Hawke’s Bay Police are asking the public for information to stop dirt bike riders in their tracks, before they cause more serious harm.
Senior Sergeant Ross Smith says a woman and a young boy have been injured recently in two separate incidents due to “dangerous, and frankly stupid” behaviour by people on dirt bikes.
Last week on Wednesday an 8-year-old boy suffered a broken bone in his leg after being hit by a dirt bike rider in Flaxmere.
And on 24 April a woman was hit by a dirt bike outside a café in Hastings, causing moderate injuries, while the two young riders received critical and serious injuries.
“There continues to be ongoing issues with people of all ages riding dirt bikes illegally on roads, footpaths and parks, mainly in the Flaxmere and Camberley areas,” Senior Sergeant Smith says.
“Riders are not wearing helmets or robust safety clothing. The motorbikes are often unregistered, not warranted and some are in poor condition and not road worthy.
“These riders have little regard for other road users, pedestrians or families using the parks and the public are paying the price.
“We are also urging parents of children who use dirt bikes to make sure they do so in a safe way, otherwise more people will get hurt,” says Senior Sergeant Smith.
Police are prepared to take enforcement action when necessary.
We are asking people if they witness any of this kind of behaviour to report it to Police on 111 if it is happening now, or 105.police.govt.nz if it is after the fact.
If you see dirt bikes being ridden dangerously then please take photos or videos and send it into Hawke’s Bay Police through the 105 website.
You may have also captured them on other devices such as dash cams or house security cameras. This can be done anonymously through our 105 services.
Gain as much information as you are safely able to, including the type of activity, any descriptions of the bikes and riders, the areas where this activity occurs and where they may come from, and any photos or video footage.
If Police are not able to attend these incidents immediately, follow-up action will be taken.
New Caledonia and French Polynesia have sent strong delegations this week to the United Nations Pacific regional seminar on the implementation of the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism in Timor-Leste.
The seminar opened in Dili today and ends on Friday.
As French Pacific non-self-governing territories, the two Pacific possessions will brief the UN on recent developments at the event, which is themed “Pathways to a sustainable future — advancing socioeconomic and cultural development of the Non-Self-Governing Territories”.
New Caledonia and French Polynesia are both in the UN’s list of non-self-governing territories to be decolonised, respectively since 1986 and 2013.
Nouméa-based French Ambassador for the Pacific Véronique Roger-Lacan is also attending.
After the Dili meeting this week, the UN’s Fourth Commission is holding its formal meeting in New York in July and again in October in the margins of the UN General Assembly.
As New Caledonia marks the first anniversary this month of the civil unrest that killed 14 people and caused material damage to the tune of 2.2 billion euros last year (NZ$4.1 billion), the French Pacific territory’s political parties have been engaged for the past four months in political talks with France to define New Caledonia’s political future.
However, the talks have not yet managed to produce a consensual way forward between pro-France and pro-independence groups.
French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls, at the end of the most recent session on May 8, put a project of “sovereignty with France” on the table which was met by strong opposition by the pro-France Loyalists (anti-independence) camp.
This year again, parties and groups from around the political spectrum are planning to travel to Dili to plead their respective cases.
New Caledonia territorial President Alcide Ponga . . . pro-France groups have become more aware of the need for them to be more vocal and present at regional and international fora. Image: Media pool/RNZ Pacific
Topping the list is New Caledonia’s government President Alcide Ponga, who chairs the pro-France Rassemblement party and came to power in January 2025.
Other represented institutions include New Caledonia’s customary (traditional) Senate, a kind of Great Council of Chiefs, which also sends participants to ensure the voice of indigenous Kanak people is heard.
Over the past two years, pro-France groups have become more aware of the need for them to be more vocal and present at regional and international fora.
French Polynesia back on the UN list since 2013 In French Polynesia, the pro-independence ruling Tavini Huiraatira party commemorated the 12th anniversary of re-inscription to the UN list of territories to be decolonised on 17 May 2013.
This week, Tavini also sent a strong delegation to Timor-Leste, which includes territorial Assembly President Antony Géros.
However, the pro-France parties, locally known as “pro-autonomy”, also want to ensure their views are taken into account.
One of them is Moerani Frébault, one of French Polynesia’s representatives at the French National Assembly.
“Contrary to what the pro-independence people are saying, we’re not dominated by the French Republic,” he told local media at a news conference at the weekend.
Frébault said the pro-autonomy parties now want to invite a UN delegation to French Polynesia “so they can see for themselves that we have all the tools we need for our development.
“This is the message we want to get across”.
Pro-autonomy Tapura Party leaders Tepuaraurii Teriitahi (from left), Edouard Fritch and Moerani Frébault, at a press conference in Papeete last week . . . . “We want to counter those who allege that the whole of [French] Polynesians are sharing this aspiration for independence.” Image: Radio 1/RNZ Pacific
Territorial Assembly member Tepuaraurii Teriitahi, from the pro-autonomy Tapura Huiraatira party, is also travelling to Dili.
“The majority of (French) Polynesians is not pro-independence. So when we travel to this kind of seminar, it is because we want to counter those who allege that the whole of (French) Polynesians is sharing this aspiration for independence,” she said.
‘Constitution of a Federated Republic of Ma’ohi Nui’ On the pro-independence side in Pape’ete, the official line is that it wants Paris to at least engage in talks with French Polynesia to “open the subject of decolonisation”.
For the same purpose, the Tavini Party, in April 2025, officially presented a draft for what could become a “Constitution of a Federated Republic of Ma’ohi Nui”.
