Category: KB

Source: Radio New Zealand

Corrections has terminated its contract with a prisoner reintegration service run by a former drug lord following what it described as “serious sexual allegations”.

RNZ can reveal that Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust general manager and founder of the Pūwhakamua rehabilitation service Billy Macfarlane faces allegations in relation to a woman who was on bail.

Macfarlane told RNZ he had a sexual encounter with the woman on one occasion, but said it was consensual and there was “nothing inappropriate about anything going on”.

Corrections, which contracted the trust to operate Pūwhakamua, has confirmed to RNZ it has terminated the contract.

Corrections began funding the service in November 2022. Since then, it had contributed around $3.9 million in ongoing funding, with a current agreement to fund $800k per year until 2027. About $880,000 of the $3.9m was part of a conditional grant for infrastructure upgrades.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

In a statement to RNZ on Monday, Corrections deputy chief executive of communities, partnerships and pathways Juanita Ryan said it “terminated” its contract with the reintegration service on Friday.

“As soon as we became aware of the serious sexual allegations made against a Pūwhakamua staff member on Monday 16 March 2026, we requested that the staff member be stood down and replaced immediately.

“Given the sexual nature of the allegations and the potential conflict of interest in delivering a rehabilitation service, we urgently sought further information and assurances from the Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust (TACT), who is contracted to deliver the service.”

Ryan said Corrections had not received these assurances, nor confirmation on whether the trust stood down the staff member.

“Corrections is committed to ensuring the men who currently use this reintegration service have safe, suitable accommodation and our focus remains on ensuring public safety is upheld.

“We are working to finalise alternative approved accommodation for each of these seven men, and we will be working with them in the coming days to safely relocate them to their new addresses.”

Ryan said Corrections valued “trusted relationships” with their partners.

“We work alongside them to deliver programmes in our community that support the people we manage to make meaningful change and lead them towards a life free from crime.

“These trusted relationships are critical to reduce reoffending and ensure the safety of our communities. Therefore, the integrity of our programmes, and the programmes delivered on our behalf, is paramount.”

Macfarlane, who was jailed for 14 years after being caught running a large methamphetamine operation, denied any allegations of wrongdoing when contacted by RNZ on Friday.

He said there had been a “crusade” against him that had lasted for about two years.

“There’s a whole lot of lies that have started up about this whole episode. There’s been allegations of grooming, all this sort of shit. And it’s not at the stage where the newspaper should be reporting on it.

“It should be in the hands of the police first to sort out the truth from the lies. I’ve got a whole lot of proof around this whole thing but I’m not prepared to play it out on media and then some of it needs to go into the courts…”

When approached for comment on Monday, Macfarlane said he had sex with the woman, who had been released on bail to a property in Auckland, on one occasion.

“It was just two consenting adults, and it had nothing to do with Corrections…”

He said he had consulted a lawyer to see whether he had broken any rules, and that it appeared he had not. He said the property the woman was bailed to was a “private address” where two others had also been bailed to.

He said the property was not associated with the Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust or the Pūwhakamua rehabilitation service.

“My organisation has had their funding stopped due to somebody’s false allegations.”

He believed Corrections was “just looking for any excuse to stop our contract”.

“We’re not the only ones who had their contract stopped … I’ve working in the correctional space for 14 years now, and no one even had the decency to talk to me. No one from Corrections asked me what happened. They’ve just taken it off social media post. That’s really unprofessional. No one’s asked me for the truth.”

Macfarlane said before he went to visit the woman in prison he met with the prison director “to declare my conflict of interest, if there was any…”.

“The prison director told me I need to come in either professional visitor or personal visitor. I can’t do both. I can’t blur the lines… so I chose to go in there as a personal visitor and visit her in the visiting room with other inmates.”

He said it was not a sexual relationship at that time.

“I slept with her one night following her release…”

He said he “categorically” denied any serious sexual allegations.

He said he was “offended” that Corrections had terminated the contract.

