Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Senior government minister Louise Upston was duped by Gloriavale leaders on a visit to the West Coast Christian community and should resign, a leavers’ lawyer says.

The Social Development Minister visited Gloriavale on 30 January where she met Overseeing Shepherd Stephen Standfast, senior leaders and other members as the minister responsible for an Abuse in Care Royal Commission recommendation directed at the community.

On Thursday Upston told RNZ she did not see anything that caused concern about children’s safety and government agencies working at Gloriavale would know about any problems at the commune.

Lawyer Dennis Gates, who has previously represented Gloriavale leavers, said Upston had been misled.

“Minister Upston is completely naive about what’s happening or is very poorly serviced by her department to the point I think she should resign,” he said.

“Her blissful ignorance of her own duty to the children of Gloriavale is a repeat of decades of such political ineptness that has led to the ongoing festering sore in New Zealand that is Gloriavale,” he said.

Upston’s office declined an interview request and declined to respond to written questions about Gates’ criticism.

Gates said Upston’s comments about child safety were farcical because the Ministry of Education announced in December that it was cancelling Gloriavale Christian School’s registration because of safety concerns.

“You’ve got one minister saying they’re safe and another ministry saying they’re not,” he said.

“If she said they weren’t safe, then she’d have to act. It clearly tells me that they’re not in a position to act, don’t want to act, maybe it’s politically too sensitive or they just don’t know what to do. In any case, it’s just incompetence in my assessment.”

The private school remains open pending a High Court judicial review.

Gates said any information shared with government agencies was still controlled by Gloriavale’s Shepherds.

“Everything in that community is controlled, even her visit. She was duped, she didn’t see what was in front of her. It’s staring her in the face,” he said.

“It’s like talking to the prison guards about how to make life better for the prisoners and not talking to the prisoners.”

Photos of the visit seen by RNZ show Upston speaking to parents, holding a baby, visiting a family home and touring the school art room.

Gates said factors indicating abuse listed in a child safety policy negotiated with former Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple in July 2021 were still present at the commune, including substandard living conditions where members lived like “battery hens”.

“The comments that she has come out with basically mean that she doesn’t understand or recognise what she’s looking at to the extent I think she should resign when she can’t even recognise that her own department’s policies are not being followed or enforced,” he said.

Gloriavale members were physically and psychologically trapped, Gates said.

“There’s no freedom of choice, they’re trapped, they don’t have any choice in education, freedom of expression, even their clothing – it’s like a uniform – there’s no patch but basically it’s the same as a gang,” he said.

“People leaving Gloriavale come out in a state of deep depression, almost suicidal. That is not the sign of a healthy, functioning community.

“That place should be shut down. You can either shut it down in a controlled, structured manner for everybody’s benefit or let it fall apart and deal with the chaos that comes as a result.”

On Thursday Upston said the visit was important because she was responsible for the Royal Commission recommendation that the government take all practicable steps to ensure the ongoing safety of children, young people and adults at Gloriavale.

“I thought it was really important for me to be able to meet the key leaders, to be able to see for myself, and to ensure that I was well-informed,” she said.

Asked if she thought Gloriavale children were safe, Upston said “there was nothing that I saw that led me to think they weren’t”.

“What we’re working on is a community plan. I have to give them the benefit of the doubt and I am at this stage confident that they are engaged in the process, that they are working with the government agencies on the ground, that they’re working on an outcomes plan. That is very much anchored around the safety and care of children,” she said.

Government agencies were at Gloriavale working with the community on a regular basis, Upston said.

“Clearly there have been issues in the past. We are focussed now on the safety of children. There was nothing that I saw that led me to be concerned about it but regular contact with agencies on the ground will continue to happen and, because we are now looking at it as a group of agencies collectively, if there was anything that happened we would get to see it and know about it quickly,” she said.

Upston was accompanied by National’s West Coast-Tasman MP Maureen Pugh, Ministry of Education deputy secretary Geoff Short, who is coordinating the cross-agency work, and Regional Public Service Commissioner Craig Churchill.

A Gloriavale spokesperson said the minister came to see the community first-hand and meet a cross-section of members including the school board, mothers, managers and leaders.

It was a short visit including a brief inspection of the school, main building and accommodation, and a meeting with a homeschooling family, the spokesperson said.

The minister and senior leaders discussed “concerns about the registration of the school, success of our policies regarding abuse and continuing plans to support leavers”, they said.

