Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man linked to a religious organisation who is facing charges including rape and strangulation will keep his name secret for now.

The 45-year-old was granted interim name suppression when he appeared via audio-visual link in the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday.

The court heard 14 charges, including unlawful sexual connection, indecent assault, strangulation and rape, had been laid against him.

They related to four complainants, but the court heard other complainants had also now come forward.

The church the man was connected to had a presence in several south Pacific countries.

The man was remanded in custody without plea and would reappear next month.

Detective Senior Sergeant Colin Baillie said, on Tuesday, the man’s arrest followed several allegations.

“It is possible there may be other allegations that we are not yet aware of and I strongly encourage any survivor to speak with us,” Baillie said.

“Your voice matters, and you will be treated with respect. Our staff who work in this space are specially trained and any reports will be made in confidence and we will provide wraparound support.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 105 or use the online service referencing Operation Aurora or file number 260319/8197.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Firefighters have extinguished a blaze at a wreckers yard in Upper Hutt, but will still be there for some time.

Shift manager Murray Dunbar said they were called to the scene on Goodshed Road at 1.30pm, and at its peak, there were 13 trucks in attendance.

He said the fire was largely extinguished and the crews were moving into the mop up phase, dampening hotspots that might still be smouldering.

Fire and Emergency said crews would be on the scene for a while, assessing the burnt area inside the wreckers.

Dunbar said electric and petrol vehicles were at the yard.

Emergency services said there was traffic congestion in the area and was asking people to avoid the streets surrounding the incident.

Goodshed Road, Blenheim Street and Seddon Street were still closed

Meanwhile, a local nearby said the air was filled with thick black smoke combined with the sound of bangs and pops as bits exploded in the heat in the fire at the wreckers yard.

The witness said everyone was standing on Blenheim Road while Goodshed Road was evacuated.

He said it appeared the fire was mostly out now and crews were packing up.

The local said there was some traffic build up in the area as a result of the road closures.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Alarm bells are sounding about harsh reductions in appeal rights for migrants which could lead to families being separated by deportation.

Overseas right-wing sentiment, reporting of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) crackdowns in the US and fears about domestic migration could be factors driving policy change, says a top immigration and refugee lawyer.

Legal experts say strict rules already exist for migrants seeking to overturn deportations, and they fear that axing humanitarian appeal rights for temporary visa holders will potentially harm children caught in the crosshairs.

Law Society Immigration and Refugee Committee convener Simon Graham said current policy balanced individual rights and the public interest, but the proposed legislation would shift the goalposts against vulnerable people, especially children and families.

“You could have a child born here, only ever gone through the New Zealand educational system, seven, eight years of age, all the formative years, and then that child is now being asked to return back to a country, [with] language barriers, different educational system, whatever that might be.

“When a child is into that seven, eight-year period, a fundamental shift occurs. Generally speaking, child psychologists will say this is going to cause or this has the potential to cause a problem for this child. And these are the types of things that currently the system looks at and weighs up in the balancing exercise. But if that’s removed, who’s going to consider this issue or weigh it up?”

Concerns were widespread in the legal community, he added, and he was worried other governments’ policies could be creeping into New Zealand’s thinking.

“I do wonder, stepping back from it all, whether there is some overseas influence as we see in other jurisdictions. It’s a sort of hardening line in a lot of these areas, probably for good reason, in certain European countries and America, where there’s this excess and it’s causing problems, whereas I think New Zealand is different from that. I don’t think we have the same tensions – but possibly our policy choices are now potentially mirroring or lining up with some of these overseas jurisdictions.”

Deadline over appeals

The Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT) – which hears appeals against deportation, as well as residence and asylum application refusals – has seen a large increase in cases, as migration numbers have risen. In terms of deportation appeals among temporary migrants, its latest annual report shows 188 people lost and 174 won their cases.

Graham said a 42-day deadline already limited who could appeal, and the tribunal weighed up humanitarian circumstances against public interest concerns.

Under the Immigration (Enhanced Risk Management) Amendment Bill, migrants classed as visitors – which can include renewable partner and parent visas – would not be able to appeal on humanitarian grounds to the IPT at all.

