Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

One person has died after a two-vehicle crash in Auckland’s Dairy Flat.

Emergency services were called to the scene on the rural Pine Valley Road on Wednesday.

St John said it was notified of the crash just before 1pm.

The person was taken to Auckland City Hospital in a serious condition, but later died.

Pine Valley Road was closed for a few hours, but was reopened by 5pm.

A serious crash unit is investigating and enquiries into the crash are ongoing.

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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 Māori housing project in Hawke’s Bay wants to see the same model rolled out nationwide to help people afford their own homes and benefit from a community environment.

Puke Aute papakāinga is in Te Hauke, about 20 minutes south of Hastings in Hawke’s Bay, and has been built on ancestral Māori land and received funding through government-backed Māori housing initiatives such as Te Puni Kōkiri.

The village of 10 brand new homes is no ordinary housing development, with vege gardens, lambs, chickens and pigs.

Some people rent the houses, some buy them, and others rent to buy – but the land the whare sit on can never be sold.

Zack Makaore is the driving force of the project, which has been a 30-year dream for his people.

“There are some wins out of this whole thing, it’s not perfect, but our whānau have been able to save some money because the rent isn’t so high.

“They’ve saved to purchase their homes in the next five years, or to purchase a house somewhere else and other family moves in here,” Makaore said.

He explained that the papakāinga is based on five pou, or principles. Those are politics and local government involvement, looking after the environment, growing economic opportunities, helping others in society, and building a positive culture around manaakitanga.

“We’re also standing up to having no gang patches on site and no one on methamphetamine – just a culture of people going to work, going to training, and kids thriving in school,” Makaore said.

For Puke Aute resident Vivienne Duxfield it’s been an eye opening experience, renting a home at the papakāinga.

“It’s a wonderful place, it’s a place of connection with my whakapapa – my mother lived here before me and this land belonged to our family.

“I’ve learned more about the culture because I wasn’t raised with the Māori culture at all, and so for me there is a coming home in that way too,” she said.

The pensioner is loving the community aspect of living in the papakāinga, and the sharing of knowledge and skills.

“I get involved in any way that I can, I take the children with me to feed the lambs – we have a lot of fun because I don’t have grandchildren and here I have many grandchildren and it’s wonderful,” she laughs.

As one of the only people living at Puke Aute who isn’t working, Duxfield has taken responsibility for raising the village’s lambs.

“I’m a total novice – oh my goodness it’s been a roller coaster and I now have become fairly knowledgeable on the subject.”

The community is still taking shape, but she said everyone was feeling positive about the direction they were taking.

“There is a lot of work to keep a place like this running and it’s hard to achieve, but it’s really important and we’re beginning to develop a way of life,” Duxfield said.

Makaore said the village mentality was one he would love to see replicated around Aotearoa.

“Why can’t we do it for all New Zealanders – you know, little villages – thousands of villages where we all work together and everyone feels comfortable in what they do and how they do it.

“I think we are in a great position right now with the downturn in the economy. It’s a good time to transition some of this thought into housing for ourselves,” he said.

“We need papakāinga for the rest of country, not Housing New Zealand stuff, but people thinking about living in a community where everybody is working together as opposed to state housing.”

Makaore has a long history of helping many people in many different ways, he founded the Te Taitimu Trust in 2007 after losing his son to suicide 25 years ago. The trust helps hundreds of rangatahi build their self-confidence by participating in local Hawke’s Bay camps at nearby beaches and rivers.

The papakāinga is part of that mahi, and has a strong focus on mental wellbeing.

“We’ve been able to help others through that grief. It’s about supporting people and whānau, we want to be part of that thinking around a little village,” he said.

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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 cheeky tūī named after the Lilo and Stitch character Pleakley is literally turning heads at the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House.

If you wander past his innocuous-looking enclosure on your way to the exit, he’s likely to call out “hey buddy” or perhaps just guffaw at you.

While it is not unheard of for tūī to mimic car alarms and the like, birds that talk are relatively rare.

Ōtorohanga Wildlife manager Matt Ronaldson explained how Pleakley came to be at the sanctuary.

“He came to us as a very young bird. He was rescued in Hamilton with a sibling and the rescuer had him and they brought him to us hoping that he could potentially go back to the wild.

“After a little bit of assessing it worked out that, no, it wasn’t suitable to go back to the wild due to the fact he climbed inside my jersey and he made kissing noises when he came and landed on your shoulder.”

Pleakley’s gift of the gab was discovered by accident.

“We would hear him now and again when he was in the holding aviary up the back. He would bark – sorry – he would tell the dogs to shut up and then he would bark.

“And we started hearing this random voice coming from the holding aviaries and worked out it was Pleakley and he was starting to mimic some of the staff around me in particular.”

