Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Close to 140 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel, including some who whakapapa to Tai Rāwhiti, are being mobilised to support communities on the East Coast affected by last week’s severe weather.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) NH90 helicopter is helping provide access to isolated communities in the Gisborne and wider East Coast region. On Wednesday, it delivered supplies to Hick’s Bay and Te Araroa.

On Thursday, a C-130J Hercules aircraft transported a local emergency response group of 25 New Zealand Army soldiers along with essential stores and equipment.

The personnel are under the guidance of Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collier, who said the first priority is to get on the ground and see where they can best support the region.

The task unit includes specialist military experts in environmental health, engineering capabilities and civil defence coordination.

“The first step for us will be enhancing our situational awareness to have the right people in the right places,” Collier said.

“We are New Zealand’s Defence Force and we pride ourselves on being available and ready to support national requirements. The majority of individuals join the military to serve our country, so any opportunity we get to support our nation is one we will take. Our soldiers, sailors and seamen take great pride in responding where needed.”

He said it was “awesome” to be in Tairāwhiti and supporting what has already been a massive effort by the region and communities, and building on that.

Over the past 24 hours, more soldiers were deployed in support of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), including an Engineer Task Unit of 30 personnel with diggers and dump trucks, a Combat Services Support Element of 40 personnel including caterers and maintenance support, an environment health team to support water testing and environmental assessments, and Liaison Officers who will provide situational awareness in affected areas.

A transport platoon will use Medium and Heavy Operational Vehicles (MHOV) to move personnel, equipment and stores.

The NZDF initially deployed personnel in Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne, integrating into regional response efforts, including liaison officers and drivers along with 10 military vehicles.

Personnel assisted with the evacuation of civilians in the Bay of Plenty, and worked with Police and Hato Hone St John in Northland on evacuation tasks. RNZAF NH90 helicopters have supported search and rescue tasks as well as surveillance flights over affected areas.

Commander Joint Forces New Zealand Major General Rob Krushka said the NZDF was always ready to support civil defence and emergency response efforts.

“NEMA has requested support from the NZDF to help communities recovering from the impact of the recent weather events, and we have mobilised personnel, vehicles and aircraft to support local authorities on the East Coast.”

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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/2026/01/31/defence-force-flies-out-140-staff-to-weather-affected-east-coast/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Convicted double-murderer Scott Watson has been declined parole for a fifth time, with the parole board suggesting he address a number of their concerns ahead of his next appearance later this year.

After a two-hour hearing, it was suggested Watson undertake further treatment to address his attitudes to violence and women, have an Autism Spectrum Disorder assessment and work on his safety plan before he reappeared before the board in November.

The 54-year-old has been in prison for the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope since June 1999.

The Blenheim friends, aged 21 and 17, were last seen stepping off a water taxi onto a stranger’s yacht in the early hours of 1 January 1998 after a New Year’s Eve party at Furneaux Lodge. Their bodies have never been found.

Watson has denied murdering the pair. He first became eligible for parole in June 2015 and it was said at his parole hearings in 2021 and 2020, his refusal to admit to the crimes prevented him from undergoing the psychological treatment he needed, leaving him at an undue risk to the community.

Dressed in a standard-issue prison uniform grey tracksuit, Watson sat alongside his lawyer Kerry Cook at the hearing on Friday. He answered a number of questions put to him by board members about his behaviour, recent incidents that had occurred while in prison and his hopes around his potential release.

Watson said he had enjoyed working with a psychologist and he had developed friendships with people in prison but he also wanted to spend more time with his family. He did not want Corrections to give up on him and he hoped he would be given a chance to follow the psychological service recommendations.

Concerns about attitudes, use of violence and alcohol and drugs

Board member Dr Jeremy Skipworth said parole hearings proceeded on the basis of a proper conviction and given Watson had not been forthcoming about what happened at Furneaux Lodge that night, the board relied on a general agreement about the most likely scenario.

