This One News / TVNZ story is republished with permission
An Australian politician has referred to a planeload of deportees to New Zealand as “taking the trash out”.
Australia’s border force granted media access to the deportees as they headed for New Zealand.
The flight from Brisbane, bound for Auckland, was reportedly full of people who’d committed crimes in Australia.
A report by Nine News shows the reporter questioning them as they crossed the tarmac, asking, “How does it feel to be kicked out of Australia?” and, “Our country doesn’t want you, are you excited to go home?” to a handcuffed woman being escorted by two guards holding her.
The issue of Australia deporting its criminals to New Zealand has dogged trans-Tasman relations in recent years.
In many cases, deportees have been people who were born in New Zealand but raised in Australia, spending most of their lives over the ditch — where they committed their crimes.
Some have no connections with the land they’re being deported to as a result.
However Australia has stood firm, despite New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern calling out her Australian counterpart for deporting “your people and your problems”.
As the most recent flight took off, Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton referred to the deportations as the country “taking the trash out”.
“We’re talking about the most serious offenders here and our country is safer for having deported them,” he said.
This story by One News / TVNZ is republished with permission
Three Sydney men are accused of importing cocaine lollies and methylamphetamine lollipops.
Meth disguised as lollipops that was sent to Sydney from the US. Source: NSW Police
The men, aged 21, 31 and 49, were arrested in dawn raids today at homes in Dee Why, Macquarie Park, and Collaroy Plateau and taken to Manly police station on the northern beaches for questioning.
Australian Border Force officers say they intercepted three packages from the US that contained lollies laced with methylamphetamine and cocaine at the Sydney Gateway Facility mail centre last November.
Police from Sydney’s northern beaches established Strike Force Arced to investigate with help from The Department of Home Affairs and US Homeland Security.
Authorities say between November and March they seized 5.83 kilogrammes of methylamphetamine and 655 grams of cocaine, contained in 16 parcels bound for the northern beaches, Parramatta, Macquarie Park, Chatswood and Ryde.
The seizures – which have an estimated street value of NZ$3.76 million – included methylamphetamine packaged as lollipops and cocaine pressed as lollies.
The drugs were destined for the Northern Beaches, Chatswood, Macquarie Park, Ryde and Parramatta. Source: NSW Police
Northern Beaches Police Area Commander, Superintendent Patrick Sharkey, said the drugs posed a significant risk to the community.
“The manufacturing and packaging of these drugs was sophisticated; and they could have easily been mistaken for the sweets … by both children and adults,” he said in a statement.
“It is very concerning given the drugs were uncut and had a potency that could potentially cause serious injury or death if ingested.”
ABF International Mail, Cargo Clearance & Systems Support NSW Superintendent John Fleming said ABF officers were alert to the tactics used by criminals.
“Criminals might think that by using a scattergun approach to sending numerous packages containing drugs to different locations the packages will be missed by ABF officers, but that’s not the case,” he said.
“The ABF are always on the look-out for prohibited items being smuggled in goods like clothing, household goods, or in this case food items.”
This RNZ.co.nz story is republished with permission
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield are giving an update on Covid-19 cases and the nationwide vaccine rollout plan.
Watch live:
Border workers and their families have been the first to get the jab, with more than 50,000 frontline health workers next in line.
The plan being announced is expected to set out broadly what happens after that and will include indications on when certain groups can expect to be vaccinated.
A septic tank truck was spotted outside Sam Panda restaurant in Neiafu yesterday afternoon five days after Kaniva News reported the restaurant was at the centre of a series of complaints lodged with Health Authority.
Septic tank truck outside Sam Panda restaurant. Photo/Vāvā Lapota
Neiafu Town Officer Vava Lapota, who is also a local freelance reporter, said the truck was cleaning out the restaurant’s septic system.
Lapota claimed the Chinese owner of the restaurant met him on Friday and apologised after Lapota’s complaints were revealed by Kaniva News.
The restaurant owner could not be reached for comment.
Lapota said the owner Sam Pander said there were arrangements for workers to clean up the restaurant’s compound and making regular checks on the sewage tank but they did not do it.
As Kaniva News reported last week, Lapota claimed he has lodged a number of complaints with Health Authority over what he has described as poor sanitation conditions of the restaurant, but he hadn’t heard back.
Lapota said his complaints included the restaurant allegedly being operated without a proper drain system for its wastewater.
He also complained that the wastewater was collected before it was allegedly disposed into the seas.
Lord Dalgety of Sikotilani was rushed to hospital after he was allegedly hit on the head and left unconscious during a recent home-invasion robbery in Tongatapu.
Lord Dalgety of Sikotilani Tonga. Photo/Tonga Parliament
Veteran Journalist Kalafi Moala has reported the incident this evening saying the 76-year-old former Chief Justice “still suffers from pain….after he was knocked to the floor”.
Speaking with the king’s noble, Moala alleged a thief broke into Dalgety’s house.
