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Families of teens killed in Timaru crash wake to ‘nightmare that won’t go away’

By
Kaniva Staff
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By One News/TVNZ

A South Canterbury community is reeling from the aftermath of last night’s fatal crash which killed five Timaru teenagers. A sixth boy, who was the driver, is also in hospital with serious injuries.

The overloaded sedan crashed into a power pole at the intersection of Seadown Road and Meadows Road in Washdyke, north of Timaru; hitting it with such force that the car split in two.

Inspector Dave Gaskin this morning told media five passengers, aged 15 and 16-year-old, were found dead on arrival with one having been riding in the car boot.

“The vehicle involved was a Nissan Bluebird, and apparently it hit a power pole with such force that it broke in half, spreading debris down the road,” Gaskin said.

Having crammed into the car without enough seats, Gaskin said that he doesn’t believe many, if any, of the boys were wearing a seatbelt.

It is also not known whether any of the boys had their drivers license, let alone their full license, he said.

“With the young men being 15 and 16 and the driver only being 19, you would expect he probably doesn’t have his full license.”

Gaskin noted their deaths will have been a significant blow for the tight knit community of Timaru, adding that he had known one of the boys involved.

“Timaru is a very small community, and I’m sure this is going to touch a lot of people. I knew one of the boys, I know the family of one of the boys.

“It is a tragedy and it will reverberate in our community for some time.”

The 19-year-old being treated in Timaru Hospital is “surrounded by family” and is yet to be interviewed by police.

According to Gaskin, police had been out patrolling the area earlier that night following reports of a boy racer in the area.

While he confirmed these teens weren’t the vehicle in question, the crash had happened at a notorious intersection.

“This is not unusual for these intersections – Meadows Road and Seadown Road. It is a wide intersection with long straights and it is a favourite for those who wish to carry out antisocial road user activity.”

A full crash investigation will be carried out, however, it does appear speed and potentially alcohol were a factor in the crash.

“It is pretty clear that there are a number of contributing factors, obviously speed, appears alcohol may have been involved and there were six people in the vehicle, there’s only five lots of seatbelts.”

Police are asking for anyone who may have seen the Nissan Bluebird last night, with the registration UI17799, to contact them on 105.

 

Four people injured in gang-related Ōtāhuhu incident

By
Kaniva Staff
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Police are investigating after four people were injured in a gang related disorder event at Fort Richard Road, Ōtāhuhu, just before 1:30pm today.

The Rebels Gang with police following a stabbing incident in the South Auckland suburb of Ōtāhuhu this afternoon. Source: 1 NEWS (TVNZ)

On arrival Police located two injured males in a vehicle.

They were both transported to Auckland Hospital by ambulance – one in a serious condition and one in a minor condition.

The man in a serious condition is undergoing surgery this afternoon.

Two further males presented themselves at Middlemore Hospital and are being treated for injuries which Police believe eventuated from the same incident.

No arrests have been made as yet however a large number of Police are in the Fort Richard Road and Sturges Park area speaking to people and conducting inquiries into the incident.

Police would like to reassure the community that this appears to be an isolated incident.

There is nothing to suggest this is connected to recent gang tensions in the area.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, or has any information which may assist, is asked to contact Police by calling 105 and quoting event number P047459560.

Pacific Islands Forum marks 50th anniversary

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz. Republished with permission

The Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Henry Puna, says today’s meeting will honour the leaders who set up the organisation, 50 years ago.

The leaders of the Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Tonga and Samoa together with Australia and New Zealand met in Wellington from 5th-7th August 1971. This was the first South Pacific Forum meeting.

At the time, the only regional organisation established was the South Pacific Commission which was created in 1947.

The leaders of the newly independent island nations understood the external influences that existed in that regional body, which included colonial powers. It was clear another forum was needed.

Pacific Islands Forum secretary general, Henry Puna.
Pacific Islands Forum secretary general, Henry Puna. Photo: Forumsec

The Forum’s membership has increased from the original seven founding members to also include the Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

In 1999, the South Pacific Forum transformed into the Pacific Islands Forum.

