Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

WARNING: This story contains content that may be disturbing to some readers.

Police have prosecuted fewer than one in ten of the cases referred from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.

The inquiry found at least 200,000 people were abused, and even more neglected, by the state and faith-based institutions from 1950 to 1999.

More than 2300 survivors gave evidence to the inquiry with 110 referrals made to police.

Information released to RNZ under the Official Information Act showed, as of November, seven referrals had resulted in convictions and 11 remained open – including two scheduled for trial and one awaiting sentence.

However, 93 were closed without prosecution with 47 (42.7 percent) not meeting the test for prosecution under Solicitor-General’s prosecution guidelines.

Cooper Legal principal partner Sonja Cooper, whose firm had acted for hundreds of abuse survivors and victims, said she was not surprised by the statistic.

“To be perfectly blunt, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” she said.

“I think it’s sad, but it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.”

For a prosecution to be taken it had to pass two hurdles – enough evidence to prove the proposed charge beyond reasonable doubt and whether prosecution was in the public interest.

Cooper said she could see historic claims failing both tests in the eyes of prosecutors.

“We know in the past when we’ve assisted clients to make complaints to the police, we know that unless there is a reasonable cohort of victims – so at least three or four who are all making allegations against the same person – the police will generally not proceed,” she said.

“So you already need a solid mass of victims – even if it’s a very serious allegation – typically with the historic claims, the police have not proceeded if there’s only one victim or maybe two and have required at least three or four.”

Considering many survivors of abuse had themselves faced the criminal system, Cooper suspected police prosecutors also weighed their credibility as victims in deciding whether to prosecute alleged abusers.

“I think it’s a harsh test and particularly for survivors of abuse who’ve long had a lack of faith in the system this just reinforces why there is that lack of faith,” Cooper said.

Of the referrals made to police by the inquiry, 19 were closed because the suspected was dead (17.2 percent); in four cases the statute of limitations had expired (3.6 percent); suspects could not be identified four cases; in three the suspects were under the age of criminal responsibility (2.7 percent); and in 16 cases survivors did not wish to proceed with prosecution (14.5 percent).

“It is still the system silencing the victims in many ways,” Cooper said.

“It’s not giving them a public forum for their allegations to be tested, including before their peers, because many of these claims would be eligible for a jury trial.”

Police refused RNZ’s request for an interview but in written answers, Detective Inspector Warren Olsson, of the national criminal investigations group, said it was not possible to compare the prosecution rate of referrals from the Abuse in Care Royal Commission to other allegations.

“Obtaining sufficient evidence for historic matters is much more difficult than obtaining sufficient evidence for contemporaneous allegations,” Olsson said.

“This is one reason any historic allegation, not just RCOI-related allegations, may not proceed to prosecution. Another common reason is that the alleged offender in an historic allegation has died and then there are cases where victims ask police to investigate their complaint and then later decide they do not wish to proceed.”

The Royal Commission of Inquiry recommended police should open or re-open criminal investigations into possible torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and that police should establish a specialist unit to investigate and prosecute historic and current abuse and neglect in care.

Police decided to maintain its current processes with then-Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura saying the organisation’s ability to investigate abuse and neglect had significantly improved since the period the Royal Commission investigated.

“Every report we receive is investigated appropriately, respectfully and with the sensitivity it deserves,” Kura said.

“Abuse and neglect are never acceptable in any context. Police is committed to identifying and prosecuting those responsible for these crimes, and continually improving our response to and support of survivors.”

But Cooper said she did not believe there had been a sea change in the attitude of authorities and investigators.

Survivor advocate Ken Clearwater said he was “shocked and surprised” so many referrals had failed to reach the threshold for prosecution.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry also recommended the Solicitor-General should amend the prosecution guidelines, including the establishment of a process for complainants to review the decision not to prosecute.

The prosecution guidelines should be reviewed, Clearwater said.

“In reality the Solicitor-General is part of the system that abused these kids,” he said.

“At the end of the day the crown are in charge of what happens and the crown were also in charge of those who abused the kids.”

