NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

In the “midst of unimaginable grief”, friends are raising money for the family reeling from Saturday’s fatal housefire at Sanson.

Police have confirmed that four people – an adult and three children – died in the fire, which closed off a section of State Highway One for several hours.

A Givealittle page set up by friends of the mother raised more than $40,000 in three hours.

The page described the fire as a “devastating loss beyond measure” and their goal was to provide the family with the “space and security needed to grieve in solitude”.

“In the midst of this unimaginable grief, she also lost her home and everything she owned. She is facing the hardest journey possible, stripped of her physical security, while navigating the deepest emotional pain.”

A neighbour told RNZ he was working at his home yesterday, when someone noticed smoke from the nearby property.

“We all came out to have a look and we saw a horrific amount of smoke coming from about 300 metres away, where the neighbour’s house is – pretty thick black billowing smoke.

“It was a very, very windy day and we knew it wasn’t any kind of controlled fire. We knew it was some sort of what we considered to be a house fire at that stage.”

He said, over an hour, many firefighters turned up, attempting to put the blaze out.

An hour after it started, the blaze and billowing smoke was still visible. He believed it took two hours for firefighters to put the fire out.

“They were still dousing it down and there was just very slight wisps of smoke coming from the property two hours after it started.”

He said State Highway One near the property did not open until 8pm Saturday.

The neighbour said that, during the fire, he was “pretty shocked” at what was happening before his eyes.

“Nothing we could do about it and just a feeling of kind of despair, I guess just watching what was going on.

“Knowing that a young family was potentially losing everything they owned and knowing that is going to be a very, very hard place to come back from.

“Just the thought of not knowing whether everybody was alright or not, and subsequent to that we found out, that isn’t the case, which has made things 10 times worse.”

Police Inspector Ross Grantham said the bodies of two children have been recovered from the scene this evening, with family present to bless them with karakia.

“Work is ongoing to locate the body of a third child, while the body of an adult has already been removed.”

He said the family were devastated by the loss of their loved ones.

“They are thankful and very grateful for the support and concern they are receiving from the community.

“Investigators will tomorrow focus on recovering the third child, and completing a meticulous and thorough scene examination.”

He said police were not seeking anyone in relation to the fire.

“Our investigators remain determined to find answers to as many questions as we can.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

In the “midst of unimaginable grief”, friends are raising money for the family reeling from Saturday’s fatal housefire at Sanson.

Police have confirmed that four people – an adult and three children – died in the fire, which closed off a section of State Highway One for several hours.

A Givealittle page set up by friends of the mother raised more than $40,000 in three hours.

The page described the fire as a “devastating loss beyond measure” and their goal was to provide the family with the “space and security needed to grieve in solitude”.

“In the midst of this unimaginable grief, she also lost her home and everything she owned. She is facing the hardest journey possible, stripped of her physical security, while navigating the deepest emotional pain.”

A neighbour told RNZ he was working at his home yesterday, when someone noticed smoke from the nearby property.

“We all came out to have a look and we saw a horrific amount of smoke coming from about 300 metres away, where the neighbour’s house is – pretty thick black billowing smoke.

“It was a very, very windy day and we knew it wasn’t any kind of controlled fire. We knew it was some sort of what we considered to be a house fire at that stage.”

He said, over an hour, many firefighters turned up, attempting to put the blaze out.

An hour after it started, the blaze and billowing smoke was still visible.

He believed it took two hours for firefighters to put the fire out.

“They were still dousing it down and there was just very slight wisps of smoke coming from the property two hours after it started.”

He said State Highway One near the property did not open until 8pm Saturday.

The neighbour said that, during the fire, he was “pretty shocked” at what was happening before his eyes.

“Nothing we could do about it and just a feeling of kind of despair, I guess just watching what was going on.

“Knowing that a young family was potentially losing everything they owned and knowing that is going to be a very, very hard place to come back from.

“Just the thought of not knowing whether everybody was alright or not, and subsequent to that we found out, that isn’t the case, which has made things 10 times worse.”

Police Inspector Ross Grantham said the bodies of two children have been recovered from the scene this evening, with family present to bless them with karakia.

“Work is ongoing to locate the body of a third child, while the body of an adult has already been removed.”

He said the family were devastated by the loss of their loved ones.

“They are thankful and very grateful for the support and concern they are receiving from the community.

“Investigators will tomorrow focus on recovering the third child, and completing a meticulous and thorough scene examination.”

He said police were not seeking anyone in relation to the fire.

“Our investigators remain determined to find answers to as many questions as we can.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government has announced plans to increase fines from $600,000 to $5 million or more for breaching the Fair Trading Act.

It is also backing away from a ban on directors taking out indemnity insurance, and proposals to expand infringement fees and unfair contract terms provisions.

Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson said the change would be made through a bill to be introduced to Parliament in early 2026.

The legislation would increase the fines to whichever was highest – three times the value of the commercial gain made, the total value of the transactions or $5m for body corporates and $1m for individuals.

The current penalty is a maximum $600,000 for body corporates or $200,000 for individuals.

