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Source: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

David Tamihere’s murder convictions have been quashed, after nearly four decades, re-opening wounds and calling into question whether justice has actually been served

It took a jailhouse lawyer and a justice campaigner to break open a 36-year-old case and push for another day in court for David Tamihere, exposing a system that doesn’t like to think it’s made a mistake.

That’s investigative journalist Mike White’s take on the news this week that David Tamihere’s convictions for murdering Swedish tourists Heidi Paakkonen and Sven Urban Höglin have been quashed in a “remarkable decision” by the Supreme Court.

“It’s not too often that you get one of the most controversial cases in New Zealand’s history turned on its head,” says White, a senior writer for The Post and Sunday Star-Times who has written extensively about the case.

The five Supreme Court judges in a “very strong”, unanimous decision directed a retrial should be heard. The Crown prosecutor now has to decide whether to proceed with a retrial.

“It’s basically saying the Court of Appeal, our second most powerful and second most senior court in New Zealand got it really wrong,” says White.

In 2024, the Court of Appeal found there had been a miscarriage of justice but declined to quash his convictions.

White says the Supreme Court has made it clear that it is not saying that Tamihere is innocent, it is simply saying that his trial was fundamentally unfair and that the new case that has been brought by the Crown with a new scenario about the location of the Swedish couple has not been tested by a jury.

“That’s a fundamental right that David Tamihere has.

“So they [the Supreme Court Judges] are saying that Tamihere might be found guilty but to do that you need a new trial.”

White says this week’s decision is the right one in the interests of justice because so much of the evidence has been knocked out or refigured. But it also means the families of the victims have to relive the terrible events.

In today’s podcast, White sets out what happened in 1989 when Paakkonen and Höglin were reported missing on the Coromandel Peninsula, the arrest of Tamihere, his conviction and sentence.

Over the years, White has interviewed Tamihere – who has always insisted he is innocent – and spoken to people in Sweden closely connected to the case. This week it is once again front page news in Sweden and White’s story on Saturday will give that perspective.

“We think this is a New Zealand case, but this is still a very important case in Sweden which a lot of people remember and the country over there is still fascinated with.”

White details how in 2023 he broke the story about the involvement of the late property developer, Sir Bob Jones. Tamihere was in prison for less than a year when the lead investigator in Operation Stockholm, Detective Inspector John Hughes, met Sir Bob at a function. The two knew each other through their mutual interest in boxing.

“John Hughes came up to him allegedly. John Hughes had had a bit to drink and Bob Jones said that he started poking him in the chest and said, ‘I got Tamihere. We stitched him up, but he was guilty.”

Sir Bob was “absolutely adamant” that it had happened and wrote an affidavit for Tamihere’s lawyers explaining it, says White.

He says the case attracted a lot of attention, partly because it reflected badly on New Zealand.

“Here were two innocent travellers who’d come to New Zealand to enjoy what it offers and had disappeared and been murdered. All of a sudden it has sullied New Zealand’s reputation somewhat,” he says.

But there was much more to it.

“The police case against Tamihere had a lot of questions about it from the start and many more arose after Urban Höglin’s body was found, and they’ve continued.

“Everyone is trying to get to the bottom of it. It’s a whodunit in its most basic form. Like a lot of these cases, [the question is] have we got the right person and has justice been served?

“I think therefore it’s natural that journalists have continued to look at this and there have been some remarkably fine pieces of journalism written about the David Tamihere case including by Donna Chisholm, the legendary journalist, in North and South magazine.”

White says it’s not the first time a conviction has been overturned by journalists or others outside the system, like the jailhouse lawyer Arthur Taylor, private investigator Tim McKinnel and lawyer Nick Chisnall.

“What does it say? It says it’s a system that doesn’t like to contemplate that it’s made a mistake and it’s left to other people, not the authorities, not the police, not the Crown to push for the right questions to be asked and for another day in court for these people, leading to wrongful convictions being exposed,” White tells The Detail.

“This week’s decision is another example of how slowly and painfully the system works when it sometimes might have got it wrong.”

Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.

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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.”

He said he 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

An investigation into a near miss after a train driver ran through multiple stop signals while using his mobile phone has exposed a nationwide issue, accident investigators say.

A report released Thursday into the 2024 incident at Kereone, near Morrinsville, on the East Coast Main Trunk line found the freight train avoided collliding with another vehicle by three and a half minutes.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has called on KiwiRail to implement engineering controls that would stop trains automatically if they run red stop signals.

It said controls were already in place in some parts of the country, but had not been adopted nationwide.

The rate of Signal Passed At Danger (SPAD) incidents – where stop signals were not obeyed – across KiwiRail’s network had risen to 3.2 SPADs per million kilometres in 2025, compared to KiwiRail’s own benchmark of 1 SPAD per million kilometres, TAIC’s report said.