“When the two victims indicated that they needed a place to sleep, you may have offered them a berth with a genuine intention of hospitality. It’s known that you were intoxicated that night and likely both victims. Once on board a confrontation may have arisen through a social misunderstanding or some form of inappropriate behaviour from you. As you had learnt to rely on violence, including reaching for weapons during confrontations, with three individuals eventually trapped with potentially limited ability to de-escalate the situation, an unintended tragedy may have taken place, leading to the first victim’s death,” he said.

“You have a distinct pattern of not taking responsibility for your actions and shifting blame and distress alongside an overconfidence in your ability to cover up or get away with things therefore it could be considered that your natural tendency would be to cover up such an event to avoid responsibility.”

Watson admitted to being intoxicated at Furneaux Lodge on New Year’s Eve in 1998 and Dr Skipworth questioned his safety plan did not include intoxication with alcohol and drugs as a high risk situation, given it was associated with future escalation into violence.

Watson said it had been included in his previous safety plan but he had removed it as it was in his release plan and a requirement of the conditions for parole, so he thought it was sufficiently covered and he had no plans to consume alcohol or drugs if he did not adhere to those conditions.

“I’ve got a lot to lose if I don’t.

“If I disregarded my safety plan, I think in no time I would just fall over, flat on my face.”

When asked what the ideal first step outside prison would be, Watson said it would be to live with his family, not complete strangers, as he needed the support of those who loved him.

Misconduct at Christchurch Men’s Prison

The board was played footage of a “misconduct event” involving Watson at Christchurch Men’s Prison in 2025.

In the video, a group of men including Watson are sitting around two long tables, with some seen to be playing cards. Watson grabs one of the other inmates, puts him into a headlock, then drags him backwards off the bench he had been sitting on and onto the floor. The inmate then gets to his feet and Watson pushes him back to the ground, before a third inmate steps forward to punch the man in the face.

A psychologist giving evidence at the hearing said it was unpredictable violence that came out of nowhere and did not appear to have a trigger.

Watson had characterised it as a play fight with someone he considered a friend and he had not seen much wrong with it, but he expressed remorse that it had occurred.

He acknowledged that he sometimes said “stupid things” and made jokes that were in poor taste.

“I think there is something in me that self-sabotages.”

A plan for release

Lawyer Kerry Cook said the punishment period of Watson’s imprisonment was over and he was seeking some concrete steps about how to move forward.

“The current unit he is in, it is really treading water unless there is something else happening.”

A Corrections psychologist said she believed Watson could be safely managed in the community, with a release plan, in supported accommodation and with other contingencies.

“Given that Mr Watson has been incarcerated for a significant period of time, 26-odd years, I think that he needs more of a gradual reintegration and reintroduction into a community that is vastly different to the one he left 26 years ago.”

She said there remained concerns about Watson’s attitudes to women, his endorsement of antisocial activities and his friendship with someone who was not pro-social, that needed to be addressed before decisions were made on a rehabilitative pathway.

He had been described as a “nice enough bloke when sober” that had some social and communication difficulties.

She believed a specialist assessment would be beneficial to determine whether some of Watson’s characteristics and traits stemmed from a neurodevelopmental condition, or were the result of long-term incarceration, which would help to better manage his risk in the community.

An independent psychologist said while there remained evidence that Watson believed in condoning the use of violence in specific contexts, she said there was limited evidence of it manifesting in his behaviour and there was nothing to show he harboured hostile attitudes towards women.

She said he displayed concrete views with limited ability for abstract thinking and his personality traits could be a result of his prolonged incarceration, instead of a neurodevelopmental disorder.

“There is a risk Mr Watson has almost given up hope… he doubts he will ever get out.”

Lawyer for Corrections Claire Boshier said Watson still posed an undue risk to society and he was not ready for release.

“Although Mr Watson is assessed at low risk of really serious violence or murder, he is at medium risk of violence short of that and medium risk of general reoffending.”

She said specialised assessment would help to better understand the personality aspects of Watson’s risk, which informed what he was capable of and the approach taken for his release.

While Watson had demonstrated some positive progress, Boshier said it was tempered by several enduring characteristics, including his hostility toward women and his capacity for violence, which was evident in the most recent misconduct event in prison.

