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Woman charged with muder following death of man in Northland’s Kaitaia

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

A 57-year-old woman has been charged with murder following the death of a man in Kaitaia.

Emergency services were called to an Okahu Road address shortly after midday on Sunday following a report of assault.

The man was found critically injured but despite efforts by emergency services, he died at the scene.

Acting Detective Inspector Tania Jellyman said police arrested the woman at a different address on Sunday afternoon and later charged her with murder.

“Police are not seeking anyone else in relation to this matter,” Jellyman said in a statement.

“A scene examination is continuing and a post mortem examination will be carried out in the coming days.

“Police will look to release more details about the man after these processes have been completed.”

The woman was expected to appear in Kaitaia District Court later today.

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

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Feedback sought on longer-term protection for northern hoiho

Source: New Zealand Government

Feedback is being sought on new proposals to reduce risk from commercial fishing to hoiho (yellow eyed penguins), Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says.

“In September, I put in place an emergency three-month closure to commercial set-net fishing around Otago Peninsula and directed officials to develop proposals for longer-term measures to reduce the impacts of set-net fishing on hoiho.

“It’s clear from the new scientific risk assessment that the northern population of hoiho, those found on the South Island and Stewart Island, face a range of threats including malnutrition, predators on land and at sea, fisheries bycatch and disease. 

“The recovery of the northern hoiho population depends on reductions of mortality from all these causes. The options included in this consultation focus on ways to reduce the risk from fishing and are informed by the most up to date scientific information.” 

The proposed protection measures include making the emergency set-net closure around Otago Peninsula a long-term closed area, prohibiting set-netting to around eight nautical miles between Karitāne and Hampden, and setting a Fishing-Related Mortality Limit supported by an escalating response framework to reduce bycatch risk outside of the closed areas.

“I share the concerns of many New Zealanders about the future of hoiho and, following the public consultation, will carefully consider what long-term protection measures may be necessary and appropriate to reduce the risk to northern hoiho from fishing,” Mr Jones says.

“I’m also mindful of the potential impact these proposals, if implemented, would have on commercial fishers in the area. They work hard to provide for their families, create jobs, and put food on our plates, as well as making an important contribution to New Zealand’s seafood exports. 

“I encourage everyone to read the proposals and provide feedback. It’s important I hear from people across a wide range of interests including commercial, recreational and customary fishers, tangata whenua, environmental groups and the local community.”

Consultation on the proposals starts today, and people can make a submission until 5pm on 12 December 2025.

More information, including how to make a submission, can be found on MPI’s website https://www.mpi.govt.nz/consultations/further-measures-to-reduce-fisheries-bycatch-of-hoiho-yellow-eyed-penguin.

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Hornet incursion: No plans to spray invaders – yet

Source: Radio New Zealand

A hornets’ nest. Supplied

Spraying to eradicate the yellow legged hornet is not currently in Biosecurity New Zealand’s plans.

Biosecurity New Zealand North Commissioner Mike Inglis told Morning Report international and domestic experts continue to advise they target the use of traps.

More of the invasive pests and their nests were found over the weekend, meaning 10 queens and two worker hornets have been located in the Auckland suburbs of Glenfield and Birkdale in the last month.

North Commissioner Mike Inglis said they had a clear plan.

“At this stage, the advice is not to spray both in terms of the efficacy of the spray and also the potential impacts in the wider community.

“We’ve got independent scientific experts from companies that have successfully managed these incursions as well as our own internal expertise.

“With the nests and particularly the workers, that’s part of the plan and expecting that over the next four weeks to 12 weeks. So again, that’s why we’ve put more staff on the ground.”

Inglis said they have also responded by increasing the amount of carbohydrate and protein bait traps to more than 200.

He said they were going to extend the trapping out to five kilometres from where the concentration of hornets had been found, and that more expert help was on the way.

“We’ve got a specialist coming across from the UK as well as introducing potentially tracking technology, and that tracks the hornets back to their nest. So that’s the next stage that we’re continuing to work through.”

“We’ve got sufficient staff in that area. We’ve ramped up over the last week and we’re getting support from our industry partners, regional councils, Department of Conservation to make sure that we continue to stay on top of this.”

