Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two teenagers were allegedly indecently assaulted at a public pool in Auckland this week, sparking a police investigation.

The pair were approached at the Pt Erin Pools in Herne Bay and had laid a complaint with police, Detective Senior Sergeant Vanessa Pratt said.

“We are in the process of speaking further with the young people to understand what has occurred and supporting them through the process,” she said.

“Inquiries are being made with staff working at the facility.”

Police were urging anyone who might have been at the pools on Tuesday and saw a man acting suspiciously to get in contact.

Know more? Email finn.blackwell@rnz.co.nz

Meanwhile, a parent of one of the boys told RNZ they had been told not to return to the pools for their own safety.

He said the lifeguard who was at the scene did not intervene.

“I feel so let down, to a point that, there’s nothing I can do…”

Auckland Council’s head of service partner delivery for pools and leisure, Garth Dawson, sincerely apologised to the boys involved and their families for the distressing experience.

“The council takes all reports of unacceptable behaviour seriously and is supporting the pool operator, Community Leisure Management (CLM), in their cooperation with the police inquiry,” he said.

Dawson said they would work closely with CLM to implement any improvement identified in the investigation to stop something like this happening again.

CLM’s general manager of marketing & business development Tom Mann said staff on the day reported no unusual behaviour, and were at no time required to intervene.

“We work hard to ensure our facilities are safe and welcoming spaces for all to enjoy,” he said.

“We’ll continue to work closely with the police and family as the matter is investigated.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Days of downpours have caused widespread damage to multiple areas of the North Island this week with Whangārei, Thames-Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Hauraki and Tairāwhiti experiencing the brunt.

Footage showing the level of devastation for communities has come in from Gisborne, Northland, Whitianga and Tauranga.

Thousands have spent Thursday without power, mostly on the East Coast, and people remain missing in Auckland, Mt Maunganui and Pāpāmoa.

MetService had now cancelled its red heavy rain warnings, but states of emergency remained in place for Northland, Coromandel, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty and Hauraki.

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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 Canadian tourist staying at the Beachside Holiday Park says it was only later that he realised how close his family came to danger after a landslide tore through the campground at the base of Mauao, Mount Maunganui, leaving several people unaccounted for, including children.

Emergency services continue to search the site after the slip came down about 9.30am on Thursday, smashing into campervans, tents, vehicles and an ablution block near the Mount Hot Pools.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams have been working overnight in what authorities describe as a complex and high-risk environment.

Dion Siluch, who was visiting Mount Maunganui with his wife and two young daughters, told Checkpoint he was getting a massage inside the hot pools complex when the landslide struck.

“The whole room just started shaking, and we couldn’t quite figure out what was happening,” Siluch said.

“And for a moment we actually continued the massage until a big, large knock at the door happened and someone yelled and screamed emergency.”

When he looked outside, the scale of what had happened became clear.

“We looked out the window and saw a caravan landed about 30 feet from the front door of the massage room and the end of the mudslide,” he said.

“It was kind of disastrous… we could see that we were very close to being hit by the mudslide.”

Siluch said the scene was initially confusing, with some people struggling to grasp what they were seeing.

“It almost seemed like somebody had driven their caravan off the road and maybe it had rolled down the hill,” he said.

“But when you saw the mud, and you realised that it actually collapsed in the side of the hot pools and the retaining wall, it was like, ‘Oh, the mountain is collapsing’. This is a real disaster.”

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell has confirmed a young girl is among those missing, and RNZ understands other children may also be unaccounted for. Police said the number of missing is in single figures.

Siluch said reactions among campers and bystanders were mixed in the immediate aftermath.

“Some people were ready to dig. Some people were wanting to take action. And then there was another camp of people that wanted to hike up the mount to get a clearer view,” he said.

“I recommend that they didn’t get anywhere near the mount because it could be unstable and it could come down again.

“There was a lot of confusion.”

Emergency services soon descended on the area, including helicopters.

“Search and rescue were flying quite low,” Siluch said.

“I believe they must have been looking for any signs of distress… the military helicopter arrived, and then the police helicopter arrived.”

He said a police helicopter landed about 30 feet from his cabin, which was used as a staging area, before campers were ordered to evacuate.

It was only later that the emotional impact of the near miss hit home.

“When I realised it was a landslide… my wife and my two daughters, who were four and one, were standing there and my wife was crying,” he said.

“She just wrapped her arms around me and said, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re okay.'”