“From a legal perspective, I think it’s unnecessarily harsh and unnecessary because there’s already systems in place to weigh the balance. This seems to be shifting the balance unnecessarily in one direction without any real justification for it. So it’s certainly harsh and it could potentially create very harsh and unfair outcomes in a certain percentage of cases.

“What parameters or safety nets are going to be put in place to substitute for the Immigration and Protection Tribunal process? Has that been thought about? And if it has, what is that process and who oversees it?”

The ‘Mama Hooch’ clause

Another proposal would extend the ability to deport people from 10 years after they become residents, to 20 years. Non-residents, such as temporary workers and students, would lose their chance to appeal deportation if they committed a crime.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford last week said New Zealand had “one of the most lenient criminal deportation liability regimes” compared to Australia, the UK, Canada, and Ireland, saying those countries all made residents liable for deportation indefinitely, including for relatively minor convictions.

She cited the notorious sex offending ring in Christchurch operated by rapist brothers Danny and Roberto Jaz who have been in New Zealand too long to be deported, under current laws.

Graham said that framing did not acknowledge the new law would strip appeal rights from less serious offenders, or who had immigration question marks.

“I noticed the minister made reference to the Mama Hooch guys as a general sort of overlay as to justify some of these changes to the policy, and being not able to deport these guys for serious criminal offending,” he said. “And that’s a legitimate question and consideration, I understand that. But I believe that the proposals also incorporate all the other reasons which would trigger deportation liability, which encapsulates for example, providing misleading information to immigration as part of a visa process.”

Auckland University’s Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies co-director, Professor Jay Marlowe, worried discussion about the bill and amendments also blurred important distinctions between migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

The Jaz brothers are the children of Australian migrants, and arrived about 25 years ago as teenagers.

“I would be cautious about how the Mama Hooch case is being used in this context. It was an extremely serious case, but one that involved harm occurring over time within New Zealand, and raises serious concerns about how institutions responded to women’s complaints. Linking that case directly to asylum policy risks conflating different issues and shifts attention away from the need to address those underlying failures.

“Extending deportation liability to 20 years means we may be dealing with people who arrived as children and have grown up here, raising questions about responsibility and belonging. There are parallels with Australia’s section 501 deportations, which New Zealand has criticised – and it raises a fundamental question about whether we are managing harm here, or shifting responsibility elsewhere.”

Stanford has been approached for comment.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rain has set in across Northland ahead of a major deluge expected – though so far it’s steady rather than torrential.

Northland Regional Council data shows rain everywhere but the southern half of the Kaipara District.

• What’s the weather looking like at your place? Email us iwitness@rnz.co.nz

The MetService red heavy rain warning applies to the entire east coast from Doubtless Bay to Whangārei, from 4pm Wednesday afternoon until 4am on Friday. The rest of Northland is under an orange heavy rain warning.

Whangārei District Council is urging some people to leave their homes today.

Up to 320mm of rain is forecast, with downpours of 20-40mm/hr possible.

Northland Civil Defence expects the worst of the rain to hit the northeast coast on Thursday night.

A number of other watches and warnings are in place across the country in what MetService is calling an “impactful” weather event.

Heavy rain, potentially bringing dangerous river conditions, flooding and slips, could pose a threat to life, MetService has warned.

Residents are urged not to enter floodwaters, avoid travel, and evacuate quickly if you see rising water.

Follow the latest updates in our live blog above.

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

Whangārei District Council is advising anyone who doesn’t feel safe ahead of more heavy rain in the region to leave their homes now, before the red weather warning kicks in.

MetService has upgraded its rain warning to red for areas east of Kaikohe, from Doubtless Bay down to Whangārei.

In those areas up to 320mm of rain was possible over a 36-hour period starting at 4pm on Wednesday.

Posting on its Facebook page, the council said it was monitoring the situation alongside Civil Defence.

“People whose homes were impacted by flooding and land slips in the January weather event, who don’t feel safe, are advised to leave today to a safe location either with family and friends or to a local marae.

We are advising people to leave today, ideally during daylight hours,” the post said.

An orange heavy rain warning remained in place for the rest of Northland, as did an orange strong wind warning.

Northland Civil Defence said the red heavy rain warning – the highest level possible – is a sign people need to prepare for what’s to come during the next few days.

