Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The executive director of the Firearms Safety Authority has been cleared of misconduct following an employment investigation in relation to disgraced former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

The investigation says that given the knowledge Angela Brazier had when providing a reference check for McSkimming, it would have been “prudent” for her to disclose the fact he was receiving harassing emails and that there was a police investigation.

However, the investigation found there were “shortcomings” in terms of how the Public Service Commission (PSC) obtained the reference check and that Brazier’s conduct did not bring police into disrepute and therefore could not be considered to amount to misconduct.

Speaking to RNZ, Brazier says the investigation was “another waste of taxpayers’ money” and wants police to publicly clear her name.

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

The Independent Police Conduct Authority’s report recommended employment investigations against three staff – former Assistant Commissioner Paul Basham, Detective Superintendent Chris Page, and Brazier.

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers engaged Kristy McDonald KC to lead the investigations.

The investigation into Brazier – who announced her retirement in January – related to a reference check she provided to the Public Service Commission when McSkimming was vying for the role of Interim Commissioner in 2024.

The IPCA said that when the Public Service Commission approached her for a reference check, she knew McSkimming had an affair, that he was being “harassed” with emails from the woman and that former Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura had informed McSkimming that she had to investigate him as part of the police response.

However, Brazier told the PSC she had nothing relevant to disclose. She told the IPCA she did not think her knowledge was relevant to PSC’s question.

“[Brazier’s] disclosure was inadequate in light of her knowledge at the time,” the IPCA said.

RNZ has obtained a copy of the McDonald’s investigation report, dated 19 February.

In the report, McDonald said Brazier declined to be interviewed but did provide additional information she requested, including her response to the draft IPCA report.

McDonald said the reference obtained by the PSC on 8 October 2024 was part of what the PSC described as a “shortened version of their vetting process”.

“Following Commissioner Coster’s resignation in 2024, an interim Commissioner needed to be appointed. By convention the longest serving statutory Deputy Commissioner is appointed, which in this case would have been Mr McSkimming.”

She said McSkimming went through a “thorough vetting process” run by PSC when he was appointed statutory Deputy Commissioner in 2023. This included full reference and probity checks.

However, when considering McSkimming for interim Commissioner the PSC took a “shortened version”.

This was for several reasons including that McSkimming had been deputy commissioner for about 18 months and had already been interim Commissioner on several occasions and “by convention” was the person who was going to be appointed to the role.

“Mr McSkimming had recently been thoroughly vetted when appointed as a statutory Deputy Commissioner. Therefore, there was an anticipated inevitability of Mr McSkimming’s appointment which impacted the manner in which the probity checks were undertaken.

“As a result, the normal checks were not conducted in an in-depth way as would typically be done. For example, only three references were obtained and they were from people nominated by Mr McSkimming.”

McDonald said the PSC’s focus was whether anything had occurred in the 18 month period from when McSkimming had been vetted for his current role.

“This context coloured the approach PSC took to the appointment process, including the reference obtained from Ms Brazier.”

As part of her investigation, McDonald interviewed the PSC employee who took the reference check from Brazier. McDonald said she understood the employee was not interviewed by the IPCA.

The employee confirmed she called Brazier on 8 October 2024 and asked Brazier if she was able to provide a reference check for McSkimming. Brazier agreed and the interview was then carried out.

“As such, Ms Brazier did not have time to reflect on matters that she may have wished to discuss,” McDonald said.

The reference checking process took up to 7 minutes, McDonald estimated, finishing at 1.45pm.

The employee did not tell Brazier she should provide “full and frank answers” at the beginning of the interview.

“In response to the Integrity Question Ms Brazier stated: ‘Nothing that I am aware of that would impact [Mr McSkimming’s] ability to do the job or bring the agency or the NZ government into disrepute’.”

McDonald said all of Brazier’s answers were brief, and that the employee did not ask any follow up questions “to try to illicit more information from Ms Brazier”.

McDonald said it was “clear that there were shortcomings in terms of the way the reference was obtained from Ms Brazier”.

This included that the employee did not read the PSC script that interviewers typically read out at the beginning of reference interviews.

