NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

While vapes may cause cancer – as a recent Australian review of evidence concluded – they remain a far less dangerous vice than traditional cigarettes, a local anti-smoking lobby group says.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) looked at eight years of prior research between 2017 and 2025 – including human and animal studies, case reports and chemical analyses.

Lead author Bernard Stewart said it provided “by far the strongest evidence” vapes – like cigarettes – could cause lung and oral cancer. He said it could no longer be considered “safer than smoking”, urging a wider crackdown on black market products and more public awareness of the dangers.

But Ben Youdan, director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), worries the findings will promote the view that vaping is just as bad for you as smoking.

“There’s no question it does carry risk, and I think it doesn’t change the message that it’s much, much less harmful than smoking, but not completely risk-free, and that if you smoke, vaping is a very effective way to stop smoking and will substantially reduce your risk. None of that changes at all,” he told Morning Report on Thursday.

“But I think what the issue with this particular review is that it sort of makes a sweeping statement that ‘we found these things in vaping that may cause cancer’, but it doesn’t tell us anything about the levels that they are, whether they’re actually cancer-causing levels or what the dose exposure might be.”

For example, he said, the review noted some vapes will expose users to nicotine – but only about 2 percent of what a smoker would get, a “massive risk reduction” and not a cancer risk on its own.

The fear was studies like this – and the way they have been reported – will deter smokers from using vapes as a gateway to quitting altogether.

“We have really, really high quality evidence, much of which comes from New Zealand studies that vapes are very effective in helping people stop smoking. But we also have an increasing body of evidence that people believe vaping is as, if not more harmful than smoking, which is far from the truth.

“So there’s a real concern that when we have some quite alarmist studies that don’t face scrutiny like this coming out, that we might either encourage people to switch back to smoking or even to put them off using vaping as a stop-smoking act.”

The researchers noted there was still no epidemiological link between using vapes and cancer, but proving cigarettes caused cancer took a century, and vapes had only been around for two decades.

Youdan said there was no evidence that vapes were leading Kiwi youth towards smoking, though a study last year suggested it could be slowing the move towards the country’s smokefree goal for Māori and Pasifika.

The latest Ministry of Health data showed smoking rates for both youth and adults had dropped markedly in the past 15 years.

Just 6.8 percent of adults and 3.2 percent of people aged 15-24 were daily users in the 2024/5 survey.

There was evidence however vaping amongst teenagers is now more popular than smoking was in 2011/2.

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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 armed man sent a manifesto to schools, the police and the government promising to “kill everyone” and become the country’s “most deadly mass shooter”, police allege.

The man – who has never had a firearms licence – is accused of possessing a pump action shotgun with more than 350 shotgun cartridges, “suspected components of an improvised explosive device” and Nazi literature, it can now be revealed.

The 20-year-old faces an array of charges including two representative charges of threatening to kill, three charges of threatening to destroy property and four representative charges of unlawful possession of firearm/explosive.

He had also been charged with three representative charges of possessing an objectionable publication – including the Christchurch terrorist’s manifesto and video – and two charges of failing to carry out obligations to computer search.

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

The man, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has name suppression, is set to go on trial in July. RNZ has been granted access to a court document that details the police allegations against him.

The document accused him of sending a manifesto to various addresses at 1.40am on 12 March last year.

The recipients included Waiuku College, Rutherford College, Pukekohe Police Station, Te Atatu Police Station and Parliament.

Police said the email was titled “This is my manifesto” and stated that another person was the author. It made several claims, including that the author had been “subject to constant bullying and harassment”.

“I have finished making weapons, body armour and suicide vest that will be needed for what I will do to get revenge on bullies.”

The author said they had finished 3D printing and assembling a Rogue 9 submachine gun and had about 200-300 armour piercing bullets, some 3D printed Glock magazines, a pistol and about 100 bullets.

Police alleged the email said the submachine gun and pistol had been tested and the author knew “they will work for ‘what I am going to do tomorrow morning'”.

“I have body armour so that I will not die in a shootout with police,” the manifesto was alleged to say.

According to the police the email author claimed to also be in possession of Molotov cocktails and ingredients for explosives. The manifesto also said explosives had been sent in various packages to Waiuku College, Rutherford College, Pukekohe Police Station, Te Atatu Police Station and the Beehive.

“The rest of the … explosive was in the suicide vest that I will detonate even if defeated in a gun fight and kill everyone around me.

“I will go to Rutherford College or Waiuku College early and … become New Zealand’s most deadly mass shooter.”

