Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A homicide investigation is under way after an inmate died 10 days after allegedly being assaulted by his cellmate at Mt Eden prison.

The man’s death is the third homicide investigation involving inmates in double-bunk cells at the prison since September last year.

The death comes amid a Corrections review of a risk assessment tool used in deciding whether prisoners are suitable to share a cell, after the two earlier suspected murders.

Mt Eden Corrections Facility (MECF) general manager Dion Paki earlier told RNZ that staff found a prisoner had been injured at 10.40am on 29 November.

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

The inmate was assessed by on-site medical and taken to hospital.

“The alleged perpetrator was immediately secured and placed on directed segregation.”

Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend told RNZ the victim died in Auckland City Hospital on Tuesday.

Police have continued inquiries since late November, which will now become a homicide inquiry.

“Our thoughts are with the man’s family at this difficult time,” Friend said.

Police inquiries into the man’s death would continue, with results of a post-mortem pending.

MECF acting general manager Edith Pattinson acknowledged the man’s death had been a “difficult and distressing time for his loved ones and our thoughts remain with them”.

“Police are investigating and Corrections is also carrying out a full review into this incident. An investigation by the independent Corrections Inspectorate will also be carried out. If these investigations and reviews identify areas where we need to strengthen our processes, we are absolutely committed to acting on these with urgency.

“We can confirm the victim was in a shared cell and that the suitability of this placement is part of our review into this matter. Understandably, the victim’s family will have questions they would like answered. We have been in regular contact with the man’s family, and once our review is complete we will share the findings of this with them when we’re able to do so.”

Corrections’ review would look into what risk assessments were done such as the Shared Accommodation Cell Risk Assessment (SACRA).

“Our frontline staff manage approximately 10,900 prisoners who are some of New Zealand’s most difficult and dangerous people.

“We take our duty to manage prisoners safely extremely seriously and are acutely aware that there have been several incidents at MECF in the past year alleged to have involved prisoners in shared cells.”

The Not to Double Bunk (NTDB) Policy has been updated in Corrections’ Prison Operations Manual to ensure staff were better supported in making informed decisions around adding, managing, and removing NTDB alerts, Pattinson said. Multi-Disciplinary Team meetings were also now required for reviewing and validating NTDB alerts.

“In addition, Corrections is undertaking a review of the SACRA process across the prison estate to ensure it is robust and as safe as possible. This review is now in its final stages, and again we are committing to acting on any changes needed with urgency.”

RNZ earlier revealed there had been two suspected murders, both involving double-bunked cells, in nine months at the prison.

Corrections use the SACRA tool to review the compatibility of individuals before they were placed in a shared cell.

The SACRA tool identified key risk factors to consider before placing a person in a shared cell.

If a person was deemed not suitable to double bunk, a Not to Double Bunk (NTDB) alert was activated on their profile.

Corrections custodial services commissioner Leigh Marsh earlier confirmed he requested a review of the SACRA process which was under way.

“The review is in its early stages, so we have limited information to provide at this stage.

“However, we can confirm that our Custodial, Pae Ora and Intel teams will be considering the questions asked to inform suitability, the process to determine compatibility, and the review processes relating to SACRA. This will help inform what improvements can be made to the SACRA process.”

Corrections had also taken steps across all prison sites regarding shared cell risk assessments, including instructing that all assessments must be reviewed within 24 hours of completion to check whether any further or outstanding information had been received.

“This is because we often receive people from the courts late in the evening and information can sometimes be limited.”

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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 district court judge has reserved his decision on whether a by-election is needed in an Auckland local body election.

The hearing followed a petition by former Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board member Lehopoaome Vi Hausia, who claimed to have received reports of voting papers being stolen from residents and submitted without their consent.

Dale Ofsoske, an independent electoral officer for Auckland, was the respondent to the petition.

At a preliminary hearing at Manukau District Court in November, Judge Richard McIlraith ordered five ballot boxes containing votes from the electorate to be transferred from Auckland District Court, where they were being kept, to Manukau for scrutineering in the presence of Judge McIlraith, legal counsel for Hausia and Ofsoske, as well as Ofsoske himself.

Seventy-nine voting papers were subsequently identified during examination as having been cast without the rightful voter’s knowledge.

At Monday’s hearing, legal counsel for Ofsoske acknowledged there had been irregularities in some of the ballots cast.