The document is sometimes described as drawing inspirations from France and the United States, but is not yet regarded as fully matured.
Earlier this month, French Polynesia’s President Moetai Brotherson was in Paris for a series of meetings with several members of the French cabinet, including Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls and French Foreign Affairs Minister Yannick Neuder.
Valls is currently contemplating visiting French Polynesia early in July.
Brotherson came to power in May 2023. Since being elected to the top post, he has stressed that independence — although it remained a longterm goal — was not an immediate priority.
He also said many times that he wished relations with France to evolve, especially on the decolonisation.
“I think we should put those 10 years of misunderstanding, of denial of dialogue behind us,” he said.
In October 2023, for the first time since French Polynesia was re-inscribed on the UN list, France made representations at the UN Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee), ending a 10-year empty chair hiatus .
But the message delivered by the French Ambassador to the UN, Nicolas De Rivière, was unambiguous.
He said French Polynesia “has no place” on the UN list of non-autonomous territories because “French Polynesia’s history is not the history of New Caledonia”.
He also voiced France’s wish to have French Polynesia withdrawn from the UN list.
The UN list of non-self-governing territories currently includes 17 territories worldwide and six of those are located in the Pacific — American Samoa, Guam, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Pitcairn Islands and Tokelau.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The Government can’t say if even a single family has received the $250 a fortnight they were promised.
“It’s time Nicola Willis got her binoculars out to begin the search for a family that has received her promised cost of living relief,” Labour finance and economy spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said.
“There are 33 examples of where she is planning to cut women’s pay, but she can’t come up with a single example of anyone who has received the full $252 she promised.
“People who received it appear to be rarer than the little spotted Kiwi, the fairy tern, new ferries, or Nicola Willis answering a question without blaming Labour.
“National said it would help with cost of living, but so far all New Zealanders are getting are broken promises and cuts to women’s pay.
“It’s possible that not a single New Zealander received $252, and so the great Kiwi treasure hunt for Nicola Willis’ cost of living relief begins,” Barbara Edmonds said.
The Government is moving to let two of the country’s most profitable banks off the hook for money owed to their customers.
“As Kiwis continue to feel the squeeze of the high cost of living, this Government is choosing to deny tens of thousands of New Zealanders who may be owed money the right to make a claim in court,” Labour commerce and consumer affairs spokesperson Arena Williams said.
“ANZ and ASB, two of the most profitable banks in New Zealand, broke disclosure laws designed to protect mortgage holders. Tens of thousands of New Zealanders may be owed thousands of dollars in interest and fees that were wrongly charged.
“Instead of helping people get their claims dealt with, National is pushing through law changes so that the penalties banks owe are softened and will be backdated.
“Their choice to change the law on behalf of banks and at the expense of Kiwis is outrageous. True to character, Christopher Luxon fails to see how every dollar helps families pay for their rents, rates, or groceries.
“This is what being out of touch looks like. This is a government that finds time to help billion-dollar banks dodge accountability, but no time to help the people they may have overcharged.
“Next time you hear a National Minister talking tough on supermarkets or energy companies, remember that the real decisions don’t happen in front of the cameras, they happen in Cabinet, quietly,” Arena Williams said.
The Government is taking the Digital Services Tax off their books, effectively handing a $479 million tax break to global tech giants, like Facebook and Google.
“First it was tax breaks for landlords and tobacco companies, now it’s multinational technology companies,” Labour finance and economy spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said.
“Under National if you’re already doing well, you can have a tax break to do even better. But everyone else, everyday Kiwis, miss out.
“The message from this Government could not be clearer: if you’re a woman seeking equal pay, or a family trying to get the FamilyBoost payment that was promised to you, then you don’t matter.
“But if a wealthy corporation comes asking for help, they will bend over backwards to give them a break—at your expense.
“Nicola Willis promised Kiwi families $250 a fortnight, but she can’t find a single family who got it. More than a quarter of their FamilyBoost scheme, about $14 million, has been eaten up in bureaucracy instead of going to families as promised.
“They’re telling New Zealanders we need to tighten our belts, but this Government keeps giving handouts to the people who need it least and taking it from the people who need it most.
“Budgets are about choices, and at every turn this Government is making the wrong choices.
“We need a government that is focused on improving the lives of New Zealanders, not making global tech giants like Facebook and Google even more profit,” Barbara Edmonds said.
Note to editors: The $479 million figure comes from the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2024 (page 76), which states: “The forecasts currently account for a 1 January 2026 implementation and include revenue of $479 million over the forecast period in relation to the DST with an additional $146 million per annum expected beyond the forecast period.”
Police have caught up with two of Auckland’s most recidivist retail crime offenders this week.
Both men were of interest to the National Retail Investigation Support Unit (NRISU), after allegedly committing more than $10,000 worth of offending in recent months.
Early this morning, a Waitematā Crime Squad unit came across a vehicle in Massey while carrying out prevention patrols.
Detective Senior Sergeant Megan Goldie says a traffic stop was carried out on Don Buck Road.
“It was soon established the man was being sought in relation to a series of shoplifting from retailers across Auckland,” she says.
“The man will face seven shoplifting charges, with three of those being valued over $1000.”
The 41-year-old will be appearing in the Waitākere District Court today and will have his bail opposed.
Meanwhile, further south, Counties Manukau East Police have laid more than 10 charges against a Mongrel Mob member.
Area Prevention Manager, Inspector Rakana Cook says units were attending a family harm event in Ōtara on Sunday.
“Staff established one of the parties involved had numerous warrants for his arrest in relation to shoplifting offending in Auckland and Whangārei,” he says.
