Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Consumer NZ is urging shoppers to approach the flood of Black Friday discounts with a healthy dose of scepticism, warning that some “bargains” may not be as good as they seem.

Black Friday is on Friday 28 November, but advertising for the American tradition of thanksgiving sales is already ramping up.

Consumer communications and campaigns adviser Abby Damen said potentially advertising comes months ahead of the actual event.

“Then it merges into Cyber Monday and then you’ve got Christmas promotions and then Boxing Day, so it is really huge and I think what we see is that a lot of it is hype.”

People would be buying things because Christmas is coming up, she said.

Consumer NZ wants to ensure that when people buy something that they think is a bargain that is actually is, she said.

It was increasingly difficult to tell whether a sale price item was in fact at a lower price than it had been over the previous few months, she said.

“We’ve done price tracking over the last few years and see a similar trend each time. So this year we noticed a lot of the language around specials could make you think that it is on sale but it’s not necessarily the cheapest that it’s been all year.”

People could check on independent websites such as Consumer NZ, PriceSpy or PriceMe to look at the price of a product over time “and see if today’s special is actually a bargain”, she said.

Storewide sales could also be a problem, she said.

“If you’ve got 20 to 50 percent off everything and most things are discounted at 20 percent, you know it’s not really fair if you’re lured into a store or an online space where that’s not necessarily the case,” she said.

But people are always going to make the most of discounts, she said.

“So we’d say avoid the hype, that’s like look out for those count down timers that might pop up on the website, any pressure tactic that you can feel is trying to encourage you to buy right now, you know you were looking at that product, you’re going to buy it anyway, you don’t need to be pressured.

“So be really conscious of all those designs you see online that might put pressure on you.”

People could also check who they were dealing with by looking at the company’s register, she said.

“Just because a company’s got a .co.nz in the URL it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a New Zealand business. You need to do your due diligence.”

You will also be better protected if you pay for the item using a credit or debit card “because if the worst case scenario happens you can contact your bank and request a charge-back”, 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

The Independent Police Conduct Authority’s report found serious misconduct at the highest levels of police over how they handled accusations of sexual offending by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming. It also commended the work of several police staff who stood up. National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reveals the identity of the staff who spoke up.

Standing at the podium inside the Beehive’s theaterette after acknowledging there had “interference at the highest levels of police” in relation to a woman’s accusations of sexual assault by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers acknowledged a group of police officers who “did stand up and challenge what was happening here”.

“I thank them for their courage, for the leadership and the integrity they showed in doing so.”

The IPCA’s report also dedicates section to several police officers under a heading ‘Officers who displayed commendable integrity and moral courage’.

RNZ takes a look at the staff who spoke up.

Officer D

When former Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kura finally decided to explore the former unsworn staffer’s allegations she and Assistant Commissioner A agreed to bring in Officer D.

The IPCA report does not name Officer D, but RNZ understands it’s Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves – one the country’s most senior adult sexual assault investigators who has worked on a number of high-profile cases including the murder of Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao.

The terms of reference for the investigation did not instruct Reeves to speak to Ms Z.

Reeves showed the terms of reference to her supervisor, Territorial Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney. He was so concerned by what he read he contacted the other two Territorial Detective Superintendents and told them.

Sweeney told the IPCA that when Reeves spoke to him in September there were several features of the case that struck him as unusual.

This included that no senior reviewing officer had been assigned to the investigation, and that usually an investigation like the one being conducted would have been resourced with about four other staff but it was only Reeves.

He also said Reeves should not have had a reporting line directly to Assistant Commissioner A, and the police executive should not have had a role in managing it.

Reeves met with Kura and Assistant Commissioner A in Wellington on 26 July 2024.

She told them she couldn’t continue without speaking to Ms Z and asked for their permission.

She said the meeting was “strange”, and that when she pointed out the investigation fell outside usual policy for such investigations Assistant Commissioner A asked where in policy it said police had to speak to the complainant.

She contrasted the discussion with usual police practice.

“If we get wind of anything, any kind of complaint, that’s what the police do. We would contact someone and go: ‘Hey what’s going on. Is there something that you want to talk about?’ You know we can’t always be waiting for people to come to us, and you know having sat in that adult sexual assault chair for so long we get lots of complaints that actually come through from other people that go: ‘Look you need to talk to my friend. She was raped by so and so’ or whatever… I know that this is our obligation, and look I don’t know that it’s actually written in black and white anywhere, you know that that’s what we do.”

She said Assistant Commissioner A repeated on a number of occasions that McSkimming had applied for the top job and that if things weren’t sorted quickly he wouldn’t get it.

