Source: Radio New Zealand
Californian ska-punk band Sublime have announced a New Zealand tour – a first for Aotearoa.
The band will kick off at Christchurch’s Wolfbrook Arena on 8 April, followed by Trusts Arena in Auckland on 10 April and finishing up at Wellington’s Brewtown on 11 April.
Formed in Long Beach, California, Sublime are one of the most influential ska-punk bands of the 1990s.
For this first-ever New Zealand tour, Jakob Nowell, son of the band’s late lead singer Bradley Nowell, will take the mic. He made his debut as Sublime’s new frontman at Coachella 2024.
He is joined by original members Eric Wilson on the bass and Bud Gaugh on the drums.
Tickets go on sale 12 February at 7pm.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ
Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, the Māori Queen, has pledged to give the proceeds of the annual Turangawaewae Regatta to Māori communities impacted by severe weather events.
Ngātiwai in the North, Tauranga Moana and Te Tai Rāwhiti will receive the proceeds from the annual event, which sees thousands descend on the bank of the river at Ngāruawahia every year.
Waikato-Tainui chair Tukoroirangi Morgan made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon, following a formal welcome onto the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
Speaking to RNZ, Morgan said the regatta was a chance for the community to celebrate culture and enjoy each other’s company.
He said the century-old gathering would now be a chance to give some relief to those affected by recent flooding.
RNZ/Calvin Samuel
The announcement comes off the back of a visit by Te Arikinui to Ngāiotonga Marae, a marae belonging to Ngātiwai, whose rohe was ravaged by the weather.
Morgan said the visit was a first-hand look at the degree and the level of devastation in a tiny community tucked away on the coast.
“It’s really important that people hear the stories… the stories of rescue, of struggle. As a result of that, [Te Arikinui] was driven to make this gesture of financial support.”
“People have lost their homes, people have worried about the short-term and long-term future. The best way to help is to reach out, provide some relief and some form of support – that’s exactly what the Queen is doing.” he said.
Former NorthTec student, tutor and director Hūhana Lyndon – now a Green MP – called the Save NorthTec Hui on Friday amid concerns for the institute’s future. RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Green MP and former Ngātiwai Trust Board chief executive Huhana Lyndon told RNZ her people were grateful for the manāki.
“That announcement took my breath away.”
Lyndon said there had been ongoing support from groups all over the country, and the Queen’s announcement “demonstrates the way that we come together in times of crisis.”
Welcoming Te Arikinui onto Ngāiotonga Marae left the local “starstruck”, she said.
“Our tamariki mokopuna were there, whānau came… for myself, I’m from that rohe as well. My kainga is there and our farm was heavily impacted by the storm.”
“We’ve got significant damage and many months of work to come. So it just lifts your spirits, having that attention.”
The Turangawaewae Regatta celebrations kick off on Saturday, 21 March on the riverbank at Turangawaewae Marae.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ
A man has been charged with murder after the death of a woman in Clutha on 23 January.
Emergency services were called to Adams Flats Road in Crichton around 6.10pm.
A woman was found deceased, and a second person was critically injured.
Police said a man has been arrested and charged with the murder after a bedside hearing on Wednesday.
“We understand this is a distressing event for the small community,” detective senior sergeant Nik Leigh said.
“Police would like to reassure residents that officers are not searching for any other people in relation to the matter.”
Friends and co-workers named the murdered woman as Jillian Clark, who worked at Clutha Vets in Milton.
John Smart said he worked with Clark for about 30 years at different branches of the veterinarian practice. He said Clark had a keen interest in sheep health and production.
“She was a highly respected vet, it’s a hell of a shock,” he said.
The tight-knit Clutha Vets team would be heartbroken, as would farmers from Taieri to Milton, Smart said.
“I know the whole community down there will be absolutely in mourning for the tragedy of losing Jillian. She was just a great lady, a great community member, and supported the farmers in particular.”
A death notice described Clark as a much-loved family member who was tragically taken.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The bridge’s cabling failed and sagged into the river after strong winds on New Year’s Eve. Supplied / Horizons Regional Council
When strong New Year’s Eve winds broke the cabling on an historic bridge, its future came under a cloud.
