Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

A West Auckland School has confirmed a small number of coloured sand samples tested for asbestos have come back positive.

Several coloured play sand products have been recalled after tests found a naturally occurring asbestos.

About 40 schools and early childcare centres have closed, or planned to, because of the contamination fears.

The product has been sold in both New Zealand and Australia and is subject to multiple safety recalls.

Matipo School in Te Atatu Peninsula originally told parents they did not have any of the recalled sand products, but was testing other types of sand used for art activities as a precaution.

The school set out steps including independent testing, isolating and temporarily closing affected class rooms, and ensuring there was no access to the sand until it was confirmed safe.

However, Principal Jonnie Black wrote to members of the school community to say a small number of samples tested had returned positive results.

“I want to reassure our community that there is no immediate risk, and we are following all recommended Ministry of Education and health and safety procedures,” he said.

“Affected classrooms have been temporarily relocated while we complete air-quality testing and arrange professional decontamination of those spaces.”

Students were safe, well supervised and settled in alternative learning areas, he said.

Black said they had asked the families of specific classes to seal and return any sand-based artwork, so it could be disposed of safely and appropriately.

“This step is part of the national precautionary process to ensure full compliance with safety guidelines.”

The school understood how unsettling the situation was, Black said.

“Please be assured that the safety and wellbeing of our tamariki and staff remains our highest priority.”

Meanwhile, in Nelson, Enner Glynn School principal John O’Regan told Checkpoint they had to close four classrooms due to the potentially contaminated sand. The children have been sharing classrooms or moved to another space such as the library.

“It’s certainly been disruptive,” O’Regan said.

He said the tests for three of the classrooms have come back negative, while they are still awaiting the results of the fourth classroom.

However, O’Regan said despite having negative results back, they are advised not to send children back into those spaces.

“We are still waiting to have the all clear to open those classes.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police are responding to an incident in Waikanae on Kāpiti Coast.

Emergency Services were called to Kakariki Grove just before 3.30pm.

A police spokesperson says officers are at the scene and people are asked to avoid the area.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Thames Coromandel District Council hopes to be able to say soon when two of its libraries caught up in the contaminated play sand scare will re-open.

Action around potentially asbestos contaminated children’s play sand has expanded beyond schools and early childhood centres.

Council libraries in Thames and Tairua in Coromandel were closed on Wednesday so work can be done to reduce the risk of any asbestos.

Thames Coromandel District Council said the closures were for vital health and safety maintenance so the public and staff could be kept safe.

“An investigation into the use of play sand in council facilities has revealed that products from the recalled list have been used recently in Thames Library and we are seeking clarity whether one of the recalled products was used more than six months ago at Tairua Library,” it said.

The council said it had spoken to WorkSafe and had engaged an asbestos disposal specialist to take possible contaminated material from Thames library.

It was hoping to advise of plans to re-open the libraries as soon as it knew more from its technical advisors.

It comes after the Education Ministry on Tuesday night sent updated advice to schools and early learning centres.

It told them all recalled sand products must be presumed to contain asbestos.

Auckland Council said there are no indications the sand was used in any of its libraries. The council later issued advice for what Aucklanders should do with any of the recalled sand.

It was to take safely-contained product to the council’s Asbestos Lab in Grafton between 9am and 3.30pm Monday to Friday.

The site was for homes only, with education facilities needing to follow advice from WorkSafe

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A rescue helicopter in Otago followed a car for 30 kilometres after lasers were pointed at the pilots flying on a hospital transfer mission this week.

Local pilots have condemned the behaviour of people who point lasers at helicopters, after two paramedics were targeted while flying over Palmerston.

Helicopters Otago said someone in a car shone lasers into the eyes of the paramedics mid-flight on Tuesday night, prompting the pilot to follow the car for about 30 kilometres until police brought the driver to a stop.

Managing director Graeme Gale said the laser attack came as a shock for the paramedics.

“They’ve since been to an eye specialist to get checked out, to make sure there’s no damage to the back of their eyes,” he said.