“Only then did it sink in that, oh, I was very close to danger,” Siluch said.

“It really took an hour for it to settle in and for me to understand how lucky I am.”

Siluch said there had been warnings after an earlier slip near the Mount’s lower walking track, which had been taped off and closed.

“They did a wonderful job of protecting people from the first landslide,” he said.

“I think the second one, I don’t think anyone saw that coming… I don’t think there was even an indication that any of us were at risk.”

Fire and Emergency said USAR teams are continuing to remove layers of debris carefully, supported by heavy machinery and sniffer dogs.

Authorities have urged the public to stay away from the area while the search continues and geotechnical assessments are carried out.

The Mount Maunganui Surf Life Saving Club is being used as a triage and evacuation centre, and the rest of the campground has been evacuated as investigations and rescue efforts continue.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former colleagues are mourning the loss of a “bright” Auckland lawyer who died while swimming at a Coromandel beach.

Jack Oliver-Hood, who was 37, was pulled from the water at Hahei Beach shortly after 3pm on Monday.

Despite rescuers performing CPR, he could not be resuscitated and died at the scene.

Barrister Kevin Glover KC said he first met Oliver-Hood while he was a junior barrister at Shortland Chambers in Auckland from 2015 to 2016.

After completing his Master’s at Columbia University in the US, Glover said Oliver-Hood returned to Auckland and had been working as an independent barrister since 2020.

“Jack was a bright and very able lawyer. He did fantastic work, and he was very good on his feet.

“People had a huge and genuine affection for Jack.”

Glover said they had worked on several cases together, including representing LEGO in a trademark dispute with toy company Zuru.

“I have been talking to people overseas who we worked with on the LEGO case, and they’re absolutely gutted. Jack did a really good job connecting with people.

“He was a very good lawyer across quite different areas of practice that people don’t normally combine, with this strength in IP [Intellectual Property], which is where I worked with him, and also criminal cases, where he worked with very senior practitioners on very high-profile cases.”

“The IP community all knows each other and has been pretty hard hit by this.”

Oliver-Hood also worked on the high-profile murder appeals of Mark Lundy and Gail Maney.

He was the only son of well-known music producer and engineer Doug Hood, who died in 2024.

Glover said they had a shared interest in music.

“I used to see Jack at gigs. He was very intertwined in the alternative music scene.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Marlborough District Council is considering whether to implement a bylaw for the appearance industry, after reports of sub-standard hygiene at some beauty salons.

The industry covers many procedures, including waxing, manicure or pedicures, derma-blading, microneedling, tattooing and body piercing.

At an Environment & Planning Committee meeting on Thursday, environmental health officers Georgia Murrin and Mary Ann Douthett told councillors they had received an increasing number of formal and informal notifications of concerns regarding practices at some Marlborough appearance industry providers.

In some cases, they had found sub-standard hygiene practices.

She said some appearance industry procedures had the potential to cause adverse health outcomes if not done hygienically. This included the risk of infection, burns or scarring and can result in time off work for patients, medical costs or even hospitalisation so standards were important to manage and avoid risk.

Murrin said complaints could be investigated under the Health Act 1956, but the council’s enforcement powers were limited.

There are 16 councils around the country that have bylaws in place to register and regulate the appearance industry.

“There are currently no national regulations that apply to New Zealand’s appearance industry although our professional body, the New Zealand Institute of Environmental Health, is actively lobbying Government to develop national legislation.”

Murrin said initial enquiries with some industry appearance businesses had shown support for industry regulation and it planned to engage in further consultation to consider whether a bylaw should be adopted.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Emergency services are responding to a glider crash in north Otago.

The crash happened about 3.15pm at the Omarama Airfield on Airport Road.

St John says they have sent two vehicles and a helicopter to the scene.

The Civil Aviation Authority has been alerted.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Whangārei Mayor Ken Couper says it could take weeks to fix a massive slip blocking the road to Ōakura.

Couper said the slip came down on Wednesday night at Helena Bay Hill on what was known as the Old Russell Road.

With the road to the north closed since Sunday by a bridge washout, Ōakura was now cut off in both directions.

“That slip is a bit of a problem because we have to get some heavy machinery up to the top of it, because it’s so big they won’t be able to excavate at the bottom without danger,” he said.

“It could take a couple of days before they even start to get a good idea on how long it’s going to take to clear it.”

Fixing the slip was likely a matter of weeks, not days, he said.