It also promised “a big tragedy” if there were not enough police at the school, and threatened to set schools on fire and take hostages.

“The only way out of this is for a plane to be provided to me and safe passage out of New Zealand.”

Later that morning, police said they received an online form submission to a Police Service Improvement webform link, detailing the manifesto that had been sent.

When the schools became aware of the threat students and staff had already started to arrive for school.

As a result, Waiuku College put the school into lockdown for several hours, before staff and students were sent home.

Rutherford College restricted access to the property and had armed police posted at the school for the duration of the day.

Police said they spoke with a person who had been named as the author of the manifesto. They denied being the author and instead identified the defendant as a possible suspect.

On 13 March, police raided two properties associated with the defendant.

At one of the properties, police said they found a 12-gauge pump action shotgun under his bed, as well as 359 shotgun cartridges.

They said they also found a 3D printer, a machete in sheath, blueprints showing the assembly components of an AR15 rifle and Nazi literature.

The court document said “suspected components of an improvised explosive device” were also seized from the property. This included electrical chipboards, timers and household chemicals.

While searching the other property, police said they seized a phone, an iPad, two laptops, a USB drive, a desktop computer, 134 spent shotgun shells and a large knife.

When asked for the passcodes for the iPad and one of the phones, the defendant allegedly provided incorrect passcodes.

“When suggested that he was providing the wrong passcodes, the defendant claimed not to remember the passcodes,” the court document said.

Police analysed the defendant’s devices and said they found several objectionable materials, including a copy of Brenton Tarrant’s manifesto, a video of the Christchurch mosque attacks and a copy of a manifesto written by Ryan Palmeter, who killed three people in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2023.

There were also two copies of “an instructional book on how to make explosives, weapons, drugs and other dangerous or illegal activity” and videos of the Russian Moscow ISIS concert hall terror attack and the Buffalo, New York, mass shooting.

When spoken to by police, the defendant denied being involved in any of the alleged offending.

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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 Navy ship commander faced an earlier complaint of unwanted touching before she was acquitted at a court martial of inviting a junior officer to kiss her on the cheek.

Bronwyn Heslop was the commander of HMNZS Canterbury when she was alleged to have encouraged a junior officer to kiss her by tapping her own cheek in a bar, during a deployment in Fiji in March 2023.

She was found not guilty of doing an act to prejudice service discipline at a court martial in February.

The earlier complaint of touching – revealed in documents released by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to RNZ under the Official Information Act – alleged that Commander Heslop “placed her hands on a member of the NZDF’s neck and shoulders without their consent and made comments that made them feel uncomfortable”.

Military police found there was not enough evidence to lay a charge, but the complaint did result in “administrative action” taken by command.

The NZDF said a command investigation followed the two complaints against Commander Heslop in 2024, to determine whether there was a “pattern of behaviour” inconsistent with the NZDF’s core values. It concluded with administrative actions, which can range from counselling to warnings.

Commander Heslop’s lawyer Matthew Hague said she denies any wrongdoing in relation to all the allegations.

Heslop became the first female officer to be in charge of a Royal New Zealand Navy vessel, when she took command of HMNZS Moa in 1998.

She became the ship commander of HMNZS Canterbury in April 2022, and the NZDF said she had reached the natural end of that tenure by September 2025.

She is now in a shore-based role in Military Maritime Operation Orders.

Survivor: ‘They hung her out to dry’

A survivor of sexual assault said Commander Heslop was hung out to dry while more serious sexual allegations against men in the military were dealt with behind closed doors.

Karina Andrews had her statutory name suppression lifted to speak out about the sexual abuse by her father, former Air Force Sergeant Robert Roper, which started when she was six years old.

As a child, she was interviewed by members of the Royal New Zealand Airforce in the same room as her abuser.

Andrews, who was involved in the early stages of NZDF’s Operation Respect when it was launched in 2016, said things haven’t improved as much as they should have, and that the “old boys’ club” where men in the military looked after their own was still “alive and kicking”.

Andrews said the alleged behaviour in both complaints against Commander Heslop were not fitting for a ship commander.

However, she said the alleged behaviour did not warrant a court martial, and she felts the military was prosecuting the less serious cases to show they were still doing something about the culture.

“Pretty pissed off that they would use that to say ‘hey, we’re doing something with Operation Respect’, they hung her out to dry, because they needed a win,” she said.

Andrews said if similar allegations were made against a male, it would not have resulted in a court martial.