“Keeping in mind those red warnings are really only issued for the most severe weather events, that really does signal this is one to be taken seriously,” spokesperson Zach Woods said.

Woods said Northlanders might not experience warning levels of rain straight away.

“This is expected to be a long duration event with heavy rain and strong winds continuing over several days. MetService expects the rainfall to intensify over time and reach some quite significant levels as the system develops,” he said.

“The main period of concern at this stage is that Thursday afternoon through to Friday morning, when we could see some very heavy downpours on top of all the rain that’s already fallen, particularly around the east coast of the Far North.”

Woods said that created potential for “really dangerous river conditions” as well as possible floods, slips, landslides, and hazardous driving conditions.

“Of course we could see road closures, and some power outages due to the strong winds as well.”

Woods said it remained “an evolving situation” so he urged Northlanders to stay up to date with the latest forecasts as well as advice from MetService and their local councils.

Locals brace for a wild few days

Anthony “Vinnie” Pivac, the owner of Zane Grey’s Restaurant on the Paihia waterfront, said the predicted 50 knot easterly gusts could be damaging – but it was the sea he was keeping a close eye on.

When Cyclone Gabrielle caused $100,000 worth of damage and lost contracts in 2023, that came down to a combination of strong winds and a 7-metre swell.

So far the swell was forecast to reach just 2.5m, he said.

“If it had swell behind this easterly then I would be panicking, but it’s not going to be too bad. On the flip side of things, we’re just going to have today and tomorrow of horrendous rain and no customers,” he said.

“But for now we’re sitting cosy. I’m going to sit here, have a few beers and see what happens on either side of the tide.”

However, Pivac said he would keep monitoring the forecast and was not taking anything for granted.

“Mate, we’re in New Zealand, so the weather changes every five minutes.”

Any time the swell reached 4m he removed parts of the decking around the restaurant to reduce the impact of the waves, but that was not necessary at this point.

Pivac said the most damaging winds for Paihia were northeasterlies. Easterly winds were bad if they coincided with big swells.

“Anything from the north, it’s hold onto your britches,” he said.

The next high tides were due in the Bay of Islands around 1.20pm on Wednesday and 2am and 2.20pm on Thursday.

Power cuts a concern

Meanwhile, Richard Holt, the owner of Cellini’s Ice Cream and Espresso Bar on nearby Williams Road, said power cuts caused by wild weather were the biggest threat to his business.

He had invested in a bunker freezer to keep ice cream cold in the event of a serious power outage – but if it lasted more than eight or nine hours, he would still lose his stock.

Holt said he did not expect to sell many ice creams in Paihia today but there had been plenty of demand for coffee this morning.

Further down the east coast in Ōakura, in the Whangārei District, residents still recovering from the devastating January storm are preparing for more rain.

That deluge swept through multiple homes and baches, triggered landslides, and severely damaged the newly renovated Ōakura Community Hall.

The Whangārei District Council had planned to hold a public meeting on Thursday afternoon to update locals on storm recovery efforts.

That meeting had now been postponed until 6pm on Tuesday at the Ōakura Sports Complex.

The main road from Ōakura south to Whangārei remained closed due to a massive slip at Helena Bay Hill, and eight homes and buildings were still red-stickered, meaning they were too dangerous to enter.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rain has set in across Northland ahead of a major deluge expected to start later this afternoon – though so far it’s steady rather than torrential.

Northland Regional Council data shows rain everywhere but the southern half of the Kaipara District.

The wettest place so far is Weta, on the east coast near Whangaroa, which has recorded almost 12mm in the past hour.

• What’s the weather looking like at your place? Email us iwitness@rnz.co.nz

The MetService red heavy rain warning applies to the entire east coast from Doubtless Bay to Whangārei, from 4pm Wednesday afternoon until 4am on Friday.

Up to 320mm of rain is forecast, with downpours of 20-40mm/hr possible.

Northland Civil Defence expects the worst of the rain to hit the northeast coast on Thursday night.

A number of other watches and warnings are in place across the country in what MetService is calling an “impactful” weather event.

Heavy rain, potentially bringing dangerous river conditions, flooding and slips, could pose a threat to life, MetService has warned.

Residents are urged not to enter floodwaters, avoid travel, and evacuate quickly if you see rising water.

Follow the latest updates in our live blog above.

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