Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

The email addresses of more than a thousand Kāinga Ora tenants were mistakenly shared in a group email sent by the agency.

Kāinga Ora’s regional director for Auckland North and West, Taina Jones, said in a statement that they were aware of an error that occurred on Monday.

“The email addresses of more than 1000 customers were mistakenly shared in a group email.

“No other personal information or data was released,” she said.

Jones said they took incidents like this very seriously and had rigorous processes in place to protect customer information.

“We have notified the Office of the Privacy Commissioner about the incident and are contacting those who received the email to apologise for any disruption this error may have caused,” she said.

A west Auckland tenant, who didn’t want to be named due to privacy concerns, said the email from Kāinga Ora asked how they wanted to receive future correspondence – by mail or by email.

They said after they replied to Kāinga Ora, they’ve been continuously receiving responses from other tenants who’d been copied in the same email.

“You can see the numbers, the emails, their replies as well, and also [them] asking for homes and that, you know, people that have had issues with them, that are talking personally about their stuff,” the person said.

The tenant said they were concerned that everyone’s private information and affairs was being exposed, and inboxes were getting clogged.

“People’s email boxes are being filled up in blocks, so we can’t actually receive our normal everyday emails that we need to for pay our bills or whatever,” the tenant said.

Their Kāinga Ora case manager contacted them on Tuesday to apologise.

The tenant said they were told by the case manager that Kainga Ora was trying to stop people from replying to that email chain by making changes from within the system.

Kāinga Ora has been approached for further comment.

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

An attack on a satellite can take modern life offline, affecting everything from basic communication to banking. But international law is lagging, and an expert warns we risk turning the final frontier into the next frontline.

The next battleground for global security may not be on Earth, but above it.

As satellites control everything from navigation and banking to weather forecasting and military operations, experts warn that space is now a target for terrorism – and say we aren’t prepared.

“It’s no longer a question whether space terrorism occurs, but how we, as an international community, respond when it does,” says Anna Marie Brennan, a law lecturer at Waikato University, who has been researching outer space law and governance for the past seven years.

“If we don’t have those clear rules, if we don’t have accountability mechanisms, corporate strategies between states and also between states and space companies, do we actually run the risk of turning the final frontier into the next battlefield?”

Satellites, she says, have already been caught in the crossfire of cyber attacks and espionage.

In March 2022, Network Battalion (NB65), a group affiliated with Anonymous, allegedly hacked the Russian civilian space agency Roscosmos in protest of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

More recently, in September this year, the navigation system of a plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen was disrupted due to suspected Russian interference.

It’s alleged that the “GPS jamming” happened while the European Commission president was about to arrive in Bulgaria, forcing the pilot to use paper maps to land safely.

“We are seeing a number of incidents emerging where very quickly us experts are starting to realise that we need a legal framework to try and combat it,” Brennan says.

“It’s very much a problem that is on the rise worldwide … but our laws are not catching up at all, and there is a considerable vacuum. We are reaching the point now of no return.

“If we don’t adopt laws, if we don’t have some sort of mechanism at the international level to ensure accountability, to engage in monitoring, we could see quite a severe attack on space infrastructure.

“And, of course, this infrastructure is vital for everyday life on earth – from climate and environmental monitoring to giving us a heads-up if there is a bad weather front on the way to our business and finance communications, even to us monitoring and responding to disasters. We need satellites to do all these activities,” she says.

“If we don’t have that legal framework, if we don’t have those protections in place, what experts fear is a rise in terrorist activities against this infrastructure.”

Modern life interrupted

So, in a world increasingly dependent on space-based systems – “there are about 10,000 satellites in orbit around us and that number is growing year on year” – she tells The Detail that a single disruption could ground flights, cripple stock exchanges or cut off communications for millions.

Even some of the most basic conveniences of modern life would be interrupted.

“If you are somebody like me, who really needs the Sat-Nav in their car to try to get from A to B, if a key satellite to provide that service is knocked out, you’d really struggle.”

Brennan says there are “currently five outer space treaties at the international level, but these were crafted at a time when only a handful of states had access to orbit”.

