Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington Water is warning Seaview residents that due to an “error” by the operators of its Seaview sewage plant, locals should expect bad smells in the area.

The Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant is notorious in the community for causing bad odours, which some have described as being so bad it made them dry retch.

Wellington Water said following an “error” on Thursday with routine operational maintenance undertaken by its contractor Veolia, the biological process for the plant has become unbalanced – which would likely cause more smells.

To manage the risk it would bring in trucks to remove wet sludge from the plant, which would give the process of the plant its best opportunity to become stable again, it said.

“It’s important that the local community are aware and they should expect increased odour from both the sludge trucking and the plant.”

The water provider’s chief executive Pat Dougherty has apologised and said they’d hold Veolia to account.

“This is completely unacceptable.

“We acknowledge that it was around the same time last year that we had issues with odour from the plant and we are gutted that this has happened yet again at the start of summer.”

Dougherty said Wellington Water was committed to reducing the impact of the issue and to ensure it did not happen again.

“We have asked Veolia to provide a robust plan so we can give our community confidence moving forward.”

Just over a year ago fire in the plant’s sludge dryer caused an increase in odour near the plant.

At the time Greater Wellington Regional Council had received hundreds of complaints about the smell at the plant.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

They are purveyors of some of the world’s most sought-after culinary delicacies, but Mahurangi’s oyster farmers have been reduced to eating beans on toast most days, their hair going grey, and their nerves shot.

Last month the farmers were hit with a livelihood-ruining sewage overflow after a power surge at a new wastewater treatment plant in Warkworth.

The overflow of 1200 cubic metres prevented farmers from collecting oysters for 28 days.

On Wednesday, a $1 million compensation deal was struck, but the 10 farmers say $100,000 each is only a drop in the sewage-polluted ocean compared to what they’ve lost.

Jim Aitken from Mahurangi Oysters was hauling in contaminated oysters on Thursday from his farm in the Mahurangi Harbour, north of Auckland, to see if they were still alive.

“We probably have somewhere around 80,000 to 120,000 dozen oysters and they’re all contaminated, every single one is contaminated.

“They can flush it out, but again it takes time, it takes that 28 days if the test results come back negative, but still everything stops.”

While he is relieved and grateful for the compensation from Watercare, he said it will only cover a small portion of the damage to his business.

“Pretty much it’s all gone already to pay off our debts, but it’ll get us through to Christmas, so it takes a significant weight off the shoulders so we’re very thankful that we have got some support after this very, very tough year.”

Aitken said he has lost a whole year of income and incurred debt just trying to survive.

“It has been a bit of eat beans on toast, trying to keep the wallet tight, because we don’t know what next year is going to bring, until that new main pipe is put in there might still be spills next winter, so until that’s in we could be in for another difficult season for 2026.”

The toll on his business will likely linger across the next three years.

Up the road in Matakana, Tom Waters has been spending thousands on oysters from elsewhere just to keep his businesses running.

He said despite no-one getting ill in the latest discharge, the reputation of his business, Matakana Oysters, has taken a huge blow.

“This has really damaged the reputation again so financially that’s a huge impact.

“I’ve got people saying ‘oh look we’re just not going to be trusting them’, all of the farmers have had that out there wherever they sell at farmers markets or wholesalers, that’s something that we’re going to have to continuously try and work hard to get back again.”

Waters said he has had countless sleepless nights with the stress of keeping up with bills and trying to keep on staff.

“This event the other day, that one really did hit me quite badly because it was sunny and we were starting to get everything back going again so I’m glad that they were on the front foot and have come through with something for us in this regard because in previous times it’s sort of been like you’re banging your head upon a brick wall.”

He said compensation is a good start for now, but he is nervous about wet weather events in the future.

“Even though Watercare have done work to try and mitigate those effects with their temporary fixes around Warkworth and certain areas, we are still going to have this problem until the growth service pipeline goes in at the end of next year or the year after.”

Aquaculture New Zealand, the New Zealand Oyster Industry Association and Watercare are still figuring out the full extent of loss from Watercare’s system failures.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police are searching for a man who escaped custody while on a hospital escort in Auckland last week.

A warrant to arrest 42-year-old Paul Kyle Peekay Rehua has been issued by police, who believe he is in the wider Waitematā area.

Mt Eden Corrections Facility acting general manager Edith Pattinson confirmed to RNZ on Tuesday a remand prisoner escaped from Corrections staff about 9am on Friday while on a hospital escort.

