Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Wellington charity supplying school stationery to families who can’t afford it may be forced to turn people away because demand is so high.

Te Awakairangi School Stationery Drive supplies children in the Hutt Valley with essentials such as exercise books, pens and backpacks.

It’s just one of several costs families face at the start of the school year on top of things like school uniforms.

Associate Education minister David Seymour described the price of some uniforms as totally “outrageous” and “unnecessary”.

Last year, Te Awakairangi School Stationery Drive delivered 220 stationery packs for the start of year, meeting every single request.

But already demand is well up and that could mean some tough decisions.

Organiser of the stationery drive Nicky Smith told Checkpoint they’ve already had just under 200 requests, and she expected the number to rise.

“Schools are back from next week and teachers and schools start to realise where gaps might be.”

However, the stationery drive had already exhausted all funds and the donations they had received this year to meet growing demand.

“We collected about $3000 through our Givealittle campaign, and we’ve also collected about $1400 worth of donations in physical items that have come through the community.

“But if we were to take these 200 requests and price them at standard store rates, that’s $9000 worth of stationery. So, if anything further does come through, we’ve got nothing really to fund it with.

“It does keep me awake at night knowing that I might have to turn some families away.”

Smith said it cost on average $50-55 per student for their stationery needs. The ‘cheapest’ school list she knew of was $26 and the most expensive was $149.

If she had to turn families away, it would be the first time she’d done so.

“I can’t imagine having to do it. I want to be optimistic that we can continue to do this good work and that the community will come through and help us meet every target.”

She said the drive had received more requests this year because of the cost of living, but it also meant that less businesses were able to donate.

“Businesses I feel have been a little bit hesitant this year. We have some supporters who have come back year on year and we’re really grateful to them. But you know we’re not picking up new sponsors.

“That sort of indicates to me that there’s some hesitancy that maybe [with] economic conditions, [it’s] not favourable for a lot of businesses right now and that’s why we’re not really seeing the support.”

Every stationery pack the drive gave out was tailored to each student, she said.

“If a student is attending a school, we will go and find the stationery list for that school and that classroom, and we’ll pack it exactly to what’s on their list because we want to make sure that the kids are arriving at school with everything they do need.

“Things like a range of books, glue sticks, scissors, pens, pencils, colouring pencils.”

This year so far, the drive has distributed 6,500 thousand items. Of those, 1700 of were books, 1500 were pencils and 850 were pens.

Smith said the drive often received messages from families who they had supported with school stationery.

“They talk about how receiving a pack has almost reduced them to tears because it has lifted a huge weight off their shoulders.”

The stationery drive was inspired by Smith feeling the financial strain herself, during the back-to-school season.

“There was a period there after the COVID years, where getting stationery for my own children was stressful and we went a couple of weeks without having stationery in class.

“Just that feeling of the kids coming home and saying, ‘hey mum, my teachers hassling me because I don’t have all the stuff that I need’. It makes you feel like you’re letting your kids down.”

The drive also received positive feedback from schools, she said.

“Being able to lift that from parents feels really good. But we also hear from schools because we know that we’re helping to reduce some of those really complex barriers to to coming back to school, like attending.”

Te Awakairangi School Stationery Drive has their own website, Givealittle page and Facebook page.

They also have donation points for physical items across all Hutt City Libraries.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/wellington-stationery-drive-in-high-demand-exhausts-all-funding/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch school where mouldy lunches were served to students says an internal investigation has found no evidence to support the Ministry for Primary Industries’ claims that contaminated meals came from the school.

New Zealand Food Safety, a business unit of MPI, is standing by its findings that “the most plausible explanation” was the accidental mixing of fresh meals with lunches meant to be served the week before.

The report by Haeata Community Campus, obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act, said that claim was unfounded because the school only received the required number of lunches each day and did not have a facility to reheat food or store meals.

The report said questions needed to be raised with MPI and Compass Group, specifically about two different batches of meals identified at the school on Monday, 1 December, when they were prepared, by who, the dates they were distributed to schools, and why contaminated meals were found to be interspersed with uncontaminated meals.

