Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Heavy rain is expected for the parts of the South Island through until the weekend with MetService issuing orange heavy rain warnings.

MetService said heavy rain was expected for most of the West Coast on Thursday morning which would continue through until Friday or Saturday.

There was a risk of surface flooding and slips on the whole of the West Coast, MetService meteorologist Alanna Burrows said.

She said people should avoid low lying areas and drive cautiously on the roads.

The areas likely to experience the heaviest rain on Thursday would be Westland and the Tasman District, Burrows said.

Westland could expect up to 350mm of rain, she said while the Tasman district could see up to 400mm which was a “huge” amount of rain.

The orange heavy rain warnings were in place for Tasman District, northwest of Motueka, Buller District, Westland District, the headwaters of the Canterbury lakes and rivers, headwaters of Otago lakes and rivers and Fiordland north of Doubtful Sound.

The warnings were in place from 12pm on Thursday until Friday evening for Tasman District and from 10am Thursday until 7pm Friday for the Buller District.

The New Zealand Transport Agency warned motorists to prepare for difficult driving conditions.

Along with the heavy rain, the lower North Island could expect severe gales on Friday in Wellington and Taranaki, Burrows said.

Things would ease off on Sunday, she said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Surf lifeguards at Auckland’s notoriously dangerous Piha beach have raised questions with police about possible delays in activating rescues at the drowning blackspot.

One spoke up about worries over helicopters being delayed, or the police Eagle chopper coming in place of the better-equipped Westpac rescue one, or a road ambulance being sent instead, if at all.

The questions at the front-line in Piha sparked a meeting seven months ago between Surf Lifesaving New Zealand and police.

Both agencies were insistent to RNZ that they cooperated well and that the meeting was part of how they learn from debriefs.

This has come to light after lifeguard Antony Smith heard RNZ reporting on firefighters and search-and-rescue volunteers having problems with police control over air ambulance helicopters. It seemed to him lifeguards were facing similar problems.

“I volunteer my time to do this. Why are you not giving me the best or why am I having to be concerned?

“One of the things that myself and a few others have observed is what used to be quite a simple workflow … simple communications flow, has become more cumbersome, more procedural, more red tape.”

Smith, a long-time volunteer patrol captain at Piha, said he felt sort of obliged to speak up – his late father Warren Smith helped set up Auckland’s Westpac Rescue Helicopters and is described online as the “glue” that held it together.

“I don’t mind if someone yells at me or tells me I’m wrong,” said his son.

‘Someone could die’

Speaking for himself and not the club, Smith said he welcomed recent changes to improve rescue coordination but hoped he could spur on more.

He first got worried three years ago when he said he couldn’t get an air ambulance helicopter to come for a man suffering an asthma attack on the beach.

His team called it in to Surf Lifesaving’s Surfcom line which linked to Hato Hone St John ambulance which in turn is guided by what police direct.

“He was clearly not getting better with the treatment that we were providing.

“I’m talking back to Surfcom to say, ‘Hey, look, you know, it’s summertime, it’s a busy day, the nearest ambulance is in west Auckland which on a good day is still a 45- to 55-minute drive out. Yeah, we’d really like to have the Westpac helicopter come and pick this guy up’ …

“Unfortunately, I noticed there was a bit of apprehension about that request … We were told, no, they are unavailable. No reason given.”

An ambulance came by road 50 minutes later. The rescue chopper would have shaved valuable time off that, Smith said.

“That 40 minutes didn’t need to happen for both him or his partner.

“And to be fair, my team didn’t need to be put in that situation where they thought someone could die for want of not the best and most quickest asset being sent.”

He said later he asked some crew he knew at Westpac if they’d been too busy to come, but was told no and that that they didn’t hear about the job.