Sitting above the flat lands surrounding State Highway 56 in southern Manawatū, the former Ōpiki toll bridge will now dramatically change shape, as this week its decaying cables come down.
This will leave only the landmark’s pylons still standing.
Time has taken its toll on a bridge that for nearly 50 years cost some loose change to cross – saving motorists a lengthy trip.
For the second time in just over two years, the ageing structure has sagged into the water below.
And this week regional council officials announced the fix – removing the cabling, meaning the old bridge becomes less recognisable.
No one’s crossed since shortly after it closed in 1969 and its decking was removed, but thousands of people drive past what remains every week.
Spanning the view from Clive Akers’ living room window, the concrete towers and cabling of the Ōpiki bridge dominate the skyline – it’s a view that’s about to change.
Originally build for the family flax business in 1918, that industry’s collapse meant it instead became a private toll bridge over the Manawatū River until its closure in 1969, when the current highway bridge was built.
“Oh yes, there was a toll keeper,” Akers said.
The position was similar to a lighthouse keeper, in that the worker would live onsite and almost always be on call.
The toll bridge linked Manawatū to Horowhenua until its closure in 1969. Supplied / Collections of Te Manawa Museums Trust, Palmerston North
This and other parts of the bridge’s history are detailed in the book Suspended Access, written by Akers’ mother Molly two decades ago.
Akers recalled how one toll keeper was rescued by boat when the surrounding area flooded. The area still floods regularly today, which often closes the highway.
The busiest days of the week were Saturdays, when there was horse racing on.
“I remember as a teenager, when [the toll keeper] had his day off and would go to town, myself and one of my brothers or sisters would go up there and be toll keepers for half a day,” Akers said.
“We were warned of a car coming – one side there was an air pipe. When the car tyre ran over it it rang a bell in the house.”
From the other side the toll keeper would hear a car rattle the bridge’s loose boards – because a suspension bridge moves, the wooden planks couldn’t be nailed down.
In later years it cost 10 cents a trip for vehicles under three tonnes.
At night there was a barrier arm to keep vehicles out – although if a motorist was insistent on getting through, the toll keeper could charge them triple, Akers said.
While locals were happy enough to contribute to the bridge’s upkeep in exchange for quicker trips between Palmerston North and Foxton, not everyone was as impressed.
“During the 1930s the minister of public works was horrified when he came through Ōpiki and he was charged a toll to cross this bridge.
“He said, ‘Nowhere in New Zealand should there be a toll bridge.’ He told the toll keeper, ‘I’m going to have a public bridge here in the next five years.’ That never happened.”
Instead, the arrangement of a private bridge spanning the river, with public roads either side, continued for three more decades.
Akers said he was relaxed about the cabling’s removal.
“Of course, there’s not so many people now who have actually got memories of going over the bridge.
“It closed in 1969. That’s over 50 years ago.”
Clive Akers’ family built the bridge for their flax business over 100 years ago. RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
One of the bridge’s cables, which are said to come from Waihi’s gold mines, failed in 2023 and fell into the river.
It was fixed the next year, paid for by Horizons Regional Council, which now owns the structure, but the same cable again broke on 31 December.
The bridge has a category 1 rating from Pouhere Taonga Heritage NZ and Historic Places Trust Manawatū Horowhenua chairwoman Cindy Lilburn said it was an icon.
It was significant as New Zealand’s first private toll bridge and, when built, the country’s longest suspension bridge – about 150 metres.
“It stands alone in what’s a very flat landscape and it has a certain sort of spookiness, which has been suggested for use in films, because it rises out of the mist in the morning.
“It is such a landmark.”
Lilburn said the trust had favoured a solution to ensure the bridge’s long-term survival.
“We’d like to at least have the opportunity to talk about a long-term plan.
“The reality is suspension bridges aren’t actually that difficult to build. It requires running cabling up and over, so there is the potential solution that you could put new cabling up and over and then clip the old cabling to that.”
But with the news this week that wouldn’t happen – at least any time soon – she said the trust was saddened.
This view has greeted State Highway 56 motorists for more than 55 years, but it will soon change. RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
The cables had contributed visually to the bridge’s status as a landmark.