The details of his recovery and medical treatment conditions were still unknown.
Police were still hunting for his attacker since the incident occurred three weeks ago.
The Scottish QC and former Conservative politician was charged with perjury over evidence he gave to a Royal Commission into the 2009 sinking of the MV Princess Ashika ferry, which claimed the lives of 74 people.
Lord Dalgety was secretary of the firm which operated the government-owned ferry. An official report into the disaster described him as an “evasive” character who “clearly lacks integrity and honesty”, and who was “unfit to hold such an important position”.
However, the Tongan life peer was cleared in 2012 after the court case against him was thrown out due to insufficient evidence.
Covid-19 vaccine passports will be “almost an inevitability” within the next year, according to Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins.
The Covid-19 Response Minister said everyone in New Zealand will “not necessarily” need to be vaccinated before allowing in people from overseas, however. Source: Q+A
“New Zealand’s actively involved in the conversations around vaccine passports,” he told Q+A this morning.
“I think vaccine passports are almost an inevitability at some point in the future and probably the not-too-distant future, I think that’s likely to happen.”
A vaccine passport is a way of people being able to easily show and prove they’ve been vaccinated for Covid-19, usually discussed in the context of overseas travel.
In the UK, it’s also being discussed as a possibility to require the vaccine passport for visiting busy domestic locations too, such as the gym or a restaurant.
Hipkins said while there is “a lot of water to flow under the bridge very quickly,” he believes the vaccine passport is “highly likely to be something people will need to get” within the next year.
No new community Covid-19 cases reported overnight – Chris Hipkins
Vaccines will need to be available to everyone before requiring a vaccine passport to travel can be mandatory, he added.
“You couldn’t say to someone, ‘You can’t travel until you’ve had a vaccine’, if that person couldn’t get a vaccine,” Hipkins said.
However, he said they may not require everyone in New Zealand to be vaccinated before people from overseas can enter the country.
Law expert warns Covid-19 vaccination passports might lead to discrimination for some
He said studies carried out overseas are within the wider global context of “widespread community transmission” and “in New Zealand, that’s not the context”.
“Very few [countries] are in the position New Zealand’s in, so if you look at other research they’re doing on transmission of the virus to air conditioning systems, no one else is looking at that because no one else really cares,” he said.
“In the context of person-to-person spread being the biggest transmitter, they’re not looking at air conditioning systems as we are.”
He said New Zealand could have “quite different border settings to the ones we have now” as vaccines are rolled out across the globe and there is a greater understanding of “what that means in terms of transmissibility of the vaccine”.
“As we get to a position where vaccines are part of the global picture, that will probably have an impact on our border as we can open up safe travel areas with other countries – Australia, the Pacific – we will absolutely be doing that.
“All of those things are happening. There’s a bit of uncertainty around all of those as well because there’s uncertainty around vaccines, but we’re working hard to try and give that certainty.”
While on Q+A this morning, the minister also confirmed there were no new Covid-19 cases to report in the community overnight. The formal update by the Ministry of Health is due at 1pm.
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Cyclone Niran injured at least one person and caused extensive damage in New Caledonia according to early reports.
Cyclone Niran, (centre) Photo: Meteo NC
The cyclone hit today generating gusts of up to 220km/h.
RRB radio reported a child was injured by shards of glass from a bay window during the storm.
About 20,000 people are without power and roofs have also been ripped off buildings in the town of Dumbéa, on the outskirts of Noumea.
Several ships have also been forced aground on the coast in Noumea although according to a provisional report, no major damage was recorded following this cyclone, the intensity of which was a little lower than expected.
Meteo France NC said there was not a lot of rain during the storm but violent winds ranging from 130 to nearly 220km/h caused problems.
It’s been reported 50mm of rain fell over the course of six hours.
“Niran caused extensive damage to the power grid and to vegetation,” a civil security spokesperson told the AFP.
Meanwhile there are 400 people still sheltering in evacuation centres in the capital of Noumea.
The cyclone is weakening as it moves to the southeast of the New Caledonian mainland.
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Auckland will move to alert level 2 and the rest of New Zealand will move to level 1 at 6am on Sunday morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.
Ardern announced the move while speaking to media after a Cabinet meeting to decide on alert level changes.
Watch the media conference live here:
This will be reconsidered with a plan to move Auckland down a level at the start of the next weekend if possible, she said.
“If you are sick, stay at home, don’t go to work or school and don’t socialise. Keep track of where you’ve been at all times.”
The restriction of 100 people at events will be in place.
Ardern said it was good news that there had been no new cases for five days in a row.
Ardern said the strategy of elimination was best for New Zealand but it did not make it easy.
“Covid has taken a toll on so many in so many ways, but it will get better.”
She said an elimination strategy was hard work and it was normal to feel fatigued, but New Zealand was not in the devastating position that much of the world found itself in.
