NZ Engine

Source: Consumer NZ

Now is a great time to brush up on digital hygiene or share advice with someone you care about – in your family, workplace or social circle.

“When it comes to showing someone you care for them, a bunch of flowers is nice – but helping protect them from scams and digital threats might be the most powerful gift you could give,” says Sahar Lone, Consumer NZ’s communications and campaigns manager.

“Many of us act as unofficial tech support for the mother figures in our lives. Mother’s Day is a great time to sit down together and set up some simple protections or share some tips to the family group chat. It’s a free, practical and genuinely caring gesture.”

Consumer’s latest Sentiment Tracker results show that 56% of New Zealand households have been targeted by scams in the last year. Notably, high-value losses are growing – 34% of scam victims lost over $1,000, up from 26% last year.

With scams becoming more sophisticated – from fake parcel tracking texts to the rise of ‘Hi Mum’ impersonation scams – it’s important to have these conversations, says Lone.

“These chats can feel awkward, but they don’t have to be. One way that works for a lot of people is to tell a story – whether it’s yours or someone else’s – to share, not shame.”
 
The Financial Crime Prevention Network found people aged 50 years and older are a bit more common in scam victim data, but all age groups are affected.

“Scams affect New Zealanders of all ages and backgrounds – not just older individuals or those who aren’t tech-savvy. While women are slightly more likely to fall victim, no one is immune” says Lone.

So, yes, helping your mum with scam protections is a gift to her – but also a way to protect your whole whānau from messy financial fallout.

Seven tips to share this Mother’s Day.

Set up two-factor authentication for accounts like banking, email and social media. This extra layer of protection sends a code to your phone or email to log in. Make sure the phone number you give is a mobile – not a landline.

Use a password manager. These tools store and generate strong passwords, so you don’t have to remember them.

“You only need to remember one password, the ‘vault’ password,” says Lone. “And if you write it down, don’t label it. Just stash it away somewhere safe.”

Don’t reuse passwords. A password manager makes it easy to create unique passwords for every site, limiting the amount of thinking you have to do.

Avoid clicking links in emails or texts. “Even if it looks legit, go to the website directly instead of clicking a link that someone has sent you,” says Lone.

Check that account names and numbers match. Major banks offer confirmation of payee, a service that can help make sure your money goes to the right person. If there’s a partial match, no match, or other issue, check the details and only pay if you’re sure they’re correct. If you proceed without a full match, you risk sending the money to the wrong account and may never get it back.

Only buy from trusted sites and check the URL. Scammers often use social media marketplaces and create fake websites. According to the State of Scams in New Zealand 2024 report by New Zealand’s online safety organisation Netsafe and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, scammers use Gmail, Facebook and WhatsApp as their go-to platforms.

Make a family scam plan. “My mum and I agreed I’ll never contact her about money in writing, only in person. That gives us both peace of mind,” says Lone.

And while you’re on the topic, take the opportunity to talk with the whole whānau about how they’d respond to a scam, including the following steps.

If something feels off, act quickly. Contact your bank, report the incident to the National Cyber Security Centre’s response team, CERT NZ, and if needed, reach out to the police, a lawyer or the Banking Ombudsman Scheme.

Go to Netsafe or CERT NZ for free scam information and support.

Sign our Stamp out scams petition and help apply pressure to government to introduce a national scam framework in New Zealand that will hold businesses to account: https://consumernz.cmail19.com/t/i-l-fhildll-ijjdkdttjk-j/

About Consumer

Consumer NZ is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to championing and empowering consumers in Aotearoa. Consumer NZ has a reputation for being fair, impartial and providing comprehensive consumer information and advice.

Source: New Zealand Police

The search for a missing man in the Milford Sound will continue today.

Due to weather conditions, helicopters have been unable to fly, however teams on the ground will continue to search from first light.

Search teams are mindful of the tricky terrain and weather warnings, which could potentially hamper search efforts.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

Source: New Zealand Police

Police are responding to reports of a school bus crash in Pahurehure, Papakura.