NZ Food Safety acting deputy director-general Jenny Bishop said it received the internal investigation report from Haeata Community Campus last week and responded to the school.

“We carefully reviewed the report and note that it does not introduce any new evidence beyond what was considered in the NZFS investigation released publicly on 10 December 2025,” she said.

School investigation results

The report said when the mouldy meals were discovered on 1 December, eight Cambro boxes containing lunches were delivered to the main building Te Tai o Mahaanui at 9.16am where they were received by a member of the school lunch distribution team. Dietary-specific meals were identified and removed for distribution separately.

The report said all lunches handled by staff during distribution on 1 December were hot to touch.

Camera footage then showed eight Cambro boxes being picked up by the Compass Group delivery driver at 2.26pm.

The investigation also looked at the meals delivered and collected the previous school day, Thursday 27 November. There were no meals delivered on Friday, November 28 because it was a teacher-only day.

The report said eight Cambro boxes were delivered at 9.20am and nine were picked up at 2.26pm on 27 November, because an empty Cambro had been left on the lunch table for students to put their lunch containers in once they were finished.

Staff recount finding the mouldy meals

According to the Haeata report, a school nurse said she was walking through the main building on 1 December when she overheard other staff members talking about a “health issue”, with someone saying “we could have a bunch of sick children”, so she went to see if she could help.

“The ladies were opening all remaining lunches to check if there were more rotten ones. I suggested that there must be some processing batch number, and we should identify this rather than just opening all remaining lunches,” she said.

The nurse said a batch number was visible on the plastic lid above a time stamp, but both were difficult to read because of condensation on the inside of the containers as the meals were warm.

Staff identified two different batch numbers, separated the meals by number and then opened those labelled 25297 and found they were all in a state of decay.

“I estimate there were about a couple of dozen or so rotten meals but could not be sure. We checked several of the other batch numbers, and all meals were fine so we decided opening all of them would be unnecessary,” she said.

She checked the rubbish bin located by the tables but did not find any remnants of rotten food or containers with the bad batch number.

The report said a teacher aide was in reception at lunchtime on 1 December when she saw the meals another staff member had opened and asked what it was because it looked grey.

“Two staff members and I looked through the Cambros to see if there were any more of the mouldy meals. As we started looking we were finding more hot mouldy meals spread throughout the good ones, this was the case for all of the Cambros we went through,” she said.

“We noticed that all the mouldy meals had the same batch number, which was different from the good meals. Once we had gone through all the Cambros and taken out all of batch number #25297 we opened all of them and saw they were all grey and mouldy and smelt the putrid odour coming from them.”

The report also said an admin staff member went to get a lunch at around 1.50pm and noticed one of the meals was greyish in colour.

“It was hard to tell as all the meals had condensation on the inside of the lids. So, I opened it and saw a fermented/mouldly meal,” she said.

She said she looked for other meals in the same condition and found some, then took them to the principal. She said both were the same temperature.

Another admin staff member walked into the SLT office that day to find the principal and other staff members inspecting the meals, according to the report.

“An odour was coming from the lunches, I picked one of the lunches up to bring it to my nose to smell and nearly dry retched. It was definitely spoiled. The lunch was still warm when I picked it up. I then picked all three of the lunches up off the table and took them out to the atrium to discard them,” she said.

She later sent a message to alert whānau of the spoiled lunches.

Once learning about the mouldy meals, the staffer asked the lunch team if they were positive the meals had not been left from the prior week and accidentally handed out, the report said.

“I asked two of the administration team to check what was for lunch and if there was any possibility there could have been a mix up. They were absolutely sure that there were no lunches here before they arrived that morning and there was no way the lunches were leftovers as they were hot and condensation from the heat was still seen on plastic film,” she said.

Haeata Community Campus principal Dr Peggy Burrows said no food provided by the Compass Group on 27 November had been left behind for three days.

“I highlighted to investigators that one Cambro containing rubbish, not meals, was left temporarily on site on Wednesday 26 November 2025 but was properly collected the following day by the property staff and was uplifted and returned to the the Compass Group distribution facility by the delivery driver the next day,” she said.