Standfast took on the role of Overseeing Shepherd last December following the resignation of Howard Temple, who was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail for indecently assaulting young women and girls over 20 years.

The High Court quashed Temple’s jail sentence on Tuesday following an appeal. The 85-year-old will instead serve 11 months’ home detention at a property in Greymouth.

Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian – formerly known as Neville Cooper – was sentenced to five years in prison in December 1995 on three charges of indecent assault.

The Abuse in Care inquiry found the Overseeing Shepherd and senior leaders at fault for allowing physical and sexual abuse at the community, failing to prevent abuse and protect survivors and inappropriately handling perpetrators, allowing them to remain in the community and continue their abuse.

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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/2026/03/06/lawyer-calls-for-louise-upston-to-resign-after-being-duped-by-gloriavale-leaders/

Source: Radio New Zealand

There is another snag for some of the thousands of health workers who weren’t paid this week.

Now some have been underpaid after being paid late, according to one health worker.

Health New Zealand had been scrambling to pay about 5,500 staff in Waikato who didn’t get their money on time.

One Waikato Hospital worker said on Thursday she had to borrow money to leave the car park after work and had to tell her landlord she couldn’t pay rent.

Health NZ said on Friday that everyone had been paid overnight.

But the worker said some people still had problems with their pay.

Health NZ then confirmed there was a new issue.

“We are working hard to rectify an issue which cause a small number of staff that did not receive the correct pay yesterday,” it said.

“While we are pleased we were able to activate payments for most of the 5,500 affected staff yesterday, we absolute recognise the distress this has caused the few who did not receive the right payment.”

The spokesperson said its payroll teams were contacting those people directly to apologise.

They were also being offered hardship assistance, it said.

“We are further investigating the specific causes of the issue, but our priority it is to ensure all staff get paid the right amount today,” Health NZ said.

“We are committed to ensuring all Waikato staff get paid correctly and on time going forward.”

Helen, the worker from Waikato Hospital, was paid the correct amount but said others had not.

“A lot of them are very frustrated and annoyed that it’s happened,” she said.

“There were a few number of staff that either got half pay or were quite short in their pay due to yet another glitch, but they haven’t gone into specifics what that glitch was.”

She said she personally knew of two people who were significantly underpaid.

“It seems that some people’s long service leave, which we’re entitled to after five years, if it was taken in sort of the last two months it was refunded back to Health New Zealand,” Helen said.

“And so the amount that was paid for that long service leave is actually deducted from people’s pay as well as sick leave balances were deducted from pay and some public holidays were deducted from pay as well.”

The Public Service Association, after the initial payment failure, called for an urgent review.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/06/waikato-health-new-zealand-staff-frustrated-after-pay-comes-in-late-and-incorrect/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A former teacher barred from the job for sexual misconduct had worked at an organisation for vulnerable youth for roughly five months before a ruling detailing her offending was made public.

The Teaching Council’s Disciplinary Tribunal found April Marie Nordstrom had a sexual relationship with a student at Whangārei Girls’ High School and behaved inappropriately towards three other students at Horowhenua College in Levin.

The years the students attended the schools were not disclosed by the tribunal to protect their identities.

Rubicon Youth, a service helping young people in Whangārei through problems caused by alcohol and drug use, confirmed Nordstrom worked there for about five months in 2022.

Chairperson Ryan Welsh told RNZ they performed police checks and vetted staff.

He said he had not been aware of the misconduct allegations at the time, nor had Nordstrom disclosed it, to his memory.

“Otherwise, if we had of known about that, of course that would have been a red flag,” he said.

Welsh said he was shocked when he first heard what she had done.

“We would never expect to employ somebody who has that record, which has now been proven,” he said. “The expectation is we wouldn’t go near somebody with those issues.”

He said there were lessons to be learned from the inquiry process.

“There’s probably some learnings in that, I suppose, from the council who govern that process. But then again, there are issues around accusations having to be proved, but the process should have been a lot quicker.”

The ruling from the Teaching Council stated Nordstrom accepted the relationship with the student, referred to as Student A, was inappropriate and breached professional boundaries.

Tribunal documents stated they began messaging each other before Nordstrom offered extra tuition at her own home. The student would often stay there until after 10pm.

They began meeting outside of school hours, where Nordstrom would share intimate details about her life. Those details included struggles with her sexuality and relationship troubles with her partner.

Nordstrom had a sexual relationship with the student, who stayed overnight at her house.