“I personally think it should be very simple in every police officer’s world. Doesn’t matter who the hell you are. We speak to the person, take a complaint and investigate it. It’s all very simple,” Reeves told the IPCA.

Operation Herb was closed on 24 September by Assistant Commissioner A.

Reeves told the IPCA such files were “never truly closed”, and that police could take action at any time.

Reeves remained leading the inquiry when Operation Jefferson, the criminal investigation into McSkimming, began in October last year.

It was during that investigation that police found the objectionable material on his work devices and a second criminal investigation began.

It was Reeves who told the Independent Police Conduct Authority that the handling of the allegations prior to her involvement in the case was “appalling”.

“We have just not followed policy whatsoever and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist… Jevon has tried to get rid of this by making a complaint and … making [Ms Z] the villain, when in actual fact what he perhaps should have done was gone: ‘Can someone look at this and investigate it and get it cleared up? Because I’ve got designs on the future, and I want my integrity intact, so I welcome an investigation. Let’s get it cleared up, get it out of the way’.

“But you know what’s the worst thing – if you make a mistake … the only worse thing that you can do is then cover it up…You can paint all sorts of nice words of this …but to an outsider looking in, and … I mean even me, this looks like a cover-up.”

The IPCA acknowledged the “extraordinarily difficult environment” in which Reeves was working when she was tasked under Operation Herb.

“We commend her courage in insisting on the need to speak to the complainant, Ms Z, when speaking with Deputy Commissioner Kura and Assistant Commissioner A.

“As an experienced adult sexual assault investigator, she has shown insight into what a policy-compliant investigation should look like, and the reasons why her initial investigation should have looked no different.

“She was also able to identify what many senior officers were not – that a traumatised victim who has been told she will not be listened to if she tries to approach Police, may not present as a regular victim ‘should’ and that the emails Ms Z was sending may have reflected the desperation of someone emailing into the ‘abyss’, having not been heard for several years prior.”

Officer M

The IPCA said had it not been for the actions of another police officer, Officer M, it was ” conceivable that Ms Z’s complaint may never have been heard, and the IPCA may never have been made aware of the concerning developments during 2024.”

RNZ understands Officer M is Detective Superintendent Kylie Schaare, the director of Integrity and Conduct.

She told the IPCA that on 16 September last year, she received a call from then Police Commissioner Andrew Coster asking if she knew of any “open investigations” into McSkimming.

She believed the call was prompted by McSkimming’s application for Commissioner. She told Coster she would check the NZ Police Professional Conduct database.

She told the IPCA she was saw a “huge organisational risk” that there was something “sitting outside our system”.

“… It didn’t appear that we’d actually dealt with that at all following our usual process, and that I was now aware that the woman had been arrested, pleaded not guilty and I said ‘look, with…my legal experience…any defence lawyer worth their salt is going to say that…this woman has acted the way she has because she’s been trying to raise these concerns for a significant period of time against Police and no one’s listened to her and no one’s followed usual process’ so I said: ‘That’s all going to come out…That’s a matter of risk to the police, it’s a risk to you as Commissioner”.

Following the call she texted Coster and said there were no “open complaints” that were visible in the database.

“The complaints re the woman that you’ve referenced have not been through our usual complaint processes though, and there is no record of the complaints or what has been done re them. I do see this as a risk to the New Zealand Police and Jevon, particularly if this issue arises again down the track.”

She suggested the information around the complaint and what had been done was provided to either her or the Operations Manager of Integrity and Conduct to record in the database.

“I am conscious with a not guilty plea entered on the charges the woman is facing, the complaints could come to light through the court process as part of the defence disclosure request or the woman may complain again in the future, particularly if Jevon is in the media. It would open up criticism if there is nothing recorded in the usual manner following our complaint processes. IPCA are also asking why this has bypassed our usual complaint processes. They were going to contact Tania directly to discuss.”

Coster replied he understood from Kura’s briefing that the “intent” was to record it as Schaare suggested but was “unsure why this has not yet occurred”.

“To be clear, I don’t think there was ever a complaint. The woman never identified herself to us. However, through Jevon’s transparency on it we knew who she was and proactively approached her. However, there was still no complaint forthcoming to back up her various email allegations sent from a variety of email addresses with made-up names. I appreciate your follow up on that.”

Schaare later contacted the IPCA over concerns she had.

On 8 October she had a meeting with the authority and expressed the nature of her concerns.

On 9 October the Public Service Commission contacted the IPCA and asked if there were any complaints relating to the applicants for Commissioner.

The following day the IPCA Chair emailed Coster asking that police refer any complaints regarding McSkimming to them.