The script used by the employee did not include any statements designed to encourage Brazier to provide “fulsome responses.”

Asked why this was, the employee told McDonald she believed the interview with Brazier was “an open and closed reference check”.

“The PSC Employee stated that: given that Mr McSkimming was the longest serving Deputy Commissioner he was the obvious candidate for the interim Commissioner role; that she did not think that there was anything wrong with Mr McSkimming; and that her job was to see if Mr McSkimming still met the fit and proper person test – having been found to satisfy this requirement in 2023.”

The employee also said that the then Assistant Commissioner at PSC had already spoken to Coster before Brazier was contacted to provide a reference. Coster had told the PSC about McSkimming’s affair, and that the woman was being prosecuted for harassment of McSkimming, McDonald said.

McDonald said a manager at PSC said that if this information was known by the employee, then they ought to have asked further questions of Brazier given her “short but caveated response to the integrity question”.

McDonald said in response to her draft findings, the PSC said the employee could not have known that information at the time she called Brazier. This was because the PSC said Coster was interviewed only shortly before Brazier was spoken to. Following her final report, McDonald issued an addendum which said while additional documents provided by the PSC showed when the interview with Coster began, it did not say when it ended.

“Given the above and the fact that when I interviewed the PSC Employee she repeatedly stated that she already knew, at a high level, about the disclosures made by Commissioner Coster prior to her interviewing Ms Brazier, it is possible that [a manager at PSC] had already spoken to the PSC Employee about those disclosures before the PSC Employee interviewed Ms Brazier.”

Regardless of whether or not the PSC employee knew about the discussion before calling Brazier, it did not “materially alter” her findings in relation to Brazier’s conduct.

McDonald said the employee had only recently started conducting reference interviews and had done about 15 previously which were “for very different roles”.

“The PSC has now changed the manner in which it obtains references, including how it asks integrity questions and has provided additional training to interviewers. The PSC Employee confirmed that the manner in which she conducts reference interviews now is significantly different to the way she approached Ms Brazier’s interview.”

McDonald concluded that given the knowledge Brazier had when providing the reference it would have been “prudent” for her to disclose the fact that McSkimming was receiving harassing emails and that there was a police investigation into those emails – even if she believed that investigation looked at him as a complainant.

“Such information was still relevant contextual information. Given Ms Brazier’s work experience, having worked in senior positions for the Police for over twenty years, she ought to have understood the relevance of such information.

“I have considered, in light of the factual findings I have made, whether Ms Brazier’s conduct could be viewed as amounting to a breach of the Police Code of Conduct by bringing Police into disrepute. My recommendation is that it does not.”

McDonald said while Brazier “could have been more forthcoming”, there were several “highly relevant” factors.

This included that the PSC employee did not advise Brazier of the expectation to provide full disclosure of any relevant information she may have at the start of the interview, and that they did not do any follow up questions.

“Ms Brazier was not given advanced warning of the interview and it is likely that she did not have time to prepare or reflect on matters that she may wish to discuss.”

McDonald also noted that the IPCA did not interview the PSC employee as part of their investigation.

“And, therefore, did not take account of the manner in which the interview was conducted before making its findings against Ms Brazier.”

On 27 February, Brazier received a letter from police confirming that Deputy Commissioner Mike Pannett had accepted McDonald’s recommendation that Brazier’s conduct did not amount to a breach of the Police Code of Conduct and was not misconduct. He also agreed no further action was required.

Brazier told RNZ the investigation was a “waste of taxpayers’ money”, but was “pleased” when she read that the report cleared her of any misconduct but was not surprised as she did not think she had done anything wrong.

“I was annoyed that the IPCA hadn’t interviewed the person that did the reference check with me… they basically made their decision without any facts about what the referee process was.”

She said the IPCA report and the subsequent fallout had a significant impact on her.

“It impacted on the way I felt about the organisation, it impacted on my health and wellbeing, because it was publicised and my name was in the media, and that would have made it very difficult for me to find another job in the public sector whilst I had an under investigation against my name, even though there was nothing to it.