“The lack of ability to be able to understand why that unprovoked violence occurred and the lack of insight to reflect on it afterwards… is an indication of why Mr Watson remains an undue risk at this stage.”

Watson is due to reappear before the parole board in November.

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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/2026/01/31/convicted-double-murderer-scott-watson-declined-parole-for-a-fifth-time/

Source: Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/31/what-are-the-money-lessons-to-teach-your-kids-at-every-age/

Source: Radio New Zealand

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/31/review-carefully-observed-truths-and-aural-loveliness-abound-in-new-fazed-on-a-pony-album/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Politicians sharpen their knives and their tongues as we bump our way to 7 November

Election day is 7 November, but 28 May is the date when the fur is predicted to start flying among the coalition partners.

That’s Budget Day, and political convention dictates that after that, the gloves are off and the minor parties can start doing their utmost to distinguish themselves from the coalition leader.

“You pass your last budget as a government in election year, then you kind of – wink wink, nudge nudge – kind of fall apart a little bit,” says the Herald’s political editor Thomas Coughlan.

“You allow yourselves to differentiate a little bit more, just so that by the time you get on to the hustings, onto the campaign trail, once you do that … the parties of the government have their own unique identity and they’re not subsumed into this bigger idea of the National-led coalition.

“So ACT and New Zealand First will be, after Budget Day I think, wanting to spread their wings and take flight and step out from underneath the shadow of National.”

Coughlan says it’s interesting though that this coalition has been more, shall we say ‘boisterous’, than coalitions past – and the three members have been arguing since they were sworn in.

“That seems to have been a strategy on behalf of all three parties, but particularly those two minor ones … to keep their own separate identities in the coalition. And to be fair to those two parties, it has worked, to a certain extent. Both parties are polling above 5 percent, New Zealand First for the first time since it entered Parliament. It’s the third largest party in Parliament.”

The Detail also talks to Newsroom’s political editor Laura Walters about the lead-up to the election.

She and Coughlan agree that the economy is top of the agenda, and National will be either helped or hindered depending on how people are feeling about their personal circumstances.

“It’s the economy, but it’s also that cost of living thing as well,” Walters says.

“It’s not just whether the economy is getting better – we’ve already seen some of those economic indicators tell us that things are getting better, that recovery is on the horizon. It’s not just about that, it’s going to be, do people feel like things are getting better? Are their grocery bills more affordable, are their power bills more affordable? Do they feel like they can get ahead? Maybe they can buy that first home, they can actually put some savings away.

“It’s about the economy, it’s about the cost of living, but it’s not just about the data and the theoretical – it’s about really how people feel.”

For more on the big issues this election, including possible leadership changes, listen to the full podcast.

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

You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/31/election-2026-the-policies-the-politics-the-peculiarities/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A semi-retired specialist investigator has been called back to active duty after an intruder was discovered in a sanctuary off the coast of Rakiura Stewart Island.

Detector Gadget, a rodent sniffer dog, is patrolling Ulva Island, Te Wharawhara after a young female rat was found in a trap there earlier this month.

The island achieved predator free status in 1997 and is home to many native species including the Stewart Island brown kiwi tokoeka, the kākā, and South Island saddlebacks.

DOC said the biosecurity network had been activated with more than 300 traps and 50 cameras now operating.

Physical surveillance had also ramped up, including bringing in Detector Gadget.

Gadget’s handler, Sandy King told Checkpoint that after thorough checking from Gadget, fortunately no rats had been found on the island.

“Gadget went for a couple of walks this week, just looking at places that are high priority or areas where rats tend to gravitate to.

“There are a few buildings on the island, some houses … we spent a bit of time checking around and under those buildings and the sort of immediate environs and some of the more popular beaches and public places as well.”

King said with Gadget’s experience, she was sure if there had been a rat on the island, it would have been sniffed out.

However, Gadget’s sensitivity to rats can depend on the conditions.

“She generally picks them up from a reasonable distance away, but it does depend on which way the wind’s blowing. She’s not very tall, so her height of nose isn’t that great – a taller dog might have an advantage in some conditions.”

The Jack Russell Fox Terrier cross stands around 25cm high and being the runt of her litter only weighs in at around 5.5kg.