Records showed the rate had nearly tripled from 1.2 per million in 2020.

The commission called for stronger action from KiwiRail, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and the Ministry of Transport to address the high rate of SPADs.

TAIC’s chief investigator of accidents Louise Cooke said while there was evidence to suggest the driver was distracted by their mobile phone, the report was about a lot more than just distraction.

“It’s about distraction meeting a system when there’s just no safety backstop.”

Rules and procedures alone were not enough to prevent accidents, she said.

“People will make mistakes – that’s human nature – so the system must stop those mistakes before they turn into an accident.”

The near miss happened after the freight train, hauling 39 wagons, left Ruakura in Hamilton shortly after 11am, on its way to Tauranga.

Around 15 mins later, a hi-rail vehicle – a vehicle fitted wth retractable wheels that can travel on both road and rail – applying grease to railway lines, entered the tracks, travelling from Waharoa to Kereone.

At about 11.40am, the hi-rail arrived at Kereone station, entered the crossing loop – a section of double track allowing trains travelling in opposite directions to pass each other – as arranged with train control.

The approaching freight train drove past a stop signal, entering Kereone station’s main line, narrowly avoided a collision with the hi-rail truck, then passed a second stop signal, entering the next section of track without authorisation from train control, who eventually raised the locomotive engineer on the radio and had him stop the train, more than two kilometres past the initial stop signal.

After stopping, the driver said he had seen “normal clear signals”, but testing found the signals were working correctly, there was nothing blocking the view, no mechanical issues, equipment faults, power outages or issues with the VHF radio system.

The commission concluded it was “virtually certain” the system was working correctly and the signals were red when the train passed, but the engineer had incorrectly interpreted them to be at ‘proceed’ instead of ‘caution to stop’ and ‘stop’.

The locomotive engineer had been employed by KiwiRail since August 2022. They completed their certification in May 2024, and passed a routine safety test in July 2024, a month before the incident.

The investigation found the engineer had sent and recieved text messages – breaking KiwiRail rules – moments after two radio conversations between the hi-rail driver and train control, and was tooting his horn at a passerby while adjusting his speed during a third radio conversation as he passed another signal.

TAIC said administrative controls were inherently vulnerable to human error or rule breaking.

Complex systems like rail transport needed engineering controls – controls built into the design of the system, like technologies that could automatically slow or stop trains that went through stop signals – the report stated.

KiwiRail’s risk controls were largely administrative, and those areas that did have engineering controls were still reliant on human performance, TAIC said.

Engineering safety systems, such as the European Train Control System (ETCS), Train Stop Protections and geofenced track limits, which monitored speeds, relayed information and automatically stopped or slowed trains operated in some parts of the country, but were not in place across KiwiRail’s network.

Nor were there engineering controls installed on KiwiRail’s hi-rail or track maintenance vehicles.

The commission recommended KiwiRail install engineering safety controls across its network.

Kiwirail chief operations officer Duncan Roy said it was considering TAIC’s recommendation.

“We are always looking at ways to increase safety in our operations and we have a well-established programme of work underway to mitigate SPAD incidents.”

The commission also recommended NZTA increased its monitoring of KiwiRail’s high SPAD ratio.

NZTA told the commission it was already undertaking routine monitoring and that Kiwirail’s SPAD performance was “under ongoing review at NZTA’s highest levels”, which meant the recommendation was not necessary.

But Cooke said the Ministry of Transport accepted the recommendation to ensure NZTA was fulfilling its safety oversight role.

“The Ministry of Transport, in their response, say they do have safety concerns around NZTA’s performance to ensure the safety of the system,” Cooke said.

The ministry told TAIC the Minister of Transport had sought the NZTA board’s assurance in writing that it had adequate transparency and oversight of the agency’s rail safety regulatory functions.

It said the ministry would conduct a rail safety a reviewlooking at whether the regulatory system had kept pace with changing contexts, whether it was achieving intended outcomes and whether those outcomes were still fit for purpose, along with recommendations for change.

The ministry said the review had been been prompted by “several safety concerns” and performance matters raised by the Minister of Transport, TAIC, the rail safety regulator and the industry, including the frequency of SPAD incidents, and “unanswered questions about whether the current system and delivery of functions represent value for money”.

TAIC had no powers to enforce recommendations, Cooke said.

KiwiRail told the commission a SPAD mitigation programme focused on Auckland metro rail was underway and would be rolled out to its wider network, as well as a project to look at engineering solutions for hi-rail vehicles.

TAIC was concened the roll out was not happening fast enough, Cooke said.

“There are many engineering controls that could be put in place now to prevent a situation where a driver makes a mistake and it turns into an accident.”