McIlraith said a ruling on the petition would be made before Christmas.

Lodged under the Local Electoral Act, the petition by the former deputy chair of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board who failed to be re-elected also alleged statistical anomalies in turnout, misuse of ballot papers, irregularities involving special votes, discrepancies in voter records, unlawful campaign activity and systemic weaknesses in the postal model.

Papatoetoe was the only Auckland electorate to record a significant rise in turnout in the latest local body election.

While other Auckland areas saw turnout drop, voting numbers in Papatoetoe increased by more than 7 percent.

None of the previous members were returned. All four seats went to first-time candidates from the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team.

The petition argued that the result was inconsistent with historic voting patterns and warranted examination.

Simon Mitchell, legal counsel for Hausia, highlighted the sharp rise in the number of votes in Papatoetoe.

“We say there are 3000 new votes in the Papatoetoe subdivision,” he said on Monday.

“And that is the only subdivision or local board area in the entire Auckland city that has had an increase in voting. Every other local board had a decrease in voting.”

Mitchell argued that the irregularities and unexplained surge in voting in Papatoetoe could only be explained by mass voter fraud.

Judge McIlraith acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations but asked for evidence supporting claims of thousands of unlawful ballots.

Mitchell said one police case had been made regarding theft and argued that a surge in votes was not the consequence of a “sudden interest in democracy”.

He also noted that, had the winning candidates engaged in the process, conclusions might have been drawn from their perspectives about the sudden increase in voting in the area.

No one from the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team, which won all four seats in the board’s Papatoetoe subdivision, was present at Monday’s hearing.

Mitchell said the irregularities could undermine public confidence in the electoral system.

Judge McIlraith said that if Mitchell’s allegations were proven, it would confirm “everyone’s worst nightmare regarding the efficacy of the [postal] system had come true”.

David Collins, representing Ofsoske, argued that case law did not automatically justify overturning the election.

He said Hausia lost by roughly 1200 votes, and alleged fraud might not have materially affected the result, according to the law.

Collins also argued there could be several reasons why constituents did not receive their ballot papers that had nothing to do with mass fraud.

Residents could have changed addresses, not have been enrolled in the first place, or the ballot papers could have been collected by someone else.

The hearing concluded on Tuesday.

Andrew Geddis, a law professor at the University of Otago, said the situation was “certainly very worrying” because it called into question the trustworthiness of the postal voting system used in local elections.

“[The petition] highlights some vulnerabilities in that practice and, ultimately, it does raise the question as to the methods that were used to determine the results in the election in question and whether everything that was done in this election was lawful,” he said.

Geddis said such petitions were rare in local elections, as petitioners must convince a judge of potential issues and cover their own legal costs.

Under the Local Electoral Act, a by-election could be called if enough unlawful votes were proven to have changed the outcome.

“The problem here is that the victors of the election won by about 1200 votes,” he said. “So, you would have to prove that there was a very widespread pattern of unlawful voting.”

Geddis said it was unclear whether a judge, if unable to prove whether enough unlawful votes could have changed the outcome, would let the result stand or could void the election due to public distrust in the process.

“I would hope it’s an option that’s available because it would be pretty bad, I think, to have a judicial inquiry that finds, yes, there were widespread irregularities, but the judge just has to let the results stand,” he said. “I think that would be a bad outcome.”

Geddis said by-elections that stemmed from election petitions were rare, and that all candidates were free to run again.

He also said the result of an electoral petition was final.

The Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board has two subdivisions, with the Ōtara having three seats and Papatoetoe four.

None of the previous local board members of the Papatoetoe subdivision were re-elected.

Separately, police have confirmed they are investigating 16 complaints of electoral fraud that had been forwarded to them from Election Services.

Last month, RNZ received a complaint alleging “electoral malpractice” in relation to the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board.

In addition to voting paper theft, it claimed voters were being told how to vote inside polling booths and in public places at a Sikh temple in Papatoetoe.

Speaking to Local Democracy Reporting earlier, Papatoetoe-Ōtara Action Team spokesperson Kunal Bhalla rejected the allegations, describing them as “baseless and politically motivated”.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The NZ Defence Force wants to put in ground terminals next year for its main military satellite system.

It has put out a tender to advise suppliers about 19 projects it is considering over the next year to 18 months.