“It also meant that my team will have been questioning what my involvement was. It had wide-reaching impact, unfairly.”

After announcing her retirement, Brazier told RNZ she felt “targeted” by police leadership. She said this week she stood by those comments.

“It’s been completely unfair. I’m not the only person that’s been targeted. If you were to look at the number of people that have left, kind of under a cloud, I guess, over the last 18 months, then, yeah, a lot of people who have worked very hard and have been very credible and trustworthy individuals have left.”

Brazier her reference check was done “very quickly with no prior notice”.

“It was not a thorough interview in terms of a reference checking process for a senior role. So I think that they should have owned that from the outset, but instead they try and point the finger at me.”

She said that when she was interviewed by the PSC there was nothing she thought that would or could prevent McSkimming doing the job at the time.

“If they had asked me if he had had an affair, I would have been very clear, because my choice then would have been tell the truth or tell a lie, and I would have told the truth without question of a doubt.

“But it wasn’t. It was never tabled in that way. So I didn’t feel that it was, it was an important element of his ability to do the job, because he had been a statutory deputy for a number of years and had regularly covered for the commissioner, so he had no issues with doing the job, in my mind, even though he’d had an affair, but it was so long ago.”

In a statement to RNZ on questions about the investigation into Brazier, Deputy Commissioner Mike Pannett said police had the same privacy obligations as any other employer and therefore could not provide any information or comment.

“As previously announced, Ms Brazier is retiring from her position at the New Zealand Firearms Safety Authority in April.”

Police said two of the investigations being carried out by McDonald remained in progress.

“Police will not be commenting on the findings.”

Brazier is “unhappy” police won’t publicly confirm she was cleared of misconduct.

“They could have said there was no finding of misconduct or no breach of the Code of Conduct about me… I’m happy for them to say that, because it’s my privacy that apparently they’re trying to protect. So I don’t see why they couldn’t say that… they’re choosing not to.”

She believes police have not given thought to her being a “loyal, hardworking, trustworthy employee”.

“They have just gone about carte blanche doing an investigation on this and on that, without actually considering me as a senior member of police for over 20 years with no history of ever having any sorts of issues, they just went straight to investigation.”

A Public Service Commission spokesperson told RNZ the matter was “thoroughly and independently examined by the IPCA”.

“The IPCA found that disclosures made to the Public Service Commission during the 2024 interim Commissioner appointment process were inadequate and fell well short of what would reasonably be expected in a process of that significance.

“Separately, inquiries made by the Public Service Commission to the IPCA confirmed that a complaint was under active consideration at the time. As a result, Mr McSkimming was not recommended for appointment to the interim role.”

The PSC also commissioned an independent review by Miriam Dean KC into its reference checks and probity processes for senior Police appointments such as the Police Commissioner and Deputy Police Commissioners.

“The Commission accepted the findings of the Dean Review in full and has implemented improvements to strengthen its appointment processes and disclosure requirements.

“Ms McDonald carried out a confidential employment investigation for Police into the conduct of one of their former employees. Any findings or actions are therefore a matter for Police.”

A IPCA spokesperson told RNZ that in drafting their report, they relied on the file note of PSC’s reference check with Brazier.

“We also had access to Miriam Dean KC’s report, which had considered the way PSC conducted reference checks. Further, we relied on the evidence of Ms Brazier, including her submissions during our natural justice process. She did not deny the non-disclosure.”

The spokeperson also referred to paragraphs of the report in which Brazier “provided us with reasons for why she did not disclose relevant information”.

“We have not seen the employment investigation report.”

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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 Employment Relations Authority found Fire and Emergency (FENZ) breached good faith and its duty to consult under its collective agreement with unions in how it handled its restructure proposal last year.

FENZ proposed in November last year to cut 140 positions and make changes to 700 roles.

Of these, both the Public Service Association (PSA) and New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFA) said 97 non-firefighting roles would go, and 66 significantly changed.

The ruling released on Wednesday found FENZ did not consult early enough to allow for consultation on whether the change should occur and the reasons for the change.