“Today is a very special occasion, it’s a time of reflection, a time of honouring the legacy of our leaders who have gone before us, and honouring their wisdom in setting up this organisation back in 1971 in Wellington.

While they dealt with a range of issues at the time, issues that directly affected the lives of Pacific peoples, they had particular focus on trade, tourism, shipping and education,” he said.

“Those issues are still very important today for us but of course the world has changed a lot in 50 years and it’s a credit the values of the organisation that we have been able to change with world and come up with new priorities, that are of real importance to the region, such as climate change for example,” he said.

“And for me, one of the greatest achievements we have made as as a region, working together, moving forward, hand in hand, was the achievement at Cop21 in Paris in 2015, when the whole world signed up to the Paris Agreement.

For me, that was the defining moment in our collective effort as the Pacific Islands Forum.

Pacific regionalism

There’s a need for Pacific regionalism and leadership on the climate and Covid-19 crises,” according to a Pacific academic.

Auckland University associate professor Damon Salesa said the forum is faced with its biggest crises in its 50 years.

Auckland University associate professor of Pacific studies,Toeolesulusulu Damon Salesa.
Toeolesulusulu Damon Salesa Photo: RNZ Pacific/Koroi Hawkins

“The next few decades are the critical moments for Pacific regionalism particularly around things like climate change, where the region has a global role and not just a regional one.

He also says the rise of ‘new actors’ in the Pacific means the need for regionalism now is even more important than there was in the past.

“We are seeing the re-emergence of in the Pacific the feelings about China playing a bigger role in the Pacific, so it’s great to see the US playing this bigger role but we know that that’s one of the things in the back of everyone’s minds,” he said.

The US President, Joe Biden, addressed the online meeting. He was invited by Fiji’s Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, the Forum’s incoming chair.

Salesa is calling on the United States to help persuade Micronesia to return to the Pacific Islands Forum.

$50/week boost in benefits was rejected for Budget

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Sarah Robson for rnz.co.nz. Republished with permission

Cabinet ministers considered giving beneficiaries a full $50 a week boost in this year’s Budget, just-released documents reveal.

But they ultimately decided against it, settling instead on a two-stage increase, with a $20 hike this year, to be topped up next year to the levels recommended by the Welfare Expert Advisory Group in 2019.

Once fully implemented in April 2022, that means main benefit rates will increase by between $32 and $55 a week.

A suite of documents, released today, detail the various options weighed up by ministers in the lead-up to the May Budget.

The original proposal was for a $25 a week increase, but Prime Minister and Minister for Child Poverty Reduction Jacinda Ardern sought further advice on a $50 a week increase, with options to implement it in full or in two stages.

In a joint report in March, officials said a larger increase to benefits would help significantly with the Government’s goals to improve income adequacy, improve child well-being and reduce child poverty.

“It would support more ambitious targets for the second round of the three-year child poverty targets and ensure greater progress towards the 10-year targets.

“A $50 per week increase to main benefits would roughly double the reductions in child poverty on the before-housing-cost primary measure relative to a $25 per week increase.”

But because of the hefty price tag, officials warned there would be trade-offs with other spending priorities and implications for financial incentives to study and work.

In another report, Treasury advised against a $50 a week increase, saying it should progress, at most, with a $25 a week in this year’s Budget.

In that report, Treasury said there was a risk, without an accompanying increase to in-work support for families with children, a $50 benefit increase could weaken work incentives.

There would also be a mismatch with student support, which could disincentivise people from moving into study.

And without any support going to low income families not on a benefit, a number of children living in poverty would miss out on any additional support.

While there were options to mitigate some of those adverse impacts, they would come at a significant cost, Treasury said.

The decision ministers landed on, with a two-stage increase to bring benefits up to the levels recommended by the Welfare Expert Advisory Group in 2019, was not without its own problems.

Officials said the increases only partially met the group’s recommendations, because they did not take into account the subsequent indexation increases that would have occurred if benefits were increased immediately in 2019.