The tūī now had about 15 phrases down-pat.

“With a bit of training and work with him he learnt ‘good boy’ on a regular basis and he used to land on staff members’ shoulders and lean into their ear and actually say ‘good boy’ in my voice which was a little bit disturbing for some of the staff.

“And since then he’s actually learnt quite a few … other words. He’s got ‘yeah boy’ and we had a visitor from Australia and she held up her engagement ring to him and he said ‘oh beautiful’.”

Associate Professor of Ecology and Zoology at Massey University Isabel Castro said tūī were great mimics.

“So they wouldn’t imitate people in the wild, they would imitate other birds or the sound of the wind through the leaves, all the natural sounds, and they use them as part of their communication style.”

Tūī have two voice boxes and could make a huge range of sounds – some of which were beyond the range of human ears.

It seems Pleakley might have an ulterior motive for his calls.

“The sounds that birds produce can be used as a sign of the sexual quality of the animal, for example, how good they would be as mates.

“And in the case of tūī and other small birds that do those imitations that allows the birds to produce sounds that are sexier to members of the other sex.”

Regardless, visitors to the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House were loving his flirtatious nature.

Jeneni was visiting with a family group from Malaysia.

“It was laughing at us. There he is again.”

Not that she held it against Pleakely.

“It’s not too bad, it’s okay.”

Australian visitor Carol was intrigued.

“It said ‘hey buddy’ and it was making a clicking sound with its tongue.”

Juliet was visiting from France.

“He did sort of talk though I can’t remember what he said exactly. I was surprised because it was kind of gutteral sounds and I’m more used to the singing phrase they do.”

New Zealander Britney knew tūī could mimic speak but had not expected to be laughed at.

“He was laughing, like, at us laughing at him, and him responding with it. Same with the ‘hey buddy’.”

Waikato local Laura had a large family group in tow.

“We knew he sat there and sometimes made sounds like the phone, but we had no idea that he could talk.”

Laura’s daughter Michelle loved it.

“He said ‘hey buddy’. I though it was cool.”

The Ōtorohanga Kiwi House is open everyday from 9am until 5pm, except on Christmas Day – when Pleakley and the crew took a well earned rest.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Greater Wellington Regional Council is spending a decade building a fence to protect thousands of hectares of native forest from pests.

RNZ was given a look at the area of Wainuiomata Regional Park which was normally roped off to the public due to its proximity to the capital’s water source.

Driving through the native bush, rātā trees estimated to be hundreds of years old were in full bloom – offering spots of bright red amongst shades of light and dark green.

But underneath the tree canopy was a problem that had been brewing for years.

The forest floor’s undergrowth had been largely cleared of almost everything besides plants that tasted bad to pests or were difficult to eat for pigs, goats and deers.

The regional council’s delivery director Jack Mace told RNZ that prevented future plants and trees from being able to grow after older ones died.

“We are controlling possums in here and we are now increasingly controlling deer, pigs and goats.”

Mace said there was a “constant wave” of pests coming in from lands near the water catchment.

“So, what we are looking to do is to build a deer, pig and goat-proof fence around the whole valley so we can effectively eradicate them around that whole area.”

The fence was set to cost $5.9 million over a 10-year period and would protect 7400 hectares of forest.

He said it was not a Zealandia-style fence but more a fence built specifically for larger pests.

“Our fence that we’ll build won’t be sufficient to keep predators like stoats and cats out.”

Mace noted there was a business case to fence off part of the area which would protect it from all pests but that would need central government funding.

The forest has been home to the North Island brown kiwi for 20 years ago, a population that had been increasing due to predator controls.

He said the richness of the forest was incredible.

“Hundreds and hundreds of species down here. What’s special about this area is that we have got six or seven different forest types.”

Recently workers in the forest had found critically endangered species such as New Zealand’s only indigenous fully parasitic flowering plant Dactylanthus and short-tailed bats.

“Even where we have been in here for over a hundred years, we are still finding things.”

The project is due to be completed by 2034.

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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

The number of New Zealanders held in US detention or having immigration difficulties in America rose to a new high of 39 last year, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).

Latest available White House figures suggest more than 900 New Zealanders overstayed their US visa in 2024.

The US administration has stepped up border controls since Donald Trump came to power a year ago, including searches of electronic devices and social media accounts.

MFAT data shows 39 New Zealanders sought help after encountering border or visa issues in the US in the last financial year (2024-25).

In the last six months, there have been another 16. The figures reflect only those who contacted MFAT for help.

New Zealand woman Sarah Shaw and her six-year-old son were among them. They were released last year after three weeks in a Texan detention centre because of a problem with her paperwork when she arrived back from Canada.