“It can be really serious and cause total blindness, so we don’t take it lightly.”

Gale said laser attacks could have catastrophic consequences.

“We’re not out flying around at night for fun. We’re taking seriously and critically ill patients to care,” he said.

Police said the car was intercepted at about 1.40am near Coast Road in Omimi.

A vehicle of interest was searched and enquiries were ongoing, they said.

Gale said it was fortunate the helicopter was on a return journey and able to pursue the car but that was not always the case.

“We’ve had a number over the last 12 months and we’ve had quite a number over the last few years,” he said.

“It’s not just us, airlines get hit every now and again, but it’s a criminal offence. You can’t just go around pointing lasers and shining them at aircraft.”

Last year a 39-year-old man who shone a laser at the Otago Rescue Helicopter for four minutes was charged with endangering transport.

A 33-year-old Dunedin man admitted shining a laser at a helicopter in 2021.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A controversial outside application to change an Auckland school to a charter school has been abandoned.

Bangerz Education and Wellbeing Trust and a former board member, Siaosi Gavet, were behind the bid.

They argued Kelston Boys’ High is violent, has low achievement and attendance rates and has lost community confidence.

But the school didn’t support the move and said becoming a charter school wouldn’t be in students’ best interests.

The Trust earlier ended its own consultation on its plans, and said the school had drawn battle lines in its public opposition.

Commenting on the battle last month, Labour said the charter school system is set up so “cowboy organisations” could pressure state schools.

The Charter Schools Agency said it was told last week the application would be withdrawn.

Kelston Boys’ High, on its social media, has called it a positive update.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Twenty police staff are under investigation in relation to “misuse and inappropriate content”, police have now confirmed.

Police say they cannot rule out criminal investigations into the staff.

RNZ earlier revealed several police staff were under investigation, including an officer who has been stood down after inappropriate material was found on a police-issued device.

It follows an audit of staff internet usage sparked by the resignation of former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming who recently pleaded guilty to possessing objectionable publications, including child sexual exploitation and bestiality over a four-year period.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers earlier told RNZ a “small number of users of concern” were under investigation.

RNZ asked for clarification but did not receive a response from police.

On Wednesday, Rogers said police continued to progress investigations into about 20 cases of misuse and inappropriate content as part of the ongoing audit of staff use of police devices.

“Employment processes are underway in some of these cases while others are still at the preliminary stages of investigation.

“We can assure the public appropriate action will be taken in every case and cannot rule out charges if the Solicitor General’s guidelines for prosecution are met.

“We are unable to comment further while these processes take their course.”

Rogers earlier confirmed to RNZ a police officer had been stood down from duty for “inappropriate content on a police device”.

“The officer is under employment investigation for serious misconduct, relating to inappropriate, but not objectionable, material on a police-issued device. The alleged misconduct was uncovered through following recent audits of staff internet usage.”

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers earlier told RNZ the misconduct being investigated was uncovered as a result of the new monitoring measures introduced following the Rapid Review of the settings for police devices, launched after McSkimming’s resignation.

“I sought that review because of my concern that such conduct was not being detected. This offers some reassurance that we now have the necessary tools to detect potentially inappropriate behaviour.”

Police Minister Mark Mitchell earlier told RNZ he had not been briefed on the allegations, but expected police to “take action on any matters that involve inappropriate behaviour”.

The investigation into McSkimming led to concerns that staff could bypass internal controls and “exploit vulnerabilities to access inappropriate content”.

The concerns prompted Chambers to order a “rapid review” of police’s information security (INFOSEC) controls to ensure police had sufficiently strong controls to prevent or detect the misuse of police technology and equipment for non-work-related purposes.

A summary of the review said the main risks were; weaknesses in technology configuration, lack of visibility over user activity and gaps in governance.

The report included key findings and recommendations in relation to each of the risks.

There was “inconsistent application” of internet access policies across different workgroups as well as a “lack of robust filtering mechanisms” to consistently prevent access to unauthorised websites.

