Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man has pleaded guilty to murdering a woman in Christchurch.

It can now be revealed the man is Nathan Boulter.

Boulter was jailed for eight years and six months in 2012 for kidnapping and assaulting his ex-girlfriend over a 38 hour ordeal on Great Barrier Island.

Boulter appeared in the High Court at Christchurch on Thursday before Justice Rachel Dunningham and pleaded guilty to murdering a woman on 23 July at a property in Parklands.

A date for sentencing will be set next month at a further hearing.

The name of the victim is currently suppressed.

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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 Public Service Commissioner says Jevon McSkimming is a liar who went to extreme efforts to cover up accusations against him.

Sir Brian Roche said since appointing McSkimming to his role near the top of police the commission has improved its hiring processes, calling the case a “wake-up call”.

He said he was confident they would now detect someone like McSkimming during the hiring process.

He told Morning Report the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report was confronting.

“It’s just shameless and shameful that we’re in this position, that one of the key institutions of the state being the police is now being questioned and that questioning is appropriate at this point,” he said.

“A few people behaving poorly have created problems for us all.”

The report recommended that the Public Service Commission could have pushed on a particular line of enquiry when McSkimming was appointed. Sir Brian said that had been taken on board and its processes had been strengthened.

“I’m really confident that we would [now] have detected the likes of Mr McSkimming,” he said.

“But I do not wish to underestimate he was a liar, he schemed and he created a story that just was so pervasive and it wasn’t until 2024 that it began to unravel. But even then he was confident enough to put himself forward for Commissioner of Police. This was a a person who lacked serious judgement.”

Sir Brian admitted that it was extraordinary that issues around McSkimming had not come up during the interview process.

“And that’s the detail that I’m working through about who said what to who when. But the fact remains this person was a flawed character and it was about this time last year that it became clear about the nature of this person – at that point no one knew about the issues associated with the devices.”

Sir Brian agrees the commission should have probed further regarding “a strange relationship” McSkimming had that had been mentioned.

“But as the review found, it is highly unlikely we would’ve learned anything because of the curated story that Mr McSkimming had over many years managed to cement in that organisation and everything around it.

“We have to make sure we get behind that filtering – it’s a very big wake up call for us.”

The commission had had some confidence because McSkimming had a very high level security clearance from the SIS, he said.

But where the SIS was focused on security, the Public Service Commission’s focus was “probity and character”, he said.

“I’m still going to push really hard that we are able to get access to that, at the moment it is against the law for the SIS to make that information available to us,” he said.

“This person was able to mislead the majority of the system, this system now has to make sure we’re not going to get captured by that again.”

Sir Brian said the commission now checks all applicants’ devices for certain appointments within the public sector.

“We’re making it very very clear to the candidates that if there is any blemish once they’re appointed, we find anything about them that they haven’t disclosed, that would result in immediate sanctions. There’s no misunderstanding about the critical nature of what it is we’re looking for and their obligations to continually disclose to us.”

The public can have confidence and the current circumstances must never be repeated, he said.

Meanwhile, Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has been placed on leave from his role as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, with an employment process underway.

Sir Brian said the commission was currently working through an employment process which would be done as quickly as possible.

‘Members of the police executive hadn’t learned from history,’ former top cop says

Former Assistant Police Commissioner Nick Perry said the people who failed to properly investigate allegations against Jevon McSkimming broke the first rule of learning from history.

Perry was given the job of cleaning up the police ranks 20 years ago, after Louise Nicholas brought historic rape allegations against former and serving officers.

He retired as Assistant Police Commissioner in 2013 and told Morning Report that he felt “deep disappointment” when he saw the damning IPCA report.

Perry said he used to present adult sexual assault courses at the police college and in his opening comments he would say that those who did not learn from history were bound to repeat it.

“I couldn’t help thinking about that when I was reading the IPCA report because it was clearly the fact that certain members of the police executive hadn’t learned from history, although I must add there were clearly those within the organisation who had and did their very best to address the issue that they confronted.”

