Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Name suppression for a woman accused of murdering well-known Far North businessman Monty Knight has been extended until April next year while experts determine whether she is mentally fit to stand trial.

The 57-year-old appeared in the High Court at Whangārei on Friday morning, almost three weeks after Knight was found critically injured at his home just outside Kaitāia.

He could not be saved despite the efforts of emergency services.

Justice David Johnstone said the defendant’s fitness to stand trial was an issue, so he ordered two health assessors to independently prepare reports under the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act. Those reports were likely to take until April next year.

Johnstone extended the interim name suppression granted at her first appearance in the Kaitāia District Court, given the “appreciable risk” publication would cause her extreme hardship.

He also requested the health assessors consider whether future publication of her name would create risk to her safety.

The defendant appeared by audio-visual link (AVL) from prison dressed in a grey sweatshirt, and appeared calm throughout the 20-minute hearing.

No plea was entered and she was remanded in custody until a case review hearing on 17 April next year. That appearance was also expected to be by AVL.

The accused woman was represented by high-profile lawyer Arthur Fairley, while prosecutor Bernadette O’Connor appeared for the Crown.

Johnstone acknowledged the family members present in court.

Successful business career

Knight, who had recently turned 80, was one of Kaitāia’s best-known characters and entrepreneurs.

His retail career started with a tiny record shop on the town’s main street, then expanded into electronics, appliances and beds.

He took over the family business, Knights the Jewellers, and opened a second outlet in Kerikeri.

When told it was impossible to grow grapes in Kaitāia, Knight proved the doubters wrong by establishing an award-winning winery, Okahu Estate.

He was inducted into the Northland Business Hall of Fame in 2010, the same year he was elected to the Far North District Council. He also won a seat on the Northland Regional Council in a 2015 by-election.

More than 300 people attended a memorial service at Kaitāia’s Te Ahu Centre on 25 November.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Flowering pōhutukawa trees are the sign summer is here – and many we have seen are already in full bloom.

But are they flowering earlier this year?

Ecologist and botanist Associate Professor Bruce Burns, from the University of Auckland, says no.

“We have had some stunning displays. I live up here at the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and and you know, it’s just been amazing, the intensity of the blooms on some trees,” he told Morning Report on Friday.

“But… it’s still within the regular flowering period of pōhutukawa. They tend to start flowering about the end of November, beginning of December, and trees will flower all the way to the end of January.”

Every pōhutukawa is different, he explained.

“Trees vary very much in when they flower., So you know, one tree itself will flower for about a month, but it will have this period of intense flowering for only about two weeks.

“So over a population of pōhutukawa, you will get trees that flower at different times through that two-month period. So you might go out and see that we have these trees at the moment with stunning blooms, but you’ll also see trees around them with flower buds that haven’t opened yet and some trees that aren’t going to flower at all this season.”

Nor can the time and intensity of a pōhutukawa’s bloom be used to predict what kind of summer we are going to have, as some have reportedly suggested.

“Would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? To [be told that] the summer is gonna be great. And I hope very much that it will be,” Burns said. “But logically, how it flowers is really about what’s happened in the past, rather than what’s gonna happen in the future.”

And that is a combination of genetics, the environment and weather.

“People have looked at pōhutukawa and found if a tree flowers early one year, then it’s pretty much gonna flower early every year. So there is a certainly a genetic component to it… but otherwise it’s about, you know, the time leading up to the flowering season – how the weather has been, whether it’s been warm and wet and the tree’s had plenty of time to corral it’s resources to get that flowering going.”

As for where to see the best trees, Burns says pretty much anywhere in the country – but especially the top half of the North Island.

“And of course it occurs down in Wellington as well, and people around Wellington really gush about the amazing pōhutukawa around there, and I’ve heard that the trees around Te Papa are also ones that flower early and have incredible blooms. So I’m not sure there is a particularly great place to look at pōhutukawa. I mean, everyone will vote for their own local pōhutukawa, I’m sure.

“But there’s quite a lot of variety within pōhutukawa itself, so you know, there will be really great trees in just about every location in New Zealand.”

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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 Wellington mountain biker says riders aren’t a threat to nesting kārearea, after vigilante attempts to keep people off the trails.

Tracks on Matairangi/Mt Victoria have been vandalised this week, with logs, holes and makeshift barricades put up across them.

Local rider Rod Bardsley, who helps build and maintain the track, told Morning Report it appeared to be an attempt to protect kārearea, New Zealand’s native falcon, nesting on the ground nearby.

According to the Department of Conservation, kārearea did not build a nest – instead, the bird made a scrape on the ground and laid its eggs in that. A typical clutch consisted of between two and four eggs, which took just over a month to hatch.

The female guarded the nest until the nestlings are close to fledging, which took another month or more after hatching.

Only a month ago, Hutt City Council asked people using the Haywards Track to give the birds some space and avoid using the area, after nesting kārearea began swooping on walkers.