And New Zealand-born reggae artist Lotima Nicholas Pome’e – aka General Fiyah – was detained and sent back to New Zealand before he could perform at Polyfest, a major Pacific cultural festival, in August.

MFAT’s Safe Travel website warned New Zealanders to exercise increased caution, due to safety and security issues.

It noted the US government had strict rules for entering and staying in the country and that travellers may encounter greater scrutiny at the border. There was also now a requirement for most visitors to register with US authorities if they were staying more than 30 days.

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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

Privacy lawyers are calling for a review into what punishments companies can face for breaching privacy in the wake of the massive Manage My Health cyber hack.

The country’s largest online patient portal faces a new Friday deadline for a US$60,000 ransom after hundreds of thousands of sensitive files were taken.

Manage My Health said hackers came in through its front door, and that it dropped the ball.

Chief executive Vino Ramayah has not ruled out standing down from his post.

In its latest public update, Manage My Health said it would start notifying affected users by the end of Thursday.

About 127,000 patients were affected.

Speaking to RNZ this week, the Deputy Privacy Commissioner said the Privacy Commisioner’s Office was irked by widespread complacency around cyber security.

“The frustration for us at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner is that we continue to see complacency from, and this is across the board … a continuation of the ‘it’ll happen to somebody else, not to me’ type approach,” Liz MacPherson said.

“And you have to ask the question, is the lack of a penalty regime part of that?”

For a former Assistant Privacy Commissioner, it was.

Privacy lawyer Katrine Evans chairs the Privacy Foundation, which had a mission of protecting privacy rights through research and education.

“The Privacy Commissioner’s Office has been calling for a long time, not just the current Privacy Commissioner, but previous Privacy Commissioners have called for a proper fining regime, a civil penalty regime, so not a criminal prosecution, but an ability to fine companies that breach privacy when they should have been taking much greater care,” she said.

“And so far that hasn’t happened, it’s now 2026 and it’s about time we had those in place.”

MacPherson pointed to the penalties on offer in Australia which were significantly increased in late 2022.

For serious breach, a court could impose a maximum A$50 million, or three times the benefit derived from what happened, or 30 percent of a business’ annual turnover.

That was for each contravention.

In New Zealand there was no express penalty for a privacy breach.

The Privacy Commission was able to issue fines of $10,000, but these were for set circumstances:

• A business or organisation that failed to change its behaviour after being issued with a compliance notice
• Misleading a business or organisation to access someone else’s personal information
• A business or organisation destroying personal information after it had been requested to avoid handing it over
• Failing to notify the Privacy Commissioner of a breach.

The Human Rights Review Tribunal, if a case went there, was able to issue a fine of up to $350,000.

“It’s a pretty long haul to get all the way through there to get compensation,” Evans said.

“A lot of things settle quite early so that’s one option where you’ve been harmed, you ask for compensation, but that’s not to do with punishing.”

Evans said some courts could make awards for damages to punish a business or organisation through exemplary damages.

“The Privacy Foundation definitely thinks it’s high time,” she said when asked if there should be a review of the punishments available.

“Where are the incentives for agencies to take privacy seriously, to invest in good systems, to support their staff, to do the right thing, to provide great training?

“If you compare that with something like health and safety, where there are really significant fines available for, say, workplace accidents, privacy is looking pretty weak.”

Evans said having a better regime of fines would mean “everybody has to take care”.

Privacy barrister Kathryn Dalziel was another who said there should be a review.

“My view is that the penalties regime is not a deterrent,” she said.

“So there needs to be a review of those penalties and the amounts that can be awarded but also what they can be awarded for, and for serious privacy breaches which should never have happened, these should be matters that the Privacy Commissioner’s got the ability to impose penalties.

“I can understand the sense of frustration when you don’t have a power to impose a penalty that will act as a deterrent … I just don’t think we have the deterrent factor in New Zealand.”

Dalziel said she was surprised New Zealand did not follow Australia when it massively boosted its penalties.

Commenting on the Manage My Health hack, she called it a major breach.

“And the reason I say that is that any attack on a health system or health database causes fear for people.”

Her advice for worried patients was to let Manage My Health know, and contact the Privacy Commissioner to discuss their rights.

“This is something New Zealanders hold dear, the sensitivity of our health information and so any attack on a health system of this significance, particularly given the clear criminal intent behind the attack, says to me there are New Zealanders out there that are concerned, fearful, worried and anxious about their health information.”

Government responds

Through a spokesperson, Duty Minister Casey Costello said she was “not going to make up policy on the fly”.

“Any changes to the Privacy Act would require the input of various agencies and Cabinet consideration,” she said.

“Of course the government wants to ensure that people’s private information is protected.

“However, it important to recognise that the current cyber security breach is criminal activity,” Costello said.

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