Category: Radio New Zealand

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Ghislaine Maxwell court documents can be released as part of push for information on Jeffrey Epstein, judge says

Source: Radio New Zealand

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(alt text) CNN/US District Court for the Southern District of New York

This undated trial evidence image obtained 8 December 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

A federal judge in New York has granted the Justice Department’s request to unseal records from the investigation and criminal prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell.

The ruling from Judge Paul Engelmayer on Tuesday US time opens the door for the department to publicly release evidence it had gathered against Maxwell, an associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The trove of documents, which will be redacted to protect victims’ identities and other identifiable information, includes grand jury transcripts, financial records, travel documents, and notes from victim interviews obtained during the investigations.

It is not yet clear when the department plans to make the documents public or how much of the material will be new. Some of the evidence in the case came out during Maxwell’s trial and Congress has released a trove of records in recent weeks.

“Contrary to DOJ’s depiction, the grand jury materials would not reveal new information of any consequence,” Engelmayer wrote.

Engelmayer is the second judge to order investigative files be made public since the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law last month. A judge in Florida made a similar ruling last week.

This undated trial evidence image obtained December 8, 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Federal judge in Florida orders unsealing of grand jury transcripts and records in Epstein probe

The Justice Department has also filed a request to unseal records to a third judge who oversaw Epstein’s short-lived prosecution in New York. That judge has not yet issued a ruling.

– CNN

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Should you get your child’s teacher a Christmas gift? If so, what?

Source: Radio New Zealand

One of the most thoughtful yet bizarre gifts Shirley Serban received from a student during her teaching career was a basket containing a can of Sprite, dog food and a banana.

“She was so proud to give it to me and her mum said she thought very carefully about each item she chose to go in it.

“I did have a dog, but no idea where the Sprite and banana ideas came from – I don’t drink fizzy drink and not a big fan of bananas either.”

Shirley Serban.

Supplied

It’s that time of year when some parents fret over an appropriate gift for their child’s teacher, and the desk drawers of educators fill up with a mix of helpful, weird and unwanted objects from well-meaning students.

Most teachers insist that a personal card or letter from an appreciative student reigns supreme over chocolate, wine, gift cards and mugs (definitely don’t buy your teacher a mug).

“I would say for families who want to appreciate their children’s teachers but have to spend carefully – make a card or anything handmade. It means more,” Serban, who has taught on and off since 1990, says.

Serban has taught all years, but mostly years three to four, and was the principal of a small private school.

“For some cultures, gifting is the norm,” Dr Pennie Togiatama, a senior lecturer in primary education at Manukau Institute of Technology, says. When her own children were at school, she used it as an opportunity to show them how good it felt to give.

Reverend Dr Vaione Pennie Togiatama.

Supplied

Togiatama spent 30 years teaching in schools. The typical gift was small, a token of appreciation like homemade baking, chocolates, body butter and cards of gratitude.

“I was always grateful for that but there was never an expectation to receive that.

“It is not a competition. [Students] shouldn’t have to feel they have to get something better than the other kids.”

Bridget, a secondary school teacher, says that handwritten cards from students are a treasure.

“I’ve kept them all from 25 years of teaching.”

One student thanked Bridget for believing in her. Another student who was difficult to teach that year wrote that Bridget had made a difference in her life and was “put on this to earth to teach”.

“Don’t underestimate the challenge [of being a teacher]. I put my heart and soul into particular classes this year. One kid said ‘Thank you’.

“You never get told you are making a difference.”

Bridget says gifts and cards are more infrequent for secondary teachers, who often teach more than 100 students a week. In primary or intermediate schools, students have one or two teachers for the whole year so students and parents get to know them well.

Cards were often mentioned on a Reddit thread asking New Zealand teachers to weigh in on gift ideas. Gift cards were often mentioned as a welcome idea (but only if a family can afford it). Helping a teacher stock up on markers or other teaching tools for the next year was another common theme.

One teacher we know says the best gift she ever received was Elizabeth Arden face cream. On the opposite end of the spectrum, one teacher received some used soap with hair stuck on it.