“In any normal space… if I thought I’d done something wrong, it would be me resigning. But they’ve resigned the whole kaupapa. They’ve resigned 14 years of hard work,” he said.

He said he had been stood down from the trust.

“There is an independent investigation going on now, so the truth will be discovered. But you know that will never repair my relationship with the Department of Corrections if they’re going to treat me like this…”

Macfarlane said the ceasing of funding from Corrections would not stop him from doing the work.

“It just means I’m going to stop getting funded by Corrections. I’m going to continue to try and help my people in a justice space as long as I can for those who appreciate me.”

However, he said the loss of funding would have a “huge impact”.

“All the people we provide custodial support for, and everything is going to go out the door. And I just think Corrections is managing this, excuse my language, really piss poorly, and it’s just because they don’t care.

“They never have appeared to care. And you know, you know, I’m ready to up and walk away… if this is how I get treated for something that I’ve put my heart and soul into.”

He said he would go to Māori organisations to support him.

RNZ also spoke to the chairman of the Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust Doug Macredie.

He said Corrections had informed the trust that it was a “suspension” not a termination.

“They’ve done this before, probably three times since I’ve been involved with this, where they say one word that means something completely different to the formal letter that they’ve sent us.”

Asked about Corrections’ comments that they had not had assurances about Macfarlane being stood down, Macredie said that was because they had not picked up the phone or listened to voice messages.

“The assurances were given to them immediately by voice message and by text, and as Billy probably confirmed, he’s stood down. So you need to understand that when you’re dealing with Corrections, you are dealing with a hideously kerfuddled organisation where the left hand often doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.”

He said Corrections had “pretty much told us nothing”.

“They’ve told us exactly what you’ve said, which is somewhere out there in the Great Blue Yonder, there’s an allegation. And I said, ‘well, who? where? from who and how does it relate to the programme?

“So unless you can tell me an allegation that relates to the men, the eight men that are currently on our programme I’m not sure if you want me to comment on someone’s personal life and innuendo and social media pages. I’m not going to.”

Macredie said there were no women on the programme and that he did not know of any serious sexual allegation.

On Wednesday, a police spokesperson confirmed a complaint had been received “which is in the early stages of investigation by the Counties Manukau Adult Sexual Assault Team”.

Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said in a statement to RNZ any contractual decisions were a matter for Corrections.

“I encourage anyone with allegations of this nature to report them to Police.”

According to its website, which appeared to now be offline, Pūwhakamua was a tikanga Māori reintegration service for people who “require support to return and readapt into the community”.

“The Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust, endorsed by Te Arawa elders, sponsors the Pūwhakamua concept which has been providing a pathway for men released to the community by the New Zealand Parole Board.

“These men observe stringent parole conditions alongside our own rigorous set of site rules, with high levels of accountability for the duration of their stay.”

Pūwhakamua provided a live-in residential programme in Rotorua.

“It has garnered support from key public agencies including the New Zealand Police, The Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Social Development,” the website said.

Macfarlane founded Pūwhakamua in 2018.

The website said the programme had “grown from strength to strength under his leadership and unique vision to offer an alternative pathway for men released from prison. Billy continues to deliver cognitive wānanga and te reo Māori lessons in both prison and community settings”.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/26/corrections-ends-puwhakamua-prisoner-reintegration-contract-after-serious-sexual-allegations/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has warned it will not have enough government funding to cover all domestic enrolments next year – the third consecutive year funding was expected to fall short of demand for tertiary education.

The warning came in the commission’s guidance to institutions applying for government funding in 2027.

“Investment planning for 2027 is taking place in a very challenging fiscal environment. We expect demand to remain strong and available funding to be unlikely to match it. Trade-offs will be required and most providers will see reduced investment,” it said.

It said the commission would base its funding decisions on factors including evidence of improvements in student pass rates, financial performance, and institutions’ contribution to the network of tertiary courses provided around the country.

The commission also warned some institutes could lose some, or even all, funding.

“We expect to actively disinvest where these requirements are not met,” it said.

“In exceptional circumstances we may disinvest from all [of] your provision.”