“After consultation commenced, FENZ has not demonstrated it engaged with the unions motivated by a desire to reach consensus or used genuine effort to respond to the views of those being consulted, when the unions communicated with FENZ about its views on the process FENZ had adopted,” said the ruling by authority member Sarah Kennedy-Martin.

She found that FENZ breached its statutory obligation of good faith, saying the timing of the release of the consultation document happened when PSA was tied up with bargaining, and NZPFA was having its annual conference.

Kennedy-Martin said this was not conduct aimed at “maintaining a productive employment relationship”.

The authority member said all parties agreed that the issue of compliance orders could be reserved, and FENZ indicated it would consult with the unions in accordance with the authority’s conclusions.

In a statement to RNZ, FENZ acknowledged the decision.

“We acknowledge the findings that we could have done more in regards to consulting with the unions. We are now considering the findings and working through what this means for our next steps”.

Unions vindicated, want to see FENZ and govenrment commit to no job losses

PSA’s national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said the ruling was damning for FENZ, and a significant victory for all FENZ workers.

“FENZ worked up a sweeping restructure in secret for months, then gave unions 24 hours’ notice before dropping it on the whole organisation including during the NZPFU annual conference and while PSA bargaining was under way. The authority has confirmed that was unlawful,” she said.

“What we now need to see is FENZ and the government take this proposal off the table, to commit to investing in FENZ, and to guarantee that no one will lose their job,” said Fitzsimons.

The roles affected by FENZ’s proposal included critical expertise, such as training for firefighters and volunteers, and roles helping communities understand fire prevention work, said Fitzsimons.

“These job losses are dangerous for all New Zealand,” she said.

NZPFU’s national secretary Wattie Watson said the madness of the restructure had to stop.

The union said some workers have had to live with the uncertainty of their future employment repeatedly, during FENZ’s rollercoaster of restructures since its establishment in 2017.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A Jetstar plane swerved off the runway after landing at Christchurch because the pilot accidentally put the thrust lever on to full power causing the plane to accelerate, investigators say.

Passengers aboard the Airbus A320 plane travelling from Auckland reported a bumpy and “frightening” landing on 31 May 2024, although no one was injured.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC)’s report out on Thursday put the accident down to pilot error but also a lack of proper training from Jetstar.

Chief investigator of accidents Louise Cook said during the flight one of the plane’s three hydraulic systems failed and the plane lost the ability to use its nosewheel to steer.

The crew followed standard operating procedures and continued with the flight to land at Christchurch where they planned to use differential braking to steer off the runway onto the rapid exit taxiway.

The landing went well until the crew lost directional control and the plane veered off the taxiway, hit an aerodrome signboard and continued across the grass until stopping back on the main runway, Cook said.

“The crew did a great job of landing the plane, had they stopped and then been towed off there would’ve been no issues,” she said.

“But they were trying to do the right thing and clear the runway so that other planes could use it, and so used the rapid exit way, and as they went to do that that’s when the pilot thought they were putting it into idle but in fact put the thrust lever forward into climb and full power.”

Cook said the pilots were likely so focused on making that exit they missed important cues that the position of the thrust levers was not as intended.

“On the face of it, this option appeared safe and achievable to the pilots because Airbus documentation, repeated in Jetstar’s Flight Crew Techniques Manual, provided no guidance on use of differential braking specifically for steering off the runway via a rapid exit,” she said.

A Jetstar spokesperson said the airline had since changed its guidance to flight crews.

“We’ve worked closely with the regulator and Airbus to fully understand what occurred and have strengthened our procedures to help prevent a recurrence and ensure the ongoing safety and resilience of our operations,” Jetstar said.

TAIC said Airbus had accepted the commission’s recommendation to revise aircraft manuals and instructor guidance to mitigate the risk that other pilots might move the thrust levers while on the ground to an unintended position.

Airbus planed to do this in April and May 2026, it said.

“This accident also highlights the importance of maintenance engineers conducting a detailed inspection of new parts for potential damage before installation. In this case, a titanium hydraulic pipe was just 1mm out of shape – slightly oval, not round. It is very likely the deformity occurred when the pipe’s packaging was damaged in transit between Airbus warehouses in 2015,” the commission said.