Cash gifts to a teacher are inappropriate, according to the Ministry of Education’s Financial Information for Schools handbook.

“This sort of gift could lead to a feeling of obligation to the giver, or even to allegations of bribery,” the handbook states.

The ministry leaves a more in-depth gift-giving policy is left up to the school. For example, some schools like Epsom Normal Primary School in Auckland allow staff to keep gifts if they are under the value of $50, according to the school’s policy documents.

The Warehouse, like other stores, curates a list of teacher gift ideas. There was a 255 percent increase in people browsing the section in 2024 compared to 2023, according to a statement from the megastore’s general manager for online experience Hannah Russell.

Sarah, a Wellington mother of a seven- and 10-year-old, is undecided on what to get their teachers this year.

In other years, she has bought chocolate (her child said the teacher talked about it a lot) or made snacks like spiced nuts. This year she is toying with the idea of socks.

But Sarah reiterated a theme from the teachers interviewed for this story and the Reddit thread: gifts are unnecessary.

“I think people worry that it is expected but it is not.”

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Concern commuters may shun buses after second fatal stabbing on Auckland service

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police officers at the scene of an incident on Fenchurch Street in Glen Innes around 8pm on Monday. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Shaken commuters may reconsider their use of buses in the wake of a second fatal stabbing in just over a year, a councillor says.

Police have charged a man over Monday night’s incidents on the 76 bus from Glen Innes that ended in the death of a 59-year-old man and serious injuries for a 51-year-old man.

Both the victims were stabbed.

It follows a similar fatal incident in Onehunga in October 2024 during which Auckland woman Bernice Louise Marychurch suffered multiple stab wounds.

Maungakiekie-Tāmaki ward councillor Josephine Bartley told Morning Report people could be deterred from catching buses because of fears over their safety.

Josephine Bartley Nick Monro

She had received many messages raising safety concerns this week and that was “understandable”.

She often caught the same bus around the time of the killing.

After giving some thought to using her car, she caught the same service the next day and observed it was empty. Bartley said she felt nervous and worried because the alleged offender was still being sought.

“The bus route was diverted … my bus stop was one of the bus stops the bus was diverted from because of the investigation [into the two stabbings].”

Public transport safety was a constant topic of conversation within Auckland Council.

She had asked at a transport committee meeting on Tuesday if it was time for transport police to be used and was told by Auckland Transport that some were already deployed, including on the No 76 bus service since the stabbings.

“There’s 13,000 bus services – they can’t have somebody on each one of those services.”

Other safety measures available included a text service (to 4030), CCTV monitoring, and panic buttons at bus stations, she said.

Bartley had decided not “to let fear take over” regarding travelling on the bus.

She said commuters were always focused on their phones but she appealed to them to be more aware of their surroundings.

“You can never know what might happen …”

In the wake of the tragedy, she said the community was trying to support each other.

The site had been blessed and flowers have been left at the scene.

A 36-year-old man is due to appear in the Auckland District Court today facing several charges.

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Motorcyclist injured in crash on west Auckland road

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Marika Khabazi

A motorbike and car have collided on west Auckland’s Te Atatū Rd, near the motorway on-ramp heading into the city.

The motorcyclist is reported to be in a serious condition.

A police spokesperson said police were at the scene on Wednesday morning.

One lane of Te Atatū Rd was blocked.

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DOC warns rat numbers could double by 2090 as it seeks $150m in extra revenue

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rat numbers could double by 2090 if climate change gets really bad says the Department of Conservation (DOC), as it hunts urgently for $150 million in extra revenue.

DOC has told MPs it needs this much more per year to “not go backwards”.

Director-General Penny Nelson said the $360m currently spent annually on biodiversity could not cut it faced with the range of the greatest threats to species and ecosystems – wilding pines, goats and deer, and pests and diseases.

“What we’re seeing through some of the research that we’ve done in terms of climate change impacts, under a high-climate scenario, we’re potentially looking at having, I think, rat populations doubling by 2090,” said Nelson during scrutiny week last week.

Modelling showed it would take $2 billion a year to ensure nature would thrive, but that was not realistic, so instead it was having to ruthlessly prioritise spending.

