Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former Māori Party MP Hone Harawira is calling for its ousted MPs to be brought back “into the team”, for the party to make a “public declaration of commitment”, and a national reconciliation tour before getting “back to ^#$% work”.

He also dispelled speculation he would be rejoining the party in a formal role, saying it was not time to “jockey” for positions or power.

“In case anyone is asking – I’m not putting my hand up for MP for the Tai Tokerau, nor am I wanting to be the president of Te Pāti Māori.”

In a Facebook post shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Harawira said he had stayed out of the “public debate raging over the Māori Party” until now, “because our comments often get misinterpreted, and because the right-wing media always churns our words into racist click-bait”.

Te Pāti Māori has been in a period of turmoil culminating in the expulsion of MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris.

On the anniversary of the Toitū te Tiriti hīkoi arriving at Parliament last year, Harawira said he had not read the “he said – she said” stuff, as sometimes the detail “clouds the bigger picture”.

He said Māori were having to deal with the “greatest barrage of racist, anti-treaty, anti-environment, anti-worker legislation we have ever seen from one government”.

Harawira said the “once all-powerful Te Pāti Māori” was now tearing itself apart with “not an enemy in sight” and the “rest of our people are wondering what the hell is going on?”

“These are the people we marched for just 12 months ago, the people we marched with when we took to the roads in the biggest protest march this country has ever seen.

“We arrived in Wellington in a blaze of treaty power. We gave our people hope that our unity could overcome, we gave them belief in themselves, and now we’re telling them ‘taihoa – we’ll just tear it all apart and start again’.”

Harawira said people did not understand what was happening with the party, but were more focused on “benefit cuts, rising prices, treaty rights stripped, land rights removed, school food programs slashed, language belittled, drugs and alcohol, homelessness, domestic violence, joblessness, jail, suicide all on the rise”.

He said “our people” should be at the forefront of the party’s priorities and focus.

“But they aren’t. They’re stranded on the sidelines, waiting for us to get this shit sorted out so we can get back to hammering the government and building our base.”

Harawira said people would not support the expulsion of two MPs – “so we need to bring them back in” – but neither would people support ousting the current leadership.

He said the solution was not in blaming anyone or one side winning, nor could the solution be found in a new party and “forcing our people to take sides”.

“A lasting memory I have from when I split with the Māori Party in 2011 was the confusion and sadness on the faces of our kuia, something I’d never want to see again.”

He made a list of recommendations:

1. Bring Meno and Takuta back into the team.

2. Bring the whole team together to discuss a way forward.

3. Outline plans to manage differences and disputes.

4. Agree to a workplan focussed on Te Pāti Māori kaupapa.

5. Make a public declaration of commitment and action to our people.

6. Take the team on a national reconciliation tour.

7. Then get back to ^#$% work. We got a government to overthrow.

Harawira said only with a strong united front of Te Pāti Māori MPs can a Māori, Greens, Labour coalition overthrow the current government in 2026.

“If we don’t get rid of them next year, all the damage they have done will be entrenched over the next three, and all the gains of the past 25 years will be lost.”

His warnings came with a call to everyone to step up and work together, to “rebuild the team”, not because “we love each other, let’s call that a work in progress” he said, “but because we love our people more”.

“Let us make the sacrifices necessary to rebuild the team that helped put us all into parliament in the first place – Te Pāti Māori.

“Let us find a quiet space without constitutional clauses, lawyers and too many relations, be open to hearing and sharing, and be willing to apologise for our own shortcomings and forgive others for theirs.

“Let us rebuild the strength, commitment and unity of Team Māori.”

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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 Far North District Council is warning Kāeo residents their decade-long water woes won’t be fixed instantly.

Late yesterday the national water authority used its legal powers to take over a private water supply and order the council to operate it.

It was the first time Taumata Arowai had invoked those powers under the Water Services Act 2021.

That unprecedented intervention followed 10 years of residents having to boil their drinking water, months of unsuccessful discussions, and 30 days with no running water at all.

The council’s head of infrastructure, Tanya Proctor, said people connected to Kāeo’s town supply would be relieved staff could now act to restore water.

However, she warned that goal would not be achieved immediately.

It was the first time Taumata Arowai had used its powers to take control of a water supply, so the council had to work through several legal issues – including access to the treatment plant, which was located on a property owned by a third party.

“We need to negotiate access with the owner and only then will we be able to inspect the water treatment plant.”

The next step would be to restore the water supply to residents and businesses as quickly as possible.

Once water was flowing again, it was likely customers would still have to boil it before drinking.

Before taps ran dry a month ago, the privately-owned Kāeo scheme had been on a boil water advisory for 10 years.

Council staff would then begin a full assessment of the treatment plant and pipe network, and come up with options for a long-term solution.

Ms Proctor said the council was grateful to the owner of Wai Care, the company that owned the water supply, for agreeing to forego the normal 90-day period for putting in place statutory management.

Kāeo’s water scheme, which supplied fewer than 30 homes and businesses along the town’s main street, was originally council owned but sold to Doubtless Bay Water in the year 2000.