“Countries like New Zealand have a very strong legal framework. If you want to launch anything … you have to have a license from the minister. But not all countries have that legal framework.

“So, experts over several years will be trying to explore how to support states to craft laws to address space terrorism, how do we prevent this from happening, firstly, and how do we hold those to account who engage in this type of activity and criminal behaviour.

“How do we define an act of terrorism in space, how do we establish protocols for instant reporting, and determining liability for attacks on commercial and civilian infrastructure?”

She says as humanity expands its footprint beyond the planet, so too does the threat. And without clear international rules, the final frontier could become the next front line.

Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.

You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook ph or following us on Twitter.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

There is a particular onus on police to meet the highest standards of professional conduct, an employment lawyer says, as police appoint a Kings Counsel to begin employment investigations into three active duty employees taken to task in a damning report.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority report, released on Tuesday, found serious misconduct at the highest levels over police handling of accusations of sexual offending by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

Some of those heavily criticised in the report are still employed by police, while others have resigned.

Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has been placed on leave from his role as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency following the release.

The IPCA’s recommendations included instigating employment proceedings against individuals known as Assistant Commissioner A, Ms G, and Officer B for breaching the police code of conduct by bringing police into disrepute.

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers confirmed three people taken to task in the report remained on active duty. He told Checkpoint on Wednesday he had appointed a King’s Counsel to oversee the employment process.

“They are still on active duty and we’ve worked through that process to make sure that’s the right decision.

“There’s a process to follow, and we need to let it take its course.”

Christchurch lawyer Katherine Dalziel said employment investigations could be detailed and difficult processes for all parties.

“At the end of the day the job is for a decision maker to find out whether an event has happened, whether it is misconduct or serious misconduct and whether it warrants a consequence, like a warning or dismissal.”

Investigations delved into breaches of policy and procedures in the workplace and frequently focused on codes of conduct, which could be fairly generic, but encompassed behaviour that reflected integrity or organisational values.

In the case of police, there was an even higher threshold to meet, Dalziel said.

“There is a specific onus on the police – they set high standards of integrity and they need to model it. At the end of the day they are judging the behaviour of people to a criminal standard and they need to be … not quite above the law, but at least within the law.

“Their codes of conduct set very high standards, so the police really need to take these processes seriously.”

The IPCA report found officers had used “questionable rationalisations” to justify their inaction.

It said the strict police hierarchy exacerbated a “failure to challenge poor decisions; a tolerance of unethical behaviour; and a tendency to overlook alternative responses to problems due to pressure to conform or fear of ostracism”.

“…many of those we interviewed justified their own poor decision-making by saying that they were merely doing what they were told and that it was for their superior officer to determine what else should be done,” the report stated.

But Dalziel said there was no defence in the argument that employees were just following orders.

“Every person signs up to an employment agreement, even if it’s a collective agreement, they have their part to play in it. So if their behaviour – even if they’ve been directed to do it – is wrong, that’s something they can face personal consequences for.”

There were protections in law to deal with people who were being directed to do something that was against their employment obligations, she said.

“That’s why we have the Protected Disclosures Act – if somebody is asking you to engage in something that would create serious misconduct then you can make a protected disclosure about it.”

High levels of media and public scrutiny should not affect the process, Dalziel said.

“While the investigation is behind closed doors, not in a public forum, the fact that the story is there or that there may even be evidence out in the media doesn’t change or alter the process that needs to go on, which must be fair and reasonable, and must meet natural justice.”

A new workplace could investigate and discipline or dismiss an employee for something that happened at a previous job, she said.

“If they were concerned about the reputational impact of having somebody who has breached their employment agreement at a previous job that’s become public, they might say it’s a reputational issue – they’re not actually addessing the behaviour itself but just saying the reputational impact of… your behaviour in the past is affecting our business and we need to hear from you about that.”

There was no universal rule on whether employees were stood down, suspended or required to take leave with or without pay, which was up to individual employers and situations.

“Generally you would only suspend an employee if there was a risk they would interfere with the investigation or a risk they would continue the behaviour you’re trying to stop.”