As well, DOC was intent on finding commercial ways to generate more revenue. One NZ was among the companies on board, giving its rangers increased mobile coverage and satellite connections, Nelson said.

“We will go backwards under existing baselines.”

DOC Director-General Penny Nelson. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Commercial revenues compared to Crown funding were small. However, DOC’s recreational revenue rose 15 percent to $29m due in part to a jump in Great Walk fee income. The amount it earned from concessions and permits for commercial activities on conservation land rose 10 percent to $30m.

The MPs heard the department had cut over 260 jobs in 12 months, met the public savings target of 6.5 percent, absorbed inflation and still delivered efficiently; it now had better forecasting and for the first time ever a 10-year capital spending plan.

Yet despite all this, it now faced a further $120m-plus of cost pressures up to 2029, Nelson said.

“We are at risk of starting to get into not being able to deliver as many results as we are currently.”

The $150m – $50m for high-priority management (e.g. tara iti, kākāriki karaka, coastal dune systems) and $100 million for urgent ecosystems and species that are currently unfunded (e.g. threatened plants, invertebrates) – would enable “real gains” against threats.

The country’s two million hectares of wilding pines, for instance, would cost $156m to combat over two decades in their prime source of Marlborough. The fight nationally required $30m a year but spending was running at just a third of that.

“If we don’t get that under control that is going to have an impact on both public conservation land and primary sector land.”

On top of that, disasters and fires were draining funds, too.

Eight emergencies had been declared this year, and last month’s fire fight in Tongariro National Park had cost millions.

Nelson said the country needed a change of mindset about nature; economists had put a pricetag on natural capital of $134 billion, she added.

“If we don’t invest in nature-based assets, the country will look vastly different in the next 20 to 50 years…

“If we don’t invest that in the next 10 to 20 years, New Zealand will be really different.”

DOC told RNZ it would soon publish a report on the likely climate change impacts on the demography of ship rats, mice, hedgehogs, rabbits, hares and wasps.

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Could Australia’s ‘No Jab, No Pay/No Play’ policies work in NZ?

Source: Radio New Zealand

Could Australia’s ‘No Jab, No Pay/No Play’ policies work in NZ? PEAKSTOCK / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRAR

Penalising families who refuse to vaccinate their children could help boost New Zealand’s low vaccination coverage, but may have “unintended consequences”, experts warn.

Under Australia’s long-standing ‘No Jab, No Pay’ legislation, parents must have their kids immunised to qualify for the very generous Family Tax Benefit and subsidised childcare.

Some exemptions are possible – for example, if a child has had an allergic reaction to a previous dose – but “vaccine objection” is not valid grounds to avoid immunisation.

On top of that, five states – New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia – have ‘No Jab, No Play’ policies, requiring children to be fully vaccinated to even enrol in childcare and early education services.

Māori paediatrician Dr Owen Sinclair, who chaired New Zealand’s National Immunisation Taskforce, said it was “not a bad policy” but this country may have missed its opportunity to introduce it.

“I think in a perfect world (or in my perfect world), there would be some compulsion for people to immunise their children.”

The measles vaccine was so effective, it could eradicate the disease globally – if everyone had it, he said.

“You could save your own child’s life, but also you could save other children’s lives, so we don’t ever have a repeat of the situation that occurred when our low immunisation rate in New Zealand [meant the disease] went to Samoa and killed 83 children there.”

Furthermore, New Zealanders tolerated other mandatory public health measures, he pointed out.

“For example you’re not allowed to smoke in a car with a child, you have to have a child buckled in the seat properly, you have to wear a seatbelt.

“So some of our public health policy is compatible with compulsion.

“But I think this one would be a very hard one to sell.”

In the wake of the Covid-19 epidemic, anything that suggested “mandates” would be unlikely to get any political traction, he said.

The Immunisation Advisory Centre’s medical director, Professor Nikki Turner, said Australia’s ‘No Jab, No Pay’ policy was introduced 10 years ago when that country’s immunisation rates were already rising.