The crash involves a single bus which collided with a tree on Elliot Street around 8.45am.

All passengers are off the bus.

At this stage five people have sustained injuries and will be transported to hospital by ambulance. 

The remainder have are being treated at the scene.

The bus is partially blocking the road.

Police are conducting an examination at the scene and the public is advised avoid the area if possible.

ENDS.

Nicole Bremner/NZ Police

Source: New Zealand Police

Police can now release the name of the man who died following a crash on SH30, Coastlands, on 23 January.

He was Paul Jukka Makela, 56, of Kawerau.

Police extend our condolences to his family and friends.

Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.

ENDS 

Issued by Police Media Centre

Source: New Zealand Police

Clyde Street, Hamilton is currently closed due to a gas leak.

The road is cordoned off between Firth Street and Grey Street.

Members of the public are advised to avoid the area and expect delays around the surrounding areas.

Nearby schools have been placed into lockdown as a precaution.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the next steps in the Government’s plan to improve the quality of regulation, as the detailed proposal to pass a Regulatory Standards Bill has progressed through Cabinet. 
“New Zealand’s low wages can be blamed on low productivity, and low productivity can be blamed on poor regulation. To raise productivity, we must allow people to spend more time on productive activities and less time on compliance,” says Mr Seymour.  
“To lift productivity and wages, the ACT-National Coalition Agreement includes a commitment to pass a Regulatory Standards Act. I will be taking the proposed Bill to Cabinet on the 19th of May for approval to introduce it.  
“In a nutshell: If red tape is holding us back, because politicians find regulating politically rewarding, then we need to make regulating less rewarding for politicians with more sunlight on their activities. That is how the Regulatory Standards Bill will help New Zealand get its mojo back. It will finally ensure regulatory decisions are based on principles of good law-making and economic efficiency. 
“The Bill will codify principles of good regulatory practice for existing and future regulations. It seeks to bring the same level of discipline to regulation that the Public Finance Act brings to public spending, with the Ministry for Regulation playing a role akin to that of the Treasury.  
“It requires politicians and officials to ask and answer certain questions before they place restrictions on citizens’ freedoms. What problem are we trying to solve? What are the costs and benefits? Who pays the costs and gets the benefits? What restrictions are being placed on the use and exchange of private property? 
“Where inconsistencies are found, the responsible Minister must respond to justify deviation from principles.  
“People affected by bad laws will be able to appeal to a Regulatory Standards Board, made up of people who understand regulatory economics. That board will be able to make non-binding recommendations on whether the law was made well, turning up the heat on bad lawmaking. The findings, reasons for any inconsistency, and relevant documents will be made publicly available to ensure transparency.
“If we raise the political cost of making bad laws by allowing New Zealanders to hold regulators accountable, the outcome will be better law-making, higher productivity, and higher wages.   
“Under the proposed Bill, government agencies will also have duties to review their regulatory systems.  
“Ultimately, this Bill will help the Government achieve its goal of improving New Zealand’s productivity by ensuring that regulated parties are regulated by a system which is transparent, has a mechanism for recourse, and holds regulators accountable to the people. 
“The law doesn’t stop politicians or their officials making bad laws, but it makes it transparent that they’re doing it. It makes it easier for voters to identify those responsible for making bad rules. Over time, it will improve the quality of rules we all have to live under by changing how politicians behave.   
“In a high-cost economy, regulation isn’t neutral – it’s a tax on growth. This Government is committed to clearing the path of needless regulations by improving how laws are made.” 
Particular acknowledgements go to Dr Bryce Wilkinson, whose book “Constraining Government Regulation” laid important groundwork for this Bill. Special thanks also go to Dr Graham Scott, Jack Hodder KC, and other members of the Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce, who refined the Bill in 2009.  
 

Source: Police investigating after shots fired at Hastings house

Date:  07 May 2025

Kākā are rowdy and sociable parrots found in New Zealand’s native forests. Stoats and possums are the key threat to kākā, with females and chicks the prime targets during nesting when they stay in tree cavities for long periods. Over time, this leads to a male-skewed and declining kākā population.