Last year, the commission said it had enough funding for 99 percent of expected enrolments in 2025 and in 2026 and would use its reserves to provide funding for up to 102 percent of forecast enrolments this year.

However, 2025’s domestic enrolments exceeded forecasts and the commission said it was still calculating the result for that year.

“The final 2025 position across the entire tertiary sector is still being processed as we work through the annual wash up process over the next couple of months,” it said.

The commission said the government’s Budget could affect the outlook for this year.

“Unfunded learner numbers for 2026 will not be able to be forecast until after Budget ’26 decisions are taken and TEC receives it first data return on enrolments,” it said.

“The signalling in the plan guidance document reflects the current situation where the government is operating in a very tight fiscal environment and where economic conditions, the job market and demographics are driving enrolment growth. The sector needs to be prepared that not all programmes they wish to deliver can be fully funded with the focus being on supporting programmes in priority areas.”

The guidance also cautioned against rapid growth in foreign enrolments.

“Providers need to ensure growth in international education is sustainable, and that the quality of education and educational experience for international students and domestic learners is maintained or enhanced,” it said.

“This will support New Zealand’s reputation as a competitive global provider of high-quality education… Any potential negative impacts, such as on placement capacity, need to be carefully managed.”

Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan said historically governments had funded all enrolments because they did not want students to be turned away from courses.

“The government has funded the forecast numbers, the problem is actual numbers keep exceeding forecast,” he said.

Whelan said institutions could cope with small numbers of unfunded students, but not with large numbers and the effect varied depending on what proportion of a student’s education was covered by government subisdies.

In some subjects, the split was 50/50 between student fees and government subsidies, in others it was more like 33/67.

Whelan said as a result some institutions were refusing unfunded enrolments.

“Certainly I’m hearing, even though it’s quite early, that is happening in some places where universities are discouraging enrolments because they are unfunded places… And in other places, of course, universities are simply saying, yep, we can take on a smallish number of unfunded places.”

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/26/tertiary-education-commission-warns-of-government-funding-shortfall-for-domestic-enrolments/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Corrections failed to properly monitor a man with ADHD and addiction problems who died by suicide in Christchurch Men’s Prison, a coroner has ruled.

Alexander Nicholls-Braddock, who was 29, was found dead in his cell on 19 March 2021, just over five weeks after he arrived.

It was his first time in prison, and he was sent there after being sentenced on his sixth charge of driving with excess breath alcohol.

Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame’s report into his death was released to RNZ. She ruled he died by suicide, but the way in which he died cannot be reported.

The report noted Nicholls-Braddock had a long history of addiction and mental health problems, and prison was an unsuitable place for him. The Coroner also found failings by the Department of Corrections.

Coroner Cunninghame said when Nicholls-Braddock was seven he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).

His mother gave evidence that he had talked about wanting to kill himself from when he was a child, and since his teens he had struggled with alcohol and substance use, she said.

Nicholls-Braddock was charged with driving with excess breath alcohol for the first time in 2011.

The sixth time was in 2020, after he crashed his vehicle on his way to whitebait at the beach. He was hurt in the accident, as was a dog which belonged to a member of the public.

“Alex was a person who enjoyed the outdoors, and he had made Haast his home. He had a partner and a supportive family, and was well-liked. Sadly, Alex had a long history of addiction and poor mental health, which affected his functioning and brought him before the Courts,” the Coroner said.

After the 2020 charge, in relation to the possibility of Nicholls-Braddock being sentenced to prison, his GP in a referral letter to an alcohol and drug service questioned if jail was the right place for him given how “fragile he is psychiatrically”, the report said.

Nicholls-Braddock was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment with leave to apply for home detention if a bed became available at mental health and addiction service Odyssey House.

He faced difficulties in prison, and died after being in there just over five weeks.

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Erik Monasterio, who gave evidence at the inquest into Nicholls-Braddock’s death, outlined risk factors present in the lead up to the death.