Survivor Eugene Ryder, who co-chairs the board of the Survivor Experiences Service, said there was a case for reviewing the guidelines.

“It doesn’t seem fair that a subjective assessment has to be made because sometimes it may not be in the public interest to prosecute anybody, but the fact remains that a crime was committed,” he said.

Ryder was not surprised so many referrals ended without prosecution as traumatised survivors were often “blurry” about the details of the abuse they suffered and would struggle to meet the high threshold of the prosecution guidelines.

“That would be disheartening for a lot of survivors,” he said.

“It just seems quite damning that so many cases weren’t followed through with.”

Crown Law said its 2024 update to the prosecution guidelines responded to many of the issues raised by the Royal Commission, even though it was largely completed by the time the commissioners released their final report.

“The guidelines note that there is no statutory right to seek a review of a decision not to prosecute but that decisions not to prosecute must be explained to victims. The guidelines provide a detailed process for reviewing decisions in cases involving sexual violation,” Crown Law told RNZ.

“Decisions to prosecute should be made in accordance with agency’s prosecution policies and the test for prosecution as set out in the guidelines.

“As the Solicitor-General does not have visibility of the reasons behind the police decisions not to prosecute, she will not comment on those decisions. In general, the Solicitor-General does not think that the guidelines provide too great a scope not to proceed with prosecution or that the guidelines are being misapplied. She has confidence that people should be able to rely on decisions taken by prosecutors.”

Eight offenders had been convicted of dozens of sexual assaults and indecencies against 15 children as a result of referrals from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.

In four open investigations, suspects are currently believed to be overseas.

Where to get help:

• Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357.
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
• Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202.
• Samaritans: 0800 726 666.
• Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz.
• What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds.
• Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.
• Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254.
• Healthline: 0800 611 116.
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155.
• OUTLine: 0800 688 5463.

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

Sexual Violence

Family Violence

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Half a dozen fire trucks were called to a South Auckland egg carton factory overnight.

A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said seven fire trucks were called to a commercial building on Bairds Road in Ōtara just after midnight Monday.

He said the fire was contained to just machinery, but it was well involved when crews arrived.

The fire was extinguished by 2am.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

It’s an idea that’s endured almost a century.

Since at least 1931 moving the South Island inter-island ferry port from Picton to Clifford Bay has been periodically floated and rejected.

The latest bid – dubbed the North South Express – has been submitted to the government’s investment agency and comes more than a decade after the previous bid was quashed.

For its proponents, the advantages of Clifford Bay are clear – its location offers a more direct, and faster run between the North and South Islands.

So far, the government’s dismissed the proposal and last week a large upgrade began at Picton’s wharf, ahead of the arrival of new Interislander ferries in 2029.

What’s the proposal?

CB Port Limited – the company behind an iwi and construction consortium promoting the North South Express – is seeking a public-private partnership for a multi-use ferry terminal at Clifford Bay.

The port would be privately funded at an estimated cost of $900 million, but the groups wants Crown money and cooperation for the necessary connecting road and rail infrastructure.

CB Port spokesperson Stephen Grice said the advantages of Clifford Bay, which sits on flat land 44km south of Blenheim, were clear.

“It’s a much faster voyage time of two hours sailing, as opposed to three-and-a-half on the journey to Picton. That means a faster transit for passengers and more efficient logistics.”

He said the shorter crossing – 74km between Wellington and Clifford Bay, compared to 104km to Picton – would enable more sailings and therefore quicker recovery from schedule disruptions.

With new ferries on the horizon in 2029, he believed the time had come to pull the trigger on the project.

“We want all of the desirable things of a first-world economy and growth and Clifford Bay offers that as new infrastructure.

“The geographic advantages of it completely outweigh continuing to pour money into infrastructure at Picton when it’s so geographically constrained.”

Although initially sceptical, Kaikōura and National Party MP, Stuart Smith has become a vocal backer of the idea, maintaining a new port at Clifford Bay was preferable to upgrading Picton.

“One is private capital – no cost to the taxpayer – and the other one is cost to the taxpayer and the ratepayers of Marlborough.”