Police believed he was actively avoiding authorities.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz and finn.blackwell@rnz.co.nz

They said Rehua was known to frequent both the greater Auckland and Waikato regions, and were appealing for anyone who may have seen him or those with information that could help in finding him to get in contact.

Earlier this week, Pattinson said public safety was a top priority.

“Any escape is unacceptable and an immediate review into how this incident occurred is being carried out.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Associate Education Minister David Seymour says contracting a non-existent trust to set up a charter school was “a bit of a screw up”.

But he said the sport-focused charter school would still go ahead.

The Charter School Agency signed a contract for the NZ Performance Academy Aoteaora with the NZPAA Charitable Trust, but the trust was not listed on the Charities Register.

The agency has been unable to clarify for RNZ the legal status of the contract.

Seymour initially told reporters on Thursday the trust did exist, but his office later clarified he meant the school’s sponsor existed.

He said the sponsor changed some of its arrangements, but the name of the sponsor was not changed on the contract.

“On the contract they still had the old name. So obviously, bit of a screw-up administratively but fundamentally the people are there, the students are there, the government’s there and that partnership will continue,” he said.

“There’s not actually a problem to be addressed here. The school’s going to be there, the students are going to be there. Everyone’s very excited about it and the administrative error can be easily fixed.”

Seymour said he had confidence in the agency’s processes.

“I do, because one administrative error when they’ve opened nearly 18 schools at record speed, I think is pretty good.”

He said the agency was not rushing to approve schools before next year’s election.

“I don’t think they’re being rushed for that purpose. I think they’ve been overwhelmed with interest. They’ve had over 100 different organisations that want to run charter schools. They’ve got to assess them all, contract the ones that we can afford to to open right now, and then monitor how they perform,” he said.

“There’s a huge amount of interest in charter schools, which has put pressure, but generally I’m pretty pleased with the way the charter school agency’s responded to that pressure.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand’s climbdown on its methane emissions target and an agricultural emissions tax is dangerous and embarrassing, an international climate science and policy expert says.

Speaking from the COP30 global climate summit in Brazil, Dr Bill Hare said the New Zealand government’s recent policy decisions were “completely contrary” to scientific consensus.

“It is unbelievable this has happened against a background of a rapidly warming planet, and increasing scientific concern that methane emissions have to be reduced absolutely and quickly,” he told RNZ.

The government announced last month it would lower New Zealand’s methane emissions target, from a 24-47 percent reduction by 2050 to a 14-24 percent reduction, considered sufficient to meet a ‘no additional warming’ goal, compared to 2017 levels.

Hare, a physicist and former lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is currently the chief executive of the non-profit Climate Analytics.

He was responding to remarks made to RNZ by climate change minister Simon Watts, who said he was prepared to explain the rationale for the new methane target to other delegates at COP.

“If we get questions around that, which will potentially be the case, particularly from other countries that have pastoral farming systems, then we’ll be dialoguing on that,” Watts said.

Hare said it was “difficult to understand how New Zealand can make a constructive contribution to COP30 with this kind of attitude.

“Methane has contributed to around one third of warming so far, and I would be extremely worried if New Zealand, proportionally a country with a very large agriculture sector, were to be touting its methane rollbacks here in Brazil.”

The adoption of a ‘no additional warming’ target, rather than pursuing more ambitious reductions, was “an embarrassing and humiliating capture by industry”, he said.

“[It] is very dangerous at a time we have to reduce the warming impact of methane – and very, very quickly.”

There was a global agreement to reduce methane, he said.

New Zealand remains a signatory to the Global Methane Pledge, where several dozen countries have pledged to globally lower methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 levels, by 2030.

“There has been a global agreement to reduce methane – and what New Zealand has done is completely contrary to this. It seems hell-bent on maintaining methane at today’s high and unsustainable levels.”

Ralph Sims, an emeritus professor in sustainable energy and climate mitigation at Massey University, also said the New Zealand delegation might face awkward questions.

“I don’t think New Zealand is going to be held in high regard,” he said.

“There may be some agricultural countries … that might look over the fence to see what New Zealand’s got in mind, but I don’t think there’s going to be a huge acceptance of what the government is planning at the moment.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two of the boards that spoke out over the government’s axing of their Treaty of Waitangi obligations say they are getting strong support.

Some boards made public statements reiterating their commitment to the Treaty after the government announced it would cut a Treaty requirement from the Education and Training Act.

It was not clear how many of the more than 2000 state schools had made a statement.

However, tallies kept by the School Boards Association and lawyer Tania Waikato showed more than 200 schools had written to the Education Minister Erica Stanford or confirmed they would continue to uphold the treaty and the number was growing.