They were alcohol and drug addiction and coping in the early stages of enforced remission, persisting anxiety and distress, thoughts of suicide, fears for his safety, an unexpected fine added to his sentence and the expectation of detention in his cell following internal prison charges.

“The combination of these factors occurring in the context of Alex’s vulnerable personality while isolated from his partner and family in custody “likely overwhelmed his limited coping skills and contributed to his death”, the Coroner said.

Dr Monasterio noted that a number of these risk factors had not been disclosed by Nicholls-Braddock to Corrections staff, and that since he seemed happy with the plan for him to be placed in the drug treatment programme while the Odyssey House referral was explored, “his risk for suicide was not considered to be elevated in the lead up and at the time of his death”.

Coroner Cunninghame found Nicholls-Braddock was bullied by other prisoners, and that Corrections did not adequately recognise or manage the risk which other prisoners posed to him.

“This resulted in his possessions being taken, his involvement in misconduct charges, and, on his account to Ms Pearce [Nicholls-Braddock’s partner], assaults. Alex’s phone conversations with Ms Pearce make it clear that these incidents were distressing to him, and that he believed that nothing could be done to assist him,” she said.

“Dr Monasterio recognised the bullying as impacting on Alex’s ability to cope in prison and increasing his suicide risk.”

The report said Nicholls-Braddock’s medical history and GP records, which referred to his mental health history and self-harm, were not requested when he was received into prison.

“Dr Monasterio considered the absence of these records “unfortunate” because it prevented prison staff from knowing the full picture about his suicide and self-harm risk. This is particularly important in the case of a prisoner such as Alex, who denied suicidal or self-harm thoughts or behaviour when he was assessed at the prison,” the Coroner said.

Dr Monasterio described the use of the ISU [Intervention and Support Unit] for the management of drug and alcohol withdrawal and for the detention and supervision of inmates with symptoms of mental illness as “inappropriate”. The report described how Nicholls-Braddock struggled in the ISU when he first arrived at prison.

Coroner Cunninghame made five recommendations to the Department of Corrections.

These included that concerns about bullying in prisons should be pro-actively managed and custodial staff should be trained to consistently record and manage these concerns, the process for obtaining prisoner’s health records should be reviewed to ensure that it is appropriate and consistently followed, and processes for contact and engagement with family/whānau, especially for first-time prisoners, including opportunities for direct contact with unit staff and case managers, should be improved.

“The strong feeling that ran through the evidence was that Alex should not have been in prison. Alex’s family and Ms Pearce were very concerned about how he would cope, as was his GP, and sadly these concerns came to pass,” Coroner Cunninghame said.

“Those of us who were in Court for the inquest heard Alex’s voice on the recordings of his phone calls. He was in distress in his last days, but I also heard his love for his family and his ability to find humour even in dark times. It is a tragedy that he was overcome by his ADHD and addiction, and that he ended up in prison, which everyone recognised was an unsuitable place for him. May he rest in peace.”

Christchurch Men’s Prison general manager Jo Harrex said while the causes of suicide were multifaceted and complex, Corrections was committed to doing everything it could to prevent deaths in custody.

“We would like to express our sincere condolences to the loved ones of Mr Nicholls-Braddock and acknowledge the ongoing pain they experience as a result of his death,” she said.

“Corrections accepts all of the coroners’ findings and recommendations. Since the man’s passing, Corrections has made multiple changes to help support prisoners with their mental health and wellbeing.”

Upon reception into prison, all people were screened for suicide or self-harm risk in the Receiving Office by a corrections officer and again during the reception health screen assessment, Harrex said.

Other changes included implementing additional training packages at Christchurch Men’s Prison for custodial and case management staff and holding regular multi‑disciplinary team meetings involving staff such as case management and custodial staff to support those who had been identified as vulnerable, high‑risk, complex, or who required additional oversight for other reasons.

Harrex said Corrections expected to release its updated Suicide Prevention and Postvention Action Plan soon.