“He was also a target for the NRISU given how prolific his offending has been over the past month.”
Inspector Cook says the 34-year-old man appeared in the Manukau District Court on 10 shoplifting offences.
“Police successfully applied to have this man’s bail opposed and he has been remanded in custody to reappear in July.
“It’s a fantastic outcome and the man has been held accountable for thousands of dollars’ worth of offending.”
Please attribute to Inspector Soni Malaulau, Tairāwhiti Police:
Gisborne Police are urgently seeking information as to the whereabouts of a man who fled from rural property this morning.
Sonny Kennedy was arrested at a Whakarau Road address around 9:30am, and was searched, before being handcuffed at the front of his body.
An officer was walking the 36-year-old to a police vehicle, before he fled on foot towards Whakarau Road.
The property is approximately 6km south-east of Matawai, around 26km from the intersection with State Highway 2.
Kennedy was dressed in a dark-coloured hoodie and light-coloured trousers and sneakers, and may have fled to a nearby bush area.
Police are working urgently to find him, as there are concerns for his welfare due to his ill-preparedness for the conditions and his potential state of mind.
Police are asking to the public to help us with any information you can. If you see Kennedy or have information as to his whereabouts, please call 111 straight away with any information, rather than approach him directly.
The sacking of hundreds of workers at Kāinga Ora is just more evidence of the Government’s heartless treatment of vulnerable families who rely on the support of the state for a roof over their heads.
Kāinga Ora today confirmed final plans to shed a net 620 roles across various teams. Many of these workers are providing frontline services to support tenants such as those at call centres and those working with other government agencies to find the right houses, in the right place for families.
“This is another shameful day for the Government which promised no cuts to frontline services – this is a lie which is being exposed every day across the public sector,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association for Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
“Many workers will now have to re-apply for new roles, with 769 workers having their roles disestablished. This piles stress and uncertainty on so many people doing valuable work for families across New Zealand.
“The Government is turning its back on supporting vulnerable families who have relied on Kāinga Ora to provide them with warm and secure homes – a basic human right.
“Just as we have seen with the attack on underpaid women, this is a government that favours the privileged. Fewer public houses will be built by the Government as it repeats the mistakes of the past and shifts the responsibility to community providers.
“The Government made a choice to gut Kāinga Ora – all part of the bigger plan to cut public services, and fund tax breaks for landlords. The irony is not lost on workers.”
The latest cuts mean a third of the Kāinga Ora workforce has been shown the door in a year.
“The dismantling of Kāinga Ora will make it harder for a future government to rebuild the agency that was succeeding in housing thousands of families. It’s disgraceful.”
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahiis Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
Media are invited to the 384 Allan Boreham Police recruit wing graduation.
What: Graduation of the New Zealand Police Allan Boreham 384 Recruit Wing. Who: For families and friends to celebrate with the newly attested Police officers. Why: Completion and graduation from their initial training course. Where: Te Rauparaha Arena, 17 Parumoana Street, Porirua. When: Thursday 22 May at 2pm – media will need to be in place by 1.45pm. How: RSVP the Police Media Centre if you’re attending: media@police.govt.nz
Commissioner Richard Chambers will be attending the ceremony, along with Her Worship Anita Baker, the Mayor of Porirua. Also attending will be members of the Police executive and Wing Patron, former Assistant Commissioner Allan Boreham.
The three top award winners will be deployed to Eastern, Wellington and Tasman Districts.
The 384 Wing Patron:
Allan Boreham is a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police and former head of Youth Justice for Oranga Tamariki, Ministry for Children. Allan holds the New Zealand Police in very high esteem and is honoured to be the patron for Wing 384.
He says he is looking forward to supporting the wing members to succeed and gain all the satisfaction a Police career offers. Allan joined Police in 1985 (in Wing 97) and served for more than 33 years. He was also a Deputy Chief Executive in the public service for five years in charge of Youth Justice.
His Police career was varied and involved completing a wide range of roles in public safety, investigations, and road policing. These included postings in Auckland, Tokoroa, Hamilton and Wellington. He received an award for his leadership in solving the 1997 kidnapping and murder of an Auckland businessman, Graham Kirkwood.
More details about statistics, prize winners and other recruits will be shared after graduation on Thursday.
PSA members will be turning out to support New Zealand women and pay equity at a multi-union Protect Pay Equity hui at Parliament tomorrow.
The rally Is being held on Budget Day to highlight how the recent pay equity law changes were rushed through Parliament to free up billions of dollars to plug the gaps in the Government’s Budget, says PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons.
“The undemocratic pay equity law extinguished 33 pay equity claims covering more than 150,000 mainly female workers,” Fitzsimons says.
“This means the Budget will be paid for by taking money from support workers, library assistants, social workers and others to fund tax breaks for landlords and support for tobacco companies.
The Protect Pay Equity hui will be held in Parliament Grounds, 1pm to 2pm, on Budget Day Thursday 22 May 2025.
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahiis Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health, and community groups.
Care and support workers who had their pay equity claims dumped overnight after years of work will meet at Parliament tomorrow to voice their frustration at the Coalition Government’s changes.
The workers are members of New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) and are some of the 3000 aged residential care health care assistants who were party to the claim.
NZNO care and support delegate Tash Greig says care and support workers were devastated by the changes.
“The Government chose not to prioritise low-paid women in this year’s Budget. They can find funding for landlords and the film industry, but not for women doing some of society’s toughest jobs.
“The work we do has been underpaid and undervalued for generations because we are women. Our claim was almost finalised and would have meant our hard work was finally properly recognised.