“Our intent is to eradicate this hornet. We’re in a good space based on the technical advice, but we’ve got to keep pushing on and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

The difference between hornets and wasps. Supplied

Inglis continued to praise the public’s help, saying they had received nearly 3000 notifications from Aucklanders.

He said he was confident the predatory insects, which hunt honeybees, remained confined to Glenfield and Birkdale.

“We’re still focused on that area, and through our ramped up efforts last week, that’s where we found the further two nests.”

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

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Further measures to reduce fisheries bycatch of hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin)

Source: NZ Ministry for Primary Industries

Have your say

Following on from the emergency closure of commercial fishing around the Otago Peninsula announced on 16 September 2025, we are consulting on further measures to reduce hoiho fishing-related deaths.

The proposed measures are informed by a new scientific risk assessment. That assessment identified set netting in the Otago area as posing the highest fisheries bycatch risk to hoiho on the South Island (Te Waipounamu) and Stewart Island (Rakiura) – known collectively as the northern population.

The consultation opened on 17 November and will close at 5pm on Friday 12 December 2025.

Find out about the emergency closure announced on 16 September

What measures are being proposed?

Option 1a: Extending the existing prohibition of commercial set net fishing around Otago Peninsula from 4 to approximately 8 nautical miles between Karitāne and Taieri Mouth.

Option 1b: The commercial set net prohibition around Otago Peninsula (Option 1a) would be extended to also include the area from Karitāne to Hampden (North Otago) out to 8 nautical miles.

Fisheries New Zealand modelling estimates that these set net prohibitions reduce the bycatch risk for the entire northern population by around 75%. The options do not impact recreational or customary fishing (recreational and customary set netting is already prohibited out to four nautical miles. In addition, recreational and customary fishers are not known to typically use set nets beyond this distance offshore).  

Option 2: Implementing an escalating response framework of voluntary and, if required, regulatory measures that would apply outside of the proposed commercial set net prohibition areas to further drive a reduction in hoiho bycatch across the entire northern population. It would be underpinned by a regulated Fishing-Related Mortality Limit (FRML) for the northern hoiho population under section 15 of the Fisheries Act 1996. The FRML would be applied each October fishing year (1 October to 30 September) and is proposed to be set at 4 hoiho captures.

Fisheries Act 1996 – NZ Legislation

The reasons for these proposals

The recently completed spatial multi-threat risk assessment projects that without a 50% reduction in all sources of adult and juvenile mortality, the northern population of this species may number only approximately 160 birds by 2045. According to the risk assessment, the third largest cause of hoiho mortality in recent years is estimated to be commercial set net fishing (behind malnutrition and predation from both marine and terrestrial predators).

Consultation documents

Consultation on further measures to reduce fisheries bycatch of hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin [PDF, 7.3 MB]

Spatial risk assessment of threats to yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho (Megadyptes antipodes) [PDF, 12 MB]

Map of the area

Proposed extension of Otago Peninsula set net prohibition (Option 1a) [PDF, 168 KB]

Proposed extension of Otago Peninsula and North Otago 2 set net prohibition (Option 1b) [PDF, 179 KB]

Making your submission

Submissions on these proposals close at 5pm on Friday 12 December 2025.

If you are emailing or posting your submission, we encourage you to use our submission template [DOCX, 51 KB]

Submissions should be emailed to FMSubmissions@mpi.govt.nz

You can also use that email address to request hard copies of documents.

We prefer submissions or hard copy document requests to be sent by email. However, written submissions or requests for hard copies of documents can be posted to:

Hoiho protection measures consultation
Fisheries Management
Fisheries New Zealand
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140.

What to include in your submission

  • The title of the consultation document.
  • Your name and title.
  • Your organisation’s name (if you are submitting on behalf of an organisation, and whether your submission represents the whole organisation or a section of it).
  • Your contact details (such as phone number, address, and email). 
  • Whether you support all or any of the proposed long-term measures for reducing fishing-related hoiho mortalities.
  • Any alternative measures that we could consider.

Answers to common questions

Expand all

Submissions are public information

Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.

People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.

If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.

Official Information Act 1982 – NZ Legislation

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High electricity connection costs a barrier for development – Electricity Authority

Source: Radio New Zealand

123RF

The electricity sector regulator wants to be able to intervene to control prices for connecting to electricity networks.