The review also found there was “insufficient monitoring of internet usage to detect and respond to potential security threats and inappropriate usage”.

Other findings included unmanaged devices being used for operational activities and inadequate monitoring of user activity and network traffic.

There was an absence of centralised logging and analysis tools to detect anomalies and potential issues and “insufficient resources allocated to continuous monitoring and incident response”.

The review also said there was a lack of “clear governance structures and accountability” for INFOSEC controls, with “inconsistent enforcement” of security policies and procedures.

The report called for “improved oversight and coordination among different workgroups”.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Researchers say New Zealand is attracting international attention for all the wrong reasons following it being awarded the ‘Dirty Ashtray’ award.

The ‘Dirty Ashtray’ was given to New Zealand at the biennial meeting of Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Geneva, Switzerland.

The ‘Dirty Ashtray’ is awarded each year at the Conference of the Parties meeting following a review of international progress and consideration of each country’s performance.

New Zealand’s citation is “for trying to portray their current tobacco control plan as a success when in reality since COP10 they’ve reversed world-leading reforms, sabotaged Indigenous tobacco-free aspirations, have alarming vaping rates among young people and have plummeted from 2nd to 53rd on the global index for tobacco industry interference.

New Zealand’s legislative reversal is being used by tobacco industry interests globally to push bad policy.”

Co-Director of the ASPIRE Aotearoa Research Centre Professor Janet Hoek said New Zealand was once a leader in global tobacco control policy.

“Now, our national shame is playing out on an international stage.”

Last week New Zealand also fell from second to 53rd in the global Tobacco Industry Interference Index.

“Last week the Cancer Society’s Tobacco Industry Interference Index marked a cataclysmic decline for Aotearoa New Zealand. The ‘Dirty Ashtray’ award reinforces the Cancer Society’s conclusions,” Hoek said.

Dr Mary Assunta, Head of Global Research and Advocacy at Global Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC) and principal author of the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index said if the country had implemented the measures the coalition Government repealed, “large, rapid and equitable declines in smoking prevalence were predicted.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The sister of a man accused of killing Dunedin’s Gurjit Singh says he was not upset when he discovered the woman who rejected him had married Singh instead, a court has heard.

A 35-year-old, known only as Rajinder, is on trial at the High Court for the murder of Gurjit Singh.

Singh was found dead on the lawn of his home in January last year after being stabbed more than 40 times.

The High Court has heard of a complicated love triangle involving Singh, his widow Kamaljeet Kaur and Rajinder.

Kaur told the court on Tuesday that she rejected Rajinder in 2022 before marrying Singh the following year.

Rajinder’s sister Harmeet Kaur said Kamaljeet Kaur’s family approached her family twice about marrying her brother in 2022 but they rejected the proposal.

She found out about Singh and Kamaljeet Kaur’s marriage in 2023 as a result of an Instagram post about the wedding when she was living with a mutual friend of Singh’s – Harjit Kaur – in Auckland.

Harmeet Kaur told the court that she was shocked and called her brother. She told the court he was surprised but not upset, saying it was a small world.

A marriage broker had pushed for them to accept Kamaljeet Kaur, saying she wanted to go abroad, only for the woman’s family to say she was not ready to leave India after a video call between Rajinder and the woman’s father, Kaur said.

She said Rajinder was not upset when Gurjit Singh rejected a plan for him to marry his sister, because he accepted that she was too young.

Stevens asked Harmeet Kaur about her time living with her brother, father and Rajinder’s wife in Dunedin from August 2023.

She said they enjoyed their time together and her brother’s marriage appeared to be happy.

His wife spent about six months staying at home adjusting to New Zealand culture but they then went on long car rides, watched movies and cooked together.

Kaur said Rajinder also gave his wife driving lessons, usually later at night after work and dinner.

Harmeet Kaur told prosecutor Richard Smith that she called Rajinder after seeing Singh’s wedding photo because he had received two proposals from Kamaljeet Kaur, only to be told she had changed her mind again about leaving India.

It had been a waste of time, Kaur said.

The trial is set down for three weeks.

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