Smith said other colleagues at Piha had subsequently shared similar concerns, and raised them with the club, such as about the trouble communicating with the police Eagle chopper; or the Eagle – designed for crime-spotting but with some rescue capabilities – landing to offer help even though it cannot transport a patient and has way less medical expertise than the Westpac air ambulance/rescue helicopter.

“You do start second guessing, what asset is coming – is it the one that’s going to be able to look at lots of things or is it the one that’s going to be able to help?”

Four other sources familiar with Auckland west coast rescues, anonymously and independently of each other spoke of sometimes confusing, “hit-and-miss” or red tape-heavy approaches by police.

Questions after September 2025 rescue

Northern Rescue, operators of the Auckland Westpac rescue helicopters, told RNZ it was “aware that questions have been raised regarding the coordination and response to West Coast beaches”.

Those questions reached Surf Lifesaving’s operations team after a rescue seven months ago.

“After a rescue operation at Piha on 21 September 2025, the SLSNZ operations team met with lifeguards … to debrief. In that debrief, lifeguards raised a series of general questions about possible delays in activation on the west coast,” the organisation told RNZ.

In the September rescue, two swimmers had inhaled water and were brought to shore after 3pm.

The police log showed they and St John twice asked each other if a chopper was needed but none was sent, and instead half an hour later, an ambulance arrived by road.

Surf Lifesaving raised the lifeguard’s questions with police – the Tamaki Makaurau Police Maritime Unit – and they met at police’s instigation.

‘Surf Lifesaving New Zealand staff were encouraged to speak’ up – police

That meeting in November before the busy summer season came up with 10 pointers to help with shared operations – such as about what comms channels to use to talk from beach-to-chopper – that was circulated to lifeguards. United North Piha, and Karekare clubs were invited but in the event two members of Piha and the northern region ops manager met police.

“If it feels like there has been a delay on either side, let’s make sure we look into this straight away,” one pointer said.

Police said they took issues raised about the effectiveness of their partnerships seriously.

Surf Lifesaving stressed to RNZ how strong its cooperation with police was. “We have had a couple of great multi-agency training exercises recently, one in Tekapo and one in Bay of Islands.”

Smith said it was good to see them being proactive.

Police said since the November meeting no further concerns had been raised.

Piha club would not talk to RNZ. Its volunteers do up to 150 lifesaving rescues a year.

The Auckland region has the highest number of fatal drownings.

Surf Lifesaving estimated it had saved over 9000 lives in the last decade nationwide. Its Surfcom line got real-time information from patrols to find out what was going on and let other agencies know.

“Piha is a hot spot for rescues and medical incidents and, like in other remote coastal locations, there can be delays. We work closely with all agencies to ensure the safest outcome,” its national search-and-rescue manager Matt Cairns said.

‘A misunderstanding’

Matthew Williams was chief executive of Surf Lifesaving’s northern region, covering the Auckland western beaches, for nine years up till October 2023.

He said he had his ear close to the ground and nothing was ever raised with him about chopper delays, and in fact police had really developed, adding more rescue capabilities to complement the Westpac choppers.

But on the other hand with 16,000 lifesaving volunteers on the ground, sometimes it might look like there were delays.

“While I was in the role of working in the search and rescue sector, there was often conversations about one party on the ground not believing they had access to the assets that they required, but often a very good reason for why that was – about other things that may have been going on or protocols or processes,” Williams said.

“And often it may have come down to a misunderstanding.”

The core question was if the systems that had evolved to support command-and-control – such as of police – also served the rescue coalface or needed to change, Williams said.

All the input RNZ has had on its series of reports on problem rescues had emphasised the job was getting more complex; it is clear from documents that systems such as for incident management reporting have struggled to keep up.

Northern Rescue said: “As with any complex emergency response environment, there are always opportunities to strengthen how agencies work together in the interests of patients and the wider community.”

Nationally, the whole system for coordinating search and rescue helicopters and planes has now begun to be overhauled and is aimed at Maritime New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre taking more of a front-seat compared to police, who still insisted they expected to manage 2000 operations a year.