“Haeata’s records, supported by property staff checks of the campus on Thursday 27 November, confirm no Cambros remained on site.”

Haeata Community Campus has been approached for comment.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/haeata-community-campus-disputes-mpis-mouldy-school-lunch-claim/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The man who rescued a family from the water in Kai Iwi Lakes in Northland says he’s not a hero and he would do it for anyone.

Haruru man Aaron Stott was walking along the beach last month with his family when they saw two kids in the water, and something “didn’t look right”.

He watched as their mother ran into the water, screaming, and dropped under the surface.

Stott pulled the mother and child out of the water before hearing screaming and shouting from the shore.

“Someone said to me ‘no, there’s two more’,” he told RNZ.

Stott turned around but was unable see anyone else, so he dived down and found a father and child at the bottom of the lake.

“One boy was just sitting there and the father was trying to get back up, but it was like he was moving in slow motion,” he said.

“I managed to dive down and grab them and bring both of them back up.”

When he and others got the pair back to shore, the boy was blue, Stott said.

” got him up on the beach, and put him in the recovery position and whacked his back a bit, and he wasn’t really responding,” he said.

The child suddenly took a deep breath and started breathing again.

“Ten seconds either way, they wouldn’t have made it,” Stott said.

Stott said he was comfortable in the water and had spent his younger days surfing.

“It’s a bit hard when you’re trying to take two people out of the water,” he said.

Stott said after the rescue, he was thinking of all the things in his day that had led him to that moment.

“It was a pretty strange feeling really.”

He said he wasn’t worried for his own safety; he just had to get them out of the water.

“I just knew I had to get them up, I didn’t even think about it really.”

Police Senior Sergeant Dave Wilkinson described Stott as a hero, but that was not how he saw himself.

“I would do it for anyone, you know, I’d do it for anyone that was in trouble or anyone that needed help, I would help them,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a hero, I guess I just don’t want to see people suffering at the end of the day.”

He hoped his story would encourage others to be safe around water.

“If it stops anyone else going in the water, I’d be grateful,” Stott said.

Working as a chef, Stott said this evening, he was preparing dinner for the Prime Minister.

Water Safety NZ’s Gavin Walker said the rescue was incredible, but he wanted people to know how risky it can be.

“When you have a situation like this and your first instinct is to react, just take a few seconds to scan the situation,” he said.

“The safest way to help people is to try and do it from land or from something else like a boat.”

Walker suggests throwing a boogie board, throwing a rope or getting someone in a boat to help out in a situation like that.

“If you make the call that you have to go in, none of those options are there, make sure you have a quick look at the conditions to make sure that you’re not putting yourself into a situation that you might not be able to cope for,” he said.

“Super important if you’re going in the water, make sure you take some form of floatation with you, so that could be somebody’s chilly bin from nearby, a chilly bin lid, a ball, a boogie board, a life jacket. Actually having something with you that’ll help you float when you try and help this other person out can make the difference between life and death in these situations.”

Walker hoped those people getting out in the water over the long weekend would be mindful of the dangers.

“Tragically, we’ve seen 16 New Zealanders already lose their lives in the water since the start of the year, and this weekend looks like it’s going to be an amazing long weekend,” he said.

“So as Kiwis go out and make the most of their time in the water, make sure they’re thinking and acting safely so that everybody comes home after the long weekend.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/man-saves-family-from-drowning-in-kai-iwi-lakes/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Shredded muscles, chiselled jawlines, tanned and clear skin – idealised human bodies bombard people’s daily lives on billboards, televisions and phones.

Now, social media’s driving a boom in the use of untested and potentially harmful drugs that claim to help achieve these Hollywood good looks.

They’re types of synthetic peptides and people with no expertise or supervision are injecting them directly into their bodies.

Despite being unapproved by Medsafe, they can be bought online “for research purposes”.

It follows an expert warning the use of these drugs is dangerous and many are sold based on unproven claims.

Synthetic peptides can be found in some therapeutic drugs, some that might sound familiar are weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic.

The drugs are designed to mimic naturally occurring peptides in the human body.