In 2008 the company said the scheme was no longer viable and planned to close it down. It was instead bought by Wai Care Environmental Consultants for a nominal sum.

The owner of the land where the treatment plant is located trespassed Wai Care staff earlier this year, saying the company had failed to pay rent for the past seven years.

A water tanker, provided by the council, continues to be stationed in Kāeo from 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday.

The council had previously been reluctant to intervene in Kāeo’s troubled water scheme, saying there was no funding set aside for it in the Long Term Plan.

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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 have named a man killed in a hit and run in Auckland.

He was 58-year-old Dion Raymond Kainamu.

He died after being critically hurt in Henderson on Sunday morning.

Police said the vehicle that hit him then left the scene.

A 47-year-old woman has been charged with failing to stop, and two counts of driving while disqualified.

Police said an investigation into what happened before Kainamu was hit is continuing.

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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 process for getting rid of potentially asbestos-contaminated play sand should be more straightforward, an Auckland teacher says.

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.

Auckland specialist outreach teacher Stephanie Pye told Morning Report getting rid of the sand was not an easy process.

“The guidelines about how to package it up and then to not put it into the general rubbish have been clear, but I found that after that, where do you take it? What do you do with it?”

“I missed an opportunity to dispose of my sand with my particular school just because it happened so quickly and the nature of my role meant it couldn’t be collected at the time it was being collected … when I went to investigate how to dispose of it, where to take it, I found it really challenging to find the correct place.

“It was one place not within my hours that I could drop it off, and in addition to that I ended up having to pay for it if I wanted to dispose it that way.”

Cleaning up the sand was also a mission, Pye said.

“It gets everywhere, there’s little speckles of stuff everywhere and even cleaning it up it’s difficult to be reassured you’ve captured it all,” she said.

Several hundred schools and childhood centres have contacted the Ministry of Education for advice.

Health NZ advice

On its website, Health NZ said people did not need to take any immediate steps to manage their health if they had been exposed to the products.

“We appreciate that the presence of asbestos in products that are used by children may cause worry for parents and caregivers. We are working rapidly with other agencies to assess the health risk posed by these products and will share more information when it is available.

“At this stage we do not have enough information to quantify the risk to people’s health, but we advise people to take a precautionary approach and stop using the products.”

Health NZ said anyone using the products in their home should stop immediately and, if it was still in its original container, place it into a thick plastic bag sealed securely with tape.

“Place that bag or container into a second thick plastic bag, seal it securely with tape, and label it clearly as asbestos-contaminated material.”

It needed to be taken to a landfill rather than going in a normal bin, it said, and parents should contact their local council for advice on where to go.

If the sand was not in its original container, PPE should be worn while cleaning it up. It should be put in a sealed container or thick plastic bag. All surfaces surrounding where it was should be wiped down with a damp cloth.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment product safety spokesperson Ian Caplin said he understood how alarming the discovery would be for families.

“We appreciate that the presence of asbestos in products that are used by children will be concerning to parents and caregivers. We urge families who have purchased these products to stop using them immediately, secure them safely, and contact your local council for advice on where and how to dispose of the contaminated material safely,” he said.

“If you are a workplace, where you may have higher volumes of these products or more people may have come in contact with the products, you should contact a licensed asbestos assessor or removalist for immediate advice and support on your specific situation. A list of these is available on the WorkSafe website.”

The recalled Kmart products include:

• 14-piece Sandcastle Building Set
• Blue Magic Sand
• Green Magic Sand
• Pink Magic Sand

The newly identified products are in addition to the previously recalled sands from Educational Colours and Creatistics:

• EC Rainbow Sand (1.3kg)
• Creatistics Coloured Sand (1kg)

Full information was available 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

Households remain under pressure from high costs as they approach the busy shopping period, with many likely to turn to debt or additional income sources to pay for presents.

A nationwide survey by accounting software firm MYOB, showed 35 percent expected to feel financially better off in a year’s time, while 38 percent expected to be about the same, and 24 percent believed they would be worse off.

The survey polled just over 1000 adults across the country.

Looking back at the year, a third said their financial position was the same as it was this time last year, while a quarter felt better off, and 42 percent felt worse off.

“New Zealanders have shown remarkable resilience in what has been another challenging year for local households, and it’s clear from the response coming through in our survey that the financial strain continues to be felt deeply,” MYOB chief customer officer Dean Chadwick said.

“However, we are starting to see a shift in confidence, likely helped by easing interest rates and a sense that the worst of some cost pressures may be behind us.”

The survey also asked about households’ shopping plans for the Christmas period.

More than half expected to spend about the same on gifts last year, and 15 percent set to spend more, while more than a quarter planned to cut back.

MYOB said to help cover costs, people were turning to side hustles or additional income sources, or turn to credit or buy-now-pay-later options.

“For many Kiwi families, the pressure to spend up over the season can be particularly tough – especially when relying on credit – and taking on extra work to make Christmas possible can also put an extra load on already strained households,” Chadwick said.

On average, people expected to spend $140 on gifts per person in the holiday season, compared to $163 the year before.