It would also 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 – like demanding payment without intending to supply, serious product safety breaches or obstructing the Commerce Commission – would remain criminal.

Penalties for breaching a management ban would also increase from $60,000 to $200,000. Penalties for other conduct – like breaching consumer information requirements, consumer transaction rules and impeding enforcement – would also increase from $10,000 for individuals and $30,000 for body corporates, to $60,000 and $200,000.

Gains from breaching the Act under the current system could sometimes outweighed the penalties, Willis said.

“The new regime will eliminate the financial incentives for breaching the Act,” she said.

“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 would bring New Zealand more into line with similar countries. For example, Australia hands down penalties for fair trading laws of up to three times the commercial benefit, 30 percent of turnover, or AU$50m (NZ$57.74m).

Willis and Simpson pointed to a 23 percent increase in the number of fair trading complaints made to the Commerce Commission in the past five years.

The same businesses had in some cases breached the law more than once, Simpson said.

“These changes will ensure the law provides stronger incentives to comply and stronger consequences for those who don’t.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police have arrested a person and launched a homicide investigation in the Far North, after reports of an assault.

Emergency services were called to a property on Okahu Road in Kaitaia at about 12.35pm Sunday.

Detective Inspector Geoff McCarthy said the victim was found in a critical condition and died at the scene, “despite emergency services’ best efforts”.

A person was arrested at a different address a short time later and police were not seeking anyone else at this stage,

Cordons were in place and a scene examination was due to take place on Monday.

A 57-year-old woman is also due to appear in Kaitaia District Court on Monday, with charges to be confirmed.

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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 political party founded by businessman Gareth Morgan almost 10 years ago has unveiled a new leader and new look.

Touted as a builder of sustainable businesses, Aucklander Qiulae Wong will lead Opportunity – formerly The Opportunities Party – into the 2026 election.

The party has been leaderless since 2023 and the announcement follows a nationwide search for the role.

To date, it is yet to reach the five percent threshold to enter parliament.

In 2023, it scooped 2.2 percent of the vote – 0.2 percent shy of its best election result of 2.4 percent in 2017 – under Morgan.

The party says Wong has founded and supported several start-ups in the fashion sector in London, “working to build ethical and sustainable practices into global brands like Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney”.

She returned to New Zealand in 2022 and has most recently worked at financial consultancy firm KPMG.

Wong said the party stands for transformative system change and would break the gridlock of left-right bloc politics.

Opportunity has also revealed its “tax reset” policy, which includes a Citizen’s Income, a Land Value Tax and Flat Income tax.

Wong said New Zealand needed a tax reset.

“We can’t keep patching and tinkering with the foundations that hold up this country,” Wong said.

“Our addiction to high house prices is robbing young Kiwis of security, and locking capital away from the innovators and community champions, who are building our future.

“It’s time to modernise tax.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Privacy commissioner Michael Webster says the country’s laws must be modernised to protect better New Zealanders.

Privacy complaints have risen by a fifth in the last financial year and serious privacy breaches notified by organisations have risen more than 40 percent, the commission’s 2024/25 annual report said.

One case study in the report included screenshots of a school teacher’s messages to their colleagues being sent to the principal, after their Google and Facebook accounts were left logged in on their work laptop, despite leaving the job.

At first, the school resisted the commission investigation, but later conceded it had breached the collection principles of the Act and interfered with all three teachers’ privacy.

“We assisted the parties to reach a suitable resolution,” the case study said.

Webster said, in the recent survey, 80 percent of respondents wanted more control over collection and use of their personal information, and about two-thirds worried for their or their children’s privacy.

It was “easy to see why”, Webster said.

“People are right to worry, as more needs to be done to improve New Zealander’s privacy. The Privacy Act currently provides insufficient incentives for many organisations to understand or meet even the most basic privacy requirements.”

The annual report said financial incentives were lacking “to take privacy seriously”.

“This situation means that many agencies have a low level of understanding of the Act.”

Webster’s office is seeking amendments to the law in an attempt to up incentives and give people more power to make agencies delete their personal information.

“Our 2025 survey also showed strong support for strengthening the Privacy Commissioner’s powers.”

The annual report showed a 21 percent jump in complaints to almost 1600 and serious privacy breach notifications up 43 percent to almost 600.

The rise in volumes slowed down their response time since the year before.

“The key challenge facing us is the increasing volumes, and complexity of privacy breaches and complaints we are receiving.”

However, almost 90 percent of complaints were still closed within six months. Its “fast resolve” track, which handled 1200 complaints, had helped.

All its investigations that were externally reviewed scored higher than 3.5 out of five.

One goal was to crack down more, the report said.

“Continuing to strengthen our compliance and enforcement function is a key area of strategic focus”, alongside educating organisations about the law.

The report gave an example of holding Oranga Tamariki to account this year for “grievous” breaches, as RNZ reported, based on a review only released publicly almost a year after it was completed.

The office’s government funding had dropped from $8.1m to $7.6m.

“Even when our funding was [previously] increased, it was to a level below what we had recommended to implement the significant new responsibilities and powers that the Act provided us.”

Inflation and cost savings since had “subsequently diminished our funding in real terms”.

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