St John was approached for comment.

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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 assessing their media and communications team including whether it’s “resourced in the right places”.

It comes as police review the processes around the management of a Tom Phillips documentary.

In response to questions from RNZ, police’s executive director media and communications Cas Carter confirmed the media and communications team had been “assessing the way it operates to ensure we are set up in a way that is effective for the future”.

“We are reviewing how we operate which includes if we are resourced in the right places. Any proposed redesign will be shared with the team first for their feedback.”

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

Carter said it had been eight years since the operating model had been reviewed.

“In that time there have been many changes in communication through digital transformation, shifting stakeholder expectations, changes in media and the proliferation of misinformation.”

Carter said the assessment and review of the media and communications operating model was not related to the review into how police managed media and communications engagement in relation to the Phillips documentary.

Last month, RNZ obtained a series of documents released by police under the Official Information Act in relation to the Phillips documentary.

The OIA revealed that police’s director of media and strategic communications Juli Clausen messaged Dame Julie Christie, the chief executive of a documentary production company, while on board a flight to Hamilton to give her a “heads up” that Phillips had been shot.

Following the release Carter said police were reviewing the processes around the management of the documentary.

On Wednesday, Carter said the review was underway.

“To be clear, this is a learning focused review to better understand how decisions were made and what lessons can be taken forward to strengthen our media handling in future complex or high profile investigations.

“It is intended to provide assurance to police leadership and to identify any improvements needed to ensure our settings are fit for purpose going forward. It is not directed at individuals.”

Carter earlier said in a statement the goal had “always been to give audiences an ‘inside view’ of Operation Curly in a way that ensures the young people involved are protected”.

“It has become apparent that the media were not served well, as should be expected.

“Police is [sic] now reviewing the processes around the management of this documentary, and considering whether we need to reassess the protocols for handling such projects.

“Police has a long history of cooperating on documentaries or programmes involving ongoing investigations. They offer unique and interesting insights into police work and into the investigation in question.”

Police wanted to be certain they had robust processes in place to ensure they were handled “well and fairly”.

Asked about what confidence she had in Clausen she replied:

“That’s part of the review as well. That’s one of the many things that we’re looking at, at the moment.”

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers earlier said the information that had come to light had raised questions about how the documentary project was handled by police.

“There was a constructive relationship between police and the documentary team.

“However, it has become apparent this documentary was not always handled in line with the usual protocols and processes that apply to documentaries police take part in.

“That included decision-making and oversight around the access the documentary crew were given at various points.”

Chambers said he would not have allowed access to an active crime scene and had not been aware that was happening ahead of time.

“Had I known it was to happen, I would have stopped that.

“I am also disappointed the documentary team was told ahead of the family and of other media about the events of the night Tom Phillips died.”

Chambers said he had asked for further information to be sure it was “handled appropriately at all stages and to allow us to consider whether police need to reassess the way we engage in such projects”.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Young people are worried about mental health, bullying and job prospects, while feeling pressure to “have it all figured out”, according to new research by Youthline.

But where social media and vaping were near the top of their concerns in 2023, this year’s cohort are worried about job opportunities – or a lack of them.

Youthline, a not-for-profit offering support to young people for the past five decades, releases a “State of the Generation” report every two years, intended to gauge what issues are affecting young New Zealanders.

Data was gathered by way of a 10-minute survey of 1041 people, aged 12 to 24, across the country.

The biggest issues, according to this year’s survey group, were social pressure (25 percent), cost of living (18 percent), and the job market (17 percent).

According to one respondent: “It feels like we’re under constant pressure – from adults, from social media – to have everything figured out.”

When asked to name their three biggest issues, the results were mental health (59 percent), lack of job opportunities (52 percent), bullying (40 percent), money issues (38 percent) and climate change (35 percent).