The documents show cabinet ministers were provided with adjusted figures for the group’s recommended benefit increases, that brought them to 2021 levels.

In a December 2020 report, Treasury said a “significant income support package will likely be needed at least every term to enable meaningful progress towards the child poverty targets”.

But officials also warned that tackling child poverty would require action in other areas.

“Employment, where viable, is one of the most effective routes out of poverty for families.

“Policy settings should help parents into employment and address barriers to employment such as childcare and/or transport costs. Tackling these barriers is more important given the disadvantages some groups, such as women, may face in the labour market following Covid-19.

“Rising housing costs are a significant driver of lower-living standards for some families. Addressing housing costs will improve material well-being for children.”

Other documents showed the Government had considering announcing a $25/week increase to benefits before Christmas last year, but officials suggested this could be pursued as part of the 2021 Budget process.

 

Support among police for carrying arms at highest level in decade, survey shows

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Ben Strang, Police reporter. This story appeared on RNZ.co.nz. Kaniva News republished RNZ.co.nz in partnership 

A biennial survey run by NielsenIQ of almost 6000 Police Association members shows 73 percent support for general arming of the police constabulary, the highest level in a decade.

Support is even higher among frontline officers, with road policing at 79 percent, general duties police at 77 percent, and other uniformed operational roles at 74 percent.

The survey found one in four general duties officers were threatened with a firearm last year, while one in eight officers overall were threatened with a gun.

The last time support for general arming was at these levels was in 2010, the year after senior constable Len Snee was shot dead during the Napier siege.

It was also two years after sergeant Derek Wootton was killed by a fleeing driver, and sergeant Don Wilkinson was shot dead.

This year’s survey comes after constable Matt Hunt was shot and killed in Auckland in 2020, and David Goldfinch was also injured in the incident.

Police Association president Chris Cahill said the message from members is clear – they do not believe the current availability of firearms is sufficient for their safety.

Last week Police Commissioner Andrew Coster ruled out a move towards the general arming of police officers.

He was commenting after Eli Epiha who murdered police officer Matthew Hunt was found guilty of the attempted murder of Goldfinch.

Coster said safety of the front line was top of mind for the police leadership who were looking at “whole system settings” to keep police as safe as possible.

“It’s tempting to want to reach for a single solution that would be the magic wand.

“I’m pretty clear that general arming is not that magic wand.

“If we look internationally, there’s no jurisdiction you would point to to go they’re so much safer than us because they carry firearms.”

In April, RNZ reported that dozens and sometimes hundreds of frontline police officers have been told to carry guns on average once a week in recent months, as fears around gun violence escalate.

Some of these temporary arming orders – where all frontline officers can be armed – can span entire districts and last for days, usually while police investigate a shooting or other violence.

Heed officers’ opinion – Police Association

Cahill said support among frontline staff should be listened to by decision makers.

“They’re the ones who are really at the coalface,” Cahill said.

“It’s easy for many of us, myself included, to say this is a really big move and it will fundamentally change the way we police in New Zealand, but these are the officers that are actually facing the fundamental changes that have already occurred in society.

“Those changes around risk to them and risk to members of the community out there because of firearms, so their opinion is the most important, I think.”

Cahill said the figures showing one in four frontline officers had been confronted with a firearm in the past year were concerning, and matched up with figures on the number of staff suffering from post traumatic stress.

He said the mental distress being caused on the job was rising as firearms crime was rising.

The association has almost 11,000 members among the 14,000 strong police staff, including 99.2 percent of the constabulary.

The greatest opposition to general arming came from senior levels of the police, or those whose main duty is administration, planning or support, with support for arming as low as 25 or 29 percent.

But according to the survey, wider public support is in the majority, with 57 percent in favour of general arming.

That is a drop from 2019, when 61 percent were in favour.

Cahill said with staff and the public generally on board for the arming of police officers, Commissioner Coster, needed to make a decision.

Cahill is concerned at what he said is a blurring of the line between politicians and the police.

“I think you’ve got to be realistic to say something like this will always have a political edge to it and will always be something that will be debated politically, but it needs to be remembered that in the end it is an operational decision for the commissioner.