A group of DOC and other scientists spent a week in the Pureora Forest last October, capturing and releasing kākā. It was a second trip into the Waipapa block to determine the health and gender balance of the local kākā population.

DOC Principal Science Advisor Terry Greene says the previous trip in 2023 had been “puzzling and concerning” because few birds were caught and all were males. However, the latest survey results were exciting.

“We caught an equal number of female and males which is a good sign of a healthy kākā population. This leads to more kākā breeding and chicks produced boosting the Pureora population.

“This is the first time in our monitoring of kākā at different sites we have found a 50-50 gender balance. At sites where there has been no predator control the ratio has been as low as one female to five males.

“With no predator control to protect kākā, females get taken out, breeding declines, old males are left behind – and after a while there are no kākā at all,” he says.

A total of 22 birds were captured (at 14 sites in Waipapa and two sites in Pikiariki) of which 11 were male and 11 were female during the October field work.

Kākā are generally monogamous during breeding season, which is triggered by forest masts – when trees produce and drop their fruit and seeds. Peak egg laying for kākā is December and January, and females sit on the eggs (clutches can be up to five eggs) for about 24 days before hatching.

Terry says the Pureora kākā population is “doing extremely well”, with the birds even obvious around the forest’s village – another indicator of the kākā population success.

“They’re doing as well as kākā on off-shore islands – where there are no predators – and they’ve responded very well to our management,” he says.

Nature in New Zealand is unique and special. Most of it is only found here. It’s different to what you can find anywhere else. Once our species are gone from here, they’re gone from everywhere.

Contact

Source:

ACT MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar has written to the Chair of Parliament’s Education and Workforce Committee. She’s calling for politicians to listen to all the options for reducing the harms of social media on young people. The proposed inquiry would examine the practicality of introducing a ban on social media for young people and consider that against alternative solutions.

“The proposal to simply ban social media for those under the age of 16 is unlikely to solve the problem. Technologically, it’s a mine field. Morally, it is a Government solution that does not involve parents. Its unintended consequences could do more harm than good,” says Dr Parmjeet Pamar.

“The things that can go wrong are extensive, for examples:

– A ban could fail technically, with young people simply going around it to interact in new ways. Will, for example, Reddit threads be forbidden, and how could they evolve to produce the same harms we are currently worried about?
– A ban could excessively restrict access to the digital world, meaning young people miss out on genuinely useful opportunities, for example Australia will apparently exclude YouTube from Social Media
– A ban could unintentionally drive young people into the darker corners of the internet. The bill doesn’t block access to the internet itself – it targets platforms that at least try to build guardrails. The wider internet doesn’t. TikTok is easy to ban because it’s identifiable. But you can’t ban being online, and when the mainstream platforms go, the guardrails go with them. Maybe that trade-off is worth it and the risk of a young person finding truly objectionable material isn’t that great – but it’s a question worth asking.
– A ban could stigmatise online activity, making young people less likely to discuss harms they experience with parents and teachers, because they view their activities as illegal
– A ban could displace high quality solutions that allow parents to control internet access and enter the digital world safely
– A ban erodes personal responsibility. It implies that responsibility lies with the Government, when real solutions should involve Government, business, and community, especially parents in this case.

“A high quality inquiry would hear from teachers, principals, technological experts, mental health professionals, and parents, among others. Hearing their views and evidence, would put all options on the table. There might be a better way forward than a simplistic ban that young people will probably get around anyway.

“Other jurisdictions have moved towards bans, but there is no success story. The implementation is proving tricky. Rather than repeating their mistakes in real time, we should learn from them. In Australia, even though the legislation has passed, they still have no idea how the age restriction will be enforced.

“The last thing we want is a knee-jerk response that sees young people pushed to the dark web or other platforms that don’t even self-regulate – or creates a system that forces everyone, under 16 or not, to hand over personally identifiable information to tech companies.

“ACT shares the concern that social media is causing harm to young people. But any government response must be grounded in evidence and respect parental responsibility – a Select Committee inquiry would ensure we are best placed to achieve that.”