Some can be prescribed by a doctor to fight conditions such as type-two diabetes and sleep apnea. But there’s a growing online market for unregulated peptides that are being used as performance enhancing drugs.

*Bill, a 25-year-old Southland man, first discovered he could buy peptides about six months ago.

“I managed to source a local supplier in New Zealand; from there I managed to source a few different suppliers in China that actually have third part testing along with what you’re buying.

“I’m not going to say it’s 100 percent the safest way to do it, obviously it’s not a chemist.”

Bill said he used a mixture of anabolic steroids in combination with a specific peptide to try and make his muscles look more defined.

He acknowledged that taking unregulated substances came with risks.

“99 percent of peptides out there, you don’t actually know the full effects of what they do in humans, maybe animals if you’re lucky.”

Other peptides on the market claim to enhance melanin and collagen production.

Kai, a 23-year-old man from Auckland, said peptide use was openly talked about at his local gym.

“There’s a trend and everyone’s saying peptides are good for you, take this one for better muscle mass, take that one for better skin, take this one to burn fat.”

Advertising unapproved or prescription-only drugs… including on social media in New Zealand and Australia is illegal.

But Kai said his social media feeds were filled with influencers talking about using peptides.

“You look at one gym clip and then you get like five within the next 10 slides and then it just evolves from there, the more interactions you have.

“At the moment mine is just mostly influencers that are on substances.”

‘There are far too many risks’

Emeritus professor in sports medicine Dr David Gerrard from the University of Otago said using unapproved drugs was dangerous.

“Don’t go there, there are far too many risks without medical supervision and determining what your body is normally producing anyway.

“To supplement that with a synthetic form of the same chemical messenger carries a significant risk.”

“”They are dangerous.”

Dr Gerrard said many peptides talked about on social media didn’t mention the negative consequences.

“I think it’s been trivialised by the people who are in the process and in the marketplace for distributing these drugs and claiming that they will give you new vigour, better complexion and you’ll feel less stressed.

“I think there definitely needs to be a crackdown on the promotion through social media of these unqualified statements, that have come from people who [want] a financial and pecuniary gain from distributing these things.”

Dr Gerrard said athletes in the past have tried to use types of peptides to increase their red-blood cells, but the consequences were life threatening.

“The more red-blood cells you have, the sticker your blood becomes and these athletes, in an unsupervised way were using these drugs.

“They ended up having strokes and heart attacks and problems associated with circulation to brain and heart.”

Many peptides are also on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list, he said.

“They are tested for and they could mean that a young athlete could commit an anti-doping rule violation and lose their ability to compete in their sport. “

Gaps in drug checking

Casey Spearin from drug checking clinic Know Your Stuff said they were seeing an increasing amount of performance enhancing drugs, including peptides.

“We heard about these kinds of substances, maybe five, six times in the course of a year. Now we’re getting several inquiries into our inbox per week, asking ‘can you check peptides and where can I go to get these checked?”

But Know Your Stuff’s clinics don’t have the technology to be able to check these kinds of drugs. Spearin said if people buy drugs online, they couldn’t be sure of what’s actually in them.

“I’ve talked to people that are interested in importing and distributing these types of things and they are seeking ‘can I actually get testing on these; can I know that the product I’m offering is safe”.

“It’s a really big gap, especially as we see these getting more and more popular.”

The New Zealand Drug Foundation said it had also seen a sharp rise in the number of people asking them to test peptide drugs.

Since December last year, many peptides in New Zealand have been classified as prescription medicines. That means it’s illegal to sell them for therapeutic purposes.

Medsafe’s manager compliance manager Derek Fitzgerald said many new peptides were experimental, so there was little known about any benefits or potential harm.

Peptides imported without a prescription are seized and destroyed at the border.

*Name changed to protect identity

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/far-too-many-risks-come-with-synthetic-peptide-use-expert-says/

Source: Radio New Zealand

DOC’s becoming increasingly concerned about the 70 million litres of raw sewage being pumped into the sea around the capital near the marine reserve, putting several species at risk.

