Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

A lawyer has told a Judicial Conduct Panel removing a judge is done to protect the judiciary, as the inquiry into acusations a District Court Judge disrupted a New Zealand First event begins.

Judge Ema Aitken was appearing before a Judicial Conduct Panel in Auckland on Monday, accused of disrupting a function at Auckland’s exclusive Northern Club in 2024.

She was accused of shouting that NZ First leader Winston Peters was lying.

Judge Aitken said she didn’t shout, didn’t recognise Peters’ voice when she responded to remarks she overheard and didn’t know it was a political event.

Presenting the allegations of misconduct to the panel, Special Counsel Tim Stephens KC said the panel was responsible for reporting on the Judge’s conduct, finding the facts, and ultimately recommending if the Judge should be removed.

He noted it would not be up to the panel to remove the Judge.

“Whether to remove the Judge is a decision for the acting Attorney General and not the panel,” Stephens said.

“But the attorney is only able to remove the judge if the panel concludes that consideration of removal is justified in the panel’s opinion.”

Stephens said the removal of a judge was not a disciplinary matter.

“It’s not a punitive or disciplinary measure,” he said.

“Rather, its function is protective, it protects public confidence in the judicial system, it protects the impartiality and integrity of the judiciary.”

It came down to a matter of fitness for office, Stephens said.

He spoke about the legislative history and grounds that formed the basis for considering removal of a judge, including existing legislation from Australia.

“My overall submission in terms of the law is that the panel may form the opinion that consideration of removal is justified,” Stephens said.

“If that’s met, the panel may form that opinion, if the attorney, acting lawfully and in accordance with the purposes of the Act, could conclude that removal was an available outcome.”

The Panel was yet to hear from Judge Aitken’s lawyer.

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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 school bus has caught fire just south of the township of Mangawhai.

All 20 children on board and the driver are safe, police say.

The bus caught fire near on Mangawhai Road near the intersection with Carter Road.

Did you see the fire? Get in touch or send pictures to iwitness@rnz.co.nz

The road is closed until the scene is cleared.

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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 24-year-old man has appeared in court charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, after a woman was found dead in a Kāpiti Coast house.

Police were called to the Matatua Rd address in Raumati Beach at 1.15am on Monday.

A homicide investigation was underway, and police were considering further charges against the man.

He appeared in Porirua District Court on Monday afternoon, and was due back in court in early March.

His name was suppressed.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington’s mayor is hopeful the government will back his calls for an inquiry into the Moa Point sewage plant failure.

Mayor Andrew Little is meeting with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday, where the sewage facility will be a focus of conversation.

It flooded last week, destroying much of the plant’s electronics and sending raw sewage into the nearby south coast.

Wellington Water’s chief executive has warned nearby beaches may be shut for months.

Little told Midday Report there was large public interest in the failure, meeting the level of a government inquiry.

“Given the range of parties involved… in order to have a genuinely cohesive, independent review, I think a ministerial inquiry is needed,” Little said.

“That allows the inquiry to have the powers to get the right information and give us an accurate assessment about the causes of the failures.”

Little hopes discussions with Luxon are constructive.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

More AA Insurance customers say they’ve encountered strange changes to their vehicles’ value when their policies renewed.

RNZ reported at the weekend that one woman, Nicki, was upset that the value of her 24-year-old Subaru had increased two-and-a-half times when the policy renewed this year.

AA said it relied on an independent third-party data provider to provide vehicle values. “From time to time, this provider updates their methodology and data sources to ensure the valuations reflect the most accurate and up-to-date market conditions.

“When this happens, customers may see changes, either increases or decreases, in their proposed agreed values at renewal. We encourage customers to get in touch if they would like to discuss their proposed value or agree on a different value with us.”

One man who contacted RNZ said he had a 2003 Subaru Forester insured with AA Insurance that had an agreed value in 2024 of $6500.

“Last year, 2025, AA decided it should be only $2700, a sudden and completely unexpected 58 percent drop in agreed value. I was unable to find any data to support that valuation, complained, and eventually got a helpful staff member who explained that they use a third-party Australian service to value cars. I requested an agreed value of $6000. Fine.

“Now, this year. I have just received an insurance renewal notice with an agreed value of $9900, a whopping 3.67 times the agreed value they pushed one year ago, and, bizarrely, 10 percent more than I paid for the car 11 years ago. Once again I have been completely unable to find any data to support that valuation, and around $6000 to $7000 seems a reasonable agreed value range.”

