NZ Engine

Source: New Zealand Police

Attribute to Kāpiti-Mana Area Commander, Inspector Renée Perkins:

Police investigating the death of a woman at an address in Paraparaumu can now confirm that her death has been referred to the Coroner, and is no longer being treated as suspicious.

Police were called to the Chums Road address at around 9.50pm on Tuesday 9 September, where sadly a woman was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Charges against a man of assault and breach of protection order have this afternoon been dismissed at Porirua District Court.

Police extend our ongoing sympathies to the woman’s whānau who are grieving at this time.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

Source: New Zealand Police

Police are today continuing the scene examination of the campsites believed to have been used by Tom Phillips and his children.

Detective Inspector Daryl Smith says the investigation team has worked tirelessly in difficult conditions to examine multiple scenes since the critical incident on Monday morning.

“Police staff have spent the last three days canvassing the area, traversing some extremely difficult terrain, in dense bush.

“An examination of the located sites is continuing today and is expected to be completed tomorrow.

A postmortem was carried out on Phillips yesterday, his body has been released to his family.

“A scene guard will remain in place overnight, as well as cordons along Te Anga Road. These cordons will be placed to ensure access to the local school tomorrow.

“I want to acknowledge and thank the locals for their patience and understanding throughout this period of disruption for them, especially the school for their cooperation this week.

“Extra Police staff deployed to the Marokopa and King Country areas remain in the district. Residents can expect to see an increased visible Police presence while reassurance patrols are carried out,” says Detective Inspector Smith.

The officer injured on Monday remains in Waikato Hospital. Both the officer and his family are being provided ongoing support.

A number of investigations remain ongoing, including a critical incident investigation. The death of Phillips has been referred to the Coroner.

On behalf of the family, Police would like to remind media that the family has requested privacy at this time.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

Source: New Zealand Police

The search for missing woman Te Anihana Pomana is continuing this week, with Police continuing to look into her disappearance.

Police thank those members of the public who have come forward with information about Te Anihana, 25, who last seen in central Auckland three weeks ago.

“Police and whānau renewed calls last week for information about Te Anihana’s whereabouts and our search for her remains ongoing,” Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend, Auckland City CIB, says. 

“We’re grateful to those who have contacted us so far.

“No piece of information is too small and could help us find Te Anihana.”

She was last seen leaving Sky City Hotel at 5.06am on 21 August.

Detective Senior Sergeant Friend says this was the last confirmed sighting and Te Anihana was heading down Victoria Street.

“She was wearing a long-sleeved white top, white trousers and sneakers.

“Many of her belongings were left behind and extensive CCTV enquiries have failed to confirm any other sightings of her in central Auckland.

“Police do not believe Te Anihana is a victim of foul play, however with no confirmed sightings of her since 21 August, we do hold grave concerns for her safety,” Detective Senior Sergeant Friend says.

Police are continuing to follow up on reports that Te Anihana may have travelled to Northland or the South Island.

“The enquiry team is working hard and thoroughly investigating all the information received.

“Our focus is on finding Te Anihana and resolving this matter for her whānau.”

Anyone with information is asked to call 111immediately.

Police can also be contacted on 105, use the reference number 250822/6281.

ENDS.

Nicole Bremner/NZ Police

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

Larger, wider, heavier vehicles can now travel through Waikare Gorge, following the installation of the new ‘Acrow’ bridge on State Highway 2.

A stretch of SH2 through Pūtōrino and Waikare Gorge was closed last weekend for nearly 24-hours for the removal of the Bailey bridge and installation of the new bridge.

Then for the first 3 nights this week, the road was closed overnight to allow for the approaches to the bridge to be widened.

The work, which has been months in the making, means HPMV permitted vehicles, and more over-dimensional vehicles can now use the bridge, opening up SH2 between Napier and Gisborne as a full HPMV route.

The Acrow bridge is 1 metre wider than the Bailey bridge and it has a chipseal surface already applied to the decking.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Principal Project Manager Richard Bayley says Cyclone Gabrielle severed the connection through the gorge.

“We know just how important this route is for freight between Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay and for the small communities along the highway.