Immunisation Advisory Centre medical director, Professor Nikki Turner. RNZ / Angus Dreaver

The “stick” also came with quite a lot of “carrot” in the form of supports, education and community outreach programmes.

“It clearly has had some benefit, but it’s very small – like overall there’s probably a less than 1 percent gain in coverage from it, probably more focused on low income families. It does have some benefits, but you do have unintended consequences.”

Imposing ‘No Jab, No Play’ could further erode trust in health providers, hit struggling families in the pocket, and undermine efforts to get more kids into early childhood education.

Australian kids have higher protection

About 90 percent of all two-year-olds in Australia are fully immunised, compared with just 82 percent in New Zealand.

For Māori two-year-olds, rates are even lower, at just 68.4 percent.

By contrast, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children actually have higher rates of coverage than the Australian national average at five-years-old: 94.45 percent vs 93.27 percent. For New Zealand five-year-olds, the national average is 76.7 percent, compared to 67.6 percent for Māori.

Professor Turner said from a high point in 2018 – when about 94 percent of New Zealand two-year-olds were fully vaccinated – resource constraints in the wider health sector were starting to bite, even before the pandemic hit.

“The New Zealand infant programme has taken a significant dive since Covid. We are beginning to see gains slowly, but we have a long way to go.

“Post-Covid when you’ve got this out-of-control social media, alongside a lot of mistrust and people who are fearful after going through Covid, you really have to think about the environment when you put a stick in place.”

Dr Sinclair agreed the GP shortage was a huge barrier to improving immunisation coverage.

“If you made it compulsory, you would have beef up the system that’s failing significant numbers of whānau who are really struggling to access primary care.”

He welcomed the surge in the number of people lining up for the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine with the current outbreak.

Since the current measles epidemic began just over 50 days ago, MMR doses delivered had surged nearly three-fold to more than 60,000.

“But the disheartening thing is, none of those people were actually anti-vax, were they? It’s just because of whatever else is happening in their lives, they haven’t been able to access immunisation services.”

Teachers would not want kids to ‘miss out’ – education expert

Schools and early childhood centres are currently required to keep a record of children’s immunisation records, and during an outbreak, they have the power to exclude unimmunised children.

Early childhood education specialist, associate professor Sue Cherrington – who heads Victoria University’s School of Education, said preschool teachers – particularly those working with under-two’s – were very aware of the importance of immunisation in protecting children.

“They’re probably in a really nice place to have unpressured conversations with families around immunisation.

“But I think most teachers would be more focused on children having access to the early childhood centre as a first principle.”

Early childhood teachers tended to have caring, supportive relationships with families, and were less likely to be seen as “heavy handed” or judgmental, she said.

“You would not want to see parents get upset and take their children away, and then you’re back to square one.”

Not on the government agenda

Associate Education Minister David Seymour. RNZ / Mark Papalii

Associate Education Minister David Seymour, who is responsible for Early Childhood Education, said the government was not considering any form of ‘No Jab, No Play’ policy.

“Early learning services can already set their own conditions for enrolment. This could include immunisation status for example, though I’m told this is rare.”

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New government rules coming for micro-abattoirs; homekill for sale in pipeline

Source: Radio New Zealand

Jordan Hamilton-Bicknell offers a homekill service. Supplied

The government is looking to cut red tape for small meat processors and is also exploring how homekill meat could be made suitable for sale.

From next year, small-scale meat processors will be subject to reduced meat sampling and testing requirements – compared to their larger, export-focused counterparts.

Around six to 12 of New Zealand’s small operators who process between 200-2000 farmed animals each year will be affected by the new rules announced this week.

They currently have to test 60 carcasses for things like salmonella or E. coli. That will be reduced to 30 in the first season and 12 in subsequent seasons, from April next year.

Andrew Hoggard RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard said micro-abattoirs told officials the testing rules were unnecessarily restrictive and costly.

“Not reducing the safety at all, but certainly reducing the costs quite massively for [operators], which has been a barrier for a number of them either getting started or trying new operations,” he said.