However, instead the government has committed to upgrades at both Wellington and Picton ports, with contracts for the work expected to be finalised mid-year.

The redevelopment in Picton is currently estimated at $531m, of which $110m is to be contributed by Port Marlborough, a subsidiary of the Marlborough District Council.

The contingency for the entire project, which includes Wellington port upgrades, is $415m.

Seafarers get behind idea

Retired long-time Interislander captain John Brown said he’s been convinced of the superiority of Clifford Bay as a southern port for decades.

In the 90s, ahead of Tranz Rail’s resource consent application for the port – ultimately granted on appeal in 1999 – Brown took the Interislander ferry Arahura on an overnight run, leaving Wellington around 1am.

He said the ship arrived in Clifford Bay around 2-2.5 hours later.

“It was dark and I thought we’d just hang around until it gets daylight. The sun came up around four-thirty, quarter-to-five. We waited about half-an-hour and then I said, ‘Well, we better get back,’ because we had to do the 9.30am normal sailing.

“Not many people knew we ever went.”

The trip was smooth sailing, he said, “everything just went like magic”.

Brown said berthing in Picton “could be a handful” and the route through the Sounds was vulnerable to bad weather, sometimes forcing ships to take a longer detour via Queen Charlotte Sound (the northern entrance).

The issue of Clifford Bay’s suitability in bad weather has been dismissed by shipping expert Per Rold.

The Marlborough-based Dane, who was involved in the operation of three Danish ferry lines, said unlike some ports in Denmark – built on the open West Coast of the North Atlantic, “infamous for severe winter storms” – Clifford Bay was naturally sheltered from southerly swells by Cape Campbell to the south and was also a candidate for a breakwater.

However, Rold said Clifford Bay’s proximity to Wellington was its main advantage as an alternative port to Picton, and in his experience of Denmark’s competing domestic routes, “the shortest route always wins”.

Strait NZ Bluebridge declined to comment on the Clifford Bay bid, while a spokesperson for KiwiRail provided the following statement: “KiwiRail’s role is providing a safe and reliable service for [Interislander] passengers and freight across Cook Strait using our existing ships and to play our part in bringing the new ferries into service in 2029.”

Government not convinced

Smith was confident that if the Clifford Bay promoters built the port, the ships would come, but understood why a contract with KiwiRail was desired first.

Grice said a partnership with the Crown was imperative.

The Rail Minister’s office said Winston Peters met with the consortium last year, but the government has chosen to stay with Picton.

A spokesperson said although Clifford Bay was backed by private money, ultimately the cost would be shouldered by consumers.

“The Interislander is a commercial business where the cost of infrastructure ties back to the costs freighters and families pay.

“North South Express estimate their project will cost $900 million, while our works in Picton will cost just over $500 million.

“The higher the cost of infrastructure, including by private investors expecting a return, the more expensive the Interislander ticket.”

Grice has pushed back on those claims, saying the cost of Picton’s upgrades are also expected to be recovered will need to be funded through increased ticket costs, but without the efficiency gain of Clifford Bay.

In response to questions from RNZ, Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor said the council was focussed on supporting the government’s ferry replacement and port redevelopment project.

“With the government’s commitment to provide two new ferries to serve road and rail for Cook Strait by 2029 confirmed, the Marlborough District Council has not undertaken any analysis of any other proposal and none is planned.”

She said once commercial details were finalised, the council would consult with ratepayers on the up to $110m loan to be obtained on behalf of Port Marlborough, to fund its portion of the upgrades.

In statement on 13 January, Port Marlborough chief executive Rhys Welbourn heralded the start of demolition on Picton’s old wharf.

He said as the gateway between the North and South Islands, Picton was grounded in geography, history and function, and that its redevelopment built on generations of investment and experience.

“The money spent here is not only for national benefit – it also circulates through Marlborough, supports local jobs and capability, and ultimately delivers returns to ratepayers.

“That is a very different outcome to infrastructure designed to serve private interests.

“With work now underway, there is no ambiguity about where the future of inter-island connectivity is being delivered.”

Grice, however, held out hope – claiming ambiguity would remain until Picton’s upgrades had final contracts and costings.