“But I think on a more wider basis we have to be really careful that politics aren’t pushing further and further into operational police decisions and that’s something we’ll be watching closely.”

The association cited comments from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern over previous years, including a November 2019 tweet to rapper Tom Scott, when she said of general arming: “Won’t happen while I’m in this job. That we do get a say in”.

Cahill said Ardern should not have a say.

“It does worry me. I think there has definitely been a blurring of the line between politicians and police independence, and that needs to be looked at.

“The bottom line is, the prime minister will not make this decision because it’s not her decision to make.”

Three arrested, child injured after alleged carjacking in South Auckland

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz. Republished with permission

Three people have been arrested after a vehicle that had been allegedly carjacked crashed into another car in Ōpaheke in Auckland this morning, injuring a child.

Damaged vehicles after an incident in Papakura.
Photo: RNZ / Kate Gregan

Police said just after 11am they observed someone with outstanding warrants in a vehicle travelling in the Wattle Downs area. The vehicle was signalled to stop but failed to do so.

Spikes were successfully deployed to stop the vehicle in the Red Hill area, where the occupants fled their car and forced two other people out of their own vehicle.

“It was reported at the time that a firearm may have been presented,” Area Commander for Counties Manukau South Inspector Joe Hunter said in a statement.

Armed police on Ōpaheke Road at the intersection with Settlement Road.
Armed police on Ōpaheke Road at the intersection with Settlement Road. Photo: Supplied to RNZ

That stolen vehicle fled the scene and was stopped by spikes on the road with support from police air units. It collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Ōpaheke and Settlement Roads, and the three occupants fled on foot.

Police on the scene quickly arrested one of the suspects and the two remaining suspects were found after a search in the area.

A child was taken to Middlemore Hospital for observation after the incident and is in a moderate condition. Victim Support has also been engaged for parties involved.

Armed police responded to the area as a precaution given the reports of firearms.

Police also located two firearms in the original vehicle that failed to stop.

“Police have responded to an incredibly volatile situation today where the decisions made by these three people have been incredibly reckless and dangerous,” Hunter said.

“Our community are as equally as disappointed as police are in this high risk behaviour that puts people’s safety at risk. Police have no tolerance for these actions and we will hold them accountable.”

Police are not currently seeking anyone else in connection with this matter.

No caption
Photo: Supplied to RNZ

Three foreign nationals arrested in Vava‘u wash-up cocaine busts

By
Kaniva Staff
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Three foreign nationals have been arrested in a Vava’u drug busts carried out this week.

An unlicensed .22 rifle and ammunition seized during raids. Photo/Supplied

A 70-year-old British male and his 58-year-old American wife were arrested at Houmelei along with a 25-year-old American male.

Police have also seized almost 2kg of cocaine from a workshop at Neiafu owned and run by the 70-year-old and from the couple’s rented residence at Houmelei.

The arrest was part of the ongoing investigations into the washed-up cocaine in Vava’u.

“We want members of the public, locals and foreigners alike to take heed of the fact  that possession or distribution of any drug is a serious offence,” said Acting Deputy Commissioner Halatoa Tāufa.

Packages of cocaine washed ashore in Vava’u. Photo/Supplied

“I take the opportunity to acknowledge members of the community who have been helpful to Police during this investigation.”

As Kaniva News reported previously, cocaine worth more than TOP$4 million has washed up on Hōleva and Ha’alaufuli beaches, with police scouring nearby shores for similar illicit packages.

In 2012, a yacht which washed up in Vava’u seas with a badly decomposed body on board was carrying more than 200kg of cocaine worth up to US$120 million.

Some Kiwis stuck in Australia may lose superannuation payments

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz. Republished with permission.

Pensioners struggling to get home from Australia are having their superannuation payments stopped and some may be forced to start paying them back.

Jo-Ani Robinson flew to Sydney in March to help her son who had just been diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer.

She had a return flight booked for 31 July and enough heart medication to last her stay.

However her flight was cancelled and she could not secure another one before quarantine-free travel shut down for eight weeks.