The survey also showed, on average, people expected to spend $415 on food and drink over the Christmas/New Year period, compared to $468 a year ago.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – Schools and health authorities have been scrambling after the revelation that popular children’s play sand products have been contaminated with asbestos.

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

What kind of asbestos is it, and just how dangerous can it be? Here’s a quick look at the facts.

What’s the worry about asbestos?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that’s highly heat resistant and had been used in construction industries for years. It’s made up of tiny fibres which can be released into the air. These fibres can become stuck in the lungs and cause disease, including cancer.

“Unfortunately it is a cancer causing, type 1 carcinogen,” AUT associate professor and asbestos expert Terri-Ann Berry told RNZ Afternoons.

There are six types of asbestos, all dangerous, and the kinds that have been found in the sand products are tremolite and chrysotile (often called white asbestos).

Crocidolite, or blue asbestos, is widely considered the most dangerous form of asbestos and has not yet been reported in the sand.

“Asbestos causes a rare form of lung cancer (mesothelioma) following inhalation,” University of Canterbury professor of toxicology Ian Shaw said.

“The risk of contracting cancer is high when exposed to airborne asbestos. The longer the exposure the greater the risk.”

So how dangerous is it?

Molecular pharmacologist Ian Musgrave from the University of Adelaide said the forms of asbestos found in the sand were less likely to create fibres than types like blue asbestos.

“Tremolite, the predominant form found in these play sands, in particular, is rarely used industrially, but can be found in minerals like talc or vermiculite,” he told the Science Media Centre.

“Asbestos typically causes lung issues and lung cancer from inhalation of the crystalline fibres that asbestos forms. Tremolite is typically non-fibrous, unlike the fibrous blue asbestos, but exposure to any asbestos type will increase the likelihood of lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.

“I would be worried if it were my children,” Berry said. “However, I do need to offer some reassurance and that is that not everyone that gets exposed to asbestos will develop cancer.”

Shaw said much depends on how much exposure children may have had to the sand.

“The children’s sand product asbestos contaminations are serious because the products are dry and played with which would cause asbestos fibres to become airborne and thus readily inhaled.

“The question is: how long have children been exposed to the asbestos-contaminated product? This will significantly affect the cancer risk.

“The rapid response when the contamination was found is good, since it has prevented further exposure and thus continued risk.”

How contaminated is the sand?

“We do not have any indication of actual levels of these asbestos forms in the play sand,” Musgrave said.

“However, both WorkSafe and the (Australian) ACCC say these are trace levels (and/or present only in some samples).”

Health New Zealand has said, “We are working rapidly with other agencies to assess the health risk posed by these products and will share more information when it is available.”

Laura Gemmell from Eco Choice Aotearoa told Morning Report recently she believed there was no indication that the asbestos had been intentionally added.

“Asbestos occurs naturally so it could be in a quarry where they got this sand, through equipment or storage containers that were also contaminated.

“I’m mystified as to exactly how it ended up in there and how it wasn’t checked,” Berry said.

“I would say that that sort of checking (in play sand) isn’t commonplace, checking it in a building material probably more so, probably because we expect it to be there.”

Robert McAllister, a director of the Faculty of Asbestos Management of Australia and New Zealand, alerted workplace safety authorities in NZ on 5 November and then Australian regulators were contacted.

Authorities in Australia have sought to reassure the public that the risks of harm are low and that asbestos fibres in the sand are not in a “respirable” form.

McAllister said he would “argue that the level of testing required to demonstrate that has not been done”.

“In this particular case, you’re talking about young children, who are highly susceptible to asbestos fibre, playing with this product up close and personal,” he said.

Will people see symptoms of asbestos problems right away?

It can be a long period of time – sometimes decades – between exposure to cancer-causing material like asbestos and the development of cancer.

“There is a time period between when you are exposed to asbestos and the development of any related disease (called the latency period) which is usually between 15 and 40 years,” Berry said. “This means that the impact of exposure is highly unlikely to be detected in the short term.”

A small amount of asbestos can be dangerous, but risks rise sharply with long-term exposure, University of Technology Sydney professor of life science Brian Oliver has written.

“Those who encounter asbestos once or twice in small amounts have a far lower risk of developing health complications, compared to people continually exposed to large quantities, as we’ve seen in the construction and mining industries.”

What do I do with the contaminated sand?

Short answer – get rid of it, safely, and don’t throw it in your rubbish bin. WorkSafe recommends contacting a licensed asbestos removalist.

Parents have expressed concern over what to do and the school closures have also caused angst.

There’s plenty of information out there on Health New Zealand’s website and the Product Safety Recall website.

I’m still worried, what’s the next step?

The clean-up and investigations over this sand scandal will carry on for some time, but there are resources galore out there for those with worries.

Berry is a trustee and board chairperson for the Mesothelioma & Asbestos Awareness Trust, which offers support to those with concerns.

“If they are worried and just want to talk, reach out to the MSAA trust, because we are there to help.

“I do think that this is a random and unfortunate one-off, however, I would say that asbestos awareness in New Zealand is generally relatively poor.”

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