The results varied between specific demographics – the younger cohort, specifically those aged 12 to 17, were more concerned about bullying, phone addiction/screen time and social media than the wider survey group.

Among the older demographic – those aged 18 to 24 – the biggest concerns were the cost of living and the job market.

For Māori, violence and abuse ranked higher as a concern, as did homelessness.

And among Asian communities, exam stress ranked substantially higher than the wider cohort.

In 2021, mental health (including anxiety, depression and stress) and social media topped the list of important issues for those surveyed – and those four things were on-top again in 2023.

Vaping, a new category in 2023, was sixth on the list. This year, that had dropped to 13th.

Research by Dot Loves Data, previously published by RNZ, showed younger people are spending less on vapes in 2025 than in previous years, perhaps as a result of stricter regulations.

Job opportunities a key area of concern

This year’s second biggest concern, a lack of job opportunities, had also seen a big jump – up from 18th, or third-to-bottom, in 2023. Now, 52 percent said it was one of the three most important issues they faced.

Many agreed experience requirements for jobs were a barrier to entry.

According to one: “Young people apply to millions of jobs and barely get a response. How are we supposed to move forward in life?”

And another: “Without job opportunities, young people will struggle to gain independence, build experience, and feel secure about their future.”

Money worries also featured highly on the list – 38 percent of respondents said it was one of their three most important issues.

According to the latest data from Stats NZ, the number of people aged between 15 and 24 years who were unemployed, and not in education or training, increased to 14.4 percent from 13.3 percent in the past year.

Women were the most affected, with one-in-five aged between 20 and 24 falling into that category.

“The job market is increasingly becoming a real problem area for that older cohort,” Youthline’s chief executive Shae Ronald told Nine to Noon. “And that has definitely come out through this survey.”

“We’re seeing it with young people who are reaching out to us for support, and parents and families who are reaching out to us for support. A lot of young people are graduating, for example, from university, and just have no opportunities.”

She said since the survey period ended, that pressure had been exacerbated by the fuel crisis, with families having less money to support young people.

Mental health support lacking, long wait-times

RNZ reported earlier this year there has been a spike in children under 12 needing mental health support.

Alongside problems like jobs and income, the report highlights a feeling of being let down by mental health services.

One respondent is quoted: “The wait times to see someone is ridiculous.”

And another: “It seems that the more it’s talked about, the more people realise they have mental health issues, putting strain on the system.”

When asked “How many children and young people’s mental health organisations can you think of?”, 41 percent of respondents couldn’t name any.

Twenty-three percent named Youthline unprompted, and then, in a follow-up question asking if they had heard of Youthline, 60 percent said they had.

Ronald said it was reassuring to see they were still well-known as a source of support, but the overall lack of awareness of sources of support was “highly concerning given the rising rates of youth mental health distress”.

“Barriers such as location, cost, transport, stigma and a lack of clarity about how to access services, further compound the challenge,” she said.

While bullying had long been an issue for young people, according to the report social media had increased bullies’ reach.

Twenty-seven percent of respondents agreed that bullying felt inescapable, and 22 percent said there had been an increase in cyber bullying.

“It’s worse now, because it doesn’t just stop at the end of the school day; the bullies can bully you online when you’re at home,” said one.

More young people talking to AI for support than to therapists or doctors

Despite the potential negative effects of social media, many young people went there for support, with 67 percent of those saying they turned to TikTok, 51 percent to Instagram, 44 percent to YouTube and 29 percent to Facebook. Other answers were Snapchat, Reddit, Discord, Pinterest, X, Twitch and WeChat.

Alternative sources of support were speaking to friends or parents – and 20 percent said they chatted to AI (for example, ChatGPT) for support. Of those, more than half (54 percent) said they used it weekly.

Sixteen percent said they spoken to a therapist, another 16 to a GP, and another 16 said they saw a school counsellor.

What needs to change?

According to the report, young people want to be able to access more support through online chat and text (19 percent of respondents), and at school (15 percent).