Ultimately, he said Clifford Bay was the future, it was just a case of when.

“Clifford Bay will happen in the economic lifetime of this country. It just has to happen. And we’re at this inflection point, so it just seems a wasted opportunity to not make it happen now and achieve the benefits.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

It was supposed to be a coming together, a celebration at a marae for a first birthday.

But the water, and lots of it, came by stealth in the dead of night.

Pattinson Wetere was in a small cabin on the side of the road to Ōakura.

He said the rain started early in the morning.

By 5am, he woke to feel the cabin he was in moving.

“I quickly opened the door, jumped into the raging flood, rushed to the other one before it could take off because our baby was in there and my partner was in there,” he told RNZ.

Soon, he was in knee-deep water trying to save not only his moko but his partner, who would be pinned by rising water and snared by a barbed wire fence.

He was in one of two small cabins when the water began pushing them along the ground.

He grabbed his 3-year-old granddaughter first and threw her into a four-wheel drive, but the water had come so fast it already had water in the footwell.

He got the ute and his moko across the road to Mokau Marae.

Wetere then went back for his partner and a grandson, Dayton.

“They were both hanging onto the fence because the current was too swift. Had they let the fence go, they would have got taken in the brown water,” he said.

Dayton was desperately trying to pull Wetere’s partner onto the road.

“But she was hooked against the fence on the barbed wire … by the time I had noticed, I put my hand down, ripped what she was wearing, we locked hands, me on one side and Dayton on the other, like a human chain, and we pulled her out of the current and through the gate,” he said.

“It was hard trying to get up onto the road because the current was so strong.”

Dayton had made the woman grab onto the fence with both hands.

“She was trying to hold her bag with her belongings and valuables in it to save, but by the time I had got back down there, he had told her to let it go and save ourselves.”

In daylight, part of her ripped pyjamas were still tangled on the barbed fence.

“We pulled her out of the ditch, and she was lost. She thought she was going to drown,” Wetere said.

Wetere and his grandson dragged his partner, hands still linked, onto the road.

Not that they could see it.

The water was over the road and level with the fence, Wetere said.

He described it as swimming for dear life.

At the marae, there was refuge for his partner and a hot shower.

“She was just traumatised that she could have died.”

Scores of people already asleep at the marae began to wake, and their own fears quickly heightened at the sight of the rushing water.

More than 100 people were there, sleeping and unaware.

“Everybody started to panic and I said ‘no, this is going to be our emergency hut for now’.”

Wetere said he pleaded with everyone to stay, fearing lives would be lost otherwise.

“Some tried their luck but only got to the base of the hill and turned around and came back,” Wetere said.

“I said as long as the water was that high, we’re not going anywhere.”

Wetere said he still could not believe how high the water was.

From the marae, Wetere can see the cabins across the road, shunted along the ground next to the caravan that wasn’t there the day before.

He took RNZ back to them, nervously, after the ordeal the night before.

They had moved several metres and had mud smeared inside.

His own ute, waterlogged, wouldn’t start.

Ōakura hammered

The road to Ōakura is caked in mud and littered with rocks and trees.

Paddocks are underwater, in some places up to the top of the fences.

Shanne McInnes, in his holiday home, has described finding everything in his garage afloat, including the boat on its trailer.

Donna Kerridge had water creeping up past her windowsills.

“Our bedroom, our shower is full of mud, it’s up over hand basins, up the wall, it’s all up to chest high, the flooding that came through,” she said.

But it’s the heart of the small beach community that has significant damage with mud, trees and debris taking aim at the Ōakura Community Hall.

It was only re-roofed and renovated about a year and a half ago after a fundraiser.

Glenn Fergusson chairs the Reserves Board, which the hall comes under.

He described torrential rain.

“The hill behind the hall has slipped, forcing the back wall of the hall inside the hall and also all of the trees and slip material is sitting now on our nice polyurethane hall floor,” he said.

“That’s the stage, that was the stage. Unfortunately, we had a group of people that had booked the hall for an unveiling, they had all their tables set out, all their food ready, everything was ready to go.