Despite not catching any predators in her latest mission, King said Gadget has had many successes over her career.

“The absolute career highlight was when she discovered some live mice in a bundle of building material that was about to be loaded onto a boat and to be transported to a rodent-free island. If Gadget hadn’t found that, it probably would have gone.”

It’s not only conservationists getting excited by the possibility of a pest-free environment, with Gadget’s own enthusiasm hard to ignore according to King.

“Her little tail goes round and round, a bit like an aeroplane propeller, sometimes I’m almost expecting her bottom to lift off the ground, and you can see that she is just really excited.”

Despite being called back to duty on Ulva Island, Gadget’s recent months have been spent easing towards retirement.

“She turned 13 in November … but she’s still fairly active and capable of doing jobs like we’ve just finished. So, yeah, she came out of retirement, dusted off her vest and muzzle and went to work.

“She’s one of those active elderly, people that still keep working.”

King said that Gadget’s official retirement is on the horizon and expects her to step back from work in about six months.

However, if people want to keep up with her adventures, she has got a keen Facebook following on her Detector Gadget page.

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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/2026/01/30/13-year-old-rodent-sniffer-dog-back-on-the-job-after-rat-found-on-predator-free-island/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The parents of a young teen missing after a landslide tore through a Mount Maunganui campground say their “hearts are broken”.

Sharon Maccanico, 15, was one of six victims of the deadly slip at the holiday park last week.

Pakuranga College confirmed Maccanico was among two of its students who died in the tragedy, alongside Max Furse-Kee, also 15.

Sharon’s parents, Natallia and Carmine said their daughter was born in Italy and moved to New Zealand when she was 8.

“This was where her passion for dance began. Sharon wanted to be a professional dancer, and she would often practice for hours every day,” they said in a statement.

“She participated in seven solo competitions at regional and national level and won all seven. Last year she also won an international competition in Belarus.

“We gave her all the support we could and were so proud to watch her work towards achieving her dreams.”

Her parents said they were extremely proud of Sharon, and she was loved by all.

“Our family is a very close family and always did everything together.

“Sharon and Natallia had a bond like no other, and were best friends. Sharon felt comfortable to talk to her about everything and had a very close relationship with both her parents.”

Sharon has an older sister in Belarus, who no matter how far apart they were, would always remain in close contact and had such a strong bond, they said.

She also remained close to her family in Italy and would often call them.

Natallia and Carmien said their daughter “met the love of her life Max” and they quickly formed a strong relationship.

“Max became a treasured part of our family, and he looked after Sharon and made her feel so special,” they said.

They thanked everybody for their support and messages.

“We also want to express our gratitude to the community, local iwi, and all the people who have been beside us through this difficult time. We are very grateful for their 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/2026/01/30/sharon-maccanicos-parents-heartbroken-after-daughter-killed-in-mount-maunganui-landslide/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A new 60-bed mental health unit has opened at Auckland’s Mason Clinic, the country’s largest forensic psychiatric service.

Health New Zealand said the $162 million, three-storey building called E Tū Wairua Hinengaro will replace leaky, ageing units with ongoing air quality issues.

The clinic cares for people with serious mental health problems or disabilities who have committed or who are charged with serious crimes.

Mental health and addiction national director Phil Grady said the new unit would result in better outcomes for patients and a better working environment for staff.

“This facility represents the latest chapter in a long and important story, the evolution of the Mason Clinic and of forensic mental healthcare in New Zealand,” he said.

“The true value of E Tū Wairua Hinengaro is that it enables improved models of care and gives staff new options to safely manage patients’ needs – options that were simply not possible in the old units.”

The first patients were expected to move into the unit in late February.

Health NZ said recruitment was underway for an additional 57 full-time staff and there had been a good response from candidates.

E Tū Wairua Hinengaro, meaning quality of mind, was significantly bigger than the old units, with 10,000 square metres of floor space, Health NZ said.

It said the unit was a safe, recovery-focused place, featuring secure courtyards and enhanced ventilation.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/30/new-60-bed-mental-health-unit-opens-at-aucklands-mason-clinic/

Source: Radio New Zealand

This story discusses graphic details of violence.