While investigations could be conducted by external or internal investigators, given the seriousness of the matter, it was appropriate for police to bring in an external investigator, Dalziel said.

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

Flocks of farm animals and food vendors are set to welcome thousands of people to Canterbury’s annual Agricultural & Pastoral Show, which is back with a more prestigious title.

The Royal A&P Show of New Zealand, hosted by The Canterbury A&P Association, is being held over three days from Thursday to Saturday.

It is the 162nd year of the event, with organisers promising a return to “full strength” after last year’s scaled back show.

The show was briefly put on ice last year after the association said it was not financially viable. But after a $5 million injection from the Christchurch City Council, and an almost complete overhaul of the board, it was resurrected in a downscaled format by the events company Event Hire.

Alongside the traditional events like sheep shearing and wood chopping, this year there was a new wool marquee with more than 30 exhibitors and a cowboy competition for horses and riders.

Canterbury A&P Association chair Sir David Carter said it was wonderful the show had received Royal status – the first time since 2010.

“The Royal Agricultural Society saw the way that we’d put the show together last year at very short notice, they were impressed by that. They approached us and asked us whether we’d consider being a Royal Show for 2025, we agreed and it has meant increased interest in the show, increased livestock entries, more exhibits and trade shows and ticket sales,” he said.

“We’re excited to see the show back to full strength after a challenging year in 2024.”

Sir David said the show had attracted more than 400 trade sites and livestock entries were well up on last year, with an increase in dairy cattle to 380, 267 beef cattle entries and more than 700 sheep.

It was the second year the show would run until Saturday.

“We trialled Saturday last year and it worked really well for us.

“It means that if Show Day itself is wet – the day we traditionally used to get the biggest crowds – then there’s also Saturday. The other real benefit is a reduction in traffic congestion on Show Day because the Saturday is available,” Sir David said.

Sir David said the wool exhibition was a highlight at this year’s event.

“We’ve got a large site devoted entirely to the industry of wool which is going under somewhat of a rejuvenation of interest. Included in that will be fashion shows both on Friday and Saturday which will take place around midday and in the shearing pavilion,” he said.

Andrew Stokes runs cattle competitions at the show. His family had been involved with the Canterbury show for more than 70 years.

“Livestock entries are very good, we had a massive year in the dairy side of things,” he said.

“There’s new exhibitors coming on which is really great to see the next generation starting to come through.

“One of our oldest exhibitors she’s 83 years old and still there cooking breakfast and leading cattle around so it’s good to see her wisdom going into the younger kids in the dairy side.”

Stokes said he got a buzz out of meeting people and explaining the farming life to people in town.

Competition christmas cakes and preserves were on display at the show.

Organiser Anne Rogers said it was the third year the cake competition was running and this year they decided to add in sauces, pickles, raspberry jam and marmalade.

She said a lot went into crafting the perfect Christmas cake.

“It’s quite tricky getting that perfect mix of fruit and cutting it up to be the right size, cooking it for long enough you basically have to dry a christmas cake rather than cook it,” she said.

“Judges look for texture, taste and appearance when they’re judging. It’s got to look good, edges need to be nice and square, it needs to be uniform, it needs to have a nice top on it, it needs to taste really good and it needs to be the right texture inside.”

Rogers said the products were judged last weekend, and the champion Christmas cake met the most points in that criteria while the winning preserve was a raspberry jam.

Sir David said the Canterbury A&P Association was on track to becoming financially sustainable, and had no plans to ask Christchurch City Council for more money.

The association had received a $250,000 council funding package across two years, on top of a $5 million bail-out last year.

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

A Lower Hutt man who died of a heart attack during a Waitangi Day diving trip was on a waiting list to see a specialist.

Gideon Marama Te Ahuru, a 60-year-old builder and much-loved community figure, died on 6 February this year after pulling in two sacks of kina.

In her findings released on Thursday, Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave concluded that Te Ahuru’s death – which was due to his underlying heart disease and extreme physical exertion – was “preventable”.

He had been diving off a boat with his brother-in-law, Solomona Priest, at Barrett’s Reef, near Eastbourne.