The beaches are off limits after Wellington’s Moa Point waste water treatment plant failed, flooding the facility and sending massive amounts of untreated waste into the city’s south coast and Taouteranga Marine Reserve.

There are plans to redirect the overflow much further out to sea during the plant’s repair, but that could take months.

Meanwhile the environmental impacts of the discharge could have significant consequences for marine life.

Department of Conservation’s principal marine science advisor Shane Geange told Checkpoint DOC were “extremely concerned”.

“From an ecological perspective, raw sewage and waste water entering a marine environment poses an immediate and serve threat to a wide range of ecological functions and species, but I think the primary concern is around the public health concern which greater wellington health authorities are actively managing.”

He said raw sewage carried bacteria, viruses and parasites that could impact sponges, muscles and fish that eat particles in the water.

“They can also accumulate in shell fish which make them unsafe for consumption.”

He said the sewage could also impact penguin and how they regulate their bodies.

“Potentially you could get significant implication for the penguin population.”

‘Pretty disappointing’

Geange said DOC was working with Greater Wellington Regional Council to figure out how far the sewage had spread.

“In the process of undertaking a bunch of sampling to determine the concentration of contaminates within the sea water and how far they have spread at the moment…”

The marine reserve is 2km from the waste water pipe.

He said the sea water would “rapidly” dilute the sewage, but not enough to destroy the contaminates.

Geange said mass fatality was his worst fear, but was highly unlikely.

“It’s pretty disappointing from an environmental perspective,” he said.

‘Environmental disaster’ – Wellington Mayor

Wellington’s mayor Andrew Little earlier told Morning Report there must be an independent inquiry into what happened, which he’s labelled a “catastrophic failure” and an “environmental disaster”.

“This is a sewage plant processing the sewage for a big city, and it has completely failed, it just completely stopped,” he said.

“Plants like this should not suffer the kind of catastrophic failure that we’ve seen.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/doc-becoming-extremely-concerned-about-wellington-sewage-leak/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Some businesses along the Welington’s South Coast say the major sewage spill is a “kick in the teeth” and they are already losing business.

An equipment failure at the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant on Wednesday flooded the site and is sending raw sewage spewing directly into the ocean at Tarakena Bay – rather than through a longer pipe, nearly 2 kilometres into Cook Strait.

Wellington Water hopes the long pipe would be fixed by the end of the weekend, but said it would likely be months before the plant was fully repaired.

People are being urged not to enter the water, collect seafood, or walk their dogs on the beach, and a rāhui is in place from Ōwhiro Bay to Breaker Bay.

Some local businesses already seeing the impact

Jonathan Dunbar, who works at the Onepu Coffee & Icecream Shack, said he usually sees people surfing on his walk to work, but on Thursday he said it was “a ghost town”, and they had also noticed a “substantial drop in business.”

He expected business on Waitangi Day to be a bit dull.

“I would anticipate that we’ll probably be opening later and closing early because everyone’s going to be at Oriental Parade or Petone.

“Since yesterday we’ve definitely noticed a decrease in customers,” said manager of the Botanist cafe and restaurant, Kais.

With good weather forecast, he hoped over the long weekend that people still came to the area for a walk

Cass, a barista at Centennial Coffee House, said they hadn’t noticed a reduction in customers but were concerned what foot traffic would be like over the long weekend.

“I think if people are staying away from the beach, then yeah, we’ll definitely lose customers.”

She said several customers she’d spoken to had been “appalled” by the situation.

Vicky Shen from Seaview Takeaways said she hadn’t noticed a difference in customer levels and hoped it would stay that way over the next few days.

Josh Bird, manager at Dive Shop Ocean Hunter, said Moa Point was a a popular area for people to dive and gather seafood or shellfish.

He said people did appear to be steering clear of Moa Point and they were also telling customer to go other places.

“It’s just another kick in the teeth for us,” he said

“We’ve been smashed by bad weather and all that sort of stuff,” he said. “So we just haven’t had any opportunities to really get out.”

He said they’d been hoping the back half of summer would be good, because their business had been affected by the poor conditions.