The Ministry of Health said there was still a strong demand for testing with more than 11,500 tests processed yesterday. Results from wastewater testing at three Auckland sites – including Papatoetoe – on Wednesday have all come back negative.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield said today that about 6000 people connected to the latest cluster have been contacted, with many of them followed up on a daily basis.
He said all outstanding Papatoetoe contacts have returned a negative test.
“It is possible we may still get positive results from people who remain in isolation and are still to get a day 12 tests. It’s important to note that these people are in isolation,” he said.
Dr Bloomfield said under a new Section 70 order, any person who attended City Fitness Hunters Plaza on 20 February between 11.15am and 1.45pm, or 26 February between 3.25pm and 4.30pm, as well as anyone who is a close, close-plus or casual contacts is required to:
* Isolate at your usual home
* Report for testing at a specified time
* Accept testing and isolate until you are told officially that you no longer need to
This RNZ.co.nz story is republished with permission
New Zealand heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker has split with trainer Kevin Barry.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The pair have parted ways by mutual consent.
Both men agreed to the decision after Parker’s points victory over Junior Fa in Auckland on Saturday night.
“Without Kevin I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Parker said.
“Together we made it to the very top. Kevin was with me every step of the way, guiding my progress inside and outside of the ring. So it is with genuine sadness that I confirm our partnership has come to an end.
“But the time just feels right. It’s fitting that we closed this chapter of my career with a win in front of a great home crowd in Auckland, and with bigger things just on the horizon.
“I know Kevin will always be in my corner.”
Parker’s tactics and form were heavily criticised following the less than impressive win.
Many fans on social media had been calling for the pair to part ways for some time, and after the Fa fight, both supporters and pundits further questioned whether Barry could take the former WBO champion and further in his career.
The pair have been together for eight years.
“It has been an amazing journey with Joseph and Team Parker. But all journeys must come to an end, and the time is right for myself and Joseph to go in our own directions,” Barry said.
“I have been in New Zealand for five months now, away from my family and my other fighters. I have three guys fighting for world titles this year and have responsibilities with them and a few new guys.
“It’s not possible for me to stay in New Zealand any longer. For Joe, he has a wife and three young girls in New Zealand, and he wishes to spend more time here.
“I totally understand this and will always be in his corner and support him. We have always had a very close bond and I want nothing but the best for him. We have achieved so much together. It has been one heck of an amazing journey.”
In December 2016, Parker became New Zealand’s first ever World Heavyweight Champion, defeating Andy Ruiz Junior in Auckland to claim the vacant WBO World Heavyweight Championship.
Parker and Barry managed to secure a unification bout with Briton Anthony Joshua in Cardiff in March 2018.
He would lose that fight and also suffer a defeat to British fighter Dillian Whyte in July the same year, raising questions at the time over his future in the division.
His wins since haven’t been of note and he’s lacked the knockout finish that fans craved and pundits believed necessary for him to secure bigger fights against the likes of Joshua, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder or even a rematch with Whyte.
Fans on social media have largely reacted positively to the news of Parker’s and Barry’s split, however many have said the decision has come too late to resurrect the New Zealander’s career.
Parker could next fight Britain’s Derek Chisora, though the bout, expected to be held in London in May, has yet to be confirmed.
New Zealand boxing commentator Mike Angove said the pandemic will be complicating Parker’s next move.
“Look it’s tricky times it depends on where Joe wants to base himself obviously we’re in the midst of covid and he has three daughters here in New Zealand,” he said, “There’s probably limited teams and coaches that operate at an absolutely world class level. I assume that this is a decision which has been undertaken over a longer period of time so I’m certain he will have spoken to David Higgins and they will have been reviewing names of coaches especially here in New Zealand or potentially overseas.”
“One thing is for sure he doesn’t want to be taking a short notice fight in the next couple of months when he is just developing and working on a relationship with a new coach.
Boxing commentating duo Mike Angove and Colonel Bob Sheridan. Photo: Photosport Ltd 2016 www.photosport.nz
“I don’t think it’s wise to take on a short notice fight in two or three months if you’ve just changed coaching team because there may be new approaches to technical things but also there may be changes in conditioning, there’s a relationship that needs to develop and there may be some skill based work that you want to embed.
“I know there’s been talk of Derek Chisora in May, personally I think that would be a very quick turnaround although I think it’s a very winnable fight for Joe. I think you’ve got to be cautious in your first fight under a new coaching team.
“I don’t think you’ll see a stylistic change, what you would potentially see is enhancement of what he’s already has and obviously that also depends on how Joe responds to a new environment, a new coach and a slightly new approach.”
“There’s no question he needs a world class coach or a world class team people who are capable of developing his skills, developing his trust and who understand what it takes to take the next step at the pinnacle of the game.
“I think Kevin Barry should be given due credit for the job he’s done with Joe to this point he’s taken him from a very raw teenager to a world title, there’s not many people that can do that, that can develop an athlete from young and take them right up to World Championship level and sustain that over a number of years,” Angove said.