“To heap injustice on injustice, these changes were made without warning or consultation. That’s why we are joining the cross-union hui at Parliament tomorrow.
“We want the Government to treat us with the same dignity and respect we treat our elderly and vulnerable patients with – and reverse these changes,” Tash Greig says.
The bill seeks to redesign the vocational education and training system to restore regional decision-making. It also aims to increase industry involvement in vocational education and training. The bill would do so by amending the Education and Training Act 2020 to:
disestablish Te Pūkenga—New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (Te Pūkenga)
re-establish a network of regional polytechnics
establish industry skills boards to replace workforce development councils.
The bill would propose a framework within which new polytechnics and a Polytechnic Federation Committee can be established, as well as framework to establish industry skills boards. The frameworks would set out the characteristics and functions of the new entities, the process for their establishment and disestablishment, and the technical elements necessary for them to function. The bill would also enable Te Pūkenga to remain as a transitional entity for unallocated programmes and activities for a 1-year period after commencement.
Tell the Education and Workforce Committee what you think
Make a submission on the bill by 11:59pm on Wednesday, 18 June 2025.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) is concerned that after-hours attacks on Christchurch Hospital staff returning to their cars have continued without a proper long-term solution to parking in sight.
It follows the recent assault on a student midwife going back to her car from Kurawaka Waipapa.
NZNO Christchurch delegate Al Dietschin says staff have raised concerns about parking at the hospital for more than a decade, possibly longer, and while there has been some action from Te Whatu Ora, it is not nearly enough to prevent the assaults from persisting.
“How many incidents do we need to have before the employer acts in the interest of staff in accordance with the Health and Safety Employment Act?
“They have to provide a safe work environment. They always say health and safety of staff is important, but these after-hours assaults continue to happen.”
Al Dietschin says the Tū Waka Waipapa building that opened opposite the hospital in November 2023 provides parking, but costs about $25 a day, which is unaffordable for most workers.
In wake of many assaults in the past, the hospital provides a minibus shuttle between 9pm and 1am, but staff are often made to wait too long for this arrive.
“Staff are reportedly walking to their cars because they’re made to wait 30 minutes or more after working the late shift for the shuttle to arrive. Staff don’t feel safe walking to cars after their shift or early morning in the dark, but they’re sometimes forced to.”
Another shocking decision recently limits emergency department parking for lead maternity carers (community midwives) to five hours, he says.
“This used to be available for unlimited time. Now they’re forced to ask core staff to relieve them in the middle of a patient’s labour so they don’t get fined. That’s not good for the safety of their patients.”
Al Dietschin says the solution is simple from the staff’s perspective.
“Staff only want safe after hours parking close to hospital, and we don’t want to break the bank for this to happen.”
TASMAN SEA – A new analysis of the latest fisheries data by Greenpeace Australia Pacific has revealed widespread slaughter of sharks in the Pacific Ocean by industrial longline fishers. The analysis estimates that almost half a million blue sharks were caught as bycatch in the region in 2023, the highest number in recorded history since 1991.
Greenpeace estimates that around 438,500 near-threatened blue sharks, almost 50 million kilograms, were caught as bycatch in the region in 2023 fromWestern and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission(WFCPFC) data. The figure is double the 2015 numbers.
The analysis of shark bycatch data also revealed that the Lord Howe Rise and South Tasman Sea areas between New Zealand and Australia had some of the highest rates of birds caught on fishing lines – 13% of bycatch from longliners were seabirds like albatross.
Greenpeace Aotearoa oceans campaigner Juan Parada says, “This rampant destruction of critical ocean life in the high seas between New Zealand and Australia highlights the urgent need for international cooperation to protect the oceans.”
“The Tasman Sea faces multiple threats from industrial fishing. We’ve recently seen firsthand the destruction caused by bottom trawlers in a similar area of the high seas, where we witnessed graveyards of destroyed coral. Now we see that almost half a million blue sharks were unnecessarily killed in the West and Central Pacific in 2023. That’s so many sharks that if stacked nose to tail, they would reach the International Space Station and back.
“The international waters between New Zealand and Australia are globally renowned precisely because of the range and variety of ocean life that lives there, from deep sea corals growing on seamounts to sharks, seabirds and migrating whales.
“It’s such a significant place that Greenpeace and allies are calling for it to be one of the world’s first global ocean sanctuaries and it must be protected from longlining and bottom trawling so ocean life can thrive,” says Parada.
The incident happened on Lord Howe Rise, a region renowned for diverse marine life including corals, sponges, whales and seabirds.
Parada says, “While some countries are working constructively towards protecting the high seas, New Zealand is actively blocking meaningful ocean protection. Shockingly New Zealand is the only country still bottom trawling these waters.
“To protect the Tasman Sea, New Zealand must stop bottom trawling and get on with helping to create global ocean sanctuaries so all the life that lives there can thrive.” Scientists agree that to help stave off the worst of the climate crisis at least30% of the world’s oceans must be protectedfrom industrial harm by 2030.
Creating global ocean sanctuaries in international waters like the Tasman Sea, those areas outside of any one country’s jurisdiction, will play a crucial role in achieving this goal. In 2023 the world won the Global Ocean Treaty, which provides the legal framework for these sanctuaries, but first it must be passed into law.
Parada says, “Now is the time for cooperation in ocean protection. Every day that passes without the Global Oceans Treaty in force, marine species are being pushed closer to the brink of extinction by the industrial fishing fleet in the high seas.”