“To come back and find it like this was pretty devastating for everybody.”

Fergusson said the next step was to be in touch with the insurance company.

“Seeing what they say we need to do or can do or how we’re going to approach it to get it cleaned out because it’s all going to have to be removed by hand in a wheelbarrow out through the front door,” he said.

He estimated 50 or 60 cubic metres of mud would need to be moved.

Rallying people to lend a hand was also on the list of things to do.

“We’ve just got the hall finished and we put a new kitchen in it and got it all sorted and now we’re going to have to pull it all out and start again,” Fergusson said.

Whangārei District Council said on Sunday night that most roads were now accessible and campers have either left the area or made themselves safe.

About 300 had been evacuated from campgrounds.

A small number of people were still in marae being used for community-led Civil Defence centres, the council said.

The urgency of the current threat had now cleared, it said.

But it warned Civil Defence was now getting ready for more heavy rain that was forecast for later in the week.

It said the weekend deluge included 285mm falling at Punaruku.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

An Education Ministry error nearly cut the 2027 school year short by a single day.

An Education Ministry document supplied to RNZ under the Official Information Act said schools were supposed to be open for at least 380 “half-days” each year.

But the ministry forgot to allow for the Matariki holiday in its 2027 term date calculations, the report to Education Minister Erica Stanford said.

“An error has been identified in the 2027 Term 2 half-day counts, caused by the 2027 Matariki holiday being excluded from the calculations.

“With this public holiday included, the 2027 Term 2 and full year half-day counts will reduce by two, meaning the minimum half-days for the 2027 year falls from 380 to 378,” the report said.

The document dated 10 June 2025 said leaving the dates unchanged was not a good idea.

“ln order to maximise classroom learning time, reducing the minimum below 380 is not recommended, especially as the 2027 school year will already be affected by Easter holidays falling within term time.”

It said the only option for fixing the term dates was to shift the latest starting date for term 1 from Thursday 4 February to Wednesday 3 February.

The report asked the minister to approve the change by 11 June 2025.

It said the ministry would alert schools through its School Bulletin and publish a new notice setting the 2027 and 2028 school term dates in the official government journal, the New Zealand Gazette.

The document showed Stanford agreed to the change on 13 October 2025, but she disagreed with the ministry’s recommendation that the report be proactively published.

The New Zealand Gazette published the revised term dates on 16 October 2025 and the ministry updated the term dates listed on its website.

The ministry told RNZ it would alert schools to the change in a bulletin to schools in February.

The ministry’s report said it had ensured similar mistakes would not happen in future.

“To make sure that this type of error does not recur, we have created a checking tool to use alongside our existing term dates calculator. This will provide an additional check to our existing manual checking process.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

If you think about what you – or your parents – were spending your money on 30 years ago, it might be quite different to how you spend it now.

You’re not going down to the local Blockbuster at the weekend to pick up a VHS of a film, and you’re not paying to have photos developed at the local mall.

You might be making dinner from a My Food Bag kit in a cast iron wok rather than firing up your electric frying pan to cook saveloys and brussels sprouts (a strange mix, but you’ll see why shortly).

Stats NZ’s consumer price index (CPI) data gives a snapshot of what New Zealanders were spending their money on over the years, because it is adjusted at regular intervals to reflect our behaviour.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Half of Mercury’s Tararua wind farm in Palmerston North was taken offline for hours on Sunday evening after a wind turbine caught fire.

A Mercury spokesperson said half of the wind farm was taken offline while the affected turbine was removed from service and the rest of the farm returned to full service around 10pm.

Emergency services had responded to the fire after a member of the public alerted them.

“The fire was contained to a single turbine and a small number of minor ground fires, all of which were quickly extinguished,” the Mercury spokesperson said.

“There was no one near the turbine at the time and no injuries.”

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said they were called to the scene around 5pm on Sunday and crews left before 6pm.

“We responded with crews from Ashhurst and from Palmerston North.”

“The wind turbine put itself out”

Mercury expects the wind farm to return to full operation tomorrow, excluding the affected turbine and the cause of the fire will be investigated in the coming days.

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