NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Paid firefighters are heading back to the bargaining table next week after calling off a strike scheduled for Friday at the last minute.

The one hour strike, which would have taken place at 12pm, was part of a series of planned strikes stemming from an extended stalemate between Fire and Emergency (FENZ) and the unions over pay and conditions.

Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) vice president Martin Campbell said the strike was called off because FENZ provided “pivotal” infomation at the last minute.

Campbell said the union was positive about next week’s bargaining, and hopeful of a settlement it could put out to its membership.

“The last thing fire fighters want to be doing is going on strilke – we’re not here to not do our jobs, we want to make sure we are protecting New Zealanders, but at the end of the day, if we’re forced into the position, we’ll have to do what we have to do.”

FENZ deputy national commander Megan Stiffler said the NZPFU had “made the right decision” to withdraw the strike action.

“Every time the NZPFU strikes, they compromise public safety,” she said.

Stiffler urged the union to withdraw its strike notices for later in the month so as not to further disrupt communities.

FENZ has given staff two weeks to provide feedback on a 266 page change proposal – the biggest restructure since its establishment in 2017 – which would see 140 jobs go.

FENZ said the positions slated to go were not frontline firefighters.

Last week, RNZ revealed FENZ’s plans to cut $50 million a year in the proposed restructure.

There had been “zero consultation” between FENZ and the union on the restructuring, despite repeated requests by the union to the chief executive, Campbell said.

“FENZ is actually required to consult with the union as to whether any change is needed, let alone what sort of change is required, so it’s very disappointing that restructuring document was put out and didn’t involve the unions.”

Many of the jobs on the block were union members who were involved in the bargaining process, he said.

“Monday morning this restructure will certainly be a point of conversation as to how we go forward.”

The union was concerned at the removal of the regional structure and many of those who work within it as proposed.

“While they’re not frontline, they’re very important roles like planning and intelligence, data analysis and business support – those are all critical things those workers do for frontline firefighters, that enable us to do our jobs better. If they’re not doing that sort of job, who is going to be doing it?

“Does that mean firefighters are going to be doing more administration work instead of out there training and responding to emergencies?”

Another key issue was the safety of equipment, including training facilities andstations, and the vehicle fleet.

“A lot of our fire trucks are getting very old, they’re very worn, they’re breaking down on a regular basis now.”

Last week, firefighter Steve Devine challenged Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour on a statement he made to Parliament that there had only been one truck breakdown in recent months.

Devine claimed at least one fire truck breaks down every day, and invited Seymour to meet him at any station in the country so he could show him first hand.

FENZ has about 1800 paid firefighters, 12,000 volunteers and 1200 corporate and support staff.

Paid firefighters previously walked off the job last month amid stalled negotiations.

It followed a FENZ pay offer in June of 5.1 percent over three years, which NZPFU rejected.

The union said members had not had a pay increase since July 2023.

On Friday, the Employment Relations Authority heard an application for faciliation made by FENZ, adjourning it until after next week’s bargaining took place.

Strikes are still planned for 21 and 28 November.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The wife of a man accused of slavery has denied her husband took money from two young people and threatened them with being deported if they didn’t “follow the rules”.

Senia Tuai denied withholding one man’s passport or that she sent messages to him and his pregnant partner after they ran away, “effectively cursing the birth of the baby”.

Her husband Moeaia Tuai’s trial at the High Court in Auckland has heard one man recount how Tuai grabbed him by the neck and slammed him to the ground.

Senia Tuai said the man had been drunk and slid off a chair and was face-down on the ground.

Chris Howard, prosecuting, said Tuai put his weight on the man and his wife sat on him, alleging he could hardly breathe as a result. She denied that, but acknowledged he was taken to hospital afterwards.

Howard said Moeaia Tuai would threaten the male complainant with deportation or losing citizenship if he didn’t follow the rules – something his wife denied – and added she did not know why there was no money in the young man’s account when he regained access to it.

Court suppression orders prohibit the complainants being identified, as well as other aspects of the case.

Tuai, aged 63, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of dealing in slaves.

He also denies two rapes, assaults, eight charges of indecent assault, and six of sexual violation by unlawful connection.

Howard said the second complainant, a young woman, had worked seven days a week from May to July 2021. Senia Tuai, who faces no charges and was appearing as a defence witness, said the complainant wanted to work, and got to spend her own wages.

“She had a say in buying food, and whatever she wanted, it wasn’t as if we were in control of her money and she had no say,” she said.

She denied she beat her over a relationship with a man.

The jury has heard allegations the young woman was coerced into taking out a bank loan, and Howard said she too had been threatened with being deported.

“Did Moeaia ever threaten to have her citizenship cancelled and to have her deported?” Howard asked his wife.

“When [the woman] ran away or the day after, did you discuss having her citizenship cancelled and having her deported?”

She rejected the allegations, saying that a call to authorities the day after the woman ran away last year was not an attempt to have her deported.