It was frustrating to have to repeat the same recommendations found in earlier incidents, especially when the consequences were so great, she said.

In 2023, KiwiRail’s Hamilton to Auckland passenger train service Te Huia was banned from entering Auckland after drivers ran through red signal lights on two occasions.

At the time, the subsequent TAIC report called for a common engineering solution to be put in place across KiwiRail services, Auckland One Rail and track contractors.

Auckland One Rail – which was contracted to operate Auckland’s commuter train services on behalf of Auckland Transport – had European Train Control System technology fitted on its trains and infrastructure, and had a far lower SPAD ratio, the commission found.

In February 2025, Auckland Transport chair Richard Leggat wrote to KiwiRail expressing serious concerns about SPAD incidents on the metro rail retwork, warning of the potential for “catastrophic incidents” and multiple fatalities.

The frequency of SPAD incidents involving Kiwirail’s trains required “urgent intervention”, and Leggat called on KiwiRail to accelerate its project to implement ETCS.

AT understood Kiwirail’s SPAD frequency rate on the Auckland network topped 10 per million kilometres between February 2024 and February 2025, compared to international levels of less than one to two events per million kilometres, the letter said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

It’s that time of year again – but before you unwrap the chocolate bunnies, be sure you’re aware of what Easter weekend holiday closures and shop hours will be.

What will be open?

Good Friday is a public holiday, and so is Easter Monday.

However, the trading restrictions that mean many stories will close are only in effect on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

The government requires retail stores to close for three-and-a-half days a year – Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Christmas Day and Anzac Day morning until 1pm.

Dairies, service stations and cafes are allowed to open under certain conditions.

However, to complicate things, local councils can also make some exceptions.

There are three types of exemption to the shop shutdowns:

• tourist resorts such as Taupō and Queenstown on Easter Sunday only
• places where the local council has said shops can open on Easter Sunday only
• certain kinds of shops (limited to “small grocery shops”, service stations, takeaways, bars, cafes, duty-free stores, “shops providing services” (and not selling things), real estate agencies, pharmacies, garden centres (only on Easter Sunday), public transport terminals, souvenir shops and exhibitions “devoted entirely or primarily to agriculture, art, industry and science”).

Everyone else has to keep the doors shut on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, including department stores and supermarkets.

Which means that if you’re going shopping on Thursday, you might face a horde of shoppers desperately stocking up for the prospect of a day or two without the shops open. Be prepared.

So the shops are open on Easter Monday?

Yes – although they can choose to close if they want, so check first. Supermarkets and such should generally be open though, if you need to stock up on your chocolate.

Wait, so why isn’t Easter Saturday a holiday? How come Monday is the public holiday and not Easter Sunday?

We don’t make the rules.

Will there be surcharges?

Shop owners typically cite increased wage costs for employees who work on public holidays.

Some places may add a surcharge over Easter weekend, but there are strict guidelines from the Commerce Commission about how much and when.

They’ve got to clearly disclose the surcharge in advance, not hidden behind the counter or on a note put back in the employee toilets.

Businesses can’t mislead about why they’re doing a surcharge – the Commerce Commission notes that “For example, a business must not claim it is applying a surcharge on Easter Sunday because it is a public holiday. This would be inaccurate because the only public holidays over the Easter weekend are Good Friday and Easter Monday.”

If a surcharge feels misleading, you can report it to the Commerce Commission.

What if you have to work?

You usually can only be required to work public holidays if it is stated in your employment agreement and the public holiday is on a day you will normally work.

If you’re working on a public hoilday, you generally must be paid time and a half and given a day in lieu.

Okay, so can I get a drink?

There have been restrictions about buying alcohol over Easter, but that is likely to change a little this year.

A member’s bill from Labour MP Kieran McAnulty that passed its third reading Wednesday would amend the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to allow premises that are already open on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day morning and Christmas Day to sell alcohol under normal licence conditions.

It is possible it may receive royal assent on Thursday, in time for Good Friday. However, the bill would not change rules around bottle shops or supermarket alcohol sales.

What else should I know?

While you’re at it, don’t forget that Daylight Saving time ends on Sunday, too. It’s all go this four-day weekend.

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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 committed millions of dollars in extra spending to support polytechnic courses in Northland and on the South Island’s West Coast for the next five years.

Figures provided by Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds showed how the government would address concerns about the financial viability of polytechnic provision in both regions.

Simmonds announced earlier this week that the West Coast’s Tai Poutini would leave super-institute Te Pūkenga at the start of next year to become a campus of the Open Polytechnic, while NorthTec would become a stand-alone institute but within a federation model aimed at saving costs.

She said the Open Polytechnic would receive $2 million next year for its take-over of Tai Poutini, and a further $1m a year from 2028-31 to support its operations on the coast.