“There’s a certain degree of elegance we’ve now lost,” she said.
Council general manager catchment operations Dr Jon Roygard told RNZ last week that officials were working through options to fix the latest break, while also considering a long-term solution.
Until something was done, the broken cabling remained a hazard, he said.
“It’s a stretch of the river where people can use it for jet boating or that sort of thing. I don’t think it’s a highly used area.
“We have put signs up. We really recommend caution in that area. In fact, we’d rather people weren’t in there and operating around it.”
This week, Roygard confirmed that the cabling, which was in poor condition, was coming down.
“The other cable, while it has not fallen, is in similar condition to the one currently in the river. We will remove this cable at the same time to avoid the possibility of it also falling,” he said.
“Removing both cables at the same time also helps to bring the cost of the works down.
“Doing one cable now and the other at a later date is significantly more expensive than removing both at the same time.”
He acknowledged the bridge’s history, but said the regional council also had obligations for navigational safety in the Manawatū River and for the use of public money.
Sections of the cabling would be gifted to the Historic Places Trust and the Akers family, Roygard said.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The hoiho / yellow-eyed penguin. Supplied / Craig McKenzie
The High Court has dismissed an environmental charity’s claim that an emergency ban on set net fishing around Otago Peninsula didn’t go far enough to protect hoiho.
The Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) filed proceedings against Fisheries Minister Shane Jones last year, claiming the ban failed to protect hoiho from the risk of extinction.
It said the closure should have encompassed the entire northern hoiho range, including North Otago, the Catlins, Stewart Island/Rakiura and Foveaux Strait.
While the court recognised the severe risk facing northern hoiho, it found the temporary emergency closure lawful, as section 16 of the Fisheries Act gave the Minister significant discretion in establishing the parameters of an emergency closure.
Hoiho, yellow-eyed penguins, are critically endangered. The northern hoiho population, which is found in and around Canterbury, Otago and Southland, has been in sharp decline in recent years.
The court said hoiho were “priceless” and a taonga, and emphasised that their protection was essential, with the the minister required to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the survival of the nothern hoiho population.
ELI senior legal advisor Megan Cornforth-Camden said it was important to challenge the decision, given hoiho numbers were declining and little had been done to protect hoiho at sea.
“The judgement contains some of the strongest statements written by the courts about the sustainability provisions in the Fisheries Act and how they apply to threatened species, so although ELI were not successful on the grounds of the judicial review we were very pleased with the outcome.”
Hoiho numbers have fallen by around 80 percent since 2008, with fewer than 150 breeding pairs remaining. Several factors are responsible for this collapse, one of which is commercial set net fishing. Every year the birds become entangled in fishing nets while foraging for food.
Jones initially closed the set net fishery around Otago Peninsula in September for three months, before announcing in December it had been extended for a further nine months, to September 2026, with the public to be consulted during the closure on long term protections.
Justice David Boldt said the decision to implement an emergency ban was a precursor to a set of longer-term measures that would be far more important to the long-term future of the northern hoiho.
“It is difficult to escape the conclusion that ELI, in its haste to do whatever it can to protect the penguins, has challenged the wrong decision.”
However, the court found potential economic detriment to commercial fishers could never be a justification for allowing the decline of the population to continue.
“There is no dispute that the [Fisheries] Act’s sustainability imperative extends to the need to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the survival of the northern hoiho population.
“In practical terms, that means that if commercial fishing cannot occur in an environmentally sustainable manner – which in this context means in a way which ensures it poses no material risk to the survival of the northern hoiho – it cannot occur at all.”
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Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ
A child has died after being hit by a car in Springston in Canterbury.
The police say the child was walking when they were hit at about 3.30pm.
Emergency services responded but they died at the scene.
A large portion of the rural part of Leeston Road is closed while the Serious Crash Union investigates.
Leeston Road was closed and diversions were in place at the Goulds Road and Leeston Road intersection and at the Bethels Road and Leeston Road intersection.