Greenpeace Australia Pacific spokesperson Georgia Whitaker says of the shark bycatch data, “The data is deeply disturbing – it’s a devastating record and a testament to the destructive nature of the industrial fishing industry. Sharks and other animals dying by the hundreds of thousands a year in this one patch of ocean, brutally killed by a legal and indiscriminate fishing practice like longlining. This is an appalling legacy our global leaders are leaving while the blue lungs of our planet are already facing chronic decline. Industrial fishing is sucking our ocean dry, fuelling the biodiversity crisis, and pushing prehistoric animals like sharks to the brink of extinction. Healthy shark populations are central to a healthy ocean – this is a loss we can’t afford.”
Ahead of the United Nations Oceans Conference in Nice, France, in June, Greenpeace is calling on governments to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty. Both New Zealand and Australia have signed the treaty but have yet to bring it into force.
One hundred and five graduates from the South Island graduated at the Wigram Airforce Museum in Christchurch, Ōtautahi this week (Tuesday 20 May 2025), to receive their qualifications from Open Polytechnic, New Zealand’s specialist provider of online learning.
Christchurch-based Bachelor of Teaching in Early Childhood Education graduate, Tessa Karati was the student speaker at the ceremony.
Tessa, who identifies as Cook Island and New Zealand Māori, commenced her speech in te reo Māori before thanking God and those people who had contributed to her success.
During her speech, Tessa acknowledged the impact that studying with Open Polytechnic has had on her life.
“I thank Open Polytechnic, for sensitively, but boldly calling us up and out to be advocates, and for helping to shape not just who I am as a teacher, but who I am as a person,” she said.
She likened her learner journey to a “relationship” with her degree as she went through the five stages of attraction, romance, disillusionment, commitment and acceptance.
Through her studies, Tessa realised how disconnected from her culture she had become and discovered that she had absorbed stories about her culture that were rooted in deficit, and how and why that was.
“It generated a deep sense of responsibility to do better for our future generations and enable them to thrive,” Tessa said
“I still have a lot to learn, but even so, I know my role as a kaiako is more than teaching, it’s advocating for our tamariki (children), ensuring they grow up hearing positive messages about themselves, knowing that they are valued.”
Tessa finished off her speech by thanking her tutors, friends and family, before congratulating her fellow graduates.
“Be proud. You are smarter, wiser, more resilient, more persistent, courageous, and hardworking,” she said.
During his speech, Executive Director Open Polytechnic Alan Cadwallader congratulated the graduates for their commitment to completing their studies.
“Choosing to study at distance and online is a learning experience which takes discipline and determination,” he said.
“It takes your self-motivation to set time aside to work through your online course materials, absorb the learnings, and then successfully complete assessments. I commend you all for completing your qualification while also navigating the responsibilities of whānau, work and other life commitments.”
Alan told the audience that it was a privilege and honour to be able to lead a world-class learning institution that puts learner achievement at the forefront of everything it does.
“I’m pleased to be able to say that in our most recent student satisfaction survey, 94% of our learners said they were satisfied with their overall experience with Open Polytechnic,” Alan said.
“This level of satisfaction can only be achieved by an all of organisation effort to ensure our ākonga (learners) have the teaching and facilitation, feedback, services and tools they need to succeed in their studies. “
Alan also acknowledged the importance of having a support network to help.
“I know your study journey will not always have been easy, and I would like to thank those in the audience that have supported you, your friends, family, whānau and supporters,” Alan said.
“It’s your practical means of support, your words of encouragement, and your guidance throughout your graduate’s study journey that has also contributed to their success.”
The graduates at the Christchurch ceremony were awarded a variety of diplomas and degrees, including early childhood education, primary and secondary education, social work, social health and wellbeing, funeral directing, business, accounting, applied management, legal executive studies, library and information studies, psychology, web development and design, information technology, architectural technology, and construction.
The Christchurch ceremony was the second of three for Open Polytechnic in 2025, with the final ceremony to come in Wellington on 27 May. Including those awarded in absentia, around 1150 graduates will receive their diploma or degree from Open Polytechnic this graduating year.
Greenpeace says that Federated Farmers’ intent to ‘go to battle’ over methane targets is yet another example of the agri-business lobby group’s selfish approach to life on our collective home.
Federated Farmers, Beef + Lamb and Dairy NZ have been pushing for methane targets aligned with ‘no additional warming’ – an approach that has been harshly criticised by climate scientists, the Climate Commission and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Greenpeace spokesperson Amanda Larsson says “The New Zealand dairy industry is the country’s worst climate polluter. The oversized dairy herd is cooking the climate with superheating methane emissions, yet agri-industry lobby groups refuse to play their part in tackling the climate crisis, instead leaving it to the rest of us to clean up their mess.
“Yet again, Federated Farmers are attempting to convince us that they are the exception to the rule. But this new concept they’re promoting – no additional warming – is not based on science. They’ve simply come up with a way to count emissions differently so that they can justify doing less.”
Methane emissions are responsible for a third of global heating to date, and the agricultural industry is the single biggest source. Those emissions are rising faster than at any other time in history.
“The consequence of the livestock industry selfishly absconding their climate responsibility is that everyone else has to pick up the slack. Or, alternatively, that we all suffer the consequences of more floods, storms, fires and droughts. All of which affect frontline farming communities first,” says Larsson.
Greenpeace says the key flaw in no additional warming is that it ignores the historic pollution caused by intensive livestock farming.
“It’s a bit like expecting your mortgage to magically be written off. The catch is that your debt still exists, it’s just that someone else will have to pay for it. Ignoring the historic methane emissions from agriculture won’t make that pollution – or its warming impact – go away.”