The police culture had changed for the better in the last 20 years, he said.

Perry said despite retiring in 2013 he had remained in contact with police.

“Last year for example I was speaking to a number of front line officers who had graduated in the previous 18 months, I’ve got to say I’m extremely impressed with the quality of the people, the motivation, it’s all there.”

Police needed to follow a basic process which was not followed with Louise Nicholas nor in this case, he said.

“In terms of investigations it’s relatively simple in terms of whether it’s an investigation into a criminal offence or a complaint. You have to keep an open mind, you have to be unbiased, follow policy procedures and just see where the evidence takes you.

“If you start missing out any of those, particularly the keeping the open mind and being unbiased, that really starts to damage the integrity of the investigation itself and it’s clearly what’s happened in this particular case.”

Both this case and the Louise Nicholas case involved a complainant making a complaint about sexual offending by police officers, he said.

In the Nicolas case her allegations weren’t accepted, the word of police officers were accepted and it was well down the track before an investigation was commenced, he said.

In the latest case, the IPCA report indicates it appears that Jevon McSkimming’s future and potential as a commissioner was foremost in the mind of a number of upper level police staff involved in the investigation, he said.

The case raises the question about the selection processes in terms of selecting senior leadership within the police, he said.

The IPCA report recommended the establishment of an Inspector-General to have oversight of police, a move which the government is moving to do.

Perry said it remained to be seen what their powers would be and what resources they would get.

He said he would encourage strengthening the powers of the IPCA as they did some very good work but really had no teeth so they could not ensure they were followed through.

A joint IPCA inspector general could be a way forward but that remained to be seen, he 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

An aurora lit up skies at the southern end of the country overnight.

Stargazers took to social media to post their photographs from places like Dunedin, Waihola Lake, Roxburgh, Cromwell and Mount Cook.

Te Whatu Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki in October told RNZ aurora could often be caught on camera, even when they were not visible to the naked eye.

“We’re currently in a pretty high activity period with our sun, and the aurora is a direct result of solar activity interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field.”

The further south you went – place like Twizel, Southland and Otago – the better the view. Spots with less light pollution worked best.

He said aurora were notoriously hard to predict in terms of how bright they would be, but people could keep an eye on the space weather forecast on the NOAA website.

Meanwhile, Transpower has lifted the grid emergency that was issued on Wednesday afternoon now the G4 geomagnetic storm – the force behind the aurora – had reduced in severity.

It said in a statement the South Island electricity transmission lines, taken offline as a precaution to prevent damage to equipment, had now been returned to service.

There was no impact on consumers’ electricity as a result of the storm.

Transpower said this kind of action was standard when space weather reached a particular level. A plan had been developed over several years through work with the University of Otago, international space agencies and others in the electricity industry.

Although New Zealand was well prepared for geomagnetic storms, Transpower said, it was a timely reminder to Kiwis that they should be prepared for a natural disaster or other major event that could interrupt their power supply and damage other infrastructure.

Last week, the National Emergency Management Agency and other affected agencies ran through a test scenario of a solar storm response in the Beehive’s bunker, to make sure they are adequately prepared.

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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 appealing for help to locate 61-year-old woman last seen in Upper Hutt.

Anita Hart was last seen on CCTV on Wednesday shortly before midday on Gillespies Road heading towards Akatarawa Road, and her vehicle was found on Gillespies Road.

Police and her family have serious concerns for her wellbeing.

Hart was last seen wearing a blue beanie with a pompom, a blue jacket and dark-coloured trousers.

Police Search and Rescue volunteers were searching around Gillespies Road and the Hutt River.

Police urged anyone with information that may help to contact 111 with the reference file number P064438940.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A former Assistant Police Commissioner says the people who failed to properly investigate allegations against Jevon McSkimming broke the first rule of learning from history.

