Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Passengers have been stuck on the Interislander ferry, Kaiarahi, for almost six hours.

The ship experienced steering problems during its voyage across the Cook Strait to Picton on Friday.

Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder said the ferry left Wellington at about 3:30pm, but turned back from entering Tory Channel.

“As they were approaching Tory Channel and did their regular checks they found something was behaving oddly with the steering.

“They didn’t go through Tory Channel, just went out into Cook Strait to test what it was. After doing that, they decided they were going to return to Wellington.

‘It’s a technical problem with the steering, but they still have full control of the wheel. They’re just taking a prudent approach.”

He said the ship has been slowly heading back to Wellington Harbour since about 8pm.

They were expected to reach the harbour by 10pm where passengers could finally get off the ferry.

Nalder said once they got back to the wharf, they would work on resolving the problem.

“There will be checks done before it returns to service.”

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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 person has died after a serious crash in Palmerston North on Friday.

Emergency services were called to a two-vehicle crash on Fitzherbert East Road, State Highway 56 around 12.30pm.

The road was closed while the Serious Crash Unit conducted a scene examination.

The road had since reopened.

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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 government’s plan for Parliament’s final full week of the year moved 12 different proposed laws through 32 stages of approval.

Included in the plan is fixing an error made by tired government MPs during the previous long week of urgency, when they voted for an opposition amendment and, even when prompted, failed to notice the error.

Watching this week’s endless debating it appeared on Thursday that another more egregious error had occurred. It seemed that a minister had forgotten to include key aspects within an amendment bill, and so ask a select committee to add them back in.

However, it was no mistake. Paul Goldsmith had purposefully omitted some disallowed measures from the Crimes Amendment Bill, in order that they could be added back in as an addendum by the Justice Select Committee, in order to dodge the usual rules about what is allowed.

It certainly looked like a mistake at the time. We wrongly reported it as such. Opposition MPs in the House lambasted the minister, Paul Goldsmith, for the “disgrace” of the muck-up. Oddly, no-one from National, including Goldsmith, explained the maneuver or pointed out that Opposition MPs were incorrect in claiming their colleague was a “part-time minister” who couldn’t get his ducks in a row. This was taken by us at face value.

In fact, Goldsmith’s office has since confirmed that the last minute addition of an extra section to the Crimes Amendment Bill on Thursday was planned. It seems it was a move meant to dodge Parliament rules about what can be included in a bill, so as to include measures in the Crimes Amendment Bill that had been ruled outside its scope and therefore not allowed.

Keeping bills coherent

In the United States, vast bills sometimes include so many random provisions that those voting on them are seldom aware of all the aspects they are approving.

Our Parliament’s Standing Orders say that “a bill must relate to one subject area only”. Bills here cannot include disconnected policy ambitions or amend multiple pieces of current legislation (Acts) unless they fall within the rules for Omnibus Bills.

The Crimes Amendment Bill contained a ragtag collection of amendments to the Crimes Act. However the minister also wanted to include amendments to the Summary Offences Act. That is not possible unless all the amendments to both bills achieve a single policy objective – they do not. Or unless permission has been given by Parliament’s cross-party Business Committee.

Parliament’s sovereignty as a workaround

Parliament is sovereign. It makes its own rules. It can also give itself permission to break them, via a simple majority vote in the House. It is this ability that Goldsmith took advantage of when he moved “that the Justice Committee’s powers be extended under Standing Order 298(1) to consider the amendments set out in Amendment Paper 436 in my name, and, if it sees fit, to recommend amendments accordingly, despite Standing Order 264(2)”.

Asking for permission for a select committee to do something outside the rules is not unusual. But usually it is only that the committee can meet outside its usual hours, or outside Wellington or something else relatively inconsequential.

Of course, governments always have a majority and so can always win such votes, regardless of an opposition’s protests.

Allowing a committee to add in unrelated provisions to a bill is not common. Certainly not as a dodge. It may be entirely novel. It seems like a potentially dangerous manoeuvre that could lead New Zealand towards the shambolic American style of pick ‘n’ mix legislation.