Source: Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities
URGENT DEBATES DECLINED
Gaza Aid—Signing of Joint Statement
SPEAKER: Members, I’ve received a letter from the Hon Phil Twyford seeking to debate under Standing Order 399 the Government’s signing of a joint statement calling for Israel to allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza. This is a particular case of recent occurrence for which there is ministerial responsibility. However, that signing of a statement is not a matter that is of so urgent a proportion as to warrant the setting aside of the business of the House today. The application is declined.
Source: Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities
WEDNESDAY, 21 MAY 2025
The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.
KARAKIA/PRAYERS
GREG O’CONNOR (Assistant Speaker): Almighty God, we give thanks for the blessings which have been bestowed on us. Laying aside all personal interests, we acknowledge the Queen and pray for guidance in our deliberations, that we may conduct the affairs of this House with wisdom, justice, mercy, and humility for the welfare and peace of New Zealand. Amen.
Source: Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities
QuestionNo. 10—Housing
10.TAKUTAI TARSH KEMP (Te Pāti Māori—Tāmaki Makaurau) to the Associate Minister ofHousing: What role, if any, have the Government’s policies and decisions played in contributing to the 53 percent increase in homelessness in Tāmaki Makaurau between September 2024 and January 2025, particularly for rangatahi?
Hon TAMA POTAKA (Associate Minister of Housing): Homelessness is a symptom of a broken housing system and a broken mental health system, and fixing these crises are both important for this Government. Government target No. 8 was to reduce the number of households in emergency housing by 75 percent, and we’ve achieved that in 15 months. One priority was to ensure that children were not growing up in that catastrophe that we know as emergency housing, and our decisions and mahi have led to around 3,000 children leaving emergency housing and coming out of emergency housing over the past 18 months. We’re very proud of that. The December 2024 homelessness insights report states it is not possible to determine the extent to which changes in homelessness numbers reflect broader economic, social, and health contexts or are attributable to policy changes.
Takutai Tarsh Kemp: What specific actions is the Government taking to prevent homelessness among rangatahi Māori, particularly to those exiting State care or youth justice systems, and how will these outcomes be measured?
Hon TAMA POTAKA: As this House has been told in the past, rangatahi-supported accommodation and youth-transitional accommodation continue to be supported. In addition to that, there are a number and a range of services—whether or not those are housing support products, housing first, transitional housing, and other pathways—for those people, including youths, who have some significant housing deprivation challenges.
Takutai Tarsh Kemp: How does the Minister justify the 2024 Budget decision to cut $40 million from Māori housing providers and $20 million from transitional housing for rangatahi?
Hon TAMA POTAKA: As we will recall, a number of agencies had to ensure that there were appropriate savings that came through Budget 2024 to enable and support ongoing delivery of better public services, such as health, education, defence, and the Police. But it was absolutely enthusing and energising for us to be in Toitu Tairawhiti last week in Gisborne where we saw the mahi, the good mahi, that has been undertaken by the people in Toitu Tairawhiti to construct around 150 new homes, with a priority on single mamas and tamariki.
Takutai Tarsh Kemp: What steps is the Government taking to empower kaupapa Māori and Māori- and community-led housing and support services, such as Mā Te Huruhuru, in Tāmaki-makau-rau in line with its Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations?
Hon TAMA POTAKA: This House may recall that recently we announced around $200 million of Māori housing tautoko to build 400 homes right throughout the country. Whether or not that’s up in Kaitāia or in Tūranga and Toitu Tairawhiti with the good mahi they are doing, and Ka Uruora throughout the North Island and others throughout the country, we continue to be very proud of the mahi that we are doing to support Māori housing and also the mahi that Minister Penk has been undertaking around granny flats and some of the ongoing mahi and good work being undertaken to look at papa kāinga.
Takutai TarshKemp: Supplementary. [Interruption]
SPEAKER: Just wait for the House to gather itself a bit. Thank you.
Takutai Tarsh Kemp: What is the Government doing to ensure the safety and wellbeing of rangatahi placed in emergency motel accommodation, and when will it invest in safe, culturally grounded, long-term, alternative, led-by-Maori communities?
Hon TAMA POTAKA: Let’s get back to some data points. In December 2023, there were around 3,438 children in emergency housing—that moral, fiscal, social, and cultural catastrophe. As of the end of March, there were around 516—many, many of whom were Māori that have left and exited as a result of the priority one decision that was taken by this Government to expedite those households and whānau who have been living in emergency housing for over 12 weeks. Now, we are very proud of the decisions that we have taken to expedite those whānau and tamariki out of those difficult and exposed lives in emergency hotels, particularly in places like Ulster Street in Hamilton West.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: Would the Minister have any idea as to how many homeless Māori the $80 million – plus profits the Waipareira Trust could house if the money was applied to them properly?
Hon TAMA POTAKA: There is a lot of mahi to do, and we’re getting on and doing the mahi here in this Government.
Takutai Tarsh Kemp: Will the Government commit to increasing funding for Māori housing and wraparound services for providers in Thursday’s Budget, in light of the 53 percent increase in homelessness in Tāmaki-makau-rau?
Hon TAMA POTAKA: As the “mana pūtea” Minister Willis will say, one more version of “Hine E Hine” to come. Kia ora tātou.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: A point of order, please, Mr Speaker. The question was quite specific, and I just wonder if the Speaker can advise, where the member asked “Will the Government commit to increasing funding”, based on a 53 percent increase in Tāmaki-makau-rau—we’re not clear on what that answer was or whether it was actually directed to the actual question.