“I know that there have been some women that have been rail-roaded into making a closed disclosure, because the military can deal with that, and nine times out of ten it is because it’s a high ranking staff member that has performed a sexual assault, that’s still the old boys looking after their own, and that hasn’t changed,” she said.

Andrews said she had spoken directly to two female NZDF staff who complained of sexual assault by male staff in the past two years, who had their complaints dealt with internally.

RNZ asked the NZDF about the allegations of its treatment of the two women, but the NZDF has not responded directly.

It said the sex of the accused person was not a factor in their decision to lay a charge in Commander Heslop’s case.

It also added that members of NZDF are free to report concerns to other independent agencies, such as the police.

Meanwhile, the Auditor General’s survey of more than 6000 defence personnel found that 78 people (1.3 percent of respondents) experienced unwanted sexual activity in the 12 months to March 2023.

It found junior uniformed women were particularly affected, with 7.2 percent of them among respondents reporting unwanted sexual activity, and 24.6 percent reporting some form of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

Andrews said she felt that the unwanted sexual behaviour was under-reported, based on her wide contacts in the military and people who had come to her for advice on how to proceed on a complaint.

NZDF said it had made significant progress with Operation Respect, since the review in 2020.

A refreshed Operation Respect strategy with a 20-year outlook was released in June 2024, it said.

NZDF: Charge needed to be laid in alleged kissing incident

The NZDF said there was a well-founded allegation of an offence under the Armed Forces Discipline Act (AFDA) regarding the alleged kissing incident, and that they were legally required to lay a charge.

It said the charge first went to summary trial, and Commander Heslop later was given the right to elect court martial – which she chose to do.

Commander Heslop’s lawyer Matthew Hague said her decision to select court martial was a necessary step to access her basic right to a fair legal process.

“A summary trial lacks the protections afforded to all other New Zealanders, such as the right to legal representation and a trial presided over by an independent Judge,” he said.

Following Commander Heslop’s electing court martial, a decision still needed to be made by the director of military prosecutions to proceed the case to court martial.

NZDF said allegations referred to the director of military prosecutions must satisfy both the evidential and public interest tests.

“If an accused at summary trial elects trial by court martial, this will normally weigh in favour of laying the charge or charges before the court martial, provided the evidential test is met,” it said.

“As the evidential test was deemed met in this case, the charges proceed to court martial,” said the NZDF.

Law professor: discretion needed in Armed Forces Discipline Act for lower level allegations

Retired Auckland University law professor Bill Hodge sat on court martial panels for sexual assault cases when he served in the US Army.

He said he was perplexed as to why Commander Heslop’s case ended up in front of a court martial.

“I wondered why it is at that level, that’s the most senior level, it’s a lot of valuable time of valuable experienced people, and it looked like they should not be spending their time on this type of case,” he said.

He said the allegations were at a relatively low level, and based on his knowledge of military courts, the allegation of soliciting a kiss on the cheek wouldn’t even have reached the level of a summary court.

Hodge however said he understands how a ship commander can be held to a higher standard.

Hodge said there needs to be more discretion in the Armed Forces Discipline Act, where even if a charge is well founded, there could be the option of selecting a form of punishment akin to “company level punishment” – such as training, warning and counselling.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington’s new Dorothy Spotswood Charity Hospital has found a home in a building on upper Cuba Street in the central city.

The Dorothy Spotswood Charity Hospital, for which the fit-out was being funded by Wellington philanthropist couple Dame Dorothy Spotswood and Sir Mark Dunajtschik, would provide surgical day services on a referral basis, mostly through GPs, for people who did not meet the criteria or faced long wait times to be seen in the public system and could not afford private treatment.

The property at 275 Cuba Street was recently purchased by local investor Mike McCombie, and the charity hospital board signed the lease just this week, with the hospital itself set to occupy its ground floor.

Hospital trust chair Dr Graham Sharpe said finding a suitable premises had been a five-year mission.

Of the three buildings they had scoped, two had turned out to be unsuitable, and the land under the third had been sold mid-process, Sharpe said, throwing their plans into disarray.

Finding a building with ample ceiling height, and which could draw the electricity required for all the medical equipment, had also been tricky.

The Cuba Street site had location on its side, near the public hospital and the main highway, which would make life easier for staff coming in from the Hutt – as would the more than 40 carparks underneath.

The fitout was set to cost $10-13 million, and running costs would be around $1.5m a year, Sharpe said.

It would be funded entirely by charitable donations, he said, and a number of philanthropic groups had already expressed an interest.