Ōakura and other settlements such as Punaruku were also cut off to the north by damage to Ngaiotonga Bridge.

Couper said repairs to the bridge approach, which was in the Far North District, were progressing.

Goods could now be handed across the bridge but it was not yet capable of taking traffic.

The only other option was a “very tricky” back road which was suitable only as an emergency lifeline. It was also used when a giant slip closed Helena Bay Hill for several months in 2007.

Couper said another concern was the failure of the wastewater treatment plant at Ōakura.

A team was heading there on Thursday with generators to rectify the plant.

If they managed to reach Ōakura through the “lifeline” road, they would be followed by building inspectors who would examine beachfront homes evacuated after Sunday’s deluge.

Sixteen people and seven pets were evacuated, he said. Most were staying with friends and family but some were being looked after by local marae.

Couper said it was disappointing the massive slip had hit just as the district was almost at the end of the four-day storm.

“We were nearly there, and then this has come down. The roading crews have done a fantastic job out there, the locals, the farmers have responded really well and kept the resilience going, and then this happened. It’s very, very upsetting, really, but it’s just a fact of life.”

His message to residents in cut-off areas was to “lean on each other, keep up the cooperation that you’ve demonstrated so far, and keep in touch with the council so if you need help, we can get it to you”.

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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 wife of a man who was swept away in his car at Mahurangi River, north of Auckland, says she is holding out hope that her husband is still alive.

The woman, who RNZ has agreed not to name, says her husband is strong, wise and – as a fisherman – familiar with the water.

About 20 people, drones, helicopters and white water rafts were searching for the man until evening on Wednesday. Water levels were still too high on Thursday for a search but Police used drones to carry out aerial searches for the car. Neither the man nor his car have been located.

His wife said her husband, 47, was a fisherman back home in Kiribati. They had moved to New Zealand in 2023 with their four children.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said her husband and her nephew – who had just moved to New Zealand in December – were taking their usual route to work in Warkworth early morning when they were swept away by water on Falls Road.

Both worked at Southern Paprika, a company specialising in growing greenhouse vegetables.

The woman said she was still sleeping when the police and her nephew – who managed to get onto land – came knocking at the door.

“The police came with my nephew, I don’t know how I feel… it’s horrible when I… I think I lose my breathing,” she said of hearing the news.

“I just have time to grab my nephew, and hug him strongly and I thank God for keeping him alive,” she said.

The woman said both her husband and her nephew had fallen into the water with the vehicle, and her husband had pushed her nephew so that the young man could grab onto a branch, but did not manage to get back onto land himself.

“When [the nephew] held on the branch, he called, ‘Uncle please come and grab on my leg and both go to the land.’

“Then [my] husband tried to grab, but then he knows that he’s so heavy, because he’s bigger than his nephew. I think like, when he saw his nephew like that, he didn’t want to pull him back, so he untied his hand and says ‘Go on, go and find life, while I’m going to swim this way and find another branch.”

The woman said she was hopeful that her husband would survive and be found.

“I know his personality is strong, wise, according to his decisions with the community and the church community, and he’s religious.”

She said he was a fisherman in Kiribati and knew how to swim, had seen big waves, been in canoes and knew how to dive.

The woman said she was at home supporting her four children on Wednesday to give them courage to face the traumatic event. She said she and her nephew, and another family member, would continue to search for her husband.

The incident

Fire and Emergency were called to the rescue at a river crossing on Falls Road – near the intersection with Woodcocks Road – at about 7.51am on Wednesday.

Police night shift staff conducted checks in the area overnight, but were unable to locate the man.

A police search and rescue would redeploy to the area on Thursday once water levels had subsided and it was safe to continue searching.

An eagle helicopter was also expected to do a flyover of the river.

Police were in contact with the man’s family.

“We acknowledge they must be going through a very uncertain and upsetting time while he remains missing,” Waitematā North Police Senior Sergeant Carl Fowlie said.

“Our thoughts are with them.”

On Thursday, a resident of the area said the crossing could be dangerous.

“When people go to drive straight, but it’s got a curve in the bridge, in the ford, that’s what gets you into danger – because the wheels go off one side, then the flow of the water will just carry them away,” Dawn Ferguson said.

Ferguson said she was devastated to hear what happened.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown also said he was alarmed to hear of the disappearance.

About 20 people were involved in the search on Wednesday, including firefighters, police officers and whitewater rafters.

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