SPEAKER: I took it to mean that the—[Interruption] I’m speaking. I took it to mean that the Budget’s being delivered tomorrow and that he was not going to be releasing Budget information ahead of the delivery tomorrow.
Police moved swiftly to apprehend two people attempting to burgle a Hunua property last night.
Eagle, a dog handler and patrols were despatched to Ponga Road at around 9.30pm after the property owner, who was observing from a distance, alerted Police that he could see people on his property.
“The rural property had been targeted by burglars four times in the past few weeks,” Counties Manukau South Area Response Manager, Senior Sergeant Clive Wood says.
Police responded rapidly to reports of two people leaving the property – one in a vehicle and one on foot heading into nearby bush.
“Police located the vehicle nearby and apprehended the female driver,” Senior Sergeant Wood says. “Eagle and Delta teams remained at the property searching for a man who Eagle observed moving around.”
A man was apprehended by the dog handler at around 10.20pm and suffered a minor dog bite on his arm.
Senior Sergeant Wood says: “Police are pleased a rapid response and good teamwork ended a potentially dangerous situation without incident.”
A 48-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man have been charged with burglary and will appear in the Papakura District Court today.
TASMAN SEA – A new analysis of the latest fisheries data by Greenpeace Australia Pacific has revealed widespread slaughter of sharks in the Pacific Ocean by industrial longline fishers. The analysis estimates that almost half a million blue sharks were caught as bycatch in the region in 2023, the highest number in recorded history since 1991.
Greenpeace estimates that around 438,500 near-threatened blue sharks, almost 50 million kilograms, were caught as bycatch in the region in 2023 fromWestern and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission(WFCPFC) data. The figure is double the 2015 numbers.
The analysis of shark bycatch data also revealed that the Lord Howe Rise and South Tasman Sea areas between New Zealand and Australia had some of the highest rates of birds caught on fishing lines – 13% of bycatch from longliners were seabirds like albatross.
Greenpeace Aotearoa oceans campaigner Juan Parada says, “This rampant destruction of critical ocean life in the high seas between New Zealand and Australia highlights the urgent need for international cooperation to protect the oceans.”
“The Tasman Sea faces multiple threats from industrial fishing. We’ve recently seen firsthand the destruction caused by bottom trawlers in a similar area of the high seas, where we witnessed graveyards of destroyed coral. Now we see that almost half a million blue sharks were unnecessarily killed in the West and Central Pacific in 2023. That’s so many sharks that if stacked nose to tail, they would reach the International Space Station and back.
“The international waters between New Zealand and Australia are globally renowned precisely because of the range and variety of ocean life that lives there, from deep sea corals growing on seamounts to sharks, seabirds and migrating whales.
“It’s such a significant place that Greenpeace and allies are calling for it to be one of the world’s first global ocean sanctuaries and it must be protected from longlining and bottom trawling so ocean life can thrive,” says Parada.
The incident happened on Lord Howe Rise, a region renowned for diverse marine life including corals, sponges, whales and seabirds.
Parada says, “While some countries are working constructively towards protecting the high seas, New Zealand is actively blocking meaningful ocean protection. Shockingly New Zealand is the only country still bottom trawling these waters.
“To protect the Tasman Sea, New Zealand must stop bottom trawling and get on with helping to create global ocean sanctuaries so all the life that lives there can thrive.” Scientists agree that to help stave off the worst of the climate crisis at least30% of the world’s oceans must be protectedfrom industrial harm by 2030.
Creating global ocean sanctuaries in international waters like the Tasman Sea, those areas outside of any one country’s jurisdiction, will play a crucial role in achieving this goal. In 2023 the world won the Global Ocean Treaty, which provides the legal framework for these sanctuaries, but first it must be passed into law.
Parada says, “Now is the time for cooperation in ocean protection. Every day that passes without the Global Oceans Treaty in force, marine species are being pushed closer to the brink of extinction by the industrial fishing fleet in the high seas.”
Greenpeace Australia Pacific spokesperson Georgia Whitaker says of the shark bycatch data, “The data is deeply disturbing – it’s a devastating record and a testament to the destructive nature of the industrial fishing industry. Sharks and other animals dying by the hundreds of thousands a year in this one patch of ocean, brutally killed by a legal and indiscriminate fishing practice like longlining. This is an appalling legacy our global leaders are leaving while the blue lungs of our planet are already facing chronic decline. Industrial fishing is sucking our ocean dry, fuelling the biodiversity crisis, and pushing prehistoric animals like sharks to the brink of extinction. Healthy shark populations are central to a healthy ocean – this is a loss we can’t afford.”
Ahead of the United Nations Oceans Conference in Nice, France, in June, Greenpeace is calling on governments to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty. Both New Zealand and Australia have signed the treaty but have yet to bring it into force.
Can passengers take photos and videos on a plane? That’s a good question when most of us have easy access to our phones and inflight Wi-Fi being increasingly offered to passengers. Another public setting where this question might arise is recording of patients and staff in hospitals. Read our AskUs answer to the question, ‘Can I record someone without telling them?‘
An important consideration is whether the recording is taking place in a public or private space. Generally, the Privacy Act says taking photos or recordings in public places is allowed. It also depends on who is taking the photo or making the recording, and whether the photos could be categorised as highly offensive.
Businesses
If you’re an agency (business or organisation) or if you’re taking the photo or making the recording on behalf of a business or agency, you need to consider the general obligations around collection of personal information (see principles 1-4 of the Privacy Act).