Another said there seemed to be “something odd” going on.

“I’ve had a 2006 Audi A6 for six years, at the last renewal AA reduced the value of the car to about a third of my estimated value, without highlighting this at the time. I found this underhanded. This meant I was paying about $900 to insure a car for a maximum payout of $1500, with a $500 excess. They refused to raise the value.

“I had the same issue insuring a 2007 Audi A3, they’d only cover it for half what we paid.”

Consumer NZ insurance expert Rebecca Styles said insurers would usually offer the option of either market value or agreed value for car insurance.

“If people aren’t happy with the agreed value, they could shop around.”

She said it could be possible to find another insurer that took a different view.

Financial Services Complaints Ltd, an ombudsman service that deals with complaints that cannot be resolved between financial services providers and customers, has previously said it is important that people read their policies and understand the cover they have.

It has dealt with a number of cases where people have been upset at what insurers were willing to pay for their vehicles.

In one case, a man bought a specialist vehicle that he believed was insured for $39,000.

In late 2023 the vehicle was destroyed and he was upset to find the insurer would only pay $24,000.

He said his insurance broker had not made it clear he only had market value cover. FSCL investigated and said it was hard to see how well this had been disclosed to him.

The brokers offered to pay the difference between the market value of the car and the amount he would have received if it had been insured for agreed value. The policy said this would be market value plus 20 percent, or $4800.

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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 government says a Liquefied Natural Gas import facility in Taranaki will save New Zealanders about $265 million a year.

Energy Minister Simon Watts on Monday announced a contract was expected to be signed by the middle of the year, with construction finishing next year or early 2028.

A factsheet supplied by the government said the infrastructure costs would be paid for through a levy on electricity of between $2 and $4 /MWh.

The facility was expected to cut future prices by at least $10/MWh, and curb an expected 1.25 percent reduction in Gross Domestic Product from higher energy prices.

While an exact location for the import facility was yet to be determined, all the shortlisted submissions were in Taranaki, Watts said.

Procurement started in October in response to the independent Frontier report, which the government largely rejected.

The report said developing an import facility would make no economic sense if it was used only for firming, when generation is low.

Watts said the government would design an import model bringing in “large shipments only when needed”, and would later become a “fuel source for industrial, commercial and residential users”.

The factsheet said modelling from MBIE had shown the LNG import facility would “effectively cap gas prices”.

MBIE also modelled four other options for cost, timeliness, impact on energy prices, flexibility and wider impacts – but LNG imports were found to achieve lower electricity prices at relatively low capital cost.

Options modelled included a new thermal generation plant to run on coal or biomass; a combination of new and converted ‘peaking’ plant, that would run on diesel; a combination of a new unit at the Huntly power station, new and converted peaking plants, and a demand response; or a combination of LNG importation and refurbishing the Taranaki Combined Cycle plant.

“Other options, including renewable projects, were considered but not advanced due to a range of factors such as expected time to construct, feasibility of generating power reliably on the required scale, and effects on electricity market incentives.”

How did we get here?

Luxon in August 2024 said New Zealand was in an “energy security crisis”, with Winstone and Oji Fibre mills blaming power prices as they began consulting on closures, and NZ First’s Shane Jones accused the gen-tailers of profiteering.

He announced “urgent” actions including an independent review of the sector and removing regulatory barriers for an LNG import facility, which Cabinet agreed to consent.

At that time, a timeframe of winter 2026 was expected.

The government largely rejected the recommendations of the review carried out by Frontier Economics, with sector players including Simon Bridges criticising a lack of bold action.

“It would make no economic sense to develop an LNG import terminal to meet just dry year risk as the large fixed costs would be spread over a relatively small amount of output,” the Frontier report said.

“If an LNG terminal is contemplated as a last resort to provide NZ with a secure energy system, this should be considered as part of a wider gas supply strategy for communities and industrial users where gas is the most economic source of energy.”

Energy Minister Simon Watts at the time said the government would begin procurement the following week and expected to have the facility up and running by winter 2027.

An earlier report in July for the four major gen-tailers Contact, Meridian, Genesis and Mercury – as well as gas company Clarus – found it could take three to four years to set up an import facility at costs ranging from $200m to $1b.

RNZ In-Depth’s Kirsty Johnston in November reported the response from “almost every corner – other than the gas industry itself – was a collective groan”, with sector commentators calling it a “band-aid” solution that “doesn’t make logical sense”.

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