Motorists were advised to avoid the area and expect delays.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
A Clutha District Council ranger talks to a motorist seen driving within metres of resting sea lions. The current rules state vehicles should stay 50m away from wildlife. RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Cries of “shame on you” rang out from the public gallery as Clutha councillors voted to drop an investigation into vehicle-free zones on beaches in the district on Wednesday afternoon.
The council is instead investigating beach speed limits as a means to protect the coastline and its wildlife, following complaints about drivers harassing seals and sea lions.
The review of the Vehicles on Beaches bylaw started a year ago after a group allegedly harassed a sea lion at Tautuku Beach in the Catlins.
In 2024, three sea lions were found dead with gunshot or stab wounds
Councillors opted to defer any decision-making until after October’s local elections. Then, at a workshop in December, the new council moved to cancel the beach ‘safe zone’ review.
That was formalised by a vote at Wednesday’s council meeting, where just one councillor was opposed.
Councillor Simon McAtamney said he was part of the previous council and he was still open to looking into the safe zone review.
Councillor Bruce Graham argued vehicle bans would be hard to enforce and there would always be “dickheads that are going to break those rules”.
“I can’t see any advantage of changing what we have here except for a speed limit changes… I can’t see any advantages of closing beaches or making safe zones,” he said.
Council staff said work was underway on a speed limit review covering the district’s beaches and it would be complete by October.
During the meeting, a group of residents could be seen in the back of the chamber holding a sign that read ‘Honour Your Word’.
When the council voted in favour of scrapping the review, the protesters called out “shame on you” and filed out of the council chambers.
Earlier, during public deputations, Papatowai Beach resident Keith Olsen argued the beach needed stronger protections to make it safe for all users – human and “non-human”.
The beach was home to ground-nesting birds such as oystercatchers and had a regular visiting elephant seal, he said.
Signage was not enough to prevent the dangerous use of vehicles on the beach, Olsen said.
“Just saying don’t be a dickhead doesn’t cut the mustard with the sort of people who are likely to be dickheads,” he said.
Papatowai resident Diana Noonan said some councillors had made important promises relating to the environment.
“I appeal to you today… that you remember your promises from the past and that you do not dishonour them,” she said.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Breakers stars Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Karim Lopez did not take part in training on Wednesday. Photosport
The depleted NZ Breakers are short on time and fit players.
The end of the ANBL season is quickly approaching – with four regular season games to play – and after the club’s sole training session of the week on the eve of Thursday’s home game against South East Melbourne Phoenix, coach Petteri Koponen had resorted to relying on hope.
He had just held a session without star import guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright who was not at the club’s headquarters due to illness, as blossoming Next Star Karim Lopez sat out with a strapped lower right leg, back up point guard Alex McNaught took a blow to his hand late in the scrimmage and Sam Mennenga, Rob Baker and Izayah Le’Afa were only at the practice court as observers after their own season-ending injuries.
“I just hope we’ve got some of the guys ready to go and they will be there… I’d be much happier if [the injured players] were with the group,” Koponen said about what could be an under-manned roster for the upcoming two games in three days.
“It’s a difficult moment but we have to have that next man up mentality and no excuses.”
Koponen often put a positive spin on the situations the Breakers found themselves in during the season but it was obvious things out his control were playing on his mind.
Travel and double-header weekends had limited the Breakers’ opportunities to spend time on the practice court in the last few weeks.
After winning at home last Friday against Melbourne United, a trip to Tasmania ended in a potentially season-defining two-point loss to the JackJumpers on Sunday.
Needing to get on winning streak to have any outside chance of making an appearance in the post-season, Koponen was wary of the team being under-prepared.
Koponen said the JackJumpers game was an example of what could happen when training opportunities were stymied by the schedule.
“We couldn’t prepare and some of the things in the game looked exactly like that.
“I told the group ‘when you are not perfect and you’re not feeling great how do you respond’ and Rob Loe with his 27 minutes on Friday and 27 minutes on Sunday he showed if he can do it everybody else can.
“I think especially for our younger players it’s a great learning experience because maybe they haven’t been there too much yet in their careers but when you are tired you have to do the little things with even more focus and also mentally get your mind ready and your body ready to fight.”
Koponen characterised the performance against the JackJumpers as “flat” – something he wanted the players to avoid with a game against the Illawarra Hawks coming less than 48 hours after the game against the Phoenix on the North Shore is over.