“By reducing it down to a much more proportionate number reduces a lot of costs, enables them to do a bit more and hopefully we can see a few more micro-abattoirs emerging around the country and a few more better deals for consumers.”

It is illegal to sell homekill meat in New Zealand, despite the trade growing in popularity amid cost of living pressures.

Hoggard said the government was also looking into enabling commercial homekill, which was made difficult by poison-free declarations.

“We’ve got challenges with poison declarations, etcetera, for being able to turn more hunting meat, hunted deer, especially venison, into sellable products. And we are working on that one as well,” he said.

There were some challenges regarding the science around withholding dates and poison residues.

“So hopefully we’ll be having solutions on the administrative side of that within the next few months, which should enable less time in front of the computer for those people engaged in that business.

“It’ll be a bit of a slower burn on how we deal with those restrictions around withhold times and withhold areas because we do need to do a bit of science around that one to prove safety before we allow that.”

The new meat testing rules for micro-abattoirs will come into force in April.

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‘It’s here, it’s finally here’: Highly anticipated Special Olympics returns

Source: Radio New Zealand

Swimming is one of 10 sporting codes on show during the Special Olympics’ national summer games. SUPPLIED / SPECIAL OLYMPICS

A special kind of sporting fever has arrived in Christchurch ahead of the start of the highly anticipated return of the Special Olympics.

The official start of the 2025 National Summer Games would be marked by Wednesday’s opening ceremony at Wolfbrook Arena.

The first set of teams began arriving a day before athletes – alongside police – took part in the traditional torch run in the central city.

More than 1200 athletes would be competing in the five-day event, across 10 sporting codes.

Six venues throughout Christchurch, including the brand new Parakiore sport and recreation centre, would be hosting events.

The torch run ended at the Bridge of Remembrance in central Christchurch on Tuesday. RNZ / Adam Burns

The first signs of fervour could be seen during Tuesday’s Law Enforcement Torch Run, as the ‘flame of hope’ was carried from Victoria Square to the Bridge of Remembrance.

Call-and-response chants (“We are the Torch Run, the mighty mighty Torch Run”) were heard as the throng of participants made their way down Oxford Terrace, alongside the Avon River.

The torch was shared among multiple athletes during the 600-metre jaunt.

It followed recent torch run events held in other centres around the country as part of the games’ build-up.

Samantha McLachlan and Superintendent Lane Todd jointly hold the torch as the torch run gets underway at Victoria Square. RNZ / Adam Burns

Police inspector Rupert Friend told RNZ his voice was feeling a bit croaky after leading a lot of the chanting.

“It’s all about awareness for Special Olympics so we got to make some noise as we go through town. I think we did pretty well,” he said.

Special Olympics NZ chief executive Fran Scholey said the opening ceremony would be a “spectacular” start to the games.

“It’s here, it’s finally here and we can’t wait for action to start. We hope Christchurch is ready.” she said.

“This is an enormous event and we only have a very small team who have worked overtime in the past few months. We would never be able to deliver these games without the wonderful support of our 800 volunteers and the Christchurch City Council.”

(From left) Special Olympics athlete Jessica Stevens, Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger, Canterbury metro area commander Superintendent Lane Todd and the Special Olympics Kiwi mascot following Tuesday’s torch run. RNZ / Adam Burns

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger addressed athletes at the Bridge of Remembrance following the torch run,

“What a wonderful way to kick off the National Summer Games,” Mauger said.

“I can’t wait to see the many incredible athletes in action across our city’s stunning facilities.”

Athletes would continue to arrive on Wednesday morning before opening ceremony festivities.

Teams would be based at the University of Canterbury, where the student accommodation complex had been transformed into the Athletes Village.

The opening ceremony begins at 4pm.

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Avoiding the bloodsucking bugs: What works to repel them and stop the itch

Source: Radio New Zealand

With the warm air comes a familiar whine in your ear and that inevitable itch on your ankle.

Before you curse the bloodsuckers away, Julia Kasper, lead curator of invertebrates at Te Papa, reminds us seeing these critters is a good thing for the ecosystem. Mosquito and sandfly larvae help filter waterways.

