver of house prices.

“The balance between the running costs of owning a home over time – interest, council rates, insurance – and rents is one of the main anchors for house prices, to which they gravitate.”

When the costs of owning a home are low compared to renting, both owner-occupiers and investors are more likely to buy, bidding up prices.

But when ownership costs are high relative to rents, house prices come under pressure.

To compare the cost of owning versus renting, he used the interest cost on a home loan with a 50 percent loan-to-value ratio at a five-year fixed rate, plus council rates, insurance, maintenance and a small buffer for other costs.

“What you often find is when you first buy a house, you have quite a big mortgage, like 80 percent loan-to-value for example, and when you have a big mortgage, the cost of owning a house will typically be quite a bit more than renting. But over the full time you own that house, hopefully you’ll be able to repay principal and the LVR will come down and what we find is that the cost of renting and the cost of owning are about equal when the loan is 50 percent of the house value and that might be the experience over a number of years for some people.”

In Auckland, the median rent is about $650 a week. Someone with a 20 percent deposit buying a house for $900,000 – the median price for first-home buyers in the city – would pay about $890 a week on a five-year fixed term.

But someone with a mortgage of $500,000 would be paying less than $620 as week.

He said between 2022 and 2024 high interest rates and other costs put downward pressure on house prices. At that point, it was a lot more expensive to own a house than to rent one.

But between 2019 and 2021, home ownership running costs were well below rents, which prompted some tenants to think they might as well buy if they could.

“I think a lot of people when they go to buy a house they’ll look at what they might be paying in rent versus what they’ll pay in mortgage and then they’ll add on perhaps council rates or insurance and other costs as they learn more about the types of housing they are wanting to buy. If owning a house does look very cheap, like when interest rates were low in 2019 and 2020, it would really encourage people to jump into the market and they did in large numbers despite prices being very high at that time,” Galt said.

“I think it does shape people’s housing choices and particularly for investors. as well. who will be quite carefully weighing up the rent income they receive versus the cost of owning a house.”

Things are now back in balance compared to where they have generally been over history.

“Home ownership running costs have since eased as interest rates have fallen and overall are now more or less back in line with their historical relationship with rents.

“Interest is the dominant cost and also the main source of variation,” he said. “The home ownership running costs proxy has dropped over the past month due to a sizeable fall in fixed mortgage rates over October.”

But the story is nuanced.

“Changes in interest costs reflect not only changes in interest rates but also changes in house prices, as the proxy is for buying a house now. Over 2021, both were rising, which explains the particularly sharp increase in home ownership costs over that period.”

Galt said several changes over the past year had brought ownership costs and rents back in balance.

“Home ownership costs have decreased as both house prices and interest rates have fallen, but this has been partly offset by increases in other ownership costs such as council rates and insurance. Rents have fallen a little, meaning home ownership costs have had to fall further to close the gap.

“The combination of falling rents and high council rates and insurance costs has been a significant drag on house prices in recent years, which has dampened the impact of falling interest rates,” he said,

He said it was likely that five-year mortgage interest rates would rise a bit from where they are now through next year, but the comparison between renting and owning was not likely to change a lot.

“Our forecasts anticipate home ownership costs and rents staying in balance over the next couple of years, which points to broad stability in house prices, potentially with a modest increase in prices as the economy experiences a cyclical recovery next year.

“The current balance of these costs and benefits of home ownership certainly doesn’t suggest that house prices are likely to race away.

“Overall, the market’s looking quite well balanced at the moment. We are expecting the ongoing costs of home ownership and rents to stay roughly around balance over the next couple of years and that just reflects interest rates staying relatively low.

“We do have them ticking up in our forecasts towards the end of 2026 but that’s very much a placeholder at this stage. The broad story is interest rates staying down for a while and house prices only increasing at a gradual rate next year as the economy recovers.”

Council rates were likely to rise at a slower rate, he said.

“They increased 12 percent a couple of years ago, that’s dropped to 9 percent and then we expect them to keep easing but still going up.”

Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.

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

Posted on

Kiwis drinking the same amount of beer, but reaching for lower alcohol options

Source: Radio New Zealand

Beer magazine editor Michael Donaldson thought the shift was being driven by low-carb beers. Unsplash / Josh Olalde

Kiwis have been knocking back more lower-alcohol beers, but it’s less about the alcohol and more about their waistlines, one expert says.

New Stats NZ data for the year to September showed while Kiwis are drinking almost the same amount of beer overall, those drinking mid-strength drafts are on the increase.

For the year ending September 2025, overall beer volumes fell only marginally, from 281.6 million litres to 279.0 million litres.

But within that total, the most significant change was a major shift away from higher-strength beers and a rapid rise in moderate-strength and lower-ABV [alcohol-by-volume] options.

Beer magazine editor Michael Donaldson told Morning Report he thought the shift was being driven by low-carb beers, which is now the biggest category within beer.

“A lot of those beers sit around 4.2 percent and I think you can’t separate out the two of them that there’s a choice being made for low carb and it just happens to fall in that lower ABV band.