Import shooting guard Izaiah Brockington said the game against the JackJumpers would not be moved on from easily.
“That loss definitely hurt because of the play-off implications so we definitely felt it but we’re at the point in the season where it didn’t completely derail our chances so we’re on to the next one,” Brockington said.
The next challenge was against a Phoenix side that had won nine of their last 12 games and beaten the Breakers three times this season.
Brockington did not think the Phoenix would show them anything they had not seen before but he had heard Koponen’s message about being “mentally sharp”.
“Our biggest challenge is just going to be on the defensive end. They’ve been scoring really well for the past few games so our main thing is just figuring out how we get stops and turn those stops into points.
“We feel like they pressure a lot but we saw a few openings last game where they were over helping or they were a little wild but we’ve just got to stop them from getting threes, getting offensive rebounds, getting whatever they want on that end.”
Brockington might be one of the few Breakers players feeling fit and healthy at the back end of a season that started in September but he still saw the benefit of his hobbled team mates, Baker, Mennenga and Le’Afa, offering their insights.
“Those guys watch the game on TV so we get to hear what they saw and their perspectives of each game so it’s definitely been good having them around.”
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Flooding in Henderson Valley, west Auckland on 27 January 2023. Supplied
An advocate for Aucklanders affected by the 2023 storms says a group of homeowners should have been advised of a move to avoid writing-off their properties.
Auckland Council will amend the buyout terms to increase funding for 13 homes at risk of future flooding or landslides to build retaining walls, move or lift the homes, to make them safe.
It means the homes can be lived in and the council will not have to pay up to $14 million buying out the properties – the homeowners have not yet been advised.
West Auckland is Flooding spokesperson Lyall Carter said some of them likely would have preferred a buyout.
“The people that are advocating on behalf of storm-impacted people, we don’t know who these people are and as far as we’re aware, these people don’t know who they are.”
He said they did not know what situations these homeowners were in.
“How far are they through this process, are they near the end of the process, do they expect to be bought out through this process? I mean, can understand why from a fiscal point of view they’re making this decision but you don’t change the rules halfway through the game.”
Carter said the homeowners should have been notified of the change before it went to councillors to vote on, on Tuesday.
“While I can understand on one hand the need to be good financial stewards, this is not the way in which you in my view that you work with victims of a weather disaster.”
As part of the buyout scheme, the council can now fund grants up to 40 percent of the property’s capital value (CV), an increase from 25 percent.
If building work exceeded that 25 percent limit, a variation could be sought to increase it or the homeowner could opt to be bought out.
Council’s recovery office said it would be contacting the homeowners with the details once the buyout terms are changed.
There are 75 Auckland properties in the early stages of having building works costed that would make them safe to live in.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The head of Wellington Water says about 70 million litres of raw sewage is now flowing into the sea each day.
Untreated water is leaking onto the capital’s south coast beaches due to the Moa Point Treatment Plant flooding and being turned off from early this morning.
The water company said it could take months to fully repair the sewage infrastructure.
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The Department of Conservation said given the location of the sewage spill, mussels, kina, pāua, sponges, fish, and penguins could be at risk.
How long the discharge continues, the volume of effluent, and ocean current, swell and wind would determine if other species would also be at risk.
And there may be environmental impacts like algal blooms and deoxygenated water as a result of the spill, as well as bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
It said it doesn’t intend to visit the site at this time because of the risk to human health.
Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty told Checkpoint the critical question will be why the Moa Point’s outfall pipe backed up this morning.
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
“We need to get a camera down there to understand why that didn’t perform.”
Dougherty said Wellington Water was alerted to the issue two hours later than it should have.
“That’s one of the things I will be asking about but at the moment I don’t want that team distracted from things getting fixed.”
He guessed it would be two months before the plant was fully operational.
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Dougherty confirmed an average of around 70 million litres of raw sewage was now flowing into Wellington’s South Coast.
At 4:42pm on Wednesday, RNZ saw just over a dozen people out at the South Coast.
No one was in the water other than a dog or two and there was no smell or obvious change in water colour.
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