On two occasions, Nordstrom took Student A away from school during school hours to engage in sexual activity.

Student A’s mental health began to deteriorate, and she grew increasingly distressed from constantly lying to her parents to cover up her relationship with Nordstrom.

Student A’s parents discovered the intimate relationship after two former students called her father and broke the news.

“Ms Nordstrom messaged Student A on Snapchat and asked Student A to lie to her parents and to continue to deny the sexual elements of their relationship,” the tribunal documents said.

A report was provided to the Teaching Council, and Nordstrom resigned from her teaching position at the school.

In her response, Nordstrom said a number of factors impacted her ability to make professional and emotional decisions. She claimed her relationship with Student A was loving and mutually consensual.

Her registration was cancelled and she was ordered to pay costs of $6600.

A complaint was referred to the Teaching Council’s Complaints Assessment Committee and it was years before a decision was made in June 2025. However, the decision was only publicly released in February this year.

Nordstrom not to teach

Interim chief executive Tom Gott said Nordstrom had been subject to an undertaking while the case was being considered – she was not to teach, specifically to prevent further harm to any child or young person in a school, ECE centre or kura.

“The undertaking not to teach was recorded on the public register, which was further updated to show Nordstrom’s registration had been cancelled at the conclusion of the disciplinary process in June 2025,” he said.

Gott said the council was working with the Crown Response Office and the care agencies to identify practical ways to strengthen workforce capability, improve suitability checks and safeguards, and lift the visibility and reporting of abuse and neglect. This was so safeguarding across education and care settings was more consistent and effective, he said.

“Any situation where a young person has been harmed or made to feel unsafe at school is distressing and unacceptable. Our thoughts are with anyone affected by this case.”

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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/2026/03/06/banned-teacher-worked-with-vulnerable-youth-before-offending-exposed/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The former police base in Auckland’s central city is still on the market after it was vacated seven years ago.

Staff left the station on the corner of Vincent Street and Cook Street for their current base on College Hill in 2019.

The property was declared surplus by Cabinet in September 2023.

It was partially occupied before closing, though was now fully unoccupied, police said previously.

Despite this, police have paid for essential services like rates, electricity and security at the site.

RNZ reported police had paid over $3 million on the building from July 2019 to July 2024.

More than $1,240,000 went towards rates, while $706,953 was spent on energy and nearly $470,000 on cleaning and rubbish.

That same year, Commissioner of Crown Lands Craig Harris said the Vincent Street headquarters was in the Treaty settlement stage of the disposal process, the land being offered to Māori subject to a right of first refusal under the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014.

Land Information New Zealand now said it was not managing the disposal of the property and directed RNZ’s questions to police.

Police confirmed the right of refusal period had been passed.

They said the property remained listed with Bayleys after being first marketed in late 2024.

“There is a need for an additional RFR period if there is an offer lower than valuation,” they said.

A listing for the property described it as a “significant and strategic CBD landholding”.

Meanwhile, police opened their new public-facing counter on the central city’s Federal Street last July, roughly 200 metres up from the former base.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/06/former-police-base-in-auckland-cbd-still-on-market-7-years-after-it-was-cleared-out/

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand is world famous for its sheep, and it seems as though those sheep might be the secret to its shearing success.

The Golden Shears and the World Shearing Championships are running in parallel in Masterton this week with more than 400 competitors from 24 countries looking for a win.

Wales are the current world teams champions, but Scotland and the Kiwis are rumoured to be amongst the top picks.

But it all comes down to the sheep.

Organisers ship sheep from around the country of all different breeds to try and even the playing field because for the likes of Mongolia – who are competing for the first time and Japan who raise barn sheep – the wool is very different to work with.

Shun Oishi, a blade shearer from Japan, said it’s very tough.

“We don’t have those kind of sheep in Japan … half of the year sheep are inside in Japan because of the winter, and the paddock is not that great, so they tend to be staying in the shed a long time.”

Compared to New Zealand’s outdoor sheep, that makes it more difficult for blade and mechanical shearers.

“It’s good stock for farming, but not for shearing”, according to Oishi.

One machine shearer Gota Tateishi, was in tears after the whole crowd erupted when he finally finished his heat.

Oishi said he was overwhelmed by the support but said he had really struggled due to the lack of experience with New Zealand wool.

Wool handler Hannah Moore has been here for three months just to get used to the different processes.

But she’s already made history just by being here. This is the first time someone has represented the Isle of Man in wool handling.