The association expected that number to rise because most boards would not have met since the government last week announced that it would cut the Treaty obligation this week.

The board of Dyer Street School in the Hutt Valley said upholding the Treaty was the right thing to do for its students.

The board’s presiding member Matt Weldon-Smith told RNZ the school wrote its own statement.

He said the Treaty was important to the school.

“I know it’s a bit of a political football, but it’s not really a political issue to us. It feels more like an ethical, educational one. So, that honouring Te Tiriti ensures every child feels valued, respected and represented in their learning,” he said.

Weldon-Smith said community reaction has been incredibly positive.

“It’s clearly touched people and it’s been one of probably our most reactive messages we put out this year,” he said.

“Looking at the comments… it’s almost overwhelmingly positive and supportive.”

The board of Queens High in Dunedin said in an online statement its commitment to the Treaty was not a compliance exercise.

Its presiding member Kate Kaddell told RNZ the Treaty was fundamental for schools in an inclusive society.

“What it means for us is that when we are making decisions, we look at them through a lens of equity and cultural responsiveness and inclusion,” she said.

She said the school made a public statement to assure its community that it followed through on what it said.

Kaddell said the school had about 600 students and reaction from its community was positive.

“As at this afternoon I can see 1600 engagements,” she said.

“If you look at the emojis as a data point, there’s only one angry red face and the rest in that number – 912 loves, 745 thumbs-up, 14 caring signs, and one sadness emoji. So that’s quite a a snapshot of affirmation for our community.”

Meanwhile, a petition by the Iwi Chairs Forum calling for reinstatement of the Treaty clause had 13,275 signatures by late Thursday afternoon.

The government has said the Treaty is an obligation for the Crown, not schools.

It said schools should be focused on ensuring high achievement for all students, not on figuring out how to give effect to the Treaty.

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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 coroner in charge of the Cyclone Gabrielle Inquiry has given the public a telling off for making unkind comments online about a witness, saying no individual person is to blame for those who died in the tragic weather event.

The coroner began day 14 of the Hawke’s Bay phase of the inquiry by telling the court she was aware of “unkind” comments being made online about a witness.

Woolley said it’s very easy to judge the actions of other people with the benefit of hindsight and from behind the “shield of a keyboard”.

“I would challenge any person thinking about making negative comments about the evidence of witnesses online, to think about how well you might perform under similar scrutiny.

“I doubt many people would be able to act perfectly or to make all the right decisions in circumstances such as what unfolded in Cyclone Gabrielle,” the coroner said.

Woolley said a Coroner’s Inquest relies on people coming to court and giving evidence, which “may inherently involve admissions about things they could have done differently or better”.

She also noted that many of the people working in Civil Defence and emergency services were volunteers, and the system relied on them taking these roles on as well as their “business as usual” jobs.

“Without people doing that work, given we are in a country facing a great deal of natural hazards, we would all be at risk of having no one come to assist us in times of need,” Woolley said.

She emphasised the importance and function of a Coronial Inquiry.

“The purpose of this process is to make positive change for future, not to blame individuals,” Woolley said.

‘I’m so sorry’

Robert Johnson, who was the Emergency Management Advisor for Communications and Public Information (PIM) during Cyclone Gabrielle, made an emotional apology to victims’ families on Thursday morning.

“The families and whanau who tragically lost their lives in the cyclone, to you I extend my heartfelt aroha and condolences.

“It is with that deep respect that I give my evidence today.”

His voice choked with emotion as he told the court about how more than two years on from the deadly Cyclone Gabrielle, he still thought about it every day.

“It is often one of the last things on my mind at night as I got to sleep. My colleagues and I tried our very best to plan for and respond to the cyclone and keep our community safe.

“I am so sorry that our efforts could not prevent the loss of your precious loved ones,” he said.

As Johnson took a moment to gather himself, the coroner then made the unusual move of responding to his apology, telling him “no one died because of one person in this event”.

“I’m sure the families are appreciative of your comments, but I want to emphasise that I don’t think any one person should bear the feelings that they themselves are responsible for any deaths in this situation,” Woolley said.

‘I absolutely would approach things differently’

Earlier in the week, the court heard about how Civil Defence Group Emergency Coordination Centre (GECC) was running with “skeleton staff” on the night of 13 February, when rivers burst their banks and flooded hundreds of homes.

The acting group controller for Civil Defence in Hawke’s Bay, Edaan Lennan, had explained the challenges of finding enough staff for overnight shifts, and the decision to strategically bring people back early on February 14th.