Nick Perry was given the job of cleaning up the police ranks 20 years ago, after Louise Nicholas brought historic rape allegations against former and serving officers.

He retired as Assistant Police Commissioner in 2013 and told Morning Report that he felt “deep disappointment” when he saw the damning Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report.

Perry said he used to present adult sexual assault courses at the police college and in his opening comments he would say that those who did not learn from history were bound to repeat it.

“I couldn’t help thinking about that when I was reading the IPCA report because it was clearly the fact that certain members of the police executive hadn’t learned from history, although I must add there were clearly those within the organisation who had and did their very best to address the issue that they confronted.”

The police culture had changed for the better in the last 20 years, he said.

Perry said despite retiring in 2013 he had remained in contact with police.

“Last year for example I was speaking to a number of front line officers who had graduated in the previous 18 months, I’ve got to say I’m extremely impressed with the quality of the people, the motivation, it’s all there.”

Police needed to follow a basic process which was not followed with Louise Nicholas nor in this case, he said.

“In terms of investigations it’s relatively simple in terms of whether it’s an investigation into a criminal offence or a complaint. You have to keep an open mind, you have to be unbiased, follow policy procedures and just see where the evidence takes you.

“If you start missing out any of those, particularly the keeping the open mind and being unbiased, that really starts to damage the integrity of the investigation itself and it’s clearly what’s happened in this particular case.”

Both this case and the Louise Nicholas case involved a complainant making a complaint about sexual offending by police officers, he said.

In the Louise Nicolas case her allegations weren’t accepted, the word of police officers were accepted and it was well down the track before an investigation was commenced, he said.

In the latest case, the IPCA report indicates it appears that Jevon McSkimming’s future and potential as a commissioner was foremost in the mind of a number of upper level police staff involved in the investigation, he said.

The case raises the question about the selection processes in terms of selecting senior leadership within the police, he said.

The IPCA report recommended the establishment of an Inspector-General to have oversight of police, a move which the government is moving to do.

Perry said it remained to be seen what their powers would be and what resources they would get.

He said he would encourage strengthening the powers of the IPCA as they did some very good work but really had no teeth so they could not ensure they were followed through.

A joint IPCA inspector general could be a way forward but that remained to be seen, he said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

One person has died following a crash near Mangapai north west of Whangārei on Wednesday night.

The single vehicle crash on Waiotira Road was reported to emergency services at 10.50pm.

The passenger of the vehicle died despite medical assistance being provided at the scene, a police spokesperson said.

The driver was taken to hospital for observation.

Police are speaking with the man as part of ongoing enquiries into how the crash occurred.

The Serious Crash Unit attended the scene overnight to carry out enquiries.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Teacher subject associations held an unprecedented joint meeting this week after being offered contracts worth more than $100,000 a year – but only if they agree to support the new school curriculum.

Sources told RNZ some association members viewed the contracts as an attempt to bribe and gag them after months of criticism of the process for developing the new curriculum and of its content.

But the Education Ministry insisted that was not the case and associations would be free to comment publicly about the curriculum if they signed the contracts.

It said it offered contracts to 42 associations to act as “Networks of Expertise” and help teachers introduce the new curriculum for Years 11-13.

The contracts included a new clause requiring associations to “commit to supporting the direction and intent of the updated curriculum and qualification structure”.

“This is not a gag order. Associations can still share their views and raise concerns publicly,” the ministry told RNZ.

It said the new clause meant funded work should align with the goals of the refreshed curriculum, such as clarity, coherence, and equity.

“The change makes sure teachers receive resources that reflect the curriculum they are expected to teach,” it said.

RNZ understands some associations felt they had little choice but to accept the contracts because refusing would end funding used to employ teachers in advisory roles.

The members of some associations were also unhappy they were being asked to support curriculums they had not yet seen and had not even been written.

One said subject associations were being kept from the decision-making table and flicked a few crumbs.