“The Bailey bridge had its limitations and was only ever intended as a short-term solution. Now with the permanent two lane Waikare Gorge realignment project progressing, the Acrow bridge will serve as an interim upgrade to maintain access, support heavier, wider traffic until the realignment is complete.

“Having the capacity for more HPMV vehicles, means better efficiencies for the movement of freight around the region.

“It’s vital we make sure as many vehicles as possible can get through the gorge while the realignment project is underway – the Acrow provides that added security for the journey.

“Though the Waikare Acrow bridge is still single lane, it’ll maintain the connection between Hawke’s Bay, Wairoa and Gisborne until the Waikare Gorge realignment project is completed. The project team expects to start construction on the 4km realignment of SH2 and new permanent two-lane bridge next year.

“You’ll still see our contractors onsite at Waikare Gorge over the coming weeks as we disestablish the worksite. There will be some minor delays, please follow the traffic management in place, and give the team a wave to say thanks for their awesome mahi,” says Mr Bayley.

Check out this timelapse below of the impressive bridge swap at Waikare Gorge over the weekend.

Here’s a link to the timelapse video:

Source: New Zealand Police

Hawke’s Bay Police have located more than 200 nearly mature cannabis plants at a property in Hastings today.

The plants have an estimated street value of between $600,000 and $750,000 and were found at a leased commercial property in Orchard Road, Camberley this morning.

Two men – aged 45 and 49 – have been charged with cannabis cultivation and will appear in Hastings District Court on 12 September.

“This was a significant, large-scale commercial operation,” says Detective Inspector Marty James.

“It is one of the biggest cannabis growing operations I’ve seen in Hawke’s Bay, with 216 well-propogated plants just coming into production.”

The property had only been leased three months ago and the alleged offenders had built three rooms within the property, plus a loft, in order to contain their equipment and grow the plants.

“There would have been a significant cost involved in setting up this operation, and I believe we busted the operation right before the growers were able to harvest their first crop,” says Detective Inspector James.

Three different rooms in the building were used for growing, with 72 plants in each room, at different stages of growth.

There was also evidence at the property to suggest the growers were stealing electricity to power lights and fans to aid the growing process.

“This is a valuable reminder to commercial property owners to do their due diligence when leasing properties to tenants – be mindful about who your tenants are, and what they are actually doing in your buildings,” says Detective Inspector James.
 

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre. 

Source: New Zealand Government

Community Housing Providers (CHPs) are getting on with delivering the more than 2,000 social homes funded by the Coalition Government, Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka say.

“Today we’re releasing an update on the allocation of the 1500 social houses funded in Budget 2024 for delivery from July 2025 until June 2027, and the 550 social homes for Auckland funded in Budget 2025,” says Mr Bishop. 

“These CHP-delivered social homes are additional to the more than 6,800 net new social homes delivered since November 2023 by Kāinga Ora and CHPs.

“Our government backs social housing and we are determined to deliver it better. We are therefore building an entirely new housing investment system centred on three principles – building the right homes, in the right place, for the right people. 

“We are not there yet but we are making good progress, as shown in the allocations announced today.

“The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has deliberately allocated houses to regions based on their identified housing need – for example, by looking at the regional social housing need and emergency housing usage. It makes sense to build houses where they’re most needed.

“We are also making sure we get the right type of houses built. Around half of the people on the social housing waitlist need a one-bedroom home, yet only 12 per cent of Kainga Ora’s homes are one bedroom.

“For the places we funded through Budgets 2024 and 2025, around 48 per cent of these new homes will be one-bedroom and around 42 per cent will be two-bedroom. In addition, around 22 per cent of these homes are expected to be accessible or accessible-ready for people with mobility needs. 

“In addition to building the right houses in the right places, we are also taking a new and more sophisticated approach to how we partner with the community sector.

“The Government is deliberately partnering with five strategic partner CHPs to deliver more effectively at scale. 

“Nearly half of the 1500 Budget 2024 places have been allocated to five experienced and savvy CHPs: Community of Refuge Trust Community Housing, Salvation Army, Emerge Aotearoa, Te Āhuru Mōwai, and Accessible Properties NZ. 