“Relevant medical and health information is managed in accordance with health privacy requirements, which limits routine sharing amongst health and non-health staff. Where such information is identified and considered helpful, custodial and case management staff work closely with their health services colleagues. However, some court ordered documentation remains restricted, and cannot be shared without the consent of the court and/or the prisoner. With prisoner consent, relevant non-restricted health information may be loaded on our internal systems,” she said.

“Acknowledging there is a need to improve access to support, we are currently collaborating with Health NZ, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice and other partners to ensure people in prison who have severe and acute mental health needs, or an intellectual disability, are receiving timely support.”

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/26/prison-an-unsuitable-place-for-alexander-nicholls-braddock-who-died-by-suicide-coroner/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow Kākāpō Files on Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Kākāpō are one of the rarest birds in New Zealand, with an adult population of just 235 individuals.

Imagine then, the pressure on Auckland Zoo vet Adam Naylor when he arrived at a nest to discover a young chick, named Huhu-A3-2026, looking floppy and an unhealthy purple colour.

“My vet training kicked in, and I started doing some very tiny CPR,” Adam told the Kākāpō Files podcast.

“I just blew gently into its mouth, to try and get some air into it and get it breathing again. And after a minute or so it suddenly took a breath.

“It was a scary moment for all of us, including the DOC [Department of Conservation] ranger,” said Adam, “[but] by the next day, I’m happy to report, it had bounced back remarkably well.”

It was not the only time on his trip to Whenua Hou / Codfish Island that Adam’s ER skills were called into action. He was also able to save the life of a 12-day old chick, Rakiura-A2-2026, which was found in the nest with a significant wound.

“It was actually a pretty deep and fresh laceration at the base of the neck, right across the jugular vein,” said Adam.

After cleaning the wound, Adam closed it with stitches, which he described as “pretty tiny sutures”.

He reports that by the end of the day the “chick was as happy as anything and begging for food, so I walked up and popped it back on the nest again”.

Chick Rakiura-A2-2026 is a bit of a celebrity, having been the first egg that watching members of the public saw laid live on the Kākāpō Cam live feed, on the 25th January. Chicks are named after their mum, their clutch and egg number, and year of birth. Rakiura-A2-2026 is being raised by various foster mothers, while its mother Rakiura fosters another chick, Nora-A2-2026, as interested YouTubers watch on.

Adam was assisting with kākāpō management on Whenua Hou, which lies just off Rakiura / Stewart Island, and is one of the three predator-free kākāpō breeding islands – the other two are in Fiordland.

With 78 females nesting across those islands, a huge milestone was reached earlier this week when the 100th chick of the 2026 breeding season hatched. This cements its status as the biggest ever kākāpō breeding season on record.

Plus, a handful of remaining fertile eggs are expected to hatch over the next few days, meaning it will well surpass the previous 2019 record of 85 chicks hatched.

Unfortunately though, not all these chicks will make it.

Kākāpō Recovery Programme ranger Sarah Manktelow told the Kākāpō Files podcast that seven chicks have died so far. “We have to expect to lose some chicks,” she said.

Four chicks have also been transported to Dunedin Wildlife Hospital where they are currently receiving treatment.

Those who manage kākāpō are hoping these record-breaking numbers will ultimately help boost the total population. However, because there are many potential pitfalls for the newly hatched chicks, they don’t get counted as adults until they reach 150 days of age, and are independent. For the first chicks hatched this year, that’s around mid-July.

To get regular updates about this record-breaking breeding season, follow and listen to the Kākāpō Files podcast.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/26/over-100-kakapo-chicks-hatch-in-record-breaking-breeding-season/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fire and Emergency is urging residents in storm-affected areas to be ready to evacuate if necessary, following a night of heavy rain.

A red weather warning remains in place for Northland east of Kaikohe from Doubtless Bay to Whangārei, with the worst of the downpours expected to hit on Thursday afternoon.

Marae in the region have been opened for those in need of support, and Fire and Emergency has deployed 19 specialist rescue personnel to Northland and Auckland.

MetService said the heaviest rain and largest volumes were likely to be in the upper North Island, from Northland to western Bay of Plenty.