Her medication was running out and she was told if she was not back by 20 September her pension would be stopped.

“I got in touch with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to email them about my plight, because I was worried about my superannuation because I’m aware that you can only be out of the country 26 weeks… and I got a rather brash email back saying – you knew you went over there in Covid times, so it’s your fault.”

MSD also told her if she could not get back by October she would have to start repaying the superannuation she received while she was in Australia.

She said the stress was unbearable.

“I feel quite sick about everything the New Zealand government has put me in such a predicament. I have no where else to go to.”

Another woman, Frances, also flew to Sydney to be with family but ended up needing emergency surgery and was only recently given clearance to fly by doctors.

“I was trying to get home before the cut off point for superannuation but the flights had stopped and MSD kindly told me that they will not extend the superannuation payments.”

MSD has since reversed that decision saying it had been trying to get in touch with Frances for some time to clarify her circumstances.

While that brought some relief, she was disappointed of the stress went through.

Neither of the women were eligible for a place on the government-managed flights out of New South Wales because they arrived in Sydney prior to 6 April.

Beneficiary advocate Kay Brereton said people in these circumstances were being treated unfairly.

“They’re not people who went on holiday for a bit of a galavant because the borders were open. They’re people who went over there to connect with family – quite often unwell family – and we need to realise that this isn’t all holiday-makers stuck in NSW.

“There’s a whole heap of reasons and some of them really deserve our compassion.”

There was no reason why people’s financial support should be cut off at all, she said.

“When we had our lockdown in 2020 we had people who were on benefits, or eligible for benefits, all around the world.

“Special rules were put in place to support those people because they couldn’t return to New Zealand because we’d closed our borders. What’s different now? I’m not sure.”

Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said the circumstances were not as extreme as last year’s lockdown so the special rules were not required.

She urged anyone in exceptional circumstances to get in touch with MSD and explain why they were out of the country for longer than expected.

In a statement an MSD manager Jason Dwen said Robinson should continue to try and get a flight home before 20 September.

“It has been widely publicised that Air New Zealand is putting on extra flights and using bigger aircrafts to return people to New Zealand as a result of “the bubble” being put on hold.

“We’ve continued to encourage [her] to check the Air New Zealand website regularly to book a return seat to fly as soon as she can to ensure her NZ Super payments continue past 20 September – and to keep us updated to any changes in her circumstances.”

MSD could not say how many people in Australia currently had their superannuation payments suspended or were paying it back due to being out of the country for too long.

Covid-19 in Fiji: Health specialists warn against mutating Delta variant

By
Sisi Latu
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By Christine Rovoi, RNZ Pacific Journalist and is republished with permission.

A new vaccine may be needed if the Delta variant of Covid-19, which is currently in Fiji, continues to mutate, health experts say.

The government says more than 22,000 people with Covid are in isolation and the death toll has passed 260, and climbing.

The victims included an 11-month-old baby, pregnant mothers, a 15-year-old teenager and a 102-year-old woman.

The government maintains there is no need to impose a complete shutdown of the country.

According to the Health Ministry, the average deaths per day is eight, while the daily average infection is 1039 cases or 1174 per million population.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has placed Fiji on level 4 of its Covid-alert due to the growing number of cases in the Pacific nation.

Professor Fiona Russell from the University of Melbourne said reports that more people are dying from the virus in Fiji should be a concern.

She said the mutation of the Delta strain could happen.

“That is a characteristic of all viruses, not just the coronavirus and there are other mutations that have already occurred. At the moment what we’ve found is that the variants have become more transmissible. We have to keep an eye on that and there’s ongoing studies to monitor it. And it may be that in the future, people in Fiji may need a booster.”

Russell also said Fiji’s health facilities could easily get overwhelmed if people do not take heed of Covid-safe protocols.

She warned the country was very early on in the outbreak and should take heed of what had happened in countries such as India.

“If Covid-19 takes off in Fiji, then the hospitals may get full and that is if you get sick with anything at all, let alone Covid, then the doctors and nurses may not be able to treat you properly because they’re just so busy treating all the other Covid patients.