It was then that Ms Z’s complaint was referred by Officer M. That same day Schaare emailed Deputy Commissioner PLC and said she had opened a file on the database. She had also been informed that Ms Z had contacted Reeves and was considering making a complaint.

The IPCA informed police on 14 October they had categorised the matter as Category A, an independent investigation.

Schaare then got a call from Deputy Commissioner PLC who said Coster was not happy about the IPCA’s involvement.

The IPCA said Schaare raised her concerns both within her own internal chain of command and with the IPCA from an early stage.

“When she felt her concerns were not being heeded, she sought our support in elevating the matter. We commend her moral courage.”

Officer O

A report by the joint Police/Health Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) in February 2024 identified that emails allegedly sent by the woman raised potential criminal and Police Code of Conduct concerns relating to McSkimming and recommended referring them to the National Integrity Unit and IPCA with a view to possible investigation.

The IPCA acknowledged the efforts of FTAC’s Officer O, who when being assigned with looking through the emails was able to “identify, and draw to the attention of senior officers, allegations of both criminal offending and breaches of the Police Code of Conduct”.

‘Through his efforts, his supervisor, Officer N, was then able to brief senior officers, including Deputy Commissioner Kura and Officer B, on the need to look at the matter from two different perspectives – action to stop the emails, and an investigation into their veracity.

“Had FTAC’s advice been heeded in February, many of the issues raised in this report would have been avoided, and a more balanced consideration of the respective interests of Deputy Commissioner McSkimming and Ms Z may have been adopted.”

Director, Police Legal Services

On 30 October, two days before the National Integrity Unit had their first “forensic interview” of Ms Z, Coster called a meeting. At the meeting was Kura, Deputy Commissioner PLC, the Director, Police Legal Services, Schaare and Officer K of the NIU.

Coster then proposed a “special national assessment team” to look into the appropriate investigative pathway in relation to Ms Z’s complaint. He suggested the team consist of himself and Kura.

At the meeting the director of police legal services said it was not appropriate, given the conflicts of interest, for Coster and Kura to be involved in decisions on criminality.

The IPCA commended the director for “directly standing up to Commissioner Coster” in the meetings “to ensure the new investigation structure was robust and free from actual or perceived conflicts of interest”.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man who strangled his ex-partner to death before dumping her body inside a wooden chest and nailing it shut says he doesn’t want to be released from jail.

“A life for a life,” Lewis Blackburn told the New Zealand Parole Board on Tuesday as he asked them to stand him down from being considered for early release from prison for another five years.

“I want to stay in jail. I killed someone.”

Blackburn murdered his ex-partner Christine Hindson, after she ended their three-year relationship in September 2005.

Two days after she ended the relationship, he turned up at the 45-year-old’s Christchurch home in the early hours of the morning, made his way into her bedroom and grabbed her by the throat, before strangling her to death.

Blackburn then put her body in a wooden chest and nailed it shut, before trying unsuccessfully to bury it in his backyard. He then put the chest in his car and drove around the city for two days looking for a suitable place to bury it.

Three days after the murder, Blackburn drove the car to a suburban Ferrymead walking track, dragged the chest into an area of long grass and left it there.

A week later Blackburn confessed his crime to another former partner and was arrested by police the following day, admitting the killing and helping them find the body.

He was 48 years old when he was sentenced in 2006 to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.

Nearly 20 years on, and a decade after he became eligible for early release from prison, Blackburn said he still thinks about his victim every day.

“It’s non-stop,” he said.

“I’m in no hurry to get out, put it that way.”

Blackburn said his primary reason for wanting to remain in prison was the strain his yearly parole hearings would likely be having on Hindson’s family and they should be given a break.

“I’m trying to have compassion for Christine’s family,” he said.

“Year after year, it just seems too much for them.”

Ironically, it was his lack of compassion at the time that was one of the hardest parts of Hindson’s murder for her family to come to terms with.

Her daughter, Marla McKenzie, told the court at Blackburn’s sentencing in 2006 that she recalled him asking during the search for her mother how she was faring. She realised now her mother’s body must at that stage have been in his car just metres from where they were talking.

“For one week Lewis led us to believe she had just gone away somewhere and not to worry,” McKenzie said.

“I don’t ever want him released.”

If Blackburn had confessed earlier, McKenzie said, it could have saved the family’s “torment and heartbreak” in being unable to view Hindson’s body after it was recovered because of its state of decomposition.

Now, their welfare is at the forefront of his mind, he told the board.

“I’ve said it right through, a life for a life,” he said.

“There’s just reports on reports, it’s just a waste of time.