Downpours, flooding, and slips were also possible on Thursday and Friday.

Fire and Emergency assistant national commander Ken Cooper warned residents in upper parts of Northland to be ready in case the situation deteriorated.

“For that upper part of Northland, the intelligence we’ve got is there’s a large amount of rainfall over a very short period of time. I would certainly advise people to be prepared, if they’re in low lying areas or near rivers, be prepared to move.”

Cooper said anyone concerned about a risk to life or property should call 111.

Northland Civil Defence expected the worst of the rain to hit the northeast coast on Thursday night.

In a post on social media, it warned residents not to go into flood water, to avoid unnecessary travel, and to be aware of slips.

“Leave immediately if you notice cracks in the ground, leaning trees or power poles, unusual sounds, or sudden changes in streams,” it said.

Follow the latest updates in our live blog above.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/26/live-heavy-rain-lashes-upper-north-island/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Specialist rescue teams are being deployed to Northland as the region hunkers down for the worst of the severe weather.

A red weather warning is in place, with the worst of the downpours expected to hit on Thursday afternoon.

Marae in the region have been opened for those in need of support.

Fire and Emergency (FENZ) assistant national commander Ken Cooper told RNZ it had prepared its response across the region, pre-deploying crews to where they would be most needed.

“We are pre-positioning our specialists water rescue team, and some urban search and rescue teams,” he said.

“These are severe situations that our people are going to be encountering so we want to ensure that we’ve got the right people in the right place.”

Cooper said 17 specialists would be deployed to Northland, while eight would be in Auckland.

FENZ had to pre-position crews strategically, he said.

“We get informed that it’s going to impact a very large geographic area, so it’s always very challenging for Fire and Emergency to pre-position exactly where a storm is going to hit and where the impacts would be.”

His advice for locals was to keep an eye on news and alerts put out by authorities, and to get out if the situation turns dangerous.

“If people feel that life and property is endangered or at risk then please do call 111.

“For that upper part of Northland, the intellegence we’ve got is there’s a large amount of rainfall over a very short period of time. I would certainly advise people to be prepared, if they’re in low lying areas or near rivers, be prepared to move,” Cooper said.

Meanwhile, residents in Northland were facing the oncoming storm.

Max Thompson lived in Mokau, near Ōakura, but the creek crossing to get to his house had been washed out.

He was staying in a campervan at Mokau marae said most people knew they could come to the marae if need be.

“These weather events have prompted our communities, our marae communities, to get into action and to build capacity for when they happen,” he said.

“I don’t want to sound too blasé, but I’m quite comfortable and confident that we’ll ride this storm out.”

Robynne Cooper owned the Whangaruru beachfront camp and said the weather had made it a difficult summer season.

“We should still have quite a few campers out there,” she said.

“It hit us in peak season, so we’ve lost a lot of income and a lot of campers, that’s for sure. We’ve had pretty much 80 percent cancellation.”

Robynne Cooper said she was worried about the sustainability of the business.

“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, I haven’t lost any sleep over it, I’m not that person that’s going to stress and kill myself with a heart attack, but it is going to be a very, very tough year that’s for sure.”

Ngātiwai kaiwhiriwhiri Jude Thompson lived in Tūparehuia/Bland Bay, in the north of Whangaruru.

“It’s probably one of the safest areas on the flat. In saying that last time my house flooded, so I’ll probably be staying up quite a bit through the night just to see what happens here. Most of the communities out in this area last time were individually cut off for one reason or another, either through trees falling or through slips. So everybody needs to be ready to be independent and look after themselves.

“All of our marae have stood up and are just absolutely amazing and have everything that we need to keep our whānau safe.”

She said it would be a very long night. Rain had been falling throughout the day, but began to intensify once night fell. Her power went out around 9.30pm. As of 10.30pm, Northpower reported around 1500 homes without power, including in Aranga, Mamaranui, Kamo and Whangaruru.