Only five percent said they wanted more counsellors and shorter wait times, and seven percent wanted free or affordable services. Helplines came out middle of the pack, at 8 percent.

“To remain relevant, mental health support must continue to meet them in these spaces,” the report says.

Ronald agreed. “The projections are that the global youth mental health crisis will continue to increase.”

“I do have hope that here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we can really pay attention and listen to what young people are saying, and we can work together in a really coordinated, collaborative way to ensure that we are, you know, strengthening and developing a system that works better for young people.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

People with asthma could soon be using smartwatches to predict asthma attacks up to a week ahead of time.

Researchers at the University of Auckland will soon be trialling the technology, one of the first major breakthroughs in asthma care in decades.

Mother of three Jade Stevens was diagnosed with severe asthma in her late 20s.

At its worst, she said she was in and out of the hospital once a month, a massive challenge for her and her young family.

“My youngest, when I dropped him off at school one day, he was five, and he said to me, ‘mummy, please don’t die today’. And it just broke my heart,” she said.

“It broke me. I pulled myself together and reassured him, but I couldn’t give him a true promise or guarantee, you know?”

Even with a new biological treatment that she says has changed her life, Stevens said the threat of a sudden asthma still loomed.

“Sometimes they come completely out of the blue. You can be fine one minute and then not the next. It’s really scary,” she said.

“It’s really scary not knowing, not being able to breathe, the tightness in your lungs, not getting enough air, not getting enough oxygen.”

Amy Chan, the head of Auckland University’s School of Pharmacy, said asthma treatment was too reactive.

But with modern smart technology, she had found a way to predict asthma attacks before symptoms appeared.

“We gave [asthma patients] smartwatches to wear for six months, and we got them to basically log their symptoms, how they were feeling, and also telling us when they had an asthma attack,” she explained.

“And we’ve come to this conclusion that there is indeed a digital signature up to about seven days before an attack happens.”

That gave patients an entire week to prepare themselves and hopefully avoid an attack entirely.

“What this does is it gives an objective way and a numerical way to actually say, hey, your risk is this particular percentage, this is the likelihood of you having an attack in the next seven days and we really suggest that you keep a close eye,” Chan said.

Letitia Harding, the chief executive of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, said that could make a huge difference for hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders.

“We know that over 615,000 people take medications for asthma [in New Zealand], and of course almost a hundred people die each year still from asthma,” she said.

“Having a smart watch that could predict these asthma attacks, when they’re likely, is going to be a game changer.”

Because there was no cure for asthma, Harding said being prepared was vital.

“If it’s predicting that you’re going to have an asthma attack or more likely to have one in the week, then you’re probably going to be more vigilant to make sure you’ve got your inhaler on you, that it’s not expired, that you have an asthma management plan ahead of time, that you can even tell friends and relatives that you’ve got a high likelihood of having an asthma attack.”

Jade Stevens said being warned about an asthma attack ahead of time would give her peace of mind.

“It can be very quick when you have an asthma attack. So if you knew it was going to happen, you would be able to almost prevent it from happening or be as severe,” she said.

“You don’t have to worry about it so much. It’s almost like someone keeping an eye on it with you.”

Former All Black turned firefighter Steve Devine grew up with asthma, which he said put him in hospital a number of times.

“There were sporting events I was in as a kid that I would have an attack and end up in hospital, the lungs shutting down and not being able to get the air in,” he recalled.

“To have a bit of technology that could tell you that it’s probably going to happen is pretty awesome.”

Amy Chan planned to start a randomised control trial in June to compare people using smartwatches to those without.

“What we want to know for sure is, what do people do when people get an alert? Do they ignore it? Do they act on it? Do they go see the doctor? Does it work to prevent the attacks? That’s what we hope to tell you, the findings, in 18 months or two years.”

She hoped the technology could one day be used to help bring the number of asthma deaths down to zero.

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