“This funding is intended to offset the high costs of delivery in a region with low learner demand and to ensure that essential workforce training remains available on the West Coast,” Simmonds said.

“As a condition of this funding, the Open Polytechnic must retain physical operations in the region.”

Simmonds said the polytechnic would also receive $3.1m this year and at least $2m next year from the Strategically Important Provision Fund for maintaining courses in areas where they were needed but might not be viable.

NorthTec would also receive money from the same fund – $3.6m this year, $2.75m in 2027 and a further $1.3 million per year from 2028-2031.

“While NorthTec has faced viability challenges in the past, significant progress has been made over the last year to strengthen its financial position and establish a pathway to sustainability,” Simmonds said.

She said the institute would receive $4.7m in ring-fenced reserves it had when it became part of Te Pūkenga, a further $4.5m for property consolidation, and “in-principle investment” of $34.7m for a new tertiary hub in central Whangārei, subject to a business case.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

It’s 9am on a Thursday as the rain hammers rooftops and a strong wind shakes down leaves.

Inside, Tasha Langi is busily preparing an order and chatting away with an audience of 64 on her phone screen.

“Do you still work with BBM? We don’t work with them, but we always see them,” she answered a question from one viewer.

“Nice and easy this morning. My baby wanted me to just sit with him last night, so I had to start the bulk orders a little bit later than usual,” she said as she gave the viewers a glimpse into her life.

Tasha is among a growing group of Kiwis who are turning to TikTok livestreams to promote their businesses.

According to TikTok, two million people watch livestreams across Australia and New Zealand, but exactly how many Kiwis are broadcasting their lives live remains unclear.

Tasha and her husband, James run a protein dessert company, Fit Prepp, from Manurewa.

James said they were social media savvy, but livestreaming was a new territory.

“We’ve only done live streaming for two weeks now and we’re still learning, but we enjoy it. When you’re putting your face and who you are behind (the business) it builds another relationship. It builds something better.”

They started going live after customers suggested it, and it’s already paying off with new orders and memorable interactions.

Tasha said recently, a customer and her father visited them after watching their content.

“She came down with her dad and got our tubs and that was really nice. She said her and her dad had been watching us for months and months. He’s been cheering us on from afar. And then she sent me a heartfelt email because she just felt like we were a part of her family in the way we just brought her into our home and expressed our gratitude.”

Palmerston North-based artist Emilie Geant who livestreams her art making process has a theory why livestreaming is different from other social media promotions.

“The issue with social media is everyone is only showing the shiny part of being an artist. I like that on TikTok that’s a little bit less shiny. People are a bit more real and genuine. I think people need to understand that running an art business, it looks really cool, but it’s actually a lot of work, a lot of admin work.”

She said showing the “less shiny” part of her work broke down the barrier between an artist and the customer.

“It’s not just a painting, it’s a person behind the painting. (In my livestreams) I’m explaining why I’m doing what I’m doing, why I’m making the choice visually. So people get attached more emotionally and I had more followers thanks to the livestreams, and also more sales online.”

And livestreaming itself has become an important revenue stream for some creators.

Lower Hutt musician Charles Humphreys has been livestreaming since 2022, showcasing his work up to five times a week.

“It’s multi-level rewarding. I will get paid from the TikTok stream. I will get rewarded by people listening to my original music, which is out there. I will get rewarded by the fan base growing. I’m also making great connections with other artists around the world.”

While most days he has an audience in the hundreds, one Tuesday he hosted a crowd of 9000 for 12 minutes.

His livestreams are so popular that they attracted the attention of TikTok, who asked him to be the opening act for this year’s TikTok Live Fest in Las Vegas.

Humphreys said some times, he can make close to $10,000 a month, while he made very little on others.

But he prepares for each streaming session equally with a full suit, professional sound equipment, and a studio filled with neon lights.

“I’m not there playing a game. I’m absolutely there 100 percent to perform. One day you got an audience of 100 and you make $6000. And another day you might find that you’re talking to some place in the world where money’s not so good. But you still perform anyway because they deserve it as well.”

Livestreaming has helped him reach audiences from all over the world, all walks of life. “Some of them can’t go anywhere. Some of them just feel like, you know what, I’m never going to make it to a concert hall. I can’t afford $200 to go and see whoever the artist is, but I can afford to give a little bit of time on TikTok to Charles. And he makes me feel like there’s a little bit of hope in the world and there is a place where I can be happy and we can have a laugh.”

And if you are aching to showcase your talent, Humphreys has a piece of advice.

“So if you’re one of those people who feels like they’d like to share something about themselves, just do it. Forget the intimidation, forget the feeling of not being able to or not being capable. Just do it.”

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