“It’s not like I’ve been out shoplifting. I killed someone.”

Blackburn asked to be stood down from parole hearings for five years, which the board didn’t have the power to approve. The maximum stand-down period it can order is two years.

The board asked Blackburn to work with a psychogeriatrician, begin to work on a risk management plan and to start thinking about where he might be able to live if he was released.

He will be seen again in July next year.

*This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland is set to get a second Costco store.

Property developer Kiwi Property has agreed to sell a 6.4 hectare site in its new Drury development to the US-based mega store.

Drury is a small rural town about 35 kilometres south of Auckland city, but has been picked as the site for a new town development, with Kiwi Property recently approved to go ahead with building the town centre.

“We are very excited to be entering into this agreement with Kiwi Property in a location as great as Drury,” Costco country manager Chris Tingman said.

An exact opening date for the new store was not immediately clear.

“Whilst still subject to planning and corporate approvals, our aim is to introduce our unique high-quality, low-cost merchandise to Drury, serving our significant membership base in the south of Auckland, as well as Hamilton and the Waikato region,” Tingman said.

The only other Costco store is at Auckland’s Westgate, which opened three years ago.

Kiwi Property chief executive Clive Mackenzie said the deal marked a major milestone for its Drury development – which received fast-track consent for its first two stages last week.

“Costco has been a hit with Kiwi consumers since it opened its first store in Auckland and we’re pleased to be working with them on this exciting opportunity to bring Costco further south,” he said.

The deal followed Kiwi Property’s earlier sale of 1.2 hectares to supermarket operator Foodstuffs.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The police minister says emails containing allegations about Jevon McSkimming’s behaviour were kept from him by former commissioner Andrew Coster’s office.

A IPCA report released last night accuses Coster and other high-ranking police of failing to properly act on allegations of sexual offending by McSkimming, the former deputy.

Thirty-six emails were sent to Police Minister Mark Mitchell’s office since December 2023, but he told Morning Report he never saw them.

Mitchell said there was protocol put in place by the Commissioner’s office that he was not to see the emails.

He was first briefed by Coster on 6 November that there was an IPCA investigation relating to McSkimming and a woman.

He said there was nothing to indicate there was any interference by the senior leadership.

“But it has become obvious with the release of the IPCA report that [interference] is exactly what was happening and everyone can see now just how bad it was,” Mitchell said.

The woman referred to in the report as Ms Z was charged in May last year with causing harm by posting digital communication in relation to more than 300 emails she allegedly sent to McSkimming’s work email address between December 2023 and April 2024.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has been critical of what he believes was a cover up by the former senior leadership team.

Chambers told Morning Report he was not given a heads up from Coster about the investigation into McSkimming, and he was shocked when he was told.

He denies there was a systemic failure of the New Zealand police and its processes, but says it was a failure of the former leadership of the police, who were acting in “self-interest”.

“It’s disgraceful. What occurred is not the way we do things in police. It was a total failure by the former senior leadership of New Zealand police and their integrity,” Chambers told Morning Report.

Asked if there had been a cover-up, Chambers said:

“That’s the way that many will interpret it and my personal view is that there was you know a bunch of senior leaders, who have now exited the organisation, who were acting in the self interests of themselves frankly and in particular one individual, so people will interpret the report in their own way but the way I read it.”

“That’s exactly what happened.”

Coster has been placed on leave after a damning report found serious misconduct at the highest levels of police.

He became chief executive of the Social Investment Agency after his tenure as New Zealand’s top cop.

Coster’s named in a new scathing 135-page IPCA report into Jevon McSkimming, the former Deputy Police Commissioner, who last week pleaded guilty to possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material.

The report revealed senior police failed to respond to a number of complaints made against McSkimming.

When they did refer the matter to the IPCA, Coster attempted to speed up the investigation in what was perceived by some as him trying to protect McSkimming’s prospect of becoming the next Commissioner of Police.

Chambers said he is “very pleased” the former leadership have left police.

When asked whether any of the police involved in the handling of the allegations are still employed by police, Chambers said the employment of three individuals is under an independent investigation.

“I have got to let that process take its course and, no doubt, decisions will be made in the future.”

He reassured New Zealanders that they can have trust and confidence in police.

“It’s not acceptable a small group of people at the most senior level have let so many people down – that is a disgrace,” Chambers said.

“I do want to reassure New Zealanders that I have outstanding investigators who work in this field every day [and] do an incredible job for victims. I don’t want this to detract from victims coming forward and talking to us and our good police officers being able to act on that in the right way.

“We can be proud of the progress we have made over the years and I don’t want this to reflect on my staff.”

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