Thompson said many residents were tired and quite anxious following January’s widespread and destructive flooding. Punarurku, to the west of Whangaruru Harbour, was hit with 285.5mm of rain over a day during the January floods. That was more than the approximately 260mm that typically fell over the area over the whole of summer.

January’s severe weather also caused a significant slip at the southern end of Whangaruru which would take months to clear, and had left those entering from the south during the day having to drive in convoy following a pilot vehicle.

“It’s quite a long road, it’s gravel, it’s windy, there’s some quite significant drop-offs, and it’s having quite an impact on people’s vehicles.”

Many residents were very anxious about the forecast rain, and warnings about the incoming storm had left many on edge.

“People are anxious about this event and given it’s a red warning that does come with a risk to life so we have to be very vigilant to take it so seriously.

“We’ve seen since the event in January that the impacts on people’s mental health, the rise in anxiety, the psychosocial effects have been significant, right across Whangaruru and with our whānau who are up in Whangaroa who were very impacted as well.

“A couple of days ago when the forecast was communicated and as it’s got closer and we went to a red warning today, people are really, really anxious and feel quite triggered given what they went through.

“Some of our whānau arrived at the marae literally in just what they were standing in. They had lost absolutely everything. Everything had washed away and they were just standing in wet clothes. So to hear even the sound of rain since then … has been really difficult.”

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/26/specialist-rescue-crews-deployed-to-northland-and-auckland/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Specialist rescue teams are being deployed to Northland as the region hunkers down for the worst of the severe weather.

A red weather warning is in place, with the worst of the downpours expected to hit on Thursday afternoon.

Marae in the region have been opened for those in need of support.

Fire and Emergency (FENZ) assistant national commander Ken Cooper told RNZ it had prepared its response across the region, pre-deploying crews to where they would be most needed.

“We are pre-positioning our specialists water rescue team, and some urban search and rescue teams,” he said.

“These are severe situations that our people are going to be encountering so we want to ensure that we’ve got the right people in the right place.”

Cooper said 17 specialists would be deployed to Northland, while eight would be in Auckland.

FENZ had to pre-position crews strategically, he said.

“We get informed that it’s going to impact a very large geographic area, so it’s always very challenging for Fire and Emergency to pre-position exactly where a storm is going to hit and where the impacts would be.”

His advice for locals was to keep an eye on news and alerts put out by authorities, and to get out if the situation turns dangerous.

“If people feel that life and property is endangered or at risk then please do call 111.

“For that upper part of Northland, the intellegence we’ve got is there’s a large amount of rainfall over a very short period of time. I would certainly advise people to be prepared, if they’re in low lying areas or near rivers, be prepared to move,” Cooper said.

Meanwhile, residents in Northland were facing the oncoming storm.

Max Thompson lived in Mokau, near Ōakura, but the creek crossing to get to his house had been washed out.

He was staying in a campervan at Mokau marae said most people knew they could come to the marae if need be.

“These weather events have prompted our communities, our marae communities, to get into action and to build capacity for when they happen,” he said.

“I don’t want to sound too blasé, but I’m quite comfortable and confident that we’ll ride this storm out.”

Robynne Cooper owned the Whangaruru beachfront camp and said the weather had made it a difficult summer season.

“We should still have quite a few campers out there,” she said.

“It hit us in peak season, so we’ve lost a lot of income and a lot of campers, that’s for sure. We’ve had pretty much 80 percent cancellation.”

Robynne Cooper said she was worried about the sustainability of the business.

“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, I haven’t lost any sleep over it, I’m not that person that’s going to stress and kill myself with a heart attack, but it is going to be a very, very tough year that’s for sure.”

Ngātiwai kaiwhiriwhiri Jude Thompson lived in Tūparehuia/Bland Bay, in the north of Whangaruru.

“It’s probably one of the safest areas on the flat. In saying that last time my house flooded, so I’ll probably be staying up quite a bit through the night just to see what happens here. Most of the communities out in this area last time were individually cut off for one reason or another, either through trees falling or through slips. So everybody needs to be ready to be independent and look after themselves.