The Electricity Authority said some lines companies were charging high up-front costs for connections, which can be a barrier to development, slow down electrification and leave consumers worse off.

The authority’s general manager of networks and system change, Tim Sparks, said high connection fees could affect new housing and commercial developments, EV charging stations and other critical infrastructure.

“Reducing very high up-front charges would help enable and encourage efficient development. Not only is this good for the economy, it means the network costs would be shared among more people on the network.”

He said there were excessively high connection costs in some parts of the country.

“Data indicates a small number of lines companies have been requiring newly connecting customers to pay more than their share,” Sparks said.

He said any controls would be targeted and most of the 29 lines companies and their customers would not be affected.

“This proposal could mean the few lines companies that would be affected respond by increasing their lines charges for existing customers on their network.”

Sparks said any increase would be likely be small, for example in Auckland existing households might initially face an increase of between 22 cents and 66 cents a month.

The regulator is asking for feedback on the proposal along with a move to introduce obligations for when lines companies must offer and maintain connections to their networks.

“We think there should be some obligations for when lines companies must supply electricity. This would provide greater clarity from the outset about lines companies’ obligations for connections.”

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

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Crackdown on underhand business practice

Source: New Zealand Government

The Government is ratcheting up penalties for misleading advertising and other breaches of fair trading law to deter underhand business practice.

“Once the changes take effect, serious offenders will be liable for fines of up to tens of millions of dollars if they have gained significant amounts from breaching the law,” Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says.

“Legislation to be introduced to Parliament early next year will increase the maximum penalty for breaches of the Fair Trading Act from $600,000 to the highest of three times the value of the commercial gain, the value of the transactions, or $5 million.

“Presently, there are circumstances in which the gains to be made from breaching the Act can outweigh the penalties for breaching it. The new regime will eliminate the financial incentives for breaching the Act.

“The increase follows an almost 23 per cent rise in the number of fair trading complaints made to the Commerce Commission over the past five years.

“It also comes after a Consumer NZ campaign led to two Pak’nSave supermarkets pleading guilty this year to 18 charges of misleading pricing and Woolworths being charged with 14 breaches of the Act.”

Nicola Willis says the increased penalties will bring New Zealand more into line with comparable jurisdictions overseas. 

“In Australia, the maximum financial penalty for breaches of fair trading laws is $A50 million, three times the benefit obtained or 30 per cent of turnover.

“The changes will mean New Zealand consumers can have more confidence that they are being treated fairly by the businesses they buy from.

“They will also help to ensure businesses who play by the rules are not disadvantaged by competitors using unfair means to woo their customers away from them. The existing rules do little to prevent large retailers from further entrenching their market dominance.

“The changes do not mean all breaches of the Act will incur higher penalties. The courts will continue to have discretion to consider a range of factors. These include the nature of the conduct, whether the party has breached the Act before, the size and scale of the party and the breach it made.”

Nicola Willis says that, following consultation with business and other groups, the Government has decided not to proceed, at this time, with proposals to stop directors taking out insurance or indemnifying themselves from penalties under the Act.

“We have also opted not to progress proposals to expand infringement fees and unfair contract terms provisions.”

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson says the changes to the Act will ensure greater protection for consumers.

“While the vast majority of businesses are law abiding, the current penalties and legal thresholds make it too difficult to hold repeat offenders to account.

“Between July 2020 and July 2025, the Commerce Commission received more than 48,000 complaints about fair trading issues such as misleading advertising, inaccurate pricing, refund refusals, and subscription traps,” Scott Simpson says.

“In some cases, the same businesses have breached the law more than once. These changes will ensure the law provides stronger incentives to comply and stronger consequences for those who don’t.”

The reforms will introduce a new civil penalties regime for most breaches of the Act, allowing the Commerce Commission to take action on the balance of probabilities, rather than meeting the higher criminal standard of proof. Serious or deliberate offences will remain criminal.

“These reforms will build a fairer and more confident marketplace for both consumers and responsible businesses.”

The changes are expected to become law later next year following public consultation through the select committee process.