Convicted murderer Clayton Weatherston has told the Parole Board that his mutilation of Sophie Elliott was “just an F-U to everything about her”.

The 50-year-old has been declined parole and will remain behind bars until at least November 2027.

Weatherston was an academic at Otago University who lectured in economics and had been in a relationship with the honours student.

Elliott, 22, had left Weatherston and was packing up her life to move to Wellington to take up a job at Treasury on 9 January 2008, Weatherston’s 32nd birthday.

Weatherston arrived at her family home in the Dunedin suburb of Ravensbourne armed with a knife.

He stabbed her to death so viciously the knife broke and used a pair of scissors in his frenzied attack.

Weatherston inflicted 216 stab or cutting wounds as well as seven blunt force injuries and disfigured her body.

On Friday morning he appeared before the Parole Board for the first time after serving an 18-year non-parole period of imprisonment.

His lawyer told the panel Weatherston was not seeking parole and understood more time would have to pass before he was eligible.

Panel members asked Weatherston if he had reflected on his offending and had any explanation for his attack on Elliott and his actions after she was dead.

He told the board the attack was “incredibly misguided” and he was ashamed and remorseful.

“My offending was about alleviating frustration,” Weatherston said.

“It was about alleviating my distress. A lot of the things going on in my life were projected on to her, anything I don’t like about her, anything I don’t like about myself.

“It was a visceral, brutal way of wiping out someone you have perceived as hurting you in the worst way possible. It was just an F-U to everything about her and about that I am ashamed and ashamed I would channel that towards another person.”

At trial Weatherston tried to blame the attack on Elliott, claiming the partial defence of provocation.

Her death shocked New Zealand and Weatherston’s antics at trial further outraged the nation, leading to the partial defence of provocation being abolished by statute.

“I feel shifting the blame, shifting the focus of behaviour away from me was completely wrong,” Weatherston told the Parole Board.

“I certainly regret the nature of that court process. I think the focus should be on my behaviour and I really regret that, the way things played out at that time.”

Panel member Alan Hackney asked Weatherston if he had any flashbacks or nightmares about his crime.

“Yes, all of those things,” Weatherston said, impassively.

“There are certain triggers in everyday life, mentions of certain words, comments from other people. Looking back it’s just extreme regret for the tragedy of the whole situation.”

Upon reflection, Weatherston claimed his offending caused him a “high degree of anxiety and stress and shame”.

Hackney remarked that Weatherston “described that incredibly calmly” considering the distress he described to the board.

“I don’t feel calm and in fact I feel extremely emotional,” Weatherston said.

“It’s not something that’s easy to deal with. Some days I get very emotional about it and some days I say ‘you just have to accept what has happened and move forward’.

“Sitting here today and as I present to you, I’m trying to maintain myself in this environment,” Weatherston said, lifting his glasses and wiping an eye.

During his trial, the court heard Weatherston had kicked another former girlfriend and made her nose bleed.

He was asked about the conflicting accounts he had given of that assault and his responsibility for it.

He told the Parole Board he maintained he was “jumping over” the woman and it was an “accidental act that I immediately apologised for”.

The board heard Weatherston had not been involved in any misconduct during his time in prison.

He had not undertaken any rehabilitation and there was some way to go before that could happen.

Weatherston had read for more than 1000 hours and had familiarised himself with methods of psychology.

The board heard he remained at high-risk of reoffending against intimate partners.

Weatherston said he believed he had some element of neurodivergence and “some degree of personality traits”.

When it was pointed out that clinicians had assessed him as suffering from a severe personality disorder he responded, “I don’t subscribe to the high degree of narcissistic personality disorder opined”.

A support person told the panel that he had seen “a lot of change, growth and development” in Weatherston during his 18 years behind bars.

Weatherston’s lawyer Roger Eagles said his client “does feel remorse and shame for his actions” and “understands the huge distress caused for the victim’s family and friends”.

He said it was possible Weatherston would make “rapid progress” when he undertook rehabilitation because he was “undoubtedly a gifted man intellectually”.