He sent a bag of kina to the surface after 20 minutes, followed by a second bag 10 minutes later but then surfaced coughing bloody phlegm.

Priest pulled him onto the boat, removed his diving gear and sped back to shore.

At the beach, he started doing CPR on Te Ahuru on the floor of the boat.

Two nearby medical professionals received alerts and arrived to take over CPR until emergency services arrived, but he could not be revived.

A post-mortem found his death was due to hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease contributed to by physical exertion.

The police dive squad found his dive cylinder was faulty and emptied faster than expected.

Together with the weight of the kina, that would have made it hard to breathe and put stress on his body.

Te Ahuru had been taking medication for high blood pressure and angina.

At his last consultation in December 2024, Te Ahuru had “excellent” blood pressure but complained of breathlessness when exercising.

He was prescribed aspirin and a beta blocker and referred to a cardiology specialist. “Unfortunately, Mr Te Ahuru died before he could be seen by that specialist.”

As a result of his health challenges, Te Ahuru had been eating healthily and rarely drank alcohol.

He also gave his time to Tane Ora, a community initiative to support Māori men’s health.

A builder by trade, he worked as property manager at the kura where his wife, Kararaina Luke, was the principal, and was deeply involved in sport, including softball.

“He loved sport, and was a well-loved, tolerant and gentle man,” the coroner said.

“Mr Te Ahuru was a certified and experienced diver, having dived for at least 30 years according to Ms Luke, although he hadn’t been diving for about a year.

“Mr Te Ahuru was also a qualified Boat Master and had worked as an honorary fisheries officer. Ms Luke told Police that Mr Te Ahuru was meticulous about safety, weather conditions and his equipment.”

The coroner has made a number of recommendations, including:

• Recreational divers should ensure they are medically fit to dive and should seek dive medical advice when there are any changes in their health, when they use or change medications, when they turn 45 years of age and at least every five years after.
• Diving equipment should be regularly serviced and must not be used if suspected to be faulty.
• Divers should always monitor air supply and end a dive when there is 50 bar remaining.

“I am satisfied that Mr Te Ahuru’s death was preventable,” the coroner wrote.

“As noted by the Police Dive Squad in its report, the contributory factors of Mr Te Ahuru’s hypertension and angina and the medications for such (contraindicative to diving), the out of date dive cylinder, the faulty second stage regulator, and the heavy sacks of kina causing increased effort by Mr Te Ahuru, have all combined on 6 February 2025 to create the situation which led to Mr Te Ahuru’s death.”

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

A young woman who worked for almost two months without a day off was not exploited or assaulted, says a man accused of slavery and sex offences.

Aucklander Moeaia Tuai, 63, gave evidence in his High Court trial today, and also called assault allegations a “big lie”.

He has pleaded not guilty to two charges of dealing in slaves, involving two young people.

He also denies two rapes, eight charges of indecent assault, six of sexual violation by unlawful connection and assault with a statue and a broom.

The Crown has accused him of keeping one of his alleged victims’ wages, hitting her and not allowing her to communicate with others.

Under cross-examination, Tuai agreed the young woman – then a teenager – worked 57 days in a row at her first job in a laundrette. She was usually paid $90 ‘under the table’ a day, with no employment contract and no rights.

Tuai said the job was work experience, and the pay was supposed to cover things such as money to buy lunch.

Prosecutor Chris Howard asked if he knew what was happening was illegal. Tuai said he did not know, and it had been her wish to work.

Tuai earlier told the jury at Auckland High Court he talked with her about making bank transfers from her account, and she authorised him to withdraw money. “She would smile and say ‘that is fine’,” he said.

He denied he hit her, and said both young people were free to talk to each other, contrary to what she and a witness told police.

The prosecution alleges Tuai put her to work in various jobs, took at least $78,000 of her money and made her take out a large loan.

Tuai said some of the money she earned went on expenses and buying a TV she wanted, as well as going shopping for what she wanted.

When they discussed whether he could withdraw money, and what it would be spent on, she told him ‘it’s up to you, whatever you see fit’, he added.

The trial continues.

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