“We’ve had some very generous support from professionals, such as architects, planners and builders, many of whom have offered their services free or at a significantly reduced rate because they share our vision.”

Vito Lo Iacono, the hospital’s chief executive, explained they were leasing 900 square-metres of the 1100-square-metre floorplan, with other tenants able to lease the other floors.

The building was undergoing earthquake strengthening – set to finish in June this year – and in years to come, the hospital could consider expanding outwards and upwards within it, he said.

Right now, the space was cold and dark, the ceiling a jumble of dangling extractor tubes and wiring above a dusty concrete floor.

But Sharpe said it would soon be transformed into a reception and staff areas, two operating theatres, a recovery area catering for up to six patients, and consulting rooms.

It would only be performing day surgeries, no overnight stays, and would not be taking any patients under 18.

The concept was based on the success of the Canterbury Charity Hospital, and a similar one in Southland, with medical professionals offering their services for free around their paid schedules across the public and private sectors.

“Last time we checked, we had 42 specialist surgeons and anaesthetists willing to work for us for free,” Sharpe said.

The aim was to open next February, starting with one operating theatre for the first six months until systems were in place, Sharpe said.

At first, they would take on procedures like endoscopies and colonoscopies, before moving into eye surgery like cataracts.

The sorts of things he expected they would be doing long term were surgeries for hernias, varicose veins and cataracts.

“These sort of day-case, relatively straightforward, quick things are the very things that get dropped when there’s a problem at the hospital. Emergencies come in, or there’s illness in the staff … these sort of things just fall off the list,” Sharpe said.

“They’re not life-saving, but they are life-affirming and life-changing.”

General surgeon Dr James Tietjens, a member of the hospital’s board and among those doctors planning to volunteer their time, said he and other doctors were seeing increasing unmet need in the system.

“This is a way to try and give access to certain populations that can’t access secondary care, or even primary care at times,” he said.

“People that may meet a hospital waitlist, or meet the criteria and aren’t being seen in a timely manner, or are declined. But there’s also a large proportion of people who aren’t able to access GP care, or GPs aren’t able to get their patients into hospital.”

He expected to see a number of people with hernias and other minor surgeries through the door.

Signing the lease and locking in a location was “a big step”, he said.

“We’re very grateful for all the support we’ve had to date.”

Wellington mayor Andrew Little said signing the lease was “a fantastic step forward for the hospital and I’m delighted to see this progress”.

“Dame Dorothy and Sir Mark have been incredibly generous in their support of health in the Wellington region. Wellingtonians will be hugely grateful to Dame Dorothy and Sir Mark for backing this valuable contribution for the health of our people.

“Initiatives like this take extraordinary efforts, I commend everyone who has played a part in this great outcome.”

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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 government has corrected a figure after being called out for overstating improvements in school attendance.

A member of the public complained to RNZ that two National Party advertisements claimed 150,000 more children attended school regularly in term four last year than at the same time in 2022.

They said Education Ministry roll figures indicated that was an over-statement.

When RNZ examined the figures it found the change between 2022 and 2025 was about 135,000 students – 15,000 short of the number claimed by the government.

But there were also a lot more children at school in the final term of 2025 than in the same term in 2022, and even if the rate of regular attendance had remained unchanged the number of regular attenders would have increased by about 65,000 students.

That meant only about 70,000 students could be attributed to improvements in attendance.

The National Party told RNZ it sourced its figures from an announcement by Associate Education Minister David Seymour in January.

That announcement said the number of regular attenders improved by “about 150,000” children between term four 2022 and term four 2025.

RNZ asked the National Party if it would correct the ad and received a response from Seymour’s office saying the figure “was based on an error” and had been corrected.

There was keen interest in attendance figures.

Regular attendance, measured as children attending more than 90 percent of the time, reached all-time lows in 2022 with schools blaming the effect of covid lockdowns in previous years and on a particularly bad run of winter illnesses.

The government had overhauled the attendance system and set a goal of 80 percent of pupils being regular attenders by 2030.

For the record, here’s our working:

In term four of 2022 there were 329,499 regular attenders and in term four 2025 there were 464,498, an increase of 134,999.

But there were more students overall in 2025 than in 2022 – just 676,384 in the final term of 2022 and 810,652 in the same term of 2025.

If the rate of regular attendance in term four last year was the same as in 2022 (48.7 percent), there would have been 394,788 regular attenders, an increase of 65,288 due solely to the overall increase in the number of students.

That meant only 69,710 of the increase in the number of regular attenders could be attributed to the rate of regular attendance improving to 57.3 percent.

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