“So we’ve already been quiet beforehand and now we’re finally starting to get some [good] weather and it’s just another factor as well on top of it, preventing people from getting out in the water and feeding their families.”

Where Wellington was lucky, he said, was in that they had quite a bit of coastline still that wasn’t affected.

Divers deployed to investigate pipe

Wellington Water said it was deploying divers over the weekend to investigate the condition of a major pipe at the plant that got blocked up

The Moa Point plant’s lower floors completely flooded when sewage backed up in the 1.8km outfall pipe, which normally sends treated wastewater into the Cook Strait.

Raw sewage is spewing from a five metre pipe directly into the southern coastline, closing beaches to the public.

In an update to media, Wellington Water said cameras will be sent down the beginning of the long outfall pipe, and divers will check the end of it underwater.

Teams were working “as quickly as possible” to divert as much sewage from the short outfall to the long outfall pipe, the update said, as well to put screening in pace to remove items like sanitary pads from the wastewater being discharged.

Wellingtonians could expect to see discolouration around the coastline for about a week as teams emptied clarifiers and primary settling tanks to reduce odour.

They can also expect an increase in smell due to the plant being offline and work taking place on site.

“We will do all that we can to mitigate the impacts of odour,” Wellington Water said.

Wellington Water said the rāhui is still in place and covers anything the water can touch with the high or low tides.

“While it is in effect, no public activities should be undertaken on or around the beaches on the southern coastline.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/its-a-ghost-town-customers-staying-away-after-moa-point-sewage-spill-in-wellington/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Five years after almost $20 million of funding was announced for a green hydrogen facility in South Taranaki construction is set to begin this month.

The project includes supplying renewable electricity to the Ballance Agri-Nutrients’ Kapuni facility – via four 206-metre wind turbines – and producing green hydrogen for emissions-free transport at Hiringa Energy’s refuelling operations.

Around 50 construction jobs will be created and seven permanent roles.

The former Provincial Growth Fund made the $19.9m investment in 2020. Its full cost is up to $112.3m with the additional co-funding supplied from the project partners.

In a statement, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones bemoaned delays to the project.

“We’ve waited more than five years for this project to begin, after it was delayed by years of red tape and appeals under the previous Resource Management Act consent process.

“A delay like this, for a project so important to a regional economy, shouldn’t have happened. I welcome the economic benefits, jobs, and alternative energy source this initiative will bring to Taranaki.”

Te Korowai o Ngāruahine Trust, the representative body for Ngāruahine iwi, including Ngāti Manuhiakai and Ngāti Tu, the two hapū with uncontested mana whenua over the land, appealed against the project on Treaty, cultural and environmental grounds, with support from Greenpeace.

The High Court and subsequently the Court of Appeal ruled against the appeal.

Jones said the project would be one of the first in New Zealand to integrate wind, industrial renewable electricity supply and zero-carbon green hydrogen fuel production at scale.

“The initiative unlocks significant local investment and will be a vital contributor to long-term, development in the region and will help diversify the Taranaki economy by supporting new, innovative clean energy industries,” Jones said.

The project is a partnership between the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Ballance Agri-Nutrients Limited, Hiringa Energy Limited, Parininihi ki Waitōtara, and Todd.

Construction starts at the facility this month.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/taranaki-green-hydrogen-energy-project-construction-starts-this-month/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A woman is before the courts accused of stealing more than $5000 from elderly women living alone in Hamilton and Auckland.

Police claim the 37-year-old targeted the women deliberately, entering their homes under false pretences and taking their bank cards to withdraw cash.

Detective sergeant Mike Mead said the woman faces four charges of burglary, three charges of using a bank card for pecuniary advantage, and shoplifting.

He said all the victims were in their 80s.

The woman is expected to appear in Waitākere District Court tomorrow.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/woman-accused-of-stealing-thousands-from-elderly-women-in-hamilton-and-auckland/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fast-track panel members are expected to make a decision on a proposed open-cast mine near Cromwell by late October, while Kā Rūnaka has signalled that granting approvals could be in breach of Treaty settlements.

Santana Minerals applied in November for consent to tap into a gold deposit between Bendigo and Ophir.