“It’s very, very surreal. It’s almost like a pinch me moment.”

She’s glad to have spent some time adjusting to the wool because it’s been a steep learning curve.

“It’s completely different,” she said.

Someone not fazed by the difference is the South African Manager Izak Klopper. He’s determined to hold onto his champion Boniel Rabela.

Rabela won the blade shearing world championship in 2023 and is looking like a shoe-in for the final.

“We’ve got to be quick because the Kiwis don’t wait. You got to run with the pack.”

But they are more skilled than most when it comes to using the old method.

Out of more than 20 million sheep in South Africa, 17 million are still clipped with blades.

“It’s for far off remote areas where there’s no electricity yet and leaves a little bit of wool on for the cold winter conditions,” he said.

“It’s also a cheaper option than machine shearing.”

He’s selected a team of the best from nine provincial shearing competitions before heading to the national championship, and then the works begin to prepare for New Zealand.

He’s hoping that pays off.

“Now we’ll have to work our way towards the top six.

“Because you cannot win the championships from the seats, from the cheap seats”.

On Friday night, the world championship medals will be awarded in the teams events in the machine shearing, woolhandling and blade shearing.

In the blade shears, New Zealand’s Alan Oldfield and Tony Dobbs are contesting the final.

In the machine shearing, Toa Henderson and Rolland Smith are up for the titles.

And in the woolhandling, there is Joel Henare and Marika Braddock.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/06/the-secret-to-nzs-sheep-shearing-success-on-show-at-world-championships/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The co-owner of a farm near the scene of a crash on State Highway One – north of Levin – says a gas delivery truck and Ambulance have collided.

The road is closed after emergency services were called to the crash on the stretch at Waiterere – near the intersection of Koputaroa Road – shortly before 11am on Friday.

Police say two people have suffered moderate injuries in the crash.

UPDATE 11:25AM
Due to a crash, SH1 is now CLOSED from Koputaroa Rd.
Detour via Koputaroa Rd for both north and southbound traffic.
Please note detour is NOT suitable for heavy vehicles. Northbound detour available via SH57 and Foxton Shannon Rd. Reverse for southbound. ^JP https://t.co/l17Ok2nfhj

— NZ Transport Agency – Central North Island (@nztacni) March 5, 2026

Geoff Lewis says the truck is heavily damaged and appears to have lost its front axle in the impact.

He says the area has been closed off due to dangers presented by gas cylinders on the truck.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Selling off Wellington City Council’s cars, slashing consultant and climate budgets and bringing some traffic management in house make up a new report on council spending.

The revenue and financial working group were set up after the election as a campaign promise from Wellington Mayor Andrew Little and many other councillors to do a line-by-line review of council spending.

That paper was released on Friday morning and included cutting the council’s climate budget by $1.65 million, reducing its consultant budget by $600,000 and cutting down its vehicle fleet saving $2m.

Other ideas pitched in the report included bringing some traffic management in house, putting up the fees for disposing asbestos and renting out space in the council’s new office.

It was hoped the changes would reduce the projected rates increase for this year of 12.7 percent.

Getting that increase down would be part of the larger work the council would be doing with the creation of its next annual plan.

Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty told RNZ the group had been working at pace over the past few weeks to produce a report which had made 50 recommendations.

“They look at ways we think we can identify savings, where the can operate the business of council more efficiently or that there are revenue opportunities.”

McNulty said 37 recommendations were supported unanimously by the working group and 13 were supported by its majority.

The recommendations would be taken to the council’s planning and finance committee meeting next week.

The working group had nine council members Ben McNulty, Rebecca Matthews, Tony Randle, Andrea Compton, Diane Calvert, Ray Chung, Geordie Rogers, Sam O’Brien and Andrew Little.

McNulty said the group included the whole ideological divide of council.

“Everyone from Rebecca to Ray which is a very broad cross section and again we have come up with 74 percent of unanimous recommendations.”

He said there were recommendations he did not support.

“That is the whole point. Council is not about getting everything you want it is about trying to bring people together.”

Green Party councillors have put out a statement saying they oppose cuts to the council’s climate programme.

Councillor Jonny Osborne said it would put the city at greater risk of climate change.

“We’ve seen the damage climate change-fuelled storms are causing here in Pōneke Wellington and elsewhere in the country, often with tragic consequences.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The price of 95 petrol has hit $3 in some parts of the country as conflict in the Middle East pushes up oil prices.