“We wanted to have more information on conditions about the citizenship,” she said. “So it wasn’t to … we didn’t talk about deporting her, but it was just, we just wanted to know more about the conditions of being a citizen.”

When asked what conditions they might be, she said she did not know, but thought the woman could bring their name into disrepute.

The trial continues.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Police can no longer be relied on to self-monitor and reform is needed, an organisation working to end sexual violence says.

The call follows this week’s damning report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority which found serious misconduct at the highest levels of police over how they handled accusations of sexual offending by the former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

The allegations arose after an affair between McSkimming and a non-sworn police employee who was 20 years his junior.

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said the woman was “ignored and badly let down”.

Russell Smith of Te Ohaakii a Hine, a national network of about 40 organisations, told Saturday Morning the way the case was handled by police would exacerbate the already low numbers of victims coming forward.

“It doesn’t leave victims with a lot of confidence that they will be heard,” he said.

It was important to acknowledge the officers that took action, but internal police mechanisms needed reform, Smith said.

“You can’t depend on the goodwill and mana of those officers that did act, because it should be the system that supports them to do their job effectively.”

It was not enough for police to self monitor, Independent community specialists should be introduced to work with police, he said.

“This team could also work alongside officers from the sexual assault teams within the police, the same police that are allocated to work externally on sexual violence.

“You need an external mechanism,” he said.

There should also be a dedicated help line for victims of state abuse, “specifically for those that have been harmed by police or within the police”, Smith said.

Sexual abuse was significantly underreported in the crime survey, he said.

“You can multiply those numbers by 10 to 20.

“We already know that there is a significant under-reporting, more so for Māori wāhine.”

A cultural review of state services was also needed, he added.

Following the release of the IPCA report, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said police would meet and develop a plan to address the recommendations made in the report.

“I have appointed an independent King’s Counsel to undertake employment investigations where required.

“I am currently undertaking an extensive refresh of the Police Executive and wider leadership, including the appointment of two statutory deputy commissioners and new assistant commissioners.”

Chambers said he had started revising the Police Code of Conduct, aimed at strengthening accountability.

“Over many years, Police has put a lot of resource and effort into developing and implementing very robust processes for dealing with sexual violence complaints.

“Our specialist adult sexual assault teams are highly trained and dedicated.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

One person has died after a four-wheel drive rolled on Tokerau Beach in the Far North.

Police were called to beach at about 7.30pm Friday.

It was initially indicated that at least one person was critically injured, and Fire and Emergency said at the time crews were still working to free one person from the wreck.

Police have now said one person was found dead at the scene.

The two other occupants of the vehicle were airlifted to hospital, one in critical condition and the other in moderate condition.

There was an ongoing investigation into the crash, police said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

An uptick in the take-up of veterinary and agriculture studies has seen Massey University expand its Large Animal Teaching Unit (LATU) in recent years.

The country’s only veterinary school currently has a cohort of about 650 students across the five-year programme.

With over half coming from non-rural backgrounds, the “outdoor classroom” serves as an important first step on the students’ journey to working with farm animals, LATU’s manager Mike Reilly told Country Life.

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Located on the outskirts of the Palmerston North campus, the teaching farm and facilities were first established 30 years ago. Back then classes comprised about 70 students. These days it’s 175.

It has also expanded significantly in area, to include a neighbouring farm, a lecture room that can accommodate 100 students, a sheep and pig teaching facility, 12 horse stocks, an arena and 13 purpose-built cow stocks for teaching.

The safety and welfare of both people and the animals they’re working with are paramount. That’s increasingly important with so many students now coming from cities with no animal handling experience, Reilly explained.

“We have 50 international students, some of which will have never seen a sheep because there’s no sheep in their home country. We don’t want the students going out onto farm and we’re not confident they know how to behave around an animal.”

He has a herd of 26 “extremely quiet” cows for the students to work with, adding if they were Angus steers “there’d be too much noise … no one would learn”.

Reilly also brings in up to 70 cows to teach the students about pregnancy diagnosis, and the farm is home to 30 horses, a flock of sheep and alpaca, donkeys, and several pigs, which they get in seasonally.

The facilities’ set-up means five classes can run at any one time working with five different species.

“This is where students get to interact with them, learn the basics of handling and learn to do a good clinical exam on a healthy animal.”

Students also learn to how to get cows into stocks. They learn how to put a halter on a horse, to lift their feet and clean them out, and how to move and turn sheep over.

Reilly is conscious of the animal’s welfare too and tries to rotate them around to share the teaching load. Strict ethics also guide their welfare and care.

He said the main challenge is the seasonality of life on farm.

“First semester is in autumn, second semester is winter through to spring. It’s the worst time to have maximum numbers of animals but it’s when I have them.”

To mitigate this he destocks as much as he can over the summer to grow lots of grass which will keep the stock fed over the winter.

