NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

The New Zealand International Convention Centre opened its doors for the first time.

It’s been almost 13 years since the government announced the deal for SkyCity to build the Centre in Auckland in exchange for an extension of its gambling licence and permission for an additional 230 slot machines.

Construction has been mired in delays, partly caused by the 2019 roof fire that took more than 10 days to extinguish.

The finished building can fit more than 4000 people, and has been projected to contribute about $90 million a year over the next three years.

At the opening, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters it was an exciting day, and the convention centre showed the government is building a “world class New Zealand”.

He said the centre was likely to bring in more than the forecast $90m.

Convention centre general manager Prue Daly said they were booked for than 120 events this year and further bookings extended through the years ahead.

Daly said sustainability would be embedded into the operations of the new centre.

The massive 2019 blaze, which broke out on the centre’s roof, was later found to be accidental.

A report from FENZ said it happened when the top layers of a waterproof membrane were being laid on the roof.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Ministry of Social Development is planning to cut the number of security guards at Work and Income offices throughout the country.

Twenty jobs are set to go at 20 offices in regional towns next month – reducing the number of guards at these sites from three to two.

Security guards and unions are blaming cost-cutting and are alarmed at the safety risks the lay-offs pose, following the murders of two Ashburton Work and Income employees in 2014.

The Ministry of Social Development, which employs Allied Security as a contractor, told RNZ the changes aren’t driven by cost-cutting and follow safety upgrades and changes to office lay-out, including bringing outside guards inside.

E tū union said the offices affected are in Alexandra, Balclutha, Cambridge, Dannevirke, Feilding, Foxton, Gore, Greymouth, Marton, Matamata, Ngāruawāhia, Ōtaki, Queenstown, Stratford, Taihape, Te Kūiti, Wainuiomata, Waitara, Waiuku and Westport.

‘The risk is real at any office’ – security guard

Security guard Henare Eynon, who works in Marton, told RNZ he was worried for the safety of Work and Income staff, his colleagues and the public.

“Going from three guards to two guards is a significant change, it’s not just one person less, it’s a 50 percent increase for the remaining two, and the loss of a spare pair of eyes.”

In 2014, Russell John Tully walked into the Ashburton Work and Income offices armed with a shotgun and killed two staff members, Peggy Noble and Leigh Cleveland. Tully was sentenced to life in prison for murder.

Eynon said that could happen again.

“The risk is real at any office – it depends on the person that’s coming in, and what condition the person is in – there are a lot of mental health clients out there that will go off their rockers at times.”

He said while many clients are respectful, he’s dealt with dangerous situations over the past several years as a guard in the lower North Island – including a client threatening to drive into a Work and Income office, and another attempting to come inside with a knife.

One man threatened violence when he was asked to sign in at the front desk, Eynon said, but he talked him out of it.

“He says I’m coming over there to punch you in the f***ing head, and I said come on then, you’re welcome to try, but you’re going to end up in jail if you do that, and I said it calmly.”

Eynon said he’s not taking aim at his employer Allied Security or the Ministry of Social Development staff – but believes the government is behind a decision to cut costs.

Another security guard from the lower North Island, who RNZ has agreed not to name, said even small offices could deal with “nasty” experiences on a monthly basis.

“The vulnerability of the staff is a big concern to me, because once trouble happens, especially in small sites, it’s hard to get away from.”

He disagreed with a recent change to bring guards standing outside inside the offices.

“We have no ability to check people’s intoxication, mental health, level of aggression before they enter the building, and once they’re in, they’re in, and it’s far more difficult to get somebody out of an office, rather than just stop them at the door.”

E tū national secretary Rachel Mackintosh said the government and Allied Security should immediately stop the changes.

She said the Ashburton shooting drove MSD to employ extra security guards, and ensure three were stationed at each office.

“It’s as if everyone involved has forgotten about the tragic events that occurred in Ashburton, or they are willing to risk it happening again to save a few bucks?

“What we don’t know is any rationale for reducing the number of guards – we haven’t seen that – we don’t know whether the employer Allied Security has been provided that information from MSD, but certainly we haven’t seen it.”

Public Service Association national secretary Fleur Fitzsimmons said she had requested a full risk assessment from MSD over the changes, but that consultation with MSD workers at offices had so far not happened.

“There is widespread anxiety amongst staff over these changes.

“People come to these MSD offices in times in their lives which are distressing, and too often they take their frustrations out on staff. The security guards are an absolutely critical safety initiative for staff and members of the public,” Fitzsimmons said.

‘Confident’ we’ve responded to Ashburton – MSD

The killings in Ashburton prompted MSD to launch an internal review, and employ an extra 100 security guards at Work and Income centres.

Worksafe brought charges against MSD and in 2016, Judge Jan-Marie Doogue found the ministry had failed to ensure there was no physically unrestricted access to the staff working area.

Ministry of Social Development deputy chief executive for organisational and risk assurance, Melissa Gill, told RNZ MSD had invested $80 million over the last 10 years in a major upgrade to all its sites, including implementing lockdown zones and upgrading security equipment.

She said MSD took the safety of all staff and clients at offices seriously.

“I’m confident that we have responded to the events in Ashburton, we’ve had a concerted programme of work over the past 10 years, we’ve created safer and more secure spaces in our sites, we ensure our staff are well-trained and supported to respond to incidents should they occur.”

She said reducing guard numbers was not due to cost-cutting, but part of a review of security settings including a decision to move guards standing outside, inside.