Weatherston told the board he was a different man from the “hard-charging, younger version of me”.

“I want to verbalise my remorse and action it. I take it incredibly seriously,” he said.

Elliott’s father Gil remained sceptical about Weatherston’s remorse.

“I’m not sure whether that would be genuine or not,” he told RNZ following the board’s decision.

“Narcissists’ mental state doesn’t change because it can’t change. They are wired that particular way.

“His mental state when he went in should not be or won’t be any different then to his mental state now 18 years later.”

Gil thanked Victim Support and the Parole Board for their support and manner, which put him and his support people at ease.

He had sought a postponement order to prevent Weatherston appearing before the Parole Board again for several years, although it was not imposed.

“It was bad enough going through the hearing this time although it was certainly a lot better than we thought it was going to be because the Parole Board was so nice and accommodating,” Elliott said.

“I’m sure not sure I’d attend another hearing, but November 2027 we’ll have to go through it all again.”

Elliott said his daughter’s death and her killer’s brutality would hang over him “forever and a day”.

The Parole Board will assess Weatherston’s progress late next year.

Where to get help:

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

Sexual Violence

Family Violence

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/30/convicted-murderer-clayton-weatherston-denied-parole-after-18-years-in-prison/

Source: Radio New Zealand

State Highway 2 north of Wellington is down to one northbound lane after a multi-vehicle crash north of Ngauranga.

Waka Kotahi said Hutt-bound drivers could expect delays while emergency services were on the scene.

There was significant congestion on the urban motorway.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/30/multiple-vehicle-crash-on-state-highway-2-north-of-wellington/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A monster slip blocking the main access route to a series of towns on Northland’s east coast is still moving, complicating efforts to reopen the road.

Whangārei District Council infrastructure committee chairman Brad Flower said the landslide that came down on the final day of last week’s storm buried Russell Road in mud, trees and boulders weighing up to 100 tonnes.

“We’re estimating it’s around 100,000 cubic metres of material that’s there. Not all of that’s come down. There’s a portion which has come down on the road, but the bulk of it is actually sitting up above the slip, and that slip is still moving,” he said.

“As of yesterday, the cracks are still moving apart. So it’s still an active slip.”

Flower said even if contractors were able to shift 1000 cubic metres of material a day, and worked every day with no further weather interruptions, it would take 12 weeks to clear the road.

The slip meant communities at Helena Bay, Teal Bay, Ōakura, Punaruku, Bland Bay, Ngaiotonga and Whangaruru had lost their main road connection to Whangārei.

Flower said a “lifeline route” along Kaiikanui Road was open to local residents and essential services, but it was steep, unsealed and at most one-and-a-half car widths wide.

The safest and only fully sealed route to and from the coast was via the Ōpua car ferry to the north.

The slip appeared to be only 100 metres wide where it crossed the road, but it “fanned out” further up the hill, so it was significantly wider at the top.

Heavy machinery would have to start by removing loose material from the top.

Flower said Fulton Hogan, the main contractor, had brought in experts who had worked on the Brynderwyn slips of 2023-24.

The company had managed to find a dump site about 2km west of the slip, and the search was continuing for another so debris could be trucked away in both directions.

Simply bulldozing the material into the gully, as many people had suggested, was not possible, Flower said.

“First, we’d get prosecuted for doing that by the regional council. It’s not good practice to fill up a gully. Secondly, imagine putting 100,000 cubic metres into the gully, and then we have another weather event, where does that end up? That’s a 100,000-cubic-metre wall that heads towards Mōkau and ends up further down, doing damage to homes and farmland and the ocean,” he said.

“We really feel for people that are affected by this, who are cut off and can’t get in and out, but we’ve got to make sure it’s done properly, it’s safe, and it lasts.”

Contractors would use a hydraulic rock breaker to deal with the 100-tonne boulder.

If that didn’t work, explosives would be used to fracture it.

Flower said it was the only big boulder that could be seen, but he was certain there were more “big floaters” buried under the mud and debris.

Any damage to the road would become apparent only once the slip had been cleared.

The landslide came down near a slip that closed Helena Bay Hill for several months in 2007.