As an observer, and admittedly someone fooled by what happened in the chamber, what strikes me as especially odd is that Goldsmith never outlined his plan, and that his colleagues did not defend their minister against the attacks of incompetence. Having moved the instruction to the Select Committee and sat down, he could not take a second ‘call’ himself, but he could have asked another National MP to rebut the attacks. He did not.

The presumption is that his colleagues present did not know of his plans, and that he was either not bothered by the attacks or preferred to be seen as bungling than seen as using Parliament’s rules and processes to out-manoeuvre its rules’ intentions.

*RNZ’s The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament’s Office of the Clerk. Enjoy our articles or podcast at RNZ.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

For people with disabilities, even daily life can require some workarounds – let alone a natural disaster.

With this in mind, the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) has launched a new emergency preparedness guide developed by, and for, disabled people.

Renee Patete, who’s been blind since birth, said most things were easier at home, in the house she’d known for the past 24 years.

“In an emergency, it’s important to know where you are, and what you have around you, and who you have around you,” she said.

She told RNZ she knew where all the exits were and where to drop during an earthquake to avoid falling objects, and the house was well-stocked with food.

But that was not always the reality – a natural disaster could strike at any time.

“I suppose the best thing to do is to be able to clearly communicate your needs to anyone else,” she said. “Having in mind how you’re going to quickly and efficiently communicate what you need to strangers is really important.”

This, and other advice designed with the input of people with all kinds of disabilities, was included in WREMO’s new guide.

Patete, who was an intern in the National Emergency Management Agency’s communications team through the Whaikaha/Ministry for Disabled People’s summer intern programme, had been a part of the creative process.

She said the result was a practical resource for planning ahead and preparing well for a disaster, “no matter the individual’s ability”.

“We talk a lot about what everyone should do, or what we should all do,” Patete said. “But that doesn’t necessarily always apply to everyone.”

She explained advice like drop-cover-hold was not very useful for someone in a wheelchair – instead, they might prefer to lock, cover, hold – locking their wheels and curling over.

It was the first step in a wider project responding to long-standing evidence that disabled people face disproportionate impacts in disasters, based on a framework designed at the University of Sydney which emphasised the input of people with disabilities themselves.

It recognised the expertise disabled people already used to manage daily life.

“Centering it on the person is a really big step forward,” Patete said. “We talk a lot about the people that help, the other people that can support you and what we need from other people, but actually this guide is about what can you do, what are your strengths, what can you do to solve these problems?”

WREMO’s project lead Renee Santos has an invisible disability.

“Controlled well by medication now, but when I started working on this guide, I was really struggling with mobility, so I came in and I was like, ‘What can I do to improve outcomes for my community?'”

WREMO’s adaptation of the Sydney guide was shaped by groups of disabled people at national, regional and local levels, who were paid for their time like any other contractor.

The work was backed by Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People, and the National Emergency Management Agency. They were now developing a national version, including in alternate formats like braille or audio.

Santos said the plan was to create peer-led workshops to go with the guide, and then, she hoped, forums to bring emergency services, emergency management, and disabled people together.

“I think that’s where the real change will come in the system.”

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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 Taxpayers Union (TPU) chair Ruth Richardson is still willing to debate Finance Minister Nicola Willis, and is suggesting Cameron Bagrie as a moderator.

Willis this week challenged her 1990s predecessor to a debate “anytime, anywhere” after the TPU launched a campaign criticising the coalition’s fiscal management.

But the pair could not agree on a venue.

Richardson demanded agreement to have the showdown on NewstalkZB next Thursday – giving a deadline to respond – but Willis refused to have other media outlets excluded.

In a statement on Friday afternoon, the TPU said Willis had “reneged” on her challenge, but Richardson was willing to still have the debate “so long as it is a substantive discussion, rather than performative theatre”.

Richardson suggested a roundtable discussion on Thursday morning “in a studio in Wellington, moderated by an appropriate economically knowledgeable journalist or commentator”.