When fast-track panel convenor Jane Borthwick sought the company’s views on a 110-120 working-day decision timeframe in December Santana Minerals insisted that officials aim towards the default timeframe of 30 working days.

In a statement released on Thursday, Santana Minerals said the panel convener had confirmed a 140 working-day timeframe.

In a memo posted online, Borthwick said the longer time frame was partly because of Kā Rūnaka concerns about potential Treaty settlement breaches.

“Kā Rūnaka say their concerns are significant and immutable,” she said.

A seven-member panel had been appointed to assess the application and would start work on 25 February.

Santana Minerals chief executive Damian Spring said while a shorter timeframe was preferable, the confirmation of a decision by 29 October was a “critical transition point”.

“This is an important step forward and confirmation of a firm statutory decision date which gives the project clear line of sight through the fast-track process,” he said.

The panel will be chaired by former High Court judge Matthew Muir KC and includes Gina Sweetman, Philip Barry, Roger MacGibbon, Tim Mulliner, Peter Kensington and Douglas Johnson.

Santana said the members had expertise across mining, environmental science, planning, hydrology and geotechnical engineering.

Borthwick said Kā Rūnaka had sought a hearing on cultural evidence and legal issues.

The timeframe also included six weeks for expert conferencing.

Borthwick said she had appointed seven panel members instead of the usual three because of the wide range of subject-matter expertise required.

If approved, the project would carve out a 1000m by 850-metre open pit, plus three smaller satellite pits and a tailings dam.

Santana previously told shareholders that the company planned to extract its first gold by about March 2027.

The project has had [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/571161/otago-locals-range-from-curious-to-staunchly-opposed-on-giant-gold-mine fierce pushback from some residents who argue it could threaten local tourism and viticulture, and cause irreparable harm to the environment, making it unsuitable for fast-tracking.

Santana Minerals said the work to support its consent application was “one of the most intensive and comprehensive studies ever conducted on the Dunstan Mountains”, with environmental considerations central to project planning.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/treaty-concerns-push-out-santana-mines-open-cast-mine-decision-to-october/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police are investigating after a man was shot in the Auckland suburb of Māngere overnight.

Officers were alerted by ambulance staff just after 12.30am.

The man took himself to Middlemore hospital, presenting with a gunshot wound.

Police said he had suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Detective Inspector Shaun Vickers said police were looking into how and where the man was injured.

He was asking anyone in the community with information to get in contact.

“If anyone in the community has information, they can contact Police online now or call 105 using the reference number 260205/5954.”

“Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/police-investigation-launched-after-man-turns-up-at-hospital-with-gunshot-wound-in-auckland/

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/girl-queen-and-a-bit-of-skin-the-thrifted-and-homemade-outfits-of-laneway/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A child who died after being hit by a car in a rural Canterbury town has been identified as a 10-year-old boy from Springston.

Police said Alexander Bennett was walking on Leeston Road near Springston when he was hit about 3.30pm on Wednesday.

He died at the scene.

Bennett was a pupil at Springston School.

In a statement, the Springston School Te Kura o Makonui board said its thoughts were with the child’s family, and staff and students were being supported.

“We have had a tragic passing of a student of our school. We are unable to provide any further details at this point as the police investigation is continuing,” they said.

Police said enquires into the circumstances of the crash were ongoing.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/child-fatally-struck-by-car-in-rural-canterbury-town-named-as-10-year-old-alexander-bennett/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Three people are injured after two vehicles collided in Cambridge, Waikato.

Police said Cambridge Road near Racecourse Road heading towards State Highway 1 was closed after the crash, which was reported just after 2pm.

Three people are injured, one in a serious condition and two sustaining moderate injuries, a police spokesperson said.

“They are receiving medical attention,” they said. “The road will remain closed as emergency services work the scene.

The Serious Crash Unit has been advised.”

Cordons are in place at SH1 Cambridge East exit for southbound traffic and Peake Road for northbound traffic.

Police ask motorists to choose alternative routes or delay travel.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/05/three-people-hurt-after-crash-in-waikato/