Nevertheless, it can seem like they have a personal vendetta against frequent targets – just ask Chloe Wright, co-founder of NZ Fun Camping Adventures.

Some people are tastier to bugs than others. (file photo)

123rf

Are there more flies this summer?

Lifestyle

“Jono [her husband] doesn’t seem to get bitten as much. He’s not immune, but they don’t seem to love him as much, whereas they do quite like me if I go out.”

Tourists also often arrive blissfully unaware of just how fierce New Zealand’s sandflies (aka black flies overseas) can be, she says.

Who are the main culprits this season?

According to Kasper, it’s likely to be bed bugs, mosquitoes, and sandflies. Biting midges may pop up and are often mistaken for sandflies.

Bed bugs move in luggage or spread between rooms in places like hostels and apartments, she says.

While most of New Zealand’s mosquito species prefer birds, it doesn’t mean they won’t use you as a host if they need, she says. But they’re not known to spread disease here.

Te Papa Museum invertebrates lead curator Julia Kasper.

Supplied

Where they’re lurking

Bed bugs are not picky, Kasper says. They hide in warm crevices — under mattresses, behind headboards, even in power sockets. Then they come out to feed at night.

If you spot tiny rusty or reddish stains on your sheets, that could be a telltale sign of their droppings.

Sandflies, meanwhile, breed in fast-moving streams, while mosquitoes prefer still water like plant saucers, buckets, or old tyres left outside, Kasper says. So, dispose or remove rubbish and kids toys in the garden after the rain.

Sand flies love to breed by fast-flowing water.

RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

“[They like] humid, like moist, damp, shady places to rest during the day and then at dawn or at dusk they come out, depending on the species again, when they are active and finding their hosts.”

When camping, Wright recommends setting up somewhere dry and breezy.

Some species hang around low to the ground, so cover your legs, she says. If they’re really bad, a head net can be an option.

How they find you

These clever insects use various cues, like chemicals, sebum, colour and temperature to detect their target.

“It’s like mainly our breath that attracts them,” Kasper says. “I mean, that’s smart, right? Because they need a host, a living host, and we exhale carbon dioxide. So that’s the main trigger for them.”

For mosquitoes and sandflies, different wavelengths can also attract day-active and night-active ones.

Our skin, for example, emits a red wavelength – and they’re drawn to those wearing red or dark and contrasting colours, she says.

But why always me?

If you feel you’re a mosquito magnet, you may have some chemistry going on. Research has shown that mosquitoes do find particular chemicals that people emit attractive.

“But what we don’t know is how to affect it, like in terms of dietary or hormones – we don’t know how to change,” Kasper says.

“We would know how to mask it with certain other chemicals that repels them. But we still don’t know how we can change our body odour.”

Bloodsucking insects can be drawn the red wavelength our skin emits. (file image)

Unsplash / Getty Images

What actually works to shoo them?

For serious bed bug infestations, Kasper says steam cleaning is key — not just vacuuming.

Wright says insect-repelling natural options include essential oils like lemon eucalyptus, witch hazel, tea tree, lavender, as well as balms derived from citronella grass.

“I don’t like citronella candles. I don’t really think they do much. It’s probably fine if it’s really still, but often there’s quite a breeze.”

Dermatology Society spokesperson AJ Seine says the best evidence is around pharmacy-grade repellents that contain DEET, which blocks some of the chemical cues that attract insects.

Dr AJ Seine says DEET-based insect repellents still have the best evidence. (file image)

123RF

Their protection lasts about six to eight hours – longer than natural options which may only last about an hour or so, he says.

There’s also permethrin, a fabric-grade insecticide you can treat clothes with.

If you’re relying on electric zappers, Wright warns they’re probably ineffective against sandflies because they’re too small.

At night, she advises warmer, dimmer lights where you can enjoy the ambient lighting.

Campfire proves to be a good repellent because of the smoke, she says. (Just be wary of fire restrictions.)

Still got bitten? Here’s how to treat it

Not all bites itch but the insect’s saliva typically sets off an immune system chain reaction that releases histamine and causes the itch.

To soothe it, Seine suggests cold compresses which also slows the histamine release.