“To reflect the tone and substance of the discussion we nominate Cameron Bagrie as host – ANZ’s former chief economist and former adviser to the National Party on matters of public finance – as neutral, but expert, moderator.”

Richardson said the discussion would be live-streamed with a clean broadcast feed made available to all media.

Labour has criticised the debate as a “sideshow” and a distraction, while the Public Service Association union called it a “stunt” they said aimed to make Willis appear more moderate.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fire and Emergency (FENZ) says paid firefighters are “rolling the dice on people’s safety” with ongoing strike action.

But the union is hitting back and said its comments about pay offers are pedalling “rubbish” that will only galvanise their member’s resolve.

The New Zealand Professional FireFighters Union (NZPFU) had issued strike notices for one-hour strikes at 12pm on 19 and 26 December.

In a statement FENZ, said there were 22 calls for incidents during the hour that union affiliated staff walked off the job during earlier strike action on 12 December.

FENZ said 12 of the calls related to events in areas affected by strike action with half of those being alarms activated with no fire discovered.

It said a small backyard fire in Kawerau was extinguished by a volunteers crew and another call was a small gas leak.

It said St John’s ambulance responded to two medical emergencies – in accordance with strike contingency plans – while the remaining two calls were reports of smoke which did not result in a fire.

Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler said she was disappointed by the announcement of further strikes before the end of the year.

“This is rolling the dice on people’s safety. We’ve urged the NZPFU repeatedly to call off their strikes because there is no good reason for continuing to put the community in harm’s way while both parties are in facilitation,” Stiffler said.

Stiffler thanked the country’s 11,800 volunteers for being available to respond to calls during the strike periods.

FENZ and the NZPFU have been in bargaining talks for a collective employment agreement for paid firefighters since July last year.

This week marked the first two bargaining sessions overseen by Employment Relations Authority appointed facilitators tasked with breaking the impasse between the two sides of the wage and conditions dispute.

“Attending independent facilitation with the Authority is the next logical step in coming to an agreement and we will participate in good faith with the NZPFU. We hope the facilitation process introduces some realism into discussions,” Stiffler said.

She said the union’s latest settlement proposal was three times higher than FENZ’s previous offer put forward before the facilitated bargaining process began.

Stiffler said FENZ had offered a 6.2 percent pay increase over the next three years.

She said the amount was “fair, sustainable and in line with other settlements across the public service”.

NZPFU national secretary Wattie Watson said that figure was “rubbish” as there had not been any pay rise in the nearly 18 months leading up to the current negotiations.

“In actual fact the period of time is four and a half years for our members because they haven’t had a pay increase,” Watson said.

Watson said FENZ claims of public endangerment during the hour long strike periods was ignoring the problems caused by understaffing and a lack of adequate resourcing of the service.

“Every day there is real risk to the community. FENZ gets a warning about this one hour,” Watson said.

“Every other hour of every other day they don’t know because they don’t have enough staff to keep the stations open and they don’t have enough truck.”

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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

Auckland police are disappointed after three liquor stores sold alcohol to minors.

During the last three weeks, over 30 stores across Auckland were tested by inspectors to see they were complying with alcohol laws.

Sergeant Michael Haydon said three failed.

“We’re really disappointed to report below 100 percent compliance, in that three out of the thirty-six sites tested failed in their obligations,” Sergeant Haydon said.

“A very basic requirement for anyone selling alcohol is to ask for ID and then calculate the correct age from that identification.”

Police and Auckland Council will now refer the three stores to the Alcohol Regulatory Licensing Authority for further action.

Sergeant Haydon said there is no excuse for basic failings.

“It’s a privilege, and not a right, for licensees and duty managers to be granted the ability to sell alcohol,” he said.

He said 33 stores passed the test.

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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 person is in a serious condition after a crash on State Highway 1 near Wellsford.

Police were called to the single vehicle crash at about 4pm.

Police say the road was not blocked after the crash.

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