“We are also helping CHPs unlock lower borrowing costs by backing the Community Housing Funding Agency through a $150 million lending facility. This means CHPs will be able to deliver more social homes for less. We are working on further initiatives that will make it easier for CHPs to access financing for social housing. These initiatives will reduce borrowing costs, enabling CHPs to deliver more homes for less and reinvest savings into social programmes.

Mr Bishop says the new Flexible Fund established in Budget 2025 will drive further change in social housing.

“The Government currently has a confusing and often duplicative tangle of housing funds, many of which are tightly limited in what they can fund. Successive governments have added new funds over time. The system is inflexible, with investment determined by programmes with available funding rather than what is needed in a region or the right sort of house.

“Budget 2025 replaced a suite of housing funds with one single Flexible Fund, which currently consists of $41 million operating funding over four years and $250 million capital funding over the next ten years for additional houses from 1 July 2027. This will enable up to 650-900 further social homes and affordable rentals.

“Our intention is that the new Flexible Fund will use a variety of providers to deliver different housing types, including social houses and affordable rentals built by a range of providers including community housing providers, Kāinga Ora and Māori providers. Further announcements will be made later in the year and we are working with the community sector on the design of the fund.

Mr Bishop says the government is making good progress on improving housing for Kiwis:

• New private sector rents are the lowest they’ve been since October 2023
• The social housing register has declined from 25,483 in November 2023 to 19,297 today
• Over the 12-months to 30 June 2025, 1,041 households and 2,200 children were moved out of motels and into social housing via the government’s Priority One fast-track.

“Ultimately the root cause of our housing crisis – including in social housing – is a planning system that has stymied not encouraged housing growth, and a broken infrastructure funding and financing system. The government’s Going for Housing Growth reforms are progressing well, alongside fundamental reform of our planning system. In the long-term, these reforms will drive more affordable housing for all.”

Minister Potaka said many whānau will also benefit from the Government’s significant progress partnering with Māori housing providers delivering affordable rental homes across the country.

“Earlier this year, I announced $200 million would be accelerated into building 400 more homes in high-need areas such as Te Tai Tokerau, Taranaki, and Waikato by June 2027. 

“So far, nearly 350 affordable rentals have already been approved for construction under these partnerships. It’s been great visiting providers at sites like Ōwhata Kōhanga Rakau in Rotorua and Toitū Tairawhiti on the East Coast. These are communities where we hear from whānau about how proper housing will mean a big difference in terms of healthier communities, stronger school attendance and for maintaining regular mahi.

“Looking ahead, we expect that credible Māori providers and community housing providers will be eligible for investment through the Flexible Fund, particularly given their recent success in delivering quality houses.”

Note to editors:

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development will publish a monthly dashboard on CHP housing delivery. The first monthly dashboard can be found on their website.

Source: New Zealand Police

A tenacious investigation over the past five months has led to two arrests following a cash-in-transit robbery at Sylvia Park.

The Auckland City Organised Crime Unit has been investigating after $210,000 was allegedly stolen when a firearm was presented at security guards on 9 April 2025.

“Police located a vehicle, allegedly used to flee from the shopping centre, on fire in the nearby Mt Wellington area at the time,” Detective Senior Sergeant Matthew Bunce says.

“Fortunately, no one suffered any injuries as a result of the offending.”

Offenders had fled the area.

Five months on, they were awoken in darkness early this morning at properties in rural south Auckland. The Operation Blur team had arrived.

“This morning the investigation team executed three search warrants, with assistance from the Armed Offenders Squad,” Detective Senior Sergeant Bunce says.

“Police have interviewed the pair and laid serious charges against them for the Sylvia Park robbery.”

A 50-year-old Tuakau man and a 28-year-old Paerata man will appear in the Auckland District Court later today.

They have been charged with:

– Aggravated robbery with a firearm
– Conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery with a firearm
– Arson
– Burglary
– Unlawfully taking a motor vehicle
– Theft of a motor vehicle
– Aggravated assault
– 7x theft ex-car (under $500)
– Theft ex-car (over $1000)

Detective Senior Sergeant Bunce says Operation Blur’s enquiries continue.