“On top of that, you’re also getting a shift in consumer spend in terms of people thinking about their dollars, higher alcohol beers cost more.

“Certainly lower alcohol beers generally cost less because the excise tax is a little bit lower and there is a third factor in there, which is the rise and rise of Guinness.

“That’s been a massive growth everywhere in the world over the last few years and Guinness is another beer that sits at 4.2 percent,” he said.

Key findings (YE September 2025):

  • Beer between 2.5% and 4.35% ABV increased sharply to 105.0 million litres, up from 76.4 million litres the previous year.
  • Higher-strength beer (4.35%-5.0% ABV) fell to 143.0 million litres, down from 165.3 million litres.
  • Beer above 5% ABV dropped significantly, from 34.4 million litres to 25.5 million litres.
  • Total beer volumes have flattened, falling only 0.9% year-on-year.

Brewers Association of New Zealand Executive Director Dylan Firth said the shift reflects growing consumer interest in moderation, without giving up flavour or enjoyment.

“This fresh Stats NZ data shows that Kiwis are still enjoying nearly the same amount of beer as last year, they’re simply choosing versions with less alcohol.

“The big story this year isn’t about volume; it’s about strength. More New Zealanders are moving back to mid-strength beers and lower-ABV options. That’s a strong indicator of more moderate drinking habits, and beer is perfectly placed to offer great flavour at those levels,”

Firth said brewers have invested heavily in expanding quality options at the lower and mid ABV range, and the trend suggested consumers are responding.

“Beer is unique in offering moderation and taste together. The growth of 2.5-4.3 percent beers shows New Zealanders are choosing products that balance enjoyment with responsibility.

“We have also seen this shift to moderation in the growth of the 0 percent category, with a huge range of options available for those who still want a beer, but are choosing to not to drink alcohol, or moderate their consumption.”

Firth said while the long-term consumption continues to trend downward, the clear shift towards moderate-strength beer represents a positive development for consumers, retailers, and hospitality businesses leading into the summer months.

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

Posted on

Maths teaching programme to be rolled out to 13,000 students nationwide

Source: Radio New Zealand

Education Minister Erica Stanford. RNZ / Mark Papalii

The government is extending a maths teaching programme after a pilot showed it improved struggling learners’ maths knowledge at twice the rate of peers who had regular teaching.

The maths acceleration programme developed by the Education Ministry ran with nearly 1400 Year 7 and 8 students in more than 100 schools earlier this year for 12 weeks.

A ministry report said nearly 600 students had small-group tutoring four times a week, 200 had online exercises, nearly 300 had a mix of online and personal tutoring, and a control group of nearly 300 had regular lessons using new maths resources.

The lessons were focused on four areas of maths – basic facts including multiplication and division, place value, rational number, and interpreting and solving problems involving number.

The students were then tested on those four areas using the e-asTTle test used by many schools.

Students in the control group improved their scores by 26 points, which was at the low-end of the 25-30 point average progress expected for Y7-8 students in a year.

But students in the tutoring group improved by 54 points.

“This shows progress in these key aspects of Maths of approximately 2 years growth across the 12-week intervention,” the report said.

Those in the hybrid group improved 40 points, and those in the online group improved 33 points.

“Analysis showed that demographic and socio-economic variables (such as gender, school EQI, and ethnicity), did not substantially influence the relative effectiveness of the interventions,” the report said.

“This finding suggests a good degree of equity in the outcomes, with students from a range of backgrounds achieving similar gains in maths achievement. In other words, the tutoring programmes appeared to provide equitable benefits across different ethnic and socio-economic groups, supporting the goal of reducing educational disparities.”

The report said the ministry’s data analysts had reviewed the trial design and analysis, and confirmed it was robust.

Education Minister Erica Stanford said the programme was being rolled out nationwide, with around 13,000 students set to take part from the start of next year.

She said all schools that asked to be part of the programme had been accepted.

Stanford said the programme was proof of the government’s commitment to raising children’s achievement and of the efficacy of the new maths curriculum.

Massey University maths education professor Jodie Hunter said the results needed to be put into context.

She told RNZ children could not be said to have made a full year’s progress unless they had been tested against the entire maths curriculum.

“What we’re missing here is what about algebra, what about geometry, what about measurement, what about probability, what about statistics. So you can’t say that children have made one to two years progress if you’re only looking at one very small part of mathematics,” she said.

Hunter said teachers would not spend an entire year teaching one topic, so a year’s progress on a topic might be made in just a few weeks.

She said it was also not clear whether the students who were behind in their maths learning had caught up with their peers.

Hunter said the e-asTTle test was designed for use with the previous curriculum, so it was not clear if the students’ progress was measured against the new curriculum introduced this year.

She said high-performing school systems focused their spending on raising the maths teaching ability of all teachers who taught the subject, rather than on one-off interventions.

Hunter said the government had so far offered teachers two to four days of professional learning which was not sufficient to make changes in classrooms.

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

Posted on

South Island weather: Heat alerts canned, orange heavy rain warnings issued

Source: Radio New Zealand

MetService screenshot

MetService has cancelled two heat alerts for two South Island towns.