“The damage was not detected before or after installation and failed after 18 months of service.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A woman who works overnight shifts as a cleaner at Auckland Airport says she is feeling the effects of surging petrol prices.

The Finance Minister said she was looking at targeted, temporary support for some households if the Middle East conflict worsened.

Nicola Willis said the help could be available, for example, to a cleaner needing to drive to work early in the morning when there was no public transport.

E tū union member Ayesha Paki had a roughly 30-minute drive, six days a week, to her job at Auckland Airport.

“Everything is expensive and now the petrol has affected all of us cleaners and low pay workers. We are so worried,” she said.

Paki, who worked 10pm to 6am shifts, said it was a very tough time.

“Petrol is going up everytime I go in my car,” she said.

“We are renting and we have to pay the bills, electricity, put the food on the table, it’s hard for us.”

Paki said any government support would be appreciated.

“If our wages go up it will be easier for us. That’s why we fight for our Fair Pay agreement but then they scrapped it, and we cleaners are suffering and struggling.”

On Monday, Willis said the government was “anticipating, and to the extent possible mitigating the impact on the New Zealand economy, including what could potentially be acute cost of living pressures for some households”.

“From the government’s point of view, we need to ensure that any support we provide to households is temporary, is targeted and is timely,” she said.

Willis said official advice was that reducing fuel excise would “send the wrong signal” and not be sufficiently targeted.

Willis said her household would not need as much help financially as others, using the example of a South Auckland airport cleaner who could not take the bus to work.

“We need to make sure that we have in mind those New Zealanders who face the most acute cost of living pressures rather than having blanket responses which tie up a lot of others.”

She would not give a price petrol would have to reach at the pump before the government would take action, saying prices had been higher in the past.

“I am working with the Treasury and we will have a range of options,” she said, which would be discussed with Cabinet. She said whatever the government did would have to be prudent and not contribute to inflation.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Hopes of retaining an 18-hole golf course in Takapuna have been sunk – but 12 holes could still be on the cards for the golfers.

Auckland Council is turning half of the existing 18-hole golf course at AF Thomas Park into a floodwater catchment, aimed at mitigating the city’s increasing flood risks.

The Wairau area on Auckland’s North Shore has been hit hard by floods, and the council has said its decision was about “saving lives, protecting homes and businesses, and strengthening the city against flood risk”.

But thousands of people have signed a petition to keep the 18 holes on the course – with supporters including Hall of Fame golfer Dame Lydia Ko.

The council decided last year to push ahead with plans to reduce the course to nine holes.

But Takapuna Golf Course is taking another swing at the proposal, and has come up with a plan to give the council the area it needs for the wetland, while squeezing 12 holes into the remaining space.

Takapuna Golf Course head greens keeper Stephen Dowd told Checkpoint the three extra holes would make a big difference, and followed moves in Europe and the United States towards 12-hole golf.

“It just gives us a more meaningful round of golf. We can play two sixes, which you can associate with playing two nines, and it can be more like a normal round of golf, rather than just playing nine holes, and it lets us operate pretty much as we are now. We can sell an extra tee-off time in the morning for a couple of hours, so people can play the other six.

“It just lets us operate and then we can continue to provide more affordable golf to as many Kiwis as we can, and get more people on the course.”

Dowd said the golf course had not yet seen the council’s full proposal, but they were confident they could make the 12 holes work.

“We just have to come up with our own plan. They’ve seen our plan and we believe some of them actually like it.

“We anticipate the wetland will take up around a third of the course. So we need about 22 hectares of the rest of the course.”

He said they were working with a designer and were trying to accommodate other peoples wishes that they wanted extra recreation on the course.

“If we want more land, it won’t be very much more, only two or three more hectares.”

The local community board will discuss the new proposal at a meeting next week.

While the golfers had fought to keep the 18 holes, Dowd said they had accepted that the course needed to change.

“Obviously, the flooding was a massive issue and that was last year’s fight, we made the decision last year that we needed to start working with the council.