“It’s a challenge but that’s what makes it interesting.”

Reilly said LATU is what helps set the school apart from others overseas.

Massey’s veterinary science programme ranked 21st globally in the 2024 QS World University Ranking and is the highest-ranked veterinary school in Australasia.

Learn more:

You can learn more about LATU, here.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Lotto has jackpotted to a record $55 million prize, which has to be won. But what would you do if you woke up in the morning with a few extra zeros on the end of your bank balance?

Whether you were to win the top prize (a one in 38 million chance, it should be noted), or one of the smaller amounts, one financial adviser who has previously advised winners says there are a few things you should know.

Tim Fairbrother, of Rival Wealth, said people who won were often in a state of disbelief initially.

If you win when you’re playing online, you will be sent a prize claim form.

Winners with a physical ticket can take it to a shop they bought it from and fill out a form, or go to the Lotto head office in Auckland.

In most cases, Lotto staff try to meet in person with winners to talk to them about what will happen (there is champagne offered).

Winners are given a booklet that proclaims on the front “This is not a dream”.

In it, it offers tip on how to handle a life-changing amount of money.

Secure the ticket

Fairbrother said many people spent some time carrying the ticket around before they claimed their win, because they almost could not believe it had happened.

“If you’re telling everyone that you won but you haven’t’ secured your ticket then that can be a bit of a problem – perhaps if the ticket is suddenly not in the place you thought it was going to be.”

If you aren’t going straight to claim, keep the ticket somewhere very safe.

Deposit the money into a savings account

Lotto advises that the money should be paid into an interest-earning account while you work out your next steps.

If you win Powerball, it says, it can give you the details of the person at your bank who can help you with depositing the money.

Some people do not want this to go through their local branch.

Think about who to tell

Lotto said people should carefully consider who they wanted to tell about their win.

Fairbrother agreed. He said if it became common knowledge, the money could change people.

“Especially big amounts of money. It might not be you, it might be the people around you who suddenly have their hands out thinking ‘man, this is going to be good for me’.”

People were likely to encourage winners to invest in various things, or spend their money in certain ways – he said these should be approached with caution.

Have a plan

Lotto advises that people think about what they want to do with their money, have a plan and list of goals and check in on it regularly.

Fairbrother said people could work with an adviser to talk through their ideas and come up with a strategy.

“Make sure you have got the right accountant and lawyer so that you’re getting your structure right for tax and optimising what that looks like.”

He said those discussions would usually involve talking to people about what was important to them.

“What are your overarching goals now you’ve won this money? It might be a million dollars, which is amazing. But it might be $44m, which is epically life-changing, isn’t it?

“If you’re living in a $600,000 home you might want to go and extend the house, build a tennis court and swimming pool, or sell it altogether.

“How much do you want people to know this has happened to you? If you go and sell your $600,000 house and buy a $4m house, people are going to start asking questions.’

An investment portfolio would be structured according to a person’s wishes, he said.

Some might want to invest in commercial property, or a residential development including a number of homes.

“Or it might be saying I don’t want to deal with any of that, I’m just going to put it into a managed portfolio,. It’s going to be a mix of those things and it’s going to be a steep learning curve. You don’t need to go about it quickly, there’s no point rushing and doing things fast.”

Some purchases would be investments and others would depreciate, he said.

Knowing the difference would help to make wealth last.

“I knew of someone many years ago before I was a financial adviser, who a significant amount in Lotto and basically within three years he had got rid of it all by buying expensive cars and not understanding those expensive cars are going to be depreciating assets.

“By the time you drive it off the lot it loses 20 percent or whatever, then two or three years later it is down 60 percent.”

Pay off debt

If you win a smaller amount than $44m, it usually makes sense to use it to pay off debt.

Fairbrother said people with a mortgage would usually want to pay that off. “That puts them in a whole different financial position going forward into the future where they’re now able to save each month as opposed to paying the bank for their mortgage.”

Be careful with gifting

Many people wanted to give money to others, Fairbrother said, particularly to help their kids buy houses.

“If you want to give it, it’s better to do what they call an interest-free loan payable on demand.

“That means if there are problems in the future with their own relationships or whatever they might be, you can ask them to pay the money back. If you give a couple $100,000 then as soon as it goes into their account it becomes relationship property whereas if you loan it to them then you can ask to have to back again in the future.”

Write a will

Fairbrother said as soon as people had that much money to their name, they needed to do some estate planning.

A will would be essential to avoid disputes if something happened to them.

“You’re not going to end up with your children arguing over the fact you promised them more for any particular reason.”

Tax

Lotto winners do not have to pay tax on their prize, as in some other countries.

But they also cannot have it paid as an annual income, it has to be a lump sum.

You don’t have to declare it as income if you’re getting a benefit unless you receive the accommodation supplement, temporary additional support or special benefit.

But any income you make from your money will reduce your eligibility for support.

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