However, Flower said that was an “underslip” where the road itself had fallen away, making it much more difficult to fix.

The 2007 repairs had held up well in last week’s storm.

The latest slip was north of Helena Bay Café and Gallery so those businesses were still open and could be accessed from Whangārei.

Meanwhile, Flower said 35 flood-affected homes had so far been assessed by council inspectors.

Five of those had been red-stickered – meaning they were deemed too dangerous to enter – and 10 had been yellow-stickered, with some restrictions on access.

All roads in the district, apart from Russell Road, had reopened.

A few were down to one lane due to washouts or slips, but the council hoped all would be back to two lanes in time for Waitangi Day.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/01/30/monster-slip-in-northland-still-moving/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Residents of small communities are wondering whether there are better ways to empower them to clear up after storms.

In several storm-hit areas, councils asked residents to leave slip clearing on public land and roads to emergency services or council contractors for safety and asset management reasons.

But this could mean long waits for pockets of residents with low priority slips, and communities often take action regardless.

‘Auntie Trish’, of Ōtetao Reti Marae in Northland, was stuck when the extreme weather last week closed the roads to the marae.

No one could get in or out until they coordinated with a neighbouring Mokau Marae to the south.

“All of these young lads here came and just got their shovels and started digging away,” she said.

She said they worked for two days digging it out, and that was the only reason the marae was accessible.

She was proud of their efforts and back at her marae, they did what they could to support the diggers.

“We just fed them and they all turned up,” she said.

Resident Maureen Hing said without equipment on hand, her sons, nephews and others from both marae took to the physical work.

“They all started digging with their shovels and clearing it, there was quite a lot of them, about 12 of them,” she said.

They all felt that clearing the road quickly was necessary and they were able to do it quickly.

“They just did it to get people, to get supplies – petrol, diesel – that’s the only way we can do it you know, and they did it on the first day we had this, on the Sunday,” said Hing.

However, councils often strongly discourage people from clearing roads, unless absolutely necessary.

A Whangārei District Council spokesperson says slips on public land and roads should be reported to and cleared by trained contractors, primarily for safety reasons.

“While we understand people often want to help clear roads for themselves or their neighbours, clearing slips on public land without an assessment can place individuals at serious risk and may also damage council assets or interfere with emergency response, so this is strongly discouraged unless absolutely necessary,” the spokesperson said.

They said council crews were trained and equipped to assess land movement, falling debris, damaged infrastructure, and know about underground services.

The situation was the same in another storm-hit district of Thames Coromandel, and Mercury Bay South Residents and Ratepayers Association chair Paul Hopkins said he wants to see it change.

He said smaller slips, or slips that don’t completely block a road, can be treated as low-priority by the council and take time to be cleared

“It’s taken some time to actually clear some of the smaller slips on the roads, which I feel the local council should look at their procedures,” he said.

Hopkins thought locals would like to be able to clear roads and reestablish access quickly if given the authority to do so, and that it would be beneficial for everyone.

“The council’s got a lot on their plate, but I do feel as if councils need to give back some responsibility to the locals, because in days-gone-by you didn’t have a council to do it, the locals would do it, and it’s something that I definitely think they need to re-look at,” he said.

Hopkins thought small communities had the skills and people to take more care of themselves – just as the Northland marae proved.

They just needed to be more empowered to do so.

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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/2026/01/30/storm-hit-community-clears-up-low-priority-slips/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Wellington developer has bought Loafers Lodge, the burnt-out boarding house in which five people died more than two years ago.

The building has sat empty, with blackened walls and damaged signage, since the fire in May 2023.

In a statement, Primeproperty Group said it had signed a conditional contract to purchase the property in late 2025.

“Settlement has not yet taken place, and Primeproperty has not taken possession of the site. Settlement is currently scheduled for later this year.”

It said at this stage it was undertaking “preliminary investigations and technical studies to understand the site and assess potential development options”.

No decisions had been made regarding its future, and no applications for resource consent had yet been lodged.

It would not disclose the purchase price as it was “commercially sensitive”.