“And we think this is a good plan that accomplishes all their goals, while leaving meaningful golf on Takapuna Golf Course for our 100,00 users we get every year.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

• Ministry of Education pauses reviews and changes to rural school bus routes.
• Officials to review policy and consult with schools and communities.
• Changes already brought in won’t be reversed.

Rural families worried about whether their children are still eligible for government-funded buses to school can for now breathe a sigh of relief.

The Ministry of Education confirmed it’s pushed pause on reviews into compliance with rules such as attending the closest high school while it reviews its transport assistance policy.

It’s a welcome decision for regions where changes were due to soon take hold, but has left those already affected feeling frustrated.

Grateful for pause

Tairāwhiti farmer Toby Williams’ two sons attend Gisborne Boys’ High School.

Changes to take effect in the Gisborne region from the second term of the school year are now on hold.

But before the ministry backdown this week, Williams was worried about how his boys and dozens of other teens in the area would get to school from next term. They were ruled ineligible for ministry-funded services to Boys’ High.

“We’re really grateful to the ministry for pausing these changes for us and giving us that bit of extra time to work with them and the schools and the transport providers to be able to provide some routes that work for the community, but also work in terms of being cost efficient and affordable for the government.”

Williams’ 17-year-old son Tristin was stressed about passing his driving test, in case he had to get himself and younger brother Jackson into town, 30 minutes away, each day for class.

Williams wonders why rules most people didn’t know about were suddenly being enforced after being overlooked for so long.

“This bus has run for 40 years and must have been through multiple iterations of reviews. There were 50 kids on the bus.

“It was funny how the bus suddenly needed such drastic changes in our region. Parents were left a bit dumbfounded by the whole thing.”

Changes won’t be reversed

The ministry reviewed more than 250 routes, out of about 1400, throughout the country.

Although it’s paused making new changes, it won’t undo those it’s already made, it confirmed to RNZ on Wednesday.

In Manawatū, Nikita Walker helped organise a user-pays service for children from the towns of Rongotea and Tangimoana to get to school in Palmerston North.

The ministry said a school in Foxton is closer, so it will only put on buses there despite previously funding students on the Palmerston North service for decades.

“It’s just hugely disappointing. There are a lot of us who are really in hard times, financially, and we’re all struggling to be able to afford these term passes.”

The user-pays service cost more than $500 a term, she said.

“There has been a drop off in numbers due to the prices. Some people were able to just manage to get by with doing a few concession cards to get on the bus, however, long term it’s just not doable.”

Becs Barr’s petrol bill has tripled to more than $300 a week this year now she has to drive her son Murphy to and from school in Palmerston North from their Horowhenua home.

She’s also unhappy changes already implemented will stay.

“I find that quite bizarre. It should be the same for everybody. All our children should get to school.

“It seems crazy that there are decisions they’ve made for term two that they’re going to put a hold on, but they can’t reverse decisions for term one.”

Thorough review needed – principal

The ministry has said reviews were a routine, ongoing part of its work, but now said it was reviewing its transport assistance policy so changes were “lasting and reflect up to date policy settings”.

“Education minister Erica Stanford has been discussing current transport settings with the ministry for some time and, based on our advice, agreed last week to initiate a policy review,” said James Meffan, the ministry’s group manager for school transport.

“We’ll work with schools, communities and transport providers, and we’ll keep people updated on next steps.”

Gisborne Boys’ High School headmaster Tom Cairns said the ministry needed to come up with something that worked in the regions.

“I think the policy certainly needs to be reviewed and I think it needs to be far more comprehensive than the current review, which was, ‘We’ve got a policy from 1908. We have to enact it.’

“There needs to be some community consultation for it to be purposeful and there was none of that.”

He said schools were just told what was happening for the now-paused changes to the Gisborne region, with no chance to have a say.

“I believe there needs to be a thorough look at it. The untidy bits based around arbitrary geographic locations of schools need to be done away with.”

About 300 students at Palmerston North Boys’ High School are affected by bus eligibility changes brought in this term.

Rector David Bovey said some were finding it hard to get to school.

“The fact that they’ve stopped to have a look at it now is possible, of course, but I’m hoping that will be expanded to looking at the areas where the changes have already been made.”

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