These range from ground terminals for America’s Wideband Global satellite network, to an infantry training facility, to an emergency management communications system for the Air Force in Auckland.

It noted the projects were not funded yet.

The US has been asking its partners to help pay to add two new satellites worth hundreds of millions each to the 10-strong network. It provides communication links between the Pentagon and combatant commanders, and NATO forces, among others.

New Zealand has put more than $100m into helping build the network since 2012.

A note about the ground terminals said they had been planned for the end of 2025, but this had shifted to next year.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

ACC has backed down on plans to require staff to work in the office three days a week, rather than two.

The agency said following consultation with workers and careful consideration of their feedback, it decided to maintain current settings of two days in the office each week.

Earlier this week, the Public Service Association said it had written to the Commerce Commission, seeking an investigation into ACC for breaching the Fair Trading Act.

It said that in its job ads, ACC promoted working from home three days a week as a key benefit of working there – and was looking to break that promise.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tongariro National Park’s huts and tracks will reopen on Wednesday, following a major fire.

The blaze that broke out on Monday burned through 296 hectares of vegetation.

Fire and Emergency has since declared the fire completely contained, and the park’s tracks and huts safe.

The Department of Conservation (DoC) said the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, the Northern Circuit, and all walks in and around Whakapapa Village were now open.

State Highway 47 had also re-opened, but was restricted to one lane.

DoC requested visitors use shuttle operators to limit the amount of traffic, as fire trucks were still moving through the area.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

An iwi provider of school lunches in the top of the South Island is withdrawing from the programme, because government funding no longer covers the costs.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārua first began delivering lunches in 2021 and delivered 12,000 meals a day to children in eight schools across Whakatū and Wairau (Nelson and Marlborough) this year.

But pouwhakahaere (chief executive) Shane Graham said the numbers no longer stacked up, in terms of the funding offered and what they could provide.

He said for the past four years, the iwi had worked to provide fresh, locally grown food, prepared by local people, for schools throughout its rohe (region).

“It’s just a simple commercial imperative, you can’t be providing a service that costs you more than what you’re getting in terms of funding.

“It’s uneconomical… We effectively become subsidisers for the government programme, which we can’t do.

This year it has supplied lunches to Victory Primary School, Auckland Point School, Maitai School and Te Kura Kaupapa Tuia Te Matangi in Nelson and Spring Creek School, Mayfield School, Whitney Street School and Redwoodtown School in Blenheim.

It also previously provided lunches for Rai Valley Area School.

The lunches were produced in the Ngāti Rārua premises in Blenheim and at the Nelson Rugby Club rooms in Nelson.

Graham said when it first went for the contract, the Ministry of Education expressed concerns that the organisation would not be able to fulfil it as they were not a commercial provider and the iwi were not successful.

“We sort of took that as a bit of a challenge, the first year of the contract offering we weren’t successful and then things turned around, we got different leadership in play and we were able to prove that we were able to do it because we have a long history of being able to provide kai and food for a lot of people.

“In this case, it has been hundreds of thousands of meals with little or no complaints. It’s been a real privilege to be part of.”

In 2023, then-Education Minister Jan Tinetti said some of the best examples of the lunch programme were those led by iwi.

“There’s one in particular that really stands out for me, and that is Victory School in Nelson and the work that the iwi have done down there to lead that programme, and the difference that it has made to young people’s attendance and engagement in that particular school,” she said at the time.

Graham said it had been a significant and empowering programme and he was very proud of the team who made it happen.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārua’s contract to provide school lunches will finish at the end of the year and around seven jobs will be affected.

Graham said transitioning those staff into other areas was a key concern and priority for the iwi.

Ngāti Rārua were now looking to consolidate and consider other opportunities. Graham said it would not rule out a return to providing school lunches in the future.

He said the iwi wished the new providers success and said they had a big legacy to live up to.

“If they can provide that, good on them. If they can’t, then I think the schools and the community will be holding them to account on that.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

There have been multiple water-related tragedies at Auckland’s west coast beaches this week.

A 26-year-old man died while swimming at Karioitahi Beach on Monday evening.

The body of a swimmer who fell into a hole at Lake Wainamu at Bethells Beach and did not resurface, also on Monday evening, was located by a police dive squad on Tuesday.