Individuals
If you are an individual and you’re taking the photo or making the recording in a personal capacity, it won’t usually be an issue under the Privacy Act. Most passengers on planes and visitors to hospitals will fall into this category, and if they were to make a recording on a flight, it will be in their personal capacity. But there are two things that a passenger should keep in mind.
It is always good practice to seek permission when an individual is the subject of your photo or recording. This is courteous and respectful of the privacy of others
The use of some public facilities, for instance, parks or swimming pools, will be subject to conditions that may impose limits on what you can film or record. For example, many swimming pools have clearly stated policies that photos and recordings are not permitted. Similar restrictions could apply to a passenger planeor a hospital.
While a commercial space like a passenger plane is essentially a public space, the airline may impose rules around whether a passenger can film or record. It can set this out in its passenger terms and conditions and in its passenger education.
However, the personal capacity exemption does not apply where the collection, use or disclosure could be “highly offensive”. This means there are circumstances where it generally isn’t appropriate for individuals to take photos or make recordings, even when they’re in a public space.
Emergencies
Is it acceptable for other passengers to film a mid-air medical emergency involving another passenger and post it online? We don’t think so. A medical situation would likely involve sensitive information about an individual who is vulnerable, and so this could be considered highly offensive.
In our view, an incident that may be embarrassing to an airline does not mean it is highly offensive. The case involving United Airlines and David Dao on a US domestic flight is a famous example. In this case, video taken by other passengers of Mr Dao being forcibly removed from the flight after he refused to give up his seat was used as key evidence.
What happens when people disagree?
Individual passengers and air crew may disagree about whether photos or recordings are acceptable. Ultimately, all parties should exercise restraint, consideration and common sense on a flight, as they should in other walks of life. If you wouldn’t want someone to do it to you, don’t do it to others.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told RNZ Morning Report today it was “intolerable” that Israel had blocked any aid reaching residents for many weeks.
The UK, France and Canada have expressed their frustration, with the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy telling Parliament the war in Gaza had entered a “dark new phase” and the UK was cancelling trade talks with Israel.
Although the situation had come about because of acts of terrorism by Hamas, for residents in Gaza it had become “intolerable”, Peters told Morning Report.
“We’ve had enough of this and we want the matter resolved and now.”
A full resumption of aid should have happened a long time ago and it was essential that the United Nations be involved in delivering it.
‘Had enough of it’ “… we’ve just simply had enough of it, utterly so [from Israel].”
The statement by the countries reaffirmed what had been said for a long time that Israel must make aid available.
New Zealand also opposed Israel’s latest expansion of military operations in Gaza, Peters said.
The Palestinian Authority and countries such as Egypt and Indonesia understood New Zealand’s position.
“We just want to sort this out and the long-term thing [Palestinians’ future alongside Israel] has got to be resolved as well.
“Israel needs to get the message very clear — we are running out of patience and hearing excuses.”
Asked if the Israeli ambassador should be called in so the message could be conveyed more clearly, he said it would be a symbolic gesture that would not help starving babies.
Israel already knew what this country’s stance was, he said.
It was an appalling situation that had started with “unforgivable terrorism” but Israel had gone “far too far” in its response, Peters said.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This bill would amend the Anzac Day Act 1966 to cover conflicts and persons who have served New Zealand in past or future times of war or in warlike conflicts that are not currently covered by the Act.
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Have your say on Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Amendment Bill
The Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for submissions on the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Amendment Bill. The closing date for submissions is 11.59pm on Monday, 23 June 2025.
This bill is one of three that the Finance and Expenditure Committee is considering related to financial services. The other two bills are the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill and the Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Bill.
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Financial dispute resolution is a free way for consumers to resolve disputes with their bank, insurer, KiwiSaver provider, or other financial service provider. This bill would make two changes to financial dispute resolution. The changes aim to ensure:
improved oversight of approved dispute resolution scheme performance, by requiring the responsible Minister to decide how the schemes must undertake their independent reviews
effective and impartial governance of the schemes’ boards, by providing for a regulation-making power that can be used to set skills, experience, and independence requirements of board members.
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Have your say on Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Bill
The Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for submissions on the Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Bill. The closing date for submissions is 11.59pm on Monday, 23 June 2025.
This bill is one of three that the Finance and Expenditure Committee is considering related to financial services. The other two bills are the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Amendment Bill and the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill.
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The bill would:
change minimum requirements for fair conduct programmes to allow for more flexibility and to reduce unnecessary prescription and compliance costs
require the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) to issue a single licence covering different classes of market services
change provisions that require firms holding a licence under the Financial Markets Conduct Act, or authorised bodies, to obtain regulatory approval from the FMA before certain changes in firms take effect
introduce on-site inspection powers for the FMA to, without notice, enter and remain at a place of business of a financial markets participant for compliance monitoring purpose
make a number of other technical amendments.
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Have your say on Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill
The Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for submissions on the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill. The closing date for submissions is 11.59pm on Monday, 23 June 2025.
This bill is one of three that the Finance and Expenditure Committee is considering related to financial services. The other two bills are the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Amendment Bill and the Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Bill.
Please take care to upload your submission on the relevant bill.
This bill would:
transfer regulatory responsibility for credit contracts and consumer finance from the Commerce Commission to the Financial Markets Authority
make certain alignments between the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 and other financial markets legislation to support a consistent and proportionate regulatory system, including transitioning lenders from a certification to a licensing regime
remove features of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (such as the due diligence duty for directors and senior managers) that are unnecessary because of, or do not fit as well with, the new regulatory approach (including the adoption of a licensing model)
limit the situations in which a creditor’s failure to make required initial or variation disclosure can mean that the debtor is not liable for the costs of borrowing.
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