Motorists contacted RNZ upset at being asked to pay more than $3 in Kapiti outlets.

On Friday morning, Z Kapiti Road was recording $3.019 for 95 and g.a.s Waikanae $3.059 for 95, according to the fuel price monitoring app Gaspy.

Mike Newton, spokesperson for Gaspy, said other more isolated parts of the country were also at or near that level.

NPD Fox Glacier was $3.089 for 95. Greymouth stations were also around the $3 level.

“We’re definitely seeing more and more stations getting closer to that mark,” Newton said.

“I think while there’s so much uncertainty we’re just going to keep seeing prices rise.

“If you compare this to when Russia first invaded Ukraine, we saw huge price increases after that. There’s probably a lot more uncertainty here because of the fact that Iran wasn’t actually allowed to export oil to the world.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty about where it’s going to go, how long it’s going to last … there’s definitely a feeling that prices are going to rise.”

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price of 91 increased past $3, the government responded by temporarily halving the fuel excise tax.

Newton said the national average for 91 was now $2.66 a litre.

“It’ll be interesting to see how rapidly prices ramp up. The oil companies are pricing in expected increases, they’re not buying oil at the more expensive rates yet but they expect they will be.”

He said Kapiti stations had recorded increases of between 8c and 15c in the past week, above the national and regional average.

The Wellington region was up 4c over the same period.

“A lot of that could be driven by the discount retailers. I noticed that Paraparaumu has a NPD station which has only gone up 6c so the discount retailers are maybe not moving as quickly and in some places everybody else follows the lead of the discount retailers but in Paraparaumu that doesn’t appear to be the case.”

He said Nelson had experienced an increase of 6c on average, whereas 3c to 4c was the norm for most other regions.

‘Can’t see it getting cheaper in March’

AA policy adviser Terry Collins said he had been able to fill up in Wellington on Tuesday at $2.34 a litre for 91, which he said still seemed good value. “Today, $2.48, $2.50 is looking like a good deal.”

He said, for 91, about $2.70 was the top end in the Wellington region. Gaspy noted Mobil Karori at $2.79 and Z Taranaki St at $2.85.

Collins said oil futures for April had reached US$85 a barrel, about 12c more than a week ago.

“I said at the beginning of the week we will be at US$80 by the end of the week, we’re at US$85. The longer the fighting continues the more the upward trajectory in price.”

In previous times of disruption, the price of a barrel had hit US$120.

“US$100 wouldn’t surprise me. These geopolitical events take time to readjust the supply chains.

“All I know is I’m confident I bought some fuel on Monday knowing that I wasn’t going to get it cheaper for a little while. I can’t see it getting cheaper in March, I think it’s on an upward trajectory.”

Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen said 95 reaching the $3 benchmark was a sign of the wider trend.

“The latest MBIE reporting for the week of February 27 had average 91 prices at something like $2.53. We estimated that given where oil prices were yesterday, we could se something like a 30c-plus per litre increase over the next week or so.”

He said if oil prices reached US$100 a barrel, it could push 95 up to $3.20 or $3.30.

“The hit is starting to come through and we feel the risk of it going further is high.”

Olsen said fuel already in New Zealand was helping to moderate prices.

“The challenge is that you see fuel prices go up quicker than they come down the other side. Part of that is because you often see people that buy fuel during times of challenge at the moment because you’re not sure when you can get the next big shipment of fuel in.

“So you buy it at the higher price and you have to sell it at the higher price because you don’t know when the conflict’s going to end. Towards the end of the conflict it may well be that oil prices start to come down but you’ve already ordered another shipment’s worth at the higher price and need to sell it.”

He said it was also worth noting that diesel prices would also rise, which would affect the commercial sector and put pressure on inflation.

“If you’ve got transport costs the board that have gone up, if businesses start to pass on those higher operating costs on their prices, that’s where there would be some worry.

“Even at the moment, the whole aim to get inflation back within the band and then driving down towards 2 percent … that goal will likely have to be pushed out because of this increase in oil prices.”

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/06/petrol-prices-jump-past-3-a-litre-at-the-pump/

Source: Radio New Zealand

State Highway 1, north of Levin, is closed after a crash on Friday morning.

Emergency services were called to a two-vehicle crash on the stretch at Waiterere – near the intersection of Koputaroa Road – shortly before 11am.

Two people received moderate injuries.

A diversion was in place and motorists were asked to take extra car in the area.

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