But Barnsley said mountain bikers were not a threat.

“We need to look after native birds,” he said. “But the ridiculous thing is, we’re riding hard-packed, formed trails at a reasonable speed. We’re not of any threat to any nesting birds.”

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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 Auckland doctor based in Otara said crowded housing makes children in her community more vulnerable to the spread of measles, and is doing everything she can to make vaccinations more accessible to families.

There are now six actively infectious cases of measles across the country, and three of them are in Auckland.

Health New Zealand said the total number of known cases nationally since 8 October is 28.

GP of nearly 30 years, Dr Oruba Khalil, is all too familiar with the damage the highly infectious disease can do to families – having seen how it affected her community in 2019.

“People with fever, whole families affected, we are seeing people at the carpark, lucky that we have a big clinic – we are allocating the people – the number of people affected by measles was very high,” she said.

Khalil said the crowded living conditions of some families made them more vulnerable to the spread of the virus, and at higher risk for children to develop complications.

“Our population, if the kids have measles, and we are having the problems of housing and high rates of smoking, and these things, the kids can end up with pneumonia and lots of complications of measles,” she said.

Khalil said her clinic, Otara GP and Urgent Care, had been sending texts to all enrolled patients who were recorded as not yet vaccinated with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Two doses of the the MMR vaccine (after the age of 12 months) protected about 99 percent of people from getting measles.

The clinic had also been offering vaccinations in the evenings so that working families could make it.

The team was running an event on the evening of Friday 12 December, to raise awareness about measles and provide vaccinations, alongside music, food and activities.

Meanwhile, Pacific community health provider – the Fono – had been busy going door to door to follow up with families with children who weren’t yet vaccinated.

The organisation had about 10,000 patients enrolled at its five clinics.

Its nursing manager Moana Manukia said it’d been challenging to get hold of people, and about half the time people weren’t home.

She said sometimes it found that the family had moved out, but nonetheless, they’d make use of that opportunity to check the immunity of the new tenants.

Manukia said it still gave about 30 MMR vaccinations through its outreach teams every week – mostly to children under four.

She said it’d also been texting the parents of patients under 18 who were recorded as not immunised against measles.

Manukia said the response to those texts had been low, with just 10 percent of patients calling back.

She said the measles coverage for children under two had been good among patients, but coverage was lower for teenagers.

Manukia said it’s possible that some of the older children may have been vaccinated overseas and had no records in New Zealand.

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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 union for Air NZ cabin crew is defending the timing of strike activity planned for eight days before Christmas.

Some cabin crews will walk off the job on December 18, although a strike this coming Monday has been called off.

E tū National Secretary Rachel Mackintosh told Morning Report domestic, trans-Tasman and Pacific crews were still waiting on a deal, however regional and long haul cabin crews were set to vote on their most recent offer – which the union had recommended they accept.

“Because progress is being made, those crew have lifted the strike for next Monday,” she said.

“But what they’ve seen is that putting pressure on Air New Zealand by putting on a strike notice, that’s was really the thing that made a difference for the other two crew.”

The union had originally said any strike action would not fall in the seven days before Christmas – and this strike did not break that promise, at eight days out.

Mackintosh said by law, the union had to give two weeks’ notice, which meant their earliest possible strike date was December 18.

“We just really urge Air New Zealand to sharpen their pencils and continue to work with us.”

Air New Zealand chief people officer Nikki Dines previously said discussions with the union had been constructive and were progressing well.

“We’re hopeful we’ll reach agreement and have all bargains in a position for our cabin crew to vote as soon as possible,” she said on Thursday.

“At this stage, there is no change to our flight schedule and our focus remains on reaching agreement with E tū and avoiding strike action entirely.”

The airline originally estimated strikes across all of its fleets could affect somewhere between 10-15,000 customers.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

One person has been taken to hospital in moderate condition after a car crashed into a house in the Auckland suburb of Grafton.

The crash, on Seafield View Rd, was reported to police just after 7.30am on Friday.

An RNZ reporter at the scene said the vehicle, a white Toyota RAV4, has gone into the front facade of a villa, taking out the front door.

It is not yet known whether the person who was injured was the driver of the vehicle or an occupant of the house.

Police enquiries into the cause of the crash are continuing.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The person who died after a car crashed into a river off State Highway 2 near Whakatāne on Tuesday has been named.

They were 44-year-old Ngahina Takarangi, of Whakatāne.

A second person was injured in the crash on White Pine Bush Road, Tāneatua, police said.

“The circumstances of the crash remain under investigation, and police would like to speak to anybody who witnessed the crash, that happened at around 6pm,” police said in a statement on Friday.

“Additionally, we’d like to hear from anybody who saw a red Honda Accord travelling in and around Tāneatua between 5.30pm and 6pm.”

Anyone with information was urged to contact police via 105, referencing file number 251202/5566.

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