Another said the process was “seriously rushed and flawed”, noting that associations had been asked to sign the contracts by Monday next week.

The Education Ministry said it was aware of discussion on social media and wanted “to be clear about the facts”.

Meanwhile, the Association for the Teaching of English (NZATE) this week published an open letter warning that teachers were not getting enough support to introduce the new Year 0-10 English curriculum next year.

It also warned that most of its members did not believe they could teach all the content required by the curriculum each year.

“The process for curriculum development and implementation remains deeply flawed and lacks the transparency and clarity needed for the empowerment of those entrusted with its execution,” the letter said.

“Kaiako have had no time to fully grasp the current curriculum documentation, which remains overly complex and extensive, outlining numerous Knowledge and Practices that are expected to be delivered over the course of the year.”

The letter said teachers did not have enough support to introduce the curriculum and schools needed funding to buy texts to go with it.

“NZATE was assured in numerous meetings with the Ministry of Education’s curriculum writing group that resources to support kaiako with implementation would be readily available. As of 10 November, these resources are still nonexistent. Furthermore, no extra funding has yet been provided for secondary schools to purchase the extra texts needed to support the new curriculum,” it said.

“The process has been appalling for over 18 months, and nothing has changed.”

The Education Ministry told RNZ more resources for the curriculum would be available next year, with a focus on Year 9 students.

“This includes planning resources and learning kits consisting of unit and lesson plans. A forward view of the learning area resources, curriculum supports, and professional learning opportunities is available on the ministry’s website,” it said.

It said it was offering two webinars before the end of the year and professional learning was already available for teachers of Y7-8 with “specific support for the English learning area for teachers of Years 9-10 rolling out in Term 1 next year” and more offered over time.

“We understand that schools will be at different stages of readiness. There is no expectation of perfection on day one. Change takes time, and we’ll continue working with the sector to make sure everyone has what they need to make a confident start,” the ministry 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

A police investigation is underway after a fatal crash near Wellsford early on Thursday morning.

At around 1.40am, a single vehicle crash was reported on Waiteitei Road.

The vehicle hit a tree in the crash.

The sole occupant died at the scene.

Waiteitei Road has been closed between Farmers Lime and Whangaripo Valley Roads.

The Serious Crash Unit attended to examine the scene and police inquiries are continuing.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Forty years after its first visit sparked the revival of Māori ocean voyaging, the Hawaiian waka Hōkūleʻa is due back at Waitangi this Friday as part of an epic four-year voyage around the Pacific.

Among those joining the crew for the last leg across the Bay of Islands will be Stan Conrad, the only Māori on board during the Hōkūleʻa’s historic 1985 journey.

“It was a privilege, sailing on that maiden voyage of Hōkūleʻa, on the Voyage of Rediscovery from Rarotonga to Aotearoa. There were 14 crew members, but I was the only Māori boy from Aotearoa. The rest were all Hawaiian. It was amazing.”

The then 22-year-old did not realise he was helping to revive a tradition going back millennia.

A commercial fisherman at the time, he was hand-picked for the role by his elders.

“At the time it was just an adventure. I didn’t realise the huge meaning and purpose of the voyage, retracing ancestral voyages and navigating on a canoe that’s totally lashed together. That was the first time I’d ever been on any vessel that had sails,” he said.

Since then Stan Conrad has devoted much of his life to tārai waka, the building and navigation of double-hulled ocean-going canoes, or waka hourua.

“In the beginning it was an adventure but after that voyage, that was me. I was hooked to continue this journey of learning about voyaging canoes and sailing, and especially navigation.”

The arrival of the Hōkūleʻa did not just change Stan Conrad’s life, it changed the trajectory of history.

Among those watching on shore at Waitangi that day in 1985 was the revered Northland kaumātua Sir James Henare.

Henare challenged Māori to build their own ocean-going waka and make the return journey to Hawaii.

Hector Busby, later knighted as Sir Hekenukumai Puhipi, heard that challenge.