“We certainly in Australia were worried about that and so we made plans for that in case that was to occur.”

She praised Fiji’s efforts in trying to contain the disease.

Russell said the seriousness of Covid-19 was evident in how quickly it had spread during the second wave in the country.

Govt urged to change strategy

New Zealand epidemiologist and University of Otago professor Michael Baker agrees.

He said Fiji was going backwards in its fight against the pandemic.

Despite the Fijian prime minister’s refusal to enforce a national lockdown, Baker said it was not too late for the government to change its strategy.

“The situation in Fiji is very worrying. They’ve really lost control of this epidemic at this point given the record number of infections that are of a very widespread nature.

“It depends what their overall strategy is. If they want to return to elimination position, I think they need to act very decisively now and that actually offers a much better route back to economic recovery than trying to suppress the virus and live with it which hasn’t really worked very well in the past.”

Fijian epidemiologist doctor Donald Wilson said the country is overwhelmed by the pandemic.

He warned the current trend of infections could force officials to make “unethical medical decisions”.

“The worry is that when the health system becomes overwhelmed, when it cannot any longer peak in lots of patients who have severe disease, then unfortunately like what has been happening in other countries where doctors have to do the unethical thing of needing to choose who to put on ventilators and who not to.”

Fiji PM Frank Bainimarama visited the Covid-19 testing facility in Suva.

Fiji PM Frank Bainimarama visited the Covid-19 testing facility in Suva. Photo: Facebook / Fiji government

Dr Wilson said a mass vaccination campaign aims to immunise 600,000 Fijians by November this year.

Close to half a million Fijians or 84.4 percent of the target population have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, while just over 158,000 or 27 percent have got both jabs.

The head of Fiji’s vaccination taskforce, Dr Rachel Devi, said the only good news is the Moderna vaccine, now in the country, is also effective against the Delta variant, the UK variant and the Wuhan strain of the virus.

“We have important strategies in terms of how or when and where we roll this out across the country. This would definitely boost it up especially right now we weren’t vaccinating our pregnant women with the AstraZeneca unless these individuals consented. But I know there’s quite a lot of build-up in that area now. There’s a lot on safety reasons as well.”

Meanwhile, an Australia-based Fijian academic warns Fiji is suffering its worst medical, social and economic crisis since the measles epidemic of 1875 which led to the deaths of a third of the country’s population.

Professor Wadan Narsey said this could have been avoided had the government listened to the best medical advice – not just in Fiji, but also from its major partners New Zealand and Australia.

He said Fiji’s tragedy stems from its heath system being unable to cope with the crisis and has seen deaths soar to over 260, and climbing.

Taonga puoro were almost lost, now these wāhine are taking revival to new generation

By
Sisi Latu
-

This story appeared on One News / TVNZ and is republished with permission

We’re in Te Whanganui-a-Tara to meet three wāhine who work with taonga puoro (traditional Māori musical instruments). We ask why these taonga almost disappeared and what their dreams are for the future of the practice.

The members of Maianginui discuss the challenges involved when carving out spaces for wāhine Māori in music and other art communities.

They discuss the common misconceptions of the roles that atua wāhine played in our pūrākau and origin narratives, both of taonga puoro and other instruments of traditional Māori existence.

It is apparent that there is still mahi needed surrounding the erasure of atua wāhine and wāhine Māori in te ao hurihuri.

This is episode one of He Kākano Ahau Season 2: Wawatatia, a podcast hosted by Kahu Kutia.

You can listen to the full 40-minute podcast here, or search “He Kākano Ahau” on any podcast app to subscribe to the series.

May we boundlessly dream of possibilities beyond our wildest imaginations. May we weave communities of support, compassion and active solidarity. With our history in front of us, and our tūpuna at our shoulders, may we walk into a future that is connected and thriving for us all. This is He Kākano Ahau Season 2: Wawatatia.

Follow along with the entire series here.

By Ursula Grace Productions. In partnership with RNZ, made with the support of NZ On Air.

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