“We cannot rule out further charges being laid at this point,” he says.

“This has been a challenging investigation to-date and I’d like to acknowledge this team of investigators whose work has led to this significant development today.”

ENDS.

Jarred Williamson/NZ Police

Source: New Zealand Police

Police are responding to a serious two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Kairanga Bunnythorpe Road and Roberts Line, north of Palmerston North.

Emergency services received reports of the crash about 12:30pm.

The intersection of the road is closed, diversions are in place, and motorists should avoid the area.

Initial reports suggest there are serious injuries.

The Serious Crash Unit are in attendance.

ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre.

Source: New Zealand Police

One person has died after the two-car collision on the intersection of State Highway 1 and Kew Road around 6am.

Sadly, one occupant died at the scene and there were no other injuries involved.

The highway remains closed with diversions in place while the Serious Crash unit examines the scene.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Team

Source: New Zealand Government

Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the launch of the RegRoom will improve regulations and how they’re enforced.

RegRoom is an online space where government regulators can learn best practice and connect with each other. Government regulators can include any public servant who is involved in making or enforcing rules.

“The Ministry for Regulation is attacking regulatory burden in three ways. It revises old regulations, improves new regulations, and raises the quality of regulators because bad regulation causes real harm,” Mr Seymour says. 

“RegRoom represents the third part of the mission. It will help ensure that Kiwis have their rights respected by regulators. 

“We’ve already completed Sector Reviews. We’re fixing dumb rules that people submit to the Red Tape Tipline. The Regulatory Standards Bill will raise the standards for new laws. Now we are doing something to raise regulators skills and the standards of how they enforce rules. 

“Everyday Kiwis are tired of being terrorised by regulators, we don’t just need better rules, we need better regulators. Some recent examples of what poor regulations can do to Kiwis include:

• Country Kindy, an early childhood centre beloved by its community faced shutdown. To this day it is unclear what they did wrong, except face an overzealous regulator
• Regulated parties frequently complain that they fear health and safety regulators, and pay exorbitant consultant fees to comply when they really need guidance from the regulator
• Overzealous enforcement of CCCFA regulations forced financial institutions to ask absurd questions about people’s finances before offering credit.

“In each case, the Government has addressed the issue with substantial overhauls. Early childhood regulation, health and safety regulation and the CCCFA all face major changes under this Government. However, good regulation should be business as usual, it should not require ministerial intervention. That’s why we’re spreading good regulatory practice throughout the public sector. 

“The RegRoom gives regulators access to online learning tools called learning modules. These interactive modules endorse principles of good regulation, preventing harm, and protecting peoples’ rights. Alongside these modules are ‘Quick Guides’ which are condensed guides covering key concepts. 

The modules and ‘Quick Guides’ teach regulators key skills, including:

• Whether to regulate or not
• How to assess the effect of a potential regulation
• How to solve problems by addressing the highest risk harms
• How to apply regulations consistently and fairly
• How to communicate clearly with regulated parties 

“The Learning materials have been developed by sector leaders, drawing on real life examples. They have been recognised internationally as world leading, and nationally as the new gold standard by many regulators,” Mr Seymour says. 

The Ministry for Regulation’s work in setting a better standard for regulation has been receiving international recognition, most recently from Marcial Boo, the founding Chair of the UK’s Institute of Regulation

“New Zealand’s Ministry for Regulation is again setting the international pace with its 10 quick guides to regulation. Each is a few pages long, with clear text and well-designed graphics on what good regulation looks like. There’s little better globally for practising regulators to learn from,” Mr Boo says. 

“The UK has many good regulators. But as a country, we are 15 years behind New Zealand in systematising and promoting good regulatory practice in this way.”

“This view is shared back at home too. Many regulators including the Civil Aviation Authority, the Real Estate Authority, and Customs NZ have already made them compulsory for regulators,or are planning for them to be used. This is a great start,” Mr Seymour says. 

“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.”

The ‘Quick Guides’ are available here: Quick guides to good regulatory practice | Ministry for Regulation