He set off to the remote Micronesian atoll of Satawal to learn the art of traditional navigation from one of the world’s only surviving practitioners, the late Mau Piailug.

He then built a series of waka, starting with Te Aurere, which have sailed not just to Hawaii, but every side of the Polynesian Triangle.

When Hōkūleʻa and its sister vessel Hikianalia arrive on Friday, they will be escorted to shore by the great waka Ngātokimatawhaorua, just as Hōkūleʻa was during that first visit in 1985.

Ngātokimatawhaorua will be captained by Stan Conrad’s brother, Joe Conrad, who said the arrival of Hōkūleʻa in 1985 finally buried an old myth about Māori.

“We did not find these islands by accident. We knew where we were going. We knew how far and how long to get there, and get back. It was proven that our navigators of that time knew what they were doing, knew how to find land and follow the stars, and build waka that could travel vast distances.”

Stan Conrad said he, too, was taught as a boy that Māori arrived in Aotearoa by accident.

“We weren’t people of the storm, those sort of things I was brought up to believe about our ancestors. The more I voyaged, the more I went on the canoe, the more I realised how amazing they were.”

Northland iwi leader Haami Piripi said the ancestors who landed in Aotearoa were among the world’s great seafarers.

“Anybody that can traverse the greatest expanse of water on the planet, by virtue of the stars, the wind and tides, has got to be pretty sophisticated,” he said.

Piripi said that knowledge had been all but lost when Hōkūleʻa’s first visit, organised by Hawaii’s Polynesian Voyaging Society, reignited the desire to explore the oceans on traditional sailing craft.

“I think it really awakened an old knowledge, an old innate desire for voyaging, travelling, discovering new worlds. Six thousand years we’ve been in the Pacific, so we’ve been here a long time. And what tārai waka and these expeditions do is reawaken that feeling of excitement, of exploration and of achievement,” Piripi said.

The ensuing four decades of voyaging had also brought the peoples of Polynesia together.

“The waka is like a needle, it sews us together as communities and initiates dialogue, contact and an ongoing relationship,” Piripi said.

Stan Conrad said much had changed in the past 40 years, with as many as eight ocean-going waka hourua now based in Aotearoa.

Another waka built by Sir Hekenukumai, Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti, had returned from a voyage to Samoa just this week.

“And now we’ve got navigation schools being created, we’re teaching the next generation and they’re picking up the voyaging. You pinch yourself every day that, wow, we’ve done so much in that 40 years, and having Hōkūleʻa here to celebrate that, man, that’s pretty amazing,” Stan Conrad said.

Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia arrived a week earlier than expected after a 17-day crossing from Rarotonga and, after clearing Customs at Ōpua, their crews have been under tapu – or kapu in Hawaiian – ahead of their formal welcome at Waitangi on Friday.

Weather permitting, they would be welcomed onto shore and to the nearby Te Tii Marae between 3-6pm.

At dawn on Saturday, a new carving would be unveiled honouring Ngāti Ruawāhia – the title Sir James Henare gave the Hawaiians in 1985, when he declared then the sixth tribe of Te Tai Tokerau (Northland).

The ceremony would also honour the legacies of Sir James, Sir Hekenukumai, and Myron ‘Pinky’ Thompson, who led Hawaii’s ocean voyaging revival.

The waka, or wa’a in Hawaiian, would leave Waitangi on 16 November and were due at Auckland’s Maritime Museum two days later.

Nainoa Thompson, head of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and leader of the 1985 voyage, would speak at an education conference in Auckland on 19 November.

Weather permitting, the waka would then return north to Aurere in Doubtless Bay, where Sir Hekenukumai built a traditional navigation school.

They were expected to remain in Aotearoa for about six months, for maintenance, educational exchanges and to wait out the cyclone season, before resuming their 80,000km Moananuiākea voyage in April.

The two waka also visited New Zealand in 2014 as part of the Mālama Honua voyage.

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