The east of the South Island is preparing for a hot day with temperatures predicted to reach the high 20s in some areas.

MetService says heat alerts were originally in place for Timaru and Oamaru for Wednesday, but cloud is keeping the temperatures lower than predicted.

But a spokesperson hasn’t ruled out heat alerts being issued tomorrow and says people should keep an eye on the forecast.

Heat alerts are normally available from December through to February but conditions meant monitoring had started earlier this year, lead forecaster Chelsea Glue said.

“There are two things that can trigger a heat alert, the first is a one-off extreme high temperature for the maximum temperature for the day,” she said.

“The second is prolonged period of not quite so extreme, but still warm days and nights as well and it’s the second situation we might be finding ourselves in.”

Heavy rain, strong winds on the way

Meanwhile, MetService is also predicting heavy rain for parts of the country.

A warning is in place for Tasman west of Takaka until 2pm. As much as 50mm of rainfall is expected today with a second period of heavy rain and possible thunderstorms for tomorrow.

There’s also a heavy rain watch for Buller until noon, and the Westland ranges until 4pm.

An orange heavy rain warning has been issued for Westland for tomorrow. Up to 230mm could fall about the ranges, while up to 90mm might fall about the coast.

A similar orange warning applies to the Canterbury headwaters south of Arthurs Pass from 4am-1pm tomorrow with up to 230mm of rain about the main divide and up to 140mm within 20km further east.

There’s an orange strong wind warning for the Canterbury High Country and the Plains near the foothills from 6am to 5pm. Severe gale norwesters up to 120km/h are possible in exposed places.

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

Posted on

Suitcase killings: Mum gets life sentence for murdering children, hiding bodies

Source: Radio New Zealand

Hakyung Lee stares downward during her sentencing at the Auckland High Court. RNZ/Marika Khabazi

The woman convicted of murdering her children and hiding their bodies in suitcases has been handed a life sentence.

Hakyung Lee faced two charges of murder over the deaths of her children Yuna and Minu Jo in 2018. On Wednesday, she was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.

The bodies of Minu Jo and Yuna Jo, aged six and eight at the time of their deaths, were discovered in suitcases almost four years after they were killed, when a family bought the contents of an abandoned storage locker in an online auction.

Lee’s standby counsel argued she was insane at the time following a “descent into madness” that began with the death of her husband Ian Jo from cancer in 2017.

Hakyung Lee stares downward during her sentencing at the Auckland High Court. RNZ/Marika Khabazi

More to come…..

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Yuna and Minu Jo. Supplied

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

Posted on

Minister Shane Jones says ‘green banshees’ in regional council are stifling growth

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Mark Papalii

Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says the current regional council structure stifles economic growth and that regional councils have suffered cost burdens, “green overreach” and too much influence from iwi.

His comments come after the government announced its plan to scrap regional councillors and hand responsibilities over to mayor-led Combined Territories Boards, marking the biggest structural shift in local government in decades.

The boards will take over regional duties and have two years to propose a longer term structure.

The government said the move will cut costs and streamline decision making.

Regional Development Minister and NZ First Deputy Leader Shane Jones has been one of the strongest critics of regional government, previously saying there is “less and less of a justifiable purpose” for keeping regional councils under the new RMA system.

He also described the Otago Regional Council as “the Kremlin of the South Island” after a dispute over mine expansion.

Jones told Morning Report on Wednesday the country can not afford the multiple layers of regional and local government that “stifles growth”.

He believes regional council has been captured, especially in Otago, by “green banshees” who want to block development such as mining.

“I have no doubt in my mind that once the public sinks its teeth into this issue and realise that it’s a burden of cost, we have had green over-reach, we have had hapu over-consumption and we have stifled growth. I believe the vast majority of Kiwis in regional New Zealand agree with me,” Jones said.

He said some regional councillors have been interpreting parliamentary legislation in a “devious” and “negative” way and that is breaking the law.

“If they are not going to continually abide by the law, they are going to disappear.”

Labour’s deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni said there was a case for reorganising regional councils – but the government is forcing change without consultation.

Sepuloni said the government campaigned on handing power back to local communities, but this plan strips it away.

National Minister Nicola Willis said the scrapping of regional councils is about cutting complexity in local government and getting local communities to decide how they want to simplify things.

Willis told Morning Report that it’s also about addressing the cost of living and people’s concerns about rates.

Earlier on Morning Report, Former Local Government NZ regional chair Doug Leeder said the government’s plan has merit.

He said the regional sector of local government have been advocating to have this conversation with ministers for at least the last 12 months.

However, he said it remains to be seen what can incentivise local mayors to act in the best interest of their region.

“What is going to be the incentive for local mayors to remove themselves for their territorial responsibilities, their local communities, and act in the best interest of their region – there lies the challenge.”

Former Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder. NZME

Leeder said while the regional sector supports the plan, he believes the level of governance needs to step up for the plan to work.

He said the appointment of external commissioners could help.

The changes are out for consultation, which remains open until 20 February, with the resulting legislation expected to be introduced mid-next year and passed in 2027.

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