Five lifeguards from Bethells Beach Surf Lifesaving and a police eagle helicopter were unable to find the 23-year-old man on Monday.

Surf Life Saving northern region operations manager James Lea said their lifeguards responded to four separate incidents within close proximity on Monday night, including the two deaths.

One person required hospitalisation after lifeguards pulled them out of the water shortly after patrols finished for the day and gear was being packed up. Beachgoers were being told it was no longer safe to swim.

There was also a mass rescue of four people at Piha at 7:51pm.

Lea said the recent hot weather was attracting more people to beaches after lifeguard patrols closed, usually at about 7pm.

He said last night’s conditions, with low tide when rips were stronger, happened around sunset and created a “perfect storm” in terms of risk to swimmers.

“I think it’s the excitement around summer, the focus is let’s just get in the water and cool down.

“My advice is just take a pause. I’m competent in the water, but when I’m going swimming or surfing, I take a pause and look at the environment I’m going into first. Is it matching my level of competence? Am I going to be safe?”

He said with similar conditions expected tonight, they were trying to increase the number of lifeguards on duty.

“We’re just trying to pump up our resources a bit on our beaches tonight. But a lot of that is our relying on volunteers.”

He said those who decided to swim when lifeguards were not on duty did so at their own risk.

“Our lifeguards aren’t always there. If you’re not familiar with the environment, I’d strongly recommend you swim at the beach between the flags when lifeguards are on.”

He said if people spotted someone in trouble and lifeguards were not around, the best thing to do was to call the police and provide them with their exact position, to get someone there as soon as possible.

He said the death at Lake Wainamu was an unfortunate reminder that people can drown in any body of water.

“By the sounds of it, the person wasn’t confident in the water or a competent swimmer, or able to float. With Lake Wainamu, it drops very quickly. So as soon as they are out of their depth and if they’re unable to float, they will go under in a matter of seconds.”

Surf Life Saving offered sympathies to the whanau impacted by Monday’s incidents.

Karioitahi Beach Incident

Counties Manukau South Area Commander Police Inspector Jared Pirret said at about 7:10pm, police were told there were two men struggling to return to shore.

Lifeguards were able to return one of the men to shore safely.

A Police Eagle Helicopter located the second man in the water.

“Sadly, the man was unable to be revived back on shore and has died,” Inspector Pirret said.

“Our thoughts are with the man’s friends and families for their loss, as well as those responders who did their utmost to bring about a good outcome last night.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Waitaki District Council is again courting neighbouring councils for a joint water services plan after its bid to strike out alone was rejected by the Department of Internal Affairs.

The department turned down the council’s independent plan in October after it backed out of the Southern Waters partnership with the Central Otago, Clutha and Gore district councils.

Officials have appointed Crown facilitator Amy Adams to help the council resubmit its plan by June and carry out a full review of Waitaki’s water assets.

On Tuesday, councillors approved a plan to explore re-joining the Southern Waters group or partnering with Timaru District Council.

In a statement, a council spokesperson said the decision ended Waitaki’s efforts to keep its water services in-house and elected members would receive more information early next year to select a preferred option.

“Under any future model the community will lose nothing but instead gain the most affordable way to have clean water supplied to their homes, and drinking, waste and stormwater networks which meet high quality standards,” they said.

The decision to pursue an independent approach was not backed by Waitaki’s previous mayor Gary Kircher.

In August he told RNZ that could lead to rates rises of up to 40 percent over the next two years.

The Department of Internal Affairs ruled the in-house plan failed to meet regulatory requirements, did not include enough information about the condition of the water services and did not include enough funding to cover the district’s projected growth.

New Waitaki mayor Melanie Tavendale said the council’s mission was to deliver clean, safe water to every home, business, school and hospital in the district and to do so at the most affordable price to the ratepayer.

“We need to ensure that when people turn on the tap, they get clean water delivered through efficient pipework and when they flush the toilet, their sewage gets taken away and treated through a secure wastewater network,” she said.

That would inevitably come at some cost, Tavendale said.

“The infrastructure investment needed over the next two decades dwarfs the $50 million council has invested in its waters in the last six years. It can’t be deferred any more, it has to be done,” she said.

“Water isn’t like roads, it’s not part-paid by the government and the charges for water will not be subject to the proposed rates-cap, so finding the most affordable option is vital for everyone in the district.”

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