“All of our marae have stood up and are just absolutely amazing and have everything that we need to keep our whānau safe.”

She said it would be a very long night. Rain had been falling throughout the day, but began to intensify once night fell. Her power went out around 9.30pm. As of 10.30pm, Northpower reported around 1500 homes without power, including in Aranga, Mamaranui, Kamo and Whangaruru.

Thompson said many residents were tired and quite anxious following January’s widespread and destructive flooding. Punarurku, to the west of Whangaruru Harbour, was hit with 285.5mm of rain over a day during the January floods. That was more than the approximately 260mm that typically fell over the area over the whole of summer.

January’s severe weather also caused a significant slip at the southern end of Whangaruru which would take months to clear, and had left those entering from the south during the day having to drive in convoy following a pilot vehicle.

“It’s quite a long road, it’s gravel, it’s windy, there’s some quite significant drop-offs, and it’s having quite an impact on people’s vehicles.”

Many residents were very anxious about the forecast rain, and warnings about the incoming storm had left many on edge.

“People are anxious about this event and given it’s a red warning that does come with a risk to life so we have to be very vigilant to take it so seriously.

“We’ve seen since the event in January that the impacts on people’s mental health, the rise in anxiety, the psychosocial effects have been significant, right across Whangaruru and with our whānau who are up in Whangaroa who were very impacted as well.

“A couple of days ago when the forecast was communicated and as it’s got closer and we went to a red warning today, people are really, really anxious and feel quite triggered given what they went through.

“Some of our whānau arrived at the marae literally in just what they were standing in. They had lost absolutely everything. Everything had washed away and they were just standing in wet clothes. So to hear even the sound of rain since then … has been really difficult.”

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/26/specialist-rescue-crews-deployed-to-storm-battered-regions/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Lincoln University has confirmed plans to cut 40 full-time equivalent jobs, as the union raises concerns about the speed and impact of the changes.

The university informed staff today it was calling for early retirements and voluntary redundancies, before beginning formal processes in the middle of this year.

A Lincoln University spokesperson said the move was to maintain financial stability in 2026 and beyond, “and to position the university to continue our focus as a specialist university for the land-based sectors”.

Tertiary Education Union (TEU) delegate Professor Cor Vink said the news came as a bombshell.

“People were surprised, they’re obviously upset, people are worried about increasing workload as well as it doesn’t sound like if anyone takes redundancy that they would be replaced.”

Staff were told the university was losing some of its government funding and enrolments had not hit targets, Vink said.

The university revealed the plan at an all-staff meeting this afternoon, where it announced all permanent staff would be offered “enhanced retirement and enhanced voluntary cessation packages,” and had until 23 April to apply.

There was a lack of detail in the announcement, Vink said.

“There wasn’t a lot of clarity in the messaging at the meeting. There was supposed to be a memo for people to have a look at after the meeting, but that didn’t come out for another hour, so we’re sitting around twiddling our thumbs wondering what it’s all about.

“There is a degree of vagueness about the whole thing.”

The union would prioritise clarifying details, including information on how and why it had come to this, he said.

The university invited staff to propose ideas to save money, increase student numbers or improve the university’s finances, but Vink said he did not believe it was staff’s role to propose those type of solutions.

“The Vice Chancellor said if anyone can think of ideas to come to him, but I would think that’s why he gets paid the big bucks, because he should be thinking of those sorts of things.”

Questions were raised about the university’s capital programme, which included a number of new buildings, and whether those works could be stopped or put on hold.

“I know students don’t come to a university to see the buildings, they come to university to be taught by the experts. That’s certainly how I remember my university – I really don’t remember the buildings much at all, I remember the inspirational lectures I had.”

The speed of the process was worrying, especially given existing concerns about workload, Vink said.

“This is all supposed to be decided on in late May and wrapped up by June.

“That gives us just over a month to try and figure out the workload the people leaving have had and then be able to school up everyone else who’s got to carry the burden on how to do those jobs before the person leaves.”

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/25/lincoln-university-to-cut-40-full-time-equivalent-jobs/