In January last year, the company bought the abandoned Reading Cinema complex on Courtenay Place, announcing plans to redevelop the building including a new facade, and a new name – “The Court”.

Late last year, Esarona David Lologa, 50, was found guilty of murdering five people – Michael Wahrlich, Melvin Parun, Peter O’Sullivan, Kenneth Barnard and Liam Hockings – by deliberately setting fire to the building. He was sentenced to life in prison, with no chance of release for at least 22 years.

Four others, who were involved with the management and operation of the building, have been charged with manslaughter, with police alleging they were responsible for aspects of the building’s fire safety.

Primeproperty Group said it was unable to comment on court proceedings or their implications for the transaction.

Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge has been calling for something to be done with the building for the past two and a half years.

“I was delighted to hear that news today, because it means that hopefully something will finally be done about the Loafers Lodge building,” he told RNZ.

It was a source of trauma for those affected by the fire, he said, many of whom remained connected to the City Mission.

“We know every day as they walk past, drive past, catch the bus past the Loafers Lodge building, [it’s] such a traumatic reminder of what happened two and a half years ago.”

Demolition would be the preferable option, he said, but if it was going to be refurbished, he hoped they would “just get on and do it”.

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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/2026/01/30/wellington-developer-buys-loafers-lodge-building-where-five-died-in-fire/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A cybersecurity group says they’ve identified the person responsible for hacking into the Manage My Health portal, and now it wants justice served.

The privacy breach is one of the biggest in New Zealand’s history, after hackers gained access to health data being held by the privately owned patient records company, Manage My Health.

Those responsible, a hacker who calls themselves Kazu, demanded US$60,000 for the stolen data.

Manage My Health has been granted a High Court injunction preventing anyone from accessing or sharing the stolen data.

Kazu had previously published samples of the leaked information online.

Earlier this month, all posts referring to Manage My Health had been removed from the page.

The International Online Crime Coordination Centre (IOC3) has been tracking Kazu, following the breach.

It targets online harm, including child exploitation, grooming, extremism and fraud.

The group has shared its investigation with RNZ. We have agreed not to name the person believed to be behind Kazu or details that could jeopardise a further investigation.

They have also alerted the authorities.

IOC3 executive director Caden Scott said they needed to be careful.

“We’re just mindful that we’re still looking into this individual, and we don’t want to mistakenly drive this person underground by making them aware that there are these kinds of investigations ongoing into them.”

Scott said they wanted to see the person behind the attack arrested.

“We definitely want justice,” he said.

“We want this person to be looked into and this person to be arrested as a result of their actions. They’ve definitely committed a plethora of crimes there, and this isn’t the only attack that they’ve done. They’ve attacked numerous other institutions from across the entire globe.”

He said health companies hold extremely sensitive data.

“When you look at healthcare institutions, or anything like that, especially ones that hold a lot of people’s very personal data, often times they don’t really have that choice in paying the ransom or not paying the ransom,” Scott said.

“These are very sensitive topics and very sensitive information, so a lot of times it’s best to do whatever possible to stop that information getting out.”

Scott encouraged victims of ransomware attacks not to pay the hackers.

“Paying that ransom doesn’t guarantee that the data isn’t going to be leaked,” he said.

“They might ask you for half-a-million dollars, you pay that, and then they decide: ‘Well, can also sell this database to everyone as well and make even more money’.”

It was better to go through law enforcement, Scott said.

The National Cyber Security Centre’s chief operating officer Mike Jagusch said they were aware of information in the public domain identifying those who’ve claimed responsibility for the attack on Manage My Health.

He said they were working with police, Health New Zealand, and other agencies to reduce the impact of the breach and prevent further exploitation of the leaked data.

“At the National Cyber Security Centre, we have a range of tools and information it uses to help establish the identity of malicious actors,” he said.

“This process is called attribution, and it can be very complex. It requires significant analysis to have the necessary level of confidence to attribute activity to an actor or group.”

Jagusch said public attribution of cyber activity to a group or state is a whole-of-government process, and was undertaken when it was in the national interest to do so.

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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/2026/01/30/cybersecurity-group-identifies-person-behind-manage-my-health-hack/