Note to editors:

  • Penalties for breaching most provisions, including misleading and deceptive conduct, will increase from a maximum of $200,000 for individuals and $600,000 for body corporates to the greater of:
    • $1 million for individuals or $5 million for body corporates; or
    • Three times the value of the commercial gain made or loss avoided; or
    • The value of the consideration for the transaction(s) that constituted the contravention.
  • Maximum penalties for breaching management bans will increase from $60,000 to $200,000.
  • Maximum penalties for other conduct like breaching consumer information requirements, consumer transaction rules, and impeding enforcement will increase from $10,000 to $60,000 for individuals and from $30,000 to $200,000 for body corporates.
  • Most breaches will move from a criminal liability regime to a civil liability regime. Conduct that is serious or deliberate will remain criminal offences – such as demanding payment without intending to supply, serious product safety breaches, or obstructing the Commerce Commission. 

Attached:

  • Worked examples of how the new penalties will work in practice.
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Delivery death underscores power line hazards

Source: Worksafe New Zealand

Businesses and workers must steer clear of power lines and plan work carefully, WorkSafe New Zealand says, following sentencing for a timber delivery that went tragically wrong.

Wesley Talakai was delivering timber to a residential site in Greenhithe when the truck-mounted crane he was operating struck live lines in August 2023. The 38-year-old died at the scene.

Mr Talakai raised concerns with his employer, NZ Solid, about limited space at the site and proximity to overhead power lines, however the company gave him a gate code to access the site and continue the work. The crane was operating just 2.5 metres from live lines – well inside the legal minimum of 4 metres. NZ Solid did not obtain consent from the line owner to work within that distance. The company has now been sentenced for its health and safety failures.

The crane truck near the power lines in Greenhithe in August 2023.

In a victim impact statement, Natasha Talakai told the court that the time since her husband’s death had been “excruciatingly difficult, exhausting, painful, and lonely”.

“This was a preventable death,” says WorkSafe’s regional manager, Brad Duggan.

“Working near power lines is a well-known hazard, and there are clear rules and guidance in place for a reason.”

WorkSafe’s investigation found serious failures in how the company planned and executed the job. It relied on verbal instructions, had an inadequate lift plan, and failed to properly assess the risks posed by overhead power lines.

“Risk management isn’t a box-ticking exercise,” says Brad Duggan.

“It’s about making sure workers go home safe. That means planning the job, knowing the limits of your equipment, maintaining safe distances, and never assuming it’ll be fine.”

WorkSafe has online guidance available which is practical, legally grounded, and designed to help businesses and workers assess risk. WorkSafe’s role is to ensure businesses and workers meet their health and safety responsibilities and hold them to account when they don’t.

Read more about working near overhead electric lines

Background

  • NZ Solid Limited was sentenced at North Shore District Court on 5 November 2025
  • Judge Fitzgibbon ordered a fine of $330,000 and suppressed the amount of reparations
  • NZ Solid was charged under sections 36(1)(a), 48(1) and (2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
    • Being a PCBU, having a duty to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers who work for the PCBU, including Wesley Talakai, while the workers were at work in the business or undertaking, namely undertaking a delivery of timber packets, did fail to comply with that duty and that failure exposed workers to a risk of serious injury or death. 

Media contact details

For more information you can contact our Media Team using our media request form. Alternatively:

Email: media@worksafe.govt.nz

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Woman charged with murder, Kaitaia

Source: New Zealand Police

A 57-year-old woman has been charged with murder following the death of a man in Kaitaia yesterday.

Emergency services were called to the Okahu Road address at about 12.35pm following a report of assault.

Upon arrival, a man was located with critical injuries and despite the best efforts from emergency services, he died at the scene.

Acting Detective Inspector Tania Jellyman, Northland CIB, says Police arrested a woman at a separate address yesterday afternoon and she has since been charged with murder.

“Police are not seeking anyone else in relation to this matter.

“A scene examination is continuing and a post mortem examination will be carried out in the coming days.

“Police will look to release more details about the man after these processes have been completed.”

The 57-year-old woman will appear in Kaitaia District Court today.

As the matter is now before the Court, Police are limited in providing further comment.

ENDS.