At 10pm on February 13, Robert Johnson left the HBCDEM Group office leaving Lennan to oversee communications with the public.

“I had full confidence in Edaan’s ability using the tools and channels, and what we anticipated overnight was perhaps some minor incidences at a local level that Edaan could then share on our channel.

“But in hindsight, I would not be comfortable leaving no PIM manager in place,” he said.

He became emotional as he described how hard it was to leave the office the night of February 13.

“I really struggled with leaving office that night. I had a partner and 2 year old child at home.”

He said leaving was not something he would normally do, as he’d usually “see it through”.

In his evidence, Johnson also reflected on the wording of the Facebook posts used to inform the public. A post from 8:33pm on February 13th included messaging for residents that said:

“At the moment there is no need for residents to evacuate – those who should move have already been contacted – however, if you feel concerned, please don’t hesitate to voluntarily self-evacuate to whānau and friends.

“If evacuation is required overnight, teams will be deployed to advise residents. And if you are told to evacuate, please follow the evacuation advice you are given at the time.”

Flood victims have since expressed their frustration and anger over the wording of these posts, saying it gave them a false sense of security that they could go to sleep that night and would be alerted if an evacuation was needed.

An Emergency Mobile Alert was not issued for Esk Valley until 5:19am on 14 February, by which time two people had already drowned and many more residents were clutching onto their rooftops as the floodwaters rose.

The coroner’s lawyer Matthew Mortimer-Wang asked Johnson about his Facebook posts, querying whether it was appropriate to tell residents that they’d be advised if an evacuation was needed.

“Have the events of Cyclone Gabrielle changed your sensitivity or margin of appreciation built into when we might, or might not, be able to follow though,” Mortimer-Wang asked.

“The events of Cyclone Gabrielle have changed my life. I absolutely would approach things differently,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s previous communication experience included working as a Press Secretary in Parliament for Minister Kelvin Davis, who was the Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party at the time. Since moving to Hawke’s Bay in 2021, he’d been deployed as a PIM for West Coast flooding in 2021 and the Nelson Tasman flooding in 2022.

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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 former senior leader at police is on leave from his job at the Civil Aviation Authority following the police watchdog’s scathing report into how police handled allegations of sexual offending by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

RNZ earlier revealed the identities of some of the senior leaders referred to in the IPCA’s 135-page report.

Among them is Chris de Wattignar, referred to in the IPCA’s report as Deputy Commissioner PLC, now works as the Upper North head of aviation security at the Civil Aviation Authority.

Asked for comment on Wednesday, a CAA spokesperson said the matters discussed in the IPCA’s report “relate to events that occurred during Chris de Wattignar’s previous employment with New Zealand Police”.

“As this was a police matter and is now the subject of extensive public reporting and oversight, it would not be appropriate for the Civil Aviation Authority or for Chris in his current role to comment.”

• Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

The CAA had no involvement in the police investigation or the IPCA’s findings, the spokesperson said.

“We are focused on our statutory responsibilities for aviation safety and security, and we continue to support our people to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.”

However, on Thursday, a CAA spokesperson confirmed de Wattingar was on leave as of Thursday.

“He will take some time away as we work through an employment process and any implications for him in his role at CAA,” the spokesperson said.

“We will work through these processes as quickly as possible. We are bound by legal processes and obligations as an employer, and we won’t be able to discuss employment matters publicly.”

The IPCA said de Wattignar had an obligation to exercise independent judgement and take any necessary action to ensure senior officers were acting in an appropriate way.

“Despite his Director of Integrity and Conduct raising her concerns with him in the clearest language, he clearly failed to fulfil that obligation.”

The IPCA acknowledged his responsibility was “to a degree mitigated” by the fact he sought advice from Coster.

“His failing lies in the fact that he simply relied upon Commissioner Coster’s and Deputy Commissioner Kura’s assurances without further enquiry of his own, despite the continued expressions of concern from Officer M.”

De Wattignar’s perception that once he became aware of concerns he lacked the necessary authority was proof of the “inadequate status and independence of Police Integrity and Conduct”.

“While we do not doubt there was significantly more he could have done, the status of Integrity and Conduct within Police no doubt needs reframing.”

RNZ asked a spokesperson for Associate Minister of Transport James Meager for comment on de Wattignar’s suitability for his role at the CAA.

The spokesperson said it was a question for the CAA to respond to.

“It’s an operational employment matter so would be inappropriate for Minister Meager to comment.”

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