Gill said MSD’s data had shown a drop in serious incidents being reported, and there would still be between two and five security guards across all 121 Work and Income offices.

She said the agency had done a risk assessment at every office, had “planned and tested” the specific changes over a number of years, and kept the PSA informed.

Gill said bringing the security guards inside was safer for them, and guards could watch for a client’s behaviour from inside offices.

“The guards receive training from Allied on how to observe people’s action as they are approaching an environment, so they are able to monitor that as the person is approaching the site.”

She said if a serious incident occurred, guards and staff were trained to go into lockdowns, and worked closely with the police.

Gill did not rule out further cuts to guards at other sites.

“It would be fair to say this is an ongoing programme of work but I can’t comment on that at the moment because we are still working through the process with our sites and with the PSA.”

Allied Security general manager of operations Chris McDowall said MSD advised the company of a change of operating model for selected sites within the wider contract.

He said Allied supported the changes following a trial in 2025.

“We expect minimal role losses as part of this process and remain focused on the wellbeing of our staff and all those affected by any change process.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A major power cut at a boutique hotel has thrown families and businesses into darkness on Wellington’s Cuba Street.

Residents of The Wellington Apartments are entering their third day without full power, after a failure at neighbouring Naumi Hotel.

The section of Cuba Street, which houses the hotel, apartments, as well as several shops and a restaurant, lost power on Sunday night.

What caused the failure at the Naumi Hotel – a boutique chain with head offices in Singapore – is yet to be identified, but the outage is expected to last until at least Thursday.

The hotel apologised to those caught up in the power cut and said it was working to get things back-up-and-running and was regularly communicating to those affected.

Naumi Hotel group director of marketing Lynn Poh told RNZ on Tuesday afternoon a generator had been installed to restore hot water and maintain emergency lighting and fire safety to the hotel and The Wellington Apartments, which RNZ understood contained a mix of residents and hotel guests across more than 100 units.

“There are no health and safety risks to residents in The Wellington Apartments,” she said.

But a resident – who RNZ agreed not to name – said communication about the power cut had been woeful, with families left literally and figuratively in the dark.

They said the lack of lighting in the hallways and stairwells also presented a health and safety risk, with emergency lighting only on the ground floor, and in the stairwells up to level three of the eight-level complex.

“The rest of the time, you are in darkness. If there’s another emergency on top of what we’re already experiencing – it would be a disaster waiting to happen.”

The resident said the first sign of trouble came with an outage at 8.30am on Sunday.

“[The power] did come back on at 1pm… and then at 8pm that night it went off again. It was restored maybe two hours later, briefly, for a second and then we all heard a big bang.”

They said communication had been piecemeal, with owner-occupiers informing tenants about what was going on during spontaneous gatherings in the lobby near a working power socket.

As of Tuesday – 36 hours without power – they said there had been no written communication dropped at residents’ doors or posted to the complex’s communal notice board.

They had arranged to stay at a friend’s place for the rest of the week, but said many people had no idea when power would be restored and they were concerned about elderly residents and those less able-bodied.

“The major thing is just the lack of communication, the lack of information that will help us make good decisions.

“Some of our vulnerable residents should have just been moved somewhere else. Because you can’t stay in there all day, you do need to come out, to charge up, to eat, to have a hot shower.

“They don’t understand that people’s lives are being impacted and that they have a responsibility to give us some kind of messaging or information.”

Poh said the hotel was in daily communication with apartment owners and would remind them to pass updates onto tenants.

She believed communication such as letter drops or updates on the noticeboard was being arranged, and the team was working hard to keep hotel guests comfortable.

Poh said investigations into the cause of the failure were ongoing, but in the meantime a new circuit breaker had been ordered and shipped to New Zealand.

“We are expecting power to be up by this Friday, and we’re trying to expedite for this Thursday.”

She said additional generators to restore power more widely was not an option due to the fire risk.

Kāinga Ora tenants are among those living in the apartments.

The social housing agency’s Greater Wellington regional director Sarah Willson said it was only made aware of the situation on Tuesday afternoon.

“Since we found out about the issue, we have contacted our seven tenants to see if the power outage has affected them, and what support we can offer as their landlord,” she said.

“We will continue to check in with them regularly until the power is restored.”

By Tuesday afternoon, power had been restored to businesses on the street level, who had scrambled to keep stock cold and money coming in since the outage on Sunday night.

One store told RNZ they suspected the cost to be in the tens of thousands, accounting for lost stock and the inability to process cashless transactions, as well as reputational damage.

Anne, who was in the last two weeks of running textile bookstore Minerva said the loss of power during the closing down sale was hugely disruptive.

“Someone has kindly leant me a mobile EFTPOS… but people have to look at the shelves with their cellphone torches on.”

She said information had not been forthcoming and she had to continually seek updates.

“It’s been very hard to get information at all, there’s been nothing sent out. You just come to work day after day and there’s just no power.”

Restaurateur Steve Logan – co-owner of Liberty and Logan Brown – said power was back on at Liberty around 2pm on Tuesday and staff were scrambling to open for dinner that night.

He said it had been stressful, but with cold storage available at Logan Brown, the main cost was the “to-ing and fro-ing” of produce rather than lost stock – unlike the superette.

“I feel really sorry for our neighbours in the dairy.”

Poh said Naumi Hotel was looking into compensation, and that it was “very sorry” for the outage.

“But we are doing whatever we can as a group to minimise the inconvenience and make sure that we get power up as soon as we can. We are doing our best.”

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