Calamine lotion, antihistamines, or even natural options like aloe vera, colloidal oatmeal, or a baking soda paste can bring relief, he says.

Wright’s tip to work out if you need professional help is to draw around the bite with a pen. If the redness spreads, give Healthline a call.

Dermatology Society’s spokesperson AJ Seine is based in Tauranga at Skin Centre.

Supplied / Wayne Tait Photography

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Stray dogs and berms: The biggest bugbears of suburbia, and why they make us so mad

Source: Radio New Zealand

When residents have a gripe about rain, stray dogs, berm maintenance, or even a tree root, they call their councillor. Today The Detail is calling those councillors, too.

Bryan Cadogan has 27 years of local politics stories up his sleeve, but the 2am phone call from a furious resident takes the cake.

The former Clutha mayor picked up the phone to hear a demand that he do something about the roadworks clamour outside the resident’s house.

“They were absolutely goin’ off at me, calling me all the words under the sun.”

“What the hell’s wrong?” Cadogan asked.

The answer:

“You’re rippin’ up the road right in front of my house at two o’clock in the morning and you – ya useless prick -you told them to do it!” he says the resident yelled.

Roadworks noise is just one of many ratepayer bugbears Cadogan dealt with over the years. In this case it was a state highway, so outside of his control.

Not that the resident apologised. Cadogan says more abuse was hurled at him before the phone call ended.

Most people had genuine complaints that he could help with, but there were also the “frequent flyers that just flew in low and hit hard”.

From blocked drains to stray dogs, The Detail looks at suburbia’s most vexing issues, and how people’s behaviour has changed over the years.

For Horowhenua District councillor Sam Jennings there is one issue that is “bizarrely polarising”.

“Berms. Berms. Lots and lots about berms,” he says.

“Horowhenua made some decisions last year about reducing its level of service around cutting berms, so that’s generated quite a bit of interest and activity and some angst over the last 12 months.

“Some people say ‘it’s your land, take some pride and look after it as the resident in closest proximity to it,’ and then others are like ‘no I pay my rates, it’s absolutely something that the council must do. It’s their land, if they don’t want to do it, I’m going to Roundup it’.”

Jennings says he has learnt a lot about how the council works and responds to these issues, but he’s also learnt about human nature.

People are more likely to take their neighbourhood gripe to a councillor, these days, rather than talk directly to their neighbour about issues like overgrown trees or rubbish bin placement.

“I don’t know whether that’s because people don’t want to have the confrontation or they feel uncomfortable, but I feel like there’s an increase on that reliance on a third party to resolve these small neighbourhood disputes or issues.”

When it rains the queries and complaints come thick and fast to Auckland North Shore councillor Richard Hills.

“People will DM [direct message] me on Facebook or Instagram, or tag me on Twitter, or email me, or phone me, or text me.”

If it’s raining hard he’ll get 20 to 30 tags or messages a day.

“I think it reduces people’s anxiety. The last five or six years with covid and storms and everything else, I think people just want to be reassured that nothing’s going to change dramatically for them and then they can go about their day again,” says Hills.

Other big issues that Hills is asked to tackle are congestion on the T3 lane on Onewa Rd, roaming dogs, parking in narrow streets, demands for yellow lines and residents wanting to be involved in the hunt for the yellow-legged hornet.

“People will just create their own vigilante actions because they want to help, if we don’t empower people,” he says.

New Plymouth mayor Max Brough insists there are no issues in his city.

“We’re a perfect council, I don’t have any problems in my district,” he jokes, before he is reminded about the resident threatened with a $1000 fine in a stoush with the council over her berm.

“It was about a young lady who got a bit stubborn. She didn’t like how policies were working and applied.”

The matter was eventually resolved and Brough says he understands both sides of the argument – but he also admits to a conflict of interest.

That “young lady” is his daughter.

For the first time, his council is setting up a public engagement committee where people can bring their issues forward to a group of councillors, who will decide on the merits of the problem and whether or not to take it further.

“That’s what people want right? That’s why they elect us locally, is to listen to their problems and help work through them.”

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