Holly McKay/NZ Police

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How Kiwi kids are becoming the new face of ‘adult’ diabetes

Source: Radio New Zealand

A teenager with type 1 diabetes uses a CGM – a continuous glucose monitoring device. Amelie Benoist / BSIP via AFP

A specialist in treating childhood diabetes says that some children are born “almost what we call ‘programmed'” to have the disease – but new medicine could help put them in remission

Inked onto award-winning investigative journalist Guyon Espiner’s right forearm in “cursive, fancy, gangster script” is “Diabetic”. On his inner wrist: “Type One”. It’s a permanent and “proud” reminder of the medical condition he was diagnosed with seven years ago.

Espiner was able to show the tattoo to ambulance staff during a diabetic episode that landed him in hospital earlier this year.

He had woken feeling “extremely low and completely delusional because it’s like that feeling of starving oxygen to the brain – I was so low that my brain was not working properly, it didn’t know where I was, it didn’t know what I was doing”.

“I don’t like wearing medical bracelets,” says Espiner, who flashed his tattoo to medical staff to explain his symptoms and behaviour.

“I am also proud to be a diabetic. I am proud to be a Type 1, it’s part of my identity, it’s shaped my life a lot.

Diagnosed at age 47, Espiner is one of more than 300,000 New Zealanders living with diabetes. But he’s in the minority group, with Type 1, which is an autoimmune condition where the body doesn’t produce insulin. It can develop rapidly and is usually diagnosed in childhood. Up to 10 percent of people with diabetes have Type 1.

Type 2 diabetes is far more common – about 90 percent of cases – and happens when your body can’t use insulin properly. It usually occurs in adults, but more and more children are now being diagnosed.

Starship Hospital Paediatric Endocrinologist Craig Jefferies tells The Detail that Type 2 diabetes was once rare for children, but that’s no longer the case in New Zealand, and this should act as a wake up call for the country.

“Type 2 diabetes 20 years ago was very rare. At the moment, we get 70 new kids a year with diabetes, most of them are Type 1 but about 10 percent are Type 2 now … 30 years ago, it was no-one.

“It almost always comes from high-risk ethnic groups, in New Zealand that is Maori and Pasifika. They are not the biggest kids at school but they are on the heavier for weight range, and almost always have a strong history of diabetes in the family, so there is a really strong genetic component.”

Children whose mothers had diabetes during pregnancy are also at an increased risk.

“It’s like a domino effect, there is diabetes in the family, the kids are getting exposed to high blood sugars in utero, getting born almost what we call ‘programmed’, and that’s getting worse as generations come through.

“Sadly we see a number of families where the parents have got diabetes complications, and the parents aren’t very old – kids are 10, mum and dad are 30s, maybe 40s – and unfortunately, we have had a couple where they have died of renal failure or are on dialysis.

“That’s the parents, so we are really keen to treat the children really aggressively to get the diabetes well controlled, we call it, or, even better, in remission.”

He says a recent study shows that “magic” new weight loss and diabetes drugs could be a game changer for Type 2 youth, getting them into full remission and off treatments.

“They could lose significant weight and they won’t have diabetes within four to six weeks if we can get these agents … and they could get on with teenage, normal life.”

But the drugs aren’t currently funded by the government.

“It’s going to cost,” Dr Jefferies says. “I think we need to be able to fund some of these new agents, some of these new diabetic/weight loss drugs to target this group.

“I mean we have a group of relatively small youth onset Type 2, if we can target the new agents, specifically for that, we will have a massive impact on their health, economy, and reducing their risk of long term complications.”

He says early detection is critical, and symptoms include excessive thirst, frequent urination, extreme tiredness or unexplained weight loss.

Dr Jefferies adds that “there’s a lot of stigma on diabetes. Children on insulin are stigmatised, adults with Type 2 are stigmatised. All of us are at risk, whether it’s a random autoimmune event, which is Type 1, or it is part of ageing or high risk genes, you can’t say ‘only they get it’.

“We are all in the same boat and we have to treat it appropriately.”

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

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Crash puts e-scooter rider in hospital

Source: Radio New Zealand

The aftermath of a scooter accident in central Auckland, November 2025. Dan Lake / RNZ

A person has been taken to hospital in a serious condition from an e-scooter crash in Auckland’s CBD.

It happened at the intersection of Cook and Nelson Streets just after 5.15am